Bacharach

Friday, 7/8

Today we awoke early and Lettie made us waffles and eggs. An exciting change to our usual German breakfast! We took the car to nearby St. Goar to explore. We peeked into many shops, looking at steins and koo-koo-clocks. We felt sleepy and the overcast weather tempted us to go home for a nap before lunch. I guess we needed the rest, we awoke about two hours later and grabbed some lunch at a cafe in Bacharach and were easily talked into trying the local apple strudel, which boasted more of a pie crust than a pastry, the best I've had so far. A lazy afternoon eventually gave way to dinner time. We wanted simple fair. With all the rich and unusual foods we've been eating, I wanted comfort food. Greg was able to explain to our waitress who had some English that I wanted a side of mashed potatoes. They had a dish of local wild boar with sauerkraut and mashed potatoes. Perfect, so don't bring the main dish or kraut, just the kartoffelpuree, bitte. Our server looked a little confused at first, but after a few confirmations she said no problem and then turned to me, "You like this?" It turns out she thought it was strange that I liked mashed potatoes because most Americans she had encountered did not like them. I was brought an entire dinner plate covered in mashed potatoes. The waitress got a real kick out of this and continued to walk by during the meal smiling at me and looking at the plate of potatoes in wonder, like, "So it is true, the crazy American did order only a plate of potatoes, what do you know about that?" It was fun to be famous for the night, not that my notoriety will last, tomorrow its on to the next town.

Romantischer Strasse

Wednesday, 7/6

One last early morning breakfast in Munich and a stop at the Farmer's market to get snacks for the road and it was Aveterzehn (...good try Mel, but it's Auf Wiedersehen) Bavaria. With the navigation system in the car working, and a map in my lap as back up, we actually had an easy time finding our way out of Munich. The Romantic Road was beautiful, lush green meadows, horses and cows, stony mountains beyond and no I did not fall asleep during the ride, I was just resting my eyes, too much beauty to absorb, Greg had the road to distract him. We arrived in the town of Hohenschwanstein and right out of the parking lot we encountered swans on a beautiful mountain lake that reminded us both of Elery in the High Sierras. The advertised thirty minute hike only took us twenty to the top, and put us at the foot of the famous Neuschwanstein Castle (claim to fame is that Disney used its architectural form as the model for Cinderella's castle). Another short hike away was the bridge called Marienbrucke, which boasted a beautiful view of the castle, but was so packed with tourists, I was terrified to tread upon it. (I may have slight tendencies toward claustrophobia and agraphobia, but I'm sorry put 100 people on a wooden bridge that perches more than a football field above a craggy churning river below and fear is not part of the equation, its just stupidity to wade into the midst of that. Tragedy waiting to strike, in my humble opinion. Plus there is no helpful capacity sign, nor a park ranger nearby letting people know there is too much damn weight on the bridge and that is why it is creaking eerily beneath their massive tourist load!) Greg did coax me to a corner of the bridge for a quick photo, in which I'm sure I look delightfully horrified. The hike down the nearby path was predicted to be another thirty minutes at a modest pace, but we powered down that thing in under fifteen. (Thank you hilltowns of Italy, you helped us rock the hiking trails of Germany! We rock!) Back in the car we chowed down on some pretzels and perfectly ripe apricots from the farmer's market. We arrived in the charming town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber in the late afternoon to meet our host Klaus and his father who spoke just a little English. For some reason I had made them out to be giant lumberjacks in my mind and when confronted with the two tiny wiry men, they struck me as positively elvish. Greg had a theory that it's a small, walled-in town, so they can only grow them so big here. This theory was dispelled as we went on the tour of the Nightwatchman, immediately following a dinner of vegetable potato cakes for me and more sausage for Greg. The Nightwatchmen's tour consisted of about 200 people converging on the square to follow a man dressed in a medieval cloak and listen to the history of the city. Not only was it very educational, but our guide had a great sense of humor and a fun personality that made the experience very moving and entertaining. We were surprised to find in the crowd two young people we recognized from Munich. Guests from the pension we had just left, a pair we had seen at breakfast one morning were on the tour, as well. They ended up joining us for a beer in hell. (Not as bad as it sounds, Heoll was a pub the Watchmen pointed out on his tour). We learned our Munich friends were traveling from Adelaide, Australia. Indeed they were on an ten week tour of Europe and were about two weeks in. They had also had drama regarding doing their wash in Munich, it turns our we had much to celebrate and commiserate about. Turns out they were staying in a castle just outside the city and wished a fond farewell to us peasants who hobbled down the cobblestones to claim our room above the corner market.

Celebrating five years of marriage

Thursday, 7/7

Our anniversary was off to a lovely start because the Endress family provides a wide array for their breakfast buffet. (I'm sure owning the market downstairs helps them present such a varied meal). There was yogurt, breads and pastry, four kinds of cereal, juice, eight kinds of fruit (one kind of local berry I had been eager to try, don't know what it is called but it looks like salmon roe and tastes like a pomegranate: Johannisbeere), hard cooked eggs (Greg's favorite), five kinds of cheeses, smoked salmon (and more kinds of meat than I can name), not to mention every jelly or jam you can think of! It was quite the spread, so we fueled up this morning, knowing that we'd be on the road at lunch time. Before leaving Rothenburg, we wanted to walk the wall. (Initially I had hoped to jog the wall, but our tour last night conflicted with that plan, very glad we took the tour though!) After checking out, we left our luggage in the car and walked around the covered wall of the city as weather tried to decide if it would rain or clear. After departing from Rothenburg, we traveled on up the Romantic Road toward the Rhein river region. We stopped in the town of Rudesheim am Rhein and rode a people mover type lift over the vineyards. It made a for a beautiful view and took us up to a mountaintop with an amazing view of the valley and the Rhein river below. A perfect memorable activity for our fifth anniversary. We then arrived in Bacharach and found our accommodations in another very medieval looking town. Two very steep twisting wooden stairways up, we found our room decorated in yellow billowy linens, our towels arranged in swan shapes on the bed, and a large bathroom with a crystal chandelier. The whole pension is bursting with color, from the pink walls and floral prints in the breakfast room, to the knicknacks that line the shelves and the entryway. Flourishes of unique style abound in Lettie's pension. We found the oldest building in town for our Anniversary dinner. We dined on tender red fish in a curry Riesling sauce with Jasmine rice and potato cakes, followed by a rich chocolate cake. Finally we walked the old town hand in hand, the perfect way to finish a day along the Romantic Rhein.

Naked as a Jaybird

7/5

Our morning began with a walk to the English Garden. This is the largest central park in all of Europe. It boasted expansive grounds. A vast wonderland of trees, hiking and biking trails, benches and bier gartens, and sprawling lawns one of which is dubbed the nudist meadow. That is right, the center plaza of park is sprinkled with a few bronzed, but mostly reflectively white naked locals trying to soak up the sun. As we were told in Italy, the body is considered very natural in Europe, no one seemed to gawk at this spectical of human flesh. Being that your average nudist seemed to be man of more advanced years, we were rather inclined to avert our eyes. The church bells rang out letting sunbathers, joggers and toursits alike, know that it was time for Mittagessen (lunchtime). Back in our neighborhood, Greg was compelled to try the weiss wurst, as recommened by our table mate from last night, Bernhardt. The story goes that a cook had guests and ran out of the usual sausage casings, so he used a thinner casing but feared it would burst if he fried it, so he cooked the sausage in hot water instead, creating a milder softer sausage that Munich is now known for. Feeling that I had hit my meat quota for the year, I was satisfied with just a bite of Greg's and we headed for the open air market where I could have a lunch of chopped fresh fruit and a fresh Bavarian pretzel. After a pleasantly lighter lunch, I was feeling fabulous. I need to do more of those, like I would at home, and having a farmer's market down the street makes it so convenient. Our plans for the afternoon were far less exciting. Before leaving on the romantic road in the morning, we needed clean clothes. Having worn my last pair of clean socks yesterday, we knew we could not avoid this chore any longer. We had a good recommendation from Christoph, for Wash & Coffee which was only a few minutes walk from our place. Why bother to move the car and try to find street parking? We piled all off our ripened laundry into Greg's backpack and he hauled it down the street fueled by Munich's best sausage and beer. Of course there was the challenge of reading the washing machine directions in German and the fact that the European washing machine is a very different beast than the American variety. Once the wash was in, I vanished into reading my book. The clothes moved onto the dryer and I read so more. It felt as though only an hour or a bit more had passed when Greg said he was feeling bored. Apparently we were approaching the 3 hour mark and the clothes were not yet dry. This is not an issue we had to face in Tuscany as their was no dryer, rather the sunlight and outdoor breezes did all the work. On an increasingly overcast afternoon with no where to hang our wash in the big city, we were forced to wait on the inefficient machine to finish its cycle. Time pressed on, still not dry. Greg and I decided to leave the clothes, got a pizza, took it back to the pension and ate in the breakfast room with some beer from the fridge. Then back to pick up the clothes, still not dry! With our clothes still damp, we loaded them back in the backpack, opened our second story window for a breeze and decorated our room with our colorful clean smelling laundry. Hopefully it will dry completely by morning, or we may be forced to follow in the footsteps of the nudists from this morning.

Browsing Bavaria

Monday, 7/4

The sun came out today in Munich!! Hurray, the perfect morning to walk through the farmer's market. The open air market was expansive, covering a large square in the pedestrian center, it created its own neighborhood of vegetables, fruits, organic products, meats, cheeses, coffee and soup stands, and a bier garten. For lunch we chose a goat cheese and sundried tomato sandwich with fresh arugula, pressed in a grill at the cheese shop. We ate our sandwich on the curb where people watching was good and washed it down with an organic lemon and spearmint soda. With the abundance of fresh ingredients, of course I wished we had a place to cook, we saw artichokes as big as my head, chantrelle mushrooms and other specialties that one needs a kitchen to prepare. Our next adventure for the day was walking to the car rental agency, only about a ten minute walk from the street fair. We now have an Opel Astra Wagen to drive the Romantic Road later this week. Alas, no BMW for the Autobahn. Probably for the best. For today we decided to tour the outskirts of the city. While it was a huge challenge for me to navigate, reading the map in German, I managed and Greg was very proud. We found our way to the general area where the Olympics were held and where they hope they will be held again in a few years. We also saw the university and many historic areas. Back in our neighborhood we parked the car in a garage for the night and were back on foot to find a traditional German meal. At the Andechs restaurant, they serve beer made at a local monastery. The dunkle weiss (which I guess means dark white???) had the flavor of brown sugar and nutmeg infused, delicious. As is German tradition at these type of out door restaurants on the square, they seat you with other people who have a large table and open seats. We were welcomed by an older gentleman who at first spoke to us in German and they quickly demonstrated his command of English when he realized we were from L.A. He was very sweet, saying how happy he is we are visiting here and how nice it is to have Americans coming back this summer. (Very few travelers last year due to the economy, we guessed). He walked us through our first traditional meal. The sweet mustard goes well with white sausages, but since Greg had ordered the Nurnberger bratwurst, we should try the spicy, or try both and see the difference. I made most of my meal of the whipped potatoes and sauerkraut, but did try a taste of both the spicy and mild sausage and the mustards. Afterwards we took a pleasant walk around the church, enjoying the mild evening weather. After our late night concert going last night, we are ready to end the night early, learning some more German by trying to decipher the local television shows. Good night from Munich. Enjoy the Independence Day fireworks back home!

Raindrops on Roses

Sunday, 7/3

After grabbing pastry, eggs and coffee from the breakfast buffet, we headed for a free concert at Mirabell palace gardens. It was delightful to walk though the manicured grounds, contemplating statues and landscapes splashed with colorful plantings of flowers, while listening to the brass and winds orchestra play familiar tunes. The misty morning gave us another chance to use our umbrella and the dew upon the flowers and grass made the garden seem even more fresh and clean. We grabbed a second breakfast of cheese toast, an omelette, and soup (early lunch) at a cafe before heading back to the hotel to pick up our luggage and return to the train station. Austria had been such a delight, so the gentle rainfall might symbolize our sadness to leave it. But who could be sad for too long, when you are about to enter Germany? From the appearance of cows on green hills and cute alpine lodges, Germany seemed as beautiful as Austria. The only ceremony on crossing the boarder, was a visit to our train car by a friendly man with a badge who asked to see our passports, smiled and wished us happy travels. Our train stopped in Prien and being that we had a brief layover, we decided to take the smaller steam train to the banks of Chiemsee to take a look at the castle that sits on the island in the midst of that lake. Unfortunately our layover was not long enough to take the boat to the island and see the castle up close, but that was probably for the best because of how cold it was, it would have been unbearable on the water. We did delight in the steam train ride. Imagine one of the tiny trains they have for children to ride at the zoo, now make it big enough for adults to fit in and you have a fairly accurate picture of this wooden benched, open windowed conveyance. As we drove through the adorable town, locals walking their dogs, riding their bikes, or working in their gardens, paused to wave enthusiastically as the train passed. After our short stop in Prien, we had only about an hour to spend on the real train before we arrived in Munich. We emerged from the S-bahn (like a subway, but emerges above ground to destinations outside the city) in a pedestrian only zone called Marienplatz. The church bells were ringing and the clock tower was chiming 6pm when we arrived. After consulting a few maps Greg had us headed in the right direction and we found our pension relatively easily, in a very pedestrian friendly area of town. Christoph welcomed us in a friendly manner with his low rich voice. He speaks excellent English, with a delightful accent. He patiently sat with us in the breakfast room and went over a map marking good places for dinner, nightlife, laundry, and more. Our room is modern and bright, with a window seat overlooking our lively neighborhood, a private entrance into the hall. Our toilet is in our private hall, but the shower is in our room with the sink. It actually gives us the illusion of having more space. We got to talk to Christoph about how these rooms became transformed into the modern, cool pension. He explained when he bought the place it was a mess and had only one shared toilet for the four rooms, so they had to get innovative with the space. Very creative thinking! Umbrella in hand again, we went out in search of dinner with Chistoph's map. One place he suggested was a community center, it seemed an odd choice for dinner but inside we found a small pub like restaurant with several specials of the day scrawled on a chalkboard for very affordable prices. The kitchen was visible and everything looked very good, the clientele was very young and hip, so we decided to give it a try. Excellent beer and amazing food for the most affordable prices we have seen thus far. We tried the local beer varieties, a Weiss bier and a Helles. One vegetarian dish they offered was auflauf, which was like a potato lasagna with other cauliflower, peas, and zucchini, topped with a generous sprinkling of saffron threads, we also tried a grilled wrap, which seemed like cream cheese and peppers in sort of tortilla-like flat bread. The table next to us, filled with energetic twenty-somethings, were so pleased with the creative preparation of sausage and vegetables, that when the chef came out of the kitchen they gave him a standing ovation. Indeed he did deserve it. One of the reasons for stopping at the community center was to see about some live entertainment. When we checked the poster on the way out the door, it seems we had been sitting next to the band that would be playing later in the evening. Show time was still an hour away, so we decided to walk the neighborhood and come back for the show. This is not the type of band we would usually choose to see, their poster described them as a hip-hop brass band from Switzerland. We didn't know what to expect but we figured it was a rare opportunity to see some young European music. When they took the stage they were dressed in a strange combination of marching band jackets and hats and athletic wear and had dramatically choreographed the start of their first song in such a way to let the audience know this was going to be a fun and playful experience. Ten musicians crowded the small stage and the room was packed with young concert goers (I do believe Greg and I were the only people over 30 in the place). The music was lively and highly participatory. I understood very little of what the front man said in his rap-like songs, which were mostly in German, but I didn't need to understand in order to have a good time. They had an excellent female singer as well, who did sing in English a bit, but the whole time the brass band was jumping up and down on stage with tons of energy making the weak plywood stage look like a trampoline. Audience participation was huge and luckily it was easy to understand how they wanted us to clap, the call and response chants they put into play, or the simple wave your hands in the air dances we were to emulate. This was a dream come true for Greg who had been aching for some nightlife and local music since we arrived in Euorpe and I had a blast, also. So while we felt our time in Austria flew by to quickly, we are enjoying the fun city that Munich is proving to be.

The Hills Are Alive!

7/2

Following another lovely breakfast buffet, this time including fresh fruit and hard boiled eggs in addition to the typical bread, meat, and cheese, we were off to walk along the lake side. It was a beautiful walk, but for the surrounding hill sides to remain so verdant, more rain was in store for us. One more trip across the water, back to the train which arrived only minutes after our ferry did, so luckily not too much waiting in the rain. Another beautiful ride through the countryside to Atnang-Pucheim where we transfered trains to Salzburg.

We arrived in Salzburg just a little after 1pm to check into our pension. We dropped off the luggage and headed for the old town, umbrella in hand. It only rained occasionally in Salzburg, allowing us to explore the Dom, Mozart's birth place, the abbey, fountains, and many beautiful churches. We stopped by St. Peter's church and sat in the square to share a beer and pretzel for lunch. We witnessed several weddings today (first Saturday in July must be a popular date.) First we saw several cars honking and racing up and down the main drag, car passengers hanging out their windows to snap as shot of the bride and groom with their cell phones. Another bride and groom casually used a crosswalk headed toward the old town. Finally while we had our snack near St. Peters a couple in traditional Austrian costume, exited the church to be heralded with the jubilation of their guests. We discovered the local confection Mozart balls, which are much better than they sound (hazelnut nougat wrapping a pistaschio center with a chocolate shell). Everywhere there were ads for Sound of Music tours, but they were all four hours long, not ideal if you only have one day to spend in Austria. I was satisfied seeing an Abbey, many nuns and the hills above the city. All day different songs were in my head as background music for the city. When we visited the fountains, I could hear "Doe, Rae, Mi" and imagine Maria marching the Vontrapp children around the city. At they Abbey, I could hear, "How do you solve a problem like Maria." And each time my eyes fell upon the green hills in the distance, "The hills are alive...with the sound of music." We really did quite a bit of sightseeing in our one day. For dinner we ended up in a restaurant with a tavern like feel, "The Wildman's ..." We found very authentic and fresh offerings. The tomato soup was the best I've ever had, spicy rich and piping hot! Greg and I split a dumpling, and a beautifully colorful salad topped with another "lake fish". After dinner we walked the rest of the old town and ended up following the sound of live music across the bridge to find a street fair crawling with locals. The music was all retro American rock and the locals went nuts for it, so maybe Greg's band 90 Proof does have a European tour in their future??? The streets were packed with neighborhood folks drinking apartifs, wine and beer, smoking (which I'm having to accept is a cultural fixture), and dancing and chatting the night away. To move through the crowd, we had to form sort of a human chain, not good for those who get claustrophobic, but an entertaining cultural experience none the less. Back to our room near the station for some well deserved rest!