Part 2
Sept 10th, 2003
I had reserved 3 nights, but we had managed to see everything I had planned in 2 days. So we decided to check out early and drive down the Lahn River and spend the night along the way before finishing up along the Mosel river and then head home. So after a breakfast of dry, stale bread and sour milk I inform the hotel manager we would be checking out. He said that would be no problem but he would have to charge me 80% for the 3rd night. I told him I would not pay for the 3rd night because I did not stay there 3 nights. This went back and forth, with him calling his boss and then supposedly calling a lawyer. I was in no hurry and since my car was locked in the hotel parking I decided to see how far this would play out. Finally I suggested he call the Polizei (police) to help solve the argument. After about 30 minutes the Polizei showed up. At first the manager was very angry with them, so I assumed they were leaning my direction. But then the lady cop stepped outside and called her manager on her cell phone. She then came in and said I could pay for 2 nights, but that Jurgen, since he is German, would have to go to court and a judge would decide who was right. I didn’t want to leave Jurgen with this obligation so I put the 3 nights on the credit card and will dispute the charges with them. I think if this hotel had had more than just us as guests they might have let us go, but you could tell the hotel was empty (for good reason) and they just wanted to get every penny they could.
So we follow B49 along the Lahn river. Again we are blessed
with a sunny fall day. The Lahn River is quite a bit narrower than I thought, but the route is full of wonderful
villages and a few castles. Our first stop is Weilburg
an der Lahn. We stopped because the old town looked
interesting, but the Schloss or palace
really took our breath away. The old town and Schloss are on top
of a hill overlooking the Lahn river and the more modern town. The surrounding hills are dotted with old mansions
looking towards the Schloss. The Schloss reminded me a little of King Ludwig's Linderhof castle in Bavaria, simply
because the grounds were so stunning. The Schloss was one of the largest I have seen, surrounded by tree’s planted
in perfect rows, gardens filled with flowers and statues and a wonderful view of the Lahn below. I took quite a
few pictures here, but the gardens were so big I really couldn’t capture the beauty and scope of the grounds. But
trust me, if your ever in the area Weilburg is well worth a visit.
As you leave the road goes under a stone archway
back towards the Lahn. We get a little off course and end up taking some tiny back roads through some nice farming
areas and finally end up in Limburg. This seemed to be quite a popular place for German tourists! Again,
lots of half timbered buildings and a stunning church overlooking the village on one side and the Lahn on the other.
While here we stopped for lunch at an outdoor café
where I had a Pils and Schweinhaxen. The prices along the way seemed quite reasonable, I think due to the season
and the area being off the main tourist routes. We wondered the streets here for a while before heading off towards
Koblenz. We continued along the Lahn, passing a few villages that looked nice such as Diez & Nassau,
but the weather had turned a little wet and it was getting late so we headed on towards Koblenz, with Jurgen still
steaming about the incident at the hotel that morning. (LoL) I really enjoyed the area along the Lahn and was amazed
at how many “tourist worthy” villages there were along the way. I had never heard of any of these villages, but
like I said they seemed quite popular with the Germans touring the area. If you want to see somewhere a little
different yet not too far off the beaten path the Lahn River might be a good bet.
We got into Koblenz around 4pm and parked near the river so we could see the Eck, where the Rhine & Mosel rivers meet. The river was so low here you could see old bike’s under the bridge and other items that had been tossed in years ago.
We walked the old town a little before
deciding to find a small gasthaus and stay the night here. We went to the local tourist office and they booked
us a room at small hotel in the old town with a small wine stube. This time I wanted to see the room before I took
it, which seemed to upset the owner. But the room was quite nice and we agreed on the night. Jurgen then told him
what had happened that morning in Giessen and he shook his head and said normally it is not a problem to leave
early. He was a very nice and gregarious guy. Later that night we went to the Irish pub to have a few beers and
watch the German national team play soccer. The team had just tied Iceland in Iceland the week before and the German
coach Rudi had blown his gasket on a local TV show, so the whole country was watching this game as if their lives
depended on it. By game time the pub was packed with the German game on one TV, the England game on the big screen
and the Wales game on a 3rd. Other than calling me Luv, I couldn’t understand a word the waitress said, her accent
was so thick. Germany ended up winning and all was right in the world of German soccer.
Sept 11th, 2003
Had to put my clothes from the previous night into a
bag because they stunk so bad from all the smoke at the pub. The breakfast in the wine bar was really nice and
the manager extremely friendly. I just wish I could remember the name of the place. Today we will be heading back
to Kibo, but first a tour of the Mosel river. I have always enjoyed the Mosel a little more than the Rhine simply
because it seems more quiet, yet has lots of quaint villages and more than its share of castles.
First stop is Cochem. Jurgen was stationed just above
Cochem when he was with the German air force years ago, so we took a quick tour by his old base before parking
downtown and walking around Cochem. Anybody that’s ever been on the Mosel knows Cochem from the castle overlooking
the city. It’s quite a sight to see as you round one of the many curves on the Mosel and see this huge castle suddenly
ahead. It’s a short hike up to the castle but the funny thing is the castle doesn’t seem nearly as big once your
there. We walked the old town for an hour or so before wandering farther south to Traben-Trarbach.
Wandered the main tourist street on the East side
of the river before having lunch at a small Italian restaurant with a view of the river and bridge. Had my favorite
dish, tortellini ala panna (white sauce) for about 6 Euro.
We then drove a few more K’s along the river to Krov. Krov is famous for it’s wine with the label featuring the
young child getting its bare bottom spanked. I wanted to try and find something unique here for my bar back home,
but most shops were closed for the lunch hour and we needed to be getting back to Kibo.
We then took the back roads up to A61
near Bingen and then headed south from there to Kibo.
Now back at Tom & Petra’s we go to a friends birthday party in nearby Grunstadt. They had just finished building
their home, and what a house it was. Built much like a Pacific NW or Canadian style home, it featured lots of light
pine wood and a loft that came out over the living room. It had a huge German style fireplace in the middle of
the living room and a very American kitchen. Really a neat place.
Sept 12th, 2003
Monja and the kids arrive tomorrow, the 13th and we are having a huge party at the house. So a good portion of the day is spent getting everything ready for the party, from raising the beer tent to stocking up on beer and Chio chips. Later that day Petra and I go to Alzey for a little shopping.
Then that night Tom, Fones and I do a
little pub hopping in Kibo. First to the Copa for drinks and dinner, then to the Turmschanke, then the Bahnhof
and finally the Route 66. The funny thing was there was a group of girls all dressed in orange called the Jagerettes
and they were also going from pub to pub promoting Jägermeister. They had
free gifts as well as trays of free Jägermeister. We didn’t plan on seeing them all night, but they just seemed
to show up at every pub we visited. We got a good laugh out of it, again I couldn’t get over the differences between
our culture and theirs. No way you see 18 year old girls in a pub serving free liquor in America.
Sept 13th, 2003
Picked up Monja and the kids at Frankfurt airport. Got back to Kibo around 11am and Monja’s sister Marion and her daughter Sarah are waiting for us at Tom's house. Marion has visited us a few times in the past and the kids remember her and rush up and give her a big hug. Marion then took the kids (Cameron 9 & Nissa 6) to her brother Richard's house so the kids could play with their cousin Johannes.
Monja wanted to take a nap to get ready for the big party that night and I remembered Jurgen saying something about his factory having an open house that day. So while Monja slept I picked up Jurgen and drove to the Borg-Warner factory, formally known as KKK until purchased by Borg-Warner, and couldn’t believe how many people turned out for the fest. They had huge beer tents set up all over the place, 1 Euro Bier and Brats and lots of free music. Because Jurgen worked there he had about 20 Euro in free food and Bier tokens, so again I got to experience a free fest. Two free fests in 1 week, not bad! At the factory they make turbo chargers, and quite a few people were interested to see the inside of the factory and see how they are made. They even had a dancing robotic arm inside that seemed to steal the show. After about 3 hours of drinking and still being only 3pm I needed to head home and sleep off the beer before the big party started at 6pm. Tough life huh?
Monja had asked that Tom have a party
when she got there so we could see all of our old friends again all at once, rather than trying to get out each
day and see each one. Well about 30 people showed up at Tom's for the party. Tom had dragged his computer to the
“party” room and hooked it up to a projection system that then showed videos on the white wall. Outside the party
room we had the beer tent up with 4 wooden table and benches. Everyone drank and ate and drank some more. The party
ended up going until 4:30 am. I honestly think I was still drunk when I woke up the next day. I didn’t really drink
that much, but when you drink from 6pm until 4am that’s a lot of liquor. Probably one of the most enjoyable parties
I can remember. Of course the really good parties you don’t remember. (Lol)
Sept 14th, 2003
Recovery day! The kids slept until just past noon which was nice. That afternoon Tom with his son Mika, my son Cameron and I and a few other attended the Kaiserslautern soccer game. The place was packed and the atmosphere electric, unlike anything I had seen before. The game ended in a 2-2 tie, but we all had a great time.
Sept 15th, 2003
This morning, Petra’s mom who lives next door asked the
kids and I if we wanted to see the colored egg factory across the road. Heck ya! I never even knew the factory
was there. It’s just a farm home with what looks like a newer barn behind it, but inside is a magical world of
colored eggs. She said the eggs are used year round in Germany for birthday parties, etc… However Easter is of
course their busiest time of the year. He sells mainly to stores in the Pfalz, but that has been enough to turn
him and his son into multimillionaires. Man was I born into the wrong family!
Later headed to Alzey again for a little shopping.
Specifically looking for an American style pillow. I don’t know how Germans don’t die of suffocation with those
huge feather pillows.
That evening we joined our good friends Fones & Teu at their house about 40 minutes south in Altleiningen. First we visited the local castle, Burg Altleiningen which I visited with them back in May 03. The castle is also a youth hostel with lots of things for kids to do
so we let the kids run a round here a little before driving the narrow back roads through a windy valley to Rahnfels for dinner. We ate at the Gasthaus zum Jagdschloß which had just wonderful food with huge portions.
I had the Elk with Spätzle and loved it. After dinner it was getting dark and Fones wanted to show us the view of Germany’s 2nd largest fest in Bad Durkheim. So we followed them a few K’s to an empty parking lot in the woods. It was now totally dark and he “thought” he knew the way to the tower (Bismarckturm) through the woods. We had one tiny flashlight and wandered for about 30 minutes before finally stumbling upon the tower, only to find it was closed and the stairs were locked.
Too bad, but a creepy night in the woods
the kids won’t soon forget.
Sept 16th, 2003
One of our few “free” mornings, so we pack up the kids
along with Petry and her kids in another car and head to Dino Land in Kaiserslautern. We took our Costco walkie
talkies on the trip and they came in handy at times like this when we had 2 cars. I think the kids used them more
than we did though. I think Dino Land was a huge hit with the kids and something they will always remember.
The city of Kaiserslautern took an old slaughter
house and the land around it and turned it into a huge replica of what the land must have looked like when the
dino’s were still alive. They had huge replica’s of dino’s as well as some incredible toys for the kids to play
on. After a few hours we headed back to Kibo.
First stop was the Hit Markt, a local grocery store where Monja’s aunt Ursula works. She took the kids and loaded them up on free German candy. For the next few hours she was their favorite aunt. Lol We picked up some chicken as well as Curry Wurst and fries at the Imbiss and headed 2 K’s away to Orbis to visit another of Monja’s aunts, tante Hedwich for lunch.
Later that night Monja, Petry and Toy headed to Bad Durkeim for the fest, but the guys had a “surprise” for me. We dropped the girls off at the train station in Grunstadt and headed to Mannheim. The surprise was a 20 minute race on supped up go carts in a huge indoor race track.
These things go so fast I got scared at first going around a few of the hairpin corners. When your finished they give you a sheet of paper saying how many laps you did and what your time was on each lap. A great time for anyone interested in motor sports.
We then drove to Bad Durkheim to meet up with the girls. Again the walkie talkies came in handy as we just radioed them when we arrived and had no trouble hooking up. The girls were feeling no pain after 2 hours at the wine fest, so we ate a little then headed for the rides.
The last ride of the night was a giant
pendulum like ride that also spun in circles as it swung you back and forth, higher and higher. The pressure was
intense as it spun and swung, but the spinning started to get to me. Just as the ride seemed to finish the crowd
yelled for a 2nd turn. Since it was the last ride of the night the operator obliged and sent us swinging and spinning
again. I had to have the window down on the car the whole ride home after that. How come I could ride these types
of ride all day when I was in my 20’s, but hit my mid 30’s and the octopus is enough to make me ill?
Part 3
