by - LCaprous
We left Pittsburgh on a cool, cloudy day, and arrived in Frankfurt at 7:00 on Friday morning, 7½ hours later, to the same weather conditions. But a safe smooth flight, so all is well. We found the ATM machine to get a few Euros, and got our rental car - a silver VW Passant station wagon - diesel!
We left the airport and headed toward Würzburg on the autobahn. Ashley was born in this area and we wanted her to see it, and the first house she lived in. The drive was very pretty with the leaves turned. We noticed only yellows, oranges and rusts, not any red color. We found Gerchsheim, where Angie and Johnny had lived when we first visited them in 1990. After a drive-by of their house at 11 Tulpenstrasse, we found the Backeri, and bought 6 Brotchen for our breakfast. They were very messy to eat in the car, due to the crumbs, but so good. We headed to the city of Würzburg, visiting the Residenz and gardens, and shopping at the Kaufhof. Ashley became so engrossed with some of the different items that she had wandered a little, and we almost panicked when we couldn't find her for a minute! We also bought our first, of many, Ritter bars here. For lunch, we found a stand in the Marktplatz and had our first Bratwurst. We decided to leave after lunch and go to Rothenburg o.d.T. for the night, by-passing a stop in the little town of Biebelried where they had lived when Ashley was born. This was mainly due to the fact that we had no idea how to get there! Traveling along the autobahn again, we spot a sign for Biebelried, take the exit and drive into the little town! How lucky! We found the house where they had lived and Ashley took a picture of her first home! She was so tired (not sure she remembers taking it) and took a nap the rest of the way to Rothenburg. We found our hotel -
Gasthof Zur Schranne
Schrannenplatz6
91541 Rothenburg ob der Tauber
and after getting settled in, left Ashley in the room to finish her nap and we went out to call home, and to have a beer at the restaurant downstairs in the hotel. Not realizing it at the time, we later realized we had locked her in the room, because we took the key with us after locking the door from the outside. Thank goodness she didn't try, or need to get out! After letting Ashley sleep for a little while, we all four walked around the shops and planned our next day - plotting where we wanted to shop, starting with Käthe Wohlfahrt's Christmas store!
(Click any active picture for a larger version)
We came back to the hotel, went for dinner
in their restaurant - Wienerschnitzels and Spätzle - and then back to the room to call it an early night after
missing last night's sleep! Ashley did a great job traveling cross-continent. She knew how to operate all the techno
equipment on the plane and kept pace with us all day. Ashley and I are the last ones awake tonight - writing in
our journals and looking forward to shopping and sight-seeing tomorrow.
October 19 ~ Saturday
Awoke several times during the night, and finally got up about 7. We went down to breakfast, and then out for a walk. Enjoyed the morning shopping for gifts at Käthe Wohlfahrt's and other stores. After lunch of Bratwurst on a Brötchen (again) we finished up and headed to Dachau, our next stop. The scenery was beautiful along the way, even from the autobahn. The leaves were turning and the quaint little villages along the roadside looked so inviting. We drove through Dachau - a much bigger town that we had pictured. We stopped at the Info center in the Altstadt, but it had closed at noon since it was Saturday. We hailed a friendly looking young man who happened to be passing by us at the time, and he was so helpful. We located the Dachau Memorial Camp for a visit tomorrow morning (they are open on Sun.) and then went in search of a place to stay. We found a nice Pension/restaurant in the little town of Hebertshausen
Landgasthof Herzog
Heripertplatz 1
85241 Hebertshausen
Tel - 08131/1621 ~ Fax - 08131/1623
- and we are set for the next two nights.
Went for a short walk around town and then to dinner in their restaurant. They had a Metzgerei (butcher shop) attached
to the Gasthof, so we counted on them having good food! We weren't disappointed with our delicious cordon bleu,
spätzle and salad. Larry ordered a mystery dish - turned out to be liver and onions, which he loves and it
was delicious. Ashley added spaghetti Eis with strawberry sauce for dessert, which she shared with all of us. Back
to the room and no one was ready for bed yet (unlike the previous night) so we played cards until about 10 pm.
It will be hard to get up in the morning now, but we need to be ready early to go to Dachau and then on to Munich
for the afternoon. The rain missed us again today - mixed clouds and sun while in Rothenburg, and then some rain
and hail while driving.
October 20 ~ Sunday
After a crazy night of Ashley moving her bedding to the bathroom because she couldn't sleep due to someone snoring……. (we were all four in one room) and scaring her Grandpa to death when he got up in the night to use the bathroom, we all got up and showered and down to breakfast by 8. Then off to Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial, a very somber experience. This visit we rented Audio phones, which gave you lots of info while you walked around. After our 3 hour self-tour there, we drove to find the Bahnhof to take the train in to Munich for the afternoon. Because it was Sunday there was nothing open, no attendant at the ticket booth and it became very difficult to find out which ticket to buy, and how, and where to park the car, etc. After about an hour, and almost giving up, we finally found someone to help us and we were on our way. Ashley's first ride on a train too, which we wanted to be part of her experience here. We visited with 3 girls from the USA on our ride in to the city. They were traveling in Germany for the weekend from Italy, They were living in Sienna, where they were studying Italian for a semester. One of the girls was from Hershey, Pa and knew a family from our hometown. Small world….. We strolled the Marienplatz, found our way to the Hofbräuhaus for a beer and pretzel,
and listened to the oompah band and the locals singing and having a great time. After our huge liter of beer, we walked back, stopping at various sites along the way. Since it was Sunday, virtually nothing was open but restaurants (which could have been a blessing in disguise)! Back at the Marienplatz, we sat at a little table outside to people-watch and have a cup of Glühwein. We watched the "gray lady", a female mime dressed and painted all in silver, standing like a statue.
We also saw a couple in Munich whom we
had talked to that morning in Dachau!! When they started closing up their sidewalk cafe, we decided to get back
to the station for our return train ride and then to the hotel. After resting up a little, we went to the hotel's
restaurant again (very good thankfully, as it was seemingly the only business in town!) for another leisurely dinner,
and more ice cream for Ashley. Back to the room to play cards again and then everyone "hurried" to be
the first to fall asleep and avoid the sound of the "snorer".
October 21 ~ Monday
We all got up a little later this morning, but were down for breakfast and off to Berchtesgaden by 9 am. Not too stressful of a drive - we did miss our exit and ended up in Austria! We pulled over right away at the border to buy a vignette (sticker) to be able to drive in Austria. We had to drive on to the next exit, (just a short way) and it turned out to be a better route than we had planned on taking! No turn is wrong turn??! We found a parking garage, and finally gained entrance after a kindly gentleman walking by gave us instructions on what to do! Larry was about to back up out of there, but another car had pulled up behind us. Thank goodness these "travel angels" always appear right when you need them the most!! We wandered the streets in the shopping zone on a delightful warm day - about 60. We sat outside in the sun to eat lunch - Goulaschsuppe finally. We went to the Information office and got a book of pensions/hotels to see what was available in the area. We didn't need to worry though, as there are so many around here. We stopped at the first one we had chosen from the book and liked it -
Hotel-Pension
Binderhäusl
Inh. Anton Lenz
Am Wemholz 2
83471 Berchtesgaden
Tel - 08652/5429 ~ Fax - 08652/964486
Email - info@binderhaeusl.de
After making our arrangements, we drove down to the Königssee to see the sights. It was too late for a boat ride, so we wandered around the shops.
Ashley is a good shopper! And a great
traveler! We went back to our rooms to unwind for a while and then walked to a pizza restaurant for dinner, as
the restaurant at the pension was closed on Mondays. It wasn't too far - ½ mile and the walk uphill coming
home did us good after all our pizza! We tried to go bowling at a place right by the restaurant, but it was closed
too. So we played another card game with Ashley and off to bed.
October 22 ~ Tuesday
After another wonderful German breakfast, we left for a visit to Salzburg. We had a little trouble finding the parking garage, and then our way to the Altstadt from there, but finally arrived. We visited 2 or 3 churches - St. Peter and it's cemetery, the Dom, and another, along with the shops along the streets.
- - -
We also went to our first Internet café
to send a couple of messages. After walking for a few hours, we took a buggy ride to rest our tired legs and then
went back to the parking garage to try to find our way out of town! We drove to Obersalzburg and Larry went in
to see the new Dokumentation Museum, all about Hitler and Eagle's Nest. We three girls tried to take a little walk
in the woods there, but it started raining, so we just waited in the car. On the way home we stopped at a grocery
store - bought snacks, beer, wine, mustard - everything seems so reasonably priced. I went for a walk exploring
the area after we got home - couldn't get anyone else to join me. We had dinner in the restaurant at the pension.
This is a very nice hotel - would recommend it to anyone visiting Berchtesgaden. After dinner we played cards again.
Tomorrow we will leave early for Oberammergau and Füssen. We saw a family today in Salzburg that we had seen
in Berchtesgaden the day before. We always seem to see some of the same people in numerous sites, even if they
are far apart.
October 23 ~ Wednesday
A beautiful morning dawns. After breakfast, we drove back up to the Dokumentation Museum to buy the video Larry wanted, and then took photos on our way down the mountain. Such beautiful scenery as we drove to Oberammergau. This was the warmest, sunniest day so far. We toured the Altstadt, saw the Passion Play theater, admired the paintings on all the buildings, and of course visited some of the shops!
- - -
We had lunch at tables outside, and Larry finally found some red cabbage and potato pancakes!
We decided to go on to Füssen so we would be there to see the castles in the morning. It started to rain as we got in the car - seems to be our good luck that it hasn't rained when we want to walk around, only when we are driving. The road from Oberammergau was very beautiful - narrow lanes and isolated through the woods. After 3 stops to inspect lodging, we settle on -
Hotel Gasthof zur
Post
Münchener-Str. 5
87645 Schwangau
Tel - 08362/98210 ~ Fax - 08362/982155
Email - postwirt-schwangau@t-online.de
Then off to a grocery store again to replenish our stock. Relaxed in the room for a while
and then walked around the area before
settling on a restaurant for dinner. We walked past a barn, seemingly in the middle of everything, where the cows
were being milked inside. After dinner, it was back to the hotel for card games with Ashley. She continues to be
our entertainment - enjoying it so much. She has a great personality and seems so mature for only 11 years.
October 24 ~ Thursday
An early breakfast and we are off to visit Neuschwanstein Castle. We bought our tickets and left to take the "short cut" the lady at the ticket booth told us about. Seems we misunderstood her directions, had a nice hike up the mountain, almost dying as it was so steep, but making it in time for our tour. We had seen the castle 12 years ago, and it was fun to see it again.
We left there and headed back to Rothenburg. We told Ashley we were going to Heidelberg next, so she was pleasantly surprised when we pulled into the parking area by the wall where we usually park. Rothenburg was her favorite city and she had wanted to go back there, but we told her we couldn't. We tried a couple of different hotels, but finally decided to go with Gasthof Zur Schranne again. After getting unloaded, we had a beer in the hotel restaurant and then went up to the shops again. During the afternoon, Larry took Ashley to visit the Medieval Crime and Punishment Museum, which she found very interesting. Hope it didn't give her any ideas for when her younger brother starts bothering her! We went to dinner about 6:30 to an Italian restaurant - pizza for Ashley again. The restaurant is Larry's favorite hangout while the girls do their shopping! We wanted to be done eating by 8 so we could catch the Night Watchman's tour. Our timing was perfect, waiting only about 5 minutes. Ashley made friends with a little four year old girl named Courtney, whose family was also taking the tour, and spent most of the tour walking with her or carrying her! Her baby sitting skills were taking over. They were from the state of Washington, and knew Rick Steves! The tour was most enjoyable - it now costs 4 Euros, and the Night Watchman also sells a book and tape.
After the tour we went back to the Trinkstube Zur Höll with Courtney, her father and her grandmother. On arriving, we had to share a table with another couple. They had also been on the tour. They were from Tulsa, OK and were in Germany picking up a new BMW and vacationing! After a beer and visiting for a while, we all went back to our hotels about 11:00. Late night for us!
October 25 ~ Friday
We slept in a little later today. Larry and I went for a short walk around the back streets of town, noticing again that the flowers in the window boxes are still beautiful. Some of the geranium boxes had been replanted with fall/winter varieties of a purple or white spike-flowered plant. We saw small pots of them for sale in a lot of stores, in several of the areas we had visited. The label said it was "calluna". They were mixed together with evergreen boughs, and sometimes a plant I call "dusty miller" was also added, and it made a striking arrangement. I have looked in all our flower books but haven't been able to find this plant. They were also selling a lot of fall arrangements that were mixed with evergreens. We met Angie and Ashley for breakfast, and then we all walked back to the center square to resume shopping! Saw little Courtney and her family out shopping too. For lunch, it was a quick Bratwurst and leave for Heidelberg. The trip toward Heidelberg was very slow. It was raining as we drove, and there was lots of traffic, taking us much longer than we had anticipated. The leaves are still on most trees, in shades of yellows, rusts, and greens. There is a definite absence of reds. The grass and fields are still very green - it could be summer except for the colors on the trees. Since it was almost 4 pm when we finally got close to Heidelberg, we decided to bypass the city and go on to Michelstadt, our next destination. After circling the Altstadt several times without seeing the hotel we were looking for, we stopped to ask directions to the
Hotel-Restaurant "Drei
Hasen"
Bes. Ernst Müller
Braunstraße 5
64720 Michelstadt
Tel - 06061/71017 ~ Fax - 06061/72596
Email - dreihasen@t-online.de
Armed with instructions, we found ourselves
in the back of the hotel. We wouldn't have known it was the right place, but they had their logo on the building,
which I had seen on the email I had received from them prior to our trip. The owner spoke excellent English, and
we were able to get 2 rooms for the night. We were a day early, having made reservations for the following night
thinking we would be in Heidelberg first. We took a walk in the rain, then stopped for a drink in a little corner
pub where they had lots of mugs hanging over the bar with names on them of the regulars. We had a nice dinner in
the hotel restaurant. A couple from Canada came in to eat and we visited with them. Then off to our room for our
card playing ritual before bed.
October 26 ~ Saturday
We were up early enough to go for a walk around town before meeting for breakfast at 8:45. After eating, we organized the suitcases, finding enough room for all of our purchases over the last 7 days! Thank goodness we brought along an extra empty bag too, just in case! We all strolled around town for an hour or two, seeing the sights. This is a quaint little town.
On one little street, very near the center
of town, we passed an apartment building, and a brewery, on one side of the street, and on the other, a small grassy
area between 2 homes, with 6 sheep grazing! One of those sights we come to expect in Germany, but are always amazed
by! By 12:30, after purchasing pretzels and a loaf of Bauernbrot to take home, we were ready to head toward Frankfurt.
We wanted to find a place to stay closer to the airport, for Sunday morning's flight. We drove for over 3 hours,
stopping in several towns trying to find a suitable hotel. It was the most stressful search of the trip. We finally
ended up on Autobahn 3, heading away from Frankfurt! Our search ended when we drove through the town of Goldbach.
We had really only gotten about 45 kilometers closer to Frankfurt with all that driving! We had to ring the private
doorbell of a residence, not knowing if it was the owner of the hotel for sure. We were desperate people by now
- thank goodness it was the right thing to do. The owners turned out to be delightful hosts - the man spoke English
and served us at their bar while we visited with them for an hour before going to our rooms. It is a family run
hotel - Hotel MaSell (Aschaffenburger Str. 54, 63773
Goldbach, Tel -6021/5953 ) - and the son is the chef for the restaurant. We made reservations for dinner and went
to our rooms to finally relax. Ashley was up for a card game, so we agreed. At 6:30 we went to dinner starving,
as we had missed lunch during our stressful search! It was "wild game" week in this area, or at least
at this restaurant. Angie and Larry had Wildschwein (boar), Ashley had a Wienerschnitzel, and I had Schweinmedallions
with vegetables. Delicious was everyone's opinion! A wonderful long relaxing dinner, and then off to bed for our
departure tomorrow. We turned the clocks back one hour tonight, so that will help
October 27 ~ Sunday
We have to get up early this morning to finish packing and then to our last wonderful German breakfast for a while again. After breakfast, we paid our room bill, and also our dinner and cocktail bill from the previous night. The Germans are so trusting, in that you do not pay for your lodging until you check out of your room! It was a very rainy morning so we were glad we only had a 25-30 minute drive to the airport, and all on the autobahn. It could have been very foggy in the hills and back roads coming from Michelstadt, had we remained there for another night as we were contemplating. We found the car rental return with no problems, and got a couple of carts to load our luggage onto. Inside the airport, we find a long line waiting to check in for our flight. After an hour or so in line, with tickets in hand, we went up to the eating area for a final beer and Fanta (Ashley's favorite). We tried to find something else to spend our leftover Euros on; not succeeding, Angie and I tried to find an exchange booth while Larry and Ashley went to the gate to check in. None of the exchange booths were open, so we headed back to our gate, almost missing the plane!! Larry and Ashley were anxiously awaiting our arrival! They had been denied boarding because Ashley didn't have her passport. Angie had it with her. Before the plane took off, the captain announced that is was the last flight for Captain "so and so" as he was retiring. We thought it a poor choice of words….. He told us not to be alarmed as 4 fire trucks lined up and sprayed the plane with water as we left the gate. That is the tradition to honor the retiring pilot. The crew also passed a little book around to all the passengers, so they could write a note to the pilot on his retirement if they wanted to. After landing in Pittsburgh, the captain again announced that 2 fire trucks would spray an arch of water over the plane as we turned into our gate. We didn't care what they did then, as we had landed safely and everyone was glad it hadn't been their "last flight" too! Going through customs was very confusing - we had to reclaim our checked luggage - go through customs - then go back to same area and recheck the luggage! Then get in line again to go through screening security once more. It was very crowded into a small area. We felt sorry for the Germans as there were no German signs to help them figure out what was going on, as there are English signs in Frankfurt. Guess most of them know enough English, as they won't be able to stop people anywhere and ask if they speak German, as we do in Germany asking if they speak English! Ashley had asked one night after dinner if our waitresses here in the US speak German, since the ones in Germany speak English! We stopped by a TGIF to catch the football scores. After finding out the Bills had won their game, we headed off to our gate for the commuter flight home to Johnstown. The rest of the family was there to meet us and we were glad to be back safe and sound, having enjoyed a wonderful adventure.
