Rhine Gorge; Black Forest; Switzerland; Bavaria; Rothenburg o.d.T.
I had always wanted to take the family to Germany, and decided that 2004 was the year, because I don’t expect many
more chances for a family trip like this. I wanted them to have an international experience before they went off
on their own. My son Mark is entering his senior year of high school, and daughter Julie will be a junior. Both
sides of our family are of 100% German ancestry, so it would be nice to see the country from which our great-grandparents
had emigrated. In preparation for the trip I did a great deal of research, primarily on the web. We feel most comfortable
knowing that we have accommodations in advance, so before we left, I made reservations for all but the last two
nights lodging. In addition to Ben’s Bauernhof, I found many municipal sites that had lodging information. I used
the Google translator tool quite often.
We live in Batavia, Illinois, and left home for O’Hare Airport at 2:00 pm on June 21. By 4:00 we were checked in
and awaiting our American Airlines flight to Frankfort. I was surprised that the plane was not completely full.
The flight was smooth and uneventful. The forecast had indicated rain over most of Germany for our first week.
I hoped the rain wouldn’t be too heavy.
We arrived in Frankfurt on the morning of June 22, somewhat tired due to the short night and from sleeping in an
airline seat. After collecting our luggage we set off to find the car rental counter. We had reserved a mid-sized
car at Sixt, through Gemütlicheit
Travel. They looked at our reservation like it was
different than usual. Fortunately, I had copies of all the correspondence with Gemütlicheit. I don’t know
if all the usual mid-sized cars were out, or if the counter agent, seeing our pile of luggage felt sorry for us
(women in my family do not travel light), but they gave us a free upgrade to a BMW mid-sized wagon. It was brand
new; less than 30 Km on the odometer. We checked it over, and hit the Autobahn. I had forgotten how fun it was
to drive a five-speed manual transmission car. I was happy to do all the driving. The sky was overcast, but there
was no rain.
After crossing the Rhine we followed the signs toward Bacharach. I stopped in the first town to hit an ATM cash
station for Euros. It didn’t take long to make a wrong turn, and then spend 15 minutes getting back due to the
winding roads and one way streets. Flush with Euros, we headed north to Bacharach. Only a few more wrong turns
before we found our pension, the Im Malerwinkel. Hey, the scenery was good, so perhaps we missed some signs. I
found this one on Ben’s web site, and subsequently saw it in Rick Steve’s book also.
Hotel-Pension Im
Malerwinkel
Family Vollmer
Blücherstraße 41-45
55422 Bacharach am Rhein
Tel - 06743/1239 ~~ Fax - 06743/93407
Email - thv@sparkasse.net
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After checking in, Julie laid down for a nap. Sue,
Mark, and I climbed the path to the old castle at the top of the bluff, now turned into a youth hostel (Burg Stahleck). There were lots of kids, about 11 – 12 years old. There were only
a few chaperones, who appeared to have their hands full. We talked to a couple that had hiked up from the railroad
station with their luggage. After staying one night, they moved back down to town, because the kids were a bit
overwhelming for them. We hiked back down to town, and marveled at the church ruins. We woke up Julie, and went
out for pizza. After dinner, we walked around town, doing some window shopping. We were amazed at how small the
garages were. I would hit my head twice a day if I lived here.
June 23: Frühstück included cereal, a soft boiled egg, cheese, sausage, rolls, and bread. It included
plenty of jam, cream cheese, and Nutella for spreads. Julie purloined some Nutella to eat later.
Our plan for the day was to take a cruise down the river to St. Goar and visit the Rheinfels castle ruins. While
walking through town before the cruise, a guide for a walking tour invited us to accompany them. It was a Rick
Steve’s tour. We spent a few minutes listening to the history of Bacharach, and then headed to the river; we didn’t
want to be late. It was a great day for a cruise.
We hiked up to Rheinfels castle. Only a fraction of the castle remains, but it was still large.
We explored for about two hours, roughly following the Rick Steve’s guidebook. It was quite a place. We stopped
for coffee and Kuchen in town before going back to the boat. Between us, we shared rhubarb, apple, and cherry.
We sat at a table in the street, relaxing and taking in the ambiance. This is exactly what I hoped the trip would
be like.
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After lingering over coffee, we had to hustle to catch our boat. They were about to pull up the gangplank as we ran up. Another leisurely cruise sitting on deck, spotting castles, and looking at the vineyards. That night we had dinner at the Restaurant Rustica, which had been recommended by another tourist we had talked to earlier in the day. It had a “recommended by Rick Steves” sign in the window. The whole town seemed to revolve around Rick Steves. It appeared that most of the tourists were carrying copies of his book (us included). The owner chatted with us for a while. She estimated that 80% of her customers were non-German. I had chicken, Mark had Sauerbraten, and Sue and Julie had Spätzle. It was served in a cream sauce, which they both liked. Sue and I enjoyed a glass of local wine.
June 24. This morning Mark and I ran up the trail to the castle, then back down to the valley along the road. Mark is on his high school cross country team, and he had intentions of staying in shape. I had trouble keeping up. Good son that he is, he occasionally stopped and waited for me. We got back and showered in time to meet Sue and Julie for breakfast. After checking out, we headed out for Braubach, and Marksburg castle. We took the ferry across the river in St. Goar, and headed north. I followed the signs to the castle, but evidently missed one. The road kept winding up a small valley, and when we finally reached the top and the trees gave way to open plains; there was no castle in sight. I spotted a sign for a Krematoreum – I could interpret that without a phrase book. As I pulled in to turn around, a hearse was pulling out. I got out of the car and flagged down the driver, hoping to get some directions. Between his English, my German, and my sign language, I was unsuccessful. When I got back to the car, my family was laughing. Seems my sign language had been quite amusing. I headed back the way we had come, and as we entered town, I saw the turnoff to the castle. I am sure this story will be embellished by my family over time.
Marksburg castle is the only one on the Rhine that had never been destroyed. It was
a good contrast to the other castles that we had seen. After purchasing our tickets, we perused the gift shop,
staying a bit too long, and missed the next tour. Fifteen minutes later, we were the first in line. The tour guide
spoke only German, but there were a few other Americans on the tour, including a minister that had been there before.
We were also provided with a pamphlet in English that described the tour. A bit later, the next tour caught up
to us. It was led by an English speaking tour guide, so we switched.
After the castle, we headed to Koblenz to get on the Autobahn and
drive down to Offenburg, in the Black Forest. It took three hours to get to our Gasthaus in the little town of
Griesheim, about 5 Km from Offenburg. The guest rooms had been rehabbed in the last year. They were a bit small,
but acceptable since the rooms were newly renovated. I had chosen this hotel because it was only a few kilometers
from the Autobahn, and our plans for the next day were to drive to Europa Park. It was also in a small village.
We like the relaxation provided by small villages and out of the way places. Our rooms looked out on the back courtyard,
where tables were set up for outdoor dining.
Gasthaus-Hotel Adler
Griesheimer Straße 34
77652 Offenburg/Griesheim
Tel - 0781/9239960 ~ Fax - 0781/9239961
Email - adler@adler-griesheim.de
After settling in, we drove in to Offenburg to look around and find a place for dinner. The old part of town had
been converted to a pedestrian zone. It was Thursday evening, but the town was bustling. We passed a number of
restaurants, and settled on the Zum Andres, because the food being served in their sidewalk café looked
good. The waiter spoke little English, but I could make out enough words on the menu to help everyone choose an
entrée (with a bit of help from the phase book). Between us, we had Tortellini with spinach, Schweineschnitzel,
chicken cordon bleu, and salad. The waiter brought out huge servings; we could not eat it all. He thought we were
English; he said that it was rare to see an American. After dinner, we strolled along the pedestrian zone. A children’s
band was playing on a stage, and we stopped to listen. The ambiance was much different here than in Bacharach.
It’s everyday Germany, not touristy.
We headed back to Griesheim. I ended up following another car onto the pedestrian zone, and then saw a police car
in my rear view mirror. I did my best to drive slowly and carefully. The police car passed me.
June 25: Today was Friday. It appears that we are the only ones staying in the hotel tonight. Frühstück
included cold cuts, cheese, fresh bread and rolls, with jam and yogurt. Our plan today was to go to Europa Park, a theme
park complete with Disney type rides. This was to be a treat for the kids, since I am not especially fond of such
places. We had taken them to Disneyworld when they were younger, and I tell them that the next time I go to Disneyworld
it will be with my grandchildren. I figured that a park in Europe would be different enough to be enjoyable. It
proved interesting right from the start. As we were walking towards the entrance, a cell phone landed on the ground
next to the walkway. Someone riding Europe’s largest roller coaster obviously didn’t secure the phone very well.
Sue and I watched the people while Mark and Julie went on that roller coaster. I was struck by how different the
shoes were. Much more fashionable than I see in Illinois. Many of the rides were similar to Disneyworld, such as
Piraten en Batavia,
similar to Pirates of the Caribbean. We live in Batavia, Illinois, so we had to see what Piraten were like. It
was a full day that ended at their new gladiator stunt show. We couldn’t understand what they were saying, but
it didn’t matter. It was fun.
After snacking at the park most of the day, we were not very hungry. Julie and I had Kartoffelsuppe in the courtyard.
I had a Kronen beer, Julie an AppelSchorle. My sister, who had lived in Augsburg for a number of years, had recommended
AppelSchorle. It was a refreshing drink. Sue took our picture from the window of her room.
June 26: After breakfast on Saturday, we drove across the border into France. Just to say we were in France, and
to see the city of Strasbourg. After driving around the city center, we decided that it was too big a city for
us, and left without ever getting out of the car. We went back to Offenburg, where a farmers market was set up
on the pedestrian mall. We bought Bratwurst from a street vendor, some cherries to eat later, spices to take home,
and a bottle of Kirschwasser from a local farmer. I will enjoy it in my coffee when I get home. We browsed a couple
of department stores just to see how the merchandise was different.
After lunch we drove to Triberg. Stopped at a clock shop, but we decided to repair the ones that are already in
our basement rather than buy a new one. We stopped at a market for some groceries for lunches later (bread, Nutella,
juice, pretzels, crackers, raspberry Schnapps), then headed for the tourist district of Triberg. We found a spot
to park amid all the other cars and tour buses, and visited the wood carving shops. A lot of nice work, but nothing
that we just had to have. I did notice that the Schnapps that I had purchased at the market was three times that
price here in the tourist shops. I was glad that we were not staying in Triberg. On the way back we stopped in
Hornberg to see the castle. It was much less touristy, and would be a nice place to stay on some future trip. The
road to the castle was narrow. People here keep sheep in their yards – what’s not to like? We parked at the hotel
at the top, and Mark, Julie, and I walked up to the ruins. Sue was tired and elected to stay in the car. It was
a magnificent view. On our drive back down, Sue expressed regret that she did not walk up with us. No problem;
we headed back. When we got back, two tour buses had disgorged passengers at a lot about a Km down from the hotel.
Buses were not allowed to drive all the way up, so the bus passengers were walking up the road. A few moved to
the side of the road to let us pass, but the majority glanced at us over their shoulders, and remained in the middle
of the road. People talk about the ugly American, but these were German tourists. They were pretty rude.
That night we ate in the courtyard at the hotel. Sue had the Kartoffelsuppe, Mark had salmon, Julie Spätzle,
and I had Leberle mit Brägele. I figured that this was liver with broccoli, and through sign language with
the waitress, confirmed that Leberle was indeed calf liver, but found that Brägele was potatoes sliced thin
and fried. Like what we call American fries. Julie’s Spätzle was prepared with onion and cheese, like my sister
makes it. After dinner we walked through the village. We took umbrellas just in case, as there was a light mist.
We stopped at the town’s war memorial, which listed the names of village residents that had been killed in WWI
and WWII. The war was devastating for families here, too. We admired the gardens and flower boxes that were present
at every home. There was a band playing at a local park, and we stopped and listened to a few songs before heading
back to the hotel.
June 27, Sunday: Last night the hotel had been fully booked. After checking out, Sue noticed that the rooms across
the hall from ours were much larger than ours. We thought it odd that we had been given the smaller rooms for three
nights, and others were given the better rooms though they were only staying one night. We did learn from this
that it is important to ask to see multiple rooms, though we never had reason to do so for the rest of the trip.
Today we drove down to Engelberg, Switzerland to visit with a friend of my sister’s. Edwin came to the US for the
first time ten years ago and stayed with my sister for two months while working on their farm and learning English.
He found my sister through a friend of a friend of a friend that had hosted my sister on her 4-H exchange trip
twenty years ago. He has come back to visit her every fall for the last ten years. We couldn’t take a trip to Europe
without stopping to visit Edwin.
Engelberg is a resort town, but not marketed to Americans. Our lodging was at the Hotel
Garni Belmont, a 3 story hotel owned by friends of Edwin. The young couple that ran the hotel had 2 and 4 year
old toddlers. Their English was quite good. The wife also spoke Romansh, a minor Swiss language.
Hotel Garni Belmont
Familie Kuster-Cathomen
Dorfstrasse 54
CH-6390 Engelberg,
Switzerland
Tel - 41/6372423 ~ Fax - 41/6372923
Email - info@belmont-engelberg.ch
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The hotel had recently been remodeled, and it was fabulous. Julie wanted to stay longer, just because the rooms were so nice. That night we went out for pizza, and found there is nothing inexpensive about Switzerland. By the time we got back to the hotel, it started to rain, so we made it an early night. That night on TV I saw something that I never could have envisioned: Hogan’s Hero’s reruns dubbed in German.
June 28: The next morning the mountains were cloaked in fog. Edwin’s advice was to go to Lucerne, because the clouds in the mountains were not expected to break. Lucerne was nice, but we really aren’t city people. We enjoyed the swans in the river, walked around the downtown area, stopped at the grocery store and bought spaghetti to cook for supper, and beer for later. While sitting on our balcony enjoying a beer in the afternoon, we watched the gardener work. He was mowing the grass with a power lawn mower that had no wheels. The deck just glided over the grass. I was fascinated.
The morning of June 29 broke to clear skies and bright sunshine. We walked the few blocks to the cable car and started our trip to the top of Mt. Titlis. Three trams and one hour later, we walked out on to what looked like the top of the world. Views were magnificent. We all took a few rides on the snow-tube run on the glacier. Edwin gave us a tour of the top, including their new snow grooming equipment. What a place to work.
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On the way down, Mark and I chose to hike part of the way back. From Trübsee, we followed a well maintained path down switchbacks, with great views at every turn. Mark did his impression of a mountain goat, and skipped down the mountain. We crossed a meadow full of Brown Swiss cows, complete with bells. It was like walking in a picture postcard.
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Edwin invited us to dinner that night with his family and his neighbors. He grilled sausages, pork, and lamb. His mother brought bread and side dishes. His father brought Mosht, a hard cider type of drink. I brought beer that I had purchased in Lucerne. The kids had Rivella, which became my daughter’s favorite beverage. Edwin’s sister operates a farm in Engelberg. She came with a Dutch girl that had come to work for them making hay for the summer, before starting college. Hay making is a manual process in Engelberg. From the tram we had seen farmers in their fields using scythes to cut the grass, and hand rakes to gather it. I grew up on a farm, and haymaking was hard enough when using machinery; I could only imagine the amount of work required in doing it all by hand.
June 30: We left for Hopferau, Germany, a small village just north of Füssen. It was a long day of driving;
I am glad the scenery was good. I had reservations to stay at a farm recommended on Ben’s Bauernhof website, but
when we arrived, the proprietor told us they had no rooms for us. We went back to the tourist information center
in Hopferau, and within 10 minutes we had zimmers just down the street. This time we had one double Zimmer and
two single Zimmer for 16 Euro per person per night. The kids were thrilled to have their own rooms. Two of the
rooms shared a large balcony, perfect for relaxing while drinking a beer.
The Zimmer was run by Frau Schmölz, and was on the main street, just a short walk from everything in town
(including a dairy barn across the street and a half block down). Herr Schmölz runs a heating company, and
also raises small horses, which were stabled behind the house. I do not have contact information for this place,
and they are not listed on the Hopferau web site, but lodging in the area can be found at http://www.heimen-hopferau.de/hopf/index.htm.
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With our limited German we arranged time for breakfast, and then took a walk around town. We stopped to watch cows being milked. It was very similar to how I had done it when I was young, though here the cows faced the middle of the barn.
For dinner, Sue had spaghetti; I had Schweinhaxe, Mark Apfelstrudel with Eis, and Julie noodle soup, followed by Eis. After dinner, Sue, Mark, and I took another walk, this time through the residential area. We watched kids riding ponies, and found a friendly cat to pet. When we got back to our Zimmer we met the owner’s daughter, home for a six week visit. It was her children riding the ponies. She now lives in Naperville, Illinois, which is the town where I work.
July 1: Thursday we went to visit Neuschwanstein. It is easy to see why it is such an attraction. Quite different from the other castles that we had visited. This wasn’t a castle as much as it was a palace. Afterward, we drove into Austria to go to a luge ride that Rick Steves recommended in his guidebook. It was closed. We went back to the small luge near Neuschwanstein. The kids each got to ride once before they closed it due to a light misty rain. I suggested stopping at the small church nearby (St. Coloman). Knowing how elaborate churches could be, I convinced the family just to step in for a quick look. We stayed longer than they had expected; they were amazed at the rococo style architecture.
Back in Hopferau we bought a basket of strawberries and stopped at a bakery for apple cake and some cherry tarts.
We ate them on our balcony for supper, as we listened to the bells of the local church ring. I like it here.
July 2: Friday’s plan was to drive to Rothenburg o.d.T. after a side trip to Dachau. Munich was not in our travel
plans, but Sue didn’t want to miss the chance to visit a concentration camp and experience that history. The tour
in Dachau was good, marred only once by an inconsiderate woman talking on her cell phone, oblivious to the people
listening to the tour guide. The Autobahn leaving Munich was just as crowded at the Eisenhower expressway coming
out of Chicago. Back to the small towns for us.
We didn’t have a reservation for tonight, so I exited the Autobahn
at Ausfahrt 109, to look for a place to stay that was near Rothenburg, but not too close. I have grown fond of
the towns that are too small to be listed on our Michelin map of Germany. We found the Land-Gasthof Schwarzer Adler
in Unteroestheim. It was another picture perfect Gasthof, with very large rooms and a balcony. Though it is a tough
choice, I would have to declare this one as my favorite Gasthaus of the trip.
Landgasthof
Schwarzer Adler
Fam. Wildermann
An der "Romantischen Straße"
Würzburger Straße 8
91583 Diebach-Unteroestheim
Tel - 09868/845 ~ Fax - 09868/7374
Email - SchwAdler1@aol.com
We ate at the Gasthof; there was no other restaurant
in town. I ordered the special, which I could tell was stuffed cabbage leaves. The family also runs a farm, and
they serve their own produce. The food was very good. While some of the family speaks English, the waitress did
not. But we got by, and the process of ordering was a lot of the fun. True to our usual, we took a walk after dinner.
There were maps in town showing Wanderwegs, or hiking/biking trails, interconnecting through the whole region.
The Gasthof owners also ran a dairy farm next door to the hotel, so I again got to watch the cows being milked.
I wish we could stay here another couple of nights.
July 3: Up and packed, we drive the few kilometers to Rothenburg. Our first activity is to walk the wall. It wasn’t
long before someone calls Mark’s name. It was a young man who had been in Mark’s scout troop, and was spending
the summer backpacking through Europe with his sister. We had spent many Saturdays with his parents watching our
kids play soccer. What a coincidence. We walked around town, admiring the old buildings. Sue bought some prints
to take home and frame. We did stop at the Christmas market, but that didn’t keep our interest long. We left to
enjoy the Castle garden and look out over the bluff.
Mid-afternoon we left to find a hotel closer to the airport. It was Saturday, and there was no truck traffic on
the Autobahn. They were replaced by cars pulling travel-trailers. We found an older Gasthaus, decorated from the
70’s, (perhaps the 60’s), the Gasthaus zur Krone in Seligenstadt, about 15 - 20 minutes east of Frankfurt airport.
Seligenstadt appeared to be an industrial town; everything was more drab.
Hotel-Restaurant
Zur Krone
Freihofplatz 4
63500 Seligenstadt
Tel - 3727/26096 ~ Fax - 3727/20809
Centrally located in historical building, Biergarten, Breakfast buffet
600 mtrs to train station
It was dated, but was very clean, and the proprietor
went out of his way to be helpful. After settling in, I asked about the location of a grocery store so we could
purchase some chocolate to take home. Unfortunately it was just after 5:00, and the stores closed at 5:00 on Saturday.
I went downstairs to the restaurant for my last draft beer of the trip.
July 4. We head home today. Not wanting to take a chance on missing a flight, we left early. We checked in the
car with no problem, though it was very dirty. We arrived at the check-in counter two hours before it opened, but
we were not the first. We sat on our luggage and did some people watching, and talking to others in line, comparing
trips. When the counter finally opened, we were selected for a complete baggage inspection. All of our suitcases
were opened, and questions asked of all family members. Ah, well – it does give a feeling of safety to see that
they take security seriously. We found a duty free shop where we loaded up on chocolate.
The flight home was uneventful, though seemed much longer than the flight over. It was a great trip; I want to
go back. Perhaps in 2006...
