There was only one museum in Berlin David really wanted to see called the Pergamon Museum. He easily navigated our way there on the tram. It is so cool how he figures out the mass transit systems everywhere we go!!!
We arrived at the museum and, of course, there was a line waiting to buy tickets. I guess we waited about 45 minutes to get in but the weather was pleasant so it was OK. The building itself is gigantic and gorgeous! The construction of this building started in 1910 and the museum opened in 1930. David had read about this museum and wanted to see the original-sized reconstructed monumental buildings such as the Pergamon Altar and the Market Gate of Miletus. Luckily they had audio guides available so I could learn what I was looking at. These displays are unbelievably beautiful and it is amazing that they were able to re-construct these inside a museum. I can't really describe them . . . you'll have to wait for the pictures. In essence, German archeologists deconstructed, labeled, then transported, and reconstructed these massive altars, gates, and facades within the museum. Leave it to the Germans to pull of these incredible engineering feats!
We spent so much time at this museum that we didn't have time for anything else that day. We went back to the hotel and decided we wanted Italian food for dinner. In our room the hotel provided a magazine wherein the hotel employees recommended their favorite places to eat in the neighborhood so I consulted it for an Italian restaurant. One of the employees recommended basi'l which sounded good because they make their own pasta there.
bas'l was a very cool, hip restaurant!!! David and I both sat on the same side of an elevated table on a high, cushion-y couch with our backs against the wall. This positioned us to face the kitchen which was open and located in the front of the restaurant. Of course, it was interesting to watch. We had great wine with a cheese plate for a starter. When you order pasta you pick the kind of noodles you want and the sauce. David had a gorgonzola cheese sauce with some kind of nuts in it and fettuccine noodles; it was a sweet sauce. I had bolognese sauce with regular spaghetti noodles. Guess I was feeling like traditional spaghetti. Both dishes were delicious! We wanted dessert but we were too full. We decided to walk back to the hotel and then if we wanted dessert, we could get it in our hotel restaurant.
So guess what? We did decide we wanted dessert. I had a great, very dense brownie and David had a gooey chocolate torte. How could we possibly be expected to go to sleep without dessert??? Each day we think we're going to get bored or get homesick or both, but we keep finding incredible things to do, interesting people to meet, and delicious things to eat! We fell asleep watching the international track meet being broadcast from Moscow. When they interviewed the athletes, David translated for me, and of course, he made everything up, but it didn't matter. What a wonderful vacation we are having!!!
MONDAY IN BERLIN (August 19, 2013)
What a fun, different day we had today! We were dragging a bit from yesterday's long walking tour of Berlin, so we thought we'd try to stay off of our feet a little more than we have. David decided he needed a haircut and I decided I needed a manicure. He also wanted to go to Zinn Figuren, a store he had read about where they make and paint their own metal toy soldiers. We had also read about a department store there, Kaufhaus des Westens, more widely known as KaDeWe and we wanted to see how it compared to Harrod's. It was built in 1905 and opened in 1907.
After breakfast we headed out to check out a nail shop just one street over from the hotel. We found it easily but they had no openings for appointments for the entire week! We walked a few more blocks to a place where David was told he could get his haircut and it was a walk in place so he decided to get a haircut then and there. I walked back to the hotel and called the nail salon at KaDeWe and was able to get an appointment for 6:30 that evening.
When David returned, we headed out to do a little shopping. David was able to navigate the subway to get us to KaDeWe, located in southwestern Berlin. First off we decided to have something to eat. When we entered the store a security guard greeted us and David asked him where we could have lunch. He named like five restaurants in the store!!! We went to the chocolate cafe (of course) and you know we both loved that. I had an ice cream sundae with chocolate ice cream and vanilla sauce which was wonderful and David had warm rice pudding with cinnamon. He said it was the best dessert of the trip! Really???
We then decided to part ways for awhile and David left me there while he went to Zinn Figuren to shop. We set a time to meet later at the department store. I carefully walked around each and every floor. It was chock full of designer shops and designer shoes but I really didn't find anything I wanted to buy. The store itself was much more friendly and welcoming than Harrod's in London, that's for sure!
I finished shopping before the set time to meet David so I went outside to enjoy the nice weather and people watch. I walked across the plaza to a bank and withdrew more euro. I still had a little while to wait so I sat down on the steps on the side of the department store. I sat there for quite a while watching the world go by and then . . . up walks a security guard!!! I wasn't allowed to sit on the steps because it was posted "no loitering." Of course David happened to walk up right when I was being scolded by the security guard.
He was surprised I didn't buy anything -- he had better luck at Zinn Figuren. He purchased six marching German soldiers manufactured sometime between the two world wars; some were made from a material called Lineol and others were made from something called Elastolin. He also purchased another collectible soldier, metal, that was made and painted there that was a Wehrmacht soldier from 1944 in Winter dress with an MG 42 machine gun.
We still had awhile to wait until my nail appointment so we sat in the plaza and had coke lights and then walked up and down the street in front of KaDeWe where there were many more stores. We ducked into some of these stores and marveled at the cool and hip clothes.
While I got my nails done, David wandered around the toy department at KaDeWe. He said it was the biggest collection of die cast cars, trucks, farm equipment, airplanes, and motorcycles he had ever seen. He described it as die cast heaven! He said just think of a car old or new and they had it in 1/24 or 1/18 scale in die cast.
We took the subway back to our hotel offloaded our shopping bags and decided because we had been out shopping all day and were tired, we would just eat at the hotel. We had a couple of gin and tonics first, of course! I don't really remember what I had for dinner so it must not have been great. David had "pasta pockets" which were large raviolis stuffed with spinach and cheese. He really liked his dinner. Then it was bedtime for us!
After breakfast we headed out to check out a nail shop just one street over from the hotel. We found it easily but they had no openings for appointments for the entire week! We walked a few more blocks to a place where David was told he could get his haircut and it was a walk in place so he decided to get a haircut then and there. I walked back to the hotel and called the nail salon at KaDeWe and was able to get an appointment for 6:30 that evening.
When David returned, we headed out to do a little shopping. David was able to navigate the subway to get us to KaDeWe, located in southwestern Berlin. First off we decided to have something to eat. When we entered the store a security guard greeted us and David asked him where we could have lunch. He named like five restaurants in the store!!! We went to the chocolate cafe (of course) and you know we both loved that. I had an ice cream sundae with chocolate ice cream and vanilla sauce which was wonderful and David had warm rice pudding with cinnamon. He said it was the best dessert of the trip! Really???
We then decided to part ways for awhile and David left me there while he went to Zinn Figuren to shop. We set a time to meet later at the department store. I carefully walked around each and every floor. It was chock full of designer shops and designer shoes but I really didn't find anything I wanted to buy. The store itself was much more friendly and welcoming than Harrod's in London, that's for sure!
I finished shopping before the set time to meet David so I went outside to enjoy the nice weather and people watch. I walked across the plaza to a bank and withdrew more euro. I still had a little while to wait so I sat down on the steps on the side of the department store. I sat there for quite a while watching the world go by and then . . . up walks a security guard!!! I wasn't allowed to sit on the steps because it was posted "no loitering." Of course David happened to walk up right when I was being scolded by the security guard.
He was surprised I didn't buy anything -- he had better luck at Zinn Figuren. He purchased six marching German soldiers manufactured sometime between the two world wars; some were made from a material called Lineol and others were made from something called Elastolin. He also purchased another collectible soldier, metal, that was made and painted there that was a Wehrmacht soldier from 1944 in Winter dress with an MG 42 machine gun.
We still had awhile to wait until my nail appointment so we sat in the plaza and had coke lights and then walked up and down the street in front of KaDeWe where there were many more stores. We ducked into some of these stores and marveled at the cool and hip clothes.
While I got my nails done, David wandered around the toy department at KaDeWe. He said it was the biggest collection of die cast cars, trucks, farm equipment, airplanes, and motorcycles he had ever seen. He described it as die cast heaven! He said just think of a car old or new and they had it in 1/24 or 1/18 scale in die cast.
We took the subway back to our hotel offloaded our shopping bags and decided because we had been out shopping all day and were tired, we would just eat at the hotel. We had a couple of gin and tonics first, of course! I don't really remember what I had for dinner so it must not have been great. David had "pasta pockets" which were large raviolis stuffed with spinach and cheese. He really liked his dinner. Then it was bedtime for us!
SUNDAY IN BERLIN (CONTINUED) (August 18, 2013)
We thanked and tipped our tour guide Sam and bid him farewell. It was about to rain so we shared a cab back to the Hotel with a man named Chris who was staying at the Circus Hostel across the street from the Circus Hotel. Chris was a computer engineer from Montreal on temporary assignment with an automotive company outside of Frankfurt, Germany.
That night we found the real Mexican Restaurant, called Dolores. It was in the same neighborhood as Escados, so we walked there, about a mile each way. It was a small place, with maybe 8 or 10 tables lining the perimeter of the small restaurant. When we got there, people were streaming in, so we needed to decide quickly what we wanted and get a table. We each got a burrito made with the stuff we each wanted. They were fresh, hot, good, and big. Yeah, you guessed it, as big as your head! After eating French and German food for a couple of weeks, it was so good to get a messy burrito! We also got some chips and some guacamole and a chipotle sauce. We shared a table with a German couple and when they left, a Polish couple sat down with us; it was that crowded!
After dinner we shuffled back to the hotel for some much needed rest. I said this in an earlier blog, but David's feet are feeling the cumulative effect of all of our walking. He said his feet are really getting beat up, but he's not going to stop now!
SUNDAY IN BERLIN, GERMANY (August 18, 2013)
The Circus Hotel is a very "green" hotel. For instance, they do not automatically provide soap, shampoo, etc. in the hotel room, you have to request it at the front desk. Accordingly, they had a very limited buffet for breakfast but it was a very good selection. There is a sign there that asks that you not waste food. The coffee there was very good so that made me happy.
I had read online about a "free" walking tour of Berlin that left our hotel around 1:00 p.m. It's the kind of tour where you just tip the guide at the end of the tour. Since it was our first day in Berlin, we thought it was the perfect thing to get the lay of the land. We went down to the lobby and waited for the group to pick us up and get started. Our tour guy was a young British man named Sam who writes for a travel website and conducts tours as well. He was really into the history of Berlin and he was quite knowledgeable and interesting. He walked us to Museum Plaza where we met a few other guests and he pointed out the various museums and told us which ones he recommended and which ones were all in German and maybe not as good for us to see as others.
Sam gave us a very good and detailed explanation of the history of Berlin and West Berlin and East Berlin and the powers who governed them at various times. As we walked he also told us when we were in East Berlin and when we were in West Berlin. We stopped briefly at the largest chocolate store in Berlin called Fassbender and Rausch. It was amazing! They had huge displays made out of chocolate. I will post some pictures soon. The store is huge and on the second floor they have a Chocolate Cafe where some kind of chocolate is in every dish. Believe it or not David and I did NOT buy any chocolate but we tucked the location away in our minds to return later.
Sam then took us to Checkpoint Charlie which I was very excited to see but which turned out to be a tourist spectacle!!! There are actually "actors" there dressed up in Russian military uniforms who you can get your picture taken with and who fake stamp your passport. Sam told us most of them were porn stars at night! I have to say Checkpoint Charlie didn't move me like I thought it would. We stopped for a break there and some people had lunch and David and I had ice cream!
We continued on too see some sections of the Berlin Wall which still exist and that was very moving. Sam told us about how the Wall looked at the time and where the "kill zones" were. He also had some stories about people who tried to cross the wall and were killed and people who successfully crossed the wall. He talked about President Reagan's famous speech when he told Gorbachev "tear down this wall." Of course David and I remember the speech clearly and Sam remarked how much he likes it when "older" people who remember the history personally take his tour!!! That might have lowered his tip!
We then walked to the former Nazi Luftwaffe Office. It was massive as were (are) all Nazi buildings. It is typically drab, stark, and, of course huge by large. It is now being used as the finance office for the German Government. On the end of this building was painted a long mural, painted by the communists depicting "the people" in various forms of industrious endeavors. We continued our walk to an open, green area surrounded by apartments buildings. It was here where Hitler's former bunker existed underground. There was really nothing to identify it as such, other than a small placard. It looked as if most Berliners used the area to walk their dogs.
We concluded our walking tour on the Unter den Linden, the street where the Brandenburg Gate is located. It is a pretty impressive looking gate with the chariot and horse team on top. We also saw the Hotel Adlon where Michael Jackson dangled his baby out of the window to show the crowd below. Our guide told us Queen Elizabeth stayed in this Hotel and was so impressed with it that she bought a 10% interest in the hotel.
I had read online about a "free" walking tour of Berlin that left our hotel around 1:00 p.m. It's the kind of tour where you just tip the guide at the end of the tour. Since it was our first day in Berlin, we thought it was the perfect thing to get the lay of the land. We went down to the lobby and waited for the group to pick us up and get started. Our tour guy was a young British man named Sam who writes for a travel website and conducts tours as well. He was really into the history of Berlin and he was quite knowledgeable and interesting. He walked us to Museum Plaza where we met a few other guests and he pointed out the various museums and told us which ones he recommended and which ones were all in German and maybe not as good for us to see as others.
Sam gave us a very good and detailed explanation of the history of Berlin and West Berlin and East Berlin and the powers who governed them at various times. As we walked he also told us when we were in East Berlin and when we were in West Berlin. We stopped briefly at the largest chocolate store in Berlin called Fassbender and Rausch. It was amazing! They had huge displays made out of chocolate. I will post some pictures soon. The store is huge and on the second floor they have a Chocolate Cafe where some kind of chocolate is in every dish. Believe it or not David and I did NOT buy any chocolate but we tucked the location away in our minds to return later.
Sam then took us to Checkpoint Charlie which I was very excited to see but which turned out to be a tourist spectacle!!! There are actually "actors" there dressed up in Russian military uniforms who you can get your picture taken with and who fake stamp your passport. Sam told us most of them were porn stars at night! I have to say Checkpoint Charlie didn't move me like I thought it would. We stopped for a break there and some people had lunch and David and I had ice cream!
We continued on too see some sections of the Berlin Wall which still exist and that was very moving. Sam told us about how the Wall looked at the time and where the "kill zones" were. He also had some stories about people who tried to cross the wall and were killed and people who successfully crossed the wall. He talked about President Reagan's famous speech when he told Gorbachev "tear down this wall." Of course David and I remember the speech clearly and Sam remarked how much he likes it when "older" people who remember the history personally take his tour!!! That might have lowered his tip!
We then walked to the former Nazi Luftwaffe Office. It was massive as were (are) all Nazi buildings. It is typically drab, stark, and, of course huge by large. It is now being used as the finance office for the German Government. On the end of this building was painted a long mural, painted by the communists depicting "the people" in various forms of industrious endeavors. We continued our walk to an open, green area surrounded by apartments buildings. It was here where Hitler's former bunker existed underground. There was really nothing to identify it as such, other than a small placard. It looked as if most Berliners used the area to walk their dogs.
We concluded our walking tour on the Unter den Linden, the street where the Brandenburg Gate is located. It is a pretty impressive looking gate with the chariot and horse team on top. We also saw the Hotel Adlon where Michael Jackson dangled his baby out of the window to show the crowd below. Our guide told us Queen Elizabeth stayed in this Hotel and was so impressed with it that she bought a 10% interest in the hotel.
SATURDAY TRAVELING FROM ROTHENBURG TO BERLIN (August 17, 2013)
We really hated leaving Rothenburg but we needed to catch our train to Berlin. I had received an "alert" email from the German train authorities but I didn't pay much attention to it because it was in German, however, as far as we could tell, it looked like it just added a stop to our route. Kind of a mistake because the stop it added was the stop we should have gotten off to be rerouted to Berlin on a different train! But I digress.
We had our usual fabulous breakfast at the hotel and were preparing to head to the train station. Uhle told us that her husband, Klaus, was driving another couple to Wurzburg and we could ride along if we wanted to and that would save us from having to change trains two times just to get to Wurzburg. Sounded good to us so we hopped into the van and had about an hour's drive with a very nice young German couple. David sat up front and spoke German with Klaus and I sat in the back and talked to the couple. They were on holiday -- he was on a break from school and she was on a break from working two jobs. Very ambitious young couple and I enjoyed talking to them. The young woman told me she had been to the United States and loved Los Angeles. We found that of the German people we talked to who had been to the States, Los Angeles was their first choice to visit. She had also visited Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon. The couple plan to live in the States and the young man hopes to complete his education here.
We had an uneventful train ride for the first leg of the trip and I even asked the ticket taker if our reservations were good (after showing him our tickets) -- in other words, should I have paid attention to the alert I had received. He assured me that everything was fine. We arrived in Gottingen only to discover our train to Berlin was cancelled! Luckily David knew enough German to talk to employees at the station and we were able to add another connection to the trip (and about one and one-half hours extra travel time) and we finally arrived in Berlin around dinner time. It wasn't that much of a delay or too big of a hassle but in the future I may pay more attention to alerts!
We took a taxi to our hotel called The Circus Hotel which was very nice . . . and very simple. The location was perfect for getting around Berlin. We checked in and decided we wanted something a little different for dinner so we asked at the front desk if there was a Mexican restaurant close by. She said yes, and sent us to Escados. We found it without any problem BUT it was an Argentinian restaurant, not Mexican. But by then we were tired so we had a great dinner there and headed back to our room for the night. We knew we needed rest because the next day we were going on a walking tour of Berlin.
P.S. Berlin is very fashion forward and, of course, I window shopped on the way to dinner. Sheryl, the first shirt I saw and liked was a t-shirt with the saying "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead!" on it. Of course I laughed out loud. I would have bought it for you but it was an oversize tank top and was all ripped up. Not exactly your style! In another store window a mannequin was dressed in a t-shirt that said "No One Reads Your Fucking Blog!" That really made us laugh and I think David wanted to buy it!
We had our usual fabulous breakfast at the hotel and were preparing to head to the train station. Uhle told us that her husband, Klaus, was driving another couple to Wurzburg and we could ride along if we wanted to and that would save us from having to change trains two times just to get to Wurzburg. Sounded good to us so we hopped into the van and had about an hour's drive with a very nice young German couple. David sat up front and spoke German with Klaus and I sat in the back and talked to the couple. They were on holiday -- he was on a break from school and she was on a break from working two jobs. Very ambitious young couple and I enjoyed talking to them. The young woman told me she had been to the United States and loved Los Angeles. We found that of the German people we talked to who had been to the States, Los Angeles was their first choice to visit. She had also visited Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon. The couple plan to live in the States and the young man hopes to complete his education here.
We had an uneventful train ride for the first leg of the trip and I even asked the ticket taker if our reservations were good (after showing him our tickets) -- in other words, should I have paid attention to the alert I had received. He assured me that everything was fine. We arrived in Gottingen only to discover our train to Berlin was cancelled! Luckily David knew enough German to talk to employees at the station and we were able to add another connection to the trip (and about one and one-half hours extra travel time) and we finally arrived in Berlin around dinner time. It wasn't that much of a delay or too big of a hassle but in the future I may pay more attention to alerts!
We took a taxi to our hotel called The Circus Hotel which was very nice . . . and very simple. The location was perfect for getting around Berlin. We checked in and decided we wanted something a little different for dinner so we asked at the front desk if there was a Mexican restaurant close by. She said yes, and sent us to Escados. We found it without any problem BUT it was an Argentinian restaurant, not Mexican. But by then we were tired so we had a great dinner there and headed back to our room for the night. We knew we needed rest because the next day we were going on a walking tour of Berlin.
P.S. Berlin is very fashion forward and, of course, I window shopped on the way to dinner. Sheryl, the first shirt I saw and liked was a t-shirt with the saying "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead!" on it. Of course I laughed out loud. I would have bought it for you but it was an oversize tank top and was all ripped up. Not exactly your style! In another store window a mannequin was dressed in a t-shirt that said "No One Reads Your Fucking Blog!" That really made us laugh and I think David wanted to buy it!
FRIDAY IN ROTHENBURG, GERMANY (August 16, 2013)
We had planned to visit another town close to Rothenburg, Dinkelsbuhl, but when we got up on Friday we were just too tired. And we loved Rothenburg so much we wanted to explore more of the town. Additionally, we learned that Dinkelsbuhl was holding Germany's 2013 heavy metal concert that weekend and David reminded me that he left his leather and "spiky" things in Belmont to save weight in our luggage, so this pretty much ended our plans for Dinkelsbuhl. We had our usual delicious breakfast and went for a walk. There was a lovely park nearby which we wanted to walk through and it was beautiful. The views were breathtaking. While sitting on a park bench, David kept hearing what he thought was a hot air balloon adding fire to the balloon and he was right! Soon it came into sight and was beautifully floating through the air. What a great sight!!!
We also walked to the other end of Rothenburg and walked down many, many steps (which, of course, means you have to walk back UP many, many steps) to see an old castle that is now a huge hotel! We walked in and the lobby was very beautiful. Of course David had to use the restroom so I had a chance to snoop around. It looked like the kind of hotel which held big conferences and events. Staff was setting up a large buffet in one of the meeting rooms and I could see many people listening to a presentation in another room. It was gorgeous but larger than the hotels we generally choose to stay in.
We again spent some time in the hotel garden -- blogging and just relaxing. The garden is surrounded by rock walls so you have tons of privacy and at least part of the garden is always in the shade so it was fabulous!
The hotel has a fairly fancy restaurant and we did not plan to eat there because the food all looked too snooty for us. But the reviews of the restaurant were so good that we felt like we might be missing out on something so we made a reservation to have dinner there on our last night in Rothenburg.
The weather was so nice that they were only serving dinner in the garden. We had a nice table for our lovely, intimate dinner. The hotel owner, Uhle, runs the restaurant very efficiently with two additional servers. We asked for and took their advice on wine selection and we both LOVED our wines. The restaurant lived up to its reputation, that's for sure!!! The server brought us an amuse bouche (David wanted to give you his definition of what that means but you can all imagine why I'm using my definition instead. It seems to be the latest thing where the chef makes something hoity toity and and barely large enough to see on the plate and you get it for free before the meal) which was a quail leg in some kind of vegetable puree. We both had delicious zucchini cream soup with tomato pesto and basil. David's entree was aubergine (egg plant) in a light egg batter stuffed with aubergine mashed. I had fabulous ossobuco on creamy truffle polenta. It was definitely the fanciest dinner we had on the whole trip and it was out of this world. And, for Steve, I also have to tell you about our dessert. It was called the Grande Finale and it came out on a three level serving tray. It included mousses, custards and ice creams and it was unbelievable!!! I know it sounds like we've been eating like pigs, and we have, but the servings are small!!! David said this was a long way from his sitting in his underwear in the lazy boy recliner eating baked beans out of a pot! Too much of a visual????
After that dinner we were lucky we only had to walk upstairs to go to bed! It was the most perfect ending to our stay in charming Rothenburg!!!
We also walked to the other end of Rothenburg and walked down many, many steps (which, of course, means you have to walk back UP many, many steps) to see an old castle that is now a huge hotel! We walked in and the lobby was very beautiful. Of course David had to use the restroom so I had a chance to snoop around. It looked like the kind of hotel which held big conferences and events. Staff was setting up a large buffet in one of the meeting rooms and I could see many people listening to a presentation in another room. It was gorgeous but larger than the hotels we generally choose to stay in.
We again spent some time in the hotel garden -- blogging and just relaxing. The garden is surrounded by rock walls so you have tons of privacy and at least part of the garden is always in the shade so it was fabulous!
The hotel has a fairly fancy restaurant and we did not plan to eat there because the food all looked too snooty for us. But the reviews of the restaurant were so good that we felt like we might be missing out on something so we made a reservation to have dinner there on our last night in Rothenburg.
The weather was so nice that they were only serving dinner in the garden. We had a nice table for our lovely, intimate dinner. The hotel owner, Uhle, runs the restaurant very efficiently with two additional servers. We asked for and took their advice on wine selection and we both LOVED our wines. The restaurant lived up to its reputation, that's for sure!!! The server brought us an amuse bouche (David wanted to give you his definition of what that means but you can all imagine why I'm using my definition instead. It seems to be the latest thing where the chef makes something hoity toity and and barely large enough to see on the plate and you get it for free before the meal) which was a quail leg in some kind of vegetable puree. We both had delicious zucchini cream soup with tomato pesto and basil. David's entree was aubergine (egg plant) in a light egg batter stuffed with aubergine mashed. I had fabulous ossobuco on creamy truffle polenta. It was definitely the fanciest dinner we had on the whole trip and it was out of this world. And, for Steve, I also have to tell you about our dessert. It was called the Grande Finale and it came out on a three level serving tray. It included mousses, custards and ice creams and it was unbelievable!!! I know it sounds like we've been eating like pigs, and we have, but the servings are small!!! David said this was a long way from his sitting in his underwear in the lazy boy recliner eating baked beans out of a pot! Too much of a visual????
After that dinner we were lucky we only had to walk upstairs to go to bed! It was the most perfect ending to our stay in charming Rothenburg!!!
THURSDAY IN ROTHENBURG, GERMANY (August 15, 2013)
After our VERY long walking tour in Nuremberg yesterday, we decided to hang out in Rothenburg today. David said his feet were shot! Our hotel owners gave us a few suggestions for the day. One was to visit the Doll and Toy Museum or, as David says, the Puppchen und Spielzeug Museum. We wouldn't normally choose to go to this kind of museum but Uhle said it was good so we took her word for it. It was a two-story museum and much larger than we anticipated. We had a catalog-guide and even tho it was difficult, we managed to match up the numbers in the display to the numbers in the catalog. I should say David was able to do that. The display cases were numbered and the individual pieces were numbered and most of the time they matched up with the numbers in the catalog. The museum had the most intricate doll houses and individual doll house room displays down to the smallest pots and pans, food items, pieces of clothing and even the miniature children's toys within the doll houses. Incredible! Most of the toys were from the 1830s up to the 1890s. There was even an intricate train that David paid .5 euros to watch run through the town with traffic jams, construction workers, and police and emergency workers doing their jobs. It was really a great museum.
After the museum, we split up and I went back to the Kathe Wohlfahrt Christmas store to do a little shopping and David went back to the grocery/deli/wine/miniature store to look at toy soldiers. Even tho the last thing on earth I need is anymore Christmas decorations, I couldn't pass up one or two. The made-in-Rothenburg decorations are wonderful. A little later I met up with David while he was soldier shopping and I actuallly picked out a soldier for him. It's a WWII German Officer marching in a band, made by a company headquartered in Rothenberg.
After shopping we went went back to our hotel and spent some time in the garden. I had a Coke Light while blogging and David had a big wheat beer. Very enjoyable!
We didn't have any plans for dinner but I wanted pizza so we asked a hotel employee where we should eat. She suggested a fairly new Italian restaurant near one of the old entrance gates, called Michelangelo's. Our friendly hotel driver, Fritz, was standing nearby and heard our conversation and he offered to drive us there because he was heading to the train station to pick up some other guests. He dropped us off and we walked into the restaurant which had an ultra modern decor (considering Rothenburg is an old medieval village). We were given a great table clear in the back of the restaurant from where we could view the entire restaurant including the bar. Made for some great people watching. David ordered a salad with Spring greens, apples and walnuts in it which he shared with me. We each had big wheat beers which were delicious and excellent pizza. And, of course, we had chocolate sundaes for dessert!!!
We rolled out of there and walked back to our hotel. Got ready for bed and settled in to listen to the Night Watchman's stories. It was a great day and it did us good to rest a bit because we've been walking miles every day!!!
After the museum, we split up and I went back to the Kathe Wohlfahrt Christmas store to do a little shopping and David went back to the grocery/deli/wine/miniature store to look at toy soldiers. Even tho the last thing on earth I need is anymore Christmas decorations, I couldn't pass up one or two. The made-in-Rothenburg decorations are wonderful. A little later I met up with David while he was soldier shopping and I actuallly picked out a soldier for him. It's a WWII German Officer marching in a band, made by a company headquartered in Rothenberg.
After shopping we went went back to our hotel and spent some time in the garden. I had a Coke Light while blogging and David had a big wheat beer. Very enjoyable!
We didn't have any plans for dinner but I wanted pizza so we asked a hotel employee where we should eat. She suggested a fairly new Italian restaurant near one of the old entrance gates, called Michelangelo's. Our friendly hotel driver, Fritz, was standing nearby and heard our conversation and he offered to drive us there because he was heading to the train station to pick up some other guests. He dropped us off and we walked into the restaurant which had an ultra modern decor (considering Rothenburg is an old medieval village). We were given a great table clear in the back of the restaurant from where we could view the entire restaurant including the bar. Made for some great people watching. David ordered a salad with Spring greens, apples and walnuts in it which he shared with me. We each had big wheat beers which were delicious and excellent pizza. And, of course, we had chocolate sundaes for dessert!!!
We rolled out of there and walked back to our hotel. Got ready for bed and settled in to listen to the Night Watchman's stories. It was a great day and it did us good to rest a bit because we've been walking miles every day!!!
WEDNESDAY TRAVELED FROM ROTHENBURG TO NUREMBERG FOR THE DAY (August 14, 2013)
We picked Rothenburg as a base for a few days because it was easy to take trains to other nearby cities. We were both very interested in Nuremberg so we decided to go there on Wednesday. I looked online and was able to make arrangements for us to join a six hour walking tour. We were all supposed to meet at the train station in Nuremberg.
Of course we had our wonderful breakfast and we couldn't linger long because our train was scheduled to leave at 9:06 a.m. Our hotel has a driver, Fritz, and after breakfast he graciously drove us to the train station and tried to help us buy tickets from a machine, but he kept getting interrupted by phone calls so we told him we would just wait for the ticket office to open and buy them there. It was only about a 5 minute wait until they opened. We successfully purchased roundtrip tickets and got on the train as scheduled and it was a fairly short train ride to Nuremberg, about 45 minutes total, and I think we changed trains twice before arriving.
We arrived about 9:45 and we had to wait until 10:00 to meet our walking tour group. We thought we were waiting in the right location and we waited and waited until about 10:15 and never caught sight of them. I finally called the company and the person told me that, yes, the group had met and left. He told me to walk over to the information office across the street and he would contact the tour guide and have him come back and "pick us up." We did, he did and all was well.
The tour guide, Aachin, was delightful. He was born and raised in Germany and you could tell he loved the history of Germany. Our group had about 11 people in it so it was manageable and we could hear what Aachin was saying most of the time. We started the tour in old town and it was very beautiful.
Aachin was THE man for our tour; he had a doctorate in German history, specifically in the Nazi party rallies held in Nuremberg. He had a ton information about the churches, public buildings, and, of course, the castle there. We also saw Albrect Durer's house and learned he had a "bitch" of a wife. David loved Aachin because he used words like bitch, dickhead, dumb dickhead, and various forms of the "F" word to describe the Nazi leaders. David said he now wants to get his "f___ing doctorate!"
After the old town tour we jumped on a bus with the group and headed to the Nazi rally grounds. These grounds were huge by large and they had to be in order to hold 500,000 brown shirts plus spectators. We walked around the massive stadium that the Nazis started, but did not complete. It was not completed in that they did not put a roof over it. There has been much debate about whether a roof could have even been constructed to cover the massive opening due to its weight. We then walked some more, finally making it to the documentation center where there is a great deal of information on the Nazis. There our group splintered up with some going into the documentation center, and some going to see more Nazi structures. Since we were already on borrowed time with sore feet, we opted for the train station and the return to Rothenburg.
That night back in Rothenburg we stopped at the combination grocery/miniature/toy soldier store. This store was half a small grocery store and the other half was all very detailed miniatures of cars, trains, military vehicles, and toy soldiers made in Germany. We bought a bottle of wine, two kinds of cheese and salami from the deli, and fresh German bread and butter crackers. We went back to the room and had a picnic in our room. Oh, did I mention we had chocolate for dessert? Yes, this grocery store had a great selection of German made chocolate that we just had to try! Tonight was not hard to fall asleep even with the Night Watchman outside of our window making his rounds.
TUESDAY IN ROTHENBURG, GERMANY (August 13, 2013)
We got up a little early today because we wanted to take a walk after breakfast before the town got crazy with tourists. Breakfast was served either in the dining room or in the garden but we chose to stay inside because it was a little cool. They gave us a menu to select from and they had many offerings: all kinds of bread, cheese, meat, and smoked salmon. Also yogurt, cereal, fruit salad and, of course, eggs -- anyway you want them! They had fresh squeezed orange juice and really good tea and coffee. They try to bring you one of everything so you have to be specific about what you really want to eat. Everything was very good! After breakfast we set out to explore.
Rothenburg is a walled city and is still surrounded 3/4 of the way around by a wall which was used to protect the city from invaders. The wall no longer exists where the castle was destroyed by an earthquake in the mid 1300s. There are stairs that take you to the walkway on the top of the wall and you can walk around and see the town from every angle, from above. It was an amazing walk and the views were spectacular. It's about a mile and 1/2 walk. Along the wall there were some fairly new "bricks" or engraved stones in the wall with peoples' names and dates and other information on them. They were interesting to read and see where all the people came from. Later in the day we asked our hotel owner, Uhle, how you can get a brick put in the wall and she said you have to contribute a lot of money to the organization responsible for upkeep of the wall.
We spent the rest of the day walking up and down all the streets and alleyways looking in the many, many shops. Of course we didn't buy anything -- we just looked! There is a fabulous Christmas store there (actually more than one) with ornaments and everything Christmas designed by Kathe Wohlfahrt. We walked through two of the stores and it was almost overwhelming to see everything there that was for sale. I knew I wanted to buy a few things . . . but I decided to wait for another day.
For dinner that night we just opted for Italian, pizza for me while David got penne pasta in an alfredo sauce. We also got another round of good German wheat beer. Germany has turned us into beer lovers -- of German beers, at least.
We went back to our gorgeous hotel to settle in for the night. A few minutes after we climbed into bed we heard someone with a very deep voice telling stories and a crowd of people laughing at him. Turns out it was the "Night Watchman" tour which is conducted there nightly. We did not go on the tour (probably should have) but it sounds like it is a somewhat comical delivery of the history of Rothenburg. We were lucky (!) enough to hear it nightly right outside our window.
MONDAY TRAVELING FROM FREIBURG, GERMANY TO ROTHENBURG, GERMANY (August 12, 2013)
Our train wasn't until 10:00 a.m. so we had time to linger over breakfast at our hotel in Freiburg. Awwwwww, isn't vacation wonderful?
We had breakfast, finished packing and requested a taxi to take us to the train station. That all went very well and we arrived at the train station in plenty of time. Today was going to be a long day of trains (5 hours) and we had to change trains 3 times! At the first station we had 7 minutes to change trains and at the second station we had 4 minutes. But it all worked out and we enjoyed our ride very much.
We arrived in Rothenburg right on schedule and David checked with the Information Desk to see how far our hotel was to decide whether or not we would walk or take a taxi. The woman told him it wasn't very far and to just go out the door of the train station, turn left, and it would only take us about 10 minutes to walk there.
So off we went. It was easy walking on nice sidewalks. We knew our hotel was in the "old city" and as we walked we thought it was looking more and more rural. We stopped on the street so David could take a look at his map and a man pulled up in a car and asked if we were looking for a place to stay. David told him we had a hotel reservation but we weren't sure how to get to the hotel. The man looked at the name of our hotel and told us we were walking in the complete opposite direction! He offered to drive us to the hotel which was VERY nice of him . . . especially considering he owned two B&Bs in the old city and was trying to drum up business!!! He dropped us off in front of our fabulous small hotel and although he refused David's offer of a tip for a few minutes, he finally relented and accepted it.
Our hotel owner, Uhle, greeted us warmly and invited us out to the garden and offered us drinks -- everything from champagne to juice. It was only 3:30 p.m., so we just had a Coke Light. While we were visiting with her, our bags were delivered to our room. David picked this hotel after receiving an e-mail advertising it as one of the top ten "most romantic" hotels in the world for 2013. It only has 4 rooms and 4 suites and all the rooms we saw were gorgeous. Ours was the Golden Apple room and it was very, very nice and very big. The bathroom was luxurious as well.
The building is over 1,000 years old and one of the oldest preserved residential houses in Germany. We have never had service like we received at this hotel in our lives! It was almost as if they offered you things before you even thought about asking for them.
After settling in our room we took our first walk around Rothenburg and it is an amazing area. The old city is almost completely "walled" except for a small portion of it. You can enter the old city through three gates. It is very popular for tourists and we understand why. There are many, many shops and lots of restaurants and cafes with outdoor seating. Think about what the perfect Bavarian town would look like and that's Rothenburg!
For dinner we went to a casual restaurant also owned by the people who owned our hotel. It was very small and charming. It's name is Zur Hoell which translates to "To Hell." It is in the oldest house in Rothenburg and is kind of tavern-y. We ordered a cheese board and the cheeses were outstanding. I had veal schnitzel and homemade spatzle (egg noodles). David had a curry vegetable dish with rice. We had wonderful German wine with it. It was quite good!
A friend of mine who shall remain nameless (Steve) mentioned today that there seems to be a fixation with food throughout my blog. Really? Has he met us????
That was it for our first day in Rothenburg. We walked back to our hotel and climbed into our huge bed with the fluffy, wonderful comforter!!!
We had breakfast, finished packing and requested a taxi to take us to the train station. That all went very well and we arrived at the train station in plenty of time. Today was going to be a long day of trains (5 hours) and we had to change trains 3 times! At the first station we had 7 minutes to change trains and at the second station we had 4 minutes. But it all worked out and we enjoyed our ride very much.
We arrived in Rothenburg right on schedule and David checked with the Information Desk to see how far our hotel was to decide whether or not we would walk or take a taxi. The woman told him it wasn't very far and to just go out the door of the train station, turn left, and it would only take us about 10 minutes to walk there.
So off we went. It was easy walking on nice sidewalks. We knew our hotel was in the "old city" and as we walked we thought it was looking more and more rural. We stopped on the street so David could take a look at his map and a man pulled up in a car and asked if we were looking for a place to stay. David told him we had a hotel reservation but we weren't sure how to get to the hotel. The man looked at the name of our hotel and told us we were walking in the complete opposite direction! He offered to drive us to the hotel which was VERY nice of him . . . especially considering he owned two B&Bs in the old city and was trying to drum up business!!! He dropped us off in front of our fabulous small hotel and although he refused David's offer of a tip for a few minutes, he finally relented and accepted it.
Our hotel owner, Uhle, greeted us warmly and invited us out to the garden and offered us drinks -- everything from champagne to juice. It was only 3:30 p.m., so we just had a Coke Light. While we were visiting with her, our bags were delivered to our room. David picked this hotel after receiving an e-mail advertising it as one of the top ten "most romantic" hotels in the world for 2013. It only has 4 rooms and 4 suites and all the rooms we saw were gorgeous. Ours was the Golden Apple room and it was very, very nice and very big. The bathroom was luxurious as well.
The building is over 1,000 years old and one of the oldest preserved residential houses in Germany. We have never had service like we received at this hotel in our lives! It was almost as if they offered you things before you even thought about asking for them.
After settling in our room we took our first walk around Rothenburg and it is an amazing area. The old city is almost completely "walled" except for a small portion of it. You can enter the old city through three gates. It is very popular for tourists and we understand why. There are many, many shops and lots of restaurants and cafes with outdoor seating. Think about what the perfect Bavarian town would look like and that's Rothenburg!
For dinner we went to a casual restaurant also owned by the people who owned our hotel. It was very small and charming. It's name is Zur Hoell which translates to "To Hell." It is in the oldest house in Rothenburg and is kind of tavern-y. We ordered a cheese board and the cheeses were outstanding. I had veal schnitzel and homemade spatzle (egg noodles). David had a curry vegetable dish with rice. We had wonderful German wine with it. It was quite good!
A friend of mine who shall remain nameless (Steve) mentioned today that there seems to be a fixation with food throughout my blog. Really? Has he met us????
That was it for our first day in Rothenburg. We walked back to our hotel and climbed into our huge bed with the fluffy, wonderful comforter!!!
SUNDAY IN FREIBURG, GERMANY (AUGUST 11, 2013)
One of the things we will remember most about Freiburg is the sound of the cathedral bells ringing. In our travels we have heard many, many church bells ring but there was something about the bells in Freiburg that was different and haunting. David described it as some kind of continuous background melody playing along with the chiming bells. He thought it sounded like one huge bell was set up to ring with a constant hum. In any event, we loved that we could hear the bells clearly from our hotel room.
We had a very good breakfast Sunday morning -- the usual selection of cheeses and meats with the most wonderful bread you can imagine. And homemade jams!!! There was also cereal and yogurt available as well as juice, coffee and tea.
That day we had planned to take the train to the nearby village of Staufen, but after talking to the owner of our hotel, we decided to stay in Freiburg for the day. He told David about a museum in one of the old city towers with miniature soldiers set up in various battle scenes so, of course, David wanted to see that. David said the individual soldiers were only 1 inch high and painted in extreme detail and positioned by the thousands in detailed battles. He thought it was great! The hotel owner (sorry, I don't know his name) also suggested we take a walk in the oldest part of Freiburg and then take the tram and bus to the cable car that takes you to the top of Schauinisland mountain. On a clear day you can see the Swiss Alps . . . but it was a little overcast when we were there. The view from the cable car was incredibly beautiful, 750 meters suspended in the air! We saw lots of people mountain biking and hiking. Some people also take their bikes up to the top on the cable car and then ride down. We also saw a few people hang gliding and it looked so peaceful and scary!!!
We hiked around a bit but it was kind of cold at the top and we did not have jackets with us. There was a small restaurant there so we decided to have lunch. We could eat and enjoy the view AND the people watching. David had cream of leek soup and I had --------- a delicious ham sandwich! When we were almost finished eating an Indian family joined us -- they currently live outside of London. They were very talkative and interesting. They had lived in Atlanta and their English was very good. We talked a lot about how expensive London is. The man used to spend over 500 pounds per month ($780.00) just taking the tube to and from work!!! Yes, they have a great subway system but it is very, very expensive!
After lunch we headed back down the mountain on the cable car and, of course, made friends on the cable car too! Our car-mates were an older Indian couple with two college-aged girls; one from Switzerland (Stephanie) and one from Germany who is attending university in Freiburg (Hannah). It seemed like an odd group but it turned out the two women had spent a year living in India with the couple. It was a Rotary Club program. The girls had invited the Indian couple to visit them at their families' homes and then travel around their countries. They were all very nice and the two girls were very enthusiastic about visiting the United States. David gave them our information so I'm sure someday they will show up on our doorstep. Actually, that would be fine because they were lovely young women. When we reached the bottom of the mountain we took a few group pictures and then boarded the bus to go back to the tram to take us back into the town. We parted ways in the center of Freiburg and David and I headed back to our hotel.
At dinner time we weren't very hungry so we decided just to go get some ice cream in the town square and go to bed early and that's what we did. Oh all this fabulous European travel is exhausting!!! Seriously, we feel very lucky to be here and seeing all of these beautiful places and meeting nice people!
We had a very good breakfast Sunday morning -- the usual selection of cheeses and meats with the most wonderful bread you can imagine. And homemade jams!!! There was also cereal and yogurt available as well as juice, coffee and tea.
That day we had planned to take the train to the nearby village of Staufen, but after talking to the owner of our hotel, we decided to stay in Freiburg for the day. He told David about a museum in one of the old city towers with miniature soldiers set up in various battle scenes so, of course, David wanted to see that. David said the individual soldiers were only 1 inch high and painted in extreme detail and positioned by the thousands in detailed battles. He thought it was great! The hotel owner (sorry, I don't know his name) also suggested we take a walk in the oldest part of Freiburg and then take the tram and bus to the cable car that takes you to the top of Schauinisland mountain. On a clear day you can see the Swiss Alps . . . but it was a little overcast when we were there. The view from the cable car was incredibly beautiful, 750 meters suspended in the air! We saw lots of people mountain biking and hiking. Some people also take their bikes up to the top on the cable car and then ride down. We also saw a few people hang gliding and it looked so peaceful and scary!!!
We hiked around a bit but it was kind of cold at the top and we did not have jackets with us. There was a small restaurant there so we decided to have lunch. We could eat and enjoy the view AND the people watching. David had cream of leek soup and I had --------- a delicious ham sandwich! When we were almost finished eating an Indian family joined us -- they currently live outside of London. They were very talkative and interesting. They had lived in Atlanta and their English was very good. We talked a lot about how expensive London is. The man used to spend over 500 pounds per month ($780.00) just taking the tube to and from work!!! Yes, they have a great subway system but it is very, very expensive!
After lunch we headed back down the mountain on the cable car and, of course, made friends on the cable car too! Our car-mates were an older Indian couple with two college-aged girls; one from Switzerland (Stephanie) and one from Germany who is attending university in Freiburg (Hannah). It seemed like an odd group but it turned out the two women had spent a year living in India with the couple. It was a Rotary Club program. The girls had invited the Indian couple to visit them at their families' homes and then travel around their countries. They were all very nice and the two girls were very enthusiastic about visiting the United States. David gave them our information so I'm sure someday they will show up on our doorstep. Actually, that would be fine because they were lovely young women. When we reached the bottom of the mountain we took a few group pictures and then boarded the bus to go back to the tram to take us back into the town. We parted ways in the center of Freiburg and David and I headed back to our hotel.
At dinner time we weren't very hungry so we decided just to go get some ice cream in the town square and go to bed early and that's what we did. Oh all this fabulous European travel is exhausting!!! Seriously, we feel very lucky to be here and seeing all of these beautiful places and meeting nice people!
SATURDAY TRAVELING FROM STRASBOURG, FRANCE TO FREIBURG, GERMANY (AUGUST 10, 2013)
We didn't have to get up too early because our train didn't leave until a little after 1:00 p.m. We skipped breakfast and I bought food at the train station to eat on our ride. David had a delicious mozarella and tomato sandwich with pesto and olive oil that he said was very good. I had the same old ham and cheese and it was as good as always. I also bought us big cookies for dessert -- chocolate chip and chocolate chocolate chip. WONDERFUL!!! The first leg of the trip was to Offenburg where we had to change trains. The entire trip only took about an hour.
Freiburg's name means "free city" because it did not answer to a king. I thought that was an interesting tidbit. Anyway, we were feeling very brave so we decided to take the tram to our hotel instead of taking a taxi. We walked to the tram station and David approached a German couple and asked them if they spoke English. The woman said "yes," and her husband said, in German, "no you don't!" That made us laugh. She attempted to help us buy tickets but then told us the machine was broken and told David to go back to the train station to buy them. So off David goes and at the train station he has his first encounter with German Police Officers. They told him he could buy the tickets on the tram so he walks back to the tram line. By then I had discovered that the ticket machine did work and even gave instructions in English! We bought our tickets and only had to ride a few tram stops to our hotel.
The name of our hotel was Hotel Schwartzwaelder which David says means "Black Forester." It was a very quaint hotel with a small winding staircase from the lobby to the floor our room was on. Our room was small but very comfortable! And it was the least expensive hotel of the entire trip AND it included a great breakfast!
After checking in we set out to get some ice cream and explore the town. There were many cafes and stores (especially shoe stores it seemed) and we walked up and down all the little streets. The most amazing thing, tho, was you would be walking along the shopping streets and they would open onto a plaza and WOW the gorgeous, gorgeous cathedral would pop into view. It was very beautiful and we took many pictures of it. All of the churches have gargoyles on them and our favorite gargoyle was on this church. I hope the picture turns out. David says if I was a garygoyle, I would be the one with big teeth, chomping M&Ms and Heggy's chocolates.
Our hotel had a restaurant that served dinner but it was closed for two weeks for the employees to have a vacation. We asked the hotel owner where we should go for a traditional German dinner and he recommended the restaurant at The Baren (bears, plural) Hotel. It was close by so we walked over. We asked for a recommendation of a good beer and our waiter recommended a local bear named Ganter. We both loved it. It is a wheat beer -- perfect for summer -- and just had a hint of spice in it. Delish! We both had salad first. David had mozzarella and tomato towers which he had to cut gingerly so they would not topple over. There were three towers and they were pretty and he liked them. I had a Spring salad with a variety of lettuces and it had strawberries and raspberries in it with a very light dressing. Great. For dinner I had veal medallions and fried new potatoes. So, so good. David had the best meal of the trip so far -- a curry, vegetable and rice dish that was bright orange and yellow. And, believe it or not, we were too full to order dessert plus the fact that nothing on the dessert menu appealed to us.
After diner we strolled the streets and went back to our hotel and settled in.
Freiburg's name means "free city" because it did not answer to a king. I thought that was an interesting tidbit. Anyway, we were feeling very brave so we decided to take the tram to our hotel instead of taking a taxi. We walked to the tram station and David approached a German couple and asked them if they spoke English. The woman said "yes," and her husband said, in German, "no you don't!" That made us laugh. She attempted to help us buy tickets but then told us the machine was broken and told David to go back to the train station to buy them. So off David goes and at the train station he has his first encounter with German Police Officers. They told him he could buy the tickets on the tram so he walks back to the tram line. By then I had discovered that the ticket machine did work and even gave instructions in English! We bought our tickets and only had to ride a few tram stops to our hotel.
The name of our hotel was Hotel Schwartzwaelder which David says means "Black Forester." It was a very quaint hotel with a small winding staircase from the lobby to the floor our room was on. Our room was small but very comfortable! And it was the least expensive hotel of the entire trip AND it included a great breakfast!
After checking in we set out to get some ice cream and explore the town. There were many cafes and stores (especially shoe stores it seemed) and we walked up and down all the little streets. The most amazing thing, tho, was you would be walking along the shopping streets and they would open onto a plaza and WOW the gorgeous, gorgeous cathedral would pop into view. It was very beautiful and we took many pictures of it. All of the churches have gargoyles on them and our favorite gargoyle was on this church. I hope the picture turns out. David says if I was a garygoyle, I would be the one with big teeth, chomping M&Ms and Heggy's chocolates.
Our hotel had a restaurant that served dinner but it was closed for two weeks for the employees to have a vacation. We asked the hotel owner where we should go for a traditional German dinner and he recommended the restaurant at The Baren (bears, plural) Hotel. It was close by so we walked over. We asked for a recommendation of a good beer and our waiter recommended a local bear named Ganter. We both loved it. It is a wheat beer -- perfect for summer -- and just had a hint of spice in it. Delish! We both had salad first. David had mozzarella and tomato towers which he had to cut gingerly so they would not topple over. There were three towers and they were pretty and he liked them. I had a Spring salad with a variety of lettuces and it had strawberries and raspberries in it with a very light dressing. Great. For dinner I had veal medallions and fried new potatoes. So, so good. David had the best meal of the trip so far -- a curry, vegetable and rice dish that was bright orange and yellow. And, believe it or not, we were too full to order dessert plus the fact that nothing on the dessert menu appealed to us.
After diner we strolled the streets and went back to our hotel and settled in.
FRIDAY IN COLMAR, FRANCE (August 9, 2013)
Today we booked a full-day wine tasting tour of the Alsace Region of France. We had to take the train from Strasbourg to Colmar which was only about a 30 minute ride. We planned to have breakfast in Colmar before meeting our tour guide at 8:40 a.m.
When we arrived in Colmar, there was not much going on that early in the morning. We started walking away from the train station to find a cafe but everything was closed. I had spotted a Best Western Hotel right across the street from the train station and we decided if all else failed, we would eat there . . . but we wanted something with more atmosphere! Just about the time I was ready to turn around in defeat, David spotted the perfect French cafe! Two women were setting up an ice cream stand outdoors and when we walked into the cafe, there before us was the most beautiful display of bread and pastries ever!!! We picked out our pastries and sat down and were served coffee for me and hot chocolate for David. It looked like a few local people were having breakfast and reading the paper.
A very interesting man walked in and sat at a table beside us in the corner. There were many other tables available so we think that was "his" table. He placed a few coins on the table and soon it seemed his regular order was delivered to his table. He glanced at the newspaper a few times and muttered to himself. David said he was fascinated by my iPhone and kept staring at me using it. He was certainly a character!
While we were eating a young man kept bringing trays of the most beautiful pastries upstairs from, I'm assuming, the bakery. I wish I could have taken pictures of all of them! David couldn't see them but we stopped and looked at all of the full display cases before we left. OMG!
Anyway, we walked back towards the office where we had to meet our tour guide and I had to tinkle very badly! We could not find a bathroom and the only bathroom in the train station was closed for cleaning! We resorted to walking into the Best Western Hotel and while David waited politely at the desk to ask permission to use their bathrooms, I followed the signs to the ladies room very quickly. When I went back to the desk to meet David he had been told the restrooms were for guests only! Oh well, my bad.
We met our tour guide, Jean-Claude and the other tour members. He instantly told us not to confuse him with Jean-Claude Van Damme! Not a problem. With us were a nice, retired couple from Ohio (who also own a condo in Chicago -- more about that later) and two women from Spain.
First Jean-Claude drove us to chateau du Haut-Koenigsbourg -- a huge castle built in the 12th century. The castle fell into disrepair during the 30 years' war. After Germany took control of the Alsace region from 1871 to 1918, the German Emperor Wilhelm II decided to renovate the castle. This took about 8 years but was very important in that it gave the local people good jobs and restored the castle to its former glory. We spent about an hour there and it was amazing.
Next we visited the little town of Ribeauville. It was a very cute, French town, typical of the area with gingerbread-type houses with exposed timbers and stucco in between. In addition, the houses had flower boxes below each of their windows and scalloped eaves. There were many shops of meats and cheeses, trinkets, clothing and eye glasses. We could have spent a few hours here, however, we had just 30 minutes to go from one end of the main street to the other. We had to move on because our first wine tasting awaited.
Jean-Claude then drove us to the town of Riquewihr. The two women from Spain were leaving the tour at this point and not going to the wine tasting. Jean-Claude took the couple from Ohio and David and me to the winery of Dopff de Irion where we were surprised to learn that Jean-Claude is a licensed sommelier and he conducted the wine tasting.
Continued on next page.
We met our tour guide, Jean-Claude and the other tour members. He instantly told us not to confuse him with Jean-Claude Van Damme! Not a problem. With us were a nice, retired couple from Ohio (who also own a condo in Chicago -- more about that later) and two women from Spain.
First Jean-Claude drove us to chateau du Haut-Koenigsbourg -- a huge castle built in the 12th century. The castle fell into disrepair during the 30 years' war. After Germany took control of the Alsace region from 1871 to 1918, the German Emperor Wilhelm II decided to renovate the castle. This took about 8 years but was very important in that it gave the local people good jobs and restored the castle to its former glory. We spent about an hour there and it was amazing.
Next we visited the little town of Ribeauville. It was a very cute, French town, typical of the area with gingerbread-type houses with exposed timbers and stucco in between. In addition, the houses had flower boxes below each of their windows and scalloped eaves. There were many shops of meats and cheeses, trinkets, clothing and eye glasses. We could have spent a few hours here, however, we had just 30 minutes to go from one end of the main street to the other. We had to move on because our first wine tasting awaited.
Jean-Claude then drove us to the town of Riquewihr. The two women from Spain were leaving the tour at this point and not going to the wine tasting. Jean-Claude took the couple from Ohio and David and me to the winery of Dopff de Irion where we were surprised to learn that Jean-Claude is a licensed sommelier and he conducted the wine tasting.
Continued on next page.
FRIDAY IN COLMAR (CONTINUED) (August 9, 2013)
We tasted one sparkling red wine, a Muscat, three Rieslings and a Gewurz Traminer. David is the white wine drinker in our family and he tends to like the medium sweet wines. His favorite was probably the wine made with the later-harvested grapes called vendanges tardives. But in my opinion, after the first glass, the couple from Ohio (Linda and Mike -- yes, we were becoming best friends) and I LOVED them all! We were provided with a bucket so we could throw away the wine we didn't like but noooooo, we all drank it all. The last time I saw David he was trying to get French girls to dance on the table! Ha!
Jean-Claude had to leave us for awhile to drive the women from Spain back to the Colmar train station so he organized lunch for Linda, Mike, David and me at a traditional Alsatian restaurant. We were directed to eat lunch and then explore the town. Instead the four of us spent two hours at lunch eating and sobering up for a later wine tasting session!
Linda and Mike live in Ohio and he is a retired dentist. They have four kids -- some live in Ohio near them and some live in Chicago. They visited Chicago so often they decided to buy a condo there. Here's the interesting part, they registered at www.homeaway.com and arranged a home exchange this year. They spent the first two weeks of their vacation living in a nice apartment in Paris while the Paris residents lived in their home in Chicago! David and I have thought about doing this but haven't been brave enough. Yet! Mike and Linda said everything worked out great for them and they will definitely do it again.
OK, let's continue. Jean-Claude picked us up and we drove to Kaysersberg. This is where Albert Schweitzer was born and lived a short time before he made a fortune which enabled he and his wife to help people in undeveloped countries (Africa and others). His museum is located in this small town. It is another beautiful town with many shops. Also, many French fighters are buried in town as a result of Kaysersburg's liberation in December 1944 during WW II. David and I treated ourselves to ice cream there.
We stopped in Therese Bonney and Jean-Claude pointed out a huge storks' nest. I was fascinated by it!!! There were two storks in the nest (that we could see). I think they were resting after delivering baby Colton to Karin and Brandon Salata!!! Seriously, I've never seen a stork's nest or a stork before, so I took a bunch of pictures of them. Sure hope they come out!
Next up was the town of Turckheim. It was first mentioned in 743 as a wine growing site. In 1312 it acquired the status of a town. The Thirty Years' War was a harsh time for the town and it had to be rebuilt in the beginning of the 18th century. This is where we had our second wine tasting. Here we tasted the wines of winemaker Edouard Leiber. We started with a very dry, sparkling white wine and worked our way up to the fruitiest or sweetest wine. We tasted L'Ambassadeur, a couple of Reislings and four Pinot Gris, once again not wasting a drop! We tried wines that were made from late harvest grapes which David liked and unlike the previous wine tasting, David liked the sweetest Pinot Gris that to him was a better wine than the earlier, less sweet wines from this winemaker. After this wine tasting we were all more than ready to head back but Jean-Claude wasn't through with us yet.
He took us to Equisheim -- another gorgeous small town. It distinguishes itself because it was named the best small village in France by French people in a survey that was conducted last year. It was so charming David expected Pinocchio to come bounding down the street!
Jean-Claude returned us to the train station at 6:30 p.m. It was a long, wonderful day filled with sites of the most beautiful, charming French towns you can imagine. We returned to
Strasbourg tired but happy. We did not want to go out for a long dinner so on the way from the train station to the hotel we stopped at a store for David to buy cheese and crackers for his dinner and a to-go pasta place where I got macaroni in meat sauce. Just what we wanted!
Jean-Claude had to leave us for awhile to drive the women from Spain back to the Colmar train station so he organized lunch for Linda, Mike, David and me at a traditional Alsatian restaurant. We were directed to eat lunch and then explore the town. Instead the four of us spent two hours at lunch eating and sobering up for a later wine tasting session!
Linda and Mike live in Ohio and he is a retired dentist. They have four kids -- some live in Ohio near them and some live in Chicago. They visited Chicago so often they decided to buy a condo there. Here's the interesting part, they registered at www.homeaway.com and arranged a home exchange this year. They spent the first two weeks of their vacation living in a nice apartment in Paris while the Paris residents lived in their home in Chicago! David and I have thought about doing this but haven't been brave enough. Yet! Mike and Linda said everything worked out great for them and they will definitely do it again.
OK, let's continue. Jean-Claude picked us up and we drove to Kaysersberg. This is where Albert Schweitzer was born and lived a short time before he made a fortune which enabled he and his wife to help people in undeveloped countries (Africa and others). His museum is located in this small town. It is another beautiful town with many shops. Also, many French fighters are buried in town as a result of Kaysersburg's liberation in December 1944 during WW II. David and I treated ourselves to ice cream there.
We stopped in Therese Bonney and Jean-Claude pointed out a huge storks' nest. I was fascinated by it!!! There were two storks in the nest (that we could see). I think they were resting after delivering baby Colton to Karin and Brandon Salata!!! Seriously, I've never seen a stork's nest or a stork before, so I took a bunch of pictures of them. Sure hope they come out!
Next up was the town of Turckheim. It was first mentioned in 743 as a wine growing site. In 1312 it acquired the status of a town. The Thirty Years' War was a harsh time for the town and it had to be rebuilt in the beginning of the 18th century. This is where we had our second wine tasting. Here we tasted the wines of winemaker Edouard Leiber. We started with a very dry, sparkling white wine and worked our way up to the fruitiest or sweetest wine. We tasted L'Ambassadeur, a couple of Reislings and four Pinot Gris, once again not wasting a drop! We tried wines that were made from late harvest grapes which David liked and unlike the previous wine tasting, David liked the sweetest Pinot Gris that to him was a better wine than the earlier, less sweet wines from this winemaker. After this wine tasting we were all more than ready to head back but Jean-Claude wasn't through with us yet.
He took us to Equisheim -- another gorgeous small town. It distinguishes itself because it was named the best small village in France by French people in a survey that was conducted last year. It was so charming David expected Pinocchio to come bounding down the street!
Jean-Claude returned us to the train station at 6:30 p.m. It was a long, wonderful day filled with sites of the most beautiful, charming French towns you can imagine. We returned to
Strasbourg tired but happy. We did not want to go out for a long dinner so on the way from the train station to the hotel we stopped at a store for David to buy cheese and crackers for his dinner and a to-go pasta place where I got macaroni in meat sauce. Just what we wanted!
THURSDAY IN STRASBOURG, FRANCE (August 8, 2013)
We woke up in Strasbourg refreshed and happy. We decided not to eat breakfast in the hotel because it costs 22 euro each or about $58.00! When we left the hotel it was raining
lightly so we took umbrellas with us.
We were wandering the streets, as usual, and stopped so David could look at the map. A very nice man stopped and asked us, in English, what we were looking for. His name was Re'ino (Ray-no) and he and David had a very long conversation. Re'ino has lived in Strasbourg for the last 10 years and loves it there. He is a fireman. Prior to that he was a diving instructor and lived 11 different places all over the world -- Belgium, Australia and the United States. He had all the time in the world for us! We finally asked him where we should have breakfast and he showed us to a beautiful outdoor cafe. We had the typical breakfast of croissants, bread and cheese with coffee and tea. How could you not like delicious bread and cheese for breakfast. We were also served kind of a sweet bread which we both loved.
After breakfast we walked to the Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg. It is the sixth-tallest church in the world and the highest still-standing structure built entirely in the Middle Ages. We marvelled at it for a very long time and took many, many pictures.
We then walked over the the Museum of History which is located in an old slaughterhouse which was built in 1587! It was turned into the museum in 1920. Strasbourg was a center of weapons' manufacturing and people came from all around to purchase weapons such as canons, muskets, spears, etc. They also produced armor. We had an English audio guide so that was wonderful!
There is a canal that winds around the entire old section of the city so we decided to take a boat tour on the Batorama. We walked to the dock and discovered a very long line for tickets. I bet there were 150 people in line ahead of us! Turns out there was only one person selling tickets! Oh well, we are on vacation! We bought our tickets and had to wait for the 1:45 p.m. tour. We sat in a beautiful water-side park and people-watched until time to board.
Our boat was glass covered and held about 300. An audio tour was available in about 20 languages. The tour was an hour and a half. The most interesting part for me was that the boat had to travel through two locks. It would take about 5 minutes for the lock to fill and raise the boat and off we'd go. The tour took us around old town, past the tanner's quarters and under covered bridges. Charming and gorgeous! We also saw the European Parliament Houses which I expected to be very old and filled with character but turned out to be fairly new, modern buildings! They didn't exactly fit into my expectations! The boat tour was well worth taking for the views and history.
We didn't know where to go for dinner that evening so we asked at the front desk and the woman suggested a nearby restaurant called L'Evis des Sens where I had the most delicious meal of the trip so far!!! There were no vegetarian selections on the menu but David told our waiter he was a vegetarian and as frequently happens, the chef made him an incredible vegetarian meal. Our meals were beautifully presented too! David had a stuffed tomato (stuffed with rice) on a bed of pureed potatoes with carrots, green beans, onions and mushrooms. It had some kind of very savory sauce on it. I had a chicken breast on kind of a potato pancake with vegetables. For dessert we had a flourless chocolate torte with fresh raspberries. I tell you, it's amazing we still fit into our clothes -- thanks only to the many miles we walk each day!!!
We walked back to the hotel and went to sleep quickly because we had to get up early the next day to take the train to Colmar for our wine tour.
lightly so we took umbrellas with us.
We were wandering the streets, as usual, and stopped so David could look at the map. A very nice man stopped and asked us, in English, what we were looking for. His name was Re'ino (Ray-no) and he and David had a very long conversation. Re'ino has lived in Strasbourg for the last 10 years and loves it there. He is a fireman. Prior to that he was a diving instructor and lived 11 different places all over the world -- Belgium, Australia and the United States. He had all the time in the world for us! We finally asked him where we should have breakfast and he showed us to a beautiful outdoor cafe. We had the typical breakfast of croissants, bread and cheese with coffee and tea. How could you not like delicious bread and cheese for breakfast. We were also served kind of a sweet bread which we both loved.
After breakfast we walked to the Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg. It is the sixth-tallest church in the world and the highest still-standing structure built entirely in the Middle Ages. We marvelled at it for a very long time and took many, many pictures.
We then walked over the the Museum of History which is located in an old slaughterhouse which was built in 1587! It was turned into the museum in 1920. Strasbourg was a center of weapons' manufacturing and people came from all around to purchase weapons such as canons, muskets, spears, etc. They also produced armor. We had an English audio guide so that was wonderful!
There is a canal that winds around the entire old section of the city so we decided to take a boat tour on the Batorama. We walked to the dock and discovered a very long line for tickets. I bet there were 150 people in line ahead of us! Turns out there was only one person selling tickets! Oh well, we are on vacation! We bought our tickets and had to wait for the 1:45 p.m. tour. We sat in a beautiful water-side park and people-watched until time to board.
Our boat was glass covered and held about 300. An audio tour was available in about 20 languages. The tour was an hour and a half. The most interesting part for me was that the boat had to travel through two locks. It would take about 5 minutes for the lock to fill and raise the boat and off we'd go. The tour took us around old town, past the tanner's quarters and under covered bridges. Charming and gorgeous! We also saw the European Parliament Houses which I expected to be very old and filled with character but turned out to be fairly new, modern buildings! They didn't exactly fit into my expectations! The boat tour was well worth taking for the views and history.
We didn't know where to go for dinner that evening so we asked at the front desk and the woman suggested a nearby restaurant called L'Evis des Sens where I had the most delicious meal of the trip so far!!! There were no vegetarian selections on the menu but David told our waiter he was a vegetarian and as frequently happens, the chef made him an incredible vegetarian meal. Our meals were beautifully presented too! David had a stuffed tomato (stuffed with rice) on a bed of pureed potatoes with carrots, green beans, onions and mushrooms. It had some kind of very savory sauce on it. I had a chicken breast on kind of a potato pancake with vegetables. For dessert we had a flourless chocolate torte with fresh raspberries. I tell you, it's amazing we still fit into our clothes -- thanks only to the many miles we walk each day!!!
We walked back to the hotel and went to sleep quickly because we had to get up early the next day to take the train to Colmar for our wine tour.
WEDNESDAY MORNING IN BAYEUX, LEAVING FOR STRASBOURG (August 7, 2013)
We had to leave Bayeux on Wednesday but not until around 2:00 p.m., so we had a lazy morning. We wanted to walk into the little town so David could go back to his favorite store to buy some more metal toy soldiers. He shopped and shopped and finally bought three of them. He was torn between two of them and I had to make him buy the third one! I think he spent a grand total of 9.5 euro!
It was market day in Bayeux so we walked down the main street admiring all of the fresh produce, cheese and meat. They also had some booths set up selling hand made jewelry, books, clothing, etc. It is such a beautiful market and we loved seeing it again.
We started heading back to the B&B and stopped for brunch at Reine Mathilde restaurant again. We had delicious omelets with fries. Fries come with everything. After eating, while walking back to the B&B to pick up our luggage and walk to the train station, we ran into the British couple, Guy and Paula, having coffee at an outdoor cafe. They asked us to join them and we had plenty of time so we did. They are such a fun couple!!! David apologized for the rude behavior of the woman from New Hampshire and Paula kind of dismissed it but you could tell it pissed Guy off a little bit. Guy has three jobs and Paula has two. He is a doctor for the National Health System but didn't say what his other two jobs are. Paula teaches geography but she didn't say what her other job is. They are in their early 50s, I think. We asked a lot of questions about where they live -- in Southern England -- and Guy told us his best mate from medical school lives in Boston and keeps after he and Paula to visit him there. Of course David invited him to visit us too. I think we would have fun!
We said goodbye to them, picked up our luggage and walked to the train station. We took the train back to Paris, changed train stations and then took another train to Strasbourg France. We bought food at the Paris train station so we could have dinner on the train. It was typical sandwiches on baguettes, Coke Light, water and, for dessert, big cookies! Train travel in Europe is so simple and efficient and we love traveling this way.
When we arrived in Strasbourg it was about 9:30 p.m., and it was raining! We walked out to the taxi stand and a young woman there said for some reason no buses were running and the wait for a taxi was over an hour. We were very tired by then so that was discouraging but taxis started pulling up within about 15 minutes. I would say we got to our lovely hotel around 10:00 or 10:15.
The hotel is a restored building that has only recently been redone. Our room was quite large with a beautiful chandelier in it and a big bathroom with a walk in shower with a rain shower head about 12" across. It also had a hand-held shower. The toilet was in its own little room which is very normal around Europe. Another nice feature was a mini-fridge stocked with FREE drinks! Water, coke, juice, etc. YAY!!!
I think we were asleep when our heads hit the pillow. It was a nice, long day and we were really looking forward to Thursday in Strasbourg.
It was market day in Bayeux so we walked down the main street admiring all of the fresh produce, cheese and meat. They also had some booths set up selling hand made jewelry, books, clothing, etc. It is such a beautiful market and we loved seeing it again.
We started heading back to the B&B and stopped for brunch at Reine Mathilde restaurant again. We had delicious omelets with fries. Fries come with everything. After eating, while walking back to the B&B to pick up our luggage and walk to the train station, we ran into the British couple, Guy and Paula, having coffee at an outdoor cafe. They asked us to join them and we had plenty of time so we did. They are such a fun couple!!! David apologized for the rude behavior of the woman from New Hampshire and Paula kind of dismissed it but you could tell it pissed Guy off a little bit. Guy has three jobs and Paula has two. He is a doctor for the National Health System but didn't say what his other two jobs are. Paula teaches geography but she didn't say what her other job is. They are in their early 50s, I think. We asked a lot of questions about where they live -- in Southern England -- and Guy told us his best mate from medical school lives in Boston and keeps after he and Paula to visit him there. Of course David invited him to visit us too. I think we would have fun!
We said goodbye to them, picked up our luggage and walked to the train station. We took the train back to Paris, changed train stations and then took another train to Strasbourg France. We bought food at the Paris train station so we could have dinner on the train. It was typical sandwiches on baguettes, Coke Light, water and, for dessert, big cookies! Train travel in Europe is so simple and efficient and we love traveling this way.
When we arrived in Strasbourg it was about 9:30 p.m., and it was raining! We walked out to the taxi stand and a young woman there said for some reason no buses were running and the wait for a taxi was over an hour. We were very tired by then so that was discouraging but taxis started pulling up within about 15 minutes. I would say we got to our lovely hotel around 10:00 or 10:15.
The hotel is a restored building that has only recently been redone. Our room was quite large with a beautiful chandelier in it and a big bathroom with a walk in shower with a rain shower head about 12" across. It also had a hand-held shower. The toilet was in its own little room which is very normal around Europe. Another nice feature was a mini-fridge stocked with FREE drinks! Water, coke, juice, etc. YAY!!!
I think we were asleep when our heads hit the pillow. It was a nice, long day and we were really looking forward to Thursday in Strasbourg.
DAVID'S D-DAY TOUR ON TUESDAY (August 6, 2013)
I continued my second day of the D-Day Invasion tour by again following the missions of paratrooper and glider infantry troops, however, this time it was from the perspective of British and Canadian forces.
We headed for Benouvile and the Pegasus Bridge. It was here that the 6th Paratrooper Regiment was to attack and hold the Pegasus Bridge. In my opinion this was the most precise of the airborne attacks. Three Horsa gliders each carrying 28 men landed 100 and some odd yards from the Pegasus Bridge. What was amazing about this is they landed pretty much in parking lot fashion with little or no damage and ready to deploy. They also came in undetected by the Germans on the bridge. Within minutes they scurried across the bridge with the first man being shot in the throat and dying wthin a few minutes. Only one other man was injured. Like in the battle for La Fiere Bridge I told you about yesterday, the British also had to repel a counter-attack from German self-propelled guns. In addition, the Germans fired an artillary piece from on top of a maternity ward run by nuns, toward the bridge now held by the British. A few minutes later, the British watched a nun all dressed in white running down the side of the river about a quarter of a mile toward the British position amidst all the gunfire, flapping her arms wildly. The British thought for sure she was going to be killed. When she reached the British Commander, she said "you must stop firing because there are brand new mothers and babies in that building;" the British Commander had no choice but to stop firing. One of the British glider infantry soldiers, manning a captured German gun in a gun pit at the foot of the bridge, took careful aim at the German gun on the maternity building. With a precise shot he eliminated the German position. Shortly after the British troops who had landed at Sword Beach arrived to support the airborne troops who had captured Pegasus Bridge. With the typical dry British humor, he arriving Commander apologized to the glider infantry Commander for being 2 mintues and 30 seconds late. For now the British had a tenuous hold on Pegasus Bridge.
Present day the original Pegasus Bridge had to be removed because the canal was widened. British citizens threw such a fit that the French government sold the bridge to the British for one franc. The bridge now sits at the Pegasus Bridge Museum where you can climb all over it and see the machine gun bullet strikes.
My day studying the airborne troops shows me that skill, timing, luck and above all bravery, is what kept the Germans from rolling reinforcements into the area and either stopping the invasion cold or at the very least, prolonging the war for much longer.
I could write many more stories about what Christophe showed me on Monday and Tuesday but I know not everyone shares my love of WWII history. I'm just happy I had an opportunity to return to the area for more study of the history.
TUESDAY IN BAYEUX, FRANCE (August 6, 2013)
We woke up early on Tuesday and off and on we heard an older French woman yelling. Of course we couldn't tell what she was yelling but it was definitely loud and her words really traveled! We were curious about it but
. . . . Ohhhh, Tuesday's breakfast was fun! When we arrived in the dining room only the older couple from New Hampshire and a very odd-looking French woman were at the table. The French woman sat at the head of the table and she continually muttered and occasionally she would shout things out. And her eyes didn't focus. Obviously David had to sit by her! And you all know him -- he greeted her and tried a number of times to have a conversation with her to no avail. It was pretty funny because she would mutter "Monsieur," and David would think she was talking to him so he would look at her and answer "Madame." This happened 3 or 4 times and it started to sound like an episode of "All right" and "Sal right." She finally finished her breakfast and left the dining room. Anthony quickly came in to tell us that she is a very famous French writer who burned herself out on alcohol and drugs. He told us no other innkeeper will rent her a room but since he knows who she is, he rents to her. He tries to keep her from the other guests but it's not always possible. None of us thought to ask him her name so we could google her. I think we were all too fascinated. David thinks when she was muttering under her breath she was writing a book. Probably about rude Americans!
. . . . Ohhhh, Tuesday's breakfast was fun! When we arrived in the dining room only the older couple from New Hampshire and a very odd-looking French woman were at the table. The French woman sat at the head of the table and she continually muttered and occasionally she would shout things out. And her eyes didn't focus. Obviously David had to sit by her! And you all know him -- he greeted her and tried a number of times to have a conversation with her to no avail. It was pretty funny because she would mutter "Monsieur," and David would think she was talking to him so he would look at her and answer "Madame." This happened 3 or 4 times and it started to sound like an episode of "All right" and "Sal right." She finally finished her breakfast and left the dining room. Anthony quickly came in to tell us that she is a very famous French writer who burned herself out on alcohol and drugs. He told us no other innkeeper will rent her a room but since he knows who she is, he rents to her. He tries to keep her from the other guests but it's not always possible. None of us thought to ask him her name so we could google her. I think we were all too fascinated. David thinks when she was muttering under her breath she was writing a book. Probably about rude Americans!
We had the same offerings of food and the same good coffee so I was happy. Soon after the French writer left, a very nice British couple joined us. They had traveled overnight and just arrived that morning. They were great! Of course right off the bat the woman from New Hampshire made a crack about taking New Hampshire back from them or something like that. The British woman replied "Indeed!" David was very offended by the comment and he thinks the British couple, Guy and Paula, were too. We changed the subject and asked about them and Paula told us their daughter had just gotten married the previous Saturday and they were on holiday to rest and relax. Well you know me and weddings. I asked a million questions and they seemed pleased to answer them. It sounded like it was a very nice wedding!
At 9:00 David left with Christophe for his tour of more battle scenes. I read my book awhile and then took a leisurely shower and washed my hair. I gotta tell you that after the week in London, I was very happy to have down time and time alone! I finally got myself together and walked into Bayeux to shop. It's odd but in the little town there are about 10 really good women's clothing shops and probably 5 shoes stores. Plus 3 lingerie shops with absolutely gorgeous French lingerie!!! I spent a few hours shopping but didn't buy a thing! We have too many days left here to carry things with us and our suitcases are too small to pack anything else in them. Good for saving money, I guess.
I went to a cafe and had Cafe Americana and a croissant. Once again I lingered for over an hour just watching people stroll by. I probably already mentioned this but lots and lots of Europeans travel everywhere with their dogs. They are allowed on buses and trains and also in cafes and restaurants. So I saw lots of very cute dogs too!
Around 6:00 I went back to the B&B to wait for David. Once again he and Christophe did not return until after 7:30 p.m. David certainly got his money's worth!!! He was really worn out so we decided to just go out for a quick pizza and return to our room. That's exactly what we did! With a stop for ice cream on the way back, of course!
We didn't have to get up early the next day so we did not even set the alarm. We had the morning to hang out in Bayeux before catching the train the next afternoon. I'll let David tell you about his Tuesday in Bayeux!
In case you can't tell, we are REALLY enjoying ourselves!!!
Around 6:00 I went back to the B&B to wait for David. Once again he and Christophe did not return until after 7:30 p.m. David certainly got his money's worth!!! He was really worn out so we decided to just go out for a quick pizza and return to our room. That's exactly what we did! With a stop for ice cream on the way back, of course!
We didn't have to get up early the next day so we did not even set the alarm. We had the morning to hang out in Bayeux before catching the train the next afternoon. I'll let David tell you about his Tuesday in Bayeux!
In case you can't tell, we are REALLY enjoying ourselves!!!
DAVID'S D-DAY TOUR ON MONDAY (August 5, 2013)
Below is David's account of his first day tour of Normandy:
I began the tour at 9:00 a.m. with Christophe Rault, the same guide I used last year with a group of friends for the D-Day overview. Today I visited 15 sights involving activities of paratroopers and glider infantry troops. Of course I can't go into detail on everything I visited as I would clobber several pages of Julia's blog; I will only tell you about a few things. The mission of American, British, and Canadian paratroopers was to prevent German reinforcements from reaching the landing beaches when they landed in the early morning hours before D-Day. One such place was at an 11th Century Viking manor and farm next to a bridge of the same vintage, named La Fiere Bridge; fiere means proud in French. The manor was owned by Mrs. Poisson (Mrs. Fish) at the time. A garrison of about 50 Germans held the manor and the American paratroopers needed to get the manor to hold the bridge. Of course, terrible fighting broke out. The Vikings made thick walls so it provided great protection for the Germans. After pitched gun battles and American attacks, the Germans surrendered, putting out the white flag. The Americans approached and several were cut down from some of the other buildings. You can imagine there was hell to pay after this incident and more were killed on each side and the American paratroopers eventually prevailed. Shortly after the Americans secured the manor, four German tanks and accompanying infantry approached the bridge from the far side. Two, two-man bazooka teams on each side of the bridge wait for the tanks as they approach. A German tank commander stands up out of the turret to see what he can see. At that moment an American shoots him and the German commander falls back on top of the turret and the bullet fire storm starts. One American bazooka team is knocked out right away. The second team, on the left, jumps out, uncovered, and knocks out two tanks. This is an incredible feat considering they are exposed to the enemy tanks and infantry. When I saw how close they were to the tanks, it made me shiver. A light American artillery piece that has just been brought up in the rear and set up, knocks out the third tank, but is hit simultaneously by that tank, killing the paratrooper's colonel. For now the paratroopers have held the La Fiere bridge. Later General Galvin, who led all paratroopers and who fought through all of Europe said he believed the fighting at La Fiere was the most violent he had seen anywhere.
One thing that amazes me as I walk around the sights in Normandy. There is bullet and shell damage everywhere. Chunks are missing from walls, wrought iron fences are cut and bent, artillery shells are imbedded in walls, and gun pits and trenches still exist. At Marmienville Farm for example, the place where the first newsreels from the D-Day landing came from. You may remember the still picture of a group of paratroopers holding up a flag of a swastika; it was being held by a bespectacled paratrooper. Anyway, at that farm there is a barn still being used today to store rolls of hay that has a German concrete bunker attached to it. The French intend to leave everything as it is and many, many of the same families live in the homes whose parents or grandparents lived in them during the invasion. Oh and the Viking manor that I mentioned at La Fiere bridge is now a beautiful B&B owed by a French husband and American wife team.
The above is an account of a very small part of what I saw on Monday's tour. The tour lasted from 9:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Looking forward to tomorrow's tour!
I began the tour at 9:00 a.m. with Christophe Rault, the same guide I used last year with a group of friends for the D-Day overview. Today I visited 15 sights involving activities of paratroopers and glider infantry troops. Of course I can't go into detail on everything I visited as I would clobber several pages of Julia's blog; I will only tell you about a few things. The mission of American, British, and Canadian paratroopers was to prevent German reinforcements from reaching the landing beaches when they landed in the early morning hours before D-Day. One such place was at an 11th Century Viking manor and farm next to a bridge of the same vintage, named La Fiere Bridge; fiere means proud in French. The manor was owned by Mrs. Poisson (Mrs. Fish) at the time. A garrison of about 50 Germans held the manor and the American paratroopers needed to get the manor to hold the bridge. Of course, terrible fighting broke out. The Vikings made thick walls so it provided great protection for the Germans. After pitched gun battles and American attacks, the Germans surrendered, putting out the white flag. The Americans approached and several were cut down from some of the other buildings. You can imagine there was hell to pay after this incident and more were killed on each side and the American paratroopers eventually prevailed. Shortly after the Americans secured the manor, four German tanks and accompanying infantry approached the bridge from the far side. Two, two-man bazooka teams on each side of the bridge wait for the tanks as they approach. A German tank commander stands up out of the turret to see what he can see. At that moment an American shoots him and the German commander falls back on top of the turret and the bullet fire storm starts. One American bazooka team is knocked out right away. The second team, on the left, jumps out, uncovered, and knocks out two tanks. This is an incredible feat considering they are exposed to the enemy tanks and infantry. When I saw how close they were to the tanks, it made me shiver. A light American artillery piece that has just been brought up in the rear and set up, knocks out the third tank, but is hit simultaneously by that tank, killing the paratrooper's colonel. For now the paratroopers have held the La Fiere bridge. Later General Galvin, who led all paratroopers and who fought through all of Europe said he believed the fighting at La Fiere was the most violent he had seen anywhere.
One thing that amazes me as I walk around the sights in Normandy. There is bullet and shell damage everywhere. Chunks are missing from walls, wrought iron fences are cut and bent, artillery shells are imbedded in walls, and gun pits and trenches still exist. At Marmienville Farm for example, the place where the first newsreels from the D-Day landing came from. You may remember the still picture of a group of paratroopers holding up a flag of a swastika; it was being held by a bespectacled paratrooper. Anyway, at that farm there is a barn still being used today to store rolls of hay that has a German concrete bunker attached to it. The French intend to leave everything as it is and many, many of the same families live in the homes whose parents or grandparents lived in them during the invasion. Oh and the Viking manor that I mentioned at La Fiere bridge is now a beautiful B&B owed by a French husband and American wife team.
The above is an account of a very small part of what I saw on Monday's tour. The tour lasted from 9:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Looking forward to tomorrow's tour!
MONDAY IN BAYEUX, FRANCE (August 5, 2013)
Good morning! We started our day by joining the other B&B guests for breakfast. It is served from 7:30 to 10:00, either in the dining room or outside in the garden. We thought it was chilly (remember I am married to David Weich) so we ate inside. We had our choice of tea of coffee and the coffee was very good. As we have been told many times, French people don't eat eggs for breakfast . . . so here is what we had to pick from: two kinds of cereal (one was chocolate!), yogurt, slices of ham, turkey and Swiss cheese, croissants, baguettes and orange juice and milk. Also delicious French butter and home made jams. There were hard boiled eggs on the buffet as well.
We were joined at the table by a couple from New Hampshire with their daughter and son-in-law. There was another young couple with them and we found out later that they went to school with the daughter, but now live in Spain. The young man works for American Express. They were going on a D-Day tour too. We enjoyed our conversation with all of them and also with the B&B owner, Anthony.
David was being picked up by his tour guide, Christophe Rault, at 9:00 a.m. and my duty for the day was to take our clothes to the laundry to be washed. I was feeling very smug about dropping the dirty clothes off and picking them up later all clean and folded. But that was not to be. Apparently many things are closed on Monday in Bayeux and the cleaners was one of them. We really needed to have some clean clothes so I decided to be brave and go to the laundromat. Oh my.
When I got there, no one else was there. The machines all looked familiar and after staring at the directions in French for about 30 minutes I figured it all out. I was able to change my 10 euro bill into coins and managed to buy detergent. I was very proud of myself! Then I carefully studied the pictures on the washer showing me to put the clothes in, pick the water temperature, put the soap in a certain spot -- all normal stuff. The difficult thing was that instead of putting coins in individual washers, you fed them into a machine on the wall and then pushed the button of the number of the machine you are using and away you go. I happen to know French numbers from 1 to 10 but the washers (I figured out later) were numbered 21-26. Why? And to me they didn't really match up in any consistent order. About that time a French woman walked in and with she straightened me out by pointing to a button on the machine and running to the washer and back and forth. She was very nice and patient. After that things went smoothly. I was able to operate the dryers with no problem.
While waiting for the clothes to dry, in walked a couple from Australia. She was a pretty blonde and he had very dark hair pulled back in a ponytail that went clear down his back past his butt. I wondered if he'd ever had a haircut but I didn't ask. They were very nice and just listening to their pretty accents made the time go by quickly. The man commented that he should have been born in America because he loves American cars -- especially corvettes! I finished my wash and walked back to the B&B knowing that David would be thrilled to have clean clothes.
On the way back I stopped and bought a ham and cheese sandwich on a baguette and a bottle of Coke Light to have for lunch. I unloaded the laundry, got my Kindle out and went out to the garden to have lunch and read. It was a beautiful afternoon and I had the entire garden to myself. Heavenly!
After my break I set out to walk along the canal. I walked 25 minutes out and didn't want to get lost so I retraced my steps and ended up at a little cafe in the town. There I sat outside at a table, had a glass of wine and people-watched. I must have sat there for an hour and a half! I figured David would be back around 5:00 or 5:30 so I headed back to the B&B. I watched the news for awhile and looked at Facebook and read my book. Finally, around 7:30 p.m. David and Christophe returned! They had had quite the long day.
We went to a near by restaurant called Reine Mathilde and had a great dinner -- caesar salad and omelets. We then headed back to our B&B to get a good night's sleep. We have another good day planned for Tuesday!
We were joined at the table by a couple from New Hampshire with their daughter and son-in-law. There was another young couple with them and we found out later that they went to school with the daughter, but now live in Spain. The young man works for American Express. They were going on a D-Day tour too. We enjoyed our conversation with all of them and also with the B&B owner, Anthony.
David was being picked up by his tour guide, Christophe Rault, at 9:00 a.m. and my duty for the day was to take our clothes to the laundry to be washed. I was feeling very smug about dropping the dirty clothes off and picking them up later all clean and folded. But that was not to be. Apparently many things are closed on Monday in Bayeux and the cleaners was one of them. We really needed to have some clean clothes so I decided to be brave and go to the laundromat. Oh my.
When I got there, no one else was there. The machines all looked familiar and after staring at the directions in French for about 30 minutes I figured it all out. I was able to change my 10 euro bill into coins and managed to buy detergent. I was very proud of myself! Then I carefully studied the pictures on the washer showing me to put the clothes in, pick the water temperature, put the soap in a certain spot -- all normal stuff. The difficult thing was that instead of putting coins in individual washers, you fed them into a machine on the wall and then pushed the button of the number of the machine you are using and away you go. I happen to know French numbers from 1 to 10 but the washers (I figured out later) were numbered 21-26. Why? And to me they didn't really match up in any consistent order. About that time a French woman walked in and with she straightened me out by pointing to a button on the machine and running to the washer and back and forth. She was very nice and patient. After that things went smoothly. I was able to operate the dryers with no problem.
While waiting for the clothes to dry, in walked a couple from Australia. She was a pretty blonde and he had very dark hair pulled back in a ponytail that went clear down his back past his butt. I wondered if he'd ever had a haircut but I didn't ask. They were very nice and just listening to their pretty accents made the time go by quickly. The man commented that he should have been born in America because he loves American cars -- especially corvettes! I finished my wash and walked back to the B&B knowing that David would be thrilled to have clean clothes.
On the way back I stopped and bought a ham and cheese sandwich on a baguette and a bottle of Coke Light to have for lunch. I unloaded the laundry, got my Kindle out and went out to the garden to have lunch and read. It was a beautiful afternoon and I had the entire garden to myself. Heavenly!
After my break I set out to walk along the canal. I walked 25 minutes out and didn't want to get lost so I retraced my steps and ended up at a little cafe in the town. There I sat outside at a table, had a glass of wine and people-watched. I must have sat there for an hour and a half! I figured David would be back around 5:00 or 5:30 so I headed back to the B&B. I watched the news for awhile and looked at Facebook and read my book. Finally, around 7:30 p.m. David and Christophe returned! They had had quite the long day.
We went to a near by restaurant called Reine Mathilde and had a great dinner -- caesar salad and omelets. We then headed back to our B&B to get a good night's sleep. We have another good day planned for Tuesday!
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