After an arduous hike last night through Mainz to the Stefanskirche, which seemed to me to be in a rather unsavory neighborhood, I decided it would not be practical to attend Mass in the morning before my action-packed day of travel. This may have been a poor choice, because after weeks of hot and blindingly sunny weather, for my Sunday morning Rhine cruise I got thick cloud cover and haze. Ugly cruising weather, ugly photography weather. Nevertheless, I did cruise the most scenic part of the Rhine between Bingen and Koblenz, where there really is a castle (or ruin) at every [View Full Entry]

---

---

I took the plunge and changed to a day train, which leaves imminently for points Rhineward. Rick offers no information whatsoever on Bingen and only "don't bother" on Mainz, so I am on my own finding rooms and maps and such. If I hadn't been silly and disorganized last night, I might have gotten a room in Bingen (home of St. Hildegard, patron of Women's Studies majors and feminist musicians); fortunately, this morning I scored an excellent room in Mainz instead (home of the Chagall church, which I might now have time to attend in the morning). So far, so good, [View Full Entry]

---

---

Well, if I'm online from Mainz, and I am, then that's an excellent indicator that all the rest of my basic needs have been attended to (contrary to appearances, an internet café is actually not the first basic need I satisfy upon arrival to a new city). (Whew! Somehow I accidentally hotkeyed this computer over to the Arabic keyboard, then had to figure out, in German, how to switch it back....) Anyway, the morning in Salzburg was excellent. It was inevitable that once I decided to leave town early, I would think of several more things that I no longer had [View Full Entry]

---

---

I had previously asserted that all the relevant Sound of Music sights were in the Altstadt (old town center) and easily walkable, thus eliminating the need for a bus tour. Upon reviewing the free map I got from the tourist office, I discovered I was totally wrong about that, and nearly all of them are well outside the city, only conveniently accessible by car or bus tour. So, I caved and reserved the bus tour for this morning. Traveling alone, as the attentive reader has already noticed, I've gravitated toward guided tours as a way of finding structure and a bit [View Full Entry]

---

---

I wrapped things up in München with another tasty breakfast and some chores (online banking rules!), then headed to the Hauptbahnhof to do a little travel consulting with Herr W. at EurAide. He quickly drew up a plan of attack that includes a night train from Salzburg to Mainz, then a short Rhein (Rhine) cruise (instead of the all-day version), plus quick sightseeing in Köln and Aachen, all in one day. He also recommended, before all this, a night in Hallstadt, Austria, a city highly recommended by Rick but not on my list. I made the night train reservation, then deliberated [View Full Entry]

---

---

Grüße Gott! Today I took the EurAide tour to Schloß (Castle) Neuschwanstein, Schloß Linderhof, Wieskirche (Wies Church) and an unscheduled but abbreviated drive-by of another church and monastery at Ettal. Wieskirche was disappointing. We arrived at exactly the time a Mass was starting, so we were unable to look around inside or take photographs. I got the impression that Herr Wissenberg (our tour guide and owner?/manager of EurAide) knew in advance that this would be the case, and the interior is really the reason for visiting, so I'm not sure what the point was. However, we did get to [View Full Entry]

---

---

Grüße Gott! I read, but had forgotten, that this is how German-speakers in Bayern (Bavaria) and Austria say "hello", so it was quite disorienting at first since I had come to expect, and had practiced, "Guten Morgen" (good morning) or "Guten Tag" (good day) as used in the north. Now I think I have the hang of "Grüße Gott" (which literally means, "greet God") as well. In fact, I think I have officially learned just enough German to be dangerous, as I'm able to ask rather complex questions now... the obvious problem with this being that I get back rather complex [View Full Entry]

---

---

Still got that cold today. I declared myself a day off; even if I weren't already totally entitled to one, it helps that most museums and major attractions are closed on Mondays. I slept until 9:30 and dinked around, rearranged luggage, watched CNN International, and so forth until about 11:30 before showering. My hotel room is in a small suite with toilet and shower shared with two other rooms; annoying, but survivable and nicely affordable. I headed out after noon on a Mission From God™ to get some laundry done in a real washing machine with real soap. The travel wash [View Full Entry]

---

---

Note: there are no actual swans in this story. First, I had to get up early to pack and schlep luggage over to the hlavní nádraží (main train station), where I left my suitcase at the luggage desk. It's attended, cheap (15 Kč/day!), and Rick says it is said to be safer than the lockers. (My bag ended up just fine, so I'm satisfied with his advice.) Next, I headed back into the Staré Město (Old Town) and attended Mše (Mass) at the Kostel paní Marie pred Týnem (Church of Our Lady of Týn). The most interesting thing about this church [View Full Entry]

---

---

Greetings again from Praha (Prague)! Today I believe I have been successful at entertaining myself. I did, indeed, get up earlyish and catch a guided bus tour to Terezín (Theresienstadt in German), a former Nazi concentration camp and Jewish ghetto located about 60 km north of Praha. The bus tour was definitely the right way to go... because the entire town of Terezín comprises the museum, specific sights are located rather far from each other. My feet were grateful to have a shuttle between them, enough so that I think I can live with the prescribed itinerary and (reasonable) time limit [View Full Entry]

---

---