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Published: August 19th 2008
Minneapolis
This was the best shot I could get of my plane overseas.OK I have more time to write this now, and I'm feeling a little more patient towards the German keyboard, but there's still no way I can begin to describe everything I want to from the past 2.5 days. I'll just have to settle for a whirlwind summary to accompany my whirlwind tour so far.
On Sunday we started off with a morning in Rothenberg, which felt like what would grow if you could take some German and plant it somewhere. It was just so classic. The town was ancient - I think I read it's heyday was in the late 12th century. Yeah, kind of old. From there we went to Würsberg, which I had never even heard of but loved. It's the kind of place I think would be really cool to live: built on a river, cool modern areas to the town along with lots of really awesome old cathedrals and other architecture. We (Liz and I) probably saw 10 churches in that town - I thought it was so cool. Of course I might have had a different opinion of it had I known about Köln... but that was the next day. Anyway we ended the
Rothenburg
The town hall and main square, around 8am. We were like the only people in the town, it was really cool. day with a trip to the little town of Bacharach on a whim. We were planning on starting a boat tour up the Rhine there the next day, and figured we might as well go that night. Turned out to be our best decision so far. It was just a fantastic experience. The town was probably onlz 1,000 people, and it felt like we were the only tourists when we arrived. It had a perfect small-town Germany charm, which was even more amplified by this Bed & Breakfast we stayed at - in a little back alley, only five rooms total, with homemade breakfast by the incredibly nice lady who ran the place.
After breakfast the next day we went out exploring the town and saw the coolest ruined chapel up the hill on the way to the local fortress (I think it's pretty standard for a Rhine River town to be built around a fortress). The scenery was awesome... ruined castle walls, wine vineyards all over the slopes, and a town below us. Unfortunately I can't post any pictures yet.... but I definitely will have to eventually. We caught a boat down the Rhine for a couple hours
Rothenburg
Just showing come of the architecture style in Rothenburg. as we watched the castles float by along the shore. Sidenote - I LOVE castles. We stopped at St. Goar to explore the Rheinfels Castle, which was pretty well preserved, all things considered. It once withheld a siege of 28,000 French... pretty impressive since they probably had 1,000 or less in the castle. It definitely got me excited to see more castles.
However, the highlight of the whole trip so far (maybe tied with the surprise of Bacharach) definitely came that evening in Köln. We walked out of the train station and looked up to see the most incredible building I've ever seen. The Dom, or the cathedral in Köln, is awe-inspiring. The twin spires on one end are 515ft. high... I don't know how long it was but I'd guess around 500ft. Every meter of the exterior was covered with intricate carvings and designs. I was pretty much speechless standing outside it... but not at all prepared for the interior. It was literally jaw-dropping. I seriously don't think I've ever walked around with my mouth open so long. The ceiling was 140ft. high, and apparently it contained enough stained glass to cover 3 football fields. The organ pipes
Rothenburg
I climbed the tower in the town hall - this is the view of the main square from up there. This was around 11am I think, all the tourists were out. were about 60 ft. tall, which would be cool, but then they were also suspended on cables 60 ft. above the ground. As much as I just want to continue to gush about the cathedral, I don't think I can really convey the grandeur of it. The rest of Köln was nice too, another place that would be cool to live.
We took a night train that night, which I didn't particularly enjoy, but am now sitting in an internet cafe in Munich. Munich has been great so far, and I'm very excited to see more... I'm off to the Olympic Park next! Then after that we're taking another night train to Berlin (hopefully more sleep this time?).
A few random thoughts before I'm done:
- The prevalance of English is surprising. Amsterdam airport was almost exclusively English, and it seems almost everyone I ask speaks at least "just a little bit" of English
- Europeans have style. Even though a lot of Americans would probably ridicule some styles here, I'm extremely impressed by not just the styles themselves but also how everyone here just seems to "own" it. It seems in America everyone is wearing something hoping
Rothenburg
Rooftop view from the tower. they look good, but here everyone is wearing something
knowing they look good.
- I love that once you sit at a table in a restaurant/cafe, it's yours until you leave. You're absolutely allowed to order a coffee and sit at your table for 2 hours. They won't even hint you should leave by bringing the check until you ask for it.
- I don't love that there are pretty much no free water sources or restrooms. Just frustrating sometimes.
OK that's all, I think Liz is hungry so I need to go. Bye!
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Arthur
non-member comment
You were writing about how old the town of Rothenburg was - 12th Century. It is interesting to remember that 1200 years before that, that area was the frontier of the Roman Empire. The Rhine River town of Trier, I think, has a particularly well-preserved Roman building, but where the antiquity of Europe really hit me was in London. I came out of the Tower of London Underground station and could see the White Tower - built in c. 1080 - over 900 years old. In the foreground, near the entrance to the Underground, was the Roman wall that had run around the original City of London. It was almost 1,000 years old when the Tower was built, and is still there!