Summer 2009- Germany

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This was our summer 2009 big trip. Flying to and arrival at Frankfurt was eventless. Car rental was smooth (AVIS). We were lucky that we were able to get a diesel automatic car although we forgot to request either of these features. Since we wanted to drive to Czech Republic, they had to change the car that was originally reserved for us- a Mercedes. German rental companies do not allow Mercedes and BMWs to be driven in to Czech Republic due higher risk of luxury car theft.

Day 1: Heidelberg

It is a historic city with a beautiful castle. Closest Parking to the castle and bridge is Parking #12. Castle is an impressive ruin of a gothic-Renaissance fortress. View from the castle’s east garden is magnificent. Castle garden is also very nice. Germany’s oldest University is also in Heidelberg. Downtown area has a college town feel. Entrance is € 3/1.50 Adult/Child. Overnight at Le Meridian, Stuttgart. Discovered a very popular pizza/pasta restaura
nt chain-Valpiano. Really great fresh food in great atmosphere. Stuttgart was full of college students on vacation at the time. It is a very pedestrian friendly city.

Day 2: Black Forest

We started the day by visiting the Black forest Open Air Museum which is a living history/working village museum. Entrance is € 13/ family (ask for a family pass always if you are travelling with family as it will save you money). Kids enjoyed Bratwurst (really long Fried sausage). Next we went to Triberg and Gutach Falls. Gutach falls is Germany’s highest waterfall. Steep climb takes you up the waterfall where the water plunges in seven cascades. Triberg is famous for its cuckoo clocks; Triberg has two of the largest cuckoo clocks in the world. We of course planned to buy a cuckoo clock anyways and did so in Triberg. After all that walking we finished the day with piece of black forest cake and a cappuccino. Overnight at Le Meridian, Stuttgart.

Day 3: Bavaria, Neuschwanstein / Hohenschwangau castles

Bavaria can be compared to Tuscany in Italy. Beautiful romantic scenery, lots of wineries and little villages. Neuschwanstein is a fairy tale come true castle that was the inspiration for the castle in Disney’s sleeping beauty castle. King Ludwig’s most famous castle is built above a valley floor and looks absolutely picture book spectacular. This is the most popular castle in all of Europe. It is always busy and ticket lines are always long. But it is efficiently run and we waited only 20 minutes for the tickets. Less famous, but equally worth seeing Hohenschwangau castle was Ludwig’s childhood home. It stands above the village. It pales next to Ludwig’s fantasy castle, but we enjoyed the tour very much. Both castle can be visited on guided tours only at specified times printed on the tickets. Visit the Hohenschwangau first and then Neuschwanstein. Remember that you have to enter the castle at the time printed on your ticket or you loose your turn. So pay attention to time. You can walk up to Hohenschwangau easily (about 10-15 min), but Neuschwanstein is a good hike. There are buses that take you further up, so the walk is less. Also you can use horse driven carriages. We used the bus and it was fine. Park at the parking area above the ticket center. It is the closest to the Hohenschwangau and also to the bus. Afterwards, on our way to Munich drove the Romantic Road, beautiful scenery. Overnight at Sheraton Arabellapark, Munich.

Day 4: Dachu Concentration camp and Munich

Dachu- Very moving. In fact they advice not to take children under 12 to see some of the exhibits. This was the first concentration camp opened by the Nazis and the one on which later concentration camps were based. Between 1933 and 1945, about 200,000 people were here and about 32,000 died. It is hard to give an explanation of what it feels like to be in a place where such atrocities were committed. I just couldn’t breathe looking at the barracks imaging how it was filled with prisoners.

Munich- We took the underground to Munich downtown from Arabellapark to Odeonsplatz. It was pretty easy to figure out. Best way to see Munich and for that matter almost all Germany cities is on foot. Many of the city attractions are within short distance from Odeonsplatz. First visited the beautiful English garden where Eisbach river flows in the middle, people swimming and surfing (yes, they were). Frauenkirche, the prominent twin onion dome image in Munich is the city’s cathedral. It is huge and has simple white walls and colorful stained glass windows. This is a mark resembling a near the entrance which, according to legend, was where the devil stood when he curiously regarded and ridiculed the windowless church. In fact, none of the side windows can be seen from the spot when one looks to the high altar. Next stop was Neues and Altes Rathus which is on Marienplatz. We along with 1000s of others watched the 5pm (can see at 11am also), show on the tower with life size brightly painted figures move and chime. Also visited Residenz- the palace of Wittlesbach dynasty, rulers of Bavaria for nearly 800 years. We saw many other classical buildings, statues and fountains also. Overnight at Sheraton Arabellapark, Munich

Day 5: Salzburg, Austria

Salzburg is a smaller city, is on the banks of the Salzach river, at the northern boundary of the Alps. It is also Mozart’s home town. We visited his house that contains original sheet music, his violin and other personal belongings. City has lots of Baroque style well preserved buildings and setting is absolutely picture perfect. The Musical “Sound of Music” was filmed in Salzburg, at Mirabella Gardens and palace. The famous fountain in Mirabella Gardens can be seen in the Do-Re-Mi song from Sound of Music. The hotel we stayed was next to the park and it was an amazing sight. Maria von Trapp whose life was the basis for the film was a teacher at Nonnberg Abbey, a monastery in Salzburg. Overnight at Sheraton Mirabella.

Day 6: Nuremburg

Nuremburg is a political city - in the Middle Ages it was the residence of German Emperors and later Nuremberg in Germany became the central place of the Nazis. It was the site of huge Nazi Party conventions-the Nuremberg rallies. The rallies were held annually from 1927 to 1938 in Nuremberg. At the 1935 rally, Hitler specifically ordered the Reichstag to convene at Nuremberg to pass the anti-Semitic Nuremberg Laws which revoked German citizenship for all Jews. It was bombed to rubble in WWII, the medieval city center with its main buildings had been reconstructed, using the original stone. Nuremberg Castle the "Kaiserburg" create a nice medieval atmosphere in the Old Town Nuremberg in Germany. This castle was used from 1050 to 1571 by every emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. The market square Hauptmarkt is a lively place is dominated by the beautiful Church Frauenkirche is an ideal place to explore and shop. Cobblestone pedestrian walkways make the Altstadt easy place to explore on foot. Overnight at Sheraton, Nuremburg


Day 7- Prague, Czech Republic

Prague is something else- a unique place to visit. Visited the Jewish Quarter, an important part of the history of Prague. Tickets to see all 6 major attractions can be purchased for KC 300/KC 150 adult/child. Worthwhile to see all the synagogues and most interesting would be the Jewish cemetery with topsy turvy tomb stones (people were buried twelve deep, one on top of the other). At the outbreak of World War II, over 92,000 Jews lived in Prague, almost 20 percent of the city’s population. Prague was one of the largest Jewish communities in Europe. At least two-thirds of the Jewish population of Prague perished in the Holocaust. Nazi occupation could have the demolished the whole area, but it was preserved in order to provide a site for a planned "exotic museum of an extinct race". This meant that the Nazis gathered Jewish artifacts from all over central Europe for display here that you can see today.

Also visited the old town square and watched the astronomical clock ring 6pm. Overnight at Sheraton, Prague

Day 8- Prague, Czech Republic

Visited the castle square. Prague Castle is the largest medieval castle complex in Europe. The Prague Castle complex consists of Saint Vitus Cathedral , the most recognizable landmark in the city, museums and art galleries, a monastery, Golden Lane which is very cute street lined with old time shops, several palaces, including Lobkowicz Palace, and St. George's Basilica. Best way to get there is using the Tram 22 and getting down at Pohorelec and start at the top most point. Family ticket cost KC 300 for the short tour. St Vitus is very popular with a long line to get in, so it is advisable to visit St. Vitus first. You can easily spend a whole day exploring the castle square. Visited the old town square again in the evening as we wanted to visit the Tyn cathedral, dominant feature of the Old Town of Prague and has been the main church of this part of the city since the 14th century. The oldest pipe organ in Prague stands inside this church. We also spent time crossing the Charles Bridge, a famous historical bridge that crosses the Vltava River. You can see lots of street artists in Prague, just like in Paris. Some had beautiful paintings; my favorite was the one of a Charles Bridge on a rainy day.

Visiting Prague was the most challenging but most rewarding also. We were asked repeatedly by the hotel staff to be aware of Pickpockets. Apparently, they are as numerous as they are skilled and work in teams. Fortunately we didn’t encounter any and had really wonderful culturally rich experience while visiting Prague.


Day 9- Dresden and Berlin

At Dresden visited the famous Zwinger palace- a baroque masterpiece modeled after Versailles in Paris. It is a major German landmark and beautiful site to visit. Dresden is considered one of the most beautiful cities in Germany and is full of architectural masterpieces most at walking distance to each other.

Berlin is immense, important, and beautiful. Turned out to be my favorite city in Germany. In Berlin, we joined a walking tour around city. This is highly recommended as you will see lot more and learn lot more doing a walking tour. However, it is 3 ½ hours long, so prepare to be exhausted at the end of it. Tour started at the famous Brandenburg gate and we visited Charlie’s checkpoint (nothing do with Charlie, but letter “C” to signify it was the 3rd gate), Hilter’s bunker site (pretty much a car park now), remains of the Berlin wall (surprisingly quite low/small), Jewish memorial (Holocaust memorial), Postdam, Museum Island, Gendarmenmarkt, which houses French and German Cathedrals, Babelplatz (book burning memorial), Berlin Cathedral and many other famous historical landmarks. Our tour guide had lots of interesting stories to tell about each site including many eastern Berliners’ escape attempt stories. Overnight at Westin Grand. Great hotel, close proximity to the Unter den linden ("under the linden trees" is a boulevard in the center of Berlin) is very desirable when visiting Berlin.


Day 10: Berlin

Visited the Berlin Zoo and the Aquarium. Berlin Zoo is home to the largest number of species of all the world's zoos (Polar bears, panda bears, all kinds of Zebras etc) and really spacious and well planned. It is the most visited Zoo in Europe and easily accessible by Public Transportation. Almost all of the animals are housed in enclosures that are specially designed to recreate their natural habitats. Kids really enjoyed the visit. Aquarium can be it can be visited with the zoo purchasing a joint ticket. Family pass for both Zoo and Aquarium was 45 Euros.

In the evening visited the Reichstag, which is their parliament building. It has a glass dome you can climb on to great city views. Parliament chamber can be seen through glass floors. They have built it in glass to represent the transparency of the German government. Lines to get in are really long. It is open till 10pm, so go late evening to beat the crowds. Also, if you have little children, you will be able to go thru a side door (we got that chance thanks to Nipuna). Finally, we visited the Alexanderplatz for closer look at Berlin tower. Berlin visit was very full and we really enjoyed the city including some fine Indian food we discovered within this very cosmopolitan city. Berlin is so interesting that it is very modern and clean with lots of history. Overnight at Westin Grand.

Day 11- Hamburg

Hamburg is a major port city situated on the Elbe River in northern Germany. It is Germany's second-largest city and has one of the most important harbors in Europe and the world. We took a ferry boat to travel on Alster Lake. Ferry boats travels once every hour from Jungfernstieg in the city center to Winterhuder Fährhaus and offer a splendid view to some of the wealthiest neighborhoods of Hamburg. Then we visited the city hall ("Rathaus"). It was built in 1897 out of sandstone in neo-Renaissance style and its is a very impressive building. Inside there are several magnificent halls used for representative purposes and sittings of government and parliament. These can be visited in guided tours. The place in front of the city hall is the Rathausmarkt, hosting many events especially in summer. On the day we visited, there was a music festival and various food vendors were selling mouth watering food. We stayed at Le Meridian, Hamburg which is on the lake and offered great views of sailing boats and sunset. It is also one of the best hotels we stayed during this trip.

Day 12- Bremen and Hamlen

Bremen and Hamlen are cities at one of end of the famous fairy tale road in Germany. The piped piper story is originated in Hamlen. We visited the piped piers house or Rattenfängerhaus, originally built in 1602 which is a restaurant now. Hamlen city is quite charming with lots of rat knick knacks in every corner. You can see the path the rats took while following the piped pier all over the city. We watched the modern “Rat musical” based on the piped pier story played in the city center.
Bremen is a one of the oldest port cities in Germany and home to the world famous Town Musicians. World famous Town Musician’s statue featuring the donkey, dog, cat and rooster from the Brothers Grimm fairytale is actually quite small but is the biggest attraction. The ornate Weser-Renaissance town hall and the grand old statue of Roland on the market square (both UNESCO World Heritage sites) are two of the city's most famous landmarks. The Roland, Bremen's very own "statue of liberty", has stood as an emblem of independence since 1404. People in Bremen believe as long as the Roland statue is intact they are safe. Stayed overnight at Hilton, Bremen.

Day 13- Cologne (Koln) and Bonn

We did a Rhine river cruise on Koln Dasselhoft (KD) cruise line in Cologne. There is English commentary, but not satisfactory. Cologne is a major transport hub in Europe where a train leaves the main station every 1 minute. Cologne cathedral is gothic style architectural master piece, looks similar to Milan cathedral but much taller. Quite an impressive sight. It is the tallest cathedral in Germany. The most celebrated work of art in the cathedral is the Shrine of the Three Kings that believed to hold the remains of the Three Wise Men.

Bonn is the birth place of Beethoven. We visited the Beethoven’s home that is actually turned into a museum. The Museum contains the largest Beethoven collection in the world. Authentic documents, pictures, musical instruments and day to day items used by Beethoven offer insight to his life and compositions.

Stayed overnight at Sheraton, Essen.

Day 14: Bruges, Belgium

Bruges is called the Venice of North due to its many canals. It is a living medieval city and one of most beautiful cities in Belgium. Pedestrian only Cobble stone streets, beautiful parks and old buildings make this city a wonderful place to visit. One can make a day trip here from Brussels, but it has so much to see, consider staying one night. We were actually visiting family in Bruges too. Church of Our Lady is one of the places we visited. It has the only piece of work done by Michael Angelo to leave Italy during his life time. It is the statue of Madonna and Child, while relatively small, very exquisite piece of work. Belfort (Bell tower) in Bruges is a world heritage site and its bells are still played manually. We also visited a working farm where kids had such a great time feeding animals and playing. We stayed overnight at Hotel Adornes, a rustic B & B hotel that occupies three old gabled houses. It is very hard to get hotels in Bruges in summer, so make sure you reserve a room ahead of time.

Day 15- Brussels, Belgium

On our way to Brussels from Bruges, we visited the Dinant. Dinant is a very lively tourist town along the banks of Meuse River. We visited the Dinant Grotto, one of the most beautiful underground caves with fine stalactites and waterfalls. Brussels is a busy town with very cosmopolitan feel. It is also the de facto capital city of the EU and NATO head quarters. Main tourist attraction in Brusels is Manneken Pis. It is amazing this little statue only 1 foot tall state of a boy relieving himself to a small pool became this famous. It is as significant to Brussels as Trevi fountain for Rome or Trafalgar Square for London. There is a tradition where visiting dignitaries from other countries donate miniature versions of their national costume for the boy. So far 650 costumes are donated and they are displayed in a museum. Next we visited the Grand Place which was built as a merchant’s market in the 13th century. It consists of the gothic City Hall, the King's House, and a number of Guild houses. It is considered to be one of the most beautiful town squares in Europe and always full of people. The most famous event that takes place here is the biennial flower carpet (we missed it as this is not the year they do it). Stayed at Sheraton.

Day 16- Luxemburg

Luxembourg is the world's only remaining sovereign Grand Duchy and is ruled by the Grand Duke. The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is a constitutional monarchy, and the Grand Duke is its head of state. The country has a highly developed economy, with the highest GDP in the world. It is one of the smallest countries in the world, only 999 square miles with a population of 493 500. We did what is called “Wenzel walk” 1000 years of history in 100 minutes that goes through the oldest quarters of the city including underground a network of Cock casemates, 23km in total. Luxembourg is the cleanest and most peaceful European city we visited during this trip. We didn’t see a single homeless person or people begging on the street. No surprise there, as this is a very wealthy country. Palace of the Grand Duke is in the middle of the city with no security around (at least visibly). Stayed at Hilton, Luxembourg.

Day 17: Frankfurt

This was our last day of the trip, so we decided to stay in Frankfurt. Made a trip to Hanau, the birth place of the Grimm Brothers. The German Fairy tale road begins in Hanau. At the beginning of 19th century, the Grimm bothers -Wilhelm and Jacob went around the region and collected fairy tales and stories people told them. So the collection of Grimm’s Fairy-tales was begun and they are translated to 140 languages. These stories include well known fairy tales such as Sleeping beauty and Red riding hood.

As you can see, the whole trip was jam packed with sight seeing, but we really enjoyed everyday of it. However, recommendation is visiting these sites during 2 separate trips.

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Comments

[john]

what a intersting blog