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Published: March 22nd 2008
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Last night I stayed at a hostel in Mainz. It was a LONG walk to get to the tourist information office which provided us with a map of the city. The heavy backpacks didn't help. When we got the map we found that the hostel was no where near, so we hopped on a bus. On our way we got to see what some of the neighborhoods looked like. It's so interesting to me to see how people from different parts of the world live. The style is unique. They're very quaint here. It seems even the simpler designs have charm.
We explored the town a bit once we settled in. First, we saw the city's dom: The Cathedral of Mainz. It was gorgeous--almost too perfect to be real. I'm seeing a lot of sights like that lately. It's construction began in the 900's AD and took about 300 years until it came to completion. Afterward, my small group and I went to an Italian restaurant. We wanted a sit-down place because all of us were ready for a break after a long train ride and trekking all over town. It was a strange experience for me. The waiter/owner got
all worked up because I asked him a question about the menu in English. He said that in Germany you must speak German. Then he went on all night speaking Italian every time he stopped by our table. I wanted to tell him to start speaking some German!!
We were somewhat satisfied after dinner but all craved a little dessert. We were in hot pursuit of an "eis" (ice cream) shop. Most were closed or closing. Don't people around here like a little ice cream after their dinners?! I was very tempted to get some soft serve from a McDonalds down the street, but fortunately we found a dessert/coffee/small entree cafe open. I got a cone of peppermint chocolate-chip. It was small but delicious. Gelato has a unique taste to it--icy yet very creamy. Yum.
The night life in Mainz amounted to almost nothing so we went back to the hostel to relax for the night by 8:30. There was a bar/seating area set up there where we talked and ate nachos until close to midnight. The company was nice.
The next morning, we got up early, ate breakfast (cereal, rolls/jelly, coffee/tea, and some strangely plain chunky
yogurt with canned fruit to mix in it), then took off to see the Gutenberg Museum before leaving on the 11:30 am train to Bacharach. We were only able to stay about an hour, but I really enjoyed it. I don't know if it's my love of books or art or the Biblical history (they had copies of the first printed Bibles!) but I seemed to like it more than the rest of the group. They said they had enough paper after an hour of being there. Bah humbug.
As we journeyed from the museum to the train station we passed through the town square filled with colorful market stands. I wished to grocery shop this way. People walked around with their wicker arm baskets filling them with fresh produce, rolls, pastries, flowers, dried pasta and more. What an endearing way of life.
For some portion of the train ride from Mainz to Bacharch, we followed the coast of the Rhine River. Villages of pastel and white houses lined the shoreline while occasionally up the in hills a stone castle stood proudly. This is a ride my mom had recommended to go on even if we didn't have
a destination. We did have a destination though: a castle of our own in little old Bacharach. The castle, built in the 1200's, was a steep hike up from the sweet village below. It was worth every step. Inside there is a cafe, a game room and clean cozy dorms.
We dropped our stuff off and went out to explore. In the winter, this town basically shuts down so we decided to just enjoy the nature around us. First, we took a walk along the Rhine and stopped by a park to play. 😊 As we continued our walk we saw a look-out tower on one of the vineyard covered hillsides. We decided to see how far up the hill we could go. One and a half hours later, including some breaks to enjoy the view, we made it to the top. The view of the town and river below was unforgettable. The sun shone across the quiet town as trains slide by the rocky coast and barge made ripples in the water's surface.
There's a unique atmosphere here. It makes me wonder what it'd be like to actually live in a town like Bacharach. The town in
no doubt relaxing, but I think I'd miss some of the hustle and bustle. Maybe the people here travel to other villages during these winter months?! Smoke drifting up the valley from houses below indicated that some people were around. I wanted to be in one of those cozy homes and see what it would be like to be a local for a night.
As most of the town's shops and entertainment were shut down, so too were most all the restaurants. We decided to take the hostel up on their all-you-can eat buffet. After a long day of hiking we were ready for some hot homemade German food.
Dinner ended up being decent. It was salad with corn, beans, spices, an oddly good onion/cream/pineapple mix and shredded carrtots to top it off. The salads here have a kick. The soup, buttery herb, was not so good. The main en tree, on the other hand tasted decent and hit the spot. It was hollow spiral noodles topped with brown gravy and roast beef tips. In addition, there were crunchy canned pears, strawberry yogurt and apricot tea. I had it all and left very full. I took advantage of
"all-you-can-eat", especially since there would be no "eis" shops open to stop by later. 😉 Overall, satisfying but I do miss home-cooked family dinners!!
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