Advertisement
Published: October 3rd 2010
I guess I have a lot of reporting to do.
We are now in Bastogne, Belgium. This is the area of the WWII Battle of the Bulge. We found a nice little private older hotel for the night and our room has it's own bath. Our dinner was at a restaurant founded in 1945. Last night we stayed in a great city - Trier on the German border. Unfortunately, we had not made any reservations and ended up at a newer “Americanized” hotel - elevator, hallway and formal registration desk. The hotel was nice but shouldn't be anything to “write home about” ha!ha!
Trier has some Roman ruins from the 1st century. They are well preserved and are easy to find since they are right beside some of the downtown area's main streets. What would we do with something that old???
Our trip today was FULL of detours. It seems that Germany and Luxemburg decided to close all the main highways between Trier and Luxemburg City for some sort of repairs. We finally gave up and found a way to head north to Ettelbruck to find the George Patton museum - our luck, after October 1st they are only open on Sundays.
Tomorrow our plan is to visit the Bastogne museums, memorials and cemeteries. Then head to Verdun, France for some WWI history. Then on toward the Reims area of France for some wine-Champagne and onto the wedding.
This last week when we left Regensberg we headed into deep southern Bavaria. We spent an afternoon on Lake Chiemsee taking a boat ride out to tour one of Mad King Ludwig's castles and visit the two main islands on the lake. We met a great German couple and after finding out he had relatives in Portland we figured it truly is a small world. The second island is an artist enclave with several restaurants, shops and beer/wine gardens.
We stayed at the Gasthaus Zum Ott. Franz our host spoke English well and helped us to settle in. Dinner that night was in his restaurant that was very busy with all the locals. The first morning I was sitting in our room while Gary was taking his shower (down the hall), looked out the window and saw the milk cows parading past to the milking barn. Straight out of a movie about the Alps and Bavaria.
The second day we went to Berchtesgaden. This is where Hitler and his cronies spent time (much like our presidents spend time at Camp David). The documentation museum was very interesting, had an English audio tour and we were able to walk in the underground bunkers. Unfortunately, just as we got to the top of the mountain to see Eagles Nest the weather decided to cloud over. We were unable to see the beauty from the top. On the bus ride up we did get some great shots.
So, while we were at Gasthaus Zum Ott I made a reservation for a stay near Neuschwanstein. I wrote down all the info and figured we'd find it when we got there... we'd ask the information center for directions. Well, the place I chose mostly for it's fairly low rate was a five minute walk down from the Neuschwanstein castle itself. We actually got to drive all the way up the hill and park at the hotel/restaurant. Most people do ½ hour uphill to take a tour of this castle... We were very lucky... The room was a castle fantasy with a canopy over the bed and swans in the wood work. Our dinner that night was down in town at a small gasthaus with great modern art on the wall. I commented to the owner and she admitted to being the artist. It is just one treat after another.
On the Romantic Road in Germany was had a great time in a couple of VERY old cities. One is Rothenberg. This is a walled city that was partially bombed March 1945. There are stories about the US military realizing that bombs were being dropped on this medieval city and getting the allies to stop. After the war people from all over the world sent money to help them reconstruct the parts that had been damaged. Today Rothenberg lives to tell the story of medieval times and be an historical landmark for all. Thanks to Rick Steves' books we found out about the Pension Elke (a wonderful small hotel over the family's grocery), the beautiful church, the 8pm Night Watchman's Tour, and the Wednesday English Conversation Club. Every Wednesday night a group of folks gather at this one pub, have a beer/wine or two and talk in English with whoever happens to drop by. Herman the German is the instigator.
Our next stop was the Rhine River area. We spent some time cruising the river from Bacharach to St. Goar, wandering around St. Goar and back to Bacharach before we headed to Trier.
A note about Rick Steves - his books, tours, radio and TV shows have made a huge impact on the travelers I have met here in Europe. He brings to life the things we see to nudge us all into seeing the history and people in a whole new light. Sometimes, without his explanations I would not have “gotten it”. Although many things posted in museums and churches are translated into English, you don't get the whole story.
We have not had a bad meal this whole trip. And the beer!!! And the wine!!! We try to only have one meal a day but most of our rooms have come with a great breakfast. Cold cuts, cheese, eggs, yogurt, cereal, fruit, bakery items, rolls, fresh made bread and of course juice and coffee/tea. So we usually have a late lunch or early dinner and call it good. Hopefully, I'll fit into the skirt I brought for the wedding.
Oh, and COFFEE is absolutely wonderful in Europe. It is amazing - If you stop while you are out and about it will cost about the same as good coffee-house coffee back home - so it is a good late morning pick-me-up. Once in a while we add a shared bakery treat - like an apple strudel in a great cafe in Augsburg.
Well, I'll post this the next time we Internet service...
Advertisement
Tot: 0.549s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 10; qc: 49; dbt: 0.1351s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Chris Chads
non-member comment
Comment on your trip
I was wondering how much weight you have put on after all the food discussions. I imagine there is a Europe wide beer shortage too. Of course the news here is the warnings to travelers in Europe about possbile terrorist attacks. I have recent pictures of you; you know.