Rothenberg

Okay ... we left off at Tuesday, right?

Tuesday to Wednesday we were in Rothenberg. It is a medieval town that still has the wall on the perimeter. You can actually climb up & walk the wall. When you do you'll see unusual windows that angle inward. These were for guards to shoot their bow & arrows out in case attacked. It's really (and I hate to use the word) quaint. It's like a story book of an old medieval town. We actually got to see Rothenberg on our trip in May, but were only there for about an hour and all the shops were closed and/or closing down. We ate dinner after arriving and did some shopping the next day. One thing people know about Rothenberg is it has the Kathe Wohlfarht store. This is a massive place with lots of Christmas ornaments, smokers, nutcrackers, etc. that are all German made. We had to make a stop there. We didn't have internet, but did find a cafe where we had sandwiches and purchased the use of the internet so we could check in. We found our train information for our next stop, Mainz, Germany. Mainz is located on the Rhine river and for us was a good stopping point as we headed north in the Rhine River Valley.

Nothing too exciting. Just want to catch anyone/everyone up.

So, from Mainz we headed to St. Goar. St. Goar is "on" the river. Our hotel was on the main street looking over the Rhine. Our plan was to check out Castles and take a Cruise up the Rhine to our next destination, Koblenz.

I'll see if I can get some more picture labeled on Flickr. You should be able to use the address I posted before to see any additional pictures.

Arrgh, flickr!

Okay, I spent all this time labeling the pictures and then trying to create the slideshow (which Flickr insists on playing from end to beginning!) and the titles/comments don't even show on the slideshow! Arrgh. I was determined to figure this out but I have wasted way too much time on it already. So, maybe just use the link and go straight to Flickr, that way you can read what I had to say about the pictures. Which you will enjoy much more, right?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25162410@N04/sets/

Copy the line above & paste it in your address bar. Plus, this way you can come back to flickr to check for more pictures later! :)

This is going to drive me crazy b/c it is backwards!!

Dachau

We have had no internet for a couple of days, hence the delay in communications. We didn’t have Internet access Monday night to Tuesday at our 2nd hotel in Munich, nor did we at our Bed & Breakfast in Rothenberg. Maybe wi-fi has not quite made it to the medieval Germany?

Tuesday, 10/07/09

We woke up, ate breakfast at the hotel, packed up and headed out with our massive luggage. We were heading to the train station to see if they had lockers, as the storage at the hostel wasn’t quite up to our standards (open room, anyone could go in as long as they asked for the key & there was already clothing and misc. items strewn about the floor). So, we went to Munich Main Train Station to find storage our luggage. To our surprise we found a locker big enough and it only cost us 5 euro. A great deal for storing luggage from what we’ve seen. Next stop Dachau.

Dachau was one of the first concentration camps built and the longest running camp of the Third Reich. It stayed in operation 12 years. As you can imagine Dachau was a somber stop on our tour, but one we felt we couldn’t pass up on since we were so close. The grounds itself was much larger than I imagined. They built a really simple yet intricate building that houses the information center, café and of course, gift shop. The rest of the area was pretty much rebuilt in 1965 to show the original layout of the grounds.

“May the example of those who were exterminated here between 1933-1945 because they resisted Nazism help to unite the living for the defence of peace and freedom and in respect for their fellow men.”

I have to say that I really admire what Germany has done to acknowledge the wrong that was done many years ago. I have heard many times that Germany, as a country has been very ashamed of it’s past for decades. So much so, that it could be rare to see a German flying his or her flag. Germans had hoped to regain some respect and pride for their country when they were host of the Olympics in 1972 however, this event did more to negatively affect the German image. It wasn’t until 2006 when the World Cup was hosted by Germany that the country was seen to have changed its view with regard to public displays of pride in their heritage.

Unfortunately after Dachau we didn’t have enough time to go to the Olympic Stadium as we had planned. Next time. We still had to make it from Dachau to Munich Hauptbahnhof (main train station) to retrieve our bags, and make our way to Rothenberg.

Munich Wrap up

Sunday night we went back out to Oktoberfest, once Tim figured out what time/day it was (hahahaha), to get some grub. I had a baked potato and Tim had a bratwurst. We wandered, picked up some souvenirs, tried to get some good pictures of the lederhosen (men’s traditional leather pants) and dirndl’s (women’s traditional dresses), and then headed back to the hotel. If we waited any longer Tim would have tried to sit down and enjoy another Liter of beer.

Monday morning we woke up early again (our bodies have not fully adjusted to the time change). We got ready & packed. We had one more night in Munich, but at a different hotel, so we checked out of the hotel, checked our bags and went on to Marienplatz. It’s an old area of Munich with lots of history. We took a walking tour of Munich (in English), it’s free but you tip the guide at the end. I’m really glad we did this tour; our guide gave us lots of information we wouldn’t have known otherwise. We saw many of the must-sees in downtown/old Munich and afterward decided to go eat & have some beer at the world famous Haufbrauhaus. Three people from the tour joined us at our table. They were from the D.C. area. It is always nice to chat with people who speak English. Afterwards we had to go back and pick up our bags from the old hotel and check into our new hotel/hostel. This took us a bit and after we checked in we had to, once again, head out to find something to eat. We were in different part of Munich and food options were sparse, we wound up at the train station where Tim had a Doner Kabob and I had McDonald’s. Then we were off to the hotel to call it a night.

Oktoberfest

Last night about 6:00 we went out to Oktoberfest to check out the scenery and grab some dinner. We knew it would be hard to get into a tent (where all the drinking goes on) so we planned to go early Sunday for that. Saturday night of Oktoberfest was madness ... people everywhere, like a hundred thousand easy. We passed many stumbling their way out and many sleeping it off on the grass on our way in. We found our bratwurst and decided to call it a night. We made it back to the hotel and were in bed about 9:00.
We woke up early to head over to Oktoberfest and get in line at one of the tents. What a difference in the scenery. They hosed down the walkways, cleared out all the trash. The sun was shining and we ready to enjoy the festivities. The tents open at 9:00 and we got in line about 8:45. We weren't really sure of the process, but we stumbled our way through it and got a table inside. It was much easier than we expected. Seated by 9:00 and drinking by 9:15. When in Rome (or Munich), right? The beer was surprisingly good. I was worried I would have to force it down. But unfortunately, that was not the case. We ordered some bratwurst with sauerkraut and mustard. We got the food about halfway through our first (very large) beer. The food was great. A nice group of Germans joined us, one man with them was American. His wife is German and they live in Florida but come visit her family in Munich often. It was very nice sitting with them and enjoying the atmosphere. Tim ordered our second round and the drinking continued. About 12:30 it hit me ... I was one and a half beers (did I say they were giant?) into Oktoberfest and suddenly not feeling so hot. I went to the restroom, didn't get sick there, but sort of lost track of time and the wife of the American we were sitting with came to check on me. I told her I was fine (I wasn't), I got myself together, washed up and headed out. I hadn't gotten sick yet, but knew it was coming. Tim was waiting outside of the restrooms at this point, I found him and told him we were leaving. He went back to the table got his bag and beer and we left the tent. As soon as we walk outside, I felt it coming up. Blech. Puked (just a small amount) and took a step or two, then blech. Puked again. Tim then tells me of the 50 Euro fine for taking the beer mug (which he has in his hand) outside of the tent. I told him to pour it out and put it in the bag. Lucky for both of us I got sick when I did b/c if we had continued to drink I'm certain it would have been worse. We made the long trek back to the hotel and crashed. I'm not certain what time it was when we got back to the room, but it was probably close to 2:00pm. We had talked earlier about coming to the hotel & taking a short nap and then going back out. Well, when I woke up it was 7:20pm. I told Tim to "get up" it was 7:30! He must have been in some sort of Paulaner induced coma, because he was completely confused as to the time. He told me he was waiting on me at 5:30. So, I asked him why he didn't wake me up??? I remembered that Tim did wake up that morning at 5:30am, so I said it's 7:30 PM, Tim! He thought I was messing with him. He THEN went on to tell me that he just had this crazy dream about things that happened at Oktoberfest. He really thought it was 7:30am. Everything he recalled wasn't a dream, but what really happened. Too funny. Ahh, good times.

We made it!

Okay, it's 4:10pm here and we are finally in our hotel in Munich. We are just a few blocks from Oktoberfest (10 minute walk).
Our trip here was pretty uneventful. Our layover in Amsterdam was almost 5 hours so we went out through customs to make sure we could get a new stamp in our passports. When we went back in and through security, Tim's money clip fell off the conveyor belt and got lost in the machine. It took him telling three people and about 5 minutes of waiting and looking for the third worker to retrieve it. Aside from that and hardly any sleep from ATL to Amsterdam things have gone great.
We've decided to push on through this afternoon evening and NOT nap. We are going to clean up ... and wander over to check things out at Oktoberfest. The weather is great right now, a little cool, but the sun is shining. On the S Bahn ride over near our hotel we saw many a lederhosen and dirdl. I will definitely get some pics this evening.

Off to Munich

Okay kids, here is our upcoming itinerary:
Stay tuned for pictures & details!! :)


Depart OKC @ 10:40 on 10/02/2009. Arrive in Munich, Germany @ 13:45 on 10/03.

10/03 - Deal with jet lag.

10/04 - Munich - Oktoberfest 08:00; MUST get a seat to be served beer and food.

10/05 - Munich - sightseeing; Monday in Germany and everything is closed.

10/06 - Munich - Dachau concentration camp- Train to Rothenberg ob der Tauber.

10/07 - Rothenberg ob der Tauber - Train to Mainz (and the Rhine River Valley)

10/08 - Mainz - Train/Boat To St. Goar (Castles)

10/09 - St. Goar - Train/Boat to Koblenz (Castles)

10/10 - Koblenz and surrounding area (Surrounding area)

10/11 - Koblenz - Train to Cologne - Train to Amsterdam, Netherlands

10/12 - Amsterdam - Windmills- Canals - Museums - Matisyahu concert

10/13 - Amsterdam - Museums - Windmills - Canals - Heineken!

10/14 - Depart Amsterdam @ 15:25 Arrive OKC @ 21:27

Paris Recap

Sorry for the delay in posting. We are having to pay for internet since we left our Paris hotel.

Okay, so we left our hotel at 11:00 am on Saturday, but weren't getting on our train to Berlin till 7:30. We went and stored our bags at the train station so we didn't have to schlep (that's for you, Lisa!) them all over Paris. Then we went to the Catacombs. That was crazy. Millions of people found it as their resting place ... we got a few pics but weren't allowed to use flash so it was a bit tricky.

After the catacombs we went to the Rodin museum to check out the garden. Very beautiful. Of course we both got the Thinker picture taken. Rodin's sculptures are absolutely amazing.

Next we went to find the Sacre-Coeur (Sacred Heart) it's situated on a hill overlooking much of Paris. When we got there we looked up at it and opted not to climb the stairs as our legs were still dying from the 700 steps we climbed at the Eiffel Tower (though we did save a few Euro that way). At one of the little food stands nearby, we grabbed what I thought was our best meal in Paris (and cheapest). I will never complain for paying $2 for a soda and unlimited refills at a restaurant again!

We went on to find the Espace Montmartre (Dali Museum). We knew it was near the Sacre-Coeur, however, the area was just off our map. We wandered up & down steps (that we tried to avoid) and hills. Finally, we were able to get directions and stumbled upon it. Definitely worth the search. And since we climbed the hill, we headed back towards the Sacre-Coeur for a couple more pics. It was raining on us so we didn't get many.

After this we headed back to the train station to get our bags and wait for our train. Paris was beautiful, the architecture and history, absolutely amazing. It was also ridiculously expensive.

Next up: Berlin.

Checking out - Part duex

Okay, we are hurrying to get showered and packed up so we can check out at 11:00am. We are going to take our bags to the train station and lock them up so we don't have to carry them, as we don't catch our over night train to Berlin until 7:30. We are going to see a few more things today and I will post Paris pics as soon as we have internet again, probably the hotel in Berlin.

Love and miss you all!

The coolest thing at the Louvre.

Sorry Mona Lisa, that was pretty good, but not quite as cool as meeting James Hetfield and the "new bassist", Robert Trujillo, of METALLICA at the freakin Louvre!

Seriously. We were sitting there staring at the sculptures and resting our aching legs and I hear people speaking English, which is refreshing and Tim is doing double takes at these guys. I didn't see James at first and Tim was all, that looks like the new bassist for Metallica and that's James Hetfeild.

Very cool, nice guys. We didn't get pictures with them or autographs b/c you know, we are cooler than that. I did however try to snap a picture before everything went down. A little blurry as I was hurrying before Tim got to him & trying to be discreet, but definitely James.

They told us they usually stay in Paris when playing over here, you know they "make it their home base". Rockstars.

So, what did we do ... we left. Nothing at the Louvre was going to top that. Tim was like a kid in a candy store. Shook James' hand twice and Robert's once. He probably hasn't washed it either.

Paris

We made it to Paris about 9:30pm found our hotel and got checked in. Not many people here speak English, so tonight has been tricky getting here. By the time we got checked in and headed out on foot to see what we could find, we found the restaurants closed. It looks like the cafe/restaurants all closed at 10 or 10:30 so we didn't eat dinner. Tomorrow will be much better in day light and in the parts of town where we will run into English speakers. We have a guide book with phrases so I think we'll be able to get by. It's almost midnight better get to bed. I'll post more pictures tomorrow!

Checking out

Okay, so it's 10:30am here ... we just checked out of The Flying Pig and are off to see a few sights before we leave Amsterdam.

Of course when we arrived yesterday we stopped in at a coffee shop b/c you know, Tim likes coffee. We checked into the hostel and then went to find some food. We found a little cafe and noticed there are dozens of the same places just different names. It was pretty good. We got our tram pass and then went to the Van Gogh museum. We decided we'd had enough walking and thought we'd go home & take a short nap. Four hours later we got up & headed back out for dinner and drinks. Due to the hour, dinner turned out to be McDonald's. We had drinks in some square & paid way too much for two Heinekens, but oh well.

We leave for Paris this afternoon ... post more pics later.

We made it!

It's about noon and we just checked into our hostel in Amsterdam. We would both LOVE a nap. But are going to push on through, at least for now.

The trip in was uneventful. The train from Frankfurt to Amsterdam was the worst but overall, went well. I'm posting pics from my camera, have more on Tim's but those will have to wait for uploading.

Here we go!

Okay, this is where we plan to update our adventures in Europe to keep everyone informed on the trip.

Our itinerary:

Depart OKC for Dallas 8:30am on Tuesday May 12th
Depart Dallas for Philadelphia 10:46am
Depart Philadelphia for Frankfurt 4:15pm

Arrive Frankfurt @ 6:10am on Wednesday May 13th
Eurail Frankfurt to Amsterdam arriving @ 11:25pm
One night in Amsterdam

Eurail from Amsterdam 3:10pm to Paris @ 7:35pm on Thursday May 14th
Two nights in Paris

Overnight train from Paris 7:47pm (Sat 5/16) to Berlin 9:00am (Sun 5/17)
Two nights in Berlin

Eurail from Berlin to Frankfurt for flight departing @ 11:10am.

I know none of that was too exciting, but just so you have an idea of when we'll be where and maybe I can refer to this as well!

Can't wait to post pictures!