Germany2005

As Sean has traveled to Germany many times due to his job, and Sean's parents Ron and Eloise have never ventured to another country, it was decided that Sean would escort them to Germany for their first external USA trip. Sean planned the trip and the executed to that plan. One of the best things that was done in preparation for this trip, was the purchasing of Microsoft Autoroute 2006. Since we already had the GPS receiver, and Sean had his laptop, with the purchase of a dc to ac power converter they were all set. Looking back now, it was the single most important thing that made the trip extraordinary. Having the confidence to go places knowing that you can use the GPS to get you home made all the difference in the world.

Day 1: We left Atlanta Hartsfield late Tuesday afternoon December 6, 2005 and landed at the Munich airport the morning of December 7, about 10 hours on the plane. After passport control and car rental, we traveled about 1 ½ hours to our hotel in Furth. We discovered that we had the “apartment” on the 5^th floor. It had a living room and an upstairs with 2 bedrooms and a bath. After a lunch (at McDonalds) and a stroll through the local Christmas market we took a short nap and then headed out to explore the Christkindlesmarkt in nearby Nuremburg. We tasted the famous Nuremburg sausages (tiny but delicious) and Sean sampled the spiced wine. Eloise gave into temptation and bought some Lebkuchen (ginger cookies) and looked at all the Santas and angels for purchase on another day.

Day 2: We began the day with the wonderful German breakfast. The hotel provided a feast of scrambled eggs, German bacon, plates of fruit, tomatoes with mozzarella, various cheeses, cold cuts, hard boiled eggs with caviar, juices and best of all…THE BREAD. There is a bakery on nearly every corner in Germany so the bread was fresh every morning and included croissants, crusty rolls and sliced rye bread. And, of course, every body got a pot of the really great coffee. We left the hotel and headed for Rothenburg and Wurzberg to check out their Christmas markets. Sean had loaded his laptop with software that allowed us to travel the back roads and never get lost (well not very lost). It was Ron’s job to keep the red arrow on the green line. We saw lots of tiny villages and some roads that were two ruts wide. We hoped there was nobody who had decided to come our direction, it could have been interesting. Rothenburg was our first stop. It is a walled city with little winding streets and delightful shops. Eloise stepped into a little shop to look at the music boxes she saw from the street…then she went to the back room…may have been a mistake because that is where all the cuckoo clocks (it was the Cuckoo Clock Shop) were hanging. She hesitated, hemmed and hawed and then said…why not…and bought herself the grandest clock of all. It plays two songs while the figures move and cuckoos when the bird appears. The shop owner immediately explained that it could be turned OFF when it started to make you crazy. We stayed in Rothenburg long enough to have a nice German lunch with Schnitzel, smoked pork, sauerkraut, sausage, potatoes and bread. We washed it down with Coca Cola light (which was to become our drink of choice). On to Wurzberg and their market. It was not as exciting but we viewed the city and bought some pretzels in a local bakery and headed back to Furth.

Day 3: On the road again, this time to Stuttgart and the car museums. Once again we took the back roads through tiny villages and mountain roads. It wasn’t the Rockies, more like the Smokies, definitely mountains but friendly. The views were wonderful. The Mercedes Benz museum is big and interesting. It has old cars, race cars and the newest Mercedes to make you want to go buy one. Plus they are building a new larger stand alone version next to the current complex. After lunch at the museum we traveled across town to the Porsche museum. While the Mercedes museum is big and modern the Porsche museum (if you can find it) is tiny and specialized. It is like a long garage. The cars in the Porsche museum were few but they had a Niki Lauda formula one car among others. Apparently, they too have decided that they need more space and are building a new museum as well.

Day 4: This was the day of the “biggest adventure”. We left the hotel heading for Fussen and King Ludwig’s castles. We had to be there by about noon but it was going to be our furthest trip. Once again we headed out down the “roads less traveled.” The beginning of the trip went along as usual. Ron was keeping us on track and the countryside was tiny neat villages separated by farmer’s fields. That was the story until we came to the two rut road that seemed to be headed into a wooded area. The map said it was a road so on we went. The road was narrow, the forest dark and the road covered in ice. Fortunately Sean learned to drive in Minnesota so the roads were no problem for him. As we came out of the woods we looked up and there it was, in the middle of the road, a ski lift was being built. On the other side of the lift was a “real road” and some parked cars so Ron and Sean got out of the car and tromped around in the snow until they found a way around the lift to the other side. The farmer in the field below probably thought “crazy tourists” but Sean maneuvered the car around the lift and onto the road. On to the castles we drove. We arrived at the castles with time for lunch. We ate in another small German restaurant and had roast pork with spaetzle and pork cordon blue (Sean’s favorite). It was small and we were seated at a table with a couple of men who didn’t speak any English. Typical German dining. When it was time to report to the first castle we climbed up some long stairs to a courtyard with a wonderful view of the second castle across the mountains and the village below. The tour was very interesting and took only 30 minutes. That left us plenty of time to spend some money in a great museum shop before we headed up the second castle. We were told it would take us 45 minutes so we left with plenty of time (we thought). The trail didn’t look too bad but once we got a short way we realized it might take us 45 minutes or more. It was a steep, slippery trail straight up the mountain (think Rockies not Smokies). We were the last tour of the day so it was dark when we finished and took our walk down the mountain. We came back Furth on the autobahn and had a late supper at the Italian restaurant down the street from our hotel. The pizza and salads were delicious, generous and hit the spot.

Day 5: Sunday was the day to sleep a little later than usual (8:00 instead of 6:00). Breakfast was made to order since there were very few people staying at the hotel that night. We drove to Nuremburg to visit the German National Museum. We spent 3 great hours and saw a lot but not all of it. We had a snack of brats and bread at a stand in the market and Eloise bought an angel and a Santa. The crowds were incredible so we left and headed for Sean’s favorite steakhouse (owned by a Lady from the US) for an early dinner. It was nearly empty so service was very attentive and the food was good.

Day 6: Today our destination is Prague in the Czech Republic. We took the autobahn and the Czech highways to the city so that we could spend our time there. We had expected the border crossing to be difficult but the guard at the border barely looked at Sean’s passport (ignored Ron & Eloise) and waved us through. Prague is beautiful. Even the areas that are “tourist traps” have a certain charm. Ron said that when “Jesus chased the money changers from the temple in Jerusalem they all went to Prague.” There was a store front, stand in front of a building, hole in the wall every few feet volunteering to change whatever money you had into Czech crowns. We stopped at an ATM outside a bank to get ours. We then took a walking tour that a friend of Sean’s had suggested and headed for the Jewish quarter. We saw several Synagogues and found a really nice shop where we bought some jewelry and real Bohemian crystal. We headed home and had dinner at the hotel (more pork, potatoes and a very small salad).

Day 7 This was to be our last day in Germany so we headed back to Nuremburg to take a walking tour that we found in one of our guidebooks. Sean led us through the city with guidebook in hand pointing out the things we had seen previously but didn’t take time to really pay attention to. We walked up to the castle near what was left of the old wall and then stopped for our last lunch in another cozy little German restaurant. We ate the bratwurst again with sauerkraut (Eloise) or potatoes (Ron), Sean had schnitzel again. We then headed back to the market for some last minute purchases but once again it was getting crowded so we headed back to the hotel to get some dinner, pack and to bed early. We walked down to our favorite little Italian restaurant to have dinner and discovered when we went to pay that they didn’t take credit cards. Oops….Sean and Ron left Eloise behind and headed out to find an ATM to get more Euros. Fortunately it didn’t take long but waiting alone with folks that don’t speak English is quite interesting (or not). That probably qualifies as the last adventure in Germany.

Day 8 Up VERY early for the trip to Munich and the flight home. Even the airport had a good German breakfast, eggs, bread, cold meats and cheeses and a sliced tomato along with some more good coffee. The flight home was uneventful but we came home to weather that was at least as cold as what we left and the next day we were treated to an ice storm just so we wouldn’t forget winter too soon.