Bavaria day three (Rothenburg): funf wurst (five bratwursts)...sadly, that's the last of Bavaria.
Munich (Munchen) is great, and cheap - go there if you can. Since Gena isn't the most practiced bike rider, we didn't do that in this very bike friendly town (or Amsterdam, which may be the Western Hemisphere's bike capitol). Not that we needed to, as Munich is very walkable.
Leaving Munich, we stopped off at Rothenburg o/d Tauber (like Springfield in the USA, Germany has many Rothenburg's so you need some suffixes to make sure you end up in the right one). This Rothenburg is pretty much what you envision when you think of olde timey Europe at Christmas. It was beautiful in the heat of August, so it has to be tremendous with some snow in December.
Then we headed up to Bacharach, a little Rhineland burg. Bacharach is tiny, with good food but not much going on. Using it as a cheap home base, we toured the Rhine's castle-row by boat and hiked the town of St. Goar and it's massive castle remains. This length of the Rhine between Bacharach and St. Goar (about 90 minutes by boat) has (from memory) six castles...physical testiment to Germany's feudal system past.
The Rhine has for centuries been a key trading transportation hub - some say it sees more annual trade traffic than any other river in the world. The castles would be set up (one literally in the middle of the river) to block boats from passing until they paid a fee. Would sorta be like all of Ohio's counties along Lake Erie assessing their own pass-through fee for every boat headed to/from the Upper Great Lakes. Some of the strongest supporters for doing away with feudal principalities in favor of a stronger/larger Germanic nation-state? Would you believe....the merchants who utilized the Rhine?
After this foray into the Rhineland, our train pulled into Amsterdam. We really only had one day - which I thought may be too little time, but now I'm not sure you really need much more than that. First, if you're planning on going there in the next three years, the train station is under heavy construction. So, just kinda follow the crowds for the way out of the station and onto Damrak (the city's main drag). Second, English might as well be the national language. If you were hoping to practice your Dutch, better find another location.
In many ways, Amsterdam is Europe's Las Vegas. Obviously, there is the, ahem, reputation for ill repute in both cities. But in my mind's eye - they are unnatural settings for human existance. Vegas is in the middle of the desert. Amsterdam is in the middle of, well, the ocean. Without tremendous human engineering, neither town would exist. As such, to me, both cities are a little silly, if not preposterous.
A ton of federal and state taxpayer dollars go into keeping Vegas supplied with sufficient water supply. On the opposite end, Amsterdam has to pay dearly to keep their city above water. The buildings are on top of thousands of pilings, that are hundreds of years old. As those pilings fail, the buildings get a shade slanty. Hopefully we can post some pics, because it's like people are living in the Leaning Tower of Pisa all over town. Trouble is, the townhomes are right up against one another...so as one starts to lean...
The buildings are beautiful, but if I lived there, I would definately stay a renter.
Thankfully, the Anne Frank house is not one of the slanty houses. It is, however, one of the saddest homes you would ever hope to visit though. The world owes Anne Frank much. Perhaps because she was a child, when her diary was finally published many readers could identify with her. As a result (and a few other works like Night), it became ok for other publishers to print material from Holocaust victims/survivors. Without the chord that her diary struck across the world, we may not have widely published works from other survivors. Check out Primo Levi if you can.
Gena & I agreed the house itself was larger inside than we had previously imagined, with the steepest stairs we'd encountered. But we were only inside for a couple hours...Anne and her fellow hiders were there for years, of course. Though the house is unfurnished (intentionally), some of her personal effects remain such as the posters she hung on her shared bedroom wall to daydream herself out of the house. Heartbreaking.
Altogether another form of daydreaming can be done at the Van Gogh museum, which is also excentally presented. While it does not currently have Starry Night (perhaps his biggest crowd pleaser), it's collection is stellar. From Potato Eaters to Sunflowers to Wheatfield with Crows, the museum is excentally laid out including his influences, life chronology, and stylistic development. I was previously unaware of how crucial his sister-in-law was to ensuring his works were protected after his death.
I found cruising the canals of the city (more numerous than Venice) underwhelming, though there are worse ways to spend an afternoon. It is a nice view of the city's pretty architecture, but the canals themselves are fairly littered with debris, taking away from the experience.
As for the Red Light district - not as dirty and seedy as I had anticipated, but still pretty sketchy and surreal (especially when we would see a customer duck into a door...or worse, come out). We cleared out before darkness fully fell, though, so it could be a bit ranker then.
But let me tell you about the fully modern hotel room we had in our last night in Europe - best thing ever! Citizen M...trippy cool lights with matching music soundtracks, separate freestanding/circular enclosures for the toilet and shower, and all electronics on a PDA-like remote control. And about 1/3 the cost of a traditional place in Amsterdam, with walking distance to the airport (which we found quite difficult and frustrating to navigate). They have an expansion plan across Europe in the next couple years - so if you're making the jump across the pond, check to see if they're in the city you're planning on going to.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
Hello You-Woo Photo and other random ruminations
So we are in Munich and I am not going to lie I am not in love with this place. I think I am just tired but it is making me cranky. To avoid sinking too far into a bad mood I thought I would share a few more random thoughts from the trip thus far.
1. Hello You-Woo Photo - This little gem comes to via Paris. While in the City of Light we decided to take a night boat cruise on the Seine. Like manz tourist traps this place wanted to take a commermative picture to sell zou at the end of the cruise. But they used the world´s worst method to achieve this goal. First they had not one but two photogs. The first took random pictures of you on the ship´s gangplank. But he didn´t tell you he was just sort of in a corner snapping random pictures as folks walked on. The result was that no one was looking at him and sometimes people were only half in his pictures. Now if you can believe this the second photographer was actuallý even weirder. He was walking around the boat and he would come up to a group of people (sometimes they weren´t actually together as a group just happened to be sitting togehter) and he would yell Hello, You-Woo Photo and then immediatelz snap a picture. The result was everzone had one of two expressions -startled or confused. Again not a good business model.
I thought I would be smart and out smart him. I saw him coming and grabbed Mike and we posed. We got off the boat and went to the thing to see the funnz startled or confused expressions. Must to my surprise was our picture. Yes we were posed and smiling but my tank top had slipped while I leaned forward. These crazy people printed a full color 8x10 picture of us and one entire half of mz bra is out. Lovely.
2. Cliff Diving - In Murren, where we stayed in Switzerland the big thing is cliff diving. Now for those not familiar with this ´adventure sport´ allow me to explain it. You are given this skinny parachute and then thez shove you off of a cliff. The goal is to see how far you can free fall before you decide to pull the parachute cord. Of all this is down of course while attempting to not hit the cliff face. People were doing this is droves and paying around 200 bucks for some one to push them off a cliff. I believe there are wards and drugs for these folks. Mike wanted to try it. I told him he had good life insurance through the state so to go ahead I´d collect the body.
3. He can walk its a miracle - So today we saw the crippled walk. What caused this miracle you ask? A holy relic at an ancient church perhaps, nope 2 beer cans that were thrown in the trash. That´s right we were at a train station waiting for a connection and there was a young boy there in a wheelchair. Two girls finished two tall boys and put them in the trash can. The wheel chair bound boy got up out of his chair, walked to the trash can, fished out the two empties, crushed them and put them in his backpack. I wanted to yell it is a miracle he´s cured. Mike just said the German´s take their recycling seriously.
4. The former royal family is bad at screwing tourists - Today we went to visit Neuschwanstein castle. For those who don´t know click the wikipedia link. But basically the two castles are built around a village whose whole purpose in live is to soak as much money as possible out of tourists. These places are for the most part owned by family to the former royal family. They are so serious about soaking tourists here that they force you to have downtime between tours in their shops. Once again I am forced to point out the flaws in a tourist traps business model (though maybe I shouldnät make suggestions on how to take more of mz monez). This town had 1 ATM which was out of service, no money exchage and no shop or food place took credit card or any kind of money but a euro. We had a grand total of 8 euro which we needed to pay for the public transportation to and from the train station. Now we were hungry and crankz but reallz the parties truly hurt by this are the businesses themselves since they can´t fully bilk tourists under this system. Mike says he is buying a stand there and selling food and beer while accepting credit card and exchanging money at a horrible rate. But it won´t matter because we have no competition.
I think that is it for me for today. I am exhausted. We have walked and walked. Also who knew but Munich is miserably hot with terrible humidity. It has been 90 the past two days yet nothing has AC. I kind of want to curl into a little ball and die.
1. Hello You-Woo Photo - This little gem comes to via Paris. While in the City of Light we decided to take a night boat cruise on the Seine. Like manz tourist traps this place wanted to take a commermative picture to sell zou at the end of the cruise. But they used the world´s worst method to achieve this goal. First they had not one but two photogs. The first took random pictures of you on the ship´s gangplank. But he didn´t tell you he was just sort of in a corner snapping random pictures as folks walked on. The result was that no one was looking at him and sometimes people were only half in his pictures. Now if you can believe this the second photographer was actuallý even weirder. He was walking around the boat and he would come up to a group of people (sometimes they weren´t actually together as a group just happened to be sitting togehter) and he would yell Hello, You-Woo Photo and then immediatelz snap a picture. The result was everzone had one of two expressions -startled or confused. Again not a good business model.
I thought I would be smart and out smart him. I saw him coming and grabbed Mike and we posed. We got off the boat and went to the thing to see the funnz startled or confused expressions. Must to my surprise was our picture. Yes we were posed and smiling but my tank top had slipped while I leaned forward. These crazy people printed a full color 8x10 picture of us and one entire half of mz bra is out. Lovely.
2. Cliff Diving - In Murren, where we stayed in Switzerland the big thing is cliff diving. Now for those not familiar with this ´adventure sport´ allow me to explain it. You are given this skinny parachute and then thez shove you off of a cliff. The goal is to see how far you can free fall before you decide to pull the parachute cord. Of all this is down of course while attempting to not hit the cliff face. People were doing this is droves and paying around 200 bucks for some one to push them off a cliff. I believe there are wards and drugs for these folks. Mike wanted to try it. I told him he had good life insurance through the state so to go ahead I´d collect the body.
3. He can walk its a miracle - So today we saw the crippled walk. What caused this miracle you ask? A holy relic at an ancient church perhaps, nope 2 beer cans that were thrown in the trash. That´s right we were at a train station waiting for a connection and there was a young boy there in a wheelchair. Two girls finished two tall boys and put them in the trash can. The wheel chair bound boy got up out of his chair, walked to the trash can, fished out the two empties, crushed them and put them in his backpack. I wanted to yell it is a miracle he´s cured. Mike just said the German´s take their recycling seriously.
4. The former royal family is bad at screwing tourists - Today we went to visit Neuschwanstein castle. For those who don´t know click the wikipedia link. But basically the two castles are built around a village whose whole purpose in live is to soak as much money as possible out of tourists. These places are for the most part owned by family to the former royal family. They are so serious about soaking tourists here that they force you to have downtime between tours in their shops. Once again I am forced to point out the flaws in a tourist traps business model (though maybe I shouldnät make suggestions on how to take more of mz monez). This town had 1 ATM which was out of service, no money exchage and no shop or food place took credit card or any kind of money but a euro. We had a grand total of 8 euro which we needed to pay for the public transportation to and from the train station. Now we were hungry and crankz but reallz the parties truly hurt by this are the businesses themselves since they can´t fully bilk tourists under this system. Mike says he is buying a stand there and selling food and beer while accepting credit card and exchanging money at a horrible rate. But it won´t matter because we have no competition.
I think that is it for me for today. I am exhausted. We have walked and walked. Also who knew but Munich is miserably hot with terrible humidity. It has been 90 the past two days yet nothing has AC. I kind of want to curl into a little ball and die.
Cinderella´s Castle
Just back from Neuschwanstein to visit King Ludwig II´s unfinished masterpiece (as well as his boyhood home castle) in the Bavarian Alp foothills. This is the castle that inspired Walt Disney to work up a home for Cinderella. Very pretty, with the best ceilings ever. Probably would have been better if we had done a little reading about Wagner beforehand, as Ludwig was obsessed with the guy and his opera´s, so pretty much every painting has something to do with a Wagner opera. Still, definately a sight to see.
Yesterday was a sad day at Dachau. This is a massive facility, that oddly was repurposed for a short time after the war to house "guest workers" that came for the Restoration construction work...walking down the wide gravel path between the former prisoner barraks was disturbingly pretty, a ruse the Nazi´s used to demonstrate to the Red Cross what kind of conditions prisoners were living under. It now houses a very well done (organized in typical German order) museum that traces the history of the facility and the country´s conditions giving rise to National Socialism (Nazi) power.
Proud moment though, when looking at the plaque dedicated to the U.S. Army unit that liberated the camp (actually two units converged at once, but one got hung up shooting it out with the Nazi tower guards, while the other unit circumnavigated the guardhouse to get behind the Nazi´s...at which point the Nazi´s laid down their arms posthaste, knowing they had been left behind to give up and knowing the Americans had overwhelming firepower).
Highly recommend this, as well as the Radius Tour company we hitched along with for interpreting the silent remains of this gruesome place, if you ever find yourself in Munich.
For something completely different, went to the famed Hofbrau House for dinner after walking the stunning town square (Marianplatz, or Mary´s Place, dedicated to baby Jesus´mother) with its jousting glockenspiel. Though touristy, it still maintains local cred with all of the tables that have been reserved for decades by local groups. Plenty of oompah music to enjoy our steins of beverages with. Still, sobering when considering that Hitler would give some of his major early speeches here to win over the locals, due to its ability to hold thousands within its walls.
So, the running tally would be -
Bavaria day one (Munich) - drei wursts, zwei breze (three sausages, two big pretzels)
Bavaria day two, so far (Fussen/Munich) - ein wurst, ein breze (one sausage, one big pretzel)...I cannot wait until dinner
To slightly continue the last post on energy policy - environmentalism has worked miracles here that we have witnessed with our own eye. At the train platform, a passenger we had seen wheeling around in a wheelchair noticed that someone had put two aluminum cans into the garbage bin. Like Lazarus, up he rose, walked (propelled by his singular commitment to the Earth), retrieved said cans to put into his chair´s bag to place them in the proper disposal container at a later time. The healing powers driven by the evironmental spirit have no boundaries. That, or the phenomenal exchange rate Germans must be given for turning in their cans. My knowledge of the German language does not allow for such mysteries to be revealed.
A random thing I forgot to blog about earlier - the Irish have no idea what "Erin Go Brah" means (nor do I), and detest the "Kiss me I´m Irish" business. Seems these are American inventions to include more people in the St. Patty´s Day festivities. We´re a bit more inclusive when it comes to celebrations, it appears.
Now, about that wurst count....
Yesterday was a sad day at Dachau. This is a massive facility, that oddly was repurposed for a short time after the war to house "guest workers" that came for the Restoration construction work...walking down the wide gravel path between the former prisoner barraks was disturbingly pretty, a ruse the Nazi´s used to demonstrate to the Red Cross what kind of conditions prisoners were living under. It now houses a very well done (organized in typical German order) museum that traces the history of the facility and the country´s conditions giving rise to National Socialism (Nazi) power.
Proud moment though, when looking at the plaque dedicated to the U.S. Army unit that liberated the camp (actually two units converged at once, but one got hung up shooting it out with the Nazi tower guards, while the other unit circumnavigated the guardhouse to get behind the Nazi´s...at which point the Nazi´s laid down their arms posthaste, knowing they had been left behind to give up and knowing the Americans had overwhelming firepower).
Highly recommend this, as well as the Radius Tour company we hitched along with for interpreting the silent remains of this gruesome place, if you ever find yourself in Munich.
For something completely different, went to the famed Hofbrau House for dinner after walking the stunning town square (Marianplatz, or Mary´s Place, dedicated to baby Jesus´mother) with its jousting glockenspiel. Though touristy, it still maintains local cred with all of the tables that have been reserved for decades by local groups. Plenty of oompah music to enjoy our steins of beverages with. Still, sobering when considering that Hitler would give some of his major early speeches here to win over the locals, due to its ability to hold thousands within its walls.
So, the running tally would be -
Bavaria day one (Munich) - drei wursts, zwei breze (three sausages, two big pretzels)
Bavaria day two, so far (Fussen/Munich) - ein wurst, ein breze (one sausage, one big pretzel)...I cannot wait until dinner
To slightly continue the last post on energy policy - environmentalism has worked miracles here that we have witnessed with our own eye. At the train platform, a passenger we had seen wheeling around in a wheelchair noticed that someone had put two aluminum cans into the garbage bin. Like Lazarus, up he rose, walked (propelled by his singular commitment to the Earth), retrieved said cans to put into his chair´s bag to place them in the proper disposal container at a later time. The healing powers driven by the evironmental spirit have no boundaries. That, or the phenomenal exchange rate Germans must be given for turning in their cans. My knowledge of the German language does not allow for such mysteries to be revealed.
A random thing I forgot to blog about earlier - the Irish have no idea what "Erin Go Brah" means (nor do I), and detest the "Kiss me I´m Irish" business. Seems these are American inventions to include more people in the St. Patty´s Day festivities. We´re a bit more inclusive when it comes to celebrations, it appears.
Now, about that wurst count....
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Let us talk about energy policy
Guess who is blogging.
First, the Alps are amazing. They are now going to be my top hiking recommendation in the world. After, of course, Hocking Hills State Park.
Second, it seems that much of Europe is very imposing. Obviously, the mountains (but I am sure the Rockies are as well). But the buildings here are just massive structures. It is like virtually every building was made with the thought of lasting a few centuries. This is, sadly, not the case in the U.S. How long will the cardboard shacks that make up Easton Town Place, Polaris Fashion Mall, and Dayton´s The Greene (or whatever absurd name they have given that Easton wannabe) last? Think they will be around 500 years from now? I would be generous in saying they may last 40 years. The whole reason for Polaris existing has already changed (remember the outdoor concert venue there?).
Which gets me thinking about energy policy, which, like the French drains I couldn´t stop noticing once I picked up on them, I cannot stop thinking about as we train through this string of really old human settlements.
We like to say that we can build these lame shopping malls all over the place because America has the room to spread out. The big secret is that Europe does too. There is farmland as far as the eye can see here, once you step out of the city walls (literally).
What is interesting to me is how they are adapting their old cities. Since touching down at Heathrow Airport, I have not used a urinal that uses water. That is two weeks, five countries and counting.
We passed commercial wind farms in rural Wales and Germany. Solar panels seem to be standard issue in Germany´s countryside homes. What was clearly a sophistically capped landfill was harvesting methane in Germany. Most of the towns we traversed in the Alps had a no car policy (because they simply were unnecessary). The trains we have ridden have been effecient, easy to negotiate regardless of the language they were issued in, and have always been clean.
Finally, when we were driving in Ireland, I noticed, since it was the only time I had to fill the tank, that gas was 1.10. Not bad, right? First, you have to convert that to Euro´s from American dollars. So, really that is 1.65. But then, you realize they are on the metric system (name that movie: "they wouldn´t know what a quarter-pounder was"), and the gas price is per liter not gallon. There are about four liters in a gallon. So, now you are talking 6.30 per gallon of gas.
While that hurt the travel budget, I am quite sure it drives travel decision making for the average European.
I know American´s love their cars - I know I love mine...but it seems that Old Man Europe can still teach the young kid a thing or two on best use of available resources. Like Bill Bryson said in his fun European trip novel - "We used to build civilazations. Now we build shopping malls."
Sorry to rant (you knew it was coming sooner or later), but it is just frustrating to see us lag behind folks who use words like "queue" and endless amounts of hair product on a regular basis.
Now that I am off that whole trip for now, yes I do love the location of our Munich hotel (per Gena´s most recent post).
Next up - some sadness at Dachau Concentration Camp (the first one Hitler created). Not sure I will be able to blog after that (especially knowing we are hoping to visit the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam).
The German is coming in handy - managed to get myself a poppyseed roll with dinner, anyway.
First, the Alps are amazing. They are now going to be my top hiking recommendation in the world. After, of course, Hocking Hills State Park.
Second, it seems that much of Europe is very imposing. Obviously, the mountains (but I am sure the Rockies are as well). But the buildings here are just massive structures. It is like virtually every building was made with the thought of lasting a few centuries. This is, sadly, not the case in the U.S. How long will the cardboard shacks that make up Easton Town Place, Polaris Fashion Mall, and Dayton´s The Greene (or whatever absurd name they have given that Easton wannabe) last? Think they will be around 500 years from now? I would be generous in saying they may last 40 years. The whole reason for Polaris existing has already changed (remember the outdoor concert venue there?).
Which gets me thinking about energy policy, which, like the French drains I couldn´t stop noticing once I picked up on them, I cannot stop thinking about as we train through this string of really old human settlements.
We like to say that we can build these lame shopping malls all over the place because America has the room to spread out. The big secret is that Europe does too. There is farmland as far as the eye can see here, once you step out of the city walls (literally).
What is interesting to me is how they are adapting their old cities. Since touching down at Heathrow Airport, I have not used a urinal that uses water. That is two weeks, five countries and counting.
We passed commercial wind farms in rural Wales and Germany. Solar panels seem to be standard issue in Germany´s countryside homes. What was clearly a sophistically capped landfill was harvesting methane in Germany. Most of the towns we traversed in the Alps had a no car policy (because they simply were unnecessary). The trains we have ridden have been effecient, easy to negotiate regardless of the language they were issued in, and have always been clean.
Finally, when we were driving in Ireland, I noticed, since it was the only time I had to fill the tank, that gas was 1.10. Not bad, right? First, you have to convert that to Euro´s from American dollars. So, really that is 1.65. But then, you realize they are on the metric system (name that movie: "they wouldn´t know what a quarter-pounder was"), and the gas price is per liter not gallon. There are about four liters in a gallon. So, now you are talking 6.30 per gallon of gas.
While that hurt the travel budget, I am quite sure it drives travel decision making for the average European.
I know American´s love their cars - I know I love mine...but it seems that Old Man Europe can still teach the young kid a thing or two on best use of available resources. Like Bill Bryson said in his fun European trip novel - "We used to build civilazations. Now we build shopping malls."
Sorry to rant (you knew it was coming sooner or later), but it is just frustrating to see us lag behind folks who use words like "queue" and endless amounts of hair product on a regular basis.
Now that I am off that whole trip for now, yes I do love the location of our Munich hotel (per Gena´s most recent post).
Next up - some sadness at Dachau Concentration Camp (the first one Hitler created). Not sure I will be able to blog after that (especially knowing we are hoping to visit the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam).
The German is coming in handy - managed to get myself a poppyseed roll with dinner, anyway.
Umm I don´t this is where I was supposed to end up
First, once again this is a German keyboard but has yet a different layout of keys, still the z and y reversal though so I imagine that will once again be an issue.
We left Murren this morning and headed to Munich. This was a ridiculous case of multi country you can´t get here from there. It took us more than 8 hours to make the trek and it involved going west to the border of France and Germany and about two hours farther north than Munich actually is to arrive here. To put it in context we took a train through the entire black forest region to cut back east to get to barvaria. It was so obscure that the conducter at the station at Murren felt bad and printed out a schedule for us with instructions to try to prevent us from getting lost. We didn´t get lost and arrived right now time.
There was some issue with us getting to Munich tonight because we weren´t actuallz supposed to arrive until tomorrow so we had no hotel reservation. The hotel we are staying out was full for tonight so we needed alternative arrangements. Tommorrow we are taking a tour of Dachau and the trip leaves from the Munich Central station so we just decided to stay close to the station since we didnät get in until after 8 pm. To find a hotel we consulted our handy dandy Rick Steves Germanz. He directed us to what he called the best value for monez in the area if zou donät mind the two strip clubs. We though whatever we will onlz be here a few hours.
What he neglected to mention is that it isn´t two strip clubs it is an entire street of strip clubs and sex shops -seriouslz like mazbe 5 blocks of nothing but adult establishments of some sort or another. And because it is Europe the sidewalk ads for these establishments are very descriptive if zou will. We just went out for dinner and
1. I swear we passed a prostitute
2. We walked towards places with food like names onlz to find out that thez were in fact more strip clubs or other such places
3. I was embaressed to look at all the men walking down the street because it was quite clear what thez were going to be doing tonight.
Finally we found a sandwich shop and grabbed something and brought ti back to the hotel. The hotel is quite nice and is probablz the nicest place we have stayed so far and is bz far the cheapest. Thez have a nice eating area with a free computer with internet access. We sat in the eating area and watched the street. Oddlz among all of this adult oriented businesses are throngs of tourists and oddlz families with reallz small children. It is completely weird. While I feel safe in guessing that our hotel tomorrow wonät be this nice I will happilz move into the old center of town awaz from whatever in the world this is.....again I donät think this is where we were supposed to end up.
We left Murren this morning and headed to Munich. This was a ridiculous case of multi country you can´t get here from there. It took us more than 8 hours to make the trek and it involved going west to the border of France and Germany and about two hours farther north than Munich actually is to arrive here. To put it in context we took a train through the entire black forest region to cut back east to get to barvaria. It was so obscure that the conducter at the station at Murren felt bad and printed out a schedule for us with instructions to try to prevent us from getting lost. We didn´t get lost and arrived right now time.
There was some issue with us getting to Munich tonight because we weren´t actuallz supposed to arrive until tomorrow so we had no hotel reservation. The hotel we are staying out was full for tonight so we needed alternative arrangements. Tommorrow we are taking a tour of Dachau and the trip leaves from the Munich Central station so we just decided to stay close to the station since we didnät get in until after 8 pm. To find a hotel we consulted our handy dandy Rick Steves Germanz. He directed us to what he called the best value for monez in the area if zou donät mind the two strip clubs. We though whatever we will onlz be here a few hours.
What he neglected to mention is that it isn´t two strip clubs it is an entire street of strip clubs and sex shops -seriouslz like mazbe 5 blocks of nothing but adult establishments of some sort or another. And because it is Europe the sidewalk ads for these establishments are very descriptive if zou will. We just went out for dinner and
1. I swear we passed a prostitute
2. We walked towards places with food like names onlz to find out that thez were in fact more strip clubs or other such places
3. I was embaressed to look at all the men walking down the street because it was quite clear what thez were going to be doing tonight.
Finally we found a sandwich shop and grabbed something and brought ti back to the hotel. The hotel is quite nice and is probablz the nicest place we have stayed so far and is bz far the cheapest. Thez have a nice eating area with a free computer with internet access. We sat in the eating area and watched the street. Oddlz among all of this adult oriented businesses are throngs of tourists and oddlz families with reallz small children. It is completely weird. While I feel safe in guessing that our hotel tomorrow wonät be this nice I will happilz move into the old center of town awaz from whatever in the world this is.....again I donät think this is where we were supposed to end up.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Finally what vacation is supposed to feel like
This is a joint Shelton blog here....we are pleased to announce that we are in love with the Alps and could franklz staz here forever. This is what we thought vacation would be like. It is beautiful, relaxing and peaceful. The other tourists are mellow.
We hiked an actual alp today. It was amazingly beautiful but exhausting. We met some fun fellow travelers and took a path that lead us from an alpine valley of cows to the woods and behind a waterfall. Here is some info on where we are and what we hiked. August no brown bears to speak of just a lot of cows. We took the train up the mountain and then took the north face hike down but split off at the bottom to go to the falls and Gimmelwald. It was lovely but we both are quite sunburnt today. We miscalculated the amount of sunscreen needed when you are at this altitude.
We leave for Munich tomorrow and will be sad to leave this behind. Mike has furthered his obsession with pretzel bread here and hopes that a German Village baker will take up the cause so he can feed this addiction upon our return to Cbus.
We'll see you all soon and look out for our German adventures to come soon.
We hiked an actual alp today. It was amazingly beautiful but exhausting. We met some fun fellow travelers and took a path that lead us from an alpine valley of cows to the woods and behind a waterfall. Here is some info on where we are and what we hiked. August no brown bears to speak of just a lot of cows. We took the train up the mountain and then took the north face hike down but split off at the bottom to go to the falls and Gimmelwald. It was lovely but we both are quite sunburnt today. We miscalculated the amount of sunscreen needed when you are at this altitude.
We leave for Munich tomorrow and will be sad to leave this behind. Mike has furthered his obsession with pretzel bread here and hopes that a German Village baker will take up the cause so he can feed this addiction upon our return to Cbus.
We'll see you all soon and look out for our German adventures to come soon.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Est ist Michael.
Ahhh...Parieee, the City of Light, the City of Love...
Well, I guess. The Eiffel Tower is pretty amazing. It is fun to climb the stairs to the Arc de Triomphe and look down on the zany people driving from twelve different directions. The facade of Notre Dame is just about as intricate a building as you will ever see. The food is amazing, especially if you have the opportunity to pack a picnic after buying one thing from seven different stores, each with their own specialty. (And amazingly cheap, good wine to go with said picnic.)
But after that, Paris is kind of a dud. If you have been to Washington, D.C., it largely resembles the good architechture and city layout (including public parks) of Paris, for obvious reasons. The streets are narrower, giving a more intimate and neighborly feeling than D.C. But I am not sure if a quality structure has been built in Paris in the past two centuries. They are ugly, unfunctional eyesores in my opinion.
It is interesting to use their Metro, which was apparently the first underground subway system in the world. And to fully appreciate the term "French drain" as they are ingeniously employed everywhere.
What is odd, is I would think it would be more enjoyable to be a Parisian than a Londoner or Dubliner. Paris is certainly more relaxed, except for the throngs of tourists. Plus there seems to be more ways to enjoy the open spaces and many more restaurants with better food. However, I could never get along in that city...I am just not wired to take things as slow as the Parisians prefer.
For example, it is not uncommon to seat yourself at a cafe and then wait 20 or 25 minutes before you are acknowledged and asked if you want something to drink. Expect another 20 to 25 minutes before you are asked if you would like something to eat. This is not rude, this is because Parisians want to enjoy their time people watching when they go out to eat, so they want to show their customers that same respect. Trouble is, when I (like most Americans, probably), jump into a restaurant, it is because I am hungry now, and want to eat now. So, to live there, one would have to plan their meals...or readjust their bellies to not get hungry until 9 or 10 pm for dinner.
Also, Parisians do not care for things to be cold. Like water, or any drink really. I do not get that one, because it is pretty hot and muggy.
Oh...one cool thing about Paris is they love St. Michael...a major boulevard and statute thingy mark their love of him. In front of the statute thingy is where student protests against the machine usually start. So, I am pretty proud of all that.
Due to timing, and a desire not to lug our backpacks all over God,s Green Earth, we had to lopp off French items on the front end (WWII Normandy Invasion beaches) and back end (Burgundy region wine tour). I was pretty sad at missing the Normandy beaches, but perhaps another time when I have kinda forgotten about not really enjoying Paris/France as I thought I would.
We have arrived in the Swiss Alps, though, and it is truly inspiring. I am loving it here and we are only about three hours in. Huge ice capped mountains that our little chalet looks out on from the teeny town of Murren. Going to do some hiking tomorrow, and no need to be worried about being hit by a car because they are outlawed up this way. Probably best for everyone,s safety.
Plus, this gives me a chance to put that Cleveland Public educated German to use....
Like Gena said, we are using a German keyboard, so apologies if some things are typed incorrectly or there is weird punctuation (tried to find the best substitute possible).
Auf Wiedersehen...
Ahhh...Parieee, the City of Light, the City of Love...
Well, I guess. The Eiffel Tower is pretty amazing. It is fun to climb the stairs to the Arc de Triomphe and look down on the zany people driving from twelve different directions. The facade of Notre Dame is just about as intricate a building as you will ever see. The food is amazing, especially if you have the opportunity to pack a picnic after buying one thing from seven different stores, each with their own specialty. (And amazingly cheap, good wine to go with said picnic.)
But after that, Paris is kind of a dud. If you have been to Washington, D.C., it largely resembles the good architechture and city layout (including public parks) of Paris, for obvious reasons. The streets are narrower, giving a more intimate and neighborly feeling than D.C. But I am not sure if a quality structure has been built in Paris in the past two centuries. They are ugly, unfunctional eyesores in my opinion.
It is interesting to use their Metro, which was apparently the first underground subway system in the world. And to fully appreciate the term "French drain" as they are ingeniously employed everywhere.
What is odd, is I would think it would be more enjoyable to be a Parisian than a Londoner or Dubliner. Paris is certainly more relaxed, except for the throngs of tourists. Plus there seems to be more ways to enjoy the open spaces and many more restaurants with better food. However, I could never get along in that city...I am just not wired to take things as slow as the Parisians prefer.
For example, it is not uncommon to seat yourself at a cafe and then wait 20 or 25 minutes before you are acknowledged and asked if you want something to drink. Expect another 20 to 25 minutes before you are asked if you would like something to eat. This is not rude, this is because Parisians want to enjoy their time people watching when they go out to eat, so they want to show their customers that same respect. Trouble is, when I (like most Americans, probably), jump into a restaurant, it is because I am hungry now, and want to eat now. So, to live there, one would have to plan their meals...or readjust their bellies to not get hungry until 9 or 10 pm for dinner.
Also, Parisians do not care for things to be cold. Like water, or any drink really. I do not get that one, because it is pretty hot and muggy.
Oh...one cool thing about Paris is they love St. Michael...a major boulevard and statute thingy mark their love of him. In front of the statute thingy is where student protests against the machine usually start. So, I am pretty proud of all that.
Due to timing, and a desire not to lug our backpacks all over God,s Green Earth, we had to lopp off French items on the front end (WWII Normandy Invasion beaches) and back end (Burgundy region wine tour). I was pretty sad at missing the Normandy beaches, but perhaps another time when I have kinda forgotten about not really enjoying Paris/France as I thought I would.
We have arrived in the Swiss Alps, though, and it is truly inspiring. I am loving it here and we are only about three hours in. Huge ice capped mountains that our little chalet looks out on from the teeny town of Murren. Going to do some hiking tomorrow, and no need to be worried about being hit by a car because they are outlawed up this way. Probably best for everyone,s safety.
Plus, this gives me a chance to put that Cleveland Public educated German to use....
Like Gena said, we are using a German keyboard, so apologies if some things are typed incorrectly or there is weird punctuation (tried to find the best substitute possible).
Auf Wiedersehen...
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