My Village

Here are some pictures of where I live. This historic steam locomotive is a small tourist attraction in the area, and I live directly across the street from it. Other than the smoke getting in our house, it hasn't been a problem. The other photos are just things that caught my eye - old interesting houses or the local horses and cows (I like to go back behind my house by the pastures with carrots for the horses, and I can usually get cows to come up to me too, even though they are generally pretty shy).

Pictures were taken last summer...I was playing with black and white film and my cumbersome professional camera (I usually carry a small digital camera for practical reasons). Of course, I had to resize them to fit Blogger, so you miss a lot of the detail.

One quick plug for International Women's Club

For GK women who haven't joined the International Women's Club yet, I would highly recommend it. It's a great way to meet other women from various nationalities, and get to sample other cultures and foods. Some of the best friends I have made here have been through IWC, and being a member of IWC gave me the chance to go to Istanbul, one of the most incredible journeys I have ever experienced.

Here's the blog, where you can take a look at all the fun and the great food you can have. The lovely Tiffany, the American representative, is in charge of that blog, and she has another one with useful information about GK and the local area.

http://iwcogk.blogspot.com/

and

http://www.livingingk.blogspot.com/

Here's a great picture of us American ladies in our 50's sock hop finery in an entry made in January. I am the one in the awesome catseye glasses who is kneeling in the front. Behold my coolness! Hehe.

Local Eats: The Good, The Bad, and the Downright Indigestible

I know at some point that some local area folks may stumble on this blog through word of mouth (thanks mostly to Tiffany, who linked to this blog via her Living in GK blog). Anyway...

Hi folks!

This post is prompted by the unpleasant meal my husband and I just had at Restaurant Mendoza, an Argentine steakhouse that opened recently in Gangelt. I believe it's owned by the same people who operate El Toro Napoli in Gillrath. The fact that both restaurants have identical menus would be a clue, and I do believe the old guy that was working at Mendoza this evening was the same one who waited on us at El Toro Napoli the one time we went there.

The good: the ambience was nice, for the most part (much nicer than at El Toro Napoli). It was nicely furnished and tastefully decorated. It's also HUGE...this restaurant can definitely accommodate crowds. The staff was also very nice, although the service was very slow. It took ages to get our food, which in hindsight, probably wasn't a bad thing.

The bad: the muzak made me want to stab out my eardrums with a fork. It didn't help that I was sitting right under the speaker. And it's too loud for soft conversation. I'm also not sure that Mendoza had English menus. But unless they offer, we don't usually get them...we can read German menus just fine.

The indigestible: Lance described his Spaghetti Al Forno as bland. I had gyro meat on macaroni with spinach and mushrooms, swimming in a cream sauce. The meat was full of gristle and fat and virtually inedible. The cream sauce was way too runny. I was also allowed a salad from the salad bar (they have an evening buffet), and the salad bar only had shredded lettuce, pickled cabbage, green beans, beets, corn and dressing. That's it. They served rolls with 2 kinds of spread (tzatziki and some kind of spicy pimento spread...I stuck with the tzatziki), but since Lance doesn't eat that stuff, he ate the rolls plain and said they weren't very good. Hence, the need for spread.

Of course, it's a steakhouse and we didn't eat steak. But after the meal we had, we won't be rushing out to try their steak anytime soon.

(I think it's safe to say that we don't endorse El Toro Napoli either...while the meal I had there was fine, Lance didn't get what he ordered, and I didn't care for the ambience).

***

Restaurants we do recommend:

- Carpaccio, Geilenkirchen (Italian): I'm sure you have all eaten here already, since most of you have probably stayed at the City Hotel. I won't bore you with the details.

- Il Genio, various locations (Italian): Everyone knows this place by now. I like the ones in Gillrath and Gangelt the best. There is also Paganini, a new Italian place in Rischden...I've eaten there twice and find it quite similar to Il Genio, although the muzak at this restaurant also makes me go stabbity. It was Andrea Bocelli the first time, which would've been fine at a lower volume. The last time, it was pan flute music.

- Cam Nguyen, Geilenkirchen (Chinese): My favorite lunch spot, and where my friends and I agree to get together 9 times out of 10. It's also very cheap.

- Brasserie Murphy's, Sittard (International): A place some friends and I discovered back in March when the restaurant where we wanted to eat was booked up. I'm glad we ended up here. The food was amazing and served with a very artistic presentation. I ended up having my birthday dinner here last month. The portion sizes are huge and the menu prices are extremely reasonable. Try the tilapia.

- O Portugues, Tuddern (Portuguese): Hands down, the BEST chicken I've ever had in my life. And the fried potatoes that accompanied it were heaven on a plate. This place is popular for its all you can eat shrimp (gambas) night on Tuesdays.

- Paella, Aachen (Spanish): I almost never eat anywhere else but here when I'm in Aachen. Their lunch buffet is TO DIE FOR, and it's less than 5 euros. Apparently, their tapas is very very popular, but they only serve that for supper, and I've only been at Paella during lunch.

- Cafe Madrid, Heinsberg (Spanish): My favorite place of all time. The tapas here is magnificent. I've never been to Spain, but my friends who have say that this tapas far surpasses anything they had there. The guy that owns the place (he is Spanish, by the way) gives fantastic service, and he's also a terrible flirt (it works...he feigned devastating heartbreak because I didn't want to try his coffee. So I did. And I don't even really like coffee. But the "Spanish coffee" was actually good). My first lunch here is one of my most memorable meals of all time. I was astounded by how good it was.

- Steakhouse Mujo, Geilenkirchen and Ubach-Palenberg (International): Okay...HERE is where we go when we're actually in the mood for steak. Although I've never actually had the steak here...the first time we ate here, I had the lamb. The second time, I had salmon. Both were very good.

- Side Grill, Geilenkirchen (Turkish): This is a hole-in-the-wall place (it's right next door to Cam Nguyen), but by gosh, they serve some of the finest doner kebap I've ever had. (Another good place is the doner kebap shack on the main drag in Birgden...I don't think it has a name).

- El Greco, Stahe (Greek): You've all seen this place...it's right on the B56. Their bifteki is wonderful. But you have to really love meat to eat here. I mean, you have to REALLY love meat. The last time I ate there, I got by with stuffed mushrooms from the appetizer menu and a small side salad (but the mushrooms were still stuffed with meat).

- El Comal, Brunssum (Mexican): This is probably about as close as you're going to get to the Mexican you can eat in the States. This is also likely to give you a huge stomach ache the next day. But hey, it was good. I've heard rumors of a mariachi band playing here on occasion. Ole! (By the way, I have eaten at the Mexican place in Aachen before - Sausalito's - some friends swear by this place. The one time I ate there, the food I ordered - a veggie tostada - was just weird. But it was still perfectly decent food).

Notice the lack of German restaurants on this list...we're not huge fans of German food (OH! THE! HORROR!). Besides, they're everywhere, and from my limited experience, the food at each one is about the same.

Feel free to comment with your own suggestions.

And while I'm at it...

Places to buy yummy gourmet stuff:

- Barkenhof, Saeffeln: This beautiful historic home is the residence of Olaf and Elke Barken, who live on the top floor and operate a shop on the main floor. Be prepared to drop some serious money, though. The cheeses, meats, wines, spices, coffees, teas, olive oils, vinegars, chutneys/dips/spreads, etc...are not cheap. But they are absolutely top-quality, and they are incredibly good. Olaf and Elke travel all over the world, personally selecting the products that they sell (to say that I am envious of their lifestyle is a gross understatement). Olaf will talk your ear off about all the products and he will let you taste them. My personal favorites: lemon-infused olive oil, aged balsamic vinegar, chocolate covered espresso beans, French honey. They also sell bath products and furniture. Olaf has said that he wants to sell Barkenhof and move to Majorca to run a bed and breakfast. He could very well be serious about this. Get there while you can.

- Oil & Vinegar, Aachen & Heerlen: You can buy, of course, oils and vinegars. You can also buy spices, dip mixes, and crunchy things to dip in said mixes. You can also get cute serving dishes and bowls.

- Xenos, Aachen & Sittard: Here's a secret - go to Oil & Vinegar and taste the bruschetta dip mix and the fruschetta dip mix. Then go to Xenos and buy jars of the mix for a fraction of the price! They taste almost exactly the same, and they are MUCH cheaper. They have all kinds of other foodie things too...I buy pesto and grissini (tiny crunchy breadsticks) there a lot. Xenos sells tons of other things too...it's like one of those dollar stores, so I'm sure you'll find other ways to spend your money while you're there.

Tourism in the Buckeye State

Sometimes I wonder who in the world would ever actually go to Ohio on vacation. I lived there my entire life (until I moved to Germany, obviously), and while it's home, I can't really see the appeal to any foreign or out of state tourists (yet somehow, Fodor's saw fit to publish a guidebook about it). Let's see, I lived in: Findlay, Van Buren, Bowling Green, Columbus and Oxford. Of these, Columbus and Oxford are the only two places I would recommend to visitors, although Findlay certainly has its charming areas. Columbus doesn't really have anything different from any other major city...and Oxford is the typical quaint, small college town that just happens to boast one of the best restaurants in which I've ever had the pleasure of dining.

Now that I live in Germany, going to Ohio IS vacation. I had several opportunities to be a tourist in my own state while I was home. Some of them, unfortunately, fell through.

Picnic with the Pops in Columbus
This is an annual summer event that occurs every weekend for about 2 months. It's on the lawn of Chemical Abstracts (where I was gainfully employed for 2 years, and despite that, never managed to go to a Pops event). This year, I had tickets, and by God, I was going to go. It was the Patriotic Pops too, which they always do the weekend before Independence Day. John Philip Sousa marches and fireworks whilst you eat a picnic dinner in the grass. What could be better? Well, there is one thing...the final Pops concert of the summer - the Ohio State Marching Band (AKA "The Best Damn Band in the Land"). What scarlet and gray blooded fan wouldn't get fired up hearing TBDBITL playing "Hang on Sloopy"? Go Bucks!

Alas, it was not meant to be. My poor grandmother fell and fractured her ribs, and so we had to give up our plans for the Pops to go and be with her and help out around the house.

Maybe next year.

The Columbus Zoo
This is one of the best zoos I've ever been to, but perhaps I'm biased. It IS a world-class zoo, and Jack Hanna, the director emeritus, has fame that reaches far and wide (you may have seen his many appearances on Letterman), so the zoo is well-known. It's improved a lot in the past few years. The relatively new Australian section is pretty cool (I like the nocturnal animal exhibit and the Lorikeet Garden, especially) and Asia Quest is a nice and fairly recent addition. They also bought Wyandot Lake, the water park, which was right next door, so next year, that will be incorporated into the zoo and it will be more of a theme park.

Above all else, my favorite continues to be the manatees. I've been lucky, until this year, to always catch them during their feeding times. This year, they were napping. But then again, so were most of the other animals.

Actors Theatre at Schiller Park (German Village, Columbus)
Free Shakespeare in the park. Need I say more? And it's GOOD Shakespeare.

This one didn't pan out, sadly. I had every intention of seeing The Complete Works of William Shakespeare [abridged], which is a play I have been dying to see for ages. But the plans were cancelled. Back up to Grandma's house to see some relatives that dropped in from Illinois. You know how it goes.

While I'm at it, I should mention that German Village itself is a great tourist attraction. If you're in Columbus for some reason, go there. It's a lovely European-style community with great restaurants, boutiques, and the best book shop in the world ever (The Book Loft - a 32 room Victorian house that is stuffed from floor to ceiling with books). The community hosts the city's annual Oktoberfest, which is a good time, if you like to Polka, anyway.

Lake Erie
This is probably the biggest tourist draw to Ohio. There is Cedar Point amusement park, although I haven't been there since I was 19. (I no longer go to amusement parks after getting whiplash on a roller coaster and spending an entire summer in the chiropractor's office...this happened at King's Island down by Cincinnati, not at Cedar Point). There is Johnson's Island, which is a Civil War prison/cemetery (Confederate soldiers, obviously). There is Marblehead Lighthouse, camping, water recreation, etc. etc. Cheese Haven - a huge store devoted to cheese (didn't stop by there this time, although that was always a must-stop before when I was in the area). Close to that, there is a giant farmer's market, where we stopped to get fresh peaches and strawberries. It's the only one in the area, so you really can't miss it.

Our main reason for going - Kelleys Island and wine tastings. There are a few islands up there at Lake Erie that belong to Ohio (nearby Pelee Island is actually part of Canada). There is South Bass Island (AKA Put-in-Bay), which has enough bars to allow people to get wasted and screw around on golf carts all day. The thing to see there is Perry's Monument, which gives you a view of Canada on a clear day (well, the aforementioned Pelee Island, anyway). We opted for Kelleys Island, which has the world's largest glacial grooves, although I've seen them before and don't find them all that impressive. But it's an island filled with adorable cottages and huge, elegant bed and breakfasts, Kelleys Island Wine Company, restaurants, boutiques, the mandatory fudge and ice cream shops, mini golf, and the Butterfly Garden, which we also visited.

We had lunch almost as soon as we got off the ferry. We ate at a place called The Captain's Corner (it has a different name every time my parents go up there). While you would think that seafood would be the obvious thing to order, it's a bit of a risk, I think, considering how polluted the lake is (I do believe their fish is Lake Erie fish). I stuck to land animals, namely chicken...a chicken BLT wrap with homemade potato chips and coleslaw. It was okay. Seriously...just okay. I wouldn't enthusiastically recommend this place, but it had a fun atmosphere and the food was standard. They had an abnormal amount of Greek items on the menu, for a restaurant that wasn't specifically Greek (I highly suspect the owners are of Greek descent).

We went to two wineries: Kelleys Island Wine Company, which I already mentioned, and Firelands Winery, which is located on the mainland in Sandusky.

Of the two, Firelands Winery is by far the best. The lady who helped us with our tasting was super nice. When I told her that I live in Germany and was anxious to try their Riesling, she insisted that I sample the Gewurztraminer, even though it wasn't on the tasting menu. She wanted me to give her my honest opinion about how their German-style wines stacked up to the real thing.

Thumbs up, enthusiastically.

She also let me taste the Moscato d'Asti, again, not on the menu. I LOVE Moscato. This one was beautiful. My parents tried it too and looked at me like I was insane. It's a sweet, sparkling wine...more like sparkling grape juice than wine. But I love it. I can't help it.

If you're ever in the area, give those people some love. Their wines are amazing, and they have a fabulous gift shop. Tastings are only $1 (for the entire tasting, not just one sample).

There are other wineries in the area too, and it seems a new one is opening every year. We plan to go again sometime and try out some of these other places.

I really like the Lake Erie area. Parts of it are very cheesy (the Pre-Historic Forest and Mystery Hill, with the incredibly fake looking dinosaurs and mammoths, comes to mind) and some parts of it are rather run-down, but the islands are pretty, and some of the mainland areas are beautiful, especially around Sandusky, Marblehead and Port Clinton.

The drive from Columbus up to the lake was quite nice too. We went through a lot of charming, small rural towns. One thing I noticed was that the town could consist of five houses and a church, and there would still be a dairy bar. We stopped at the Daily Scoop in Bucyrus on the way home for some soft-serve cones.

Sometimes I have to take myself away from what is familiar and stay away from it for awhile in order to see it with fresh eyes. That was definitely how I saw this trip to Ohio. I suppose I could see the appeal, but I guess I just prefer places that are a bit more exotic.

Travel Books I'm Loving Now

I'm amazed that people have actually told me that they read books based on what I've been reading. They seem to trust my instincts, seeing as how I have a BA in Literature and pursued it at the graduate level for a couple of years. But I'm also a total geek. I have a "Reading is Sexy" t-shirt and I take pride in reading obscure stuff that nobody else reads. But I'm a book reviewer for Curled Up With a Good Book too, so I guess I can safely claim some authority on the subject (hey, I'm in it for the free books!).

Right now, my main passion is travel memoirs. I can't get enough of them. Some are painful to read (Rebecca West's 1200 page Black Lamb and Grey Falcon springs immediately to mind), but most fill me with sheer joy and inspire me to be a better travel writer and to get myself published in more prominent publications.

Among them:

- anything by Frances Mayes
First, I saw the movie - Under the Tuscan Sun. It is NOTHING like the book. Frances Mayes does not look like Diane Lane. She is also very happily married, not the divorcee that is portrayed in the movie. It is a good movie in its own right, but not a substitute for the book. Read the book. Seriously. It is AMAZING. I defy you to read it and not want to book the first thing smoking to Tuscany. Same with Bella Tuscany. And then there's her beautiful coffee table book, Bringing Tuscany Home, which is filled with gorgeous photos of her home in Cortona, Bramasole, as well as other delightful pictures and recipes of all the glorious food she makes and eats. Right now, I am within 100 pages from finishing A Year in the World: Journeys of a Passionate Traveller. It is vintage Mayes...she writes with the kind of passion that I only feel and can never adequately express. She doesn't just visit a place...it inhabits her soul. I love that she writes about places I've been (I'm drawn to books that are especially about places I've been). Her descriptions of Bath and Istanbul brought back such wonderful images of my own travels to those places.

- anything by Alice Steinbach
I love this woman just as much as I love Frances Mayes. Her writing is extremely evocative. Her two travel memoirs - Without Reservations: The Travels of an Indepedent Woman and Educating Alice: Adventures of a Curious Woman - fill me with awe. She is fearless, traveling alone all over the world the way that she does. I travel by myself often enough, but there are some places where I just wouldn't dare to attempt it.

Anyway, my aunt currently has custody of two of my Frances Mayes books and both of my Alice Steinbach books and she loves them and feels as inspired by them as I do.

I also love A Woman's Europe, which is a collection of travel essays by various authors (including Frances Mayes).

Notice that all these books are written by women?

Not to leave out the men...I love Peter Mayle's books about Provence. They're classics.

Another book that gave me a...bookgasm...(sorry, but I just had to use that word)...this proves how geeky I truly am:

A Reader's Guide to Writer's Britain

Yes, it combines 3 of my favorite things: literature, writers, and Britain. If you ever want to take a literary tour of the UK, this is the book to consult. My edition is slightly outdated, but it seems to cover nearly everything, from the most famous of British authors to the most obscure ones. It pains me that I only discovered this book after my last trip to England. I could plan whole vacations around this book. And I would. Unfortunately, we are running out of time, and England is not in the plans for the rest of our time here.

I had this brilliant idea for an article that was sadly already used by salon.com (curses!), but that I can still work with. It's basically a list of books that are about places, for those who love to read about a place while they're there. For example, Hemingway's A Moveable Feast was written mostly about Paris. Could you imagine anything better to bring along with you to read while you're in Paris? Well sure, other books about Paris. But you know what I mean. While in Bath, you have to read Jane Austen. You HAVE TO. She is from Bath and a few of her novels are set in Bath. It would be sacriligious not to. The Historian - well, that covers several locales: Istanbul, Amsterdam, Venice, Budapest, etc. etc. It is because of that book that I've been longing to go to Budapest for ages now, but I've already been to several other places mentioned in the book.

Musings on Travel Agents

Most people that I hang out with now are unaware that I was certified as a travel agent about 13 years ago. I was about a year out of high school at the time, and I took a couple of terms at the local community college, but wasn't finding it to be quite my thing (I really took to university studies later on, however). I dreamed of a life of travel...it seems like a romantic and glamorous life, living out of a suitcase (hoo boy! Did I have a lot to learn!). The only way I could think of to attain that lifestyle was by getting certified as a travel agent.

What I failed to realize, however, is that I would suck at it. Travel and tourism school was loads of fun. I spent the summer taking classes. I had an internship at a local travel agency. It seemed I would really enjoy it. That was until I actually got a job as a travel agent. I had to commute about an hour each way to work (I lived in Columbus, Ohio, yet commuted to Springfield, Ohio, of all places...it's not like there weren't travel agencies in Columbus). I got paid $5.25 per hour. Because I was entry level, they gave me only the easiest bookings to do. Anything in a foreign country had to be given to another agent...even air bookings to Canada. Basically, they never gave me much of a chance to learn and grow, and I got frustrated and made the decision to go back to college.

So I spent over $1000 for what seemed to be a completely worthless certificate. My next job was as Assistant Manager of one of the local branches at Budget Rent a Car. The Asst. Manager position came out of my certification...otherwise, that would've been entry level too. The pay was also better and the commute from my house was less than 10 minutes. Eventually, I went part-time (and as a result, lost my Asst. Manager position and went to work at the main airport location) and went to college full-time.

So let's review what a travel agent certificate did for me - pretty much nothing. I worked as a travel agent for about 3 months, and I was hired on as Asst. Manager at a rental car company, only to be demoted later on (but at least with the same pay).

It's funny though, because I chose that career about 12 years too soon. Now that I live in Europe and I have actually traveled (I had no travel experience, nor had I ever even flown, when I became a travel agent), and I'm also a working travel writer, I have gained a lot of experience and knowledge on the subject of travel. When people come to visit us, I am in charge of making their travel arrangements. If we go anywhere for more than a day, I book the hotel. I make reservations for shows...I do most of the itinerary planning. This is where my previous travel agent experience can actually be put to good use. Whenever my husband and I travel, I take care of all the arrangements (the one exception to this is our upcoming Baltic cruise, which he planned and organized). On the base, I am now considered a travel expert. People come to me a lot with questions: which guidebooks are the best, where should I go, where should I stay, where should I eat, etc.?

Now...in 2007, I would be an absolutely AMAZING travel agent. How could I ever have foreseen this when I was stupid and 19?

The only thing I am missing at the moment is current certification on one of the travel reservations systems. My certificate that I earned back in 1994 is totally worthless now.

Just for kicks, I looked up my old travel school. Although I could not find it at the location where I attended courses, I found it online (although whether it's the same company or a different one by the same name, I don't know). They offer different certifications:

- travel agent certification
- airline agent certification
- rental car agent certification
- hotel agent certification
- cruise line certification

Travel agent, airline, and rental car certification all require learning the same computer system (Sabre...one of the main reservations programs for travel agents), but the airline and rental car certifications cost about half as much. Also, as someone who has worked at a rental car company, I can tell you that unless things have changed since I worked at Budget, you do not need a certificate to work there. I worked at a hotel too (not for long - the day a guest died in one of our rooms and I had to go and confirm that he was dead - that was the day I decided to quit)...no certificate needed to work there either. So have things really changed so that these jobs have become more specialized, or is this company trying to rip people off?

I just find it kind of sad, yet also interesting, that I would probably really enjoy working as a travel agent now...knowing what I know. The knowledge and experience that I've gained makes all the difference. Yet, life seems to be taking me down a different path, literature being my other great life passion. I'm planning to get a Masters in Library and Information Science. Being a travel agent, at this point in my life, would've been a great fall-back career. Too bad my certification is so outdated.

A note about the content of this blog

I haven't had this blog for very long. I registered for it at the end of May 2007. I had another blog at Live Journal where I've been posting travel reports since I moved to Germany. But I keep a regular blog there too and I am logged in permanently there, so it was kind of a pain to keep logging in and out of both journals.

Hence, the need for a new travel blog.

Unfortunately, while I can archive all my entries from Live Journal, I cannot archive the comments I've received over these past few years. Some were from regular readers. Some were from people just passing through who found a momentary interest in something I had to say. It was those comments that kept me writing, because those comments informed me that people wanted to read about my experiences - either because they had been to those places and wanted to reminisce, or because they had never been to those places and wished to go, although I think most comments were from those who are living vicariously through me, since we cannot all be world travelers.

Anyway, all the entries below this point are archived from Live Journal. All the stuff above this post is new.

I hope you enjoy the world according to Karyn.

Karyn's Picks and Pans: Delft

My next assignment is to do a travel guide of Delft (so I've been told), so I know I'm going to get sick of writing about it. Unfortunately, brevity is not my forte (even if it is the soul of wit).


Delft's Market Square - Town Hall

* Delft Porcelain - Before you buy, you should know that most of it is now made in China. There are only 3 places in Delft that actually produce the pottery from start to finish…most stores sell pottery that was shipped over from China and hand painted in Delft. It is priced accordingly. Whatever you do, DO NOT buy your Delft at the 2 major factories in town. They overcharge, because that's where the tour busses drop off the passengers, and the tour companies have a special partnership with them. Go to any of the other stores in town (particularly on the market square), and look around. We bought the variety of Delft that was only hand painted there. The store was in the market square, and it was called "Genuine Delft Blue" or something like that. It was next to the "Koninklijke Porceleyne Fles" (Royal Delft), which is the store based from one of the local factories. Anyway, the lady at this store was super super nice, and the stuff was reasonably priced. She is friends with some of the painters of the products she sells, and she has a good variety.



If you're buying gifts, make sure to get something that is particularly useful, like candlesticks or a cheese plane (for those who like paper thin slices of cheese).

* Vermeer - Aside from porcelain, Delft is primarily known for Johannes Vermeer, the painter of the very famous "Girl with a Pearl Earring," which was recently further immortalized in novel and film (she's all over the Delft pottery too…I bought a trinket box with her painted on the lid in Delft blue). To see his real paintings, you need to go somewhere other than Delft (our girl with the pearl is in nearby Den Haag), but they do have the brand spanking new Vermeer Center, which is an interactive museum that tells you more about his work and his life. It's so spanking new that they're not even done building it yet…we got in for half price because the construction workers were still assembling things. It was noisy and smelly. But it looks like it's going to be a very cool place when it's done...it's not your average art museum. The Vermeer Center is located in the building that once housed the Painters' Guild, of which Vermeer was a member.
http://www.vermeerdelft.nl/

You can also see his grave at the Oude Kerk (Old Church). It's very unremarkable though, for as much fame as Vermeer has brought to this small city. It's just a square with his name engraved on it, but the church has it specially marked so you can find it. It's a neat old church anyway, and certainly worth exploring.
http://www.oudekerk-delft.nl/



The equally creatively named New Church is located in the market square, and I'm sure that's also worth looking at, but we didn't go in…we just enjoyed the sound of its carillon music as we roamed the town.

Nieuwe Kerk

* Leonidas Lunch-Tearoom - If Leonidas sounds familiar, it's because it's the name of a world-famous Belgian chocolate manufacturer. And thusly, this has the chocolate shop next door, and is run by the same company. You can eat anywhere your heart desires here. If you want to eat out on the sidewalk, you may do that. You can eat inside too (which we did, because it was pretty chilly that day). Or you can eat out back in their beautiful little garden, which I kind of wish we had done. Ask for an English menu…they aren't widely accessible. They had a lot of tasty looking items. I got the "Luxe Mushroom Soup," which was "luxe" because it also came with a giant baguette sandwich that was slathered in baked mushrooms and herbed cream cheese (as if the mushroom soup alone didn't satisfy my mushroom cravings...not that I particularly crave mushrooms or anything). I had way more food than I was capable of eating (more than any mere mortal is capable of eating, really). But it was delicious. And cheap too…under 7 euros. Sue and I ordered the unlimited tea for two, but only managed to get through one teapot before we called it quits. I wish I had ordered what Sue did. She got the brie French roll, and everything came disassembled on her plate so she had to put it together. It was bread, brie, raw ham, some herbs, and herbed cream cheese. It all looked very very good, and she really enjoyed it. Lori just got the cheese French roll, but she really liked it. Lindsey got the tomato soup and the tuna mousse on toast. I really liked the atmosphere of this place…and judging by a Google search, it seems to be a fairly popular choice in Delft. It's close to the market square too…just off of it.

* Super Markt - That's the name of this place...pretty simple. It's on the market square, and we stopped there to grab drinks for the road. The reason why I'm writing about it is because the guy running the place was really nice. I pointed out to Lindsey and Lori that they might want to pick up a tin of stroopwafels to take home, since I know their sister really likes them (I brought home a package once for Thanksgiving 2005…it was instantly inhaled…I think Lisa had 2 of them). They said that they didn't remember what stroopwafels tasted like. Well, the guy working there just happened to have an open package of them sitting on the counter, so he gave one to each of us. Really very kind of him to do so. And because of that, I want to give his store a little plug. If you need a drink, an ice cream bar, or some candy…get it there. Heck, mention stroopwafels while you're there and see if he'll offer you one.

Karyn's Picks and Pans: Brussels

Grand Place - Hotel de Ville (Town Hall)

* Hotel Sabina - I booked the cheapest place I could find that didn't get absolutely heinous reviews. This was adequate, and quite by accident, it was also very close to the autobahn where we came in, so it wasn't a very long drive in town, which was good for my sanity (I didn't drive, but the traffic still freaked me out, and I had to help navigate - HAHA! - which is no easy feat in Brussels). The hotel was a bit shabby and dingy, but at least it was cheerful and sanitary (I hope). We had a quad room, which was up on the top floor (8 flights of steps), and they had an elevator, but it was a bit dubious, so we took the stairs each time. We had a private bath…shower and sink in one closet, toilet in another. There were 4 twin beds, two of them pushed up together so that it was king size. Otherwise, the room was quite cramped. This place, like our hostel in Berlin, was popular with backpackers. The service was friendly. Breakfast is included in the price, and it's your standard European breakfast buffet which I've described more than once before. I think we paid roughly $30 each for one night here. Not bad. It was located fairly close to the Grand Place…less than 20 minutes by foot. One night here was fine, but I don't think I would like it for an extended stay. It was near a hospital and we constantly heard sirens throughout the night, so noise was an issue. Parking is also an issue, but we just got lucky. There was a parking space on the street on the block where our hotel was located, so we just parked there. Because our rental car had Netherlands plates, we didn't get ticketed, because they can't make us pay it. So our parking was free.
http://www.hotelsabina.be/

* Greedy Lunch - This place was right down the street from our hotel (by where we parked, actually), and we found ourselves here because we got to the hotel half an hour before our room was ready, and we had time to kill, and well…it was noon. There was a line out the door, but if you go inside and seat yourself, it's a full service restaurant. They had a huge variety of sandwiches, soups, salads, and even pastas…most everything was customized to your specifications. Sue and Lindsey shared a Salad Niçoise, which they declared to be very good, even though it didn't come with dressing. I had their sandwich version of the Salad Niçoise, so it was basically a tuna sandwich with olive oil, and there was the added element of green beans, which was most interesting (I did not get potatoes, egg, or any of the other components of this salad on my sandwich, and for that, I guess I can be thankful…although egg would have been good).. Lori had a roast beef sandwich with shaved parmesan. My sandwich was edible, but I would not order that particular sandwich again. I would, however, eat here again (if I ever had reason to), because everything else looked really really tasty, and it's obviously a very popular place to eat. It's on Rue du Nord, but I can think of no reason that tourists might venture here, unless they are already staying at Hotel Sabina.

* Devina Finest Belgian Chocolates - This is the place where I got my chocolates on my first trip to Brussels, and this is where I came back. The service is impeccable. The ladies working behind the counter were generous with the free samples. They were also extremely charming and funny, and they let us know what chocolates they personally didn't like, something that I find remarkable in customer service (you would expect them to say that all their chocolates are good, right?). We spent quite a bit of time here, and they were very patient and helpful as we made our selections. It is certainly true that good customer service results in good sales. Even though we purchased a couple of pieces at Neuhaus earlier in the day (I was really interested in trying their violet flavored truffle…in a word - blech!), we bought most of our chocolate here. Although I'm sure all the chocolate shops in Brussels are excellent, this is my personal favorite. (Located on the Rue Marché aux Herbes…right behind the Grand Place).
http://www.devina.be/

* La Maison du Miel - I made it a point to come back here, after having dropped some euros here on my first trip to Brussels. As you might expect, "The House of Honey" sells honey (in various flavors), but they also offer bath products, candies, and even honey flavored liquers. This time, I splurged on a jar of their chocolate honey, and a container of their excellent hand cream. (Located on the Rue Marchè aux Herbes)
http://www.lamaisondumiel.be

* Rue des Bouchers - This narrow, cobbled alleyway will entice you with its fairy lights and quaint sidewalk cafes. Don't be fooled. This street is not for the faint of heart. This is an alley containing ONLY restaurants, and while it might seem a good bet for finding dinner, be aware that you will be harassed by the waiters as you walk down the street. "Madame, you must eat here! Four courses only 12 euros!" Ad nauseum. The restaurants are all basically the same and they all basically offer the same menus for the same price (the first few restaurants after you enter Rue des Bouchers were charging 18 euros…go further back for the lower prices). After being accosted by nearly a dozen waiters, my aunt finally told one, "We'll eat here for 10 euros each." He agreed, but only if we were seated inside.


Rue des Bouchers

This restaurant was Le Petit Bedon. As the name suggests, the menu was primarily French. We were first given an aperitif - a small glass of white wine mixed with blackcurrant. I enjoyed it very much. Next came a starter (and a basket of bread and butter), and we had a small range of choices. I got the smoked salmon, which came with diced raw onion and dill. I remember there being salads and soups as well, and Lori had shrimp in garlic butter for her starter. For the main course, I got lamb chops, which came with fries. They weren't great lamb chops…they were very fatty and there was actually very little meat. The fries were good though. Lori had a pepper steak, Lindsey had grilled chicken breast, and Sue had the grilled salmon. They all enjoyed their meals more than I did. There were also mussels on the menu, which are a Belgian specialty (just not this time of year…it's mostly a winter delicacy). Dessert was included too, and this was a crème caramel…and not very good, really. All of us ate only a couple bites and then pushed it away, but then again, I've never been a huge fan of flan. But still, we paid 10 euros for our meal, and our waiter was great. His name was (swear to God) Fatty, and he was Tunisian. He was so interested in talking to us, because his wife is getting ready to move to America. He was really funny too. A Black-Eyed Peas song came on while we were eating (Shut Up), and he sang very loudly along with it as he served customers. We were cracking up.

Anyway, if you're looking for an exquisite meal, avoid Rue des Bouchers. But if you want a French meal for a reasonable price that gives you some variety, this is a fine place to go. Don't be afraid to haggle - 12 euros is a great price for a 4 course meal, but 10 euros is even better. If you end up at Le Petit Bedon, say hi to Fatty for me.

* La Cure Gourmande - This place is EVIL. EVIIIIIIIIIL. It's bad enough that there are hundreds of chocolate shops in Brussels, but now you have this place. They sell gifts on the second floor, but before you can get there, you have to walk through a first floor of caramels, macaroons, and something they call "chocolate olives." I bought 6 caramels here…SIX…and they cost me over 9 euros (in USD, that's more than $11). They were large caramels, but still…wow. I got 2 each chocolate, vanilla, and a salt flavor. Anyway, I have tasted all 3 flavors by now, and they weren't worth the price. Good yes. Nine euros worth of good? Absolutement non! I should've spent the nine euros on more chocolate. It's a fun store to look around in though, and I was particularly drawn to the smell of the coconut macaroons (which they don't actually call macaroons there, but that is more or less what they are). It's right off the Grand Place, so it's hard to miss.
http://www.la-cure-gourmande.com

Is it any wonder I gained 3 pounds on this trip?

By the way, at this moment, I am eating a Granny Smith apple drizzled with that chocolate honey I bought in Brussels. Ah. Mon. Dieu. God bless those little chocoholic bees. ;)

Karyn's Picks and Pans: Cologne and Vianden

We spent a few hours in Düsseldorf on the way home from Berlin, but there is nothing particularly noteworthy about it. We ate at a fine doner kebap joint in the Altstadt that was basically like any other, and we had a rather pricey spaghetti ice at an Italian Eis Café on the Rhine Promenade…that spaghetti ice, while tasty, was certainly not the best I've had. As far as museums go, we visited the K20, which is a museum of 20th century art. I've been there before. Contemporary art is so not my thing…the Pre-Raphaelites are about as recent as I like. But they had a Picasso exhibit going on, and I do enjoy some of his works, so I paid the 10 euros admission charge to go in again (highway robbery, I tell you!). Sue and Lindsey seemed to like this art museum in particular…Lindsey was particularly excited about all the Paul Klee works.

Okay, so moving on to Cologne…

* Café Scholl Am Dom - Whilst Lance and I waited for Sue, Lindsey, and Lori to climb the 509 steps to the top of the cathedral tower (I was NOT doing that again with my bad knees!), we sought out a place to do lunch. This fit the bill. It's near the cathedral, although you can't see the cathedral from there (we could, however, hear loud and clear when the church bells rang). They have a nice variety of things on their menu to suit all tastes. And they have great looking cakes, although we didn't eat any of them. Lance and Sue had omelets, and found them more than satisfactory. Lori and Lindsey had "toast Da Vinci" (Da Vinci is a theme in the café, which is odd since the café is not Italian, nor were we in Italy), which is a salami, tomato, and toasted cheese sandwich. I had the ham rolls with potato salad, and what the menu failed to mention, which was a delightful surprise, is that the ham is rolled around tender stalks of white asparagus laced with some kind of cream. Delicious. We were serenaded by a canary in a cage right behind our table. This place is also not too touristy…there was a mix of locals and tourists. If you get the Cologne Welcome Card, there is a coupon for this place…for a free espresso, I think, if you order a meal.

We did stop at another place similar to Café Scholl for cake later in the day…I wish I could remember the name of it, or what street it was on. They also sold chocolates and homemade jams. I know it's in the vicinity of Groß St. Martin. Lance and I ordered the same thing…it was some kind of chocolate cake with a white chocolate coating and some marzipan layers. It was pretty good. I know that doesn't help you. Sorry.

Vianden, Luxembourg



Damn, now why can't I remember the name of the café where we ate lunch? A little voice keeps saying over and over "Café des Arts" (does that make me sound Schizophrenic?), but I tried to look it up and only see one in Luxembourg City. So that can't be right. I think I'm getting mixed up because we ate at so many different places and because I've been writing so many travel guides…everything is swirled up in my brain. I really should've written all this stuff down in my notebook that I always carry, but Sue was recording everything, so I suppose I can just ask her. I'm afraid I was a terrible journalist on this trip. I had too many other things to think about (being housekeeper, personal chef, tour guide, translator, chauffeur, etc.).

Anyway, if you're ever in Vianden, it's right off the end of the street that runs along the river. There are a few cafes there, but this one caught our attention because it served crepes (it was the first one we encountered that did so). And crepes were exactly what we hungered for, we just didn't know it until that moment. The service was laidback, to say the least. Don't expect quickness. But it was not unreasonable. My only real complaint is that they gave everyone else a little bowl of peanuts to munch on while they waited for their food, and our table didn't get one. But the huge crepes were more than filling, so the little peanut starter wasn't necessary anyway. I highly recommend what I had, which was a bacon and egg crepe (lard appears prominently on the menu with this choice, and there is something to that, actually…this was super fatty bacon). The crepe was stuffed with bacon and served with a fried egg on top. Lori ordered the same thing and picked out a lot of the bacon. Lindsey ordered a dessert crepe, which looked like a work of art. Lance got a cheese crepe. Sue got the vegetarian, which she said was spicy. I had a nice Moselle Riesling with mine. Lance drank Leffe Blonde, a Belgian beer. I think Sue and Lori got the Diekirch. You should know some French if you come here. We had an English speaking waitress who took our order, but the lady that served us our food and brought us the bill only spoke French (and perhaps a smidge of German, because I seemed to communicate with her better when I switched from French to German). We managed. I had 5 years of French in high school and college and Sue knew it well enough from all the time she spent in France.

Also, have ice cream at the café next to the chairlift. It's nothing fancy, but they have soft serve, which is a nice treat. We got a kick out of their soft serve machine. You choose a small container filled with ice cream…whatever flavor pleases your fancy. They insert the container into the machine and swirl the ice cream into the cone. I've never seen anything like it. The kids will love it. Either that, or we're just easily impressed.

A note about the chairlift: it does NOT take you directly to the castle. It's a fun ride, but then you must hike down the hill a bit to the castle, which is already on a craggy cliff overlooking the town. This hike was steep, and really hurt my knees. And if you get the return trip, of course you must hike back up.


View of Vianden from the chairlift

We did pay for a round trip, but opted instead to hike down from the castle through the street that leads into the center of town. This was a better option, because we got to see more of the town that way. And if any place in Europe oozes charm, it's Vianden.


walking through town

This place is like a fairy tale (if you could overlook the insane amounts of motorcyclists everywhere). So do the chairlift, but just do it one way (and be sure to smile at the top…they take your picture!).

Karyn's Picks and Pans: Berlin

Here is a handy thing if you are ever planning to travel to Berlin. I review where we stayed, where we ate, and what we did. It helps to know my experiences with these things, right? After all, people wouldn't have need to read travel writing if it didn't help them plan their vacations.

- BaxPax Downtown Hostel/Hotel: This is a fairly new hostel that opened about a year ago and is ideally located in the Mitte, convenient to Friederichstrasse (a major public transportation station), and very close to the Spree River. Also very close to the Museum Island, where Berlin's major museums are located, and right around the corner from Unter den Linden and Orienenburgerstrasse…two major tourist areas. We had a quad room with a private bathroom. The toilet was actually in a little closet out in the hallway, which wasn't terribly convenient at night, but at least it was our private toilet. We had a shower located in the room. The quad room had a bunk bed and two singles. It was spacious and clean, but very spare and basic. Three nights cost us about $78 per person, and the service was very friendly. It was surprisingly quiet too, for as many people that were staying there. Sheets and towels cost extra (3,50 euros for the whole stay), and we had to pay a 5 euro deposit on each key card that we needed. Breakfast was an additional 4,50. It was buffet style (cereal, breads, meats, cheeses, salad, tea, coffee, juice), but since we didn't really eat much of it, I thought we could've gotten a better breakfast deal somewhere else…Berlin has about a million Dunkin' Donuts, for example. Anyway, if you want to travel cheap, this is certainly a place to consider. http://www.baxpax.de/downtown/en/home/

- Our first night there, we ate at a German pub called Anna Koschke. I'm not quite sure where it is, except it was some side street off Orienenburgerstrasse. It's a local dive anyway, and probably not comfortable for people who don't know their way around a German menu. I liked it. They had few choices, but the girls and I ate meatballs with potato salad and pickles, and ordered a side of garlic bread. Sue had ham and asparagus baked with cheese, and a starter of potato soup with sausage, which she really loved. The food was cheap and incredibly generous and the service was excellent. There was only one guy working there, but he spoke great English and he told us about the history of the pub. We walked out of there totally stuffed, but my cousins got a great introduction to German food, which can sometimes be a scary thing for those who are not into breaded and fried things.
http://www.anna-koschke.de/ (in German only)

* Unter den Linden - walk down this amazing street, where at one end, you are greeted with a view of Brandenburg Gate. At the other, you get to see the magnificent Berlin Dom, Opera Palace, and Humboldt University.

* Reichstag - go after dark to see views of Berlin from the glass cupola on top. Admission is free, but you will have to wait in a long line and go through security (it is the German Parliament building, after all). It's open until 10pm, but we were there just before 10 and they were letting in people later than that. Anyway, it's incredible…just don't look straight down if you have vertigo (which I do).

* Berlin Zoo - always worth seeing. Got to see Knut's first show of the day…from a distance though. And the crowds were insane. But we still got a pretty good look at him from where we were. Behold:




I also got a very close-up look at their one remaining Giant Panda (the other one died recently), and we had a funny encounter with a King Vulture that still makes me giggle every time I think about it. He just stood there for several minutes with his wings outstretched, and he kept turning around…like he was modeling for photographs. Lori and I were in hysterics watching this.



Berlin Zoo is the best zoo I have ever been to. The grounds are beautiful, with lovely gardens and sculptures. The buildings are unique and don't look like typical zoo buildings.

* Charlottenburg Palace - I have to admit, I was very disappointed with this. Lance and I tried to see the palace on our first trip to Berlin, and we were unable to. The insides are just fancy wallpapered and furnished rooms. It might be interesting if you've never seen a palace before. But since we have, I thought it was pretty boring…I've seen far better. The outside is nice and the gardens are worth a look. On your way there from the subway station, watch out for angry old men on bicycles…or just don't walk on the bike path.

* Maredo Restaurant - This is a German chain restaurant that you'll see in several major cities. It's Tex-Mex, I suppose, and a steakhouse. I've found tacos and quesadillas and the like to be quite disappointing in every one of these types of restaurants I've encountered in Europe (not Maredo, specifically, but any Mexican restaurant), so I stuck to a basic grilled chicken with fries and sangria. Adequate and not too expensive…not mind-blowing. The service was good, and the restaurant seems to be fairly popular. We ate at the one at Potsdamer Platz, but I saw another one at Unter den Linden. We all had the chicken fuego, which was tender and juicy…but again, nothing special. http://www.maredo.de/

* Wintergarten Cabaret - Very very much a tourist trap, but so incredibly awesome! The show we saw, Rizoma, is only playing for a limited time, but it was very similar to what I've seen in Cirque du Soleil. And the soundtrack for the show was AWESOME. Dude, a contortionist performed to Portishead. You can't get much cooler than that. They had a photographer there to take our picture when we came in…the souvenir photo was 5 euros. It was a great photo, so I bought it. They do offer food there, but it's seriously overpriced. The drinks are also incredibly expensive. But order something while you're there, even if it's just a beer and nachos or something. The food looked really good, but I'm glad we ate elsewhere before the show. We were given postcards of the show during intermission, which we could send to anyone anywhere in the world at their expense. I sent one to myself, with a reminder to remember that evening always. Also, we wore jeans, but most people there will be dressed up. But even if you come as you are, they are incredibly friendly and warm to you. Cabaret is a huge part of Berlin's history, so it's really one of those things you have to do to get the whole Berlin experience. My cousins said this was probably their favorite thing about Berlin (aside from the Pergamon Museum...more on that later).
http://www.wintergarten-variete.de/

* East Side Gallery - If you're going to see any part of the Berlin Wall, this would be the part to see. It's a bit out of the way, but it's the longest and most artistic part of the wall. The art is really amazing. As for the other wall-related sites…skip them. Checkpoint Charlie is a tourist trap and totally not worth your time. If you decide to go, skip the museum and just check out the bustling crowds on the outside. It's mildly interesting. There is also the Topographie des Terrors exhibit - about the Nazi movement in Berlin - but my cousins seemed rather bored. I had already seen it once, so I wasn't that interested. It's mostly in German, anyway.

* Pomme de Terre (Arkaden, Potzdamer Platz) - AVOID THIS PLACE LIKE THE PLAGUE! It's in the shopping mall in Potsdamer Platz, so it's a typical food court type of place, except they, theoretically, are supposed to be full-service. I say theoretically, because we sat at our table…and waited…and waited…and waited. We were ignored. And the woman who was seated after us was nearly done eating by the time they even came to take our order (we didn't leave because Sue was engrossed in journal writing once we sat down, and far be it from me to interrupt that). This place specializes in German potato pancakes, but you can also get boiled potatoes or baked potatoes with various toppings. The food was okay. But because of the rotten service, you want to stay away. My three travel companions got their food finally…and they had entirely forgotten mine. So they were nearly done eating by the time I even got my food. And then they forgot to give us the check! We put money on the table and left. It should not take 2 hours to eat at a place that's supposedly fast food. Our service was so bad that a nice woman who had been dining alone grabbed the waitress's attention and chewed her out on our behalf. If you want potato pancakes, find somewhere else to go. Far and away, the worst (non)service we got on this trip.

* Berliner Dom - Very pretty on the inside, but I was more interested in the sarcophagi - particularly those of Sophie Charlotte (of Charlottenburg Palace fame) and her husband. The crypt is nice and creepy.

* Operncafe - I wrote about this place in my Berlin travel guide (for sidestep.com), and since we were waiting for 6 pm to roll around in order to get into the museums for free, I thought we should try it, since it was very close to Museum Island (you'll find it at the Opera Palace, across the street from Humboldt University). This café's claim to fame is its cake buffet. Germans have "kaffee und kuchen" - coffee and cake - think of it kind of like the late afternoon British tea. Operncafe has at least 100 kinds of cakes. If your brain doesn't explode from all the choices, you tell your selection to the waiter, who will then serve you. All four of us had something different, but we tasted each other's cakes. I had the Sacher Torte (chocolate cake with a layer of apricot filling), which was everyone's favorite. The cakes don't taste quite as sweet as they look, but they are still delicious, and the atmosphere of the café is great…it's very elegant (except for the 80's pop that was playing, which seemed contradictory to the ambience…we were in an opera palace, after all).

Mmmmmmmmm...cake!

* Museum Island - If you want to see the museums here, wait until after 6 pm on Thursdays, when admission is free. We went to two: the Alte Nationalgalerie, which my artist aunt and former art major cousin didn't particularly like (sorry, German painters), and the Pergamon Museum. If you see no other museum in Berlin, you MUST SEE THIS ONE! We were blown away by the sheer size and scale of the exhibits in there. It's Greek, Roman, and Middle Eastern antiquities that have nothing to do with German culture, but there is no other place on earth where you can see this stuff. I hear the Bode Museum is also very good, but we were done once we left the Pergamon...we just wanted to find a place to eat dinner and then go back to the hostel to relax.

* Fuoco - This Italian place on Orienenburgerstrasse was just picked at random. We were in the mood for pizza, so we went to the first place we could find that had it. I was surprised how long it took us to find an Italian restaurant...there were so many Indian and Thai places on that street. Anyway, I liked it. They brought out some munchies with our drinks...black olives and I think bread (don't quote me on that...we ate at SO MANY places). The prices were good. The food was pretty typical of any Italian place you go to here in Germany. The service was nice. What I really liked were the cushy black leather seats we sank into at our tables...perfectly relaxing after such a long day. What really impressed Sue, I guess, were the Turkish water pipes that people kept smoking there. They had hookahs on the menu, with various flavors of tobacco, and we seemed to be the only ones not smoking one. The restaurant filled up with the aroma of weirdly scented tobaccos, but it was actually more tolerable than cigarette smoke. Anyway, I liked the ambience of the place...it was really warm and dark.

Okay, more later. Subsequent posts will be shorter, because the rest of our trips were only day trips.

When Relatives Visit

My aunt Sue and cousins Lori and Lindsey left yesterday, after an 11 day visit. Here was our itinerary:

Sunday, May 13 (arrival day): drive up the Rhine to look at castles, with a stop in Rudesheim
Monday, May 14: Thorn, Netherlands
Tuesday, May 15 - Friday, May 18: Berlin, with a few hours spent in Düsseldorf on the way back
Saturday, May 19: Cologne
Sunday, May 20: Vianden, Luxembourg
Monday, May 21: Brussels, Belgium
Tuesday, May 22: Delft, Netherlands
Wednesday, May 23: rest day, but we spent a few hours in Sittard
Thursday, May 24: back to Frankfurt airport

The weather was pretty chilly the entire time they were here. The nicest day was, of course, yesterday. HA! But we did have a couple of warm days so they could wear the summer clothes that they packed.

Since I've been to all but two places on the list before (Delft and Vianden were new to me), I'm not going to do a write-up that's like my previous trip reports. Instead, I am going to post memories about specific things during their visit.

So...without further ado...

Vending Machine Sex in Düsseldorf Airport

I hope my cousin will forgive me for posting this, but she shouldn't be embarrassed by this story, because it says more about my character than it does about hers. Anyway…

On their second full day here, we left for Berlin. I booked us a flight from Düsseldorf Airport. Once we found our gate and had a seat, Lindsey and I had to visit the restroom. As we were washing our hands, I noticed the vending machine hanging on the wall. Sure, it sold your typical assortment of condoms and tampons, but it also sold thongs (of the panty variety), and something called a "Lustfinger," which was basically some rubber spiky thing that fits over your finger. Use your imagination.

Being the immature sort that we are, Lindsey and I were laughing quite heartily at the vending machine offerings…particularly at the Lustfinger. We came out of the restroom and I looked at Lori (who is attending a wedding this weekend and was going to the wedding straight from Germany) and said, "I know the perfect gift to get your friend who is getting married." Lindsey was almost choking on her laughter when I said this. Then I explained the Lustfinger and told her it was 3 euros. We all pitched in some euro cents, but Lori was afraid to go in the restroom alone to buy it. So I went in with her. She started to put change in the machine, but we heard someone coming in. So we looked away and pretended to wash our hands, cracking up all the while.

Finally, Lori bought the thing, and we walked out of the bathroom laughing hysterically. She stuck it in her purse, expressing gratitude that we had already gone through security.


***


At the end of the trip, as we boarded the plane in Berlin, I noticed a stack of German Playboys sitting there with the newspapers, free for the taking. HAHAHA. That's the first time I've ever seen an airline give out Playboys with their free reading material. But they didn't leave out the ladies…no, they didn't have Playgirl (not that I would've wanted one anyway)…but they gave out free chocolate on the flight! This is Air Berlin, by the way, for anyone who is interested.



A Couple Pickpocketing Attempts?

I've lived in Europe now for 3 1/2 years. Never in that time have I encountered pickpockets. Yet while my aunt and cousins were here, I may have encountered them twice.

The first time was in Cologne. We were getting ready to leave, so we were standing at the platform in the train station, waiting for our train. Suddenly, I feel a hand graze my butt, and I look to see some shady looking dude in a dark coat hurrying down the steps. I mentioned it to Lance, and he was ready to chase the guy down and clean his clock. But instead, Lance examined my backside.

"Did you have your back pocket zipped when you put your pants on this morning?"

"Probably. I never use my pants pockets."

"Well, it's unzipped. He was probably trying to steal something."

So, apparently, the guy wasn't trying to get his jollies. He was just trying to get some quick cash. But I guess I will never know.

Another strange encounter happened in Brussels. Lori was in a souvenir shop, and Sue, Lindsey, and I were standing just outside the entrance. We were on a pedestrian street, and there weren't very many people, so there was plenty of room for people to get around us. Suddenly, this guy just walks right SMACK into my aunt, like he never even saw her. He seemed stoned to me, so I doubt he was a pickpocket. But once he shambled away, I told my aunt to check her purse and make sure nothing was amiss. They have weird tactics like that to divert your attention so you don't see them taking things from you.

Anyway...weird. At least there was no butt-touching, that time.

As for pictures...they were all compiled collectively into one online photo album, which is my aunt's. Because several of the pictures feature her and my cousins, I'm not posting them, out of respect for their privacy. I have a CD of the photos, so at some point, I am going to get them online, at least the ones that they don't appear in.

Christmas in the Bavarian Alps

Lance and I just got back from spending our Christmas holiday in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, which is the largest resort area in the Bavarian Alps, and site of the 1936 Winter Olympic Games. Garmisch and Partenkirchen are separate towns that were joined together by the Olympics...the Partnach River serves as the boundary between the two towns. We stayed in Garmisch, right by the train station, which is very close to the river, so we were in good proximity to both towns - easy walking distance.

There's been a snow shortage in Germany, and from what we heard, the Alpine region was no exception. But there was enough snow in the Alps to satisfy us, and it was a nearly perfect holiday in one of the most beautiful areas we've ever seen.

Friday, December 22

The day started out well enough. We had three trains to ride - from Geilenkirchen to Dusseldorf, then the ICE (high-speed train) from Dusseldorf to Munich, then another train from Munich to Garmisch-Partenkirchen. It was during the Dusseldorf to Munich leg that we ran into a problem. A conductor came by…the third to check our tickets since we boarded that train. He asked to see my BahnCard, since I had a 25% BahnCard discount on the ticket. Even though we paid our BahnCard dues for this year, we never got renewal cards…so far, this hadn't been a problem…nobody ever questioned it. But he told me that my BahnCard account was not valid (even though it was) and he charged us $200 on the spot. He also confiscated my BahnCard. (We're going to start the process of filing a complaint and a claim to get our $200 back…we're in their computer system as valid BahnCard holders…we checked before we left to come home.)

Anyway, we arrived in Garmisch around 3 pm or so, checked into our hotel by the train station…and we weren't exactly sure how to spend what was left of the day. Lance thought we should walk to the American resort (Edelweiss Lodge…a military facility), just to see how far it was from our hotel. It was a 35 minute walk. We got there around dinner time, so we decided to just eat there. They have 3 restaurants…we chose Zuggy's Base Camp, which is a hamburger and pizza joint. So we both got the base camp burger (quarter pound burger) with fries, cheesecake for dessert.

After that, there wasn't much left for us to do there, so we decided to go back to our hotel. We had received visitor's cards when we checked into our hotel that allowed us various freebies and discounts around town, including free unlimited use of public transportation, so we took the bus back to the train station and retired to our hotel room for the night, where we found German musical variety shows on TV. One of them we watched for 45 minutes, and they were singing the same song for the entire time we were watching it (something like 156 verses…it lasted FOREVER!). We just laughed and laughed, because it was like a German version of something you would see at the Grand Ole Opry, and the audience was looking half dead by the time the song ended. It was hilarious.

Saturday, December 23

After the generous buffet breakfast at the hotel, we decided to spend the day at the Zugspitze, which is the tallest mountain in Germany (almost 10,000 feet). To get there, we had to take a cogwheel train called the Zugspitzbahn, and it takes about an hour to reach the top of the Zugspitze. It was a really nice trip…the train makes several stops on the way up in villages that are at higher elevations, and there is some gorgeous scenery, particularly going past the scenic lake at the foot of the Zugspitze - the Eibsee. Once the train ended, we were not yet at the summit of the Zugspitze…we were at the area where the skiers take the slopes. From that station, we took a cable car up to the observation deck at the top of the Zugspitze. We spent a bit of time up there, but it was colder and windy…it was a clear day, so we could see Italy, Switzerland, and Austria, although I didn't know exactly what we were looking at…all the Alps look the same. Then Lance discovered an area of the observation deck that said "Welcome to Tirol" and had a little walkway…this took us to the Austrian side of the Zugspitze, so we were able to visit Austria! We spent maybe 5 minutes in Tirol, and then went back to the Bavarian side of the Zugspitze. We took the cable car back down to the first station, and Lance decided we should get something to eat.

But before we did that, there was a little chapel up there (the Maria Himmelfahrt Chapel - the highest chapel in Germany)…not sure why…perhaps the skiers stop there beforehand to say a little prayer against injury or avalanches or something. But it was a cute little chapel and I wanted to explore that before we did anything else. Once that was done, we headed inside to the cafeteria to get a light lunch - some potato soup for me, and some French fries for Lance.

But it wasn't meant to be. As Lance was carrying our tray to a table, his camera bag came off his shoulder and collided with the tray, sending its contents to the floor and breaking the plate with the French fries on it. So he cleaned up what he could, we put the tray and the broken dish on the tray return, and left as quickly as possible. Problem was, the cogwheel train leaves once an hour on the half hour, so we had to wait about 45 minutes for it to come and pick us up. Finally it arrived, and we spent the next hour descending the mountain (I should note that we also had the option of taking a cable car from the top of the Zugspitze down to the Eibsee, but since it is winter, I couldn't imagine there would be anything to do down at the lake, so we decided against it).

We got back to Garmisch mid-afternoon…I was pretty hungry by that point, but it was only a couple of hours until dinner. We stopped at a grocery store by the Zugspitzbahn and got some snacks to keep in our room, then went back to the hotel for a bit. I ate a little something to tide me over until dinner, and we just hung out a bit until we felt ready to go out in search of dinner.

The night before, on the bus, we had passed the area (I guess you could consider it to be "downtown" Garmisch, for all the downtown that a small town has) where the Christmas market was being held. So before we ate, we stopped by there to check it out. It was tiny and not worth our time, so we moved on. We walked for awhile until we found the restaurant where we wanted to eat. I've heard from more than one person that Renzo's (Italian) was good, so that's where we went. I had bowtie pasta with salmon in a creamy tomato sauce…Lance had this absolutely monstrous 4 cheese pizza. The food was really good.

After that, we walked back to our hotel and were done for the night.

Sunday, December 24

If you could consider any day to be absolute perfection, this would probably be it. Again, we had a nice breakfast at our hotel. We decided that we would try ice skating at the Olympic ice stadium, which was only open for public skating until noon. The ice skating, unfortunately, didn't last long. My rental skates were painful. Lance's were too loose around the ankles. And the ice was pretty choppy. Lance is a much more experienced skater than I am, but even he was having trouble. I did two laps around the rink and couldn't do any more…he did 4. We spent maybe a half hour there and gave up.

Those were not our only plans for the day, and the plans we had for after skating ended up turning out better than I could have ever anticipated.

There's this area known as Partnach Gorge - one of the most beautiful sights in the area, particularly in the winter. There are various ways of getting there, and I was a bit confused by the tourist information as to the best way to go about it. I know we had to go to the Olympic Ski Stadium…we took the bus through Partenkirchen to get there. Once there, we can either go to the right, and walk to Partnach Gorge (I had no idea how long we would have to walk), or we could take this old, rickety chairlift called the Eckbauerbahn. I asked the guy at the Eckbauerbahn station, and didn't quite understand what he said…but we grabbed a brochure and figured out that the Eckbauerbahn takes us up to the top of this mountain. From there, we hike 45 minutes to this remote mountain inn, and from there, we take another chairlift down to Partnach Gorge. When we're done with Partnach Gorge, we either walk back to the ski stadium, or take a horse and carriage back. Sounded good to us. So we bought our tickets.

The Eckbauerbahn was kind of scary. Like I said, it was old and rickety…it made a lot of noise. It was very high. That was a bit nerve-racking…but we got to the top, and all was well. We began our descent down the mountain. The sun was out and it actually felt quite balmy at the top…there was hardly any wind, and there was a bit of snow and ice, but the path was sometimes clear. There was an estimated 45 minute hike…probably more of a summer estimate than a winter estimate, since we had to navigate slippery trails at times…but we were there in about an hour, anyway. The hotel where we ended up was called Forsthaus Graseck, and this place is so remote that you can't even drive there. You have to park at the base of the mountain and take their cable car up to the hotel. Anyway, it was a lovely hotel…and it was about lunch time, as it happened, so we decided to eat lunch there before moving on. The food was great. Lance had a huge meal of schnitzel cordon bleu with fries and creamed peas and carrots. I wasn't very hungry, so I had a bowl of pumpkin cream soup topped with croutons and pumpkin seed oil, served with a side of bread. Very very good. Lance had me help him with the fries and he didn't want the peas, so I had a few bites of his food. It was all tasty. I got some apple strudel with ice cream for dessert (Lance was stuffed, so he didn't have anything), and then we took the Graseckbahn (named after the hotel) down to the area where Partnach Gorge is located.

Once there, we had a bit of walking still to do to get to the gorge. Not too much though. Believe me, it was worth it. I've never seen anything like this in my life…simply breathtaking. In the summer, I imagine that the gorge has waterfalls everywhere, but they are all frozen over in the winter, and the ice formations are just spectacular. We had to hurry through it a bit…it takes about 15 minutes to get from one end to the other, and then you have to turn around and walk through it again to get back to where you started…and we would have to worry about the waning daylight soon. So I didn't spend as much time there as I wanted, but we got pictures and some video. Once we got back to where we started, we looked for a horse and carriage (there was one waiting there when we started the gorge), but there wasn't one available, so we walked back to the ski stadium so we could make sure to catch the last bus of the day. It took about half an hour to walk back…the day would've only been made better by having that horse and buggy ride.

We went back to the hotel for awhile after that. I wanted to warm up a bit…it got colder the further down the mountain we went because we were in the shade. So we warmed up, only to have to bundle up again later and go out in search of dinner (but we spent a couple of hours first watching the German versions of funniest home videos and planet's funniest animals). Christmas Eve is actually the big holiday in Germany…bigger than Christmas. Many of the restaurants had special menus that required reservations, and we didn't want any part of that. Luckily, the Greek restaurant around the corner from our hotel (El Greco) was open, so we had dinner there - baked feta for Lance, and stuffed cabbage rolls for me (stuffed with rice and ground beef and smothered in a lemon sauce…Mmmmmmm good!). It was a nice end to a pretty darn good day.

Oh, and I almost forgot…when the room attendant cleaned our room that morning, she left us a bottle of honey liquor (compliments of hotel management) that is made at Ettal Monastery not far from Garmisch - 40% alcohol by volume (no, we haven't tried it yet).

Christmas Day

Not much to do on Christmas Day in Garmisch or Partenkirchen, unless you're a skier. The souvenir shops and some restaurants were open, and the ice stadium was offering a performance of Moscow Circus on Ice (it was a running joke between us for the entire trip that I was going to make Lance take me to that or die of boredom). We had the breakfast buffet as usual in the hotel restaurant, and they put out some special stuff for Christmas - white sausages (which I didn't eat), and Belgian waffles with real maple syrup (which I did). Since we figured there would be little to do in town, we came back upstairs and flipped through the TV channels. Lance actually found an episode of "The Joy of Painting" on a German channel, but in English (they usually dub over EVERYTHING), so we watched that for an hour…they actually showed TWO episodes…wheeeee! We could've made a drinking game of it and took a swig every time Bob Ross mentioned "Van Dyke brown," but we didn't want to get wasted that early in the morning.

We wandered out briefly to see what was open…I was surprised that I could buy a bottle of Cola Light in the bakery inside the train station…everything was open there. So I got my Coke and we hung out in the room some more. I read a bit. Lance watched various things on television. When we got really bored…around 1:30 or so…we took a walk. I decided that I wanted to go to "downtown" Partenkirchen, which is a bit different from Garmisch. We went through it on the bus out to the ski stadium, and I wanted to take a closer look. So we walked out there, and then decided to see if the bowling center was open so we could perhaps play a couple of games. But the bowling center (called kugelbahn in Germany) was closed, after we took the bus pretty far to check it out. So we waited for another bus to come and went back to the hotel. We had some munchies in our room, and then made a couple of phone calls home, until Lance's calling card ran out. More reading, more television…around 7 pm, we went around the corner to Asia City (which is next to the Greek place where we ate the night before) and had Chinese for dinner. Lance ordered sweet and sour chicken, and I ordered sweet and sour crispy duck, which was a bit more sour than sweet, and I would assume Lance's was as well (I personally like the sweet better than the sour). Still, it was okay.

I actually went to bed early…I was pretty tired. Neither of us slept well on that hotel bed…the mattress was really hard and the pillow way too soft and squishy (all German hotel pillows are that way…they do not support your head AT ALL) and the down comforter on the bed (which was the only covering we had) was way too hot. So we were both pretty exhausted, actually, although our last night there was just as fitfully slept as the other three nights.

Tuesday, December 26 - Going Home

We left the hotel about an hour before our train was scheduled to leave. We wanted to talk to someone at the Deutsche Bahn office about what happened to us on the way there. The guy didn't speak English very well, but he was at least able to show us that our BahnCards were indeed valid, and that we should not have been fined, nor should I have had my card confiscated. He promised us that we would not be fined again on the return trip, and indeed, we weren't. He gave us a number to call, so hopefully we can get our money back and I can get a new BahnCard.

The trip back was the opposite of the way there…and decidedly more crowded and noisier. But it was rather uneventful, and we're glad to be home.

I'm anxious to go back to Garmisch before we leave here next December. There is so much more to do there than what we had the chance to do (Innsbruck, Austria is a stone's throw from there…the world famous Neuschwanstein Castle is also in the area)…there is also really good summer hiking and white water rafting and all kinds of fun stuff in the warmer months. Lance and I hope to go back in September or thereabouts.

Besides, we still need to get Lance some lederhosen.

Pictures

For those of you who plan to go…helpful links:
Garmisch-Partenkirchen Tourism
Garmisch-Partenkirchen Travel Guide
Zugspitze
Eckbauerbahn/Forsthaus Graseck

Finally, an interesting link about Garmisch and the Third Reich - http://www.thirdreichruins.com/garmisch.htm

Oberwesel Rhine in Flames

Last week, I attended a Mosel Wine Festival and fireworks at Bernkastel-Kues. This week, it was a Rhine wine market and the latest Rhine in Flames show in Oberwesel. Overall, I think Bernkastel-Kues is a better time. But Oberwesel has the better fireworks. I mean, seriously...they were the most INSANE fireworks Lance and I have ever seen, and he comes from a small town, I from a large town with huge fireworks every year around Independence Day. This display made that one look small time. I kid thee not.

Anyhoo...on with the report. It won't be that long, I promise.

We left Schinnen around 11 am with 2 busses, such was the popularity of this trip. Lance and I were one row in front of the very back. The women sitting in the back row brought a bottle of wine and proceeded to get wasted. Lance and I were trying to nap, and we ended up dealing with boisterous laughter and a lot of talk about unpleasant bodily functions. Yay.

But finally, we arrived in Oberwesel around 2 pm, and we had the entire day to ourselves. So Lance and I took off and just meandered. We decided against going to the castle...neither of us felt up to the hike, and besides, it probably wasn't anything we haven't seen before (yes, I know...SHUT UP!), so we just decided to stick to wandering around town.

Unfortunately, Oberwesel was dead dead dead. All the shops were closed. The only thing going on in town was the wein markt, which is not a wine festival, per se. The entire point is to get you to sample and buy. I'll get to that in a minute.

We first stopped at Liebfrauenkirche, which is Oberwesel's bright red brick church, attached to a very old little chapel, which I believe was the first church built at that location. I'm just assuming, though. It's 1600 years old, so it's a logical assumption. The church was very pretty inside, a pleasant surprise, since I've visited many underwhelming places of worship.

After that, we just kind of continued our wandering, even paying our admission to the wein markt (we pretty much had to gain admission to get from one side of town to the other) and our tickets allowed us to come and go as we pleased, so we just kept poking around and seeing what we could see, which unfortunately, wasn't much. In the meantime, passing through the wine market, I sampled a glass here or there.

Lance thought it might be nice to take a river cruise, so we went down to the riverbanks, only to discover that the boats there didn't really do pleasure cruises, or if they did, they were several hours long and rather expensive. So we scrapped that idea.

At around 5:30, we decided to have dinner at this little Italian place that we scoped out earlier. So we found a seat on the patio, which was right next to the wine market entrance, so we could people watch (well, I could...Lance sat with his back to it). We were at a table that seated 4 people, so eventually, this old guy came and sat with us, which is customary in Germany but weird for Americans to sit with total strangers. We did our best to ignore him and carry on with dinner and conversation.

After that, we went to the riverbank and waited for the fireworks. And waited. And waited. We ran into people from our group, so at least we could talk to other people. We had more than 2 hours to kill.

Finally, at 9, the procession of lighted boats came down the river.

Then at 9:30, the town of Oberwesel glowed red...everything from the castle on one end to the city gate on the other took on a bright red appearance. Smoke rose up. Flames were shooting out the front of one of the buildings. It was supposed to resemble the night back in the Middle Ages when Oberwesel went up in flames.

And then the fireworks started. They were perfectly choreographed to a variety of classical music. Breathtaking. Amazing. Just completely magical and awe-inspiring.

When those ended, we high-tailed it back to our bus, as the scheduled departure time was 10:15. Everyone made it back, but two women from the second bus, who we had to leave behind. Oh well. No sympathy for them. If they couldn't follow the rules, that is their problem.

On the way home, we had to stop abruptly at a rest stop. The second bus had a bit of a puke fest going on, so the bus had to be cleaned and fumigated before we could hit the road again. I'm just glad it wasn't our bus.

And in conclusion, drunk people on busses are annoying. The guy directly in front of me kept swilling the beer, and he got louder and more obnoxious with each sip. I couldn't sleep on the trip home, but at least Lance was able to a bit.

And now...pictures. None of the fireworks though, sorry.

Cochem and Bernkastel-Kues, Germany

Thursday night, my friend Corry called me out of the blue to ask me what I was doing on Saturday. "Running tedious errands with Lance," I replied.

"Well, get out of it!" (I don’t think this is exactly what she said, but the gist of it anyway).

She went on to invite me to Bernkastel-Kues, two villages across the Mosel River from each other, connected by a bridge. She said she was going with a Canadian group to the wine festival and fireworks, and she wanted me to come as her guest.

Anyway, I talked to Lance, and he insisted that I go.

So yesterday morning at 9 am, I met up with the bus and the other merry travelers, and we set out for the Mosel. I don't think Corry mentioned that we were stopping in Cochem first. But that was explained on the bus…we would arrive in Cochem around 11:30 and have two hours to spend there before moving on to Bernkastel-Kues.

We passed the time well enough. Corry brought her PDA loaded with Monopoly, so we played that for a bit until we both got sick of it.

At 11:30, we arrived in Cochem. I got off the bus and was instantly amazed. Burg Cochem, which I had only heard about but had never seen pictures of, was beautiful and huge…the obvious highlight of the town. Since we only had two hours, we debated walking up to the castle…I didn't really want to. I just wanted to spend time walking around town, but I was convinced otherwise. So we began our huge ascent up the hill to the castle, which was more tiresome than I imagined. Once there, we asked for general admission tickets, but ended up getting on the guided tour instead, which is only conducted in German. They gave us a sheet in English explaining everything, but it was still a bit confusing. It was cool to see the inside of the castle though.

Once we finished the tour, we had about 40 minutes to get back to the bus. So we walked back into the center of town, which takes about 25 minutes (or at least it did going up…I think it was less going down). I was looking for a quick bite to grab for lunch, and happened upon a bratwurst stand. So bratwurst in hand, I got back to the bus and the rest of our group, and we were on our way to Bernkastel-Kues.

The drive there was pretty…going through all the small towns dotting the river. There aren't as many castles on the Mosel as there are on the Rhine, but the ones that are there are just as impressive, if not more so. I saw mostly quaint guesthouses and wineries during the drive, which took a little over an hour. The hills were completely covered in vines.

We finally arrived at Bernkastel around 3…the bus parked there. Our first stop was actually in Kues, at a wine cellar where we were going to a wine tasting. So we took a short walk across the river to the cellar, where we got one glass and 150 varieties of wine (mostly Rieslings) to taste. I drank a total of maybe 3 glasses while I was there. Some people just proceeded to get completely plastered. I gravitated to what I knew I liked, and tried a few other kinds. I ended up walking away with two bottles: a semi-dry Riesling Kabinett and a sweet Riesling. I waited outside for a bit until Corry came out. She's not much of a wine drinker, so she was choosing bottles to give as gifts. She bought a case, and we walked back to the bus with our purchases, then back to the wine cellar so Corry could meet up with her friends that were wandering around with us. They said they would join us shortly, so we walked back to Bernkastel to wait for them.

After we all met up, we decided to go for dinner. Corry and I wanted to sit down somewhere. The 3 others in our small group eventually decided they wanted to grab food to go, so we split up and Corry and I went to a nice restaurant where we sat out on the balcony with the view of the wine festival below. I had a nice dinner of pork steak smothered in sautéed onions with fried potatoes on the side. It was served with horseradish, which Corry ended up eating because I didn't really like it. Corry had something pretty similar, except she also had green bean bundles wrapped in bacon.

After dinner, we went to one of the areas of town where the festival-goers were congregating. We met up with some Americans there who had come from nearby military bases, and talked to them for a bit, and then we started running into people in our group. So we hung out in this area for awhile. I saw a booth selling Federweisser, which is essentially young wine (Junger Wein). It only comes out this time of year. It's produced the same year you are supposed to drink it. It's best described as half grape juice, half wine, and it only has about 4% alcohol in it. The Germans love the stuff (it traditionally accompanies onion cake). I bought some in Luxembourg a couple years ago, but it had already fermented and tasted nasty, so I ended up pouring it out. I decided to give it another try. It has to be consumed immediately and they don't cork it…they just put the foil seal over the bottle and leave it at that (this is because it builds up carbonic acid, and the bottle will explode if sealed). Anyway, I bought a glass and it was good. So I ended up purchasing a bottle of that.

Around 8:15, we had to leave to meet up with the rest of our group at the river cruise. By the time Corry and I got on the boat, it was pretty full. We wanted to sit out on the open deck, so she asked some nice (somewhat drunk) old ladies if we could sit with them. They said it was fine. They were a riot. There were 4 German ladies, and only one of them spoke any English, and only limited. Nevertheless, we were able to have a conversation with them, and they were just hilarious. We all had a lot of laughs together.

Even though we were outside, we were still sitting under an awning, so once the fireworks started, Corry and I left our new friends and found a spot that was more suitable for seeing the show. I videotaped the first 10 minutes of it with my digital camera. It was honestly one of the better fireworks displays I've seen. It simulated a battle between marauders on the river and the castle up on the hill, so there were fireworks going back and forth between the two locations, and then simultaneously at both. It was awesome.

After that, we headed back home. It was an amazing day, and the weather was absolute perfection. Lance and I are going to a Rhine wine festival this coming weekend in Oberwesel, which will no doubt be similar, so I'm really looking forward to that.

Pictures