Since
So, using Frommer’s 98 "Germany - The Complete Guide to the Cities and Countryside" as our main inspiration and guide, off we went.
-David &
[TECHNICAL ASPECTS OF THE TRAVELOGUE - At the end
of each day, we would fire up the laptop computer (you can't go on vacation
without one) and record everything that we could remember about that day's
activities. Then, we would frequently, (at least every other day), log
onto an internet site (E-Pass is amazing) and send the latest news to family
back home, who was, in a sense, then taking our vacation with us. We also
found that the Travelogue was invaluable in assisting us in sorting through the
many photographs as we put them in a photo album. With Office 97 making
it simple to translate our Word 6 document to HTML, we can now share our
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We left Evansville Airport with an on-time 3:15pm departure on Comair, bound for Cincinnati on their Sabreliner turboprop. With about 2 hours to kill at Cincinnati, we ate dinner (snack type). The Delta flight to JKF airport, in New York City, left about 10 minutes late on an MD-80 aircraft. The late departure had us somewhat concerned, as we only had about a one-hour layover planned at JFK. However, the pilot made up lost time and we arrived at JFK only about five minutes late.
At JFK, we were fortunate that our international departure gate was only a short distance from our arrival gate, so we had plenty of time to make our connection.
Our Austrian Airlines
Airbus flight left on time at about 10:30pm Sunday night, bound for Vienna,
Austria.
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Monday,
June 8th
Seven hours and thirty minutes later, after a little sleep and 2 meals, we touched down on time in Vienna, where we had another 2-hour layover.
Austrian Airlines then took us in an MD-80 jet to Frankfort, where we arrived on time at about 4:00pm local time (9:00am Henderson time) Monday.
Our checked baggage was waiting for us when we got to the baggage carrousel. Isn’t that something, having last been seen as we checked it in at Evansville. The rental car was also waiting as reserved. It turned out to be a 1998 Opel Astra Station Wagon, with 5-speed manual and air conditioning. It didn’t take long to get used to the manual transmission and find out what the shift patterns needed to be. We were pleasantly surprised at how comfortable the car was.
The car was just a short distance from the counter, in a parking garage. From there, it was very simple to exit the airport and find our route, which would take us to our hotel at the end of the day in Rudesheim, about 50 kilometers west of the airport.
Rudesheim is located right on the Rhine
River and our hotel, the Hotel Aumuilller,
is located right across the street from the Rhine. The room was more
luxurious than we expected, with a very large bathroom, complete with tub,
shower, double sink, and toilet in a separate room. The bathroom complex was
located off a foyer-type entrance, with the bedroom through another door from
the "foyer." One wall of the bedroom was floor-to-ceiling glass
panels separating the bedroom from a balcony. The balcony had a view of the
town area, with vineyards on the hills in the background.
After walking around and
eating supper, we forced ourselves to stay up until about 9:30pm local time
(2:30pm Henderson time). With not too much sleep on the plane Sunday night, it wasn’t hard to go to sleep.
(Jump to Index)
Tuesday,
June 9th
We awoke about 7:30am with
no particular plans in mind. However, we quickly decided that we would drive up
the Rhine River all the way to Cologne (Koln in
German). We crossed the river on a ferry at Rudesheim
to Bingen, the city across the river. From there, we
started North on Route B9. (The Rhine River has a road running along both sides
of the river). This road is touted as one of the most scenic in central
Germany. We would have to agree. The road also is advertised as having so many
castles, "you’ll despair at ever having time to
visit them all." We could see what they mean, as there seems to be a
castle every few kilometers. Some of the castles are just 
ruins, dating from the 11th
century. Others are maintained as residences or museums. We stopped at one
castle, Burg Sooneck, located near Rheindiebach, which was originally built in 1010 AD. The
castle had been destroyed and rebuilt several times by various warring
factions. It was last rebuilt by William the First. A guide took us through the
house, which contained period furniture, armor, tapestries and paintings
depicting the various histories of the owners.
From there, we proceeded further north in a periodic light rain, going through numerous small towns built on the Rhine. Our route took us through Bonn, the capital of the Federal Republic of Germany (while the Germany’s were divided). The capital has now been moved back to Berlin since reunification.
From Bonn, we ended up at
Cologne. Here is located the largest gothic cathedral in Germany. It’s twin spires reach over 500 feet in the air.
Construction of the cathedral began in 1248 and was completed in 1880.
The cathedral was damaged by
Allied bombing during World War II. However, photographs from that era indicate
that any damage to the cathedral must have been unintentional, because the
entire area around the cathedral was a vast wasteland caused by intensive
bombing.
After some browsing in the various shops located in the vicinity of the cathedral, we began our return trek by coming down the east side of the Rhine as we made our way back to Rudesheim. It appears that towns on the east side are much larger and generally more congested than those on the west bank. Streets are very narrow and somewhat crooked.
We stopped at Ehrenbreitstein, a suburb of Koblenz.
Here is located a massive old fortress,
at which we took some time to
walk around the grounds. Looking at Koblenz across
the river today, it is hard to believe that the city was almost totally
destroyed by Allied bombing during World War II.
We finally got back to Rudesheim at about 8:00pm. After dinner at a small
restaurant in town and ice cream for dessert, we came back to the room, ready
to figure out what we would do Wednesday.
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Wednesday,
June 10th
Occupied with reading, we never did get around to deciding Tuesday night what we would do Wednesday. And with our bodies still somewhat confused by the time difference, we neither one were sleepy enough to go to sleep at a normal time. Therefore, late to bed resulted in late to rise, with us not waking up until after 10:30am. With a light rain falling and the day almost half over, we decided to notify the desk of our plans to stay another night in Rudesheim.
Our next night’s lodging having been taken care of, and it being too
late for breakfast, 
we walked to a cafe for lunch (by
then it had stopped raining - the pattern of the last couple of days). After
lunch, we took a walk to the north part of town, during which we decided (I
decided and Lois reluctantly agreed) to take the cable car to the German
monument which sits amidst the wine vineyards, high on a hill overlooking the
city. The impressive monument is to the reunification of Germany in the 1800’s,
which apparently was brought about by Wilheim. 
From there, it was back on the cable car for the ride back to Rudesheim, where we then got the car and drove around the area. One road took us away from the city and to a winery. At that location, there were a number of nature trails, one of which we took for quite a long walk. We were attempting to see if the trail would lead to one of the castle ruins which overlooks the Rhine. However, we finally realized that one had nothing to do with the other, and we never were able to tour the ruins. But the walk was both envigorating and tiring -- most likely ensuring a good night’s sleep.
After mailing a couple of post cards (postage to the US costs 2 marks each -- about $1.15 at the current exchange rate), we then drove a few kilometers to the town of Assmannshauser, where we stopped for a mid-afternoon snack (which appears to be common practice in this area). We sat at a sidewalk terrace cafe, watching the boat traffic on the Rhine, train traffic across the river, and the view of a couple of castles on the opposite bank. Talk about a relaxing way to spend a period of time. And I could get use to having cheesecake and coffee at 4:00 in the evening.
Then it was back to the room for more reading and relaxing, during which time we studied the maps and literature and more formally planned what we would do the next day. (Read on; you’ll find out our decision).
After having finished our
planning work, it was back out at about 7:30pm for a stroll to a restaurant for
dinner and back to the room to end up the day.
(Jump to Index)
Thursday,
June 11th
Just the opposite from Wednesday occurred, as we awoke around 5:30am -- it must have been the anticipation of leaving familiar surroundings and striking out on yet another adventure. We had decided the night before to travel the Mosel River Valley, from Koblenz to Trier. The travel book that had guided us thus far had indicated that "those returning from Germany singing the praises of the Rhine as the most scenic German river have not toured the Mosel River Valley."
After breakfast and checking out of our first "home away from home," we once again crossed the ferry between Rudesheim and Bingen, where we linked up with the A3 autobahn which leads to Koblenz. This is where the Mosel River runs into the Rhine. At speeds of up to 150 kph (approximately 94 mph), it didn’t take long to travel the distance to Koblenz (76 kilometers from Bingen).
At Koblenz, we filled the car up with "benzin," as they call it in Germany. Since this was the first fill-up since we picked up the car, we were curious as to how economic the car would be -- especially since "benzin" costs about 1.50 DM per liter (that’s about $3.26 per gallon good ole US currency).
Turns out we had traveled a total of 520 kilometers (325 miles) and it took 33.83 liters (8.9 gallons) to fill the tank. The math works out to the car getting about 36.5 mpg -- which was acceptable in our book. $29.00 for all the driving we had done to date was entirely acceptable.
As we drove down the Mosel River Valley, we soon agreed that the travel book hadn’t led us astray. Although there were fewer castles to see, the river -- and road -- wound through thousands of acres of vineyards, most of which were perched on even steeper banks than those on the Rhine. The small wine villages which lined the river bank were each quaint and quite picturesque. I soon commented that my eyeballs were getting tired from all the looking.
The travel book had pointed out that the most prominent and most visited castle along the Mosel was just off our path. Therefore, we had to see it.
It is know as "Burg Eltz," and is located just outside the town of Moskelkern. If you come across a 500DM banknote, there’s a picture of this castle on it. 
Although the guidebook was faithful in pointing out the castle, it failed to include the fact that there is a slight walk of about 2 kilometers to get to the castle via the way we went (about 1.5 miles). After parking the car, we began our walk. The path was rocky gravel, with a steep downward grade. We kept walking and walking, with no castle in sight. However trail signs kept us informed that we were on the right path. It didn’t take me long to figure out that all this downhill walking was going to be uphill all the way back. I immediately thought back to the time we had walked down into the Grand Canyon for a mile and then back out. (This memory turned out to be a very good analogy).
But after walking about 30 minutes downhill, through a fairly thick, seemingly isolated forest of mature trees, finally there it was -- and grand doesn’t do it justice. The castle was begun in the 12th century by the Eltz family. Their ancestors still own the castle today. It was added to through the centuries, as eventually three brothers’ families all occupied the castle grounds. We were taken on an English-speaking tour through various rooms of the castle, where we were able to see a glimpse of how the residents of the castle might have lived. The castle is furnished with many original pieces of furniture dating back several centuries, in addition to various types of armor, weapons, tapestries, oil paintings -- the list goes on and on. Lois indicated that this was, so far, the highlight of her trip.
After about an hour at the castle, it was time to bite the bullet and begin our walk back to the car. What goes down must go up, and so up we started. If I hadn’t had my stress test done recently, I would have wondered if an ole man like me would be able to make it back. However, I must say that I was in better shape than I expected, because the trip back didn’t seem as long as I thought it would -- even though we had to stop a few times to catch our breath. We knew that this climb out would guarantee a good night’s sleep.
The rest of the afternoon was anticlimactic. We stopped at a picturesque river village for lunch, and then drove through kilometer after kilometer of vineyards which lined the river all the way to Trier. I can’t imagine where all the wine goes; I know that Germans like their wine, but keep in mind that France makes their share, along with California and other places I don’t even know about. And I don’t think much of the harvest goes for jelly.
We arrived in Trier about 4:00pm and found a room for the night at the
Hotel Schutz. That in itself was somewhat of an
experience, because the desk clerk didn’t speak any
English. But with sign language and my VERY rudimentary knowledge of a little
German, we made the proper arrangements. Tomorrow would be another day.
(Jump to Index)
Friday,
June 12th
We awoke at about 7:00am, had the traditional German breakfast of cold cuts, rolls and coffee, checked out of our room, and got on the road by 9:00am.
Our route soon took us into the country of Luxembourg, where the border did not even have a crossing guard. If it hadn’t been for the sign welcoming us to Luxembourg, and a change in the price of items from Marks to Francs, we wouldn’t have known we were in a different country.
It was about the same when we entered France; they had a border guard, but he wasn’t stopping anyone -- he must have been a government employee or a member of a union, because it didn’t appear that he served any purpose (no offense to anyone intended).
Since we were primarily just traveling to the south end of the Black Forest, we stayed on the autobahns during our stay outside of Germany. France struck us as much like the countryside around home -- rolling hills, covered mostly by grazing land. We finally were in an area where there were no vineyards. It was just as well that there was no real fantastic, once-in-a-lifetime scenery, because the weather was overcast with frequent light rain showers throughout most of the day.
In the middle of France, we stopped to fill up the car with benzin. This time, we paid in Francs (by charging it to our charge card). We were pleasantly surprised to see that the car mileage had improved to 39.7 mpg.
As we neared Basel, we crossed the border into Switzerland. I at first thought the border guard was there to collect a toll, but I believe "zoll" just meant "gate." As I was getting my money out, he quickly figured out we spoke English, and then asked if that was his tip. Only then did I realize he was a border guard, and so I laughed along with him. (I didn’t give him the tip). After we indicated our destination as Rheinfelden, in Germany, he directed us to follow the blue signs and wished us a good trip.
There was a lot of construction in Basel, and, like Daniel Boone, we were "a might bewildered" for awhile. But we finally decided to go to Lorrach, which was marked well, and then from there go to Rheinfelden, which was also marked well on the map. That strategy worked well enough to get us through Basel in relatively short order.
Rheinfelden was our destination for the
night, because it was the city were I stayed for a couple of days when I came
to Germany on business in November of 1996. My intention was to stay at the
same hotel, but when we arrived there, it was closed (not permanently, just no
one there at the time). I saw a sign for another hotel close 
by, so we drove to it. It was
located in a residential area, and looked like just another of the apartment
houses along the street. I once again found that the Frau taking care of the
hotel did not speak any English. But we finally communicated well enough for
her to understand that I wanted a room for two people (Herr McGan and mein frau) and for her to tell me it was 160DM (about $92).
She was very friendly, and Lois even used sign language to ask her if there was
a hair dryer available (I’ll let you use your
imagination on how she did that).
Once we saw our room, we noted that the building looked new (probably has been built within the last six months). The room was very nice, with color TV, phone (to check my e-mail), and complete bath and shower. It also had a balcony overlooking the neighborhood. The building also had a pool that was open from 7:00-10:00pm. We also soon noted that being in the residential area meant that it was somewhat quiter than the previous rooms, although motorbike and tractor traffic would sometime interfere with the tranquility. Yes, tractor -- we must have been close to a farm, because I heard a rooster crowing every once in a while (I also hoped he wouldn’t wake us up).
Supper was once again an obstacle in that the waitress didn’t speak English and the menu was in German. But between her translations by drawing pictures of the various items on the menu and my typing out words on my electronic translator, Lois and I both ended up with a very delicious and satisfying meal.
After our meal, we took a
walk around the neighborhood (and saw that small farm with the rooster), and
then returned to our room for the night.
(Jump to Index)
Saturday,
June 13th
Breakfast went much easier -- it’s always the same: a self-serve buffet of cold cuts, bread (rolls), cereal, yogurt, orange juice and coffee or tea.
After breakfast, we drove east along the north bank of the Rhine in a bright, sunny, cool, ideal morning. Our destination was about 75 kilometers away in Neuhausen, Switzerland, to see the Rhine Falls. The border between Germany and Switzerland is very crooked in this area, and so we crossed the border twice during our drive. As we entered Switzerland the first time, we had to show the border guard our passports, which he looked at fairly closely but with no comment. German border guards did not stop us.
At Neuhausen,
we walked to the Rhine Falls, which I had previously visited when I was in
Germany in 1996. At the time, I thought Lois would enjoy it, and I was correct.
The Falls are estimated to be approximately 14,000 to 
17,000 years old. In the summer,
the water falls at a rate of about 600 cubic meters a second over a vertical
distance of 150 meters. Lois, having seen my pictures of the Falls from 1996,
indicated that the pictures didn’t do the falls
justice. I’d have to agree.
There is a castle dating from the 1500’s overlooking the Falls, and so we walked to it for lunch. We dined in the shade in the terrace restaurant, where we had lunch (chicken wings and a salad, plus "Eistee", although with no ice, the absence of which is very common), while watching the water going over the Falls. Not bad for the appetite or digestion.
Not wanting to get bored, we decided to take a different route back to Rheinfelden. And so we studied the map and planned a route along the south bank of the Rhine, which kept us mostly in Switzerland all the way back (only once temporarily crossing into Germany and then back into Switzerland).
Near Rheinfelden,
Switzerland, we visited another repeat location from my 1996 trip -- Augusta Raurica (which is
today known as Kaiseraugst), Switzerland. The town was originally a Roman
settlement which dates from about 200 AD. A trail takes the visitor to a number
of ruins, including a coliseum, temples, and arena. Portions of the old town
are being excavated and restored to help see how the residents might have lived
almost 2000 years ago.
We then crossed back into
Rheinfelden, Germany, stopped at a mini-mart for some
snacks, and then returned to our room to plan our next day.
(Jump to Index)
Sunday,
June 14th
We awoke Sunday morning with, naturally, a light rain falling. This seems to have been the pattern every day; but the rain really hasn’t interfered with our enjoyment of the trip. Neither will we go into breakfast, because that has been the same each morning, also.
We checked out of the
room and began driving north. However, at the town of Schopfheim,
not far after we left Rheinfelden, we saw another
castle high on a hill overlooking the valley. Needless to say, we couldn’t get that close to a castle without checking it
out. We drove up the hill to a parking lot not far from the castle (it seems
that one must park and walk to just about everything in Germany). We found that
we were approaching Rotteln Castle. We paid admission
for a self-guided tour, which was printed in English. We learned that
original 
construction of the castle began in
about 800 AD. Various earthquakes and sieges finally resulted in the castle
being "destroyed" in 1678, thereby turning it basically into ruins.
However, with a castle this massive, destruction is relative. One could very
easily imagine a little of the grandeur that must have been as we walked among
the various walls and rooms that still stand.
Having our daily "castle fix," then it was on into the Black Forest -- Schwarzswald, in German. The scenery very quickly changed into crooked roads and mountainous terrain. It looked very similar to portions of the drive through the Smoky Mountains. Since it was overcast with periodic showers, we also were soon in the clouds, as our route took us over the Feldberg mountain, "the loftiest mountain peak in the forest at 4,900 feet," according to the guide book.
Since this was Sunday, there were very few shops open in the towns along the road. However, there was a farmer at a roadside stand, selling Kirsche (cherries). So we stopped and bought about a quart (I think it was intended to be 1/2 kilogram) of red cherries for 3DM. We began to eat them immediately. Boy, were they good! As soon as we finished that batch, we began looking for another stand, which we found a little further on down the road. This time, we bought 1 kilogram of cherries for 5DM.
Having temporarily
finished with our "grocery" shopping, souvenir shopping began to have
an appeal. At Schonwald, we found a shop open that
sold various souvenirs. Lois just HAD to stop. Since this is the Black Forest,
and since the area is famous for cuckoo clocks, guess what we decided to buy.
Hey, good guess! The clock we chose had been made by a cuckoo clock maker in
the next town 3 kilometers down the road. So we wouldn’t
have to concern ourselves with transportation, we had the clock shipped home.
And by the clock thus being "exported," the Value Added Tax of 10%
was deducted (although the shipping charges consumed a portion of those
savings). Just for the fun of it, after purchasing the clock, we drove to the
town of Schonach, and found the shop of 
Anton Schneider Sohne, our clock’s manufacturer.
(We wanted to be sure that we wouldn’t find a
"made in China" stamp on the clock). Schonach
is a "cuckoo clock Mecca," as there are a number of cuckoo clock
manufacturers just in this one town, as well as in other nearby towns. There’s also a little house built like a cuckoo clock in
the town -- and it’s a working cuckoo clock. 
Further on down the road, there’s the "largest cuckoo clock in the world."
One could get their fill of cuckoo clock history in just this small area of the
Black Forest.
The remainder of the day
found us driving and looking at more Black Forest scenery. We stopped at about
5:00pm at the Hotel Langenwaldsee, on the outskirts
of Freudenstadt. 
The hotel is located on a small
pond, complete with swan and ducks. It’s very similar
to what I would image a Black Forest Inn to look like, so here we stopped for
the night. Besides, the tour book indicated that the next day would have
"some of the most panoramic scenery along the Schwarzwald
Hochstrasse (Black Forest High Road)."
Therefore, we felt it important to allow time for our eyes to rest before
tackling yet more Black Forest scenery.
(Jump to Index)
Monday,
June 15th
We arose to yet another rainy morning. However, breakfast, for a change, was a bright spot. The Hotel Langenwaldess apparently was more in tune with "normal" diet, as Lois found scrambled eggs on the buffet. The buffet also had a more extensive selection of fruits, including kiwi, nectarines, bananas, fruit salad, and pineapple. A more varied selection of delicious rolls were also part of the selection. And the yogurt seemed to be more flavorful. Needless to say, we especially enjoyed breakfast.
Then it was time to get
on the road through the Black Forest, heading toward Baden-Baden. As indicated
earlier, our route would take us on the Schwarzwald Hochstrasse (Black Forest High Road) and the road turned
out to live up to its name.
Numerous ski slopes (minus the snow) were found along the road. In
the summer, the most predominant activity is hiking. There are literally
hundreds of parking spots where one can park their vehicle and walk through the
Forest. Since it was raining, we chose to stay in the car and drive (as good
excuse as any). The scenery was spectacular. The road reminded us of the Blue
Ridge Parkway, as it meandered through the forest, up hill and down, around
sharp curves, with a pretty sight around every other curve.
We finally arrived at Baden-Baden, but since spas aren’t our bag, so to speak, we decided to keep on driving. We had looked at the map the previous night and noted that we were "ahead of schedule," seeing as how we had seen most of what we had planned to see (except the Neckar Valley) and had extra time available. So we decided to take the autobahn toward Munich ("Munchen" in German) and visit the village of Dachau, the sight of one of the most famous German World War II Concentration Camps.
Along the way, we stopped at Burger King for a BK Broiler (they just call it "Big Chicken") and a "Toiletten" stop.
About 2 hours later, we
arrived at the town of Dachau. Since the
Concentration Camp Memorial is closed on Monday, we found a room. After
checking in, we got directions to a local bank to convert a few more traveler’s checks to Marks and found a "Post" to
send a postcard. After a brief drive around the town, we "turned in
early." We were pleased to finally find a TV that included
English-language CNN.
(Jump to Index)
Tuesday,
June 16th
We awoke to a cloudy sky, which was appropriate given our itinerary for that morning of visiting the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial.
Dachau was the sight chosen by the Nazis, specifically Heinrich Himmler, the Police Commissioner of Munich, on which to build the first concentration camp established by the Nazi Regime in 1933. The site chosen was an abandoned ammunitions factory. It soon was turned into one of the most infamous death camps of the period. Although it was not intended to be a "mass extermination camp," hunger and illness, arbitrary killings and mass executions, along with SS doctors’ pseudo-scientific experiments, resulted in the "extermination" of over 31,000 registered prisoners, not counting many others who were never registered.
The site today has been turned into a museum, in which are displayed photographs, posters and other information about that black time in history. An English language film gave us a more in-depth picture of the camp’s operation and the inhumane treatment that the political prisoners of that time were subjected to.
There were many visitors
roaming the grounds while we there -- many of them school-aged children. The
grounds include the entrance gate, on which is inscribed "Arbeit Macht Frei,"
or "Work Makes One Free." 
One wonders at what kind of sick mind would hold that hope
out to those passing through the camp, knowing what really awaited them. Other
restored buildings were the Crematorium, which was used to disposed of those
who had died, whether through sickness, execution or suicide. Although there
had been a gas chamber built next to the Crematorium, it was never used, for
some unexplained reason. Rather, those who were to be gassed were transported
to another camp in Austria. However, the initial crematorium was kept so busy
that an even larger one eventually had to be built by the prisoners.
While near the crematorium, an old German man asked if I was an
American. When I indicated in the affirmative, he then showed me a card that indicated
he either was a prisoner of the camp or worked at the camp from 1942 to 1945.
He very sadly said that he still comes there every day. One could tell that he
was still living that time of sorrow.
Two (of a total of 30) barracks
buildings have been rebuilt to depict their construction during the time. Each
barracks had initially been designed to hold 208 prisoners. However, because of
the ever increasing crackdown by the Nazis, each barracks eventually housed up
to 1600 prisoners.
U.S. Army troops liberated the camp in April, 1945. However, even after liberation, prisoners were in such poor physical condition that another 1230 subsequently died before they could be released.
Some of the higher officers in charge of the camp were arrested, court-martialed and ordered executed by the American commander. Others were arrested and brought to trial for their war crimes.
Today, the grounds also
house memorials to the Catholic, Protestant and Jewish faiths. Nearby is a
Russian Orthodox chapel. 
An international memorial of iron
sculpture depicting skeletons caught in the barbed wire fencing occupies a
prominent position in the center courtyard. Perhaps the most compelling is
these words posted in the memorial:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
-Santayana
As we were leaving the grounds, it very fittingly once again began to rain. One could imagine that the rain were God’s tears as He cried because of man’s inhumanity to man.
The city of Dachau is ever-mindful of its potential reputation to the world. In a booklet about the city, the Mayor writes:
"Like you, deeply moved, the citizens of the town of Dachau bow their heads before the victims of this camp.
The horrors of the German concentration camps must never be repeated! After your visit, you will be horror-stricken. But we sincerely hope you will not transfer your indignation to the ancient 1200-year-old Bavarian town of Dachau, which was not consulted when the concentration camp was built and whose citizens voted quite decisively against the rise of National Socialism in 1933.
We left Dachau and headed toward the Neckar
Valley, traveling a different route through the German countryside than the
autobahn on which we had come. The quaint, curved country roads had us
semi-mesmerized at times. And in not too long a time, we started seeing castles
once again. We stopped at Schloss Harburg,
which was established in about 1496. 
It is still owned by the
descendants of the original owners. Because it was so well fortified, it was
never destroyed. We took a very interesting tour of many of the rooms and
enjoyed every minute of it.
From there, it was more driving and resisting the temptation to stop at other castles (or some might call them palaces) that we saw along the way. This was somewhat easier, because our tour guide book promised that the Neckar Valley would have even more castles for us to see as we drove in that area the next day.
We stopped at Sulzback-Laufen on Route 19 for the night at the Gasthof Krone. After a walk
around the village and a delicious meal in the Gasthof
restaurant, we retired to our room for reading, writing and sleeping.
(Jump to Index)
Wednesday,
June 17th
Breakfast was a little out of the ordinary, because the owners, Herr and Frau Schwerdel, were a very friendly, outgoing couple who spoke very good English. Herr Schwerdel first asked us if we wanted scrambled eggs (I guess to make us feel more at home). We turned him down, saying that we were sorta getting used to the German style breakfast. He then asked where we were from and we told him Kentucky. He then indicated that he and his wife had just returned the previous week from a golfing vacation in Phoenix.
He indicated that the weather we had been experiencing was very atypical. Usually temperatures at this time of year are in the low to mid-twenties C (70-75 F), instead of the 13 to 16 C (55-60 F) that we had been experiencing. Also, there had been much more rain than normal. El Nino had struck again.
I had noticed that we saw the name "Hotel Krone" very frequently during our travels through Germany. I wondered if it were some type of chain, like "Holiday Inn." I asked Frau Schwerdel about this and she explained that each town usually has a "Hotel Krone," usually that has been established and run by the same family for generations. Frau Schwerdel told me that the building housing the Hotel Krone, as well as the family business, was over 300 years old. "Krone," which means "crown" in German, is a very common name in Germany.
We got back on the road toward Heilbronn, where the road began meandering along the Neckar River. This area, like the Rhine River Valley, is a large wine producing area. All of the vineyards we saw along this route, though, were growing parallel with the terraced hillside, not "up and down" as was predominant along the Rhine.
The guidebook indicated
that there were a number of castles along the road between Heilbronn
and Heidelberg. 
We found, though, that most of the
castles along our route were actually castle ruins, or ruins of castles a part
of which had been refurbished to house a hotel or restaurant. We took a
self-guided tour through the grounds of Burg Hornberg
at Neckarzimmern and stopped briefly at Hirschhorn Castle.
There was heavy traffic as we arrived in Heidelberg, and since we are more "country" people, we went on through Heidelberg before stopping for the night at Hotel Scheid, located in a little village called Schriesheim.
Our only remaining
itinerary for the day was to eat supper and plan what we would do on Thursday.
(Jump to Index)
Thursday,
June 18th
We awoke for our last full day in Germany, had breakfast (normal) and planned a very light day of driving the backroads that would take us to a destination close by the Frankfort Airport. As usual, it began raining lightly just about as soon as we began driving.
The backroads
we chose took us through some small, quaint country towns and scenic German
countryside
that we would not have the
opportunity to see if we had stayed on the major highways or autobahns. We
arrived fairly early at a town called Bodenheim,
located on the Rhine River, which is close by an autobahn that will take us
directly to the Frankfort airport. Here we checked into the Hotel Janssen. (By
the way, we started our vacation 10 days ago along the Rhine River. It is only
fitting that we end it so).
Since it was still fairly
early in the afternoon, we decided to drive into the nearby town of Mainz. One
of its main claims to fame is that it is the home of the Gutenberg Museum. The
Museum houses two of only 47 Gutenberg Bibles still existing out of those that
were printed between 1452 and 1455. 
We parked in a parking garage, walked to the nearby
museum, and saw first-hand the elaborate and famous publications. The museum
also houses many items related to printing and the first printing press. It was
this invention that really allowed written communication to the masses that we
take for granted today.
After touring the museum, we shopped a little in the pedestrian mall area surrounding the local cathedral and museum area and then returned to Bodenheim. Since we were not sure that the hotel had a restaurant for evening meals, we drove 2 kilometers south to Niederolm for dinner. We then returned to our room to finish up the day reading and doing some preliminary packing.
All that was left of our
Germany Vacation was to get up, check out, drive to the airport, fill up and
return the rental car, and await our flight to Atlanta.
(Jump to Index)
Friday,
June 19th
We both awoke somewhat earlier than normal, no doubt in anticipation of going home (somewhat melancholy at leaving the enjoyment we were having, but excited about getting home). After breakfast, we packed the car with all our belongings and drove to the Frankfort Airport. We missed the sign for Rental Car return the first time and ended back up on the Autobahn, but we found a place to reverse direction shortly and soon made our way to the proper parking garage to return our rental car. At this point, the odometer indicated that we had driven approximately 2500 kilometers during our vacation (about 1500 miles).
From the rental car return counter, it was a fairly brief walk to the terminal from which we would leave. At check-in, airport security required that we answer some fairly detailed questions about our luggage, to ensure that we weren't carrying something unintentionally that could be used to blow up the plane. With that all taken care of, we were allowed through security check. Since we had gotten an early start on the day, we had about a 2-hour wait for our flight. So we browsed in the Duty Free shop, bought a couple of paperbacks, found a seat and waited for our flight.
Right on time, the flight was called at about 2:00pm, and we boarded our Delta MD-11 for the flight to Atlanta. Our assigned seats were nearly in the rear of the plane at row 51, but with the 2-5-2 seating arrangement of the MD-11, I was surprised at how much room I had -- considering it was in coach class.
On the plane with us was a group of U.S. Army soldiers returning to the States after a 9-month tour in Bosnia. Needless to say, they were anxious and glad to get home. And since ALL beverages on international flights are complimentary, some of them were loosening up early. But they never really acted up too much -- especially considering that they had been gone for nine months.
The movie on the flight was "Good Will Hunting," for which Robin Williams had recently won an Academy Award for "Best Actor." I could say that he probably deserved it. One advantage of watching it on the plane was that the rough language, which I had heard some people say detracted from an otherwise great movie, had been dubbed over -- making for a much more enjoyable viewing.
9 1/2 hours later we
landed in Atlanta. It felt good to stretch our legs and walk around. It's a
good thing, because we had a scheduled 4-hour wait for our flight to
Evansville. At least we had plenty of time for dinner; we were getting hungry,
because by then it was 12:30am the next morning in Germany and we were getting
both hungry and sleepy. Scheduled to leave at 9:40pm, the flight to Evansville
finally left at about 10:10pm Eastern time. We arrived in Evansville at about
11:00pm Central time. Linda (my sister) met us at the airport and we all
finally arrived at our house in Corydon about 12:00am (7:00am Germany time). By
then, we had been up about 25 hours, so needless to say, unpacking could wait until
tomorrow. 
Vacation was over, and the bed felt GREAT!
As for the Travelogue,
the remainder of these pages contain our general impressions of the country,
the customs, the architecture, and anything else we think might be of interest
to the reader -- or to us when we think back to our special "25th Wedding
Anniversary Celebration" vacation of 1998.
(Jump to Index)
- The country is very clean and neat. The buildings appear to be very well maintained.
- Buildings tend to be very similar in construction, with multi-floors (at least two or three), red tile roofs and stucco walls.
- Most every building has the same type of window. From the inside of the room, the window is about 3 feet by 4 feet, with a handle that allows the window to either tilt in from the top, or turning further, allowing the window to swing open inwardly from the side. Each window generally is equipped with an exterior shutter that can be lowered from the top to shut out light.
- All of the hotels had white sheers covering the windows, with colorful drapes over the sheers that are sometimes functional to help shut out light.
- None of the rooms in which we stayed were equipped with air conditioning, although none was needed with the abnormally cool temperatures that we experienced. We probably would have been uncomfortably hot if the temperature had been normal.
- All of the hotel rooms have been spotlessly clean.
- The beds for the double room consist of basically two single mattresses butted together, although on one bed frame.
- The standard custom is to have a feather or down-filled comforter-type coverlet. A sheet "case" covers this coverlet, much like a pillowcase covers a pillow. In the "made" state, this coverlet is folded in half and placed toward the foot of the bed. There is no bedspread or other bed covering. The coverlet, when unfolded by the guest, then serves as the only cover available, or needed. The pillow seems to be thinner than we normally are used to.
- The colors of the bedding have been typically white, or sometimes pink or pale yellow.
- Heat for the rooms was available primarily through hot water radiators that are mounted on the wall, up off the floor for easy cleaning of the floor. They are always white in color. (We did not use heat during our visit).
- The floor covering is unpadded carpet. The bathroom was in every case fully tiled -- both floors and walls.
- Most rooms have the toilet attached to the wall, leaving the floor uncluttered and thus easy to clean. The sink, likewise, is usually attached to the wall, without a cabinet, for easy of cleaning.
- Bathrooms usually have a shower stall without a tub. The shower head is detachable with about a 5-foot hose. The shower head slides up and down on a rod, which allows the height to be adjusted.
- The bathroom is not equipped with wash cloths -- only hand towels, bath towels, and bath mats. All hotels had posted signs recommending that towels be reused to save on laundry. If the towel is hanging, it will be reused. If the towel is in the floor or shower stall, the maid will replace it with a fresh one.
- Most hotel rooms have an armoire instead of a closet, in which half of the space is shelved and half for hanging clothes.
- All light switches are about a 2-inch square "toggle" action switch. Usually, lights in the hallway are equipped with switches that automatically turn off after a couple of minutes of being turned on.
- Most doors do not have typical round doorknobs, but rather utilize a handle. Most door locks also do not lock automatically. One must use the key to lock the door -- even from the inside. This at least ensures that one won’t be accidentally locked out of the room.
- The key is usually attached to a large, heavy brass weight (up to 3 to 4 inches long). We found no "card keys" at any hotel.
- Most rooms have been equipped with telephones and color TV’s. Most of the time, the TV has been remote controlled. However, in most cases, there are no English language channels, so we didn’t watch much TV. In a few cases, CNN-Europe or MSNBC were available for English-speaking guests.
- Every hotel included breakfast in the cost of the room. When the room price was quoted, it was inclusive of all taxes and breakfast. Thus, we found that rooms in Germany actually were comparable in price to similar rooms in the US.
- Most hotel proprietors spoke and understood English to varying degrees.
- All hotel restaurants use linen tablecloths over wooden tables. Generally, the tablecloth is white, with a smaller pastel-colored overlay. Fresh flowers in a small vase are normal. Most restaurants also provide linen napkins. Fine dinnerware and silverware is also usually found. Presentation of the food seems to be given significant attention.
- European style of eating is to use the fork in the left hand, with the knife remaining in the right hand. Most people drink beer or wine with their evening meal.
- Although iced tea is available, the ice consists of, at most, 2 tiny cubes in the glass, which soon dissipates. Ice is not used to any degree at all.
- Ice cream appears to be a popular dessert or as part of a mid-day snack. It is obvious that breakfast is an important meal, with little thought given to lunch. Dinner is usually not available before 6:00pm and is obviously the main meal of the day. Potatoes and mixed salad are popular accompaniments to the evening meal.
- One is usually waited upon by a waitress. Unlike the US, the waitress does not come to the table just to check on the meal -- she is only there to deliver the food items at the proper time. In fact, one usually has to signal to the waitress to bring the check.
- Most people tend to have a small garden, whether they live in the country or the city.
- If there are not roses in a meticulously kept yard or geraniums in a window box, your house looks out of place.
- Most houses appear to have fireplaces. At least they usually have a chimney.
- In the small country towns, it is not uncommon to find farm animals, farming implements, including tractors, occupying a barn attached to a house -- in the middle of town.
- People tend to dress as if they are a cold-natured people. Clothing looks similar to that worn in the US; however, many women wear dress shoes, as opposed to more casual footwear in the US.
- Many people ride bicycles, even those who appear to be in the 60’s or 70’s. There are literally thousands of miles of bike paths that connect just about every town. In those few areas where a bike path is not available, the bikers compete with the cars in the narrow streets.
- Motorcycling is also a popular means of transportation.
- The train system is extensive, with passenger service available between most towns on an extensive schedule.
- The trains don't interfere with the quietness of the area, since they never use a horn. Lighted signals and barrier gates always protect traffic crossings -- but there is never a bell or other audible signal.
- If a train does not serve a town, then buses are used. It appears that there is not a town in the country without bus service.
- We were told by one of our hosts that there are not special school buses. Rather the school children ride the same public transportation bus as everyone else.
- Public restrooms (toiletten) usually require payment of anywhere from 20 pfennig to 1 mark. They are usually cleaner in Germany than those in the US.
- City streets are typically very crooked and very narrow. City streets are not laid out in a square, block fashion as those in the US; rather it appears they followed the terrain of the land or some footpath from earlier times. In many cases, side streets are only wide enough for one car to pass at a time, with the buildings right up to the edge of the street.
- Parking is very limited in most areas. When there is a curb, cars are usually parked half-on, half-off.
- Individual houses usually have enclosed garages attached, with access immediately off the street.
- Many of the small towns utilize barriers "camouflaged" as flower beds jutting into the road that must be driven around. This serves to automatically slow down traffic as it enters the town.
- Roads typically are very well marked, both with the route number and with the names of the upcoming towns. If one knows either (route or town) directions are very clear.
- We have found the German people to be very friendly, courteous and helpful; they are apparently used to foreign visitors.
- Farming is usually agriculture-based, with crops including wheat, hay, potatoes, strawberries, asparagus, and corn. We saw relatively little livestock.
We enjoyed recording our
impressions during our trip. To further our enjoyment, we encourage Comments or Questions about the Germany
Travelogue. Just click on the link and e-mail us.