Heidelburg, Frankfurt, Brussels, Colmar, Trier, Beilstein, Paris - Whew, I'm tired!

Sunday, September 21st

The next morning we left Munich to head to Heidelburg. We definitely didn't have enough time to see everything in Munich but it will have to wait until next year at Oktoberfest.

Once in Heidelburg, Beth and I walked around trying to find a good place to eat. As is typical for me, we couldn’t find a restaurant that we liked but ended up so famished that we resigned ourselves to eating at the Heidelburg equivalent to TGIFridays. We had some mediocre pizzas and went for a glass of wine elsewhere.

Outside of the disappointing restaurant scene, Heidelburg was a pleasant surprise. Jim hadn’t liked it when he was there for work, and according to Mr. Rick “Back Door” Steves, it was a lowlight of the region. I, however, thought the old town had some very pretty baroque architecture. I liked the red tiled roofs of the old town and beautiful villas on the other side of the river (Neckar).

Monday, September 21st

The next morning, we hiked up to the castle which was beautiful but very noisy with the ongoing restoration. In the castle was a huge wine barrel called the Grosses Fass which held 836,000 gallons! I wouldn't mind having one of those in my house.

We wandered around the grounds behind the castle looking for the Schlosshof which according to the Lonely Planet was supposed to produce an audible gasp from tourists. Since we hadn’t yet gasped, we figured we hadn’t seen it. We finally figured out what the Lonely Planet was talking about and it was indeed quite nice but not what we expected. Why is it when something is built up, you are always disappointed with reality, but when your expectations are low, you are pleasantly surprised?

Around lunchtime we took the train to Frankfurt. Beth’s flight was early the next morning so we decided to spend the night there. I can't say I would otherwise ever plan a trip to Frankfurt. It is really just a big city without much charm.

We decided to take the metro to the hotel which was quite confusing. After about 45 aggravating minutes, we were on our way to the Courtyard Marriot. Beth was able to get a free hotel room with her points.

After going against the concierge’s recommendation that we check out the food court, we found a great seafood restaurant downtown with heat lamps so that we were able to sit outside. It was one of the best meals that I’ve had in Germany and a great way to end Beth’s trip.

Brussels – Tuesday, Sept. 22nd – Friday, Sept. 25th

I took the train with Beth to the airport and then headed home to Bonn. I literally unpacked and repacked and Jim and I were off to Brussels for a CLE (continuing legal education).

The first night there, Jim and I went to the Grand Place and then

the main touristy restaurant area nearby for mussels. Although it wasn’t what I had pictured, the mussels ended up being the best we had in Brussels.

The CLE conference was at the Hilton which was in the swankiest area of Brussels. We were surrounded by high end shops and even saw some red carpet events at a few while we were there. After staying at relatively cheap bed and breakfasts over the last few months, I was feeling like a high roller at the Hilton.

We had a great view of the city from our room. I tried taking a picture of our view at night, but forgot about the reflection so only managed to take some nudie shots of myself rather than the sunset over Brussels.

The next three days I spent wandering around Brussels seeing the sights and of course looking for restaurants. I liked Brussels even though a certain Mr. Rick Steves didn’t consider it important enough to include in his Europe Travel guide.

After spending a few days in Brussels, I am looking forward to a trip to Bruges which I have heard is even more charming than Brussels.

Colmar – Oct. 3 – 5th

Friday was a German holiday so Jim had the day off. Even though we were a little travel weary, we decided to celebrate our 1st anniversary in Colmar. Colmar is a cute little town in the Alsace region of France. The area of Alsace has been part of France and Germany at various times in history so it looks like a little German town with its half timbered houses but sounds like France. There is a definite blend of cultures here which is noticeable from the cuisine. The tart flambée and quiche lorraine is all French, but there is also a fair amount of sauerkraut and sausages.

Our first night in Colmar, we went to Les Maison des Tetes for our anniversary dinner. It was a restaurant recommended by Gourmet Magazine. We had a great dinner of foie gras, escargot, fish and great wine -thanks to Orica! Jim's going away present was dinner in any European city.

The next day, we wandered around Colmar hoping the weather would turn around so that we could go out for a bikeride. We went to the Unter Linden museum which is one of the most popular small museums in Europe. We walked through the Petite Venice and then stopped for some tarte flambée for lunch.

Tarte flambee is like a little pizza with a very thin crust topped with lots of cheese and bacon. I’ve decided it might be one of my favorite foods. Luckily, I’ve just discovered it here in a few German grocery stores.

After lunch the sun came out so we set out for a ride in the foothills of the Vogues Mountains. It turned out to be a beautiful fall day with crisp air and sunshine.

For dinner, we decided to check out a nearby small town – Eguisheim. We wandered around looking for a restaurant and found out that we had just missed a wine festival that ended that day. I’d love to go back next summer to check out some of the wine festivals and do some touring of vineyards.

Colmar and the surrounding small towns are part of the Alsace Wine Route which weaves its way just west of Strasbourg south down to Thann. There are over 100 small medieval villages along the wine route and each one has a number of different vineyards surrounding the town. The grapes in the area are almost all used for white wine with the exception of Pinot Noir.

On our last day in Colmar, we were already planning another trip.

Sylvia’s Visit – Oct. 6th – 28th

Jim’s mother arrived in Germany the next day. The only thing we had planned for her trip was a long weekend in Paris.

Her first week here was low key. We did a lot of walking around town, and she helped me get organized as my closets, futon, shoe rack and kitchen island finally arrived.

The first weekend we did a day trip to Trier which is a town on the Mosel River right on the border of Luxemburg. Trier is the oldest city in Germany. It was founded around 16 B.C. by the Romans. We walked around the town taking in the sights. The Porta Nigra is a Roman city gate from the 2nd century. The Trier cathedral is the oldest Christian church in Germany. It houses the Holy Robe of Christ, the sandal of St. Andrew and a nail from the Crucifixion. We also walked through the Gardens of the Electors Palace which was beautiful.

Before driving back to Bonn, we stopped for lunch at a Rick Steve’s recommended restaurant – Zum Domstein. It was supposed to have Roman dishes in the basement dining room but they seemed to be your standard German fare to me, but I have no idea what kind of food the Romans. I guess I was expecting a more Italian flair.

Jim did a fair amount of traveling for work while Sylvia was here so we took that time to do some little day trips near Bonn.

We took the train up to Cologne one day to see the Cathedral and the Chocolate Museum.

Another day we took the U-Bahn to Konigswinter and hiked up to Burg Drachenfels and the Schloss Drachenburg. The hike was the best part of the trip. Although it was a cloudy day, the very steep hike up through the forest was beautiful with lots of fall color.

One of the most surprising discoveries during Sylvia’s visit was Bruhl. Bruhl is located between Cologne and Bonn and has one of the most beautiful castles I have seen yet. Schloss Augustusburg was incredibly ornate with frescoes, countless marble columns and beautiful gardens. We unfortunately didn’t have time to visit the hunting lodge before they closed, but I know I will be back again with our next visitors.

Somehow I read the train map incorrectly so we got on the wrong train going to Bruhl. Bruhl is only 10 minutes away, but I managed to make it an hour and a half journey. We ended up back in Cologne before I realized that I might have made an error. Even though Sylvia’s sense of direction is comically bad, she can read a train map better than I can.

Our next weekend, we decided to go back to the Mosel Valley and spent the night at a tiny little town called Beilstein. Jim biked down while Sylvia and I drove, stopping at the Birkenstock outlet on the way down.

We stayed at Hotel Haus Lipman. The owner of the hotel was incredibly accommodating which is notable because customer service in Germany is a very different thing than customer service in the US. The hotel was supposed to be a medieval mansion. We needed a three person bedroom so ended up in a different building. However, the heating system might have been medieval in our room because it didn't work. Now I know why they shut the hotel down from Nov. to April. BRRR!

While Sylvia and I waited for Jim to get to Beilstein (he got a little lost on the way down), we visited the Beilstein castle. The castle itself isn’t much to look at but the views of the Mosel are what drive people to hike up the steep climb.

The next day, we stopped at Burg Eltz on the way back to Bonn. Burg Eltz is nestled in the forest along a stream so has a very fairytale feel to it. Jim and Sylvia took a tour of the castle which I have already done so I hiked around the grounds. It was another beautiful fall day. I have decided that fall is definitely the best season in Germany.

The following week Jim was headed to Russia so Sylvia and I used the car to drive to Aachen. Aachen is another great day trip from Bonn. The cathedral is the main attraction in Aachen. It is very different from most that we have seen in Europe. It has a main area which is an octagon rather than the typical cross formation of so many gothic cathedrals and has a mosaic ceiling.

Paris - Oct. 24-27

The last weekend of Sylvia’s trip we went to Paris. We stayed with some family friends of theirs, just outside of Paris. Our first day in Paris was spent at the D’Orsay Museum which houses the largest collection of Impressionists. We only were able to cover the top floor before the mueseum started to get really crowded. We decided that after a few hours we were museum’ed out.

We met up with Jim for lunch and tried to find the great steak tartar place we had been to the last time we were in Paris. After an hour of searching, we finally found it or rather Sylvia found it. Unfortunately it was closed so we ended up at a brassiere and had Croque Monsieur sammies because we were all so hungry.

In the afternoon, we visited Notre Dame which was really crowded. We actually had to stand in line to get in. I’m not sure what I was expecting but I was disappointed by the cathedral. I think I like the cathedral in Cologne better than Notre Dame.

On Sunday, Sylvia and I went to Versailles while Jim biked with some friends. For anyone going to Versailles, I would recommend getting tickets ahead of time. We had to stand out in the cold for about an hour and a half to get tickets. Sylvia of course made friends with a Korean couple on their honeymoon behind us. I came back from getting us hot chocolate and she already knew their life story.

Jim and I had been to Versailles the last time we were in Paris but we didn’t go inside. The interior of Versailles is amazing. We saw the kid’s apartments first which wasn’t that impressive but the audio guide gives a lot more information than they do in the main rooms of the palace mainly because they are less crowded. There was a Jeff Koons exhibit in the main place rooms which seemed out of place. I think I just don’t really “get” modern art. I’m not so sure what a statue of Michael Jackson and his monkey – Bubbles has to do with French elite class extravagance. Oh wait, maybe I’m on to something there.

After the weekend was over, I decided that I really like visiting the smaller towns better than large cities. I know I have to experience some of the world's greatest cities, but I'd like to spend more time in the nooks and crannies of Europe.

Oktoberfest - Beer, Beer and More Beer

Friday, September 19th

We woke up at 5am to get an early start for our drive to Munich. It took us about 6 hours or so with traffic to get there.

We met up with Michael, a former coworker of Jim’s. Jim went to a lunch meeting with outside counsel while Beth and I ate a pasta lunch at the law firm. I didn’t get the feeling that they work as many hours as lawyers in the US. I think the foosball table in the office was a hint.

Beth and I walked around the Viktualienmarkt which was a high end farmers market. I was very tempted to buy some fresh truffles. I’m glad the market in Bonn isn’t as nice or we would be penniless. In the middle of the market is a huge maypole.

We wandered into St. Peter’s Church and paid the 1.50 to climb the tower. Thankfully nobody in the group of white hairs in front of us had a heart attack. At the top, we were rewarded with a great view of the city. Climbing a tower as soon as you get to a city really helps you get a sense of where things are, and helps when you are trying to navigate on the ground level later.

After the big climb, we felt justified in rewarding ourselves with a beer and basked in the sun. That was probably the warmest 30 minutes of the entire trip.

We met up with Michael who gave us a walking tour around Munich. We walked by the Neues Rathaus (new town hall) which houses the Glockenspiel. At noon and 5pm the figurines on the carillon of the Glockenspiel circle around on two separate levels.

Next we went into the Theatinerkirke St. Kajetan. It was very different from the dark gothic churches I’ve seen recently. This was a large Baroque church with a completely white interior making the church feel light and airy. The ceiling with light pastel colored frescoes along with the white interior gave it a decidedly Italian feel.

After the church, we headed to the Englischer Garten which is Munich’s main park. It is larger than both Central Park in New York and Hyde Park in London.

It is a lush park with fast moving rivers and lazy lakes. There is even an area of the park where people sunbathe in the nude. Considering that it was only in the 50s and cloudy, we didn’t see anyone trying to tan their fanny.

For being a population that loves order and rules, the Germans do love getting naked. Michael said that in the summer, people at lunchtime for a dip. They simply take off their work clothes and get in the water. It sounds like an interesting way to really get to know your co-workers.

There is an area of the Isar River in the southern end of the park which has a permanent wave. There were about 20 guys in full body wetsuits taking turns surfing on the wave. I can’t imagine how cold they must have been. I was wearing two sweaters, a wool coat and a scarf and was still cold.

We stopped in the park next to the Kleinhessloher Lake for beer and fresh pretzels hot out of the oven before heading back to the car.

We dropped off our stuff and met Michael later that night at an Italian restaurant he picked out. The owner was a crazy Italian guy who obviously loved women. He kissed our hands and made Beth twirl around before he would seat us. Later we saw him giving roses to women by attaching it to a measuring stick and holding it over their heads from across the room feigning shyness.

Michael ordered the pasta special of the day for four people which unfortunately had meat in both of them. Beth was a trooper and ate some of the pasta without pieces of meat. Germany is not a culinary hot spot for vegetarians. Germans love their meat!

Saturday, September 20th

Today was the first day of Oktoberfest so throughout the morning there was a parade which wound around the city and ended up at the fairgrounds. There were floats with lots of smiling, beer drinking Germans bedecked in their finest traditional clothes – Dirndls and Lederhosen.

Jim was able to get us all tickets to the Schotthamel tent through work. That tent housed all the local dignitaries so the mayor gives a speech and everyone in the tent counts down the tapping of the keg. Unfortunately, we missed that as we were separated by the parade we had seen earlier and the tent with no way across. However, after my first liter of beer it was forgotten.

At Oktoberfest, everyone dresses up in traditional clothes. Michael told us this the night before but I really didn’t believe him. I actually felt a little out of place and wished I had gotten a dirndl the day before. Dirndls dresses are flattering for just about every woman – full skirts, tight waist and your boobs pushed up and out. I don’t think I’ve seen that much boob in a while.

Jim’s office gave everyone 4 tickets – 3 for beer, a liter each and 1 for food. They had lots of pretzels and bread on the table to help you soak up the beer in your stomach. We had a bunch of ½ roasted chickens which were delicious. They also served sausages and some bread dumplings in a creamy mushroom sauce which was also really good.

Before we even got to Oktoberfest, I was concerned about the lines for the bathrooms and rightly so. After my first liter of beer I thought I should investigate. I am so thankful that I did. The line for the bathroom wasn’t so much a line as it was a heaving, bosomy mass of about 100 women trying to get through a tiny doorway to the bathroom. I realized that this is how cattle must feel. There were some security guards trying to “herd” us into the bathroom, but they realized it was hopeless and stood aside, hoping their presence would prevent any violence. Needless to say, I spent a lot of the day standing in line with my legs crossed wishing I had some Depends packed in my purse.

The men near our table were very taken with Beth. One old guy from a small Bavarian town wanted to marry her off to his son. He was wearing Lederhosen which looked about 30 years old. I found out later that they were passed down from his father.

Michael translated some of what the old guy said. Apparently his hat had edelweiss in it which his friends harvest from the tops of mountains. He said that a lot of his friends had died that way so the edelweiss was very special. He was going to give some to Beth but I think her lack of interest in his sons prevented him from parting with his edelweiss.

After about 4 liters of beer each, Beth, Jim and I headed back to the hotel for a little nap. Michael had tickets to another tent for the evening so he planned to meet back up with us at 10:30 to go to a club.

The Oktoberfest grounds were quite a different scene than they had been during the day. Now you saw lots of staggering, a few fights were breaking out and a few guys we saw had somehow managed to lose their clothes.

We met up with Michael and a group of his friends to go to the club – Nektar. The club was a very odd experience. It looks like your typical modern club, but everyone was dressed in lederhosen and dirndl, and they served currywurst in the entry way. (Currywurst is a sausage in a ketchup curry sauce.) I guess they figured that most of these people had been drinking all day and needed some sustenance before continuing into the early morning hours.

After about 2 hours, Jim and I were ready to leave so we left Beth in Michael’s very capable hands and headed back to the hotel. Walking back through the fairgrounds, I didn’t envy the guys cleaning the mess of over 100,000 drunkards.

Amsterdam - Beth's Visit

We returned to our house in Bonn and had brand spanking new floors and a huge mess to clean up before Beth arrived the next day. After frantically cleaning for 8 hours to make sure the house was presentable for our first guest, I got a frantic call from Beth. She had missed her connection in D.C. so would be coming a day late.

September 16th

I decided the best plan was to go straight to Amsterdam when she arrived the next day. The train from the Frankfurt airport stopped in Cologne so I planned to get on the same train so we could ride together. It worked out perfectly.

Once we were in Amsterdam, we set about the task of locating the B & B I had reserved. Thankfully, Klaus, our host gave us directions or we would have never found it. As it was, we got lost a few times.

The Eel house was an unassuming and unmarked 5 story house on a corner. The stairs were ridiculously steep and windy. Of course before our trip, I read a negative review of this B&B based on the dangerous stairs, but dismissed the author’s review and attributed it to whiny Americans. I underestimated the “death” stairs. We were, of course, on the 5th floor so we were all pretty out of breath by the time we reached our attic room. The space was small but had a lot of character and a great view.

We freshened up and went in search of dinner. Beth’s Frommer’s guide led us astray a number of times on the restaurant end. We looked for three different restaurants during the course of our stay and none of them existed. However, we were able to find some great places on our own.

That night we had dinner at De Belhamel. It was a little pricey, but we figured a splurge was in order as it was Beth’s birthday. We sat outside at the junction of two canals and had a great meal.

September 17th

The next day Klaus brought breakfast to our room which consisted of warm croissants, bread, cheese, meat and fruit. We had a relaxing, slow start to the day.

First on our agenda was the Anne Frank House. However, the line snaked around the building so we adjusted our plan and headed down to the Van Gogh museum winding our way along the Nine Streets (high end shopping) between two canals.

The last time I was in Amsterdam, I somehow neglected to visit the Van Gogh museum and the Anne Frank House. I’m not exactly sure what it was I did see, but it was about 10 years ago.

The Van Gogh museum was the highlight of the day. I learned a lot that I didn’t know about Van Gogh. He didn’t become an artist until he was 27. He worked in a gallery, was a preacher and then a school teacher before he started to paint. In the span of only 10 years, he painted over 800 works of art. The museum contains 200 of these paintings.

After the museum, we went to the old town center and did some shopping. Beth picked up 2 scarves which kept her warm for the rest of her trip. She only managed to lose one of them in Munich which is probably better than the majority of Oktoberfest revelers.

This was Beth’s first trip to Amsterdam so she wanted to walk by the red light district. This time it was just as depressing as the last time I was there. Everyone seemed to have different tactics. Some stood suggestively; others looked bored or showed off their rolls of fat. One women even stood there making funny faces at would be customers.

We decided to rest our aching feet near the national monument which was fittingly phallic for the sex capital of the Netherlands.

We walked by the Flower Market along the canal and went to the Anne Frank House. The line had completely died down so we were able to get in right away. I've read the Diary of Anne Frank a long time ago but seeing the house made me want to read it again.

For dinner we checked out a vegetarian restaurant that Klaus and Rick Steve’s suggested – De Bol. It was really very good. For those of you in Denver, it reminded me of the Watercourse restaurant but the food was better. We split a North African dish and a veggie cheese casserole.

After dinner we went to the Black Star café and had to peel ourselves away from watching a soccer game to get home. Who knew we liked soccer so much? I think we both decided we were rooting for whichever team had Renaldo.

Thursday, September 18th

The next day we decided to take one of the boat tours to take advantage of the sunshine and two hours we had to spare before getting on the train to Bonn. It was nice to see the town from the water and hear some of the boat driver’s commentary.

We learned that the reason houses are so tall and narrow is that people were taxed according to the width of their house so the built up rather than out. The city has over 100 canals and 500 bridges. A few years ago the city installed low barriers along the canal to prevent cars from driving into the canal. However, one car a week still ends up in the water.

After our tour, we had lunch at Koppel Café which was another winner. I would go back to Amsterdam for the food in a heartbeat.

Back in Bonn, we dropped our bags off at the house and headed downtown for a quick tour of Bonn. Beth was able to practice her German when I fainted. She got to ask someone – Sprechen Sie Englisch? The other German phrase Beth learned during her trip was Entschuldigung (excuse me/ sorry) which she used during the trip as a pick up line.

Greece Trip - Part Four

Friday, September 12th

We woke up, went for a quick swim and then headed back to the boat. Rebecca, Zarko, Jim and I decided we hadn’t seen enough of the island and so in true mutinous fashion, we left on our scooters to check out the Kastro (castle) near the main town, Hora.

There was no wind to speak of for our last day of sailing and for this I was glad. The day before we had dented the boom and ripped a line for the main sail on the boat so I was a bit worried about what else we would break if we had to sail another day.

We got to the Santorini islands around 3:00. One of the guys on the boat said that there were hot springs near a small island across from Santorini. Someone decided the best way to get to the supposed hot springs was to use the dingy which was badly in need of some air. After piling 5 people into the tiny dinghy, I was worried whether we’d all make it or if we’d need to throw someone overboard to save ourselves.

When we got to the hot springs, it was a bit disappointing. The springs weren’t very hot but rather lukewarm . The water had a dirty, cloudy, brown look due to a high metallic content. However, it didn’t seem to faze the German tourists nearby who were jumping from a tour boat like it was the Titanic. They couldn’t wait to get into the murky, brown, lukewarm water.

To get to the harbor we had to skirt the end on the island. We were able to witness an amazing sunset while Alek broke out the Bacardi and Cohibas.

Knowing how “painful” the previous dockings had been, I stealthily or maybe not so stealthily disappeared and took a little nap downstairs.

The port was pretty sparse. There was a restaurant, a store and a little beach with a stand and that was it. We had dinner at the port and went to bed for the last time on the boat.

Saturday, September 13th

The rest of the group was staying in Santorini that night so we split up. Jim and I had a flight to Athens later that day so we were anxious to explore Santorini before heading to the airport.

After having some difficulty finding a cab and considering a ride with the group just when we were excited to be on our own for a while, we were able to get a taxi not to Oia as we had hoped but to Fira where we could take another taxi or bus to Oia.

After checking out the bus schedule, we decided a scooter was the best option to see the island and still make our flight. Plus we were able to ditch our backpacks with the scooter guy. It was only 10 Euros for a scooter for the day.

We drove the longer way to Oia which was more scenic and had less traffic. After schlepping around the backpacks in the hot humid air (100 degrees with 100% humidity), the breeze on the scooter felt so good.

The town of Oia is built on the side of the island with steep cliffs down to the sea. The view from just about anywhere in town is beautiful. There are the classically Greek white adobe buildings perched along the cliffs and the very blue water in the background.
The town was a little more upscale than most of the islands we had been on so far but was pretty much the same type of stuff – clothing, jewelry and art.

We looked for lunch. Again Jim suggested eating at the same restaurant he had in the past, and I entertained that idea for about 5 minutes before I vetoed it and found a restaurant with the best breeze but mediocre food.

After lunch, we explored the town a bit more. You can actually rent a donkey to take you down to the sea if you are too lazy to do the walk yourself. We decided against going down to the water. It was far too hot to climb back up, and the prospect of dodging donkey poop wasn’t extremely tempting.

Two hours later, the clouds rolled in and obscured part of the town and water so we decided to head back to Fira. I was happy to get back on the scooter to cool off.

On the way back to Fira, we saw a sign for a winery and stopped to check it out. It was a peaceful little terrace in the middle of nowhere with only 2 other couples. We learned that in Greece, they grow the vines curled up on the ground to catch the dew so that they don’t require any irrigation.

We tried two whites, a red and 2 dessert wines. None of them were good enough to get a bottle but then again, Greece isn’t really known for its wine. It was a fun little stop nonetheless.

Across the way from the vineyard, was Paradise Beach. It was a rocky little beach with black sand so I wouldn’t have named it such, but we were hot and the water was wet so it felt like Paradise at that moment. We didn’t have swimsuits on, but you can always count on German tourists to be there and be naked so we followed suit or sans suit as it were.

Back in Fira, we wondered around the town, remorsefully turned in our scooter (I loved that little thing) and took a taxi to the airport. Our flight was delayed for about 30 minutes so we didn’t get to the hotel in Athens until 10:30.

The hotel was really, really nice- Athens Gate Hotel. The rooms had a great bathroom with a proper shower a view of the Temple of Olympian Zeus.

We had dinner at a large restaurant at the base of the Acropolis. It was a quiet spot with amazing views of the illuminated Acropolis. It was a wonderful end to the trip.