October 2011

Today, we realized several things…1.) The local baker comes to the resort every single morning with fresh breads (mmmm!) and 2.) our GPS only covers Germany.  So, our plans to go to a WWII museum were thwarted today….seeing as how we’d have to go into the Netherlands to this museum…without any way of knowing how to get around.  It’s very, very crazy getting around here and if we didn’t have our awesome GPS….we would completely be lost.  So, because of the GPS issue, we had a change of plans.  We read about a very cute town near where we’re staying, so we decided that was where we’d go.  It was a gorgeous morning…a perfect day for exploring:

Who needs New England?  We’ve got Germany in the Autumn!  Sometimes I felt like we were in a fairy tale land…it was just so pretty.  We headed to this little town called Monschau.  The first stop was a Glass Maker’s studio where we got to watch the artisans at work.

Within the hour they were displaying their artistic prowess, they cranked out 6 different pieces!  I thought there would be more glass blowing, but really, these guys knew how to blow the glass very minimally, but yet still get the desired shape.  In this picture you can see the artist on the left making a decorative dish while the other artist (on the right) starts on a vase. So, so cool!  We bought a vase from them and I can’t wait to fill it with flowers for years to come. Next up was the Monschau Castle Ruins:

This castle was found high up on the hill and was open to us to just explore.  There were many nooks and crannies to see.

This is the inside of one of the turrets.  So, beautiful.

Look at how small these passageways are!!  Can you imagine having to go through those with 80 lbs of armor on?  NUTS!

I love all of the stonework.  It’s so neat to see…I can only imagine how hard it was to build at the time.

This is the view from the castle walls looking down on the town of Monschau itself.  Isn’t this entire scene just gorgeous?!?!!  Here are a couple of examples of upper middle class housing in Monschau:

Another example of upper middle class housing here:

You find many homes here with these window boxes filled with flowers.  Check out this roof…it’s all actual slate…which is common here:

We walked from the top of the hill down to the town and took a tour of the “Red House” which was home to a textile maker and built back in 1790.  They had a 4 story, freestanding, spiral staircase all made of oak.  Here’s a close-up of the detail on it:

Next, we went to the “photography museum” where they had quite the collection of cameras and this little goodie from 1940:

It’s a camera that was in a Spitfire from WWII.  Totally neat find for Keith.   Walking back up to the car, we saw this on a trash can:

Hahahhahaaa!!  That cracked me up!

So, overall…it was a perfect day.  And as we drive down the highway, the new trees, the windmills and the fluffy clouds were a perfect ending.

For today’s adventure, we decided it would be good to take in a few castle tours.  There are quite a number of them here and in really good shape, surprisingly.  There is a castle association here that has been around since 1900 and it is their job to be sure the preservation of all of these castles are done properly and often.  Apparently, this is the year several castles in the area we went to today were being renovated.  Because of this, we encountered a lot of scaffolding, cranes, etc.  It’s okay by me…as long as they continue to preserve what is here.  Such amazing stuff!  We had time to visit 2 castles today.  The first one is Burg Eltz.  You can find more information here on it (if you so desire).  The first thing we encountered before even getting to the castle was the guard house:

It looks like it’s also being renovated at the moment.  From here, you’re taken down a very steep hill down to the castle.  As you get out of the vehicle, this is what you see:

Notice the cranes and scaffolding.  It’s nuts, but still an amazing structure nonetheless.

Through the “windows” in the wall, you get this view.  Gorgeous in any season!

This is the view up while standing in the Courtyard.  These walls are about 6 feet thick!

Here is a typical door.  They were very short at the time!  After this, we went on a tour of the inside.  I wasn’t allowed to take any pictures inside because the items inside were all original…some from the 900’s!   I can tell you that it was just so neat to see things like that.

This is part of the Armor collection at Burg Eltz.  Notice the joust stick above the armor.

This was part of the Burg Eltz “treasury”.  This lovely item was 1 of a set of 2 there and what’s interesting about this (and all of the other pieces) was that this was pure silver with gold overlay.  Lord knows how much this collection of items are worth today.  Eeep!

One of the many ornate doors at Burg Eltz.

We looked at the time and figured we’d be able to get in one more Castle.  This time we went to Marksburg Castle.  On the way there, we went through several tiny towns that you’d imagine to see in Old Germany.  I almost thought we were driving through a movie set…but no…there are tons of people that live and work there.  Anyway, we made it to Marksburg Castle just in time for the last tour.  By this time, it was pouring down rain on us and my picture taking ability was very limited.  You can find out more about the castle here along with some other pictures since mine doesn’t do it justice.

This is the entry to the main castle through a peephole while we were taking cover from the rain.

And lastly, here’s Keith at the gate to the stable.  The interesting thing about the tours today was seeing the differences between a castle made for a pretty weathly family that just wanted to live there (Burg Eltz) and a castle built for purspose for a more modest family…and to defend their place on the Rhine River.  Very neat.  Not sure what we’ve decided to do tomorrow…but I think there may be some WWII history coming up.  🙂

Today, we decided to go to Cologne to see the Cathedral because it was going to be the best day for photos, weather-wise.  We got out the door relatively early and headed out.  Traffic was pretty light and all I can say is thank goodness we’ve got GPS.  There would be NO WAY we’d be able to get around as easy.

Anyway, we parked the car in the parking structure and when we came up the stairs, we were greeted with this:

I cannot even begin to explain how massive and ovewhelming this structure is.  And the detail…oh…the detail work!   What began as a vision in 1248 was finally completed 632 years later.  Think about that….working on it for six hundred and thirty two years.  Eeep!

This is the South Tower that holds the Belfry…which includes 533 steps up to the top…going around and around in a circle.  It took a while, but I made it.  Up all 533 and back down the same 533.  Besides the fact that I am afraid of heights…climbing 533 steps in a circle almost made me sick….but, I’m proud to say, I made it.

This is the tunnel to the Belfry stairs.  Notice the arch design with multiple arches.  Crazy!

This is me waiting in the Spire Gallery waiting for Keith (who went up a little higher to see the sights).   Notice the graffiti behind me…this is found all over Germany…for some reason.  I’m actually surprised by this.

This is part of the machinery that was used to help build this Cathedral…are you kidding me?!?!?

Some views from the very top of the South Tower:

Now, here are some pictures from the inside of the Cathedral….just as the outside is amazing…the inside is just as breathtaking:

Here is the Organ…the pipes are huge!

Statues are found all over…

You can see the gorgeous stained glass windows behind the statue.  Every single window was different and made up of at least 32 individual panels that each tell a story!  W-O-W!

And now…the floors….and yes, those are all mosaic!

So, overall…it took us a few hours to get through the entire thing.  Maybe it’s just me going slow and really appreciating everything…but it was a really nice day.  We ate a light lunch and headed back to our home base.  Before we got there, we went to the store to pick up some groceries and as a final picture for today…enjoy this…

We’re not sure what it is, but the little bit of German we know, we think it’s something like chocolate covered twinkie like things.  🙂  Until tomorrow…and our next adventure!

After I posted last night, we went to bed…it was 7:30pm here and we couldn’t take it anymore.  Surprisingly, we pretty much slept all the way until 6am…then dozed off here and there until 8am.  Although it was REALLY hard to stay up like that, we felt so much better today and are already acclimated to the time change.

We decided today was going to be a relaxing day…but wanted to venture out a little.  Most everything is closed here in Sunday’s so we were kind of forced into relaxing.  We started our day with a healthy breakfast of greek yogurt (check this out!  It was really good and tasted more like the Greek Yogurt I remember)

Then, we had some grapes…apparently from Greece:

We worked out in the little gym area they have here, then got ready and headed out.  Apparently it’s Greek Day because we were exploring and found this place to eat:

It’s a little odd hearing a Greek person speaking all German.   He did pretty well speaking some English to us, so we both struggled with each other’s language.  😛  But let me tell you something…the food was amazing!   I had Moussaka and Keith had a Gyro plate which does not come with a pita…there was a mixture of all different kinds of Greek foods…mmmm!

And yes, there was indeed Ouzo.  The nice gentleman who served us (whom I believe was the owner) brought out 2 ouzo shots for us.  It smelled nice and Keith of course drank both of them.  🙂  Along with a big stein of beer. Yamas!

We got to meet his son (21 mos.) and he was as cute as can be.  He had curly, curly hair just like my cousin’s son Costa.  Then he proudly showed us a picture of himself when he was a baby and sure enough his son was the spitting image of him!  We may just have to go back there again before we leave this country.   He suggested a place for us to go because there was a nice market going on and the stores would be open.  So, we took his advice and headed off.  The town is called Kommern and it was established in the 14th century.  There was a lot more information about it but it was in German and we could only make out bits and pieces of it.  😀  Here are some examples of the streets (and doorways) in the town:

Keith is trying to figure out what the wording on this house says…it was very interesting to see:

Here is a close up of the wording on the house:

It’s been a really nice day!

Now, it’s time for Keith to enjoy this awesome beer he found:

So…until tomorrow when we go on our next adventure…..because it’s supposed to be nice, we may end up going to Cologne to explore…and maybe a boat trip on the Rhine…we shall see

Well, we made it!  We are finally here in Europe.  And you know what?  We are EXHAUSTED!  It’s just about 6pm local time and somehow we’ve managed to stay awake.  Let me explain…

Our trip began yesterday fairly routine.  Because we were carrying on everything, we didn’t have to wait in ANY horrendous lines at the Delta counter to drop bags.  We strolled right up, had a nice gentleman verify our passports and BAM!  We were on our way to security!  All of that struggle with what to pack and how to fit it was WELL worth it!  We breeze through security and make it in time enough for Keith to enjoy a Rouge beer prior to boarding.  He figured he’d start the vacation right!  🙂  Now it was time to board.  We get on the biggest plane I’ve ever flown on and settle in nicely.  It’s just over 9 hours to Amsterdam and overall, we have a quiet flight.  I tried to sleep a few times, but really didn’t get much more than 3 hours of sleep.  Keith was lucky if he even slept for 2 hours.   As the time got closer to landing, we were greeted with this:

It was definitely a beautiful welcome.  So we land and start to get off the plane.  I went to grab my suitcase from the overhead bin and it somehow got stuck.  I yanked it to try to free it and it came out…right on my face!  Yes, I know…I’m a nerd…but I’m wearing these wounds proudly!  HA!

Yeah…I have had a headache all day.  Oh well.  We made it to our timeshare and got a really nice “apartment” (pictures of it later).  First order of business was to find somewhere to eat.  We found this beautiful restaurant close by on the canal…look at the beautiful blue skies!:

Well, of course, the first thing Keith gets…and I know you will be shocked by this…is a beer.  🙂  He chose a Kolsch:

We both look like we’ve traveled for 16 hours, right?  Well, I can’t take anymore…time to sleep.  I’ll post more tomorrow.  Guten Nacht!

Well, we’re both running on very little sleep, but in mere hours, we’ll be on the plane headed to our destination. We only have to change planes once on this entire trip (thankfully)!  I think I may just be exhausted enough to sleep for a good 4-5 hours (which it’s rare for me to sleep on planes)!    Yes, the majority of our travel is non-stop…from PDX (Portland, OR) to AMS (Amsterdam).  I think it’s a 10-ish hour flight.  After that, we’ll take a hopper to Cologne to our final destination.  Because of the time difference we’ll arrive the next mornng so I think we’ll have to stay active just to try to acclimate ourselves to it.    All I know is…I can’t believe our planning is finally coming to fruition.

Our Backpacks and suitcases….that’s it for 15 days.  I amazed myself with my mad packing skills…hahahhaaha!