GERMANY, ETC - PART ZWEI (TWO) - Part One Below

From Oberammergau we continued north along Germany’s Romantic Road. Our first stop along the route was the old town of Augsburg. It was only the beginning of our journey into the past over the next four days. This part of Germany really is like stepping back in time.

One of the main streets in the city of Augsburg.

I'm not sure why these colorful rhinos were all over the town, but I liked them!

We continued through several picturesque villages to our destination for the day, Rothenburg  ob der Tauber. Our room for the night in the Hotel Spitzweg was located inside the walled, medieval city in a building that dates back to the 1500s. Our innkeeper was an old man who liked to talk and did everything himself – including carrying my suitcase up the narrow, twisting stairway saying he was “old school” concerning women carrying heavy things.



The front of the 500 year old Hotel Spitzweg in Rothenburg. The car is a little newer.



Fortunately, the inside was updated!

We immediately headed out to explore Rothenburg and climbed the Rathaus (Town Hall) tower, our third one of this trip. The wall surrounding the city is covered and can be walked in its entirety but we chose to just do a little of it.

A view from the top of the Rathaus in the city of Rothenburg.

One of the more famous scenes in Rothenburg showing two city gates & a half-timbered house.

Lou rested his camera on one of the beams to get this shot of us on the wall.

After breakfast, we made the short drive to Nuremberg to the Nazi Parade Grounds and Documentation Center. This was Lou’s World War II day. I took my book and found a table at the café while he visited the museum. I have never felt the need or desire to see all the incredible horrors that took place at the hands of Hitler. But for Lou, a big part of this trip was seeing the tunnels, historical places and architecture of that era. Unfortunately, parts of the grounds were closed due to a huge three day rock festival starting the following day.

The Parade Grounds. Apparently Hitler stood on the platform with the railing.

That afternoon we headed to Old Town Nuremberg where we toured Albrecht Durer’s home, Lou’s favorite artist. He pointed out that we have both seen the homes of our favorite artist now (last year I visited Claude Monet’s home outside of Paris).

One of the rooms in Albrecht Durer's house in Nuremberg.

A current day artist demonstrates the process for making engravings.

From there we continued along the Romantic Road to yet another, picturesque town, Bamberg. In many ways, I think Bamberg was my favorite destination. It has some unique sights, including a “Little Venice” area along the river & a unique old Rathaus that is built over the river. Our hotel was in the center of town again & only a couple blocks from the main square. After breakfast we did our own walking tour before packing up & hitting the road.



The view from our hotel window in Bamberg. We had a flower box!



Some gardens we discovered on our walking tour.

Fishermen's homes in the "Little Venice" area of Bamberg.

The former Rathaus built on a bridge across the river.

The town of Weimar was our next destination. Just outside of town was another of Lou’s WWII sights, Buchenwald Concentration Camp. I discovered that the Old Town was the sight of Johann Wolfgang Goethe’s home & garden which sounded like a fun tour. Goethe (pronounced Gerta) was a poet & artist who wrote Faust.

After careful planning and time coordinating, Lou dropped me off a couple blocks from the Old Town and headed to his concentration camp. There is something a little exhilarating about being on your own in a foreign country – not sure why but it feels a bit decadent. The tour was actually quite interesting with details in English on a headset.

The garden was beautiful and reminded me a little of Monet’s garden in Giverny although this was no where near as large. Photos were only allowed in the garden.

The home of Johan Goethe in Weimar.

Some of Goethe's gardens. The flowers in Germany were amazing!

After wandering around the Old Town, I returned to our meeting place where Lou arrived right on schedule. We took a walk through the old streets & plazas before enjoying pizza & beer for dinner at a sidewalk café.

Enjoying pizza & beer at a sidewalk cafe in Weimar.

All in all, I enjoyed the German food. The schnitzel was good but I’m not a huge meat eater. Potato salad & bratwurst (plus many other “wursts”) can be found everywhere. One evening I tried their version of macaroni & cheese called “spatzel” which was really tasty. The beer & wine flow freely which was all great. And, we managed to avoid the e-coli poisoning that was plaguing Berlin.

On the negative side, I’ve got to say that barely cool coke with no ice & sparkling water aren’t my favorites. And what’s up with having lunch for breakfast? Every place serves bread, lunchmeat & cheese for breakfast!

Our last destination before arriving in Berlin was a day in Dresden. The city was destroyed by bombs during the war & completely rebuilt in recent years. It looks just as old as everything else we saw. It really is an amazingly beautiful city.

Part of the Zwinger Palace in Dresden. The weather was perfect.

The Sempre Opera House, a Dresden landmark.

One of my other highlights of this trip was the view from the top of our fourth tower of the trip. This one had an elevator part way up followed by a ramp that circled the inside of the dome of the Frauenkircke (a famous church in Dresden). These are my favorite photos of the trip.

The Elbe River snaking through Dresden.

I took three photos, turning slightly each time, from the top of the Frauenkircke.

It was a breathtaking view, for sure!

We stopped in Potsdam (a suburb of Berlin) to see the Cecilienhof Palace which is a gorgeous English manor house, now a hotel. It was the meeting place for the Potsdam Conference after the war.

The Cecilienhof Palace, sight of the Potsdam Conference.

Don't know what building this is, I just liked it with the lake.

I'm sure this duck knew he was creating a great photo op!

After going out of our way to stop at the Olympic Stadium where Jesse Owens won gold medals to spoil Hitler’s domination of the 1936 Summer Games, it was closed due to a concert that evening. We could only see it from the outside. Oh, well, can’t win ‘em all.

That afternoon we returned our rental car & Anke picked us up at the airport to take us to their home. It was so nice to just ride in a car & not have to figure out where we were going! 

The whole family was waiting to greet us – Lou’s sister, Biggi, her husband, Peter; Anke, Biggi & Peter’s daughter, her husband, Florian and their two boys, Luca (5 years) & Joshua (8 months); and Florian’s mother, Mony. Or as they introduced her, Oma Mony – she speaks no English & has some health issues. I learned that Oma is grandma in German – hmmm, maybe that can be my grandma name? After all, I am about half German.

All the rest of them speak English well – except Joshua, of course, although he certainly has no problem getting what he wants. His name is pronounced Yosh-wa in German. It was such fun to practice my grandma skills with a baby!

Me with Joshua and Luca.

Lou and Biggi.

Florian holding Joshua who appears to be a future gymnast.

Lou enjoying a moment with Anke & the kids.

Biggi & Peter in Berlin.

The following day everyone except Biggi spent the day at Berlin’s Technology Museum. It is huge with hundreds of trains, boats & airplanes among other displays. Biggi has difficulty walking due to hip problems so she cooked us a great dinner of traditional goulash with all the fixings while we were out sightseeing. It was absolutely delicious!

One of the many unusual airplanes in the museum.

Peter & Luca checking out an exhibit at the Technology Museum.

Our last full day was spent exploring Berlin. Lou & Florian took off in the car to explore a bunch of locations on Lou’s list – yep, you guessed it – of World War II sights. J Peter, Biggi & I did one of the City Tours on a hop on/hop off bus so I could see all the traditional sights – the Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie, the Holocaust Memorial, remnants of the Wall, etc. Anke and the kids stayed home so she could pack for their vacation which started the next day.

The view from my fifth vantage point high above Potsdamer Platz in downtown Berlin.

All that remains of Checkpoint Charlie, a shack in the middle of the road.

The East Side Gallery - murals on parts of the original Berlin Wall.

The Brandenburg Gate.

A piece of modern folklore - the hotel where Michael Jackson dangled his baby from a balcony.

The Holocaust Memorial in Berlin.

That evening we took everyone to dinner. I had some wonderful carbonara at their favorite Italian restaurant. It was another great trip – I added five countries to my list, Lou added one. And, hopefully, my new “family” will come visit us sometime so we can return the hospitality!

Left to right - Oma Mony, Joshua, Florian, Lou, Kathy, Luca, Anke, Peter & Biggi.

Auf wiedersehen!