Saturday Sept. 4: German Castles and a Luge!

This morning our bus took us back across the border into Germany.  Our first stop was in Schwangau, where we toured two castles.

The first, Hohenschwangau, dates back to the 16^th century, but was restored beginning in 1833.  Apparently Mad King Ludwig spent time there as a child. 

We had a guided tour; no pictures were allowed inside, but I quite legally snapped one out a window.

Somewhere along the line Ludwig became a bit obsessed with swans.  I don’t remember what the name of this fountain really is, but I chose to call it the Gargling Swan.

In the environs of this fountain, I gracefully stepped off the edge of the pavement, gracefully fell, and skinned my knee.  As I was trying to ad lib a bandage for my bleeding knee, a Japanese gentleman offered me two band aids from inside his wallet.  He insisted I take two.  That is my favorite memory from that morning—not the fall, but the nice stranger.  Later I was able to pay it forward by passing the second band aid to another woman in our tour group who had an owie on her foot.



After touring this first castle, we reported back to the bus to be issued our sack lunches.  Tom thought the hidden kitchen on the bus was so cool, he wanted his picture taken with it.  (Oooh, look at the microwave:  it looks like there’s a torso in it…. You would think that was my reflection, but it’s not.  Haunted microwave?)

We consumed our lunches at the lake nearby, and said hello to some swans (appropriately) before we started on a 20-minute uphill walk to our second castle of the day.






When Mad Ludwig ascended to the throne he was inspired by his memories of Hohenschwangau to spend his subjects’ money with even more abandon, to reach greater heights of grandeur and conspicuous consumption:  thus, Neuschwanstein.

Fabulous fact:  This is the castle that inspired the design of  Cinderella's Castle at Walt Disney World.  The best view of it can be had from the Marienbrucke Bridge, which is farther uphill, up the gorge.  So after we took the close-up picture, we kept walking and took this picture from the bridge.

Ludwig began cracking the whip on construction of this castle in 1869, and the project continued until 1886.  At that point Ludwig’s subjects had had enough of him and he was booted from the throne.  Shortly thereafter he was found dead in the lake along with his psychiatrist or psychologist or whatever.  Was it suicide, accident or murder?  The mystery has never been solved.  Anyway, Neuschwanstein was never completed and it was never really lived in.  The completed floors went directly to tourism, do not pass go, do not pour any more taxes into Mad Ludwig’s narcissism.  We got to tour the first and third floors if I remember correctly.  One of the other floors is devoted to a souvenir shop (Daniela called them schnick schnacks.)

Again, no pictures allowed inside the castle, but there was a balcony with a nice view of the bridge we had visited.  Pretty cool, huh?  Very deep gorge.

And looking the other direction, back down the hill, you can see Hohenschwangau (the bright peach-colored spot behind Tom) and the lake where we ate our lunch.

After we hiked back down the hill, it was time to board the bus to head out to the absolute highlight of my day:  a ride on a summer luge!

See the smile on my face?  It’s extremely genuine, and full of anticipation!  Behind me you can see the luge track heading straight uphill—that’s the part where they drag you and your sled up to the top.  If you look closely you can see the downhill part snaking back and forth.

 Tom took this picture as we were being towed to the top for our second run.  On the first run I was behind him, and he was behind a guy who was going too slow, so that was a little disappointing.  But the second run was wide open, and I’m proud to report Tom did not catch up to me until I was slowing down at the end.  I totally had the technique down and I wanted to go again, but alas, Mom (Daniela) made us get back on the bus.  And then it started to rain, so we wouldn’t have been able to go again anyway.

Nothing like a fine adrenalin rush, followed by a rainy bus ride, ending with a rainbow, to wrap up the day!

Friday Sept. 3: Dachau, Wieskirche, Reutte

The day started out well enough:  Our bus driver, Paul, told me the Rothenburg breakfast would be the best of the tour, and in fact would be picture-worthy.  He was right.

After breakfast we left Rothenburg and headed for Dachau.   En route Daniela discussed with us what it was like to grow up in post-WWII Germany, and to live with the national guilt brought about by WWII.

She said this day of the tour was always tough for her.

At Dachau I started to take the tour with the group, but early on I realized I was going to make a fool of myself so I bailed.  I’m not too proud of my lack of backbone, but there it is. 

I sat on the lawn and took pictures of flowers (I guess some would call them weeds) in the grass, and then clicked back through the previous days of happy touring pictures.  Wimp.

After Tom was finished looking through the building with the pictures and narratives that I was hiding from, we finished walking the grounds together.

At the top of the gate are the words “ARBEIT MACHT FREI” (WORK BRINGS FREEDOM). There was a very old German man who handed Tom his camera and asked him, through gestures, to take his picture in front of the gate.   I wondered what his story might have been.

When we were getting back on the bus, I suggested to Daniela that she read the autobiography written by Frederick Douglass to gain some perspective on the ability of another so-called civilized country to turn a blind eye to horrific cruelty.  Reflecting further on my own, I remembered reading that American soldiers during WWII found the German people and their way of life to be most like home.  I also remembered the feeling of comfort I had with Dutch society when we were there at the beginning of our tour.  Some member of that society during WWII apparently considered it their patriotic duty to tell the “authorities” about the Frank family and their hiding place.  Did they consider the Franks to be a danger to homeland security?  Did unquestioning patriotism demand they be turned in?  Just wondering.

Next stop:  Wieskirche, the Church of the Scourged Savior, located in a pasture southwest of Dachau and Munich. 

The Scourged Savior

In the mid-18^th century, a small statue of Christ in chains was kicked out of the local Good Friday procession because people thought it was too pitiful (i.e. too realistically miserable-looking.) 

The statue was hidden away in a monastery attic for a few years and then moved to a farmer’s house.  There, the farmer and his wife witnessed tears in the statue’s eyes, and thus began the prayers, pilgrimages, etc. 

 Then this amazing Baroque church was built for it.  And here the church and the Scourged Savior sit today—still in the pasture.  And the pilgrimages continue.



Wieskirche



 

We ended our day at the Hotel Ernberg in Reutte, Austria, a really nice Tirolean town.  Before our group dinner at the hotel, Tom and I took a stroll through a beautiful cemetery at the nearby Catholic Church.  Each grave had its own well-tended little garden, and some even had burning candles.

Later we watched the sun set while standing in the schoolyard behind our hotel.  And all the church bells in town were ringing.  What an amazing and really peaceful way to end the day.



 

Thursday Sept. 2: Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany

An early-morning start and a four-hour bus ride took us from Bacharach to Rothenburg, a very cute, touristy medieval Bavarian town.  Over the centuries, Rothenburg has had its good times and its really, really bad times, and in the present time the town has been saved by tourism.

The town wall, bombed during WWII, has been reconstructed with the help of donations from individuals all over the world, including the USA.  When you walk along the top of the wall, you can see plaques with the donors’ names and home towns, and how many meters of wall they paid for.

Most of our day in Rothenburg was free for us to explore as we wished. 

After a lunch of schnitzel and beer at a sidewalk café, Tom and I climbed the Town Hall tower for a really great aerial view, and after that we visited Rothenburg’s Catholic Church, which has an altarpiece that supposedly contains a drop of Christ’s blood.

We climbed the white tower.



The town square with very tiny people.



Rothenburg at our feet!

The Catholic church from the tower.

Inside the church.

 

Pretty.  Note the pipe organ.



We finished up our afternoon by walking on the town wall back to our hotel.

 

We climbed to the top of one of the watchtowers along the wall for a few more pictures.  This one shows the wall and the contrast between historic Rothenburg inside the wall and the newer part of town outside.

After dark, our tour group met at the town square to take the Night Watchman’s Tour.  This guy has made a job for himself leading tours around, multiple times a night in different languages, and (it was my impression) kind of doing a German-accent imitation of Eric Idle, the guy from Monte Python.  He did have historic information to relate though, so it was worthwhile and silly at the same time.

We finished our evening with gelato—and we weren’t even in Italy yet!

The trip is over, but I haven't given up on this thing yet! (Written by Karen)

OK, so we've been back since Sept. 21.  But that doesn't mean I can't still finish this thing.  So if you're still interested in hearing about our late, great trip, let's continue where I left off a month ago.

Tues. Aug. 31:  A Dutch Open-Air Museum, and then on to Bacharach, Germany

Before we crossed the border from the Netherlands into Germany, we stopped at Arnhem to visit a Dutch open-air museum,  which displayed antique houses, farms and factories from different parts of the Netherlands.

 

While we were there we were treated to very robust pancake lunch.  We sat at tables of four people, and we had three courses, each consisting of a pancake about the size of a large pizza, which we divided into fourths.  By the time we finished the dessert (pancake number three), we each had had the opportunity to eat the equivalent of 3/4 of one of those things.  I must say that not everyone at my table stepped up, but I certainly did!  I can't speak for Tom--he was at a different table--but I'm sure he gave it his best shot.

I wish Tom or I had thought to take a picture of one of those delectable monsters.  You'll just have to use your imagination!

At about 6PM we arrived at Bacharach, Germany, a beautiful old town on the Rhine River.  Castles, castles, everywhere-- even our hotel was in an 800-year-old castle!  And Tom and I scored the most amazing room, with views of the Rhine out one window, and the town--with yet another old castle on the hill above--out the other.  Beautiful!

Karen in front of our hotel--in a castle!

The Rhine River from our window.  And more castles.

The view out our other window: Bacharach--and a castle!

Wed. Sept. 1:  Tours of Bacharach and Rheinfels Castle

This morning we were privileged to go on a guided tour of Bacharach, led by one of its own sons, Herr Rolf Jung.  This was to be Herr Jung's last tour--at the tender age of 79 going on 80, he has decided to move on to other things.

Herr Jung grew up in Bacharach, and he shared his memories of World War II as seen through the eyes of an adolescent boy.  There were times during our tour when many of us were close to tears.

After showing us around his town, he took us on an uphill hike to a very old watchtower that has stood sentry on a hill above the town since about the 14th century.  On the way, we passed Riesling vineyards clinging to steep slopes.  The grapes are basically growing in slate rock, which apparently suits the Riesling grapes just fine.

This contraption helps harvest grapes on hills!

The view of Bacharach from the tower.

 At the end of our tour, Herr Jung read us a passage from a book called German Boy, A Child in War, which was written by an acquaintance of his, Wolfgang W. E. Samuel.  Again, misty eyes all around (in particular the lady in the lower right corner wearing the green jacket.)

To sum up, we all agreed Herr Jung is a class act.

After our Bacharach tour, we loaded into the bus and drove downriver to St. Goar.  After lunch, we were scheduled for a guided tour of Rheinfels Castle, which sits atop a hill overlooking the town.  Another uphill walk--this one a bit longer--and we arrived at the ruins of what was once a magnificant castle.  What happened to it?  Well apparently a company of Napoleon's soldiers invited themselves to stay there, enjoyed their stay very much, and then destroyed it when they left.  Yay.

 

Tom is in the green jacket behind the person in black jacket and scarf.  Daniela, our tour guide, is behind him.



View of the castle ruins from the tip top.





View of St. Goar from the tip top.

After our tour, we all boarded a boat to cruise back up the Rhine to Bacharach.

Beautiful scenery--castles, castles, castles-- remnants of feudal times.



Sharing a strudel en route.



Bacharach--you can see the tower we visited with Herr Jung just to the right of center.

Back at our hotel, Daniela invited us all to join her on the terrace to visit with a German gentleman who was very knowledgeable about German and European Union economic and social issues.  Nice evening, good wine, great conversation!

Thus ended a very busy day!