Category Archives: Rhein

churches, Rhein, Sundays

Heavenly windows by Marc Chagall and heavenly eating at Heiliggeist…

Last month, when Bill and I went to Zürich, we visited the Fraumünster church. That church is famous for having beautiful stained glass windows created by the Jewish French-Russian artist, Marc Chagall. I wasn’t familiar with Marc Chagall before we saw his windows in Switzerland last month. After I posted some photos on social media, a German friend told me that I could also see Chagall’s work in Mainz, at The Collegiate Church of St. Stephan. We live close to Mainz, but before yesterday, we hadn’t been there in a long time. Not only did COVID-19 keep us away, but there was also some construction being done on the bridge over the Rhein River which made crossing over there problematic. The bridge connects our home state of Hesse with Rheinland-Pfalz. I had actually forgotten that going to Mainz means leaving the state!

I think the last time Bill and I went to Mainz, it was to see my old friend, C.W., who is an American learning about German wines. I worked with C.W. in Colonial Williamsburg, back in the late 1990s. C.W. moved to Washington, DC and worked in a succession of fancy restaurants. He later decided he wanted to work in the wine industry, so he’s been getting educated. In the fall of 2019, he came to Germany to work at a winery as part of his education. He came back in the spring of 2020, just before COVID shut everything down. We weren’t able to see him on that visit, and we didn’t visit Mainz again last year or this year. That means that yesterday’s visit occurred almost two years after our last one! We had a good time yesterday. We’ll have to visit Mainz more often, now that we’re vaccinated. It really is a neat town with much to discover.

After looking at the location of St. Stephan’s Church, Bill decided he’d like to go out to eat. He found Heiliggeist Restaurant (Holy Spirit) on Open Table and decided that its status as the oldest citizen hospital in Germany fit nicely with our church theme. He made reservations for 3:30pm because, apparently, there weren’t any earlier ones available. I’m not sure why that is, since there were plenty of tables available when we were there yesterday. But anyway, the church was open for visitation from 12pm until 4pm, so the late lunch/early dinner time slot worked out fine. We took my neglected Mini Cooper, since the weather was fine and I could put the top down. I had forgotten how different the atmosphere is in Mainz, compared to Wiesbaden. It’s a refreshing change of pace.

After parking at the theater garage, we trudged uphill to the church. It was about a ten minute walk from where we parked. I hadn’t realized the church wasn’t in the old part of the city and was kind of unimpressed with the neighborhood that surrounded it. From the outside, St. Stephan looks like so many of the other churches in Germany. That’s not to say it isn’t a beautiful or impressive structure. It is a very lovely church, especially compared to many American churches. I’m just saying that compared to a lot of churches in Europe, from the outside, it didn’t look any more or less spectacular.

On the way out of Mainz-Kastel, there are many impressive murals on buildings. This is one.
Look carefully, and you can see a fabulous slide. I love that Germany has so many fun playgrounds for kids. Makes me wish I could have been one here.
A cryptic line on a building. Bill thought it was referring to The Matrix. My German friend says it’s about this…
St. Stephan as we walked near.
I had no idea what I was about to see.
The front door. I donned a mask and disinfected my hands…

But then we went inside, and my mind immediately changed about the beauty of St. Stephan… I was overcome by the cool, soothing, incredibly beautiful, and peaceful mood cast by the extraordinary blue windows… The entire inside of the church is bathed in a blue glow made by Chagall’s windows, the first of which was installed in 1978. Chagall was 91 years old in 1978, and he lived until 1985, which only goes to show you that when it comes to great accomplishments, age really is just a number.

As I took in the azure splendor of the great artist’s work, I realized that I much preferred Chagall’s windows in Mainz to Chagall’s windows in Switzerland. A bonus is, it costs nothing to visit this church. In Zürich, we had to pay five Swiss Francs each admission to see a few of Chagall’s windows.

Of course, I might have loved these windows more because my favorite color is blue. I also just loved the way they all worked in concert to give the church an overall mood. I donated some change to the church while Bill lit a candle for his father, then he purchased a CD of the organ and some postcards at the gift shop. He says he’s going to try his hand at picture framing. Since my dad made his post Air Force living framing pictures, it’s a shame he’s no longer around to show Bill the ropes. The CD is, of course, for me. I am more moved by music than visual artistic endeavors. My mom was a church organist for over 50 years, so I probably have more of an appreciation for organ music than a lot of people do. However, as I listen to the music now as I compose this post, it occurs to me that if I could have been listening to it while touring the church, I probably would have been overwhelmed. I definitely am glad we took the time to visit St. Stephan and see these gorgeous windows! The church itself has an incredibly long history, having been established in 990. It is the only church in Germany that has windows by Marc Chagall, and I must say, the windows dazzled me! What an inspiration!

Exiting through the peaceful courtyard…
They are making a habitat for bees…
We passed this peaceful square on our way to the old town, where Heiliggeist awaited.

It took about ten or fifteen minutes to walk from the church to the old town. I needed a restroom, but we had about an hour before our reservation at Heiliggeist, so Bill and I decided to stop at a cafe. I took some more photos on the way down. Mainz really is a nice town, and there’s still a lot we haven’t seen or done there.

I still have yet to visit the inside of the Dom.
The cafe filled up right after I took this photo.
Cafe Dinges had some beautiful cakes on display…
And lots of people stopped in for coffee and cake. We were there mainly so I could pee. We did have a round of beverages there, though. The staff also kindly gave a homeless looking man some water. We’ll have to go back and have dessert sometime.

At last, it was time to head to the restaurant. Thanks to COVID, everybody was sitting outside. I was a little disappointed, because I wanted to see the interior. I did get a few shots of the inside of the restaurant, but I would have preferred to eat indoors. Actually, I prefer eating indoors most of the time, as the seating is usually more comfortable; there’s no smoking; and we don’t have to contend with insects or other creatures. But the weather was good yesterday and it wasn’t too hot outside, so aside from uncomfortable chairs, I can’t complain too much.

Heiliggeist serves “fusion” food– Asian inspired and “new German”. They have a full bar, and a summer “carte”, as well as menu staples. Bill had the “Lachs Bowl”, which was very “Asian inspired.” I had the cold roast beef, which was more of a European thing. We both really enjoyed the food and the service. Prices are reasonable. Both my dish and Bill’s were priced below twenty euros each.

The outside of the restaurant. It used to be a hospital. As we approached, a grandfather was chasing his little toddler granddaughter back and forth. It was a charming scene.
Bill checks the menu.
He ordered some local wine…
Bill ordered the Asian inspired “Lachs Bowl”, which was salmon with rice, edamame, and vegetables.
I had the cold roast beef from Argentina. It came with roasted potatoes and a horseradish sauce.
The inside of Heiliggeist.
I had cheesecake for dessert. It was warm, gooey, and delicious, and came with raspberry ice cream.
Bill had the brownie, which was delightful because it wasn’t a lava cake. It came with vanilla ice cream and walnuts.
They had these outdoor “booths”. I suppose they could be covered in bad weather.
On the way to the restroom, I was amused by the rabbit lamp.
This is a private party room. There was a party going on.
A couple of shots of the garden…
I didn’t like the chairs at all, though.

After about two hours at Heiliggeist, we headed back to the parking garage, which was about fifteen minutes away by foot. I took a few more images. All told, we walked about 2.5 miles. At least, that’s what my iPhone tells me.

A couple of views of the Dom…
We walked down a side street because I wanted to check out a couple of other restaurants nearby.
Another shot of Heiliggeist.
Large tour groups are back in Mainz. Just before I took this shot, some idiot ran into the street from his car, stopped at a light. Why? Because he dropped his cigarettes out the window. I think he then challenged another car to a race.
Idiot running in the street.

We got back to the house at about 6:00pm. Arran and Noyzi were very happy to see us and gave us joyful greetings. We went to bed feeling pleasantly tired by the day’s activities. I think we need to spend more time in Mainz. It really is a nice town, and it’s so different than Wiesbaden is on so many levels. I feel fortunate that we have this chance to live in another part of Germany besides Stuttgart, and experience how different the regions are. I continue to be grateful that we can live here and see so much.

And here’s what St. Stephan’s organ sounds like… Heavenly! Wish I could have heard this majestic organ as we were gazing at the beautiful windows.
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My pandemic birthday… part two

At last, it was Friday. I was not wanting to pack a bag to go on our trip. I felt nervous, and it seemed like a waste of time and money to go anywhere. I even wrote about my apprehension on my main blog, which I will warn is a hell of a lot rawer, less positive, and more political than this blog is. Because I’ve been watching the news a lot, I got the sense that this trip would not be any fun. I had visions of people watching everyone else, giving them the side eye for any face mask infraction and maybe even engaging in shaming.

Having been called out by strangers on more than one occasion when we lived near Stuttgart, I figured things could easily get hostile in Hesse, even though it seems like Hessians are somewhat friendlier and less in your face than some of their southern brethren are. I’ve seen people get yelled at, for example, when they cross the street before the “green man” is showing. One time in 2007, when I was still very new to Germany, I mistakenly walked through a children’s playground with my dogs, and some lady yelled at me for that. I didn’t understand her German shouting and didn’t know it’s forbidden to walk dogs in playgrounds, so I got very upset.

I know it sounds silly… Some people would tell me to grow up. I will admit that I don’t like confrontations and I tend to get highly pissed off when people get in my face. It takes me a long time to get over it, too… I have a long memory and a tendency to hold grudges, which I know isn’t the best way to be. But that’s how I am. It’s a hang up from my childhood. I prefer to avoid situations that will be triggering, even though I know a lot of people would make fun of me for that. And I, in turn, will hold grudges against them for the ensuing trauma caused.

One of the reasons I felt inclined to stay home was that, at home, I don’t have to worry about dealing with other people. I can do what I want, eat when and what I want, and sit around in my nightgown. But that’s not healthy, nor is it necessarily the right thing to do to people who are trying to restart the economy. If everyone felt like I was feeling the other day, a lot of businesses would fail in a hurry. It’s kind of a duty to go out and spend money and see things… and I think that as much as some people complain about tourists, once this pandemic has reached its end, more people will appreciate tourists and the business they generate.

I grew up near Williamsburg, Virginia, and that is a very heavily populated tourist area. I used to do a lot of bitching about the tourists… but I also know that without the tourists, a lot of people would not have jobs. When I was younger, my own livelihood depended a lot on tourists. Tourism is also good for the soul, and it helps curb ignorant thinking. If you go out and see the world, you will open your mind.

So… with all of that in mind on Friday afternoon, Bill and I loaded up the Volvo with our overnight bags and headed off to Hofheim. Hofheim is a whopping twenty minutes away, and also where the famed Tierklink Hofheim is. Our former vet in Herrenberg said that is one of the best veterinary hospitals in all of Germany. Having taken Zane (RIP) there a couple of times, Bill and I concur. I remember when she told me about that clinic, I worried about how I would manage taking Zane there when we lived so far away. Now, we’re just a twenty minute drive from there, and the place where I turned 48 (gulp).

The Vital Hotel is located in a suburban area, with lots of hardware stores nearby. There’s an Aldi very close, although it’s separated from the hotel complex by a large field. I think it usually costs to park at the Therme, but when we left, the arm to the lot was open. Anyway, we were able to drive right into the parking lot, grab our bags, and approach the front desk. Everyone was wearing masks and there were signs like this one, reminding us to stand back.

These signs were everywhere, so you couldn’t forget.

We signed into the hotel. The receptionist took our contact information, since contact tracing is being done here. You tell hotels and restaurants your name and phone number and they keep track of the times when you are in an establishment. If a coronavirus case is detected and you’ve been exposed, they will contact you. If not, your information will be destroyed within four weeks. I know a lot of Americans don’t like this because they think it’s an invasion of privacy. Personally, I’m not bothered by it, because Germany has very strict privacy laws.

The “watch”… you get these at most water parks/Thermes in Germany. They’re very handy!

The receptionist handed us “watches” that served as our key to our room and allowed access to the Therme. Bill and I are familiar with the “watches”, since they are used at a lot of Thermes in Germany. They keep track of your time, allow you to access a locker in the changing rooms, and you can use them to pay for things so you don’t have to carry money in the Therme or the rest of the hotel. She also gave us hand sanitizer and a list of rules we had to follow because of the virus. Masks were compulsory in common areas, especially when it wasn’t possible to keep a distance. I think they also gave out disposable face masks to those who didn’t have them, but Bill and I didn’t need that. We were asked to tell the receptionist when we thought we’d want breakfast. I’m sure that was done to prevent too many people coming into the restaurant at once.

Bill booked a “deluxe” room, so we were assigned room 134. Here’s what it looked like:

The bed was very nice. I was glad I brought an extra pillow from home, though. I like a bit more support than this very typical setup.
The shower. It didn’t get the best pressure, but I liked the toiletries. I noticed the wall dispensers that a lot of hotels have been using to cut costs and waste were removed. I guess it’s more important to cut the risk of transferring the virus than saving the Earth.
Toilet and sink. The toiler is low flow, so I was glad there was a brush there so I could clean the remnants of my dumps. Then… I’d need to flush again. Tell me, how is it environmentally friendly to force people to flush more than once to get the bowl clean? Boggles the mind!
Another view of the bed. Towels for the spa, robes, and slippers are included. I brought my own.
The view from our room. A lot of rooms have this view from the tiny balcony, which has two chairs. One friend asked me if I was staying at Slaughterhouse Five.
The rest of the view.
The TV. We never turned it on. The remote is sealed in plastic.

The room was pretty clean, although the duvets looked a bit dingy. I was surprised it was a deluxe room, though. It seemed a bit small, and I thought the regular double sized rooms must be tiny. Bill said the difference between the double rooms and the deluxe rooms was a mere two square meters. They also have junior suites, but Bill wasn’t offered the choice to reserve one of those when he did an online booking.

Once we checked in and Bill brought everything in, I was still feeling anxious. In retrospect, we probably should have just hit the pools. Our room was right near the elevator that goes directly to the Therme and the Panorama Bar, which is on the third floor and slowly rotates so that patrons get views of the Taunus and Frankfurt city skyline. We had to take a different elevator to get to the room from the hotel. Getting to the room actually took some walking. The hotel isn’t tall, but it is kind of spread out. I get the sense, based on the construction of the Therme, that the Therme existed before the hotel did by a number of years. Consequently, they aren’t exactly seamlessly or conveniently constructed.

It wasn’t long until dinner time, and dinner was included in our rate. We went down at about 6:00 and were presented with the daily specials. The restaurant also offers a la carte items like steaks and burgers, as well as a kids’ menu. Here are some pictures of what we had in the restaurant, as well as the vending machines that were on the hall…

Coffee machine… but no coffee cups!
No need for mini bars. The vending machines have sodas, juices, water, beer, and wine.
Lots of candy and chips are available too, as well as condoms and a “personal pleasure kit”. I didn’t look too carefully at that, but Bill said it included a feather.
We came down to the restaurant wearing masks and promptly removed them once we sat down. The tables were all set quite far apart.
The bread was served warm, with butter.
Bill had veal tartar with a poached egg and salad. He liked it.
I had gazpacho– cold tomato soup with croutons. It tasted a little bitter on the finish, so I didn’t finish it.
We had a bottle of chilled Sauvignon Blanc! First restaurant wine in months!
I had dorade filet with brocolli and sweet potato puree. I don’t usually like sweet potatoes, but the puree was good. The dorade was a bit oversalted and the broccoli made me a bit queasy.
Bill had the vegetarian option…Parmesan risotto with asparagus. It was supposed to come with sun dried tomatoes, too, but the chef evidently forgot. I liked his dish better than mine.
Finally, there was dessert. I had mascarpone with a berry compote. It was pretty nice…
and Bill enjoyed a cheese course, which I can’t comment on.

Cash is not being accepted at a lot of places. That’s kind of weird for Germany, which took a long time to get on the credit card bandwagon. The wine was not included in the half board plan, so Bill had to sign for that. Then we put on our masks and headed to the very cool Panorama Bar. I think that was probably my favorite thing about our weekend, despite the very loud Euro dance music. The bar slowly rotates, so you can sit in a very high backed booth and watch the scenery or sit outside on the terrace. The staff is friendly and attentive, and it was just a lot of fun to be in a bar after weeks of lockdown… I drank many cocktails! Luckily, they weren’t very strong.

You can step outside for fresh air and a smoke… and a view of Frankfurt.
I enjoyed the bar, but you can’t sit at it.
Bill had a Negroni…
I had a Grasshopper, which I haven’t had in many years.
I took a photo of Frankfurt as we passed very slowly.
Another shot of the bar! Boy, have I missed them.
The tables all have these handy cubes on them. You touch “Service” if you want to order and “Pay” if you want to pay. A staff member will come to you and the music will turn down for a second.
Brandy Alexander…
A view of the other side. It kind of reminded me of the drive to Tübingen on B28. I have missed mountain ridges, even though we do have them here. They just aren’t as big or prevalent.
Service!
As you can see, it’s easy to social distance with these booths. They’re very tall and private. I loved them.
Bill had a martini and I had another cocktail, a French 75… it was selected by Bill. I think it was the first time I ever had one. Made with gin, simple syrup, and champagne… perfect!
At about 10:00pm, the sun finally sank and so did Bill’s brain…
It was time to pay up and go to bed.

I know it seems funny to be so excited about a bar, especially one that plays music I would never play at home. But– I have really missed going out, and I have missed being in bars. I also enjoyed the panorama, even though the view wasn’t so awesome as we passed the machinery on top of the hotel’s roof. It really allowed me to forget about the pandemic for awhile, even if I had to strap on a mask to go to the bathroom. But that wasn’t really rigidly enforced, either.

One of the songs played in the bar. I actually hate this kind of music, but I got a kick out of the lyrics of this song, some of which I easily understood. I ended up Shazaming it.
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A quick dash to St. Goar…

We had beautiful weather again today, with lots of sunshine and perfect temperatures. October is usually chilly in Germany and last week, we did have cold, rainy weather. But this long Columbus Day weekend has been splendid so far, making me sad that we didn’t take a trip somewhere. Instead of going to a new place, we decided to visit a couple of the holiday spots that are near us. Yesterday, it was Worms. Today, we went to St. Goar, which is a darling little town right on the Rhein River. It’s famous for being the site of Loreley, which is a legendary steep, slate rock on the right bank of the river that lured many a sailor to his death.

I first visited Saint Goar in 1997, when I finished my Peace Corps assignment and flew from Yerevan, Armenia to Frankfurt, Germany, and took a month long train trip on a Eurailpass. My first stop on that trip was to Bacharach, which is a 650 year old cute little town on the Rhein that was recommended by travel guru Rick Steves. Steves mentioned St. Goar, and since it was pretty close to Bacharach, I took a short train ride there and wandered around a bit.

In 2014, Bill and I took a farewell to the Army trip to Germany and France. Our last stop, before we went to Ramstein Air Force Base and flew back to Texas, was in Bacharach. I had told him about the town so many times during the early years of our marriage, so we finally went there so he could see it for himself. I remember that visit turned out to be special for a couple of reasons. First of all, we ran into some Germans who were celebrating Father’s Day with their sons. They were mostly drunk, but very convivial, and one of them told Bill about how the U.S. Army helped his family escape East Germany before it became an Eastern Bloc state. And secondly, I remember telling Bill as I sipped a one liter krug of housemade beer, that I felt sure that we would be moving back to Germany. Sure enough, weeks after we returned to the States, Bill had a job offer in Stuttgart and we were on our way back to Deutschland, where we’ve been ever since.

And then, a few months ago, we went back to Bacharach. I’d been wanting to visit again for awhile, especially since we now live within an hour’s drive from it. Because of the dogs, we never end up spending enough time when we take these little trips. Now that we just have Arran, it’s a little bit easier. Hell, we should probably just take him with us. I had originally given some thought to going to Heidelberg, but the weather was so perfect and, because it’s a Sunday, going to Heidelberg where one can do some shopping, would be kind of a waste. Maybe we’ll go there tomorrow.

Since we’ve been to Bacharach a couple of times, we went to St. Goar. It took a bit longer to get there today because of road work on the Autobahn that held us up. Then, once we got on the two lane road that runs alongside the river, we were behind a BMW convertible out for a Sunday drive. I couldn’t blame the Beamer’s driver, though. We were in my Mini with the top down, soaking up what may be the last rays before perma-gloom sets in for the winter.

  • We were behind this guy for miles…
  • Bacharach’s fancy youth hostel…
  • Fortunately, we were enjoying the ride…
  • And I got some good photos from the car.
  • This is about where the river changes direction a bit…

Naturally, St. Goar was packed with people. Parking was scarce, so Bill ended up driving up the side of the mountain that flanks the Rhein on the left bank. We pulled into the Rheinfels Romantic Hotel, which doubles as a cheesy tourist trap. We had to, really, because Bill had to pee like a racehorse. It was also getting late in the afternoon and we needed lunch. You can stay at the hotel, tour the castle, and eat lunch on a terrace that overlooks the river. They have a bistro there that doesn’t shut down, but serves very simple food, drinks, and desserts.

I would have liked to have checked out the castle, but we were a bit pressed for time. So here are some photos from our trip today…

  • Loreley…
  • This appeared to be camper heaven… there were trailers everywhere.
  • View of the river from Rheinfells, which has a castle that can be toured.
  • The tower. We just stopped in so Bill could pee. We’ll have to go back for a proper visit.
  • The terrace at Rheinfels was hopping…
  • I had penne pasta served Florentine style, with rucola and Parmesan cheese.
  • Bill had turkey cold cuts with “rosti” potatoes. The potatoes were excellent, mixed with vegetables and fried crispy.
  • The desserts were the star of the meal. Bill had cherry streusel cake.
  • And I had my favorite, Black Forest cake… Both were light and delicious.
  • Our waiter was extremely weeded. The people who sat at the table next to us left an empty beer glass. There was a sudden gust of wind and it shattered at my feet.
  • It took awhile to get out of the bistro, due to the very busy waitstaff…
  • But we would come back.
  • There’s a lot to see.

As I mentioned in the photos, the people who were at the table next to us left an empty beer glass. There was a sudden, swift gust of wind, and the glass was blown off the table. It landed near my feet and shattered into many pieces. I couldn’t help but be reminded of the awning at our previous house, which was also blown over by a sudden gust of wind. In both incidences, the wind struck too suddenly for anyone to react and prevent breakage. No one was upset about the broken beer glass, but our ex landlady immediately called me “negligent” when her old awning broke due to a sudden wind. That just goes to show that wind is a capricious thing. Too bad I never learned to predict or control the wind.

Lunch was about 38 euros. To be honest, I wasn’t all that happy with the pasta. It was okay, but I can think of other things I’d rather eat. There wasn’t a lot of sauce on it, and what was on it wasn’t all that satisfying. But it kept me from getting hangry, and it was very nice to hang out on the terrace for awhile. St. Goar is a nice little town, and I like being able to visit the Rhein Gorge so easily. It makes me feel like I’m on vacation.

We decided to head back to Wiesbaden after we ate, since we knew Arran was wanting his dinner. The drive back was a bit more pleasant, although we hit another bottleneck in the area where the Autobahn is being repaired. I swear, there’s always a road project going on somewhere near where you live… but the good thing is that the roads are in very good shape here. I’m just happy we had a chance to visit– taking advantage of the marvelous temperatures and beautiful views. Germany is a very lovely place to live and we feel fortunate that we have the ability to visit so many interesting and pretty locations so close to where we live. And this area is different than Stuttgart is, which makes me feel even more fortunate… not everyone gets an opportunity to experience living in other countries, especially in two different parts of a foreign country. Living abroad seems to be my destiny.

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Rhein, Rheinland-Pfalz

From Wiesbaden to wine, women, and Worms…

We had nice weather today. It was the first nice, warm, sunny day in about a week. Or, at least the day started out nice, anyway. We have clouds right now. At about 11:30am, I asked Bill if he’d like to go do something. He said he would. I’d been wanting to visit Worms, a well touristed city in Rheinland-Palatinate, maybe an hour’s drive from Wiesbaden. So we beagle proofed the house, got in the trusty Volvo, and headed to the city of slimy critters.

Crossing the Rhein River into Worms… this is the  Nibelungenturm, built by architect Karl Hoffman’s, whose handiwork can be spotted all over the city. It’s pretty cool!

By the time we got to Worms, I was hungry. It was about 12:45pm when we parked, and then because Bill parked in an outdoor parking spot at Das Wormser, he only got an hour. It was long enough for me to take this photo of yet another one of Germany’s provocative ads. Well, it would be provocative in the United States, for sure…

Netto is a discount market… I guess the wardrobe budget was cut for this ad. 😉

So we made a quick trip to the Wormser Dom, the big Catholic church where Martin Luther was condemned as a heretic. More went on there, of course, but since I am neither a Catholic nor a student of history, I can’t write authoritatively on the cathedral, except to mention that it had a lofty history before it was reduced in status to a parish church. When you come to Worms, you’ll see it easily on the horizon, and it begs a visit. I got a few photos, which I noticed made Bill tear up.

You can see a “dragon” in this photo. My German friend says Worms has a bunch of dragons around the city. They’re very cute.

And a few shots of the other side, which is where the main entrance is.

Quite a sight… especially in person!

After we took a walk around the cathedral, Bill moved the car into the inside of the garage at Das Wormser, and we headed back into the city in search of lunch. By that time, I was pretty hungry and getting a bit grouchy. But I still managed to take a few more pictures, which because of Apple’s latest update, Catalina, are a bit of a pain in the ass to upload.

There were lots of people in the city today…
This looked like an interesting barber shop. I wonder if they give happy endings there.
I snapped this photo next to a big group of Africans, some of whom appeared to be members of the clergy. I zoomed in to give them some privacy.

Finally, we ran across a restaurant that was still open, even though it was about 2:00pm. Die Pfälzer stays open for lunch until 2:30pm and they were able to help us out with some tasty, high quality food. I was definitely feeling better after a healthy lunch of salmon, spinach, and boiled potatoes washed down with wheat beer, although this restaurant is known for its wines. Bill had grilled wurst with sauerkraut and fried potatoes. There was a table full of Americans in there and I was reminded of how loud my countrymen can be. But overall, it was a nice, economical experience…

This place hit the spot!
My handsome old fart, Mr. Bill…
The Lachs Filet is a good bet…
But so is the Wurst…
This was about 36 euros worth of food. Well worth the price!

After lunch, we headed back toward the Marktplatz and stopped into the Evangelische Kirche– that’s the protestant church in town. It was impressive on the outside, but looked a bit refurbished on the inside, circa 1960 something.

Nice, but not so soul stirring as the Dom…
I dug the pipe organ, though.

We walked out of the church to discover a wine bar set up outside. Naturally, I couldn’t resist a glass for the road. I drank most of Bill’s too, since he was driving. I love this about this part of Germany. You can go to any town and find neighbors socializing over wine. I don’t remember seeing this in the Stuttgart area. Down there, it’s more beer and less hanging out… but I like Stuttgart too, for many other reasons.

Lots of convivial people enjoying wine on a Saturday…
And this was right outside the protestant church…
No one cared about the wine near the church.
And there’s Bill, always a provider.
I thought that deserved a cuddly selfie.
I guess this was the source of all the clergy.
On the Dom… we spotted a nun here, too.
Walled city…
The gate on the way out.
The mighty Rhein River.

Last night, we went to our neighborhood wine stand. I got a few photos of that, too. We ended up chatting with our neighbor, Uli, who speaks English fluently and has a horse and a cool dog named Levi that she adopted from an American soldier who went to Iraq. I love Levi… and Uli says if we’re ready for another dog, she can help us get one. Something tells me we might not be a three member family for the rest of our time here.

Photos from last night’s fun… one of our neighbors who had seen us at earlier wine stands came over, welcomed us in German, and said it was wonderful we were hanging out with them. Americans could learn a few things from Hessians.

No, it’s not a urine sample. A neighbor makes apple wine. This five liter bottle, which included the bottle, was six euros.
Arran loves it when Bill is home.
I will miss the wine stands…
And the Spundekaese, which I learned to love at them.
Wine stands are a great social lubricant.
And you can’t go wrong with any wine up here.
The Breckenheim church.

I really hope I get the hang of Catalina soon… or they do something to fix the many glitches in the new system. Otherwise, future posts might be lighter on photos. But so far, our holiday weekend has been good. It’s hard to believe a year ago, we came to Wiesbaden for the first time to look for a place to live. Time flies when you’re still having fun!

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Rhein

The Oppenheimers…

I mentioned a couple of posts ago that Bill and I went to Mainz to meet an old friend of mine from my days as a waitress in Williamsburg, Virginia. On our way to his hotel, I happened to notice the plaques (Stolpersteine) featured in today’s post. I haven’t spent a lot of time in Mainz yet, but I did recently discover similar plaques in my own neighborhood of Breckenheim, a suburb of nearby Wiesbaden. That discovery led me down a rabbit hole of a fascinating tale about a local family who escaped the Holocaust.

The Stolpersteine (stumbling blocks) in my neighborhood.

The plaques I discovered in Mainz were in memory of the Oppenheimer family. Father, Wilhelm Gabriel Oppenheimer was born in 1888. His wife, Anna Metzger Oppenheimer, was born in 1896. They also had a daughter named Rosemarie Oppenheimer, who was born on December 9, 1924. Together, the family lived at Schillerplatz 5, which today is a tony address in downtown Mainz, very close to the center of the city.

Just as I did for the Kahn family in Breckenridge, whose plaques I found in August, I looked up the Oppenheimer family’s history. The Kahns were lucky enough to escape the Holocaust and relocated to the United States. The Oppenheimers, unfortunately, were unable to avoid deportation. The three family members are commemorated in Stolpersteine.

In 1939, Rosemarie Oppenheimer left Mainz via Frankfurt on a children’s transport bound for the Netherlands. She had joined other young refugee children at a Quaker school in Eerde to learn how to farm. Oppenheimer and the other youngsters were trained by a Jewish teacher. She had hoped to eventually continue learning in the United States, but World War II prevented her escape.

On April 10, 1943, Rosemarie and other children were deported to Vught Concentration Camp. Vught Camp, which was constructed in 1942, was the only official Nazi camp in northwestern Europe. It was originally divided into two sections– a transit camp designed to hold Jewish prisoners before they departed for Westerbork, another camp– and a security camp, where all of the Dutch and Belgian prisoners were held. Rosemarie Oppenheimer was in the security camp.

On July 17, 1942, Rosemarie was transferred from Vught Camp to Westerbork, another transit camp in northeastern Netherlands, where she stayed for a couple of months. Westerbork was constructed by the Dutch government, and was supposed to serve as a camp for Jewish refugees who had entered The Netherlands illegally. It was used as a staging camp for the deportation of Jews, and from there, Rosemarie Oppenheimer was deported on September 21, 1943. Her final destination was Auschwitz in Poland, where she was ultimately murdered on September 24, 1943. She was just 18 years old.

Rosemarie’s parents, Wilhelm and Anna, also died before they could escape the Nazis. In 1939, they fled to Belgium, but they were captured and sent to Mechelen Transit Camp. The city of Mechelen had a railway hub between Antwerp and Brussels; it served as a convenient place for Jews to be rounded up and deported. Most of the people who ended up at Mechelen were later sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Mrs. Oppenheimer was deported in 1942 and died at Auschwitz. Mr. Oppenheimer died on his way to Kosel.

Rosemarie’s older sister, Hilde, was born in 1921. She had gone to the school in Eerde ahead of Rosemarie and was accepted as an apprentice in England in 1939. Hilde was in a group of students who went to England before the war made travel so much more difficult for Jewish people. Unable to get back to the Netherlands, Hilde remained in England and survived.

It would be so easy to miss these “stumbling blocks” that appear in this area. I walked past the ones in my neighborhood for months before I happened to notice them one day while waiting for traffic to clear. I have made it a point to look up the histories of the people behind these inconspicuous memorials scattered around the Frankfurt-Mainz-Wiesbaden areas. They were real people with fascinating and often tragic stories. Given what’s been going on at the southern border within the United States, I think it’s important to read about what happens to people who are declared “illegals” and deported simply for being who they are. I have to admit, reading about the “transit camps” and “detention facilities” for World War II era “illegals” kind of makes my blood run cold. You would think we would have learned something from World War II. Clearly, a lot of people haven’t.

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Bars, Rhein, Rheinland-Pfalz

An afternoon at Sixties in Mainz…

We had amazing weather yesterday. It was so nice outside that I couldn’t bear to stay at home. I thought maybe we’d hunt for a festival or something, and we would have found one if we had gone to Frankfurt. There are several going on right now. But, for some reason, we decided to go to Mainz. Bill missed a turn to go to the downtown area, and we ended up in a part of town we hadn’t seen before.

As we were passing through, I noticed an interesting looking bar called Sixties. It advertised a lot of craft beers, which is kind of an unusual thing in Germany. So, although our plan had originally been to go downtown, we wound up parking and trying out Sixties, which also advertised music. When we walked into the bar, there was no music. Instead, all of the televisions were tuned to football– aka soccer– and the waitress warned us that pretty soon, a bunch of people would be crowded in there to watch the game.

I took a look around and noticed that the bar looked kind of “Irish pub-ish”, with low tables and stools, stained glass windows, and booths. We found a table with no reservation card on it and ordered a couple of beers. I had a Leffe Blonde and Bill had a Eulchen Marzen made in Mainz. Then we ordered snacks. Sixties has a rather limited menu. They have bar food, pizza, a couple of pasta dishes, and schnitzels, but it’s really more of a place to drink rather than eat. We had chicken strips, jalapeno poppers, and pretzels with Spundkaese.

One thing I noticed was that the waitress brought us wet glasses, complete with a little bit of water in the bottom. I can’t say I liked that very much, but at least the glasses were clean. We were impressed by how many beers they offered, too. They even had a beer from Sweden, as well as a number of British and Irish beers. I was surprised they didn’t have more Belgian choices other than Leffe, but a lot of German bars don’t even have that, so it was cool.

Here are a few photos from our visit:

Not much to the food part of the menu.
Irish pub design.
I was expecting a large, soft pretzel to go with the local cheese spread.
The “poppers” consisted of a split mild red pepper rather than jalapeno. But they had some heat to them. The chicken strips were okay, too.
Marc’s Chocolate Bock.
Lots of people were enjoying the weather and the game… including the cops.

After a couple of hours at Sixties, we paid the kindly, English speaking waitress, and headed down the street to our car. On the way there, we stopped in a fancy looking grocery store that appeared to have all natural “whole foods”. Of course, we were there to buy wine and look for Calvados, since the neighbor’s apple tree has been dumping apples in our yard and we need to do something with them. We didn’t find Calvados in that store, but we did pick up some wine.

We also passed the local sex shop…
I used the ladies room at the department store where the car was parked. I couldn’t help but notice the door. Wonder what happened here…

We enjoyed Sixties. I don’t know how often we’ll visit there, since there are a lot of other places in Mainz we haven’t yet tried. It did look like a popular hangout for the locals. If you want to watch football and drink beers that aren’t German, it’s a good bet. I can’t comment on the music, but I did notice that there was a lot of memorabilia on the wall, particularly regarding the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. So it does look like they have good taste when it comes to music, anyway…

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Hessen, Rhein

Wine on the Rhein in Eltville…

When Bill and I were searching for housing, one town’s name that came up was Eltville.  Eltville is a beautiful place, right on the Rhein River.  I really wanted to find something there, or in someplace similar.  Sadly, it just didn’t pan out for us.  We only live about 19 kilometers away, as the crow flies; so today, we decided to pay a visit.  I will admit, today’s trip was a bit rushed and unplanned… we got there kind of late in the afternoon– so late, that we ran into the pause issue at lunchtime.  Still, I got a little taste of Eltville and decided we have to go back soon.

Initially, Bill was reluctant to go to Eltville, since he thought that was where Eltz Castle is.  Eltz Castle is probably a two hour drive from our town.  I do want to go there and plan to visit, but Eltville is nowhere near Eltz Castle.

To be honest, all I knew… and still know… about Eltville is that it’s on the Rhine and there’s a beautiful burg there known as the Electoral Castle.  We got some nice views of it, but didn’t tour it today.  Today was all about getting away from the house for a few hours and having a change of scenery.

Here are a few photos from today’s trip.

The first clue of how cute Eltville is…

And a nice looking cafe, although my mind was on lunch, not cakes.

 

Locks of love… but not nearly as many as in Cologne or Regensburg.

The Electoral Castle.

The lovely Rhine/Rhein, where many people were enjoying the nice weather today.

Another shot of the castle.  Someday, we will explore it further… perhaps on a day when we don’t sleep in, as we did today.

 

They have day cruises, too, although I didn’t see any running today.

Pretty rose garden.  It costs nothing to visit.

It was around this time that I was distracted by the need to pee.  Unfortunately, it was just after 2:00pm, which is when a lot of restaurants take a “pause” before dinner.  We did find a place for me to use the ladies room, but they were only offering beverages.  So we had some wine by the Rhein.

We stopped by this eatery, which offers food, but not when we were there.  I noticed they, and another local restaurant, had signs stating that their toilets aren’t public.  At this restaurant, you could pay a euro to pee if you weren’t a guest.  At the other, it read that there was a public toilet 40 meters away.  

It offered a nice chance to take pictures of the Rhein.

Sebastian’s Tower…  (in German, but Google Chrome works wonders)

 

I guess this is a real problem in such a pretty town.

 

Another sign… this one seemed to be for the city.  

After a drink on the Rhein, we ended up at the Weinpump, which we noticed on the way into town.  This restaurant takes pauses on every day except Sundays and holidays.  We were grateful they were able to take care of us today.

The back entrance to the restaurant.  We first saw the front entrance, which didn’t give away how nice the Bier/Wein garten is.

 

Don’t be fooled by how unassuming the front door is.  They have a great garden!

Cute mural outside.  Note the landmarks!

Bar area outside.

And the hours… very convenient for Sunday.

I liked how the reserved signs were all in English.  In fact, our waiter spoke perfect English, even if his colleagues didn’t.

I had the trout with potatoes and a salad, as well as a glass of Riesling.  I loved how they cleaned the fish.  I found just two bones in the fish– they had removed everything.  The fish was very fresh and tasty, served with perfectly cooked boiled potatoes and a green salad.

Bill had cold roast beef with green sauce and fried potatoes.  I think I might have liked his dish better than mine, although mine was certainly great.  He washed his lunch down with sparkling water.

An older couple sat near us and, it was clear, they came from money.  They were very well dressed and groomed and I noticed them staring at us/giving us a bit of the stink eye.  It might have been because we were Americans, although not obviously so.  The waiter switched to English when he heard me ask for “Forelle” (trout).  He apologized for not spotting us as Americans sooner, but Ikind of take that as a compliment.

The older couple did wish us Auf Wiedersehen when they left.  We were probably weirder than most Americans, because we aren’t as loud.  Years of living in Europe have taught us not to be so conspicuous.

One thing that did happen during our visit was that one of the toilets in the ladies room was backed up.  I didn’t have a chance to tell the waiter when I first noticed it, but I noticed several other ladies visiting and not saying anything.  So when our waiter came to collect our money– different guy, whose English wasn’t as good– I mentioned the toilet in the ladies room as Bill gave him a generous tip.  The guy thanked me and immediately went back to check on it.  Something tells me they’ve had problems with that toilet before.

Total damage for lunch was about 40 euros.  I had a second glass of wine– a nice dry red.  We will definitely have to visit Eltville again on a day when we haven’t slept in.  It’s really a delightful town, and not far at all from where we live.

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Rhein, Rheinland-Pfalz

A day in Bacharach…

After last week’s trip to Eppstein to see the castle, I thought maybe we might want to go to another castle this week.  But Bill had other plans.  Elton John is going to be playing a concert tonight in Wiesbaden and since we saw him in Stuttgart and have no desire to sit in Staus from Hell again, we decided to avoid the city.  Remembering a lovely day we spent in the Rhein-side hamlet of Bacharach, back in 2014, Bill decided we should visit there again.  I was game.  Bacharach has the distinction of being the very first German town I ever laid eyes on, back in 1997.  It’s an adorable place, even if there’s not a lot to it.

On the edge of town.

We didn’t really do a lot in Bacharach other than wander around, take pictures, eat lunch, and have beer at a Biergarten.  We were blessed with wonderful weather– much better than what we had when we visited in 2014.  I don’t have much to write… but I do have lots of pictures.  Feast your eyes on this cute little historic town, located about an hour away from Wiesbaden.  It’s nice to be so close!

If castles are your thing, you could do worse than visiting Bacharach or any of the other cute little towns near it, like St. Goar.  There are many castles around the area.  I caught these photos on the ways in and out of town.

Lots of pretty vineyards, too.  Bacharach’s Schloss is now a youth hostel that sits majestically on a hillside overlooking the town.

You can see the hostel in the background.  I stayed in a lot of hostels during my 1997 epic train trip through Europe, but I didn’t stay at Bacharach’s.  I think I was intimidated by the climb up the hill.  Bacharach’s hostel is in the historic Burg Stahleck Castle, which dates back to the 12th century.

When I stayed in Bacharach, I stayed at the Hans Dettmar B&B.  I was excited because the room came with a shower and a WC.  My standards have changed a lot since 1997, but so has my budget.

Our first order of business was to find something to eat.  Bacharach was busy with tourists today, most of whom were sitting outside.  We didn’t necessarily want to eat outside, although on a warmer day, it’s nice to be in the open air.  I have to balance wanting to be cool and wanting to stay out of the sun.  We ended up having lunch at a garlicky smelling place called Pizzeria Pippo (or Pippo Bistro, depending on what sign you’re reading).  Based on the decorations on the walls, I would guess it’s owned by Sicilians.
Cheers!
They had lasagne on the menu that looked tempting, but they weren’t offering it today.  I had spaghetti with “Lachs”– salmon and onions.  It was okay, though I have had better.
Bill went with the daily special, housemade tagliatelle with tomatoes, herbs, and cream sauce.  He seemed to enjoy his dish more than I liked mine.  

While we were sitting there, an English speaking group of 7 showed up.  They were making special requests.  Kudos to the waitress for handling it so well.  I think if we go there again, I’ll try a pizza.  They have a stone oven and the sizes looked manageable.  As it was, I managed about half of my dish, while Bill finished his.  We spent 37 euros.
After lunch, we wandered around… toured a church, strolled by the river, and wished we had more time to take a cruise.  The breeze coming off of the Rhein was lovely.
Check out those pipes!
This is different.  I probably would have kept going to church if we’d had one of these where I used to attend.
Literature lovers will enjoy this…
Another shot of the hostel/castle.
Boat schedule.  We’ll have to make a point of coming up and spending more than a couple of hours.  
The town itself is super cute.  And if you want to buy some wine, you can easily accomplish that.
I would actually love to find a little vacation apartment and come up for a long weekend with the dogs.  Bacharach is not that far from Wiesbaden, but it feels like a world away…  this is the kind of place we love to visit on weekends.  The Black Forest area is chock full of them, but we’re still trying to make discoveries up here in Rheinland.
We stopped at a Biergarten– the Kleines Brauhaus at the Rhein Theater— where we had a memorable afternoon in 2014.  We happened to visit on German Father’s Day, and there were many fathers and sons at this Biergarten, getting loaded and singing songs…  It was such a special memory for us that we decided to go back.
They had a full house.  We had to wait for someone to vacate a table under the carousel canopy.  One young lady– looked about seventeen or so– was bravely handling all of the orders.  She was remarkably chilled out. 
I had a Bacchusweizen Krug.  When it arrived, the Germans at the next table looked at me with bemusement.  Maybe it’s not very ladylike to order a liter of beer.  Maybe it’s not smart, either, since it will get warm if you don’t drink it fast enough.  Believe me, I’m up to the task.  This beer was a little bitter.  I liked Bill’s 1489 Dunkelweizen better.
In the foyer of the theater.  I took this same photo in 2014, which you can see on the post I linked at the beginning of this post.  I see they’ve added a safety vest.  
Someone started up this calliope.  Pretty cool!
I do like the Rhein Terrasse.  We didn’t make any new friends here this time, like we did in 2014, but it was still a pleasant place to kill an hour or so, before we decided to go home and feed the dogs.

We’re supposed to have similarly beautiful weather tomorrow.  Maybe we’ll visit that castle I was thinking about.  Or maybe we’ll do something else entirely.  I’m just glad we aren’t sitting in traffic.
On the way out…
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Rheinfall: a quick and easy day trip from the Stuttgart area!

I don’t know how, but somehow we missed Rheinfall (Rhine Falls) the first time we lived in Germany.  In fact, I’m sorry to say that I never heard of it until we moved here the second time, two years ago.  I’m glad we finally found out about this magnificent waterfall in Switzerland.  It would have been a real shame not to have seen it at least once.  It has the distinction of being Europe’s largest plain waterfall.

After last weekend’s successful outing to Riquewihr, France with our dogs, Zane and Arran, I decided this weekend, I wanted to go to Switzerland.  I gave some thought to enjoying an overnight in Schaffhausen, which is a decent sized town near the waterfall.  I looked at places to stay, but finally gave up on the idea when I realized that Rheinfall is really not that far from Unterjettingen, which is where we’re living.  On a good day with normal traffic flow, it takes less than two hours to drive there.  We woke up to pleasant temperatures and sunshine today, so it seemed like the perfect day to visit.

We loaded up the dogs, packed some water and a bowl for them, and set off for Switzerland down A81.  I was enjoying the beautiful scenery as we headed further south, at least until we hit the first of several Staus (traffic jams).

If you are driving and don’t already have one, you’ll need to stop and buy a vignette, unless you plan to stay on secondary roads.  They cost 40 Swiss francs, though you can also pay for them in euros.  The sticker for 2016 is good until January 31, 2017.  Otherwise, you can also easily reach Rheinfall by train.  There is a station literally right by the falls.

Rheinfall is literally just a few miles into Switzerland.  We already had a vignette because we visited Switzerland in December 2015.  We figured we might as well get our money’s worth.  Once you reach the Rheinfall area, you have to decide if you want to visit the north shore or the south.  We chose the north shore because of the dogs; it’s basically a public area.

The south shore has a castle on its grounds which offer attractions.  We parked at the first lot we encountered.  Today was a very busy day.  I watched the lot quickly filling up as Bill went to pay for three hours of parking.  As the lot was filling up, Zane and Arran were whining and annoying a couple of women trying to have a conversation near us.  That was the worst of their behavior today.  Again, euros or francs are accepted for parking, though people seemed to be very confused by the machine where the tickets were dispensed.  Bill paid five euros for three hours (2 CHF per hour).

Once we paid for parking and I made use of the free bathroom facilities, we started the fifteen minute walk to the waterfall.  Those who don’t want to walk can take a little train/tram thing.  It costs money to ride the train, but it takes you all the way to the bottom of the waterfall.  Those who have mobility problems may want to consider taking the train.  There are lots of steps and hills to climb.

Bill checks out the city map in Neuhausen, which is the community where the north shore of the river is located.

 

Along with many, many other people, we made our way down the steep hill to the river.  The place was teeming with people and quite a few had brought their dogs with them.  Zane and Arran made fast friends with a friendly beagle.   I was pleased to discover there was no entrance fee to see the waterfall.  You just have to pay for parking.

My first few dramatic views of the falls…  They were beautiful, loud, powerful, and putting off a refreshing spray.

It was about 12:45 when we arrived and I was feeling pretty hungry.  Luckily, there was a very expensive snack bar handy.  I sat down with the dogs and Bill went to fetch us some lunch.

For some reason, lots of people were posing with this fake cow.  I decided not to because I figured it would be asking for trouble.

Bill brought me a nice locally produced Swiss beer.  This is a Falken lager, made in Schaffhausen.  It was kind of a nice change of pace.  Didn’t taste like a German beer.  It had more of a malty flavor.  

We also had very fresh butter pretzels and brats.  Bill bought a bottle of water for the dogs.  All of this cost about 33 francs, which is roughly $33.  Switzerland is expensive!  Budget conscious folks may prefer to bring a picnic lunch.  On the plus side, this simple lunch was restorative.  I felt a lot better after we ate.  Zane made friends with an adorable little Indian girl of about two who bravely came over to pet him.  She was a lot more courageous than the little Dutch kids they met last weekend.

More dramatic shots of the falls.  Notice the rock in the middle.  You can take a boat out to the rock and climb up.  We didn’t do it because we had the dogs and because the rock was *teeming* with people.  It was very obnoxiously crowded!

Obligatory shot of bearded Bill posing in front of the falls.

And one last shot right in the center.

This is a train that takes people to and from the falls.

I got a kick out of this sign in several different languages warning people of death.

 

We walked around a bit, but soon got tired of the extreme crowds and heat.  We walked up a gently sloping road instead of the extremely crowded steps we walked down to get to the bottom of the falls.  I think the road is probably the better way to access the waterfront at the bottom of the falls.  It’s a lot less crowded, not as steep, and you don’t have to contend with people paying closer attention to their phones than where they’re going.

But before we walked back up, I stopped in the bathroom and got a kick out of another sign.  This one was explaining how to use the toilet properly.  It was entirely in English.  I noticed that the people before me didn’t follow directions very well.

FYI:  An elevator is available.  You can take an elevator from the train station to the access road we walked up on, and then this elevator from the road to the bottom of the falls.  This is another option for those who don’t want to bother with the steep hill or crowds. 

Soon, we were back on the way to Germany!  We got home at about 4:00pm.

 

It was great to finally see Rheinfall.  If we’d wanted to, we could have found plenty to do all day there.  The area is very dog friendly, although I’m not sure how dog friendly the castle on the south shore is.  I did read on TripAdvisor that dogs are welcome all over the area.  Had it been less crowded, maybe we would have tested out that theory a bit more.  Today, it was just overrun with people!  But we did have a good time and it was a nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon.  Maybe we’ll visit again in the fall.  I bet it’s beautiful there when the leaves are changing colors.

Pro-tip: If you plan to use your cell phone in Switzerland, remember that it’s not part of the EU and roaming charges could add up quickly.  I went through about 54 Euros in less than a couple of hours.

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France and Germany… a send off from the Army– Part 9

After two nights in Nice, Bill and I hopped a flight to Frankfurt.  We flew from Nice on Niki, an Austrian budget airline that collaborates with Air Berlin.  Bill and I flew on Air Berlin in 2009, when we took our Scandinavian cruise.  Let me just say, European carriers are a hell of a lot nicer than American carriers are.  You go on the plane and they offer you a newspaper.  You get a drink and a sandwich that is actually edible.  The seats are somewhat comfortable, too.  I would definitely “fly Niki” again if we ever get back to Europe and have the opportunity.

The flight attendants were kind of oddly dressed on Niki.  The top half of their uniforms were very formal and businesslike, with a blazer, blouse, and perfect makeup and hair.  The bottom half was jeans…  nice jeans, but still jeans.  It was like the fashion equivalent of a mullet– business up top and party on the bottom.

Flying over Vienna…

Our flight routed us through Vienna, another city that was on my 1997 European tour.  I have yet to visit Vienna with Bill.  I hope someday we’ll get there together.  As we were getting on the flights, I was all wound up about the term “dependapotamus”, a slang expression used by certain people in the military who bash family members… aka “dependents”.  There was a young guy sitting in front of us on the plane who must have overheard me and I think, told his two female companions about it.  They reminded me of a reincarnation of ABBA, minus Bjorn.

Upon entering Frankfurt, we approached a guy who appeared to work for the airport.  We were trying to find the train station in the massive airport.  The guy was obviously American and spoke German with a heavy accent.  He directed us to the right place and we arranged for a train to get us to Landstuhl, where I had booked us a room in a cute, family run hotel in town.

It was quite an ordeal to get to Landstuhl, though, because we had to change trains three times to get there and it happened to be rush hour.  We got on the first one, a high speed ICE train, for a twenty minute ride to Mannheim.  The train was packed and I was grumpy about it, as usual…

Waiting for train tickets at Frankfurt’s airport…

We stood near the bathroom between cars and Bill then very gallantly decided to get me a snack at the onboard bistro.  He came back with a beer and a container of curry wurst, which was basically a sausage with a curry sauce.  It smelled good and was piping hot, but I couldn’t eat it and balance at the same time.  I appreciated the gesture, but told Bill he should have gotten me something less labor intensive.

At one point, the train lurched and both Bill and I lost our balance.  I was holding the currywurst and it almost tipped on me.  Thankfully, a very kind German lady noticed and saved it before it spilled.  I said “Thanks”, but it probably came off sounding annoyed rather than grateful.  I’m sorry about that.

While we waited for the next train, Bill and I shared the curry wurst.  I started to feel less grouchy as my blood sugar came up a bit.  We got a seat on the train from Mannheim to Kaiserslautern, but it was also pretty crowded.  I remember one guy in our car was a cop and he seemed like a nice person.  When he got off the train, he said “Auf wiedersehen.”

On the third train, a local s-bahn from Kaiserslautern to Landstuhl, we were in a car with a large German family with several kids.  Then an American woman with her four kids and mother in tow got on the train.  She said, “Ramstein?”

Bill told her she had the right train, so she and her family took a seat and struck up a conversation.  They had just gotten back to Germany after a trip to Paris.  They’d gone on a military tour, then broke away to take the kids to Euro Disney.  The young mother’s husband was posted at Grafenwoehr, which is an Army post in Bavaria.  They had parked their car at Ramstein.  The trains were apparently a new experience for them.  Bill and I explained about how the trains worked, then told them how lucky they were to live in Germany.

Grandma asked us where we were from.  I told her I’m from Virginia and Bill is from Texas (more or less).  She looked surprised.  I told her that we met when I lived in South Carolina and he lived in Kansas.  I guess she has never heard of the Internet and how people can meet that way.  I said I’d love to move back to Germany and Grandma said, “Yeah, but how do you raise a family there?”

I said, “It’s just us and two dogs.”

Grandma looked utterly shocked that we don’t have kids.  I posted this story on my other blog as part of a rant.  Here, I will just say that it’s apparently unusual to run into military couples who don’t have kids.  Fortunately, our stop at Landstuhl came up before we had time to talk more.

Bill and I got off the train and walked to our hotel.  It was obvious that the proprietor had been waiting specifically for us, since the place was pretty much locked up when we arrived.  He quickly showed us to our room and beat it.  Our very full day of traveling left me ready to relax and wind down, which I proceeded to do.  Bill went to a Turkish place and got us a couple of Wiener schnitzels with fries and some beer.

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