Champagne Bucket trips, churches, former Soviet Union, Lithuania

The Vilnius Series… Tales from the Crypt, and my rainy 53rd birthday… (part four)

While Bill and I were in the hotel room, digesting our fabulous French lunch, the skies turned cloudy and grim. It started to rain. I looked out the window at the cathedral. We were supposed to meet the guide at 4:00 PM for our hourlong guided tour of the crypt. But the rain was coming down steadily and showed no signs of stopping.

I realized that the rainy weather would also put the kibosh on my tentative plans to go hear the US Air Force play with with Lithuanians in the town square. That concert, set for 6:30 PM, seemed like it was going to be doomed with bad weather.

Bill glanced out the window and said, “Hey, there’s a guy out there in a bright red Cadillac Coupe d’Ville, stranded on the street. There’s something you don’t see every day! The guy was on the phone. I felt sorry for the car trapped by the big red land yacht. But it was soon back on its way, and the road was no longer blocked by the striking car.

I said, “Are you really wedded to going to the crypt?” I really didn’t feel like braving the elements.

Bill responded, “Not really.”

I gave some thought to skipping the tour, as my muscles were getting sorer by the minute and I didn’t really want to sprint to the church in the rain. But Bill said that Thursday would be our one and only chance to take the tour in English, so ultimately, we decided to go. I’m really glad we did. It turned out to be a fascinating activity, led by an engaging, witty, and very intelligent guide who told us she’d worked at the Cathedral as an anthropologist for nine years.

I couldn’t help but remember my days at Longwood University, which, at least when I was a student, boasted a really excellent anthropology and archaeology program. I wish I’d taken at least one anthropology class there, as when I was a student, there was a very well known professor there, Dr. James W. Jordan, who was kind of a legendary for his ghost stories. He’s now retired.

In any case, a group of us tourists gathered in the rain and hustled into the church, where the guide took us to a locked grated door. She unlocked the door; we walked down a flight of steps, and she started telling us the fascinating story of the crypts. It started out as a place where only the wealthiest people could be buried… people who had donated land and/or built a church, plus had people who had promised to pray for them forever. As time went on, the people buried there were less wealthy and celebrated.

The church went through several incarnations, all of which were fashionable at the time. I got a kick out of the guide explaining how the cathedral had once had two beautiful towers, but one of them collapsed, and killed people. The people were divided in what they should do… Rebuild the towers? Or redesign the church? It turned out the people with more money were in the camp that the towers should go. So that’s why the Vilnius cathedral looks the way it does now!

The guide also told us about how medieval crowns and scepters were very recently found (as in months ago) in the crypt. Experts knew the trove existed, as it was stashed away after World War II. However, they had not been able to find it in the decades that passed since the war ended. The guide said that next year, they will be available to be seen in the museum, once they are prepared.

We also saw a very old painting of Mary, done by an artist who wasn’t Catholic and had dressed her in red, instead of blue. And we saw the tombs of royalty from hundreds of years ago, and heard the fascinating stories behind their lives and deaths. The guide also invited us to whisper into the corners of the crypt and listen for whispers from a partner. Bill and I tried it, with success!

Lithuania is the last European country to accept Christianity (1387 AD). By contrast, Armenia, where I spent two years, is the first country in the world to accept Christianity as its state religion (in 301 AD). And yet, both were once Soviet countries, where people from Moscow were telling them what to do and demanding that they give up their cultural identities.

It was very poignant to hear the guide talk about things that happened in the Soviet times. Soviet leaders had wanted to turn that cathedral into a warehouse. Fortunately, wiser people determined it was better suited as a concert hall and picture gallery. Also, people who worked in the crypts were wise enough to hide things from Soviet leaders, who would have confiscated the items and taken them to Moscow, never to be seen again.

Below are some photos from the tour:

*A pump that was put in during the Soviet era.*

When the crypt tour was over, I was really glad we decided to go. Not only was the tour interesting and informative, the guide was very entertaining and personable. It was well worth the time and euros to attend, even if I was getting sorer by the minute and we got a little wet.

Unfortunately, the weather was still pretty stormy and dismal after the tour. We decided to have a couple of beers at the hotel bar and, alas, skip the free concert in the town square. As I looked out the windows in the bar, the wind picked up, the sky darkened, and the rain fell harder.

Check out the rain!

I felt sorry for the musicians who had planned for a summer concert, only to be rained on. I’m sure the show went on anyway, but it was still kind of sad. I really was looking forward to attending, but not enough to walk to the square in the rain and possibly have to stand in the weather while my muscles screamed in pain. I thought of my dad, an Air Force veteran and music lover, when he used to encourage my sisters and me to join the Air Force and be in the “Singing Sergeants”. I have to agree, it’s probably a pretty sweet gig, except for when the weather turns to shit and the show is outside.

Still, it was nice to have a couple of beers in the hotel bar. They didn’t have a big selection. We were still kind of full from our French lunch at Balzac, so we ate nuts and cheese (or Bill ate cheese), and then went back to the room, where we watched classic MTV. We made it an early evening.

The next morning was, of course, my birthday… and we woke up to… MORE RAIN! Seriously, it was pouring. We got up and went to breakfast, and a friendly waitress asked us how we were doing. I mentioned it was my birthday– just making conversation. She later brought me a surprise!

*A lovely little cake with a candle. Yes, I made a wish!*

After breakfast, we went back to the room, which was already made up! I made a video…

My parody video “The Things They Do For Trump” was racking up lots of hits and earning me lots of new subscribers. So I made a video from our hotel room…

Then… we decided to do some reading, to see if maybe the rain would let up. It didn’t let up, which honestly was a blessing, because I really needed to rest my sore muscles. I took some Advil, which helped a bit, before we went to lunch at Dionysos, a Greek restaurant right next to the hotel. The friendly waitress who brought me the cake later told us she’d almost worked there, but didn’t like the people running it. We liked the restaurant fine… Bill had three chicken skewers with hummus (that was one too many) and I had ribs with fries, and rose wine made with syrah.

It was still raining cats and dogs after our visit to the Greek place, so we went back to the hotel and read some more. I learned that the Grand Hotel Vilnius used to be a telegraph station, and then served as the treasury building. Now, it’s a five star hotel with 93 rooms. We did like the hotel, for the most part. It was very comfortable. I was grateful for that, as the rain fell on my birthday. I hate to waste a day sitting in the hotel when I travel, but honestly, I’m not sure how well I would have done walking around Vilnius with so much muscle stiffness and soreness!

Finally, the rain let up, and we decided to go to a bar that specialized in craft beers. In retrospect, I wish we’d gone out for dinner, but lunch at the Greek place had left us rather sated. I have missed craft beers, too. We do have them in Germany, but they aren’t always easy to find. Like… you can’t necessarily go to the local drink market and find exotic beers in Germany, although you will find excellent German beers. So I was excited to visit Nisha Craft Capital, which was very close to the hotel.

Bill and I spent a couple of hours at this bar, trying all sorts of craft beers and listening to the same loop of excellent classic rock songs. Seriously, though, I think they need to add to their playlist. We heard the same songs at least three times during our first visit (we went back twice more). The other two times we visited, we sat outside in their beer garden.

After our evening of beers, we went back to the hotel for birthday bubbles… I didn’t need the bubbles, but hell, I don’t turn 53 every day. It was fun watching the well dressed people showing off in the bar and restaurant.

Finally, it was time to call it a night, so we did. The next day, we had much better weather, and saw a lot more. I’ll write about that in the next post!

Champagne Bucket trips, churches, former Soviet Union, Lithuania

The Vilnius Series… Learning about Lithuania’s history at a pigeon’s eye view… (part three)

On Thursday morning, we woke up to partly cloudy skies. The weather was still a bit chilly, so we put on long sleeved shirts and pants, and then went down to breakfast. The hotel offers a very generous buffet with all kinds of cold cuts, fruits, vegetables, breads, hot breakfast items, and a few things you can have made to order. They even had little cakes and candies, some of which were gluten free. Naturally, there were also juices and cava– sparkling wine from Spain.

*The light fixtures looked like white blood cells.*

Bill and I sat in the restaurant, and I noticed I didn’t like the chair I was sitting on. It was one of those small chairs with a rounded back that didn’t quite have arms, but was still a bit confining. I also didn’t like that there was a huge mirror right next to our table, and many of the others.

Bill and I both tried the Eggs Benedict, which were good. Maybe I shouldn’t have, in light of my expanded ass. After breakfast, we headed over to the cathedral… a place that had served as a picture gallery and concert hall in the Soviet era, but actually has a long and fascinating history. I took lots of photos… Later, when we toured the crypt, we learned more about the history of the cathedral

We were about to walk out of the cathedral, but the organist started playing, and I had to listen for a few minutes. I got a short video, which I will include with another I got of Bill in the tower.

After we walked around the cathedral, we headed to the cathedral bell tower, which stands at 45 meters and dates from the 13th century. Bill bought tickets for the tower, the English crypt tour, and the church treasury, which was in a different part of Vilnius (easily reached by foot). The triple ticket was 20 euros each for both of us. After we got out tickets, we went down the basement of the tower and watched a very cute little video starring a cartoon pigeon named Pranas, who explained the tower’s history and showed off a special tile in the area near the tower where, if you jump in a specific sequence and make a wish, your wishes will come true.

I didn’t have the chance to try the tile, because when we were by the tower, the tile was commandeered by a couple of Asian ladies who were fascinated by it and were taking many photos. Then they were displaced by a large tour group. We never did manage to give the tile a whirl, or even get a picture of it. Oh well…

We ran into a couple who were curious about where we were from. They were watching the video at the same time we were. They had accents that suggested they came from Eastern Europe. I guess it’s a compliment that we weren’t immediately recognizable as Americans. They didn’t have anything else to say to us, once we told them we are Americans.

Anyway, after the video, we managed to climb the tower steps. There were two very narrow bricked flights, which stopped at interactive exhibits that included headsets telling the story of the tower, video monitors of the conditions around the tower, and a large horseshoe shaped table. The table had drawers that could be opened and showed different aspects of how the tower came to be and how people lived. Each of the headsets had little boxes with doors on them that could be opened. They shared quotes and interesting facts, all of which were in English and Lithuanian.

*Here is where we met Pranas, the tower pigeon.*

Bill also rang the bells…

A video of the organ music and Bill ringing the bells in the tower.

After Bill rang the bells, it was time to gear up for the steep climb. The tower isn’t that tall, but it does have very steep, somewhat rickety steps that are only a little bit deeper than a ladder’s. I’m not in great shape, so I was hanging on for dear life as we climbed up and down the tower. A fall would have been a disaster! Fortunately, we made it, although I did give thought to not trying to get to the top. Happily, I went for it and made it, even though there was a “steep” price to be paid the next day… Below are some more photos from the tower.

As you can see from the photos, the observation areas are behind wire. They do allow you to open a part of the wired in window, so you can take pictures without the grate destroying the view. I read in a review that there are other observation opportunities in Vilnius. The university also has a bell tower that looked even taller than the cathedral’s tower. We didn’t try that one, though, because we found it on Sunday and weren’t really wanting to be sore on Monday. ETA: I looked up the bell tower and discovered that it has an elevator for those whose flesh is as weak as mine. But it wasn’t a really clear day, anyway, so it was no big loss not going up that tower on Sunday. Maybe if we go back, we’ll try climbing it on a clear day.

One guy who was at the top of the Cathedral Bell Tower with us rang the bell, scaring the ever loving shit out of all of us on the observation deck at the time. It was LOUD. I’m not sure he was supposed to do that, either. But it’s not like anyone was going to come storming up to reprimand him, or anything. Climbing above the first two levels is a slow process, even for the fit types. You really have to be careful going up and down the ladder like steps!

Once we managed to climb down the tower and stand on firm ground again, we decided to walk around the cathedral grounds. There are a couple of museums there that we really should have toured on the next day, since it was a rainy day. We didn’t get there, though, because we were hurting… but the pain didn’t really set in until we’d had a sleep. We had enough strength and energy to look around some more, take photos, and find our way to the main shopping drag. We stopped in one more Catholic church and an Orthodox church before we found lunch.

*These gold signs were all over the city, explaining things.*

Before we started our day’s activities, we ran into a couple of Air Force folks with instruments. I was curious as to why they were there, and found out through Google that a quintet had come to perform with a Lithuanian band in the town square. We passed the area where they were setting up. The crew was playing Billie Holiday as they put up the equipment. The concert was free and open to the public, starting at 6:30 PM. I hoped we’d be able to attend and mentally made plans.

I was about to settle for a lunch of fish and chips, when I noticed a quiet side street. I saw tables and chairs, and since experience has taught me that restaurants off the main drag are often better, decided to turn right and investigate. That’s where we found the cute little French place called Balzac.

Of course, the restaurant was named after a French book, but that didn’t stop some of my Facebook friends from making the obvious jokes and warning us against ordering hot tea (which I’d never do, anyway)… Balzac turned out to be a nice place for a leisurely lunch. I had duck and Bill had lamb, preceded by starters… I liked the clever use of corks on the beams in the ceiling.

*Bill had duck ravioli with a red wine sauce…*

Oops! Can’t forget the wine!

*When my dad was stationed in England, we knew a family named Virant…*

After our leisurely French lunch, we headed back toward the hotel. Our tour of the crypt was set to begin at 4:00 PM, so we had about 90 minutes to kill. We stopped by another Orthodox church, and then went to our room for a short rest. I was already starting to feel the soreness seeping into my muscles. I’m not sure what the second Orthodox church was about. Photos were allowed in there, but not in the first church we visited. I watched a woman in the first church very reverently performing rituals, showing deep faith. Again, I was very struck by how faithful and religious the people in Vilnius seemed. We would later find out why religion seemed so prominent there.

This post is getting a bit heavy with photos. Because the crypt tour involves many photos and stories, and we didn’t do that much on my birthday, I’m going to save that story for the next part. Stay tuned!

adventure, house hunting

A touristy day in Chieti… (part six)

For our last full day in Abruzzo, Bill and I decided to visit the city of Chieti. Our host, Carlo, had recommended the city, which is the capital of the province of Chieti in the Abruzzo region. After another hearty breakfast at the B&B, we set off for the city, which is atop a hill/mountain and offers beautiful views. There are some nice museums in Chieti, but we only visited one, and that was because I needed to pee. We parked in a public lot near a military “kaserne” and walked around.

Chieti is kind of gritty, with narrow streets and walkways. I got a sense that it was sort of a working class town, but there was a certain charm to it. Below are some photos…

*This cat was actually hanging out by our B&B in Pescara.*

The cathedral was very beautiful, with a large plaza outside of it. For some reason, graffiti artists decided to deface the walls on the other side of the cathedral. I don’t mind some graffiti, but it’s sad when it’s done to truly beautiful buildings. At least they were decent enough to leave the cathedral itself alone.

After we walked through the cathedral, we made our way down a busy street heading west, and soon found ourselves near the University Museum of Chieti. Here, we found a very cool museum with restrooms! I was glad for that! The entrance fee was reasonable, and the people running the museum were so nice. A lively class of Italian youngsters were having a field trip as we made our way through the many exhibits that showed off everything from taxidermy to medicines. They even had a few mummies in there, which we were requested not to photograph. They were behind a sheer red curtain. Below are some photos from the museum, which was not only interesting, but really allowed me some relief! Most of the descriptions were in Italian.

*This must have been the bus for the schoolkids.*

After we left the museum, we walked to another small chapel, where I got a few more photos, then noticed it was getting close to lunchtime. We were, on this day, determined to have a proper Italian lunch. However, the restaurant close to the museum smelled good, but was very crowded. So we walked out of that area, and started hunting for our midday repast.

*Another church with what appears to be a shrine.*

We finally saw what appeared to be a restaurant that could accept us. Bill went inside and asked if they were open. The waitress said yes, in twenty minutes. Then she took our reservation. She said it was necessary. We soon found out why! Apparently, La Tavernetta gets very busy at lunchtime. It certainly did when we visited…

We each had two courses, bread, wine, and fizzy water… and when we were finished, we were pretty full. Good thing we didn’t want dessert! When we left, there were people waiting to be seated! I had ravioli with tomato sauce. Bill had ravioli with mushroom sauce. And then we had tagliata– chicken for me, and veal for him. Bill made the cashier smile when he handed her ten euros as a mance (tip). Tipping isn’t a big thing in Italy, so ten euros was pretty generous. It was about twenty percent of the tab, which was surprisingly economical for all we consumed.

It was mid afternoon by the time we finished lunch, and we had limited time for parking, so we headed back to the car. On the way there, we stopped in another church…

*Seems like they take recycling seriously, except this thing was locked.*

Realizing that we’d be heading north the next day, we decided to stop by another grocery store for more goodies. I made sure to buy some candy for Bill’s grandkids, including a bag of Haribo “fried egg” gummies. Since eggs are so expensive in the United States right now, I figured it was appropriate.

*The boxed wines are very good, and a good deal. These have about three bottles worth of wine in them! We only brought one home.*

Although we had intended, on the last night, to go into Pescara for dinner, we were still too full from lunch to do so. So we stayed in and watched movies from the 80s– Lost in America, National Lampoon’s European Vacation, and The Incredible Shrinking Woman. Sometimes I really miss the 80s!

We had one last night in Pescara, then packed up our stuff and headed north to Vipiteno/Sterzing, where we would be trading in our sunny skies for snowy skies. More on that in the next Italy post!

Champagne Bucket trips, Regent Seven Seas Cruise Lines

Visiting God in Gotland… Visby, Sweden!

On Tuesday, June 27th, Regent Splendor called on Visby, Sweden. Visby is a place I’d never heard of when I booked this cruise, but it’s actually a pretty cool place to visit. Located on Gotland Island, off the eastern coast of the Swedish mainland, Visby is a well-preserved walled medieval town, with beautiful gardens, historic homes, and a huge, majestic church.

It looks like there were only two tours offered during our Visby stop. We ended up taking the Medieval Visby tour, which appears to be very much like the other tour, Visby Walk & Historical Museum, except the tour we were on did not include a visit to the museum.

I kind of liked our tour guide, an older lady who was a native of Visby. She was very knowledgeable about Visby, and enthusiastic about her job. I heard her say that she taught classes in a university. I could believe it. She really knew her stuff, and she was entertaining, too. We were all given headsets that made it easier to hear her. The one I had didn’t seem to work very well and with every step, it bounced against my boobs, so I just listened to her live.

Although Visby has a walled in old town, most people no longer live in the town proper, as the historic museum has a lot of rules about what people can do to the historic homes there. There are rules about construction, painting, and even what kinds of windows people can install. Our guide showed us the smallest house in Visby, which she said sold about ten years ago for about $200,000. It’s so small that one can’t even stand up straight in it. The guide, who appeared to be short like me and said she couldn’t stand up in the house, explained that the buyer was actually the next door neighbor, as buying the tiny house was the only way to have more space at his house!

We learned that Visby used to have a train, but it was stopped in 1960. People are apparently still kind of bitter about losing the train, but the guide explained that it wasn’t really practical to have it. Using buses is more efficient. The old train station still exists, and is now used for a different purpose.

We also learned that there are homes in Visby that are built entirely of wood, including the nails holding them together. And when Visby was conquered, residents were encouraged to build stone houses. They were given excellent tax incentives to use stone, rather than wood, as the wood was a valuable commodity for sales abroad. Some residents tricked the tax authorities by covering up their wooden homes with stone facades. To this day, it’s possible to spot homes that are actually wooden, covered up by stone to fool the taxmen.

As interesting as Visby is, I think some people on our tour were a bit frustrated, as the guide moved at a slow pace. I heard one woman loudly complaining to her husband that the guide only went a few yards at a time before she would stop to tell a story or explain something. Also, I know some of us really needed to pee. At one point, I followed a fellow passenger to a restaurant, which kindly allowed us to use their facilities. The toilets were pretty nasty, though, especially the one the other lady used. It reeked of something very foul! She looked horrified when she came out. I held my breath and was spared much of the olfactory torture.

We were only able to visit the chapel in Visby Cathedral, as the main part was not open. I understand there are toilets at the cathedral, too, but they weren’t open, either. I think people who didn’t go when I did used another restroom at a restaurant.

My favorite part of the tour was probably the botanical garden, which was very beautiful and well-tended, with many different trees and smaller plants. We also visited Gallows Hill, and our guide explained how condemned people were treated back in the day. The hill is located well outside of the walled city’s gates, which our guide told us were closed every night, and made it impossible for people to go in or out. For many years, no one lived outside of the walls of the old city, so much of the island was “wild”. Obviously, that’s no longer the case today.

Below are some photos from Visby!

*Of all the places we visited, Visby’s port was the most bombed by seagulls!*

The photos are actually a little bit misleading. Visby was pretty crowded when we visited. I couldn’t help but think that as charming as the town is, I would think all the tourists and tour groups would get very old for the locals. But I guess they do provide some valuable economy for the island. Below are some more photos I took… and as I look at them now, I’m amazed by how pretty they are. Visby is very interesting and charming, but like I said, quite populated with people like us– tourists! However, everywhere we went, except for that one bathroom, smelled heavily of fragrant flowers. The roses and linden trees were especially intoxicating.

After our tour, we went back to Splendor and prepared for our 6:30 PM dinner reservation at Chartreuse, the ship’s French specialty restaurant. I got the feeling that of the three specialty restaurants, Chartreuse might be the least popular. I enjoyed it, although I felt the food was a very Americanized version of French cuisine. I was especially delighted, though, to get somewhat early reservations. Bill and I are not night owls. I probably would be more of one, if not for Bill, but he’s very much an early bird. His brain goes down with the sun. 😀

Here are some photos from Chartreuse…

*The champagne glasses were a little “sweaty” when we got them.*

As we were leaving, the waiter presented me with a little box. Inside were two fresh pistachio macarons. Very nice, but since we live next door to France, it probably wasn’t as exciting for me as it is for other passengers. But they had no way of knowing that! 😉

After dinner, we had a nightcap in the Observation Lounge. I had some of my favorite Armagnac. Bill had a gin and tonic. We rushed back to the stateroom so I could get shots of the incredible sunset. That was when we noticed the “mail” in the slot by the door… an “invitation” to the following night’s dinner in the other speciality restaurant, Pacific Rim. We also got one for Chartreuse, and I’m sure we had one for Prime 7, too. I just neglected to take photos.

The sunset really was incredible…

We decided to try breakfast in the room on Wednesday, so we made our selections of what we wanted and hung the sign on the door. More on that in the next post!

Cologne, North Rhine Westphalia

The Eagles sure didn’t stink in Cologne… part 2

I didn’t used to be such a hotel snob. In my almost 47 years on the planet, I have stayed my share of nights in “no tell motels”. I’ve done my fill of hostels, where guests are locked out during the day, but pay dirt cheap rates. Bill and I have also stayed in some very inexpensive self catering places in Europe, which we tend to do a lot when we travel with our dogs.

Now that I’m getting old, when I’m not traveling with my dogs, I like to splurge as much as possible. I like staying in cushy hotels with character. I found that in spades at the Excelsior Hotel Ernst in downtown Cologne. This hotel is privately owned, and has a long history in the city, having been founded by Carl Ernst in 1863. Though the hotel has changed hands since it was founded, it remains unaffiliated with a chain and maintains its unique charm. It also has a Michelin starred restaurant called Taku, which served Japanese cuisine. Unfortunately, Taku isn’t open on Mondays and Tuesday, we had our concert. We were not able to try Taku on this trip, but if we ever get back to Cologne, I’m sure we’ll make the attempt. I’ll probably book the Excelsior Hotel Ernst again if it’s available and we can still afford it. We had a wonderful stay.

I booked a Grand Deluxe room, which is about the mid-range category at this hotel. It was located in what appeared to be the newer part of the hotel, which was built in 2007. I tend to upgrade when the price increases are modest. I was very pleased with our accommodations. Below are some pictures.

Excelsior Hotel Ernst.

Dramatic spiral staircase near our room.

Little fountain at the bottom of the spiral staircase.

Nice sized sitting area. Naturally, WiFi is free of charge. I remember as recently as ten years ago, hotels were making people buy access. I’m glad to report that this hotel doesn’t do that.

King sized bed with split duvets. I had to explain the concept of the duvets to an American friend of mine, who has not been to Europe. I kind of like the split duvets. Each occupant of the bed gets his or her own cover.

Marble bathroom with a tub and a rainfall shower. I didn’t use the shower head, though, because I couldn’t figure out how to turn it on the first time I used it. Bill figured it out, but the glass paneling on the tub didn’t do a good job of keeping the water from getting all over the floor. I used the handheld sprayer instead, which still got water on the floor.

We never did turn on the TV, but we enjoyed the free minibar, which was stocked with water, juices, Coke, and beer. There was also a coffee and tea service. I think free mini bars are a really classy touch.

Separate WC with bidet and toilet. I loved the toilet, since it had enough water and pressure that I didn’t have to scrub it after each dump. Seriously, that’s a problem with German toilets. When I find one that doesn’t require that, I get excited.

Little corridor to the door. We even had a doorbell, which a housekeeper used when it was time to do turndown service.

Nice sinks with high quality toiletries. The towels were huge and plush, too.

I spent just under $600 for two nights in this room. Yeah, we could have stayed somewhere else for less money, but this was a very comfortable room.

The hotel and the cathedral are right by the train station! So convenient.

After we checked in, we walked over to Cologne’s beautiful cathedral, which has a history dating from 1248 and was completed in 1880. The last time we went in there was in May 2012. Bill cried over how beautiful it was. This time, there weren’t any tears, but I did get plenty of photos of the inside. Here are a few of them.

My favorite of the stained glass windows. This picture doesn’t do it justice.

Good luck getting the whole cathedral in your pictures. I think I might have succeeded yesterday.

Yeah… so pretty!

Even the floor is beautiful.

The cathedral has a tower you can climb. It’s over 500 steps to the observation deck, which rewards you with beautiful views of Cologne. Although we are usually game to climb the church towers, we didn’t get around to it this time.

I actually took more photos than I’ve posted here. I also took some in 2012, when we visited the cathedral the first time. It’s definitely one of my favorite cathedrals so far. It costs nothing to visit, although you’ll see some red robed men walking around with donation boxes, as well as a couple of them in the cathedral itself.

After we walked around the Dom, we stopped by the Gaffel Koelsch restaurant, which is a huge restaurant we visited the first time we were in Cologne. It specializes in Koelsch beers and hearty German fare.

Frankfurt, holidays

Easter in Frankfurt!

We were blessed, once again, with incredible weather. The skies were sunny; the air was warm and breezy; and the Autobahn beckoned us to drive to Frankfurt. We were considering going to the Dippemess, but Bill wasn’t keen on trying to deal with the train. The station most convenient for getting to the area of Frankfurt where the Dippemess is going on is in Hofheim am Taunus.

We started off our Easter with Ebelskiver– Swedish filled pancakes! That’s the closest we got to Easter eggs today.

We decided to visit Frankfurt’s old town, which we missed the last time we went there. Last time we were in Frankfurt, it was late December and the weather was pretty dismal. It turns out we weren’t far from the old town that time, but it was cold and yucky outside, so we didn’t explore the way we should have. Frankfurt was pretty badly damaged by air strikes in World War II, so there aren’t too many really old buildings there. Instead, there are many skyscrapers. It’s the land of banks. Below are some pictures I took today.

Today was the first day since the fall I could drop the top on my Mini. I caught a little girl smiling at us as we rounded the bend. My car is ten years old, but it’s still cute when the top is down… Some people might say that about me, too.

Frankfurt on the horizon.

Near the train station.

Frankfurt is like Stuttgart on steroids. It’s a very busy place, and it seemed like everyone was there today.

Our first glimpse of the Dom… that tower is 95 meters tall…

It costs three euros for adults to climb the torturous 328 steps to the observation platform. It’s 1,50 for kids.

These two ladies were among many wandering musicians we heard today. They played beautifully! One thing I love about Europe is the preponderance of wonderful musicians who share their gifts on the streets.

On the other side of the fountain, there’s a wine bar.

The old town was happening…

More musicians… they were good, too, although they played the classics with a bit more tempo than I’m used to…

Pretzel anyone?

Down by the river. This was prettier from 66 meters up.

Much to my shame, I consented to having lunch at Five Guys. I really wanted to go somewhere more authentic, but every place was really crowded. For once, Five Guys wasn’t, so we decided to treat ourselves to a rare American style burger.

Bill went in to get the food while I waited outside. An ambulance pulled up with its lights going…

Suddenly, around the corner came an old man wearing a heavy coat and carrying a bottle of beer. He was yelling at the ambulance attendants. I didn’t understand what he was saying, mainly because I could barely hear him… I could tell by his body language that he was agitated about something. The ambulance attendants seemed amused. They smiled, but didn’t say anything to the old man.

A Five Guys staffer came out to sweep. He looked at me; I looked at him, then turned to face the ambulance, since the old guy had come around near the front of Five Guys. Turning to look at the ambulance guys meant I wasn’t staring at him as he continued to yell in German, looking and sounding very stern.

Finally, after a couple more parting shots, the guy stalked off angrily. I did notice a lot of homeless people and beggars today. A woman hit us up for money while we ate lunch. Bill and I have both had bad experiences with wandering people in other European cities. His bad experience was in Seville, while mine was in Athens.

I’m sad to say the burgers were kind of disappointing. They weren’t very hot and the pickles were a touch too sweet. But they were still better than a lot of burgers I’ve had in Germany. The fries were great, and the beer was a Brooklyn Lager, a nice change from the usual Weizen.

After lunch, we wandered back toward the Dom, passing through the old town again. We passed one of the homeless people who had been hanging around Five Guys. The guy was a Spanish speaker and someone was kind enough to slip him a cup of fries. But just as we were about to pass him, another homeless guy jumped in front of the other guy and appeared to demand his pommes. I was tempted to see what was about to transpire, but thought better of it. Gawking isn’t nice. Still, it’s always interesting to see real life human drama in person.

We had to tip this lady…

She was making this dog out of what appeared to be sand.

It was incredible. The dog actually looked real.

We did a little window shopping. A few stores were even open today, though it’s Easter Sunday.

We found ourselves in front of the tower again. It was right next to our parking garage. I looked at the sign and asked Bill if he wanted to climb up. I’m usually cussing at myself when I do these climbs up narrow spiral towers, but then I enjoy the views so much that I forgive myself… until it’s time to climb down again. The Frankfurter Dom Turm is a very challenging climb indeed. I think it took about ten very difficult minutes to get to the top, breathless, sweaty, sore, and rewarded with incredible views…

I zoomed in to get a shot of the TV tower. Seems like every German city has one. Still, as high up as this cathedral tower is, it’s still not as high as the Thyssenkrupp elevator testing tower in Rottweil. That’s the highest observation deck in Germany. You can read about our visit there by clicking here. And thankfully, when you visit the testing tower, you can take an elevator.

A whole lot of sweating, swearing, panting, and praying went into these photos. I will probably be nearly paralyzed in the morning. But we had amazing weather and as long as I’m physically able, I’m going to do these things. Hey, I probably burned off my Five Guys lunch, at least.

A quick round around the tower and we went back down. That was tough in a different way. You have to be careful not to faceplant.

The stairs pretty much look like this all the way down. It makes passing a rather intimate experience. No wonder they charge more for adults. Pro-tip: If you make this climb, especially if it’s warm outside, please for the love of all that’s holy, wear DEODORANT. Trust me.

We came; we saw; we conquered. And we never have to do it again!

We went into the church, which is rather plain by cathedral standards. This cathedral, officially known as the Imperial Cathedral of Bartholomew was completed in 1550. It was renovated in the 1990s and is also undergoing some work today.

This sign explains in English and German what happened to Frankfurt on March 22, 1944, when World War II was raging. The British Royal Air Force did a number on the city, sending a lot of old, beautiful buildings into flames. The cathedral was also badly damaged and was rebuilt in the 1950s. The inside of the cathedral is pretty workmanlike as a result. The cathedral was also burned in a fire back in 1867.

But the organ is pretty awesome.

Look carefully. You can see the people. That’s where we climbed to this afternoon.

It really was worth the effort, even though I can feel my muscles stiffening already.

Before we knew it, it was time to head home to the dogs, who were no doubt wondering where their dinners were. It’s nice to live close to Frankfurt, although I’m glad we don’t actually live in the city itself. It’s very busy! Still, it’s different from Wiesbaden and Mainz and, dare I say it? Stuttgart…

On the way out of Frankfurt, we got behind a Segway tour.

So long, Frankfurt. Time for me to have a beer in my backyard, enjoying my new garden furniture and watching the flowers grow. God bless Spring… and happy Easter to all.

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My Belgian Birthday! Part five

Since we were sort of in the area, Bill and I decided to visit Ghent (or Gent) on Monday. Ghent is a bit further away from Alveringem than Bruges is, but I had heard it’s a beautiful city. Another frequently recommended Belgian city is Antwerp, but that wasn’t convenient to us on this trip.

Bill went to town again for more croissants. The lady who sold him the croissants asked, “English?” Bill said yes. So she laughed and said, “Ta ta!” We both had a laugh over that– since it’s kind of an antiquated Britishism. I guess it would be hard to tell where an English speaker is from if it’s not your native tongue. Like, I would have trouble telling Schwabish from Bavarian. It was pretty funny just the same.

We said good morning to our animal companions before we left. The bunny came back, as did the cows and chickens.

Marianne told us that they were doing some extensive roadwork in Ghent. That turned out to be true. Bill was a bit white knuckled as he searched for a parking garage. Ignoring my gasp and warning of “Look out!”, he managed to drive over a couple of… well, I don’t know what they were, but he wasn’t supposed to drive over them. He was focused on the construction, while I was focused on the things on the road that he was supposed to drive around as opposed to over.

Once again, we were pleased by the parking garage, which was very clean and offered a relatively pleasant unisex bathroom. This one was free and came with its own mood music. In our case, it was a new song by Phil Collins.

The parking garage in Ghent even had its own Breathalyzer! First time I’ve ever seen one of these. I think it’s very progressive.

Our first stop was in a cathedral in Ghent, which turned out to be even more beautiful than the one in Bruges. We walked through the crypt and checked out the artifacts as well as the ornate interior. Once again, Bill was moved to tears. Bill frequently gets overcome by beautiful art or places. With me, it’s music. Had a choir been singing, I probably would have been bawling like I was in Haarlem two years ago.

Our next stop was a bank. One snag we hit on this trip was USAA erroneously thinking Bill’s debit card was compromised by fraud. He managed to make a purchase at Johnny Rocket’s at Ramstein. Then the card quit working. He had to call USAA to straighten it out. While we were Ghent, he needed to replenish his cash. For some reason, we had a hard time finding a bank. But while we were searching, I was able to get some nice photos.

Ghent is actually a very beautiful town, though perhaps not as quaint as Bruges is. It was also pretty crowded, but not as obnoxiously so as Bruges was.

I think this was once the post office, but it now appears to be a mall.

I didn’t take a lot of photos in the Ghent cathedral, but I had to get one of the choir loft. On the other side, there was identical seating. That must be quite a choir!

American themed clothing store.

Bill and I thought it was funny that the Marriott was offering “High Wine”… especially since it’s historically tied to a high profile Mormon family.

We stopped for lunch at a little restaurant called de Grill. There was a lot of outdoor seating under umbrellas and they were offering an attractive special involving steaks. Bill and I went for seafood, though.

And beer… I had a tripel and Bill had an amber by Gentse. Again, it was good enough that we bought some to bring back to Germany with us.

We watched people in boats passing… many of them had rainbow colored parasols. Actually, both Bruges and Ghent appeared to be very LBGT friendly.

I had a fish brouchette, which included salmon, shrimp, and whitefish. It was excellent! I was especially pleased by the salmon, which was perfectly cooked. And of course, there was a trough of fries and Bearnaise sauce.

Bill had croquettes made with shrimp and cheese. He said it was good that I didn’t order the croquettes because the cheese was pretty strong. He loves his strong cheeses.

I had a Gentse Gruut Inferno for dessert. I think it annoyed the waiter, who was clearly in a hurry to shut down.

He closed the unused tables at 1:45pm and was happy to bring out the check for us. Bill says lunch was just under fifty euros.

I could have spent a little more time in Ghent. I’d like to go back sometime without the dogs and walk around for awhile.

Ubiquitous Coca-Cola!

We stopped at the store again on Monday to stock up for our drive back to Germany. We stocked up on beer, cheese, and hair products. After another low key evening at our rural hideaway, we were well-rested for the very long drive back to Stuttgart.

BeNeLux

My Belgian birthday! Part four

Bill and I visited Bruges (or Brugge, if you prefer) back in September 2008. I remember very clearly why we were on our first trip to Belgium. He had been working hard on an exercise at EUCOM and was exhausted from the late nights and demands of his bosses. Labor Day was coming up and he knew we’d have a long weekend. So he sent me an email that read, “Darling, I think we should go to Belgium and see Mannekin Pis.”

I could practically hear in my mind the edge to his voice. Bill is usually a super laid back, easygoing guy. But the demands of his job had put him in a foul mood. I could tell. So I found us a nice hotel in Brussels and we visited, traveling via first class on the Thalys train. While we were in Brussels, we took a day trip to Bruges.

Bruges is a beautiful city, but it’s generally packed with many tourists. Such was the case on Sunday, when we visited again after an almost nine year absence (wow– time flies!). I figured things would be open in Bruges on Sunday and I was right! After about a forty-five minute drive on a fine highway, we found ourselves in the quaint city. Bill found a very convenient parking garage that actually won an award for being as awesome as it is. It even has red and green lights to show which parking spots are open. I was delighted to find a clean public restroom, even though we had to pay 40 cents each to use it.

As nice as the garage was, I can’t say the same for the area just outside of it. Apparently, extensive renovations are going on, so we ended up walking through a construction site that butted up to a row of restaurants and bars. Once we got through that mess, we were in familiar territory. We walked toward the train station to see if the restaurant where we had lunch the last time was still operating. It was, and it smelled good— in fact, we probably should have eaten there. They have great Middle Eastern food. But Bill wanted to go somewhere different.

Anyway… if you find yourself in Bruges and want something vegetarian or made with curry, De Stoelpa is a good bet.

It offers a good place for pictures, too…

I took this next to an art gallery that we didn’t visit. We probably should have gone in and checked out the art.

But we went into the cathedral instead. As usual, Bill was moved to tears.

Since it was Father’s Day and my dad is now in the great beyond, I lit a candle for him. I also unloaded a lot of loose change.

We wandered around the city for awhile in the hot sun until we came upon the “Little Venice of the North” area (seems like so many European cities have Little Venices). Although I usually prefer to find places that are off the beaten track, it was hot and I was hungry. And Jilles Beer & Burgers sounded like it was just the ticket.

We sat at a table right next to the window, which proved to be an excellent spot for people watching. Jilles Beer & Burgers has all kinds of burgers– everything from the usual beef burger to veggie burgers. They also have a large beer list and beer pairings for their sandwiches.

Bill checks out the burgers. He had some trouble deciding because there were several appealing choices.

This was the suggested brew for my choice. I think it was called the Bacon Eli. Basically, it was a bacon cheeseburger with a sauce that tasted Thai inspired. It was sweet, spicy, and a little peanuty.

Not bad. The frites came with mayo, but I was also happy to see a big bottle of ketchup on the table.

Although the label was a little odd.

Bill’s burger… the name of it escapes me. The burgers all came with side salads. Frites were an extra three euros. We shared an order and that was plenty! I don’t think we finished them.

Beer for dessert! This one was so good, we bought some to bring back to Germany.

Too bad I quit coloring my hair. How would they know if the rug doesn’t match the drapes?

A guy on a trike. Little did we know it, but a bike race was scheduled… and we were at a great vantage point for watching.

I did get some film footage. Maybe later, I’ll upload it.

Below are more shots of Bruges. It really is a beautiful city, although there were so many people there the other day. I don’t have the tolerance for crowds I once had. But we did manage to find our way to a chocolatier. All the while, Bill was quoting lines from the film In Bruges, which we discovered during our last time in Germany.

This is a pretty funny film, though it’s not for the straightlaced.

Bill just before we bought a kilo of chocolates. Hello! Present for my ass!

The candle on the end was for my dad. I’m not Catholic, but it seemed appropriate to light one for him. Bill used to be Catholic (and Episcopalian, Methodist, and Mormon)… He suggested it. I think of all the religions he’s tried, Catholicism speaks to him the loudest. I have always been Presbyterian and have no urge to change, not that I go to church much anymore. Incidentally, we were married by a Presbyterian minister whose parents immigrated to Canada from Scotland. I recently reconnected with the minister who married us (and was my boss for awhile). He’s now Catholic and has changed careers!

I got a kick out of the award our parking garage won! It’s good to have goals.

When we got back to the house, the boys were waiting for us.

So was the couch and Belgian TV… and beer. Actually, I think we ended up watching an Australian soap called Neighbors. It was different!

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An extra day in Seville… and a run in with Romas…

Since we were originally planning to get to Rota Naval Base by Wednesday, the 22nd of January, we only booked two nights at the cute hotel we stayed in. But then we realized there weren’t going to be any suitable flights out of Rota on Wednesday or Thursday. I didn’t want to get there early and be stuck behind the gates of the base, because I knew we would be staying in Navy lodging. I was also hungover as hell. So I told Bill we should stay another day in Seville and check out the cathedral. Bill was fretting a bit, but managed to get his office on the horn and get his leave extended.

A word about this whole “leave extension” thing. It seems that if one is on active duty, in order to be eligible for Space A flights, one must be on leave. If you let your leave expire before you get out of wherever it is you are, you can’t use Space A to get home. So it was very important for Bill to get the leave extended through the weekend to give us more time to get a flight that would get us in the vicinity of where we needed to go. There was a Wednesday flight from Rota to Germany, which we could have taken to get to Spangdahlem Air Base or Ramstein Air Base, both of which offer Air Force flights. But we decided to take a risk and plan to stay in Rota. More on that, later…

So, with the help of a former Army co-worker and Facebook friend, Bill got word to his office that he needed the weekend. His request was approved and he could finally relax a bit. We asked for one more night in the hotel and naturally got charged a higher rate since I had booked a cheap room and we were put in a superior room (and charged the cheaper rate). I was surprised the room was considered “superior”, but then I realized that we had a window that actually sort of had a view of the street as opposed the inside of the hotel.

The nice thing about being in Seville on Tuesday is that the cathedral stays open a bit later. So once I had recovered more from my hangover, Bill and I headed over to Seville’s gorgeous, humongous, impressive cathedral. I had been in the cathedral before when I visited Seville with my sister in 1997, but somehow I forgot you have to pay to go in there if you’re just going for cultural reasons. It’s worth paying, I guess. There is a small museum you walk through before you go into the massive structure itself.

A daytime view of the cathedral…

An evening view of the cathedral from another angle.

As we were looking for the appropriate door by which to enter the cathedral, we were approached by several older ladies who were holding out rosemary sprigs. I wasn’t sure who or what they were, though I have run into gypsies before, most recently in Athens, Greece, when one of them said I look like Angelina Jolie (I really don’t. She was either trying to flatter me or had serious cataracts). But I hadn’t run into the scam these women were running. They could have passed for Spanish women involved with the church.

There was a little voice in my head telling me to ignore these women, but they were very pushy and before I knew it, I was reaching for the sprig. So was Bill. Then one of the women started to talk about Romanian blessings and got too close to Bill, who still has a wee touch of PTSD from his time in Iraq. She pushed him toward the wall, alarming him. He yelled “No!” and held up his hand just as I also stepped away from one of the other women. Bill’s reaction apparently startled the women and they quickly walked away from us.

The side door is where you go when you want to visit the cathedral… This is close to where we were accosted.

I was merely annoyed by the encounter, but Bill was really shaken up. We went to the front of the cathedral and there were a couple of flamenco dancers performing beautifully on the street. I was enjoying watching them, oblivious to Bill’s lingering discomfort over his run in with the Roma women.

Front door of the cathedral, near where the dancers were. Wish I’d gotten a photo.

We finally got into the cathedral and I was wandering around, snapping photos and looking at all the stained glass. Suddenly, I turned to Bill, who had tears running down his cheeks. This is a normal thing for Bill in cathedrals. He is usually overwhelmed by their vastness and ornate decor. I’ve seen him cry many times in many cathedrals in Europe. But this time, he really seemed upset rather than moved. I put my arm around him and asked him if he was okay. He told me that he was overcome by a combination of powerful feelings… the beauty of the cathedral and his usual reactions to such beauty was colliding violently with his perception that we had been violated by the Roma women.

God’s eye…

He said, “I haven’t felt like this since I was downrange!”

I wiped his tears and listened to him tell me how angry he was about running into these women, trolling the touristed area around the cathedral, which is supposed to be a holy place. Shame on them for screwing with people that way.

I asked Bill if they had managed to steal anything. He said they hadn’t, other than the positive experience he was hoping to have in the cathedral. Although he was very shaken up, he couldn’t deny that Seville’s cathedral is amazing. But I’m afraid those Roma women gave it an unpleasant color he won’t forget anytime soon.

Beautiful stained glass and ornate sculptures…

I would have loved to have heard this organ…

The courtyard… full of orange trees!

On the way out…

On a positive note, I think we had our very best meal of the trip on Tuesday. We happened to find a small restaurant/bar in a quiet section of the Jewish Quarter. I was attracted to it by the way it smelled. Leave it to me to follow my nose to find the best food. I was a little tired of tapas, so you can imagine how delighted I was when we sat down at a table and I noticed one of the specialties of the house was dorada.

Bill was still a little upset…

I discovered dorada when Bill and I lived in Germany and frequented Greek restaurants. It’s a delicious, mild, white, flaky fish that is usually pretty pricey. We spent a lot of money on dorada at a touristy restaurant in Athens, though I’d had it several times in Germany for less money. It’s still usually a rather expensive dish by my experience. But at this particular place, I could have it for about 12 euros. Cheap!

I love dorada!

Bill ended up with a skewer of beef and vegetables that hung from a hook over his plate and came with delicious fries. I love the way fried potatoes are done in Europe.

That hook looks like an IV pole.

Check out the huge wine glass on the bar!

We drank fizzy water, since I was still nursing a hangover. The waiter in this place, which was overwhelmingly populated with locals, was just awesome. He was quick, cheerful, and friendly and he brought out the best meals of our trip. We finished with a round of espresso and a couple of complimentary glasses of orange wine. Needless to say, I recommend Casa Antonio- Bar Los Caracoles to anyone visiting Seville. Here is a link to another appreciative blogger’s post about this establishment.

Outside of the restaurant…

As the day wore on, we were starting to wind down. As much as I like Seville, I was kind of ready to get to Rota. I wanted to see a different place and there always comes a point in a vacation when you start thinking about getting home and getting back to normal life. The longest vacation I ever took was a month. As much as I enjoyed seeing all I saw on that trip, I also recognized that after a couple of weeks, I start longing for a sense of normalcy and the ability to do laundry at will… and I missed my computer too, since I was wanting to write and can’t really so well on my iPad. I think I need to invest in a laptop for our trips. That will take care of at least one issue related to staying on vacation for “too long”. Of course, since Bill has to retire, these long and frequent vacations may soon be a thing of the past anyway.

Flamenco dresses…

To make matters worse, I started my period. That seems to be my custom on these trips. We went out to buy some Spanish feminine hygiene supplies and ended up getting sidetracked by my sudden desire to buy a silk flamenco shawl. I had been wanting once since 1997 and almost got one in 2009 when we went to Barcelona. But I was always put off by how expensive they are because they are made of silk and there’s a lot of handiwork on them. You can get cheap ones, but I wanted one that was better quality. I found one I loved in the window, but the price was 390 euros… So I opted for a less expensive one that was on sale for 150 euros (a little over $200). It’s turquoise and very beautiful. Maybe next time, I’ll spring for the really expensive one. Too bad I don’t have anyone to pass it down to when I die.

I thought about taking Bill to a flamenco show. I went to one the last time I was in Seville. But Bill wasn’t into watching dancing, so we skipped it. I kind of regret it now, though. Seeing those two dancers near the cathedral reminded of me of how graceful and beautiful flamenco is.

I had to take a photo of this horse. I used to have an Appaloosa, which is a familiar spotted horse here in the United States. I am not sure, but I think the above horse might be a Knabstrupper, which is a Danish horse breed that shares some of the same genetics as Appaloosas do. I believe the Knabstrups were a bit endangered at one point, so I think some Appaloosas were imported to help save the breed. Anyway, regardless of whether this horse is an Appaloosa or a Knabstrup, it was very cool to see a spotted horse among all the bays, grays, and chestnuts.

One last shot…

We ended up at yet another tapas bar for dinner. It was probably my least favorite of all the places we went to. The bartender wasn’t all that friendly and the menu and the wine wasn’t all that exciting. In retrospect, we should have gone back to Casa Antonio- Bar Caracoles again. Won’t make that mistake again if we go to Seville.

Our last dinner in Seville…

After we ate dinner, we had a nightcap at the first tapas restaurant we came to when we first arrived in Seville. Props to the waiter for remembering us. Even though there weren’t too many American tourists around Seville during our visit, I don’t think we’re that distinctive. I got a kick out of using their restroom because the toilets had a little target in them. I’ve heard of them in men’s rooms, but even the women’s room had one. It was a picture of a glass of beer. I’m guessing it was directed toward women who insist on hovering over the seat instead of sitting down.

The Traveling Overeducated Housewife

…the wanderings and ramblings of a boring housewife…

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