Tag Archives: five star hotels

holidays, Luxury, short breaks

A little Swiss serenity: Bahn to bedroom to bar… part two

Bill booked us on an Intercity Express (ICE) Train leaving the Frankfurt Airport train station at 1:50 PM. We got first class seats, and since it was a non-stop ride, I figured it was going to be stress free. And, for the most part, I was right. We took a cab from our house in Breckenheim to the airport, arriving well ahead of time.

Since we hadn’t had lunch, we stopped at Burger King by our platform and had a quick bite to eat. Then we hauled our bags down to the platform. It was frigid outside. I was glad we weren’t at an outdoor station. I was also glad I managed to get almost everything I needed in a backpack, although I did stuff it. I decided to bring my trusty “coatigan” sweater, which necessitated a carry on bag. I made use of a tote bag Atlantic Magazine recently sent me. It came in handy later, when Bill went shopping for snacks and wine.

We reserved seats with a table. It would have been nice to have gotten a “two top”, but we wound up in a four top. Bill did this because he didn’t want to force me to ride backwards for three hours. I have a tendency to get motion sickness. On the way down, no one else shared our four top with us, and the car was very quiet. In fact, we were in a “quiet zone”, and there were signs requesting silence. I don’t know if all first class cars are like that, but I didn’t mind it too much. The ICE trains are nice, because they are clean and almost always have clean, functional toilets. There’s also a restaurant on board, where one can get drinks, snacks, and sandwiches.

My goofy man.
Brrrr…
Beer makes everything better.

Our train arrived in Basel at about 5:00 PM. We hauled our bags out of the train and schlepped them to the lobby of the station, where Bill got some Swiss Francs. Then we walked outside and quickly found a taxi to take us to Les Trois Rois. I took a few photos on the way down the escalator…

The hotel and downtown Basel are not very close to the SBB train station, one of two train stations in Basel. The other is called Basel Bad, which is in a seedier part of town on the other side of the Rhein River. We stopped at the Basel Bad station on the way into and out of the city. It’s located just two kilometers south of the German border. Wikipedia tells me the SBB station is Europe’s busiest international border station!

We arrived safely at the hotel and a bellman very quickly greeted us and grabbed our luggage. A very friendly young man welcomed us to the “Three Kings” hotel and checked us in, then asked us if we’d like a morning newspaper. We said we’d love to get The New York Times, which was one of our choices. We never did get the paper delivered, although it was no big deal. I’m already a subscriber, anyway. It would have been nice to get a paper version, though, especially given how expensive the room was.

One thing I would like to mention… When I booked our room, I didn’t realize I could have booked breakfast with it. I wish I had noticed that, since pre-booking breakfast does make it slightly less expensive. Breakfast costs 55 Swiss Francs per person, which is a lot of money… but if you pre-book, it’s only 45, which is slightly better. On the other hand, we discovered the lovely Bachmann Confiserie across the street, which was a lot less expensive and was perfectly fine for our needs. They sell chocolates, but they also have a cafe menu and serve wonderful fresh pastries and bread.

The receptionist introduced us to the concierge, who assured us he could help us with any reservations or tickets we wanted to book. We had already made reservations at Alchemist for dinner, and we had lunch plans for the Cheval Blanc. We also received Basel Cards, which entitled us to free rides on the city’s extensive public transportation and half price admission to museums! I wish we’d had one more day to take better advantage of that benefit.

Finally, it was time to visit room 110, a “queen” room with a balcony and river view. This was not the cheapest room available at the hotel, but it was pretty small. However, the terrace/balcony was quite large and offered a great view of the Rhein. As you will see in the gallery, we didn’t have the best weather on Friday…

Huge patio
Afternoon view
Minibar… this was included in the price of the room.
Bathroom
Washlet toilet. It squirts cold water, though.
Great shower
Instructions. Unfortunately, they are upside down.
Controls for the toilet.
Hall
Library
Foyer
Evening view
Lots of Rhein dinner cruises start and finish by the hotel. We had a great view of the action.

We decided to visit the bar before we headed off to dinner at Alchemist. It was pretty busy on Friday night, and we had to sit at the bar. There were a couple of American women there, one of whom had put her stuff on a barstool. The very chic hostess politely requested her to move her stuff. There was a hook under the bar for purses, jackets, and stuff.

The drink menu at the bar was pretty pricey, which is to be expected at a five star hotel. They did have an impressive array of gins and whiskies, as well as some very interesting looking cocktails. Bill decided to have a gin and tonic, while I had a margarita. A piano player played contemporary hits to a lively crowd, and I was just enjoying the very classy ambiance. It really is a cozy bar.

Loved the fireplace!
The tequila used in my drink. I’d never had it before.

I probably would have been happy to eat dinner at the bar, but we had 7:00 PM dinner reservations. Bill got the check, and we made our way over there. I will write about our experience at Alchemist in the next post, as I want to make a video for it and that will take some time. Stay tuned.

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Bulgaria, Champagne Bucket trips, Eastern Europe, short breaks

From Frankfurt to Sofia… June 7, 2024…

The morning of June 7th, 2024, Bill and I got up bright and early and prepared for our short break in Sofia. Bill gathered enough dog food for Noyzi to keep him going for the days we’d be gone. I packed a bag and took care of the usual last minute chores before our 3:00 PM flight, while Bill took Noyzi to the Hundpension.

We decided to take a cab to the Frankfurt Airport, because Bill didn’t want to fool with parking. I can’t blame him for that. It’s expensive, and the airport is so big and sprawling. You have to walk your ass off. There have been a couple of times when Bill has tried to get cabs and no one answers in time. This time, we had no issues. Checking in was quick and easy at the Lufthansa Business Class counter. As we were handing over our documents, I noticed a really cute little white dog sitting in a travel carrier. I couldn’t help mentally comparing the tiny dog to Noyzi, who is probably about twenty times bigger!

I had to take my laptop out of the suitcase. Somehow, I had forgotten that it’s not allowed to check them. After that, we made our way to the Lufthansa lounge, where we waited until it was time to fly. The lounge wasn’t too busy, although I did notice one guy trying to get his wife in when she didn’t have the proper credentials. Both of them were wearing really high-speed face masks that didn’t conceal their annoyance when the gatekeeper turned them away.

Chilling in the Frankfurt Lufthansa Lounge…
It wasn’t too busy.

Our flight to Sofia was slated to land at about 6:30 PM, as Bulgaria is an hour ahead of Germany. It lasted about two hours and was downright boring. We didn’t have the slightest ripple of turbulence, even though the pilot mentioned having to fly around some rain. I did get some photos…

Some kind of cold meat with vegetables. Dessert was the best part.

I entertained myself by taking pictures of the sky…

WOW! English is EVERYWHERE!

I immediately noticed how warm it was in Sofia. Germany has been fairly cool recently. Today, for instance, I walked Noyzi in a short sleeved t-shirt and pants. I was actually chilly. In Sofia, it was mid 80s Fahrenheit, and I did a lot of sweating. We made our way to the baggage claim and waited awhile, even though our bags were supposed to come out first. While we were waiting to claim our luggage, I had Bill get me a SIM card for Bulgaria. It was very simple, as the local carrier, Yettel, has a kiosk right there in the baggage area. It’s cheap and easy to change out the card for short trips to Bulgaria and other places Yettel serves.

Once we got the phone and bags sorted, we walked outside and stood in line for a taxi. I looked around, immediately amazed by how different Sofia looked. When I arrived there by bus in 1996, it had seemed much less cosmopolitan. I mean, yes, there are still crumbling Cold War era buildings in Sofia, but there are also a lot of newer, modern buildings. I remember walking from the bus station– a dirt plot, really– into Sofia with my friend, Elaine, in 1996. I can’t imagine doing such a thing today.

The official taxi service in Sofia…

Bill handed the cab driver a slip of paper with our hotel’s name printed on it. The cabbie, who spoke perfect English, laughed in astonishment and said, “Where did you get this?”

Bill said he’d made them. I guess he figured the cab driver might not be an English speaker. That was a fair assessment based on both of our previous experiences in Sofia. But this time, I only ran into ONE person who couldn’t converse with me in my native tongue. It was incredible. This is not to say that I think it’s a wonderful thing that English is so prevalent in places where English isn’t the main language. But I have to admit, it does make things more convenient for us less lingually endowed Americans.

I ended up booking us four nights at the Grand Hotel Millennium, which is a HUGE luxury hotel on Vitosha Boulevard. It hadn’t been my first choice. I wanted to stay at a three star B&B near the center of town that got really excellent ratings on TripAdvisor. The guy who runs it gets high marks for being enthusiastic and helping people really experience the local culture. Unfortunately, he didn’t have availability on one of the nights we were in town, so I had to make another choice.

I had struggled over which alternative hotel to choose. Bill had previously stayed at the Grand Hotel Sofia, which is in the center of the city. He had a good experience there. Now that I’ve been to the city again, I might choose the Grand Hotel over the Grand Hotel Millennium, if only because it’s much closer to the center. The Grand Hotel Millennium is a very nice and comfortable hotel with ten restaurants, a spa, and conference facilities. It’s also near a metro and other public transport. But we tend to do a lot of walking when we travel, and such was the case this time. On the other hand, maybe it’s a good thing we were so far out. We probably saw more than we would have otherwise.

The room I booked was a Signature Suite. The lady who checked us in gave us a big smile and said it was “very nice”. She wrote what looked like the number 906 on the key card, although I thought I heard her say 904. Bill took the cards and we went to 906… which was already occupied! Oops! When we went back down to the reception to clarify which room was ours, the man who helped Bill said this happened “all the time”. Oh well…

We went into the room, which was huge, and offered floor to ceiling views of Sofia on two sides. The bathroom was as big as my childhood bedroom was. It had a tub and a huge rainfall shower, as well as a bidet. There was no minibar, but there was a small fridge, handy for storing snacks and drinks purchased at a local shop. And there was also a large, flatscreen TV installed on the wall, which allowed for ordering room service and getting announcements. Below are some photos…

Bathroom
Views from our room
Another side
I got to know the bed too well.

Keep in mind, we were only on the ninth floor. This hotel has thirty floors! And yet, as nice as the room was, it wasn’t particularly luxurious. But then, it’s important to remember that a hotel’s stars aren’t necessarily about true luxury or quality. It’s about what services are offered. Grand Hotel Millennium Sofia certainly offers a LOT of services, and it’s a very pleasant place to stay. Last time I was in Sofia, the best hotel was the Sheraton Balkan Palace. I see now that that hotel definitely has a lot of competition.

By the time we checked in, it was already after 7:00 PM. Bill had been sniffling a lot, complaining about his allergies. I knew he was probably tired, as he tends to be tired as the sun starts to set. We decided to have dinner at one of the hotel’s ten restaurants. It so happens the restaurant that seemed most suitable was the Vienna Restaurant, which was advertised as “casual”. We didn’t bring any fancy clothes with us, and we noticed a number of the eateries had dress codes. Yikes!

So we went to the third floor, where the Vienna Restaurant is. It was practically empty. We were shown to an outside table on a patio, there one other guy was having dinner. I chuckled when I saw the menu, which was very “German”. They had all the stuff we can easily get here at “home”. But they also had Bulgarian beers, and a few dishes that looked interesting. I went with fried perch, while Bill had truffled pulled pork with mashed potatoes. Bill liked his dish. Mine was just okay. The fish was a bit bland, even with the tartar sauce that came with it. But it was not offensive and did the job of filling us up for the night…

We were about to call it a night when another server asked us if we wanted dessert. I realized we had nothing better to do, so we agreed to look at the menu again. After we ordered– Black Forest cake for me and Sachertorte for Bill– there came a sudden huge deluge of rain. We had to move to another table, because the roof was leaking on Bill.

I didn’t really want dessert, but I have to admit, I really enjoyed the Black Forest cake, which wasn’t so much like what we get in Germany. Instead of whipped cream as frosting, the Bulgarians used a cream cheese frosting. It was delicious. It’s been so long since I last had a decent slice of layer cake, even if it’s not something I ought to be eating. Bill liked his Sachertorte, too. I was actually hoping to score another piece of that Black Forest cake, but we didn’t eat in the Vienna Restaurant again. Phooey.

After we ate dinner, we decided to head back to our room and go to bed. I was already surprised by how different our welcome to Sofia was this time.

When I came to Bulgaria in 1996, I had a terrifying experience at the border with Turkey, as the border guards were very aggressive, and spoke no English. This time, we just sailed right through without so much as a nod to customs. And this time, we also didn’t have to worry about registering with the police, as Elaine and I had to when we visited in the 90s. Our Peace Corps Volunteer host was kind enough to help us with that. He saved us fines when we left the country. Of course, even in the 90s, if one stayed in a hotel, the hotel would do the police registration. So, I guess if we had stayed in a commercial place, we would have been spared the police experience. I’m not so sure they still do that, anyway.

In any case, I was eager to get out and see the city on Saturday… and we sure did that. Stay tuned for the next part!

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Schwarzwald

Seeing “stars” in Baiersbronn… Part one

Our Black Forest adventure begins…

A few weeks ago, Bill finally decided it was time for us to get our teeth cleaned. Actually, it was long past time. We hadn’t seen our Stuttgart area dentist in over two years. I’m usually really regular about my dental visits. In May 2019, when we went to Stuttgart to see Elton John, I had every intention of coming back in November for a six month visit. But Bill ended up being very busy in November 2019, so we never did get back down there. Then, COVID-19 shut everything down. Going to the dentist seemed like it could even be unsafe.

We finally got vaccinated a few months ago. In July, Bill tried to get us appointments to see the dentist. He was booked solid through July, and then would be on vacation. The earliest Bill could get us in was August 26th. I tried to get us a room at our favorite Stuttgart area hotel, but it was fully booked. Then I remembered how much we had enjoyed visiting the Black Forest (Schwarzwald) when we lived in the Stuttgart area. I remembered a day trip we took to Baiersbronn, which was located just 40 minutes or so from where we lived. I recalled how I ate quiche there after having read about the many gourmet restaurants in the sleepy, but pretty town in the forest. I remembered a wonderful article I read in the New York Times Magazine about Baiersbronn. Then I started searching to see what kinds of accommodations were available there.

It turned out that a lot of the hotels in the Baiersbronn area were booked, but I did find us a room at the Hotel Engel Obertal, a five star property in a tiny hamlet called Obertal. The property had just about everything I was looking for in a hotel, as well as a few special extras, like the salt pool. I decided to book us a superior room with a balcony facing the countryside. I paid in full ahead of time and waited eagerly for the big day.

On Wednesday, August 25th, we made our way from Wiesbaden to Obertal, having dropped off our dogs at their usual accommodation. The drive down was mostly on the Autobahn and took about 3 hours. I sighed with contentment as we turned onto a two lane state road that took us into the countryside. I had forgotten how much I love the Schwarzwald. When we lived in Jettingen, we could easily visit on the weekends, spending a few hours enjoying the scenery and relaxed mood. Now that we’re in Wiesbaden, it takes a bit longer to get to the forest, but it’s still not a super long drive. We did get stuck behind a truck, which was pretty annoying. It’s not easy to pass on the tight roads into the idyllic German countryside. But we weren’t in a hurry. We were hoping to relax.

We arrived at the hotel at about 1:30 or so. The receptionist who checked us in easily found our reservation and checked our COVID status. Obertal is located in Baden-Württemberg, which recently passed an ordinance that requires everyone to show that they have been fully vaccinated, have a recent negative COVID test, or have successfully recovered from the illness. Not all German states are doing this yet. I suspect it’s just a matter of time. But Baden-Württemberg was the first to implement this new rule, which perhaps will make new lockdowns less likely to happen.

We were assigned room 109, but it wasn’t ready for us. Check in wasn’t until 3:00pm anyway, so we went to the restaurant for lunch. The hotel offers free breakfast, buffet lunches, and fancy multi-coursed meals that are preferably booked ahead of time. On Wednesday, the hotel was offering penne pasta with ratatouille, chicken breast, potatoes au gratin, salad, breads, and dessert. They also had several lovely cakes available. We also had some beer vom fass as we enjoyed the sunshine and mild temperatures. This was the only day we had lunch at the hotel. It was worth it just for the cake!

The only time we sat outside.
Bill’s haul from the buffet.
Black Forest cake.
Strawberry cake.

After lunch, our room was ready, so we completed the check in, and the receptionist led us to our accommodations. I wasn’t expecting a super modern room, and my expectations were met. But the room was very large, with a comfortable bed, huge balcony, and sitting area. Bill ordered a split of champagne and pralines. I’m not sure why he did that; he doesn’t usually spring for extras. But it was all set up for us when we walked into our room, along with a bowl of apples and a bottle of complimentary sparkling water. The room also had a mini bar, which offered, beer, wine, soda, and extra water at customary minibar prices. The room had a TV, CD player (how retro), free WiFi, and a phone.

I enjoyed the shower. It got great pressure and was generously equipped with Molton Brown toiletries, as well as plenty of large towels, slippers, and robes.

The reception area.
Nice bed with plenty of pillows and lots of closet space.
Sitting area with fruit, water, and champagne and praline extras that Bill ordered.
Bathroom. The WC was separate, which is very school.
A long view of the room. We had many windows!
One view from the huge balcony.
This whole balcony was for us!
Another view.
Cheers!

The room wasn’t air conditioned, but the weather was cool and pleasant, so we didn’t miss climate control at all. And it was so quiet and peaceful that the first thing I did was take a nap while Bill booked dinner at the hotel. The hotel offers regular rooms, but it also has chalets and apartments for rent. There’s a free parking lot and limited street parking, as well as a garage that costs ten euros a night. We only used the parking garage last night, because the parking lot was completely full when we came back to the hotel.

Obertal is a tiny little village, but there are a few other restaurants that are within walking distance of the hotel. There’s also a small convenience store and a few shops that appear to cater to the wealthy spa crowd. Across the street is a large Asian spa hotel, complete with a sign in Chinese and a mural of a beautiful Asian woman.

After our one lunch, we ate all of the rest of our meals at the same table. That was also true for dinner on Wednesday night. We weren’t very hungry after the big pieces of cake, but I am glad we stopped in for a dinner, just to see what they had on offer.

Bread and butter….
The amuse– tomatoes, eggplant, and buffalo mozzarella.
My starter, made of pickled salmon with orange compote and watercress.
Bill had cream of potato soup.
I had a small portion of Schwarzwalder Forellen (trout from the Black Forest). It came with parsleyed potatoes and spinach.
Bill had a regular portion of Zander filet with cauliflower, asparagus, broccoli, and mashed potatoes.

The restaurant offers vegetarian selections and heartier fare, like Schnitzels, as well. We found the food quality at the hotel to be fine, especially washed down with a locally produced Spatburgunder, but it would pale in comparison to the two gourmet meals we planned for Friday. Still, we were too full for dessert, so we decided to head off to bed after dinner. We had a big day planned for Thursday. More on that in the next post.

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Uncategorized

Big business in Poland, part four

The featured photo for this post was taken in November 2008, when Bill and I visited Wroclaw for a few hours.

I’ve now come to the part of my series in which it’s time to write about the hotel. This week, I’ve spent a lot of time at the Sofitel Wroclaw, mainly because this wasn’t a pleasure trip. Bill had a choice of several hotels that were within the per diem set by his company and would be offering transportation to his conference this week. He chose Sofitel because they were the one hotel that could offer him a double room at an acceptable rate. We have also stayed in at least one Sofitel before– it was in Luxembourg. I had a mostly good impression of that property. Now that I think about it, we also stayed at a super nice Sofitel hotel in Hamburg called the Alter Wall. That one is newer that either the one in Luxembourg and Wroclaw and it’s pretty posh.

First thing’s first. This is a “five star hotel”. But five star means something different in Europe than it does in the United States. In America, we tend to think of five star hotels as super fancy. Here in Europe, a five star hotel is not necessarily fancy; it simply offers a lot of amenities. This particular property is a bit dated and could use some upgrades, but overall, it was a decent place to spend five nights. It is not on any level on par with the Jumeirah Frankfurt, which is five star in every sense of the expression.

First off, the hotel’s location can’t be beat. It’s a mere block from Wroclaw’s impressive main square. There are several good restaurants very close to the hotel, as well as a restaurant in the hotel itself. The staff is friendly, helpful and accommodating. For instance, Bill managed to get us a late checkout, since our flight doesn’t leave until 7:00pm. I am typing this review as checkout time lingers, but am welcome to stay until 3:00pm, even though the hotel is pretty well booked for the weekend. Christmas markets start today.

As it is, I’ll probably write this review and leave the room, since it’ll be about lunchtime, anyway, and Bill is planning to pick me up at about 3:30pm. I’ll just go across the street and hit the awesome Doctor’s Bar again, drink some craft beer, and see how far I can get into one of their specials. Or maybe I’ll go to a different restaurant… I have plenty of choices, which is a nice thing. Breakfast, by the way, is pretty good. They have a large array of hot and cold items available, as well as an omelet stand. Service is friendly and professional, and they were good sports about hordes of Americans in Army uniforms descending on them at 6:30am every day this week. I was reminded of college!

This property has a spa, which I did check out, but never used. They have Balinese massage on offer, as well as a jacuzzi, sauna, steam room, and a very small gym. I actually meant to use the spa during our time here, but never got around to it.

There’s also a bar, with friendly bartenders, creatively prepared cocktails, local craft beers, and funky music. The prices in the bar are high; you can certainly drink for less money at any of the local restaurants. Nevertheless, we used the bar on several nights because it was handy and a good place to mingle with others who were at the conference.

The hotel itself is in kind of a mall… not really a proper mall, per se, but there are some offices and a couple of shops in it. Underneath the building is parking, which we didn’t use this time, although I think we did use it in 2008, when we first visited this city. I remember when we came here the first time, people were parked bumper to bumper wherever there was space. Now, they seem to have come up with other options and parking is no longer as chaotic. This time, I haven’t seen anyone double parked, like I did in 2008.

This photo was taken in November 2008. Notice how many cars there are! This time, we didn’t see this as much. There were no cars parked in the area where I took this picture.

The room we rented faced the street and when the drapes were open, we could see people working in their offices. Had we been on the other side of the hall, we would have had a view of the courtyard/mall. We had a good bed, even though I still had some back problems this week which cramped my style a bit. I noticed today and yesterday that the pain was lessened. I think the mattress on the bed in our room is better than the one we have at home.

WiFi worked well, and there is also a good television that offers a couple of channels in English. I didn’t bother with the TV. There’s also a minibar and coffee/tea set up. I didn’t use the minibar, as the prices were pretty exorbitant and there’s no telling how long the stuff has been sitting there. I noticed during working hours, I could hear people in the street or on the other side of the wall, although it wasn’t an issue at night.

One main complaint I did have about this room is that the shower pretty much sucked. It’s a shower/tub combo with a glass screen that doesn’t do the best at keeping the water off of the floor. Getting hot water often took a long time, and there wasn’t much pressure from the spray nozzle. However, they did provide good toiletries from Lanvin (Paris), and they were generous with them. The housekeeper did an outstanding job getting the room cleaned early so that I came back to a fresh room in the early afternoon. If there’s one thing I dislike, it’s coming back to an unmade room at 4:00pm.

Another complaint is that the air conditioning/fan system seemed to be on by default. I could turn the fan off, only to have it come back on at some point. The air was a bit chilly/drafty, and the duvet cover was almost not enough. Fortunately, the weather in Wroclaw was very mild temperature wise. I barely needed a sweater, even though there was some rain.

Another minor grumble about this hotel is that the elevators are a bit of a pain to use. You have to use your keycard to get it to work, and although there are three of them, they take awhile and get crowded. Also, there is no restroom in the lobby, which is kind of a pain when you’re in the bar and have to pee. You have to go to the first floor.

Overall, though, I enjoyed my stay at Sofitel Wroclaw, and would consider staying again. At the same time, I look forward to flying home this evening, taking a shower with plenty of hot water and pressure, and sleeping in my own bed for as long as I want with no worries that I’ll inconvenience the housekeeping staff. In fact, I really enjoyed Wroclaw… wish I could have seen and done more, but now we have an excuse to come back on our own terms and see more of Poland. It was nice to be with Bill this week instead of sitting at home alone, and I’m grateful that we were able to make it happen and were so well accommodated by the Sofitel staff!

Here are a few pictures of our room, as seen when we first arrived on Sunday, the 17th.

  • TV, minibar, desk
  • Small bathroom with sucky shower
  • Good bed. There’s also a small couch.

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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.

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Things aren’t bad in Baden-Baden… Part five

Sunday was the day we’d been waiting for.  It was the day we planned to brave the Friedrichsbad, well known around the world for being an old fashioned Roman-Irish bath.  I remember when I first heard of the Friedrichsbad bath.  It was back in 2015, when I wrote about how, in France, men have to wear Speedos at public swimming pools.  In that post, I mentioned that my husband, Bill, would not want to wear Speedos for anything, but I was working on getting him to consent to a visit at the Friedrichsbad in Baden-Baden.  At that time, I was also a bit leery of being naked in front of strangers.

Well… as of June of 2017, Bill and I both took the naked plunge for the first time when we visited Palais Thermal in Bad Wildbad, which is a mostly nude spa.  Since that bold day in early June, we’ve done the naked thing a few more times at the Schwabenquellen in Stuttgart, and at Böblingen’s own Mineraltherme.  The Schwabenquellen is all nude except on certain days and/or at certain times.  The Mineraltherme is nude in the saunagarten on the bottom floor, which has a pool area.  Frankly, having now seen the Mineraltherme’s whole complex, I think not going to the saunagarten is a waste.  There’s a whole lot more to do in the nude area.

The Friedrichsbad is different, though.  It’s not really like the other nude spas we’ve been to.  For one thing, it’s a very old bathhouse and looks it.  It was opened in 1877 and does not have any of the new fangled finery of the other spas.  Hell, it doesn’t even have 1980s era finery.  This is an old school spa.  However, of all of the spas we’ve done, I like it the most.

We decided to do the Friedrichsbad before we tried neighboring Caracalla because I knew Caracalla was going to be like the other places we’ve been.  Also, I had a feeling that the Friedrichsbad was an experience best had first thing in the morning… and also, we happened to be out for breakfast without our towels or bathing suits and we didn’t feel like going back to the room to fetch them.  There is no need to bring a bathing suit or a towel to the Friedrichsbad.  They provide everything, even shower gel.

We had walked into the downtown area in search of an economical breakfast and found one at the assembly line like bakery called Peters am Leo.  This place was doing quite a brisk business when we arrived at about 9:00am.

Very cheerful and busy!

 

We noticed they had a breakfast deal for two people priced at 19,95 euros, so we went for that.  It was a lot of food… more than we needed.

We got fresh fruit, some kind of “vanilla mousse” with raspberry, butter, and jam…

Scrambled eggs with bacon mixed in, cold cuts, cheese, and a big basket of bread, hot drinks (I had hot chocolate and Bill had coffee), and a choice of either Sekt or orange juice.  We had orange juice. We couldn’t finish everything.

 

Coffee!

I was treated to a nice view of the action.

 

I started to enjoy breakfast until I suddenly heard the unmistakable sound of someone gearing up to spit.  I glanced over at the table catty cornered to ours just in time to see the guy who was sitting there spit into his plate.  It really grossed me out, which seems strange, since I have neither a filter nor an appreciation for the concept of TMI.  Fortunately, the guy got up and left, but not without leaving part of his breakfast on the table.

I was eager to forget about the “loogie hocking” guy, so we made our way to the old bathhouse.  When we entered at about 10:00am, things were pretty quiet.  A pleasant and very laid back looking black lady was sitting at the admissions booth.  She would later help us when we decided to visit the Caracalla spa next door.  I think she recognized us, too.

The famous baths on a sunny Sunday morning.  I think that may be a great time to go to the baths.  It wasn’t very busy when we arrived, but business was picking up as we left.

Anyway, when we met her the first time, she greeted us kindly in English and was patient as we ordered the luxury plus package.  Priced at 59 euros per person, this is the most “luxurious” of the packages.  It includes soap and brush massage, a cream massage, a meal, and a drink at the spa restaurant in the Caracalla.  If I’d had more time to read up, I would have gone for the luxury ticket, which eschewed the meal.  It turns out the meal and drink offered at the spa restaurant are limited to salads and pasta.  Also, I would have rather eaten somewhere else.  Leave it to me to go for the most expensive deal.

The luxury and luxury plus tickets allow up to four hours in the baths.  We didn’t need that long to go through the whole experience, but it’s nice to know we could have stayed longer if we’d wanted to.  Those who don’t want the whole experience can opt for a basic ticket, which doesn’t include soap or cream massages or the wellness ticket, which leaves out the cream massage.  Each progressive step in inclusiveness adds another ten euros to the cost.  We paid 118 euros.  Credit cards are accepted.

Once we paid our admission, the lady gave us waterproof wristwatches… the same kind we’ve gotten at every German spa we’ve ever attended.  Sunday happened to be a “mixed” day, which meant men and women were coming from both sides of the spa.  Some days, the sexes are split.  Women go to the right and men go to the left.  I wanted to experience the baths with Bill at my side, so we chose the mixed day.

Here goes…

After we found lockers, we grabbed the sheets that were left inside, got completely naked in changing rooms (which now seems ridiculous under the circumstances), and were beckoned into the baths by a bunch of very brawny looking men in white uniforms.  I soon realized that the other side of the spa was staffed with similarly attired women.

The men, a couple of whom spoke English, directed us to get shower shoes and then take showers under the old style open bay showers.  They had big levers that controlled the water temperature in a rather crude way.  It kind of reminded me of a prison shower, not that I have any experience with prisons, mind you.  It’s just that it was very crude and not private at all.  And though we had entered the baths covered with a sheet, that lasted maybe a minute before they were taken away.

The shower shoes, at least on the men’s side, were huge and way too big for my feet.  But I only wore them for a short while, as we sat in a warm room for ten minutes, then a hotter room for five.  The shoes were necessary because the floor is very hot and will burn your feet if you walk in there unshod.

After we sat in the hot rooms, we took another shower, then were summoned for the soap and scrubbing, and a massage.  Bill’s therapist was a big German guy who spoke English.  I got a burly Russian man whose German seemed rather elementary– or, I’m going to assume he was Russian.  He could have been Bulgarian, Polish, or Ukrainian, for all I know.  I don’t think he was German, though.

He invited me to lie face up on the table as he scrubbed my body with soap and a scrub brush, rinsed, then had me roll over so he could do the other side.  Then, he gave me a vigorous massage that made a couple of joints crack audibly.  It was a rather surreal experience… almost clinical, yet kind of primal, too.

There I was, naked as the day I was born, lying totally exposed on a table with bright lighting shining down on my bare body, as if I were in a hospital.  And yet, despite decades of feeling ashamed of my body, I didn’t really care that much.  I mean, the staff sees all kinds of people day in and day out.  They were totally professional, and it’s not even like I was the biggest and ugliest person there.  Besides, after a few minutes, the nudity thing doesn’t really matter at all.  Everybody’s naked, and I think most people just stop noticing.

After our enthusiastic massages were finished, we went into the first of two steam rooms.  The first room was kind of warm and smelled heavily of sulfur.  We were in there for ten minutes, sitting on “butt pads”.  Then we went to a warmer steam room for five minutes.  I looked to my right and noticed the very old equipment that was making the steam from Baden-Baden’s ancient thermal springs.  After another shower, we went to station 9, which was the first pool.  It was nice and warm and very tranquil as we soaked for ten minutes.  That was really what I had been waiting for the whole time.  It was heavenly and extremely relaxing.

Next came a short time in a shallow pool that bubbled.  We sat there until it was time to hit station 11, which is the beautiful round pool that is featured in all of Friedrichsbad’s literature.  What I didn’t know was that the water in that beautiful pool is very cold!  We did our five minutes there, then went to the other side of the pool.  This was where things went a little awry.

Unbeknownst to us at the time, we were supposed to stay on the side we came in on.  When we went to the pool on the other side of the round pool, we ended up on the wrong side of the baths.  This is only a big deal because we needed to be on the side where we entered in order to access our lockers.  When we got to the end of the line, which included more showers and a dip in an ice cold pool, a female staffer turned us around.  I now realize that if we’d done the last part on the female side, we would have had to somehow get to the other side while naked.  Either way, we had to backtrack or else flash everyone in the public part of the building.

So, we turned around and walked back through the stations until we got to the men’s side.  We were greeted by the same big dudes with big hands, who wrapped us in warm towels and invited us to wait for the cream massage.  The same Russian guy who did my soap scrubbing took me to a private room, while Bill got a different German guy.  The Russian guy expertly rubbed herbal smelling cream all over my naked body.  Once again, I was strangely uninhibited.  He was very much an expert.  I left his care with skin like a newborn baby’s as he directed us to drink tea in the “reading room”.

Actually, we were supposed to go “sleep” for thirty minutes in the sleeping room, but to be honest, I was alright with skipping that part.  I doubt I would have slept, anyway.  Besides, it was just nice to relax on the lounger in the “reading room” with unsweetened hot tea and Bill at my side.  It was a very restful experience for me, although I will admit that it’s not for everyone.  I know many people would prefer not to bare their bodies to the world.  But, I have to say… now that I’ve gotten into nudity, it doesn’t really faze me at all anymore.  In fact, I find it quite liberating.  Maybe I’m more German than 23andMe says I am.

When we were finished relaxing at the Friedrichsbad, we went back to the locker room, got dressed, and went back to the hotel.  After a short break there, we packed up day bags with swimsuits, towels, and robes.  I wasn’t going to leave Baden-Baden without trying both of its best known spas.  Also, because we got the Luxury Plus ticket, we were owed a meal at the Caracalla spa.

The guy at the spa restaurant who waited on us was quite the smooth talker.  I noticed he was easily mingling in French, German, English, and even a little bit of Russian.  I was a little cranky because most of their beer was non-alcoholic.  In the restaurant, they do have wine and one “real” beer.  I ended up with a non-alcoholic hefeweizen, which wasn’t bad, but wasn’t great.  I also got a Coke because it came with our coupons.

I somehow ended up with a side of duck, which wasn’t covered by the coupon.  At least it tasted good.

Bill had a chef’s salad.

I had a “fruity” salad, which was made with shrimps, mangoes, cherry tomatoes, onions, and greens.  The bread was excellent.  It was soft and not too crusty.

 

After lunch, we tried the Caracalla Spa… and, I gotta say, I was much less impressed with it than any of the other spas I’ve been to.  First off, it was very crowded yesterday.  It’s also been around awhile, as evidenced by how everything looked.  The tiles were all faded and somewhat discolored.  The water looked a little bit cloudy.  I guess I’m used to the Mineraltherme, which was just extensively refurbished last year.

They were repairing the “blue grotto”, which probably would have been packed with people, anyway.  The only thing I really liked about the Caracalla Spa was this really cool current alley in one of the outdoor pools.  It was almost like shooting the rapids as it propelled spa-goers down a pass.  But we had to be careful not to be shot into someone standing on the side of the pool.  I think some people were oblivious to the danger of careening bodies in the strong currents.

As crowded as the Mineraltherme gets sometimes, at least their snack bars have wine and beer and really good food.  The one thing the Caracalla had that the Mineraltherme didn’t was fresh squeezed juices, which were admittedly delicious.  Bill and I tried their orange juice, which was nice after a couple of sauna sessions.  Other than that, I was not all that impressed with Caracalla.  I would much rather visit the Friedrichsbad again.  The Caracalla also has a saunagarten that costs extra, but it doesn’t have a nude pool.  Instead, there are a bunch of saunas and one whirlpool that was packed the whole time.  It wasn’t very relaxing at all.  We paid for three hours and left about halfway through.

When we were finished at the Caracalla Spa, we walked back to the hotel and I took a shower.  We enjoyed a rest after our big day of relaxing baths.  Actually, I was surprised by how tired I was after hitting two spas in one day.  As the sun went down, I told Bill that I wanted to have dinner somewhere, so we wouldn’t end up sitting around drinking wine.  We decided to try Rizzi & Co., which is a wine bar very close to the hotel.  I was glad to try it, because I had been eyeing the menu the whole time we were in town.  We were also lucky because they happened to have one two top open for us.  The next couple who showed up without a reservation was out of luck.

The menu looked good.

Obligatory menu shot of Bill…  We weren’t very hungry, so we went with something fairly light.

I had salmon filet with broccoli and a maple glaze.  I enjoyed the salmon, but especially liked the broccoli, which was really more like broccolini.  It was surprisingly tasty.  

Bill had rare tuna, served with chopsticks, soy sauce, and wasabi.  It was just the right size.  Naturally, we also enjoyed a very nice red wine.

The bar area was pretty cool, although they were playing dance music that made us feel ancient.  I think a lot of Russians frequent Rizzi & Co.  It looks like it caters to the young and hip.

For dessert, I had Le Colonel, which is lemon sorbet with a shot of vodka poured over it.

 

And Bill had vanilla mousse, which was covered with mangoes… I thought it looked like cream of corn soup!

It’s a very hip place.

Since we were told we had 90 minutes, we were quick about eating dinner.  I was ready to go to bed, anyway.  I think we were both out cold before 9:30pm.  In fact, I remember waking from a sound sleep at just past eleven for a potty break.  It’s exhausting trying to relax.  When we got back to the hotel, one of the receptionists said, “Good night, Mr. and Mrs. Crossen.”  That really blew Bill’s mind.  It’s something when the staff at a big hotel remembers your name.  It happened a few times during our visit.  I think it’s the hallmark of superb service.

This morning, we decided to have breakfast at the hotel.  We went back to the breakfast room and loaded up at the buffet and enjoyed the excellent coffee.  I was thinking maybe we wouldn’t have eggs again, but a very charming German gent, whose name was Friedrich and had probably worked there for awhile, charmed us into having scrambled eggs.  He indulged Bill’s German and also greeted him by name, without any prompting.  Maybe we were easy to remember since I don’t think there were too many Americans there during our visit.  We also had a shot of espresso for the road.

When it came time to check out, we were warmly welcomed by the same chap who had checked us in.  He was delighted when we gushed about our weekend and invited me to sign up for their email service/newsletter, which is free of charge and entitles us to perks like free breakfast (which is well worth it).  Since we’re moving to Wiesbaden and Wiesbaden isn’t all that far from Baden-Baden, I could see us coming back to Brenners Park, even if it is super expensive.  We really enjoyed ourselves and the service is absolutely top notch.  Of course, I’m not sure how we’re going to downgrade from a junior suite.  They’re probably counting on that!

I wondered what this was.  Bill showed me that it’s a coat rack.

Perfect scrambled eggs.  Better than the eggs at the bakery yesterday… and no one hocked a loogie.

This is Brenner Park’s resident cat, Kleopatra.  I never saw her, but we did see evidence of her presence.  Evidently, she eats on the second floor of the hotel, which is where we were staying.  Her food bowl and water were neatly laid out in the hall.

 

I think all told, we spent about 3.000 euros.  That included a couple of nights in the bar, a couple of breakfasts for two, two spa treatments, and parking for four days.  And yet, even though that’s a lot of money for us, we were both smiling as we got into the car to go home.  The hotel staff had kindly provided us with a small bag that included waters and snacks for our drive.  It was the kind of service Bill and I have experienced on luxury cruise lines, notably Hebridean Island Cruises, which costs a mint but offers stellar service.  If you’re interested in my Hebridean experiences, you can easily read about them in this blog.  We have sailed with them four times– in 2012 (back to back cruises, and written about on my main blog), 2016 (whisky cruise), and 2017 (Scotland and Northern Ireland).

A shot of the countryside on the way home.  This isn’t far from Seewald, which is not far from where we are living until next Tuesday.  Then, it’s off to Wiesbaden.

Anyway… so ends our very ritzy trip to nearby Baden-Baden.  We had a great time!  If we manage to make it back there, we will have to make a point of seeing and doing more in the area, which surely offers more than spas and shopping!  But then, Wiesbaden is a lot like a more cosmopolitan Baden-Baden.  So we’ll see…

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Paul Simon or bust… Our Dublin getaway! Part ten

Monday morning, we woke up bright and early for our trip back to Germany.  Bill had scheduled a wake up call for 7:00am, but we were already wide awake by the time the phone rang.  He’d also ordered a cab for 8:00am, but we were ready to go at about 7:30am.  In retrospect, I wish we’d had one last breakfast at the marvelous Merrion Hotel, even though it would have added another 60 euros to our bill.  I had forgotten that the lounges at the Dublin Airport are all purpose and kind of suck.  Our last visit to Dublin was in November 2016 and I had forgotten about the lounge, which is kind of grubby and crowded.

I had prepaid for the room with the plane tickets.  I booked the trip through Expedia and I think it came to about $3,000, including four nights in a five star hotel, business class flights on Lufthansa, and trip insurance in case we couldn’t go for some reason.  When we checked out, we paid another 438 euros for food and bar.  That was actually less than I was expecting.  Could we have done it cheaper?  Of course!  But I wanted this to be a really nice experience, and it was.  The Merrion Hotel certainly deserves all of the accolades it gets.  I’d stay again… if I can afford it, that is!  Seriously, if you’re going to Dublin and want to splurge, the Merrion Hotel is a great bet for that.

We had yet another entertaining ride to the airport with cab driver who told us he was one of eleven children.  He said back in the 60s, there was no TV, so what else were you gonna do with your time?  He was a very nice fellow who bid us a sincere farewell.  I think Ireland is one of those places where you have many friends you haven’t yet met.  It’s got to be one of the friendliest countries I’ve ever visited… and at times, I felt like I was back in the USA.  Lots of Americans were in Dublin, too.

Obviously, other people wondered if that all purpose lounge was seriously the only one…  Oh well.  It had free WiFi, fruits, cheeses, drinks, and limited seating space.  In the morning, there’s no beer to be had, but they do stock it later.  Don’t ask me how I know.

 

Our flight to Munich was populated with a lot of Italian teenagers.  I guess they were in Ireland for the same reason the Spanish teens were there– to learn English.  This, even though English is Ireland’s second language.  It’s easy to forget that Irish is a language, too.  The flight was trouble free and pleasant, complete with food…

The flight attendant seemed nervous about giving me this tray of food.  It wasn’t bad.  The cookies were extras from coach because she was afraid I wouldn’t like it.  There was burrata, a shrimp with asparagus slices, wurst with pickles, and some kind of vanilla mousse that was pretty tasty.  I also got hot bread and white wine.

 

We had a two hour layover at Munich’s fabulous airport.  Given a choice, I think I’d take Munich over Frankfurt.  It’s just a nicer place to spend time.  The guy who checked our passports at passport control seemed confused by the concept of the Status of Forces Agreement.  But, to his credit, he figured things out quickly and sent us on our way.  We hung out in the Lufthansa Business lounge for an hour, then got our rinky dink flight back to Stuttgart.  It took about twenty minutes and yes, they fed us.  Actually, it was a nice snack consisting of part of a wrap, a brownie with nuts, caramel, and cherry filling, and grapes.  Seems crazy to wait two hours for a twenty minute flight, but it is what it is.

A couple of sky shots I took.  I think I got these on the first flight from Dublin.

When we got to Stuttgart, our bags were the first ones off the plane.  We grabbed them, got to our car, and drove to Max’s just in time to hit Stuttgart rush hour traffic.  Zane and Arran were delighted to see us and Max gave us the lowdown on what we need to discuss with their vet.  He really does take excellent care of the boys and they love going to see him, although sometimes I leave his place feeling like a negligent dog mom.  But I’d rather it be like that than worry that my dogs aren’t being taken care of and I know he does take great care of them.

I don’t know when our next trip will be.  I’m hoping to visit Armenia in the fall, if we can get enough time off and Max has availability for the dogs.  But we’ll have to see if we can pull it off.  For now, I’ll get back to blogging about restaurants and local fun stuff.  Stay tuned!

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