Playing Charades in Germany Part 2

Town along the river with vineyards on the hills.


Trail through the woods to the castle.


Castle in the woods.

Please read Part 1 first (see below).

On Saturday, we headed for the wine museum hoping to learn a little bit more about the local wines. About all I knew was that they mostly make Rieslings in sweet, halfdry, and dry. The wine museum was funny in a House-on-the-Rock kind of way. Grandpa collected all the old-time tools of the trade and housed them in the old wine-cellar. He built a big party-room to extend his collection and give space for town “meetings.” The highlight of the tour was the wine tasting at the end. There was a mature woman working at the tasting bar and watching three little red-haired kids playing in the party-room. As we walked up the bar, I was thinking, “Boy, I’m not sure tasting wine at 9:30 in the morning is a good idea.” Then I saw the woman pouring “juice” for one of the little kids. Looking closer, it was red wine and she kept telling the kid “langzamer” which happens to mean the same thing in Dutch as German, “slower.” So, next time the little ones are starting to drive you nuts, just remember that in some places it’s OK to give them booze at 9:30 in the morning! The corollary is to watch what Grandma is serving the kiddies.

For our afternoon activity, we wanted to see the Berg Eltz castle, which Rick Steves calls the best castle in all of Europe. We got in the car with the trusty TomTom and set it for the Berg Eltz castle. Everything was fine until we hit some construction with a detour. The TomTom reset and tried to have us drive over a foot bridge, then it reset again and we seemed to be on the original path following the detour signs on a narrow road up a very steep hill. At the top of the hill it had us turn onto a small farm road, then onto an even smaller farm road. I decided NOT to turn on the dirt road that seemed to go right through the mustard field. Of course at that point, we came upon a truck stopped on the road and there was no room to pass. Turning around was an adventure because there was a very steep drop off on one side and a hill on the other. I did a 49 point turn and shut off the TomTom. I drove back the way we came and followed the signs to the Burg Eltz parking lot. Of course this was the Park and Walk lot, but it was better than rolling the car off the side of the mountain.

It ended up that we had a lovely hike through the deep dark forest. There was a gurgling creek, tall pine trees, and ferns and ivy on the ground. It was still cold, wet, and rainy and the trail was muddy but it was like an enchanted forest. After about 40 minutes of scrambling up the muddy rocks, we arrived at the castle. This castle is unusual because it’s still held by the original family that built it and it was never destroyed during any of the wars. One section of the castle is still being used by the current generation, but they’ve opened the rest of the castle for tours. The castle was cool in a very literal way. By the time the tour was over, we were both frozen. Good thing we had a 40 minute hike to warm us up on the way back to the car!

At this point, we decided to go to a nearby town and get some hot tea and watch people go by. It was getting a little bit late in the afternoon and the sun was breaking out through the clouds for the first time all weekend. We found a little ice cream shop in a cute town square. It was in the sun and out of the cold wind. A few minutes there and we were feeling quite a bit warmer and ready to eat some ice cream. Apparently, the Germans know how to make ice cream, unlike the Dutch who have not yet figured this out. You’d think in a country where people drink milk at every meal that they would have good ice cream, but really it’s awful. So, I was thrilled to have yummy REAL ice cream. The town wasn’t so interesting though, so we drove back to the hotel and decided to check out some of the wineries nearby.

The first winery we stopped at was a small cellar (think basement with a garage door) run by a little old lady. We asked for dry white wine, but she was pushing the half-dry. Well, the point of tasting is to try new stuff, so we tried it and it was really good and not too sweet. We did taste her dry wine, but we agreed with her that the aromatics seemed to be lost. When we told her we live in the Netherlands, she said her daughter lives in the Veluwe region of the Netherlands. After we tasted the wine, we spotted some kirshwasser on her table. We asked to try it. As she served it, she said it’s really good with champagne. I knew we had a bottle of champagne at home that someone had given us, but I don’t really like it so we hadn’t opened it yet. We bought the kirshwasser to go with it. Now at this point, I should explain that all of this communication happened with us speaking English and her speaking German. It’s funny how much we were able to understand and we really enjoyed talking to her.

Our next stop we a yuppy-looking wine shop with all the modern décor fitting more with Napa Valley than Mosel. The guy running the shop spoke really good English so I was finally able to learn a little bit more about the local grapes and the wine making processes. He also had some lovely wines. We tasted a really nice oak-aged wine that was like chardonnay. He had a good red wine similar to Bordeaux. We were having fun discussing the different flavors and techniques. Finally, he had us taste his special Riesling from the very top of the hill and from 2008 which was a really good year. Unfortunately, I really didn’t like this one! It was dry enough, but the aroma was like honey, which I don’t like. He was disappointed, but I still managed to buy 6 bottles of wine from him. These were by far the best wines we had tasted and of course the more expensive ones. Most of the other wines we tasted were about 4 euros per bottle (very cheap) and these were 7 or 8 euros. Considering that last time we were in Napa, none of the bottles were less than 15 dollars, I felt we were still getting a pretty good deal. And, my mission of learning a bit about the local wines was accomplished.

On Sunday morning, the sun was out and you could tell it was going to be a glorious day. Too bad we had to drive home. Apparently, all the other people in the hotel were leaving early and by the time I got up to shower, there was no hot water. I was also a bit tired of cold bread with meat and cheese for breakfast. Would it kill you to have a toaster? OK, maybe I was just getting a little cranky. It really is time to go home after all. The drive was pretty relaxing and we only hit traffic a few miles before we got to our exit. We were glad that we made the most of the holiday weekend even if the weather wasn’t very cooperative.

Playing Charades in Germany Part 1

Barges on the misty Mosel River.

Mosel River- view from hilltop castle.


Newest Disney ride through the steep vineyards.

Riverside town as seen from the castle.

Here in the Netherlands, we have several holidays in the spring-time. Thursday (May 12) was Ascension Day and Dennis and I decided to take the Friday off to make it a 4 day weekend. After our nice experience in Rothenburg a couple weeks ago, we thought we’d do a little more exploring in Germany. This time we targeted the Mosel River Valley, a prime wine producing region with a bike trail along the river.

We made our hotel reservations on-line because we figured it could be busy with the holiday weekend. A couple days before the trip, I noticed that the weather forecast was for 50 degrees and rainy. So I looked at the cancellation policy for the hotel and realized that we would pay 80% of the entire bill if we cancelled. Even when Dennis came down with a cold the day before, we decided to go anyway and try to make the best of it. Actually I couldn’t help thinking of so many Memorial Day weekends in Minnesota when it was cold and rainy all weekend until it’s time to go home – then the sun comes out.

We packed the bikes (hybrids for this trip) and a lot of cold medicine and drove the 4 hours to the Mosel. The TomTom navigation system didn’t even register the name of the small town we were staying in, but we did finally manage to find the hotel. I guess we should have bought a map of Germany at one of those rest areas – it might have come in handy.

Checking into the hotel was a bit of extra fun. First, there was a note on the door instructing us to go to a neighboring hotel. The note was in German, so we were pretty much guessing. With a little bit of help from an English-speaking person, we finally found the right place. Little did we know how rare it would be to find another person who speaks English there! The hotel lady only spoke German, but that didn’t seem to limit her talking. She just kept talking to us in German as she showed us the room, the honor bar, and the breakfast room. Everything looked fine so we just kept smiling and nodding. We did notice that some words in German are the same as in Dutch, so we were able to understand every 5th word she said.

By the time we were settled into our room, it was about 4:00 so we decided to walk around town and stretch our legs a bit. Well, that took about 5 minutes. So, we strolled along the river path until we got to the next small town. Here, we found some wine-tasting shops that were still open. One of them also sold homemade liquors from large flasks. We were able to taste before we bought some hazelnut cream liquor and chocolate orange whiskey. The best part was when she filled some small bottles and then labeled them with a marker. We saw marker-labeled bottles of liquor in some of the restaurants in France and we wondered what they were and where they came from. Now we know those bottles probably came from a shop like this one!

On Friday morning, we dressed very warm and got on the bikes. The bike path along the river was awesome. Between the river and the steep hills dotted with grapevines were quaint small towns with river-side cafes and wine tasting shops. This is a place that time forgot. The hills are too steep for modern farming equipment, so they still grow the grapes in the traditional way. We rode past many fields with little tram-ways running up the hills. We thought this would make a good Disneyland ride. We stopped frequently to visit the cafes and snoop around the towns. We found a cool castle on the top of a hill. It was a ruin, but the view was spectacular. We couldn’t help but wonder how much better it would look if the sun were out. By the time we were done with the castle, I was freezing and it was starting to rain just a bit. We realized we’d been out and about from 10:00 until 3:00 so it was a good time to head back to the hotel and clean up for dinner.

For dinner we went to a neighboring hotel restaurant, arriving at about 6:15, only to be told that they were full. We thought we were the only ones who ate dinner this early in Europe! He said it was too bad because they were doing a lovely 5 course meal of local favorites (only 13 euros per person – unbelievably cheap!). We were set to go somewhere else when the guy said he’d check with the chef and see if there was enough food. He came back with a smile and sat us in the bright dining room. We were still not exactly sure what we’d get, but at least we didn’t have to translate a German menu! WE had the following: salad with duck breast and orange dressing, fennel cream soup, fish with lentils, pork with gravy (naturally), and ice cream with berry sauce. Everything was pretty tasty and went nicely with the local Riesling wine.

Christmas Pyramid

Christmas Pyramid - heat from candles makes the propeller spin and it turns like a carrousel.


The angels are on the top layer.



The wise men are on the middle layer.


And the soldiers are on the bottom layer.

As promised, pictures of the Christmas pyramid. Obviously, this is not the kind of thing you can easily pack in a suitcase to take home. Most of the time when you travel, you can only bring home little things. We are collecting some of the bigger things while we can.

Giro d'Italia

Here are the race leaders - about 5 minutes ahead of the rest.


Here are the rest of the riders.

Yes, the Giro d'Italia started in Amsterdam this year. We had the unusual opportunity to watch the Tour of Italy in the Netherlands. Stage 2 of the race went from Amsterdam to Utrecht and passed within 5 miles of our town. We rode our bikes over the race course and watched them speed by.

Since I had the camera, I actually didn't see any of the race. I clicked as fast as I could and only got a few pictures. The whole group passed in just a couple of seconds.

We abandoned our plans to ride the train to Utrecht to watch the finish because I injured my leg this morning and can barely walk. Biking was OK, but walking was really a bummer. Utrecht would have involved a lot of walking and would have been pretty crowded. I don't do so well with Dutch crowds because I'm so much shorter than everyone else. Now, I'm trying to rest my leg so I can have fun for the long weekend coming up. Hopefully a few days of rest is all it will take.

Surprise in Rothenburg

Pretty view of the valley from Rothenburg.


The market square with some sidewalk cafes.



Walking around the city walls.


I think you can guess who these people are.

The fountain near the market square.

After months of working too much and suffering the cold and rainy end of winter in the Netherlands, Dennis and I finally had some plans to get out of Dodge. Susan, my sister-in-law, who lives in Tucson, was going to be in Germany for a conference at the end of April. She called us a few weeks before and we arranged to meet her in Rothenburg, a touristy town near Fankfurt. We were lucky because the last day of April is actually a holiday in the Netherlands, so we had a three day weekend.

On Friday morning, Dennis and I started driving towards Frankfurt. I was apparently too optimistic in my time estimates. It was supposed to take about 4 hours to get to Frankfurt and then another 1.5 hours on to Rothenburg. Unfortunately, the road from Frankfurt to Rothenburg was one non-stop traffic jam from all the road construction. It was a bit ironic to be stuck going 30mph on the aurtobahn. We finally arrived a few hours later than planned, but still earlier than Susan whose flight was delayed.

We got settled in the really cute bed and breakfast that Susan picked out. Then, we went to explore the town a bit. Rothenburg is an old Roman fortified city built in the 1600’s at the intersection of two major trade routes, the East-West route to Asia and the North-South route to Rome. The city still has the old wall all the way around it and a really cute and compact city-center filled with shops and sidewalk cafes. We had a quick look around town and a cup of tea and then went back to see if Susan had arrived yet.

Waiting around the room, I was just getting restless so I decided to take my book to the lobby and wait there. I opened the door and stepped into the hall and almost ran right into my mother. My mother?! Just a few steps behind her was Susan with a big smile on her face. That wasn’t the way they planned the surprise, but I was surprised anyway.

Since it was already dinner time, we found a nice restaurant and enjoyed the heavy German cuisine. As we were leaving, we noticed that it was almost 8:00 and there was a tour starting in just a few minutes. We decided to do the Night Watchman’s tour, billed as the best evening activity in town. We met the group in the market square and waited for the Night Watchman to show up. He was easy to spot in his period clothing. He told us about life in the city in the 1600’s before the streets were paved and before they had sewers. The town’s livelihood was textiles, mainly wool from the locally raised sheep. The city walls were built to keep out raiding armies, but they didn’t always work. The town was nearly destroyed in WWII by bombs from American planes. Just before the end of the war, the Americans had orders to destroy the town to catch some high level Nazi Generals who were hiding there. But the American in charge was of German heritage, his family from Rothenburg. He didn’t want to destroy such a beautiful city. So, he met with the mayor and they figured out a way to save the town. The mayor surrendered the city in the morning, a move that made him a traitor. The generals were not found and 3 days later the war was over. After the war, the city asked for donations to help rebuild the historic walls. People were able to buy pieces of the wall in 1 meter increments and get their names posted along their section of wall.

Knowing the history of the town, we spent Saturday exploring the walls and the cute souvenir shops. Since we had the car with us, we were able to buy bigger things than most tourists can manage. The Christmas shop is where I got in the most trouble. Every day is Christmas in this little town. I got a very tall pyramid decoration. The pyramid is typically German ornament made from wood. There are candle holders around the base and the top has a propeller. The heat from the candles makes the propeller turn and all the little hand-carved figures turn around like a carrousel. As soon as I unpack it, I’ll get a picture to publish.

We really had a relaxing day, stopping when we were tired for lunch or a cup of tea, enjoying the view of the green and yellow valleys, and simply taking the time to chat and enjoy the company. I have to also say how nice this town was for tourists. They had public (and free) bathrooms all over the place, as if they wanted us to stay a while. The hotel guy was very helpful and made sure we had a map of the town and a bed long enough for Dennis. The waiter and waitresses all took time to describe their food and encourage us to try some of the seasonal specialties. At the shops, they opened packages to let me see things up close. Everyone was super-friendly and seemed to welcome tourists and Americans. The level of service stood in contrast to the business-like Dutch waiters and the surly French ones.

I was sad to have to say goodbye to Mom and Susan so soon, but on Sunday morning, we had to start the long drive back home. We found a route with less road construction, so at least the traffic wasn’t bad.