12 April: Würzburg, Germany
This morning we rearrainged the car to better pack the bags. We wen't into Rothenburg to eat, and on the way out I really smacked my head against the medieval wall. Actually it was on the stairs up to the wall. I didn't really judge a pillar that jutted out and hit the top of my head quite badly. I spent a great deal of that walk to my car rubbing my head. After a little time to recover we drove to Würzburg and got a room at the Etap on the outskirts of town. It was warm enough to take the top down for a little bit, so Stacey got to feel the joy of a more expensive convertible.
It was around 4pm, and I was still feeling a little woozy, so we just stayed in the room and watched a movie on the DVD player Stacey brought. John Carpenter's They Live. There's nothing better than watching Rowdy Roddy Piper say "I've come here to chew bubble gum and kick ass.... And I'm all out of bubble gum." Then we got some well needed rest.
BTW, I'm not sure they're big yet in the States, but this band called The Gorillaz has this immensely catchy tune on the radio. The video is even better. However, after purchasing the album, it turned out that that song was a diamond in the Rough. The addition of Del the Funky Homosapien seemed to be the key missing ingredient to many of the tracks on the album. However if you like the Zombie Hip-Hop, I'd recommend it...
13 April: Würzburg, Germany
So my head is feeling much better. Thank the Lord. Speaking of which, for those Christian believers out there, it is Good Friday (the 13th, no less). Nothing in Würzburg is open. Nothing, except the big museums. Like the Residenz.
This is the coolest Castle yet. The outside of the castle is quite hohum, and it isn't that grandiose in style, although it is on the large side. Yet, it is stunning. Every wall and ceiling is covered with a masterpiece of somesort. The entire place was pretty much demolished during WWII, and the government spent about 40M DM so far to fix it. Stunning.
Make sure if you go to get a guided tour. They let you into the Southern Imperial Apartments. This includes the famous Mirror Closet. All the walls are mirrored, and the paintings are done on the silvering on the back. It was destroyed and restored for 4.5M DM. It was well worth it. The entire room seems to shimmer. If they had candles lit, I could imagine it being a sight to behold. In the room beyond this they have the remaining shards of the original. The restoration seems to have been true to the original.
The entrance room for the castle leads to a grand staircase which has a huge 30x18m vaulted ceiling. It is the largest ceiling painting showing a single motif (Sistine is bigger overall). And the vault has no columns. It is filled with 3D effects, showing the four known continents on the four walls. The paintings are masterpieces, the stucco work are detailed and increadibly quickly constructed, and the interior architecture is lush. This is a must see. It survived saturation bombing, people! Photos aren't allowed inside, and all the photos I've seen online or in the little book we bought don't do any justice to the grandeur of the palace of the Prince-Bishops of Würzburg.
14 April: Wiesbaden, Germany
We drove to Schweinfurt to help Stacey relive her past. Between the ages of 5 and 8, she lived near the army base here. A lot of driving, looking around town trying to rekindle old memories. We got kinda lost looking for where she used to live (Dettelbrun). In anycase, she kinda freaked out because the shipping company owned by some people she lived with was on the way out of town (Spedition Schaeflein). All the driving and looking around made me tired so we ended up in Wiesbaden. Got two days at the Etap because Ostersonntag seemed to be a dead time.
15 April: Wiesbaden, Germany
Easter Sunday. Nothing really open. We cruised up and down the Rhine from Bingen to Koblenz. It was very cool. Drove up route 9 up the south-west side and then back down route 42 back to Wiesbaden. Here's the detail I promised.
You start by driving along the autobahn to Bingen. From there there are two parallel roads that slink along the Rhine up to Koblenz and beyond. It's only about 30 miles of road, and it contains its share of curves. It is, however, a road that parallels the train tracks and is meant for tourists so most of it is created out of landfill on the Rhine itself. However the views you get of both sides of the river are stunning.
This used to be toll road hell. On this stretch alone, there are 10 castles which were customs stops. They would lower their chain across the Rhine into the water and force the passing ships to pay their fare share. Around here is also the Lorelley, a relatively unimpressive piece of slate cliff over the Rhine. There is a great deal of legend surrounding this cliff named after a nymph, because it is situated inside a rather dangerous reef. So the sailors would blame the siren on the cliff when the boat sank. It is opposite St. Goar and filled to the gills with gawking Japanese tourists.
Most of the castles were destroyed by one of the French Louis or Napoleon or some other french person. Only one of the castles is original (i.e., from before 1850). All of them have an interesting story, interesting name, and dramatic situation. The coolest one was Die Pfalz (an abbr.), which is actually in the river itself. Built on a sandbar, due to the rain and the high water, it appeared to float. And since it was shaped like a ship, it added to the dramatic situation.
16 April: St. Goar, Germany
The weather was nicer, but it was still rather damp. We drove back to the Rhine, first to the town of Bacharach and then the tourist trap of St. Goar. And I do know the way to San Jose.
In Bacharach we stoppped to check answering machine messages and voicemail. After that we followed the self-guided tour listed in the Rick Steves' book. We got kind of lost but getting lost amongst vineyards and old castles is not a big problem. The river flowing from the Bacharach valley flows freely along a back street before being covered through town. I greatly recommend getting lost in this town.
And Prof. Jung is Charming. In the Rick Steves' book, he mentions a Charming Professor Jung gives English-language tours of Bacharach. Whilst traipsing through the self-guided tour (specifically in the Post Office), we happened upon two thoroughly annoying american tourists and Prof Jung. He saw us with our book open and likened American tourists with the Rick Steves' book like the Chinese with the Red Mao bible. Quite amusing.
Then we went to St. Goar. A nice touristy town. When we got there we parked in a relatively precarious spot on the river (another 4 inches and my car might start floating). Then we walked into town. Since this is a bank holiday, the main pedestrian square was filled with a little kiddie race. When we got there they were getting ready. We walked down the square to try and get some food, but I was getting too ansy, so I got a little gelato and walked to the hotel that had internet access. A little pricey, and coin operated. The first one I sat down to didn't work, so I went to the other one. Had an american keyboard. Very nice.
Then we went up to the Burg Rheinfels in St. Goar. It was cold and wet, but quite impressive. Had a gigantic cellar that held the grain and wine that was taken from the surrounding community. Part of the self-guided tour was blocked, so we winged it. Coolest part was the little dark tunnels that fill the castle. We tried to use the mini-flashlight that came with my car, but it didn't work. Oh well.
We ate at the little restaurant next door for dinner. I had turkey curry and Stacey had Speckphannkuchen (pancake with bacon). When you want the menu in english, don't ask for "Haben Sie ein Spielkarte in Englisch." Playing cards won't help you figure out what to eat. Speissekarte is the right word. Guess I have poker on the brain. Or at least gin rummy. To pass the time that's what Stacey and I have been playing. And she's been giving me a whoopin'.
17 April: Freiburg, Germany
In the morning we drove to Baden Baden. Stopped by the casino, it was too early to get in and too late to take a tour. Oh well. The building did look fascinating. The shopping area across from it was far too high-class for such plebian folks as we, so we drove on.
We drove around the black forest. It's quite easy to see why it is called such, the trees are the darkest green I've ever seen. We drove along the route illustrated in the Rick Steves' book. I don't have the details in front of me, but Stacey wrote them down. Needless to say, it was quite cold and we drove through a lot of snow. The white snow on the dark-green trees was a beautiful sight. Especially given the large scope of the forest itself. Quite interesting.
The highlight was the Deutsches Uhrenmuseum. This clock museum was beyond fantastic. As you walk from ancient sundials to Schwarzwald clocks to Cesium Atomic clocks, you get great english descriptions with great detail on escapements, gearing, history of clock-face painting, etc. By far the most interesting part was the guided tour.
An hour tour (mostly in German), but with a lot of really cool automation. The first thing we saw was a flute clock, a clock that on the hour blew a tune to one of Mozart's arias. Then we saw a blackforest clock with a dumpling eater. On the hour, he would eat dumplings from a bowl... one dumpling for each stroke. A silent clock that I would take home if it were possible. Very cool. Then we saw a bunch of cuckoo clocks, along with the innards. They have two flutes with a little accordion at the end. The clockwork would bring the bellows up and down in time to make the cuckoo sound.
Then we saw a gigantic clock. Manufactured as a showpiece in the 1880s by a Schwarzwalder, it was about 20ft by 10ft with a depiction of the stages of life complete with angel and grim reaper, the apostles (with a despondent Judas), monks ringing the bells at 6 am and 6 pm, two music making mechanisms, date with year (up to 9999), a cuckoo, a rooster that crowed in the morning, phases of the moon and sun, time in 16 different time zones, etc. Best part was a scene of the nativity that would be displayed between Christmas Eve and the Epiphany. In the basement they have the music making machines. Including one incredibly loud machine with drums, glockenspiel, and flute (to be played at fairs). Wow. We were there for 2 hours (until closing time), and I could have stayed longer. I guess the machine museums appeal to us the most. We slept in Freiburg after driving out of the Schwarzwald.
18 April: Colmar, France
The cold weather is getting to me. I'm being quite a handful and Stacey is praying that Nice is the Nirvana that I keep saying it is. In any case, we headed towards France. We drove to Colmar and spent a great deal of time looking for a (D) sticker to place on my car. Still not sure if you need it. We saw a german tourist plate car here in Colmar without the D. But its plate expired in three days.
Stacey was a little concerned at first with going to a completely foreign land, but she dealt with it rather well. My traipsing around the border to find the illusive D however, made me kind of agitated. Oh well. In Colmar we stopped at the Poussin Vert (spring chicken) and interneted. 10F an hour, but French keyboards.
Headed to Besançon to spend the night. Hand washed some laundry so we could make it to Nice and went to bed. When you're spending only $25/night on accomidations, and you are quite content, it makes the rest of the trip seem expensive in comparison.
