Day 4 - Fussen-Rothenburg, Germany

Last night we had a big thunderstorm with lightning. If the thunder sounded 5 seconds after the flash of lightning, does that mean the storm was 5 miles away or 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) since I'm in Europe?

We had breakfast in the hotel which is very nice.

We have to make our way to Rothenburg with 4 train exchanges. Well....better make that 5. We got a little antsy and jumped off the train in Augsburg Messe and suddenly found ourselves in the middle of a corn field with nothing else in sight. Apparently there are three Augsburg stations. The train was already speeding off when we got that feeling we were not where we should be. Fortunately, we had 20 minutes to make a train change in Augsburg Hbf and was able to catch the next train that was going in our direction. The other train changes were 5 minutes and 4 minutes respectively. Our last exchange got to the station a little late, but the other train was still there to take us into Rothenburg. Looking South (mom sitting down).

Looking North.

We had a short 10 min walk from the train station to the main gates of Rothenburg. Our hotel is just inside the wall.

After putting our stuff down, we went out to eat at a beautiful outdoor restaurant. Finally there was a cool breeze.

We finished eating about 3pm and strolled around the town. If you're ever in Germany, make time to visit Rothenburg!

This evening we took the famous Nightwatchman's tour which started in the city center at 8pm. The Nightwatchman took us for an hour tour around the city center telling us the history of Rothenburg.

Travel Tip:
To avoid ending up in a cornfield, make sure you understand the train stops. Using your watch is important since these trains are very well timed, and if you know your supposed to pull in to platform 5 and transfer to platform 7, yet you look out the window and only see one railroad track next to your train...chances are your at the wrong stop.

Location:Wenggasse,Rothenburg ob der Tauber,Germany

Day 3 - Fussen, Germany

The weather was sunny, slightly breezy, and a tad cooler than yesterday.

Today we headed to see the castles. A taxi got us there pretty fast for only 8,50€. I made the reservations online in advance, but we still had to get the tickets. Fortunately, because we had advance reservations, we got to go through a speed line.

We took the "short" 10 minute walk up the hill to Schloss Hohenschwangau, the birthplace of Prince Ludwig instead of the horse and buggy ride.

A view from the street.

Looking back at the town from the castle.

We caught a horse and buggy ride down the hill. Unfortunately, the buggy driver waited way too long trying to fill the cart. As we were pressed for time and there was a very long line for buses going up to Schloss Neuschwanstein, we decided to walk up. We knew pretty early into the walk that there was no way to get up to the castle to make are appointment time. We learned afterwards that the buggy drivers are independent, so he was in no hurry.

Along the way we stopped at a little outdoor cafe and I finally got my big pretzel (which you will see a pic of on mom's blog).

We walked around the outside of the castle and proceeded to Mary's bridge which had the best view of the castle.

Neuschwanstein castle.

View from Mary's bridge.

View of Hohenschwangau from Neuschwanstein.

Views of the valley from Neuschwanstein.

View of the gorge under Mary's bridge.

We decided to take a taxi back rather waiting for a bus. A German couple on holiday from Stuttgart asked if they could share the cab with us, so we ended up splitting the cost.

While looking for a cafe, we found a little grocery store and picked up some things for our train ride tomorrow.

Travel Tip:
If you choose to do both castles, give yourself 1 or more hours between them...especially in the summer months with the crowds. If you get lucky and get up to Neuschwanstein castle we'll ahead of your scheduled time, go to Mary's bridge first.

The horse and buggy will take you right up to Hohenschwangau castle. It will not take you directly up to Neuschwanstein. If you take the buggy to Neuschwanstein, it takes you up most of the way, but you still have a little walk to the top. If you take the bus up, it lets you out on the back side of the castle right next to Mary's bridge.

We stopped in a Woolworth that was about 3 doors down from our hotel. I've been paying about 3,20€ per soda when we eat. They sell them for ,99€.

Location:Reichenstraße,Füssen,Germany

Day 2 - Fussen, Germany

Finding the hotel was pretty easy. We are staying at Hotel Ludwig, but it might as we'll be called Fawlty Towers. The owner/operator acts just like Mr. Fawlty...and not in a funny way. He acts like we are an inconvenience. I'll touch on that later.

We put our stuff down and started wandering the town. The town just happened to be having some type of medieval fair going on yesterday and today. There are people in medieval dress and booths set up all over. As we walked to the hotel we got caught behind a band. We decided to take a quick nap before setting out, but the band cranked up outside our window every 15 minutes. So off we went.

I got a little lost looking for the lechfalls, but we needed a good 3 mile walk. Rain clouds moved in and we barely made it back to the hotel before it started raining, so we had lunch in the hotel. By the way, we were on the third floor and guess what? No elevators! Whoops. The restaurant is on the first and second floor. We asked Mr. Fawlty where we could eat at and he pointed out the sign and said "see ze sign. It points up to the restaurant." We both ordered pork schnitzel and fries. A large group or elderly people, who I think we're from Spain sat at the table next to us. One of the old guys moved the wine list to a table that wasn't being used to make more room for their party. Mr Fawlty picked up the wine list and put it back on their table abruptly saying "zis goes here!"

The hotel is very modern (except for an elevator). The bathroom has very nice fixtures, but is a tad small. I think the airplane lavatory had more space. You have to be real careful sitting down on the toilet; otherwise you might get a rather nasty surprise from the towel rack.






After we ate the rain had stopped and we headed back out to find the falls. This time I checked my satellite map to make sure where it was. The path I chose to get there was somewhat challenging for me, so I know mom was feeling it. We ended up finding it, and the path we took was pretty neat.

Lech Falls.

We went to sleep fairly early. Around 10pm I stated hearing a chanting that kept getting louder and louder. I looked out our window to see a candle lit precession headed by a priest.

Location:Reichenstraße,Füssen,Germany

Start of Europe 2014 Trip

What a day. We started out at 0800 Saturday morning, and have been up for about 28 hours. The flight out of Orlando was fine, but the weather caused us to be delayed in Philadelphia. The pilot shut down one of the engines twice as we waited for clearance.

The flight was pretty bad. I tweaked either a tendon or ligament in my leg trying to get in my seat. (As of writing this, I can move forward ok, but any lateral movement feels like my leg is going to give out). I actually felt like I had enough leg room, there just was no way to sleep in those uncomfortable seats. The only good part about not sleeping is I saw the aurora borealis in the northern sky. Tried to take a picture, but it didn't come out.

Finally got into Munich at 0850 Sunday. It was a little tricky finding the train that goes into the main train station in Munich. They didn't have very good signage. We validated our Eurail train passes then down the escalator to the train. The ride took longer than I thought. I think it said 41min trip time. I didn't think the airport was that far away.

Once at the Munich Hauptbahnhof we had about 30 min to catch our train to Fussen. Another 3hours and we were at our first destination.

As always when you buy the Eurail train pass, you get 1st class tickets. The 1st class seats can be in any car, you just have to look at the billboards on the train platform and look for the cars with a number "1". Some of the larger long haul trains have dining cars. this one did not, but we had tables to eat the food we bought in the train station.

I snapped this picture while the train was racing down the tracks.

Travel Tip:
When getting off the plane and making your way to the train to get to the main city, make sure you validate your rail pass at the train information desk. Also, the info desk can print out an itinerary for you so you know what stops to to change trains.

Location:Reichenstraße,Füssen,Germany

Technical difficulties

I have tried to post Day 1 with pictures about 5 times and every time it errors out after posting for quite a long time. I may have to find a better wifi connection.

Sorry for the delay.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Reichenstraße,Füssen,Germany

Traveling Light

The luggage I am using is the Eagle Creek Switchback 22. The main bag has a retractable handle, wheels, and can be carried like a back pack. The smaller day pack can zip on to the main bag or be used as a small back pack.

I started filling the bottom of the large back with small things that can fit between the rails of the retractable handle; long johns, scarf, shower shoes, travel electric cord, laundry soap and clothes line, adapter plugs, and a small fold-able hanger to dry shirts on.

 The next level would be my pants, travel towel, skivvies, socks, extra wet ones and my GoPro clamp.

Then I will put in my shirts, toiletry bag and 3-1-1 bag.

My Scottevest travel jacket will go on top.

Additionally, I put my neoprene knee braces, travel lock with cable, and a zippered pencil pouch which works great for saving receipts neatly.

The next item is a neat little zippered bag from Flight001 called the Landing Pak. The loop is used to hang it from the seat back tray table hook and is used to keep things to freshen-up on the plane like facial wipes, Colgate Wisp brushes, or Wet Ones to disinfect the tray table and arm rests. I think mom is putting ear plugs and eye shades in hers as well. Very neat product.

I also have an assortment of these eBags Padded Pouches to hold my electronics. They come in a three pack as shown below of which I have two sets. One pouch will have items that I want on my person at all times like camera batteries and memory cards. That will stay in my daypack. Another will have all of the charging equipment and cables and that will stay in my large bag. 

Before the trip

Three weeks prior to our Europe 2014 departure date, there were ominous news reports of weather events that could spell doom for our trip. One was a storm forming in the Caribbean that had a projected track straight to Florida. The other was a volcano in Iceland. In 2010, a volcano erupted that prevented all flights from the US to Europe for about 6 days.

As of right now, the storm seems to be dissipating, and Iceland had an earthquake which may stifle a volcanic eruption.