It's Payback, European Style! A trip to Bavaria & Austria for DIS friends! - Travel Complete! It's a Wrap! 11/2

[Flossbolna]

And once off the train we met up with Michael who had walked just a few blocks from their apartment to meet us just outside the old city. We passed through this cool medieval tunnel which put us out onto a square.

Above this "tunnel" are the medieval castle gardens, which are actually quite nice and it is a shame we didn't manage to get there. There are some places where - if the city was attacked - you could have poured down boiling water or tar onto the intruders in this tunnel. As a kid (my grandparents lived in Nuremberg) I was therefore always a bit scared of this tunnel!

Here’s an even more spectacular one.

This one actually belongs to the vicarage, so it is apt that the pastor has the biggest of these bay windows!

One thing that saved some of this history is that these elaborate Bay windows were removed and stored in a labyrinth of cellars underneath the city which were interconnected. The people also took shelter in the same basements during the bombings.

Nuremberg is on a river that parts the city in two halves, both of them on a hill. In medieval times cellars were important for storing all kind of things - and to a large extent beer (which was the main drink because water was most of the times polluted with bacteria, brewing kills those, so people just knew that they got less sick if they drank beer instead of water - and the beer hat less alcohol back then, too). So, both hills are made out of sandstone which is easy to carve into, so both sides, but especially the side where the castle is, are like Swiss cheese full of wholes, several stories of cellar labyrinths. They offer a variety of guided tours through them (about the art storage during WWII, the beer history, the use for city defences etc.)

I think she said that this is the City Hall or Rathaus.

It's one side of the Rathaus (city hall) that still has its renaissance facade. Since Nuremberg lost its wealth at the end of the medieval age, there isn't a lot of renaissance architecture in town and this is special for that reason.

We walked a little farther towards the city centre where the famous Christmas Market is held. This Church was almost completely destroyed, however enough was left standing that they were able to rebuild it in the same style that it was originally constructed.

Where you see the red and white market stalls, that's exactly where the booths for the Christmas market would be. Red and white are the Nuremberg colours btw, and all the market stalls (there is a daily green market on the big square) have these colours.

The sausages are best eaten (in my opinion) with a mix of yellow mustard and horseradish. Then we traded about half our side so we could each have a plate like this. Surprisingly I ate all six sausages! I didn't quite join the clean plate club like Michael & Magdalene, but I was close.

I was surprised you really ate them all!

 

[Flossbolna]

They have very good coffee from this fancy coffee machine. Which is what I wrote on that second day, come to find out, everywhere in hotels have those fancy coffee machines.

Yes, even at budget hotels you would most likely find a machine like that at the breakfast buffet. That's why Europeans are always shocked about US coffee...

I left the hotel a little early with the intent to visit the shop that Michael told me was the equivalent of the American Walgreens.

German drug stores are great. Besides the Müller that also has a lot of non drug stuff (like crafting supplies, house hold items etc.) there are two more chains Rossman and dm. Between these three prices are usually very fair, all three have their own branded stuff that is often very good to excellent and costs a fraction. For example we love the Rossman sunscreen.

I’m not sure if I said it earlier, but the train station is many things. It is a mini mall, has many place to eat and even grocery stores.

I think it has become the norm in most European countries for train stations to have a large variety of things. Some have even turned into real malls with clothing stores and such. But it's no comparison to Japanese train stations!!

We met in the train station and took the underground to her work. I have no idea which trains we took and whether or not we transferred. She's a whiz at getting around on public transport, and shortly we were at the museum.

Hey, I really should know how to get to work!!

The next part was absolutely fascinating. It was excerpts from the papers that actually proved their guilt. I was astonished that the Nazis wrote down the minutes and notes that they did! Their words were vile, and totally incrimiated them. I actually had to stop listening to these because it was at this point I'd already been in the museum longer than Magdalene had said it would take to view the entire museum.

There is a museum in Berlin called the House of the Wannsee Conference. The Wannsee Conference was a meeting in 1942 among all branches of the German government that had the purpose to lay out and then put into action the plan to murder all remaining European Jews (called "Final Solution" in Nazi speak - sounds less dirty). The minutes of that conference survived (found after the Nuremberg Trial) and it is scary how these people were treating it like usual government business. Very sobering to visit this museum (it's a beautiful villa at the lake Wannsee) and read excerpts of these minutes.

I am also sorry that I underestimated the time you would spend there. Most people do get tired of the audio guide (maybe using your own headphones helped with that not being an issue) and end up skipping stuff earlier I think.

She met me on the corner and we walked down the street to a cafe that I think she eats at fairly often.

Loved looking at our food pictures! I really enjoyed that curry wurst even if you didn't. Unfortunately the cafe was sold recently and the food and coffee are no longer as good as they used to be... And the Käsespätzle are no longer on the menu anyway!

Also you may ask if there is an airport so close why didn't you just fly there? Well I don't remember the details, but I did look into it before I actually booked my flights. I think the way it worked out, if I flew into Nuremberg I would transfer through Heathrow and my layover would have been 12 hours or something ridiculous like that.

Yes, the reason is that you smartly wanted to use miles and AA is in the One World alliance which has British Airways as a partner. And they at that time only had one flight to Nuremberg per day - now that is cancelled and they only offer it over Christmas for 6 weeks or so. We often fly in and out of Munich or Frankfurt, too. Both are 2-2.5 hours away and are easily reachable by public transport. It all depends on price and timing which airport we would pick.

Right across the street from the entrance to their building was a Thai restaurant called Cantina. And next door to that was a grocery store. This whole urban living thing still boggles my mind.

I remember talking about this with you. I am sooooo used to it. Even when we lived in the countryside, we lived in a small town (called Floss, which has 5000 inhabitants) and we could walk to a butcher, a bakery, a few grocery stores. I just checked on Google maps and while some stores have moved, it's still that way.

Since it was later than we expected, we got started cooking right away. Well Magdalene did, she started chopping everything, and I poured a glass of wine. Eventually I did help.

I think you did quite a lot of the cooking - didn't you also chop stuff?

Because parking in their neighborhood is difficult at best, we left the car where it was and took the U-bahn back to the train station.

And the U-Bahn stop is about as far away as the grocery store from my place, which is very convenient too!

 

[Flossbolna]

This wasn't really a “German” cafe

While it didn't serve exclusively German food, it was very typical for a cafe in Germany attached to a bakery. They had a bit of a wider selection, but it was still very typical.

Magdalene and I split the Weisswurst platter, which came with three sausages and two pretzels. Notice the cute little lion head on the bowl for the sausages.

I was so happy that you were game for splitting this! I love Weißwürste and normally don't get them. Should pick some up at the butcher soon... And I thought the portion was hilariously large. A normal portion is two sausages and one pretzel.

Did I tell you the rule that a Weißwurst is not allowed to hear the bell ring noon? That's why they were traditionally eaten for second breakfast (yes, that's a meal here in Germany, even if a lot of people skip it nowadays). The story is that it was because of lack of cooling in the old times.

We found a table on the upper level of the boat. It was mostly German tourists and not international or Americans. Brooke is a TA and she was amazed at how affordable this experience was. The trips aimed at Americans costs twice this price.

Yes, most of the people seemed to be some sort of social clubs on excursion on the weekend as they came by bus and made us look young!

As we began our journey we passed this campground, and as it turns out when she was a wee little tot, Magdalene actually stayed at this campground with her family! What a coincidence!

That was very cook! I texted my father a similar picture and he told me that that was the campground we stayed at on that trip in - I think 1983...

All along the route we saw pretty scenes like this.

I really enjoyed the views on the trip! The wine region of Frankonia is quite different to the areas closer to here, they are more hilly with rocks and such, this was just such a mellow landscape!

After our cruise, we drove to a little town called Iphofen. It’s a small village in Franconian wine country. We walked around the village for about an hour and a quarter. Come stroll with us…..

I really liked the town! Michael and I ended up back in Iphofen a few weeks ago - not by choice and only going through on a train. The train to Berlin was massively diverted and took a very scenic route...

Michael and Magdalene walk a lot every day. This is something I often saw. I’m very slow from so many years of walking at Fran’s pace and I often found myself lagging behind.

I am sorry, I tried to not to run away from you so much! But your legs are just programmed into a certain walking speed that it's difficult to slow down! I think it is not just us not having a car, but in general the European life style, that has you walking so much more. There are so many places where you can't park directly in front, so even with a car and living in the suburbs, you would walk a lot.

We stumbled upon a tasting room for a winery. We tasted a few wines, and bought a few bottles. They were around €6.

The thing about German wine country is that there are so many small wine farms still. Not big commercial wineries. This was definitely a good example for such a wine farm selling their stuff. Some would sell to vineyard cooperatives (every town has one) who would then market the wine on a common label. but the most money they make with selling directly to the consumer. And many people so go on a driving trip and taste ate the different farms and then bring back wine for their home use.

The food was good, but they messed up on Magdalene’s order and didn't end up bringing her food until the rest of us were nearly done with our food. I had Jaegerschnitzel with Spaetzle and salad. The salad was a little weird, the rest on the plate was super yummy!

It was so annoying!! Since I don't drive regularly, for me this had been a tiring day and I was really looking forward to my Schnitzel, but somehow they got it mixed up...

And I think it's funny that you thought the salad weird as this is very much how a salad here would be like! Often you would even have some potato salad and some cucumber salad in the bottom of the bowl. There you see that even salad can be very different from country to country!

 

[Flossbolna]

Ok, this took longer than I thought - time to make some dinner! I will be back for more comments!

 

[pkondz]

Not if I send her to New Jersey.

 

[Positively Bashful]

And here I am, just popping up for air again a couple of weeks later!


Stupid job. And they say state workers don't do anything.


Now this is an interesting development!

We could certainly come up to Philly as well and would love to see you however it works out! Keep us posted and let us know if there's stuff you really want to see in the area.


It's nothing compared to what we've said about each other.


Not if I send her to New Jersey.


FINALLY! I have been begging for this in the US.

OMG, I had to come out of lurkerdom to say how disappointed I am that nobody could come up with a "when you need a pick-me-up" remark about the coffee/bra store?!?!?

 

[pkondz]

OMG, I had to come out of lurkerdom to say how disappointed I am that nobody could come up with a "when you need a pick-me-up" remark about the coffee/bra store?!?!?

 

[franandaj]

I think I'd call it a trolly?

Fair choice.

LOL this is TOO funny!

I know! I was like "what kind of store is this?" They told me that it had the best coffee

Mocha?

No I think it's just a regular sort of coffee, they just asked me if I wanted whipped cream on it and I said "Sure!"

I picture little girls in pretty dresses dancing around a poll, wrapping long ribbons around it

Well I did too, but I never really gave any thought as to what exactly the pole looked like.

I'm super literal sometimes, so I'd call this a little train

That's valid.

You match and fit in the sign perfectly!

Wardrobe choice today for the win!

I can see that! I bet you'd get some nice pictures on the stairs!

If your spouse can do stairs.....

 

[franandaj]

I need something strong when going bra shopping!

Good One!

Alison puts the I in Linz!

Oooh, I know where that cog train goes to!

Yeah, right back where it started!

 

[franandaj]

Let me know.
Be prepared. It's the opposite of high-brow humour.

I almost started it this morning. Maybe tomorrow instead of the news. Because this house has only streaming, the news gets real old the second time around and by the third, I'm turning it off and getting out of bed. At my house, I can watch three different programs every morning so I end up wasting more time sitting in bed playing games on my phone and watching the various incarnations of the news.

I had to look it up, just to make sure I knew which was which.
I've never had Manhattan, so can't say if I'd prefer it or not. I do know that I love my Boston (New England) clam chowder. Yum!

I've never had Manhattan style either, but it just doesn't sound that good. Why try to improve on perfection? This reminds me I have a strip of pork belly in the freezer and need to make clam chowder out of it......

Who needs an alarm when you have this??

Right?????

Nope. Way too many almond slices for me.

That's what I was thinking. I may have brushed them off to the sides.

You know they're a keeper when they say there'll be more cake.

Were you nervous about that? Or had they given you enough assurances that it would all work out?

Well, I was there at 8:20 just in case.

Do you have a picture? Or is it the one you posted later on?

No, I don't!

You know what I'm ordering...

Not coffee.......Hot chocolate?

Follow it up with a Red Bull.

I've never had Red Bull, but I don't think I would like it. I prefer my caffeine in coffee form.

Of course! The perfect combination. You had a pair of coffees which fits in nicely with a pair of... umm...

Really! I had no idea. Huh!
It's gotta be true. I read it here.

I may have heard it on the tour......

Cute little tourist buggy.

Maybe we should bring that back...

I could think of a few people who deserve it!

I think you did pretty good!

Aw.....thanks.....

Is that what you were talking about earlier? We don't have those, but I'd call it LRT, I think.

No, this was yet another different form of transportation. This isn't a great picture, but it's this one.

 

[franandaj]

We have this argument when we visit New Orleans!! My grandma taught us to call it a street car. My husband insists it's a trolley!

Yeah, I guess nomenclature for transportation is pretty regional.

Well, how's that for a one stop shop!? LOL

I know! Right??????

Ooh, fun!! This looks sort of similar to transportation they have in Milwaukee, WI, except theirs runs on tracks right on the street level. They call it "The Hop!"

Cool!

 

[franandaj]

And here I am, just popping up for air again a couple of weeks later!

I totally get it! If I didn't have a deadline to finish this I wouldn't be here as often either!

Stupid job. And they say state workers don't do anything.

Now this is an interesting development!

We could certainly come up to Philly as well and would love to see you however it works out! Keep us posted and let us know if there's stuff you really want to see in the area.

It's a ways away, so we have time!

It's nothing compared to what we've said about each other.

Not if I send her to New Jersey.

FINALLY! I have been begging for this in the US.

 

[franandaj]

So, it's a lazy and far too hot September Sunday in Bavaria and soon it will be half a year since your trip to Germany and I finally get around to catch up on your trip report!

I know! I can't believe how time has passed since I was there!

I remember you telling us about this tasteless salad! It does look good, but no flavour in the dressing is what can kill any salad!

It had such promise, but in the end it was just bland.

It had been such a long time since I had to get to Terminal 2 that I wasn't really sure how easy it was going to be. And then when we flew to Japan in June we had to do the same trip. OMG, I was shocked at how inconvenient it was! Especially coming back from Japan, so the direction that you were doing on arrival, we waited for the shuttle for ages.

I actually didn't have to wait long, which was a blessing.

Then the shuttle goes who knows where before going to Terminal 1. We were really hoping to make the earlier train as we did not want to wait for an additional hour in Frankfurt and I was nearly losing my mind. Luckily DB cam through and delayed the train for 20 minutes so we were able to just catch it. But I was thinking of you and how well you managed it. But I also understood why you never had time to start looking for the DB lounge at the train station.

Because it was all new to me, it wasn't a shock when it made a few stops before mine. I just had to pay attention so that I didn't get off at the wrong one! And yes, it would have been a challenge to figure out where the lounge was. I was pretty tired at that time.

Same thing happened in June to us and I helped out several tourists who were utterly confused by them changing platform twice - and both trains going to Munich, but on different routes, one via Nuremberg and one via Stuttgart. I was so happy when you told us that you were able to figure it all out and even helped some other people find their car!

Yeah, it was like a lightbulb turned on in my head when I was standing on the platform and all of sudden the various letters and things made sense to me, that they were telling me where to stand to catch my part of the train!

I remember how relieved I was once you were on that train heading to Nuremberg!

I had no doubt that I would be on it!

I think it's funny that you like these cookies so much.

Well it's not so much the "Leibniz" part of the cookies, but the chocolate coating on them. Originally in the US, I used to get them from a French manufacturer and they were called "Le Petit écolier". Then other manufacturers started to pick up on the fact that these chocolate biscuits were tasty and began manufacturing their own. I purchased some made by Milka in Egypt. Now every grocery chain in America sells a similar product in their "house brand."

On my trip to Winnipeg, @pkondz shared a hack with me that his daughter came up with. Put toasted marshmallow between two of those cookies for an alternative s'more! I haven't had a chance to try it yet, but maybe next week when I'm home. I have marshmallows to eat there.

The Leibniz Butterkeks (btw, the German word Keks for cookie/biscuits is a German writing of the English word Cake and originally they were called Leibniz Cakes in the late 19th century - Leibniz as the mathematician as he is the most famous son of the town Hannover where the biscuits are from) is considered the basic biscuit that mothers have in their handbags for the toddlers to snack on. So absolutely nothing special.

Thanks for the background history!

The version with chocolate is from the 1990s. I think this knowledge alone makes me kind of less interested in those biscuits as they are considered plain. But now writing about them I am considering getting a package soon (I prefer them without chocolate) as they are quite tasty!

I think it was around the 1990s when I discovered "The little Schoolboy" biscuits in America and slowly but surely other manufacturers got on the band wagon. I think I received a coupon for them and decided to try it.

I am still in shock about this and how this could have happened!

I'm not. Smoking in Europe is still so much more prevalent than in the US. I'm not surprised that some people don't even pay attention to the rules.

Hotels that cater to American tourists (i.e. any bigger town in Germany and especially all American chains) will have a way to get ice for you somehow. We have only encountered very few that didn't give you ice

And I'm thankful for that!

(my American husband needs ice wherever we are).

I was dying in Egypt where they rarely make ice because it has to be done with bottled water.

But sometimes we get the ice in funny containers: usually they give you a glas with ice cubes, but sometimes you get a bucket. Once we got this huge bowl where you could have several champagne bottles in it!!

That happened to me in Columbus in July. The ice maker on my floor was out and there was a sign to call Room service. They brought me a HUGE bag of ice, too much for even the ice bucket to hold. I realized that on the floor below the ice maker worked, so I just went down a floor to get my ice for the rest of the stay.

My father gave Michael a radio and CD-player for his birthday in July and it has been a godsend! So much less CNN! Unfortunately we now als get CNBC and now that is playing as a change and I have to say my interest in the stock market has gone down since I have to constantly listen to people babbling about it!

Yeah, CNBC is something I would put on softly on the TV so that I could sleep. I'm not sure there are many things more boring than the stock market!

 

[franandaj]

Above this "tunnel" are the medieval castle gardens, which are actually quite nice and it is a shame we didn't manage to get there. There are some places where - if the city was attacked - you could have poured down boiling water or tar onto the intruders in this tunnel. As a kid (my grandparents lived in Nuremberg) I was therefore always a bit scared of this tunnel!

I can see where that would be scary, especially if you learned about it when you were little!

This one actually belongs to the vicarage, so it is apt that the pastor has the biggest of these bay windows!

Makes sense!

Nuremberg is on a river that parts the city in two halves, both of them on a hill. In medieval times cellars were important for storing all kind of things - and to a large extent beer (which was the main drink because water was most of the times polluted with bacteria, brewing kills those, so people just knew that they got less sick if they drank beer instead of water - and the beer hat less alcohol back then, too). So, both hills are made out of sandstone which is easy to carve into, so both sides, but especially the side where the castle is, are like Swiss cheese full of wholes, several stories of cellar labyrinths. They offer a variety of guided tours through them (about the art storage during WWII, the beer history, the use for city defences etc.)

That sounds neat! Perhaps something to think about on a future trip! The tour sounds very interesting!

It's one side of the Rathaus (city hall) that still has its renaissance facade. Since Nuremberg lost its wealth at the end of the medieval age, there isn't a lot of renaissance architecture in town and this is special for that reason.

Nice factoid!

Where you see the red and white market stalls, that's exactly where the booths for the Christmas market would be. Red and white are the Nuremberg colours btw, and all the market stalls (there is a daily green market on the big square) have these colours.

If I wasn't so afraid of the cold, I might want to come and experience the Christmas Market. I've heard so much about it.

I was surprised you really ate them all!

No more than me! Then again we had walked a lot (for me), Michael and I ate a small lunch. I didn't even finish that sandwich I got, and I was pretty starving by the time we got there. However, most of all they were super tasty! So much so we had them again before I left!

 

[franandaj]

Yes, even at budget hotels you would most likely find a machine like that at the breakfast buffet. That's why Europeans are always shocked about US coffee...

I knew from my previous visits to Europe that American coffee is substandard. But it's only when I stay at swanky Concierge Level resorts in American that we have those fancy kinds of coffee makers. I didn't realize that they were standard issue in hotels throughout Europe.

German drug stores are great. Besides the Müller that also has a lot of non drug stuff (like crafting supplies, house hold items etc.) there are two more chains Rossman and dm. Between these three prices are usually very fair, all three have their own branded stuff that is often very good to excellent and costs a fraction. For example we love the Rossman sunscreen.

Yes, they had just about everything you needed. Except a fan for the room.

I think it has become the norm in most European countries for train stations to have a large variety of things. Some have even turned into real malls with clothing stores and such. But it's no comparison to Japanese train stations!!

That's pretty convenient, then again you can walk to the train station. We don't have trains, and they are becoming more and more endangered in America.

Hey, I really should know how to get to work!!

Well yes.......but also you got us everywhere else with no difficulties.

There is a museum in Berlin called the House of the Wannsee Conference. The Wannsee Conference was a meeting in 1942 among all branches of the German government that had the purpose to lay out and then put into action the plan to murder all remaining European Jews (called "Final Solution" in Nazi speak - sounds less dirty). The minutes of that conference survived (found after the Nuremberg Trial) and it is scary how these people were treating it like usual government business. Very sobering to visit this museum (it's a beautiful villa at the lake Wannsee) and read excerpts of these minutes.

Yeah, I'm sure it is. When I was in Winnipeg, @pkondz took me to the Museum of Human Rights. It was very eye opening. There was a whole floor on Nazi Germany, and I couldn't deal with it, only because of the immersion that I had in April. Not that that was a bad thing, it's just I can only handle so much of it in a given period. I think I need a while before I can revisit that portion of history.

I am also sorry that I underestimated the time you would spend there. Most people do get tired of the audio guide (maybe using your own headphones helped with that not being an issue) and end up skipping stuff earlier I think.

I'm just one of those who like to soak it all in at any museum. I remember we went to a Star Wars thing with my parents in San Jose and they were waiting for us in the dump shop, at the end of the exhibit because we both took so long reading all the plaques and cards.

Loved looking at our food pictures! I really enjoyed that curry wurst even if you didn't. Unfortunately the cafe was sold recently and the food and coffee are no longer as good as they used to be... And the Käsespätzle are no longer on the menu anyway!

That's too bad, it was a nice place.

Yes, the reason is that you smartly wanted to use miles and AA is in the One World alliance which has British Airways as a partner.

That's the airline that I'm taking to London, OMG! It's next month now!

And they at that time only had one flight to Nuremberg per day - now that is cancelled and they only offer it over Christmas for 6 weeks or so. We often fly in and out of Munich or Frankfurt, too. Both are 2-2.5 hours away and are easily reachable by public transport. It all depends on price and timing which airport we would pick.

That's really inconvenient.

I remember talking about this with you. I am sooooo used to it. Even when we lived in the countryside, we lived in a small town (called Floss, which has 5000 inhabitants) and we could walk to a butcher, a bakery, a few grocery stores. I just checked on Google maps and while some stores have moved, it's still that way.

I guess it's the fact that America has all these developments where houses extend for miles and miles without a business anywhere close by. You need to have a car. Then again there are some place you can live in cities where they have retail on the ground floor and residential on the upper floors.

I think you did quite a lot of the cooking - didn't you also chop stuff?

Well, I put the filling in the Rouladen, I cut the asparagus into chunks, and I did some of the spaetzle cooking. I'm going to make spaetzle again next week. Again with my Madeira Steak. I need to put Schnitzel on the menu before I go to London.....

And the U-Bahn stop is about as far away as the grocery store from my place, which is very convenient too!

Yes! That was definitely convenient how close that was to your house!

 

[franandaj]

While it didn't serve exclusively German food, it was very typical for a cafe in Germany attached to a bakery. They had a bit of a wider selection, but it was still very typical.

They had a very good selection of item. There were definitely some German items, but there was plenty for someone who doesn't like German food to choose from.

I was so happy that you were game for splitting this! I love Weißwürste and normally don't get them. Should pick some up at the butcher soon... And I thought the portion was hilariously large. A normal portion is two sausages and one pretzel.

Yes! I love all sorts of wurst! I was glad to try it because they sell something here that is white, but I don't think it was the same as you described.

Did I tell you the rule that a Weißwurst is not allowed to hear the bell ring noon? That's why they were traditionally eaten for second breakfast (yes, that's a meal here in Germany, even if a lot of people skip it nowadays). The story is that it was because of lack of cooling in the old times.

Yes you did tell me that story and I didn't write it down, so that's why I didn't put it in the TR, I couldn't remember exactly the details.

Yes, most of the people seemed to be some sort of social clubs on excursion on the weekend as they came by bus and made us look young!

We were definitely younger than most everyone else!

That was very cook! I texted my father a similar picture and he told me that that was the campground we stayed at on that trip in - I think 1983...

Ok, so you were not a wee child......

I really enjoyed the views on the trip! The wine region of Frankonia is quite different to the areas closer to here, they are more hilly with rocks and such, this was just such a mellow landscape!

It was definitely a beautiful region!

I really liked the town! Michael and I ended up back in Iphofen a few weeks ago - not by choice and only going through on a train. The train to Berlin was massively diverted and took a very scenic route...

When I was researching the town, it came up as a pretty highly rated tourist location on Trip Advisor. They had a whole write up about all the different gates into the old city.

I am sorry, I tried to not to run away from you so much! But your legs are just programmed into a certain walking speed that it's difficult to slow down! I think it is not just us not having a car, but in general the European life style, that has you walking so much more. There are so many places where you can't park directly in front, so even with a car and living in the suburbs, you would walk a lot.

It happens with everyone. When I was in Columbus, I found myself falling behind everyone else when we were walking places. Face it, I'm just slow and need to step up my pace. Which I will have to do if I'm going to march the Rose Parade in 2027!

The thing about German wine country is that there are so many small wine farms still. Not big commercial wineries. This was definitely a good example for such a wine farm selling their stuff. Some would sell to vineyard cooperatives (every town has one) who would then market the wine on a common label. but the most money they make with selling directly to the consumer. And many people so go on a driving trip and taste ate the different farms and then bring back wine for their home use.

That was really neat!

It was so annoying!! Since I don't drive regularly, for me this had been a tiring day and I was really looking forward to my Schnitzel, but somehow they got it mixed up...

I felt bad that they couldn't get it right.

And I think it's funny that you thought the salad weird as this is very much how a salad here would be like! Often you would even have some potato salad and some cucumber salad in the bottom of the bowl. There you see that even salad can be very different from country to country!

As I found out in Austria. Evidently salads contain a mish mash of what Americans call salads. when I order a salad, I expect it to be a "green salad", or unless I specifically order a Caesar salad, or a Cobb Salad, Spinach Salad, etc. I would never expect it to have potato salad, or any other kinds of salads mixed in the same bowl. Besides you know me.....ewww touching!

 

[franandaj]

Ok, this took longer than I thought - time to make some dinner! I will be back for more comments!

OK! See you back again! I'll have another update posted by then!

 

[franandaj]

OMG, I had to come out of lurkerdom to say how disappointed I am that nobody could come up with a "when you need a pick-me-up" remark about the coffee/bra store?!?!?

That's a good one! Thanks for coming out of lurkdom to give us all a good laugh!

 

[franandaj]

 

[franandaj]