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Bier, Pretzels und Kastles - My Holiday in Germany 2006 - A trip report

Bier, Pretzels und Kastles - My Holiday in Germany 2006 - A trip report

Old Sep 15th, 2006, 04:08 AM
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Bier, Pretzels und Kastles - My Holiday in Germany 2006 - A trip report

Introduction

My wife and I spent 17 days in Germany this summer, and this was our itinerary: Ulm – Herrlingen – Sigmaringen – Schliengen (6 nights with four day-trips to Freiburg, Colmar, Lucerne and Basel) – Stuttgart (3 days and 2 nights with two day-trips to Hechingen and Ludwigsburg) – Wurzburg – Rothenburg o/d Tauber – Munich (6 nights with three day-trips to King Ludwig's castles).

The places we visited are both of wide and lesser interest among tourists.

At least some of them are not too often covered on this board, and at some we saw nobody or hardly two or three persons visiting (e.g. Rommel's Archives in Herrlingen, Linden Museum of Ethnography and House of History, both in Stuttgart, Schliessheim Palace in Munich, etc.).

I hope that this information will be useful for someone with similar interests.

I like to write my reports in detail, like a story, showing not only where we were, what we visited and how we moved around, but also my impressions and thoughts, trying to convey to the reader the feeling that he is coming along with me on the trip.

I deliberately omit details about places to eat and drink, as they do not play an important part in our travels.

Only when we find something out of the ordinary, I mention the place.
Moreover, being budget travelers, most of the time we eat from bakeries and supermarkets.

To be continued...
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Old Sep 15th, 2006, 04:15 AM
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Gabriel, you're back, great ! I read your UK trip with great interest & will look forward to this one. You're right, not many people on this board seem to go to Germany - maybe because they don't know much about it ? I've only been for a weekend in Cologne years ago & 5 days in Berlin last year. I enjoyed Berlin so much (& the fact that DH speaks German & I don't, so it was relaxing for me !) that I'd like to go back to see more of the country, but don't really know where to start.
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Old Sep 15th, 2006, 04:21 AM
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Avid learners, thirsty for knowledge and culture, curious about history, hungry for art and lovers of nature, my wife and I have chosen to see a different place every time we have the possibility to travel.

Thus, we can compare and learn more about various cultures, quench our thirst and satisfy our hunger.

All these, hoping that one day we would finish travelling to most of the places around the world, and then we might return where we liked best.

This year was Germany’s turn and because our budget was quite tight, we did our calculations and decided that we could spend only 17 days there.

Since we had some long time friends living in the village of Schliengen, south of Black Forest, between Freiburg and Basel, close to the Rhine, we tailored our itinerary to include that area.

Munich had been on my wish list for a long time, so we had two points of reference. This eliminated from the start any chance of visiting Berlin, Dresden, Koblenz and the areas around those places.

We had to concentrate on the south of Germany, with possible day-trips to Switzerland and France, due to the strategic position of our friends' place.

We knew what we would do in every place we went. Everything had been scheduled before we left home and we succeeded to see and do all that we wanted.

We consider that we had a very good trip, we managed to combine all our interests and pleasures, and we did have time to learn and understand things.

I took more than 1000 photos and I will try to post a selection for each destination, as I go along with the trip report.

To be continued...
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Old Sep 15th, 2006, 04:34 AM
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Hello again, Caroline!
Welcome aboard!

Thank you for your appreciation, and moreover, for joining in!

I'll take you on a trip with details and photos, so you can get a better feel of what it was like for me.

This part of Germany seen through my eyes and understanding.

Maybe I will succeed in opening an appetite to other readers, for some other places in Germany as well, as I go along with my report.

And maybe you'll get ideas of a trip for yourself, from what you are going to read and "see".

I have written until now about half of the trip report, and obviously, as I started two weeks ago, I still have a lot of work to do.

Also, since I have so many photos, it will take a while to give them names, sort them and place them online.

But, let me go on with my story...
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Old Sep 15th, 2006, 04:46 AM
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We used Lander tickets (25 euros for up to five persons travelling together) and Happy Weekend (Schone Wochenende) tickets throughout our holiday, good for trains and local transportation (buses, trams, subways).

Of course, when we stayed in the city, we used the local ticketing system (tickets and passes), if we didn't walk.

When visiting the palaces and castles throughout Bavaria (Wurzburg, Munich and King Ludwig's castles), we used the 14-day Bavarian Palaces Ticket (36 euros for two persons together).

This ticket is a very good money saver when you want to visit more than two palaces.

Only Hohenschwangau Castle is not included in this ticket, as that is a private property, and not part of the Bavarian Department for Palaces.

For the duration of this trip, we each had only a carry-on luggage. During the day, we had a small backpack, which I carried.

In it, we kept our water, caps, maps and papers with various info about the places we visited, snacks and other small stuff.

During this holiday I realized again how useful it is to know a few words, some greetings and wishes, and basic questions in the local language.

The results have always been positive. A few words in German went a long way each time I had to ask someone something (mainly for directions).

When the answer or explanation would get too complicated, I could figure it out through their body language, and if that didn’t help, I would just ask politely, in German, whether they spoke English.

Anyway it was, I always got favourable responses. And in the end, so what if I went on the wrong street or turn the wrong way, because I didn’t understand properly the explanations in that foreign language?

I’m just another tourist after all. I try to have fun and enjoy every moment of it.

To be continued (arrival in Munich and overnight in Ulm)...
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Old Sep 15th, 2006, 04:51 AM
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Gabrieltraian --

My husband and I are headed to Munich next month. Were there any sights or restaurants that you recommend in particular?
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Old Sep 15th, 2006, 05:27 AM
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Turista,

In Munich I liked very much the Ratskeller, which is inside the town hall, Marienplatz.

In the Englischer Garden there's a big beer garden, The Chinese Tower (Chinesischer Turm), with happy music, overflowing beer and nice atmosphere.

Food there is in quite a variety of choices.
We as vegetarians, found a few options that we liked.

Here's a link for palaces in and around Munich

http://www.schloesser.bayern.de/engl...s/muenchen.htm

We also liked very much the Munich Residenz, Nymphenburg Palace, the Fine Arts Museums (Alte Pinakothek and Neue Pinakothek - they are across the street from one another).

Links to these art museums are here

http://www.pinakothek.de/alte-pinako...szeiten_en.php

http://www.pinakothek.de/neue-pinako...szeiten_en.php

We went at other beer gardens as well, Augustiner was one, but you find them all over the place.

You get nice atmosphere and food was good in general. But we are vegetarians...

Anyway, the smell of wurst brought back pleasant memories from the times I was not a veggie.

Dachau is only 20 minutes away by "S" train, if you want to see the first concentration camp built by the Nazis.

Go to Marienplatz - stunning town hall building. Every morning at 11 o'clock people gather there to watch the dolls move around and listen to the carillon bells - absolutely beautiful.

Go to Hofbrauhaus. As touristy as it may be, it is an evening of pure fun. It is just opposite Hard Rock Cafe, a few metres separate them.
That's quite some competition!

This is what comes to mind now.

Gabriel
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Old Sep 15th, 2006, 06:35 AM
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Arrival – July 6

We were actually on our one month annual leave, and we had a stopover in Romania on both ways.

While in Romania, in view of our upcoming trip to Germany, we visited Peles Castle at Sinaia, residence of the Hohenzollern Royal Family until 1947.

Thus, we could make a connection between this castle and the other two Hohenzollern castles that we were to visit in Germany.

My trip report for the holiday in Romania is here (In Search for the Little Paris)

http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...2&tid=34859356

It was around 4 o'clock in the afternoon when we landed in Munich.

We proceeded through the airport's halls, looking at the unfamiliar places, at the crowds of unknown people around us, passing by shops at our left or right, and anywhere we stopped to look at something, even for a few brief seconds, we were greeted.

We liked that. Passport control was like a breeze. They didn't even stamp it.

Then we passed by the customs as if nobody was there. They were there all right, but since we had nothing to declare we just glided through.

Welcome to Germany!

We followed the “S” signs, as we knew that we had to take an “S” train. We were going to Ulm that evening, and wanted to use a Bayern ticket, costing 25 euros, valid for up to 5 persons travelling together.

We finally saw a Fahrkarten machine (automatic ticketing machine) and went straight to it. We began to find our way through the many options offered, among which the one for English language.

I finally spotted the Bayern Ticket button and then the screen where the related info started to appear.

A numbered key pad was there, so I just followed the instructions and kept pressing the required numbers.

Just when the cost appeared and the money slot started to flash, telling me to make the payment, a lady in a red uniform appeared from somewhere and offered her help.

Even though she hardly spoke any English and my knowledge of German is limited, we could still get all the help needed.

We made the payment, the machine gave us the ticket and the lady explained to us how we could get to Ulm sooner.

We had our train schedule and knew the train timings and connections, but only for after 5pm. This was because we never thought that we could make it out of the airport sooner than half an hour after landing, so by now we were prepared to wander through the duty free shop for a while.

I wrote down on a piece of paper the connections she gave us, and off we went downstairs, under the airport’s floor, to take the next fast train to Munich, which was coming in two minutes, then onwards to Ulm.

We had to change in Laim, go one stop to Pasing and from there, by a regional train straight to Ulm.

To be continued...
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Old Sep 15th, 2006, 06:45 AM
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The fast train took us floating, we didn’t feel a thing on those rails and we liked our first experience with the “S” train.

We got off in Pasing to change trains and tracks, and the moment we were in the underground passageway the delicious scents of German bakeries, pastries and other goodies, struck our nostrils.

We found our track, saw that we still had half an hour to wait, so I went in search for some good, nostril-tickling German food.

I didn’t have to look for signs. I let my nose guide me and very soon I found myself in one of those shops.

I picked a few sandwiches, richly filled baguettes with cheese, tomatoes, eggs, cucumbers (no wurst, 'cause we are vegetarians), so thick the layers inside the bread, that with each bite I took, I had to be careful not to spill some.

And because the butter pretzels winked at me, I bought two of those as well.

That was for the first time that I had sliced pretzels with butter inside, and I thought that they were yummy.

Of course, besides the bottle of water, I bought the compulsory, the necessary bottle of German beer.

How else to quench our thirst while in Germany?

It was raining when we arrived in Ulm, at about 8.45 pm. However, we were lucky enough, as by the time we went out of the railway station, the rain had become hardly a rare sprinkle.

Our hotel was Ibis, 5 minutes easy walk from the station. However low cost Ibis is, at 63 euros per room per night, this was to be our most expensive accommodation throughout the trip.

We did find cheaper accommodations in other places, but we don’t really mind the star categorization. We only want a clean, decent place to sleep.

We checked in and went out for a walk, to make the town’s acquaintance.

What a nice surprise Ulm was! Beautiful houses, quiet streets, nice restaurants and cafés on narrow back streets, a picturesque atmosphere, a delight to walk around.

The huge, immense cathedral is very imposing over the city. The tower rises so dizzying high.

We walked around it and wondered in amazement at the workmanship, the laces and embroideries that adorn the walls, the towers, the doors, some exquisite pieces of craftsmanship, and what more, all that happened in 1531.
They did that 500 years ago! Amazing.

We liked what we saw and we decided to come again next morning to take some clear pictures in the day light.

It was late in the evening, almost 10 o'clock, and we felt hungry. We went to a big shopping centre, just across the station in an open area.

We made ourselves happy with some take away veggie pizzas and beers and returned to our hotel to feast in our room in front of the tv.

To be continued (Ulm; Rommel's Archives)...
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Old Sep 15th, 2006, 07:19 AM
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This is a very enjoyable report and thanks very much for taking the time to write and post it.
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Old Sep 15th, 2006, 07:26 AM
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I am enjoying your report very much. Barb
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Old Sep 15th, 2006, 09:47 AM
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Dukey and Barb,

Thank you for your kind appreciation and encouragement to continue.

I'm so glad you're enjoying my report.
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Old Sep 15th, 2006, 10:17 AM
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Day 1 – July 7

Ulm; Rommel's Archives

I have posted photos taken in Ulm, here

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/w...1AaNGzly4ZsWEy

We had quite a hectic day ahead of us, so we woke up early to have enough time to check out and catch an early train to Blaustein.

We were allowed to leave our luggage at the hotel, and went to the station.

We bought a Baden-Wurttemberg ticket (25 euros for up to 5 persons travelling together) and boarded our train.

It was a quick 9 minutes trip to Blaustein, and from there we took a bus to Herrlingen, three stops farther away.

I was not sure that the Baden-Wurttemberg ticket would work on the bus as well, but I still showed it timidly to the driver.

He said "Ja, das ist gut" and I was happy. We wanted to visit Rommel's Archives and his grave.

We had been in touch with the people at the town hall and we had to go there first to take the key. So we were looking for the town hall.

I had a copy with a layout of Herrlingen and I tried to follow it. The streets were not detailed on that map, so on the way we stopped by a grocery and asked an old lady for directions.

She tried to explain to us, but it became too complicated for my understanding of the German language, and she decided that it was better if she came with us, since her house was in the same area.

She had two bags of shopping with her, so I offered my help. She accepted gladly.

At the town hall we met the lady with whom we had kept in touch for this visit. She knew we were coming that day and took us to Rommel's Archives, located in a villa on the hill.

She gave us the key and left us there alone, asking us to lock the door and return the key when we finished.

Rommel's Archives include photos, newspaper articles of the time, medals, certificates, books, all showing aspects from his life and career.

Most of the material was in German unfortunately, but a few articles were in English.

Among various exhibits on the walls, we saw some commemorative certificates given by different British, American and Italian army units on various anniversary occasions, after the World War II.

There was a newspaper of that time, with an article describing how on July 17, 1944, a British aircraft strafed Rommel's staff car, severely wounding the Field Marshal.

There were also reports about his time in North Africa, his war philosophy and about how Hitler sent his generals to arrest him at his house in Herrlingen (he was on a list with other generals who attempted the failed plot to kill Hitler), while convalescing from the wounds he had.

As he was a great figure for the German people, Hitler didn't want to stir up the spirits and gave Rommel the choice to take poison and have a state funeral.

For his funeral, Hitler declared a national day of mourning in Germany. Official word was that he died of war wounds.

For those interested, here's a link to the complete story of Rommel's fateful day, including an account by his son, Manfred Rommel, who witnessed the last moments of the Field Marshal's life.

http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/rommel.htm

At the Archives we looked around for his Marshal baton, but we didn't see it. On our way back to the town hall we asked the lady about it and she said that it was kept somewhere else, but not available for public view.

A bit disappointed about this, we went to the cemetery to visit Rommel's grave. His tomb is marked by a wooden "Iron Cross" with a simple engraving of his name and rank.

The two most important decorations that he received, the Order Pour Le Merite and the Iron Cross, are carved under his name.

Right in front of Herrlingen Station is a narrow street called Erwin Rommel, winding its way up the hill to the Commemorative Plate where he committed his forced suicide.

From the cemetery we went back to the station and started the walk up the hill on that narrow road.

The Erwin Rommel Path was quite steep, meandering through an area of woods and houses and the walk was a bit tiring.

After a few minutes of climbing, we saw a plate by the door of a house, on which were listed the previous inhabitants of the respective house.

On that list we read that from 1943 to 1945 Field Marshal Erwin Rommel lived there. That was his house at the time when he died.

Now it belongs to a private company and is not open for visit. Moreover, it is entirely covered by a few big leafy trees.

So we were reading that plate when we saw a car stopping next to us, and behind the wheel was the lady from the town hall.

She was looking for us, following the path she knew we were on, to give us a piece of valuable information.

She had spoken to the Head of the Archives at the town hall and found out about Rommel's Marshall baton.
And she came running looking for us! That was so very nice of her!

She gave us a piece of paper with the place and address where we could see it. When Rommel's son, Manfred, became Mayor of Stuttgart, he has displayed his father's Marshal baton at the House of History.

Now we knew where to go when we reached Stuttgart after a few days.
We thanked her happily, then she offered to give us a lift to Rommel's Commemorative Plate.

The street went further up the hill, made a few turns, then there was a gravel road and under a small group of trees, placed on some big rocks on a cemented platform, we saw two plates.

One had Rommel's name, rank and years of his life, and the other had a German text, which we couldn't understand, unfortunately.

To be continued (Ulm Cathedral and Sigmaringen Castle)...
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Old Sep 15th, 2006, 06:59 PM
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WOW, what a great day you had. Terrrific history and friendly locals. I'm waiting for more. Barb
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Old Sep 16th, 2006, 12:38 AM
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Yes, Barb, but wait... There's more to come in the same day, as until now it all happened in the morning.

Wait till I get back to Ulm and later have to leave for Sigmaringen.

We did have a busy day then. I'm now at the finishing touches of the rest of the day. More to come in a little while.
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Old Sep 16th, 2006, 02:26 AM
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Ulm Cathedral and Sigmaringen Castle

I have posted photos taken in Sigmaringen, here

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/w...1AaNGzly4ZsWFF

We hurried back to the station, but we missed the 11.09 train back to Ulm, so we took the 11.16 bus, still using our Baden- Wurttemberg ticket.

We reached Ulm after 25 minutes and we walked towards the Cathedral. We went on a few narrow side streets, with beautiful and picturesque houses.

We passed by a bakery and the goodies in the shelves winked at us. We stepped in and indulged in a few slices of fruit pastries and cheese cakes, had a coffee and left.

After a few photos on those charming side streets, we went to the cathedral.

Since the time was very short till we had our train to Sigmaringen, we decided that only I would climb the 768 steps to the top, as I could do it faster, and my wife would linger inside.

She told me that THEY should pay for us to climb that tower, and not US to pay them.

The climb upstairs was quite difficult, on narrow spiral staircases, and I had to lean against the wall to make way for others who were descending.

I thought that I would never reach up, so long the climb seemed. As much as it was tiring, the climb was also rewarding.

The views from high up there were magnificent. Unfortunately, I couldn't spend much time looking around and I had to hurry back downstairs, as time was not on my side.

Well, we chose Ulm as a destination mainly to visit Rommel's Archives and grave, and as a stopover on our way to Sigmaringen. Only because it so happened that Ulm has this famous cathedral, we decided to visit it as an extra.

Obviously, we couldn't do it justice, but since we were there, why not have a look at it. Sure enough, we couldn't make it to the station in time.

It took too long, about 40 minutes to go up and come back down from the tower, as I also stopped on the way up at three or four different levels to look outside.

At a first thought, you wouldn't realize that it is so much climbing to do. Only when you do it you feel it gradually.

But then later I thought... 768 steps at 16 steps average for one storey… that makes it a 48 storey high building.
Climb that without an elevator! Never!!
But at Ulm Cathedral, you even pay 4 euros to do it!!

We went to the hotel, picked up our luggage, then hurried to the station. We already had the Baden-Wurttemberg ticket, so we just took the next train to Sigmaringen, one hour later than initially planned.

At 3.22 pm we arrived and went to visit the castle, which is just a few minutes walking from the station.

We liked the entrance to Sigmaringen Castle, a climbing tunnel with deer heads on the walls. We took a photo of ourselves there.

The castle could be visited only with a guided tour, and we were lucky enough to catch the last one.

Unfortunately the tours are only in German, so we had to rely on a leaflet given to us at the entrance.

The Castle of Sigmaringen belongs to the princes of Hohenzollern, of which a branch founded the royal dynasty of Romania. One week before this visit, we had been to Peles Castle in Romania, the former royal residence of the Hohenzollerns.

About the visit to Peles Castle I wrote in my trip report for Romania, see the link here (In Search for the Little Paris)

http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...2&tid=34859356.

The tour took us through splendid rooms, galleries and halls with lavish decorations. We were delighted with Baroque interior decorations, luxurious ceiling paintings and stucco work.

The magnificent halls are furnished with the original historical furniture, tapestries from Flanders, paintings, valuable clocks, miniatures and china.

After indulging in the art treasures, we visited the armoury, one of the largest private collections of weapons in Europe.

As the Hohenzollern family liked hunting, we saw many trophies from their hunting grounds throughout Europe. One of them was a stuffed brown bear from Romania.

After the visit to this castle, we walked through the town for about an hour, took pictures of the castle viewed from below and admired the architecture of the old town of Sigmaringen.

We returned to the station just in time to catch the train to Schliengen, in the south of Black Forest. We had to make three changes on the way, as there were no direct trains.

Again, the Baden-Wurttemberg ticket that we already had since morning, proved to be a big money saver.

We arrived in Schliengen at 9.12 pm and were met by our friends who live there.

To be continued (Freiburg)...
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Old Sep 16th, 2006, 08:28 AM
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Day 2 – July 8

Freiburg

This is a link to photos taken in Freiburg.

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/w...1AaNGzly4ZsWFU

Sometime during the morning we went for a walk through the forest nearby. We followed a winding path, going up and down a hill, through thick woods.

We enjoyed the beautiful nature, the fresh air and the infusion of green shades of the trees and surrounding hills and valleys.

Birds were chirruping here and there, hidden in the trees, adding colour to the forest silence. The long walk in the forest made us very hungry and we were looking forward to having our lunch.

In the afternoon we went to Freiburg. We walked through the old town and we liked the old architecture on the cobblestone streets.

It was a picturesque sight. We reached the main square and visited the cathedral.

We saw some nice pieces of work there, and we liked especially the entrance. It was an arch with hundreds, if not thousands, of coloured statuettes sculpted all around it, in several rows.

Beautiful! Our artful treat continued inside, where we had the chance to delight our eyes with some superb painted windows.

It had become a habit for me by then, to do my daily exercise by climbing a cathedral tower. So I climbed Freiburg Cathedral's tower as well, to the amusement of my wife.

This time it was not so much climbing, as not all cathedrals are even near the height of the one in Ulm.

From the top of the tower I had some splendid views of Freiburg's roofs and surroundings. I came back down and then made a tour around the cathedral, to see its surroundings, admire its architecture and take some photos.

I was on a street at the back, when an elderly lady was coming my way while I was preparing to take a picture. I stopped to let her pass, but then she stopped in front of me to talk.

She began to talk to me. She told me something easy, in German, to which I replied politely. Then she carried on with her conversation and lost me on the way.

I told her a few times that I didn't speak that much German, but she carried on. Then I realized that she just wanted to talk to someone probably, or maybe I reminded her of somebody.

Each time I could understand something, I replied with my plain vocabulary, then she kept talking. She was an intriguing character and maybe that's why I couldn't just leave and ignore her.

I listened to her and I spoke a few words when I could or when I knew what to say. She passed through various states of mind while talking to me.

One moment she was smiling, the next she had tears in her eyes, then she was happy again. I understood something like she had her children in Berlin, and they had been living there for a long time.

However, I couldn't make out why she was crying and then she was happy again, then again sad and the cycle repeated a few times.

I stayed there listening to that lady for about 15 minutes, and I don't regret a single second of that time, even though I hardly understood a few words.

She needed someone to talk to and I was there to listen, and I was happy for that moment. We wished each other a nice day, which I knew how to say, and I saw her happy and smiling when she left.

I was even happier for that reason.

To be continued...
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Old Sep 16th, 2006, 12:04 PM
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gabrieltraian, I love to climb the towers everywhere I go. Going up is strenuous but I think it is the going down that kills my legs for days afterwards. We leave for Germany on Oct 10th so I am enjoying your report very much. I am waiting to hear about Wurzburg, Roth and Munich along with the castles.
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Old Sep 16th, 2006, 12:31 PM
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Yes, Barb, going down a tower is more difficult than one could imagine. It is tricky with those narrow old steps, that sometimes are slippery as well.

Yep... you'll hear all about Wurzburg, Rothenburg, Munich and the castles. Plenty to keep you going for quite a while.

Just buckle up and join the ride, 'cause there's more coming right now!
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Old Sep 16th, 2006, 12:36 PM
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Watching a World Cup football game at a local's home

After walking around the cathedral, we stopped at one of the cafés in the main square.

We picked up a table under a big umbrella on the terrace outside, had some ice creams and enjoyed the atmosphere, watching the hustle and bustle in the main square.

We returned home in time to watch the World Cup match between Germany and Italy. A neighbour invited us to watch the game at his home.

He wore a Germany shirt and had a German flag hanging at his window, for the right atmosphere. He spoke a little English, and I spoke a little German, so we were able to communicate with each other easily enough.

Moreover, the language of Football is quite international, and combined with some snacks and beer, communication became much easier.

During the game, our neighbour asked me if I knew what "schwein" meant, as one of the German players' name was "Schweinsteiger".

I told him I knew it meant "pig", but then asked him what "steiger" meant. He wasn't sure about the English translation, but he said it meant something like "to lift", or "to raise".

So I told him that the English name of that footballer could be "Piglifter".

We all had a good laugh at this, but later, when that very same player scored two splendid goals for Germany, our host was so happy, that he joyfully called him "Piglifter".

We had a very good time that evening and I learned that Germans score a "Tor", while the English and many other nations score a "Goal".

And of course, I have found out later that "Schweinsteiger" could mean "Pig herder" or "carer".

To be continued (Blue Mountain)...
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