We made our first trip to Europe in April 2002. The trip consisted of Southern Germany (Bavaria), Austria, and the Czech Republic.
Bavaria, Germany
Upon landing in Frankfurt-am-Main, we got our rental car and started sightseeing along the Rhine and Mosel valleys. We don't waste time. First stop: Burg Eltz, a magnificently preserved castle in a forest. After 820 years, it is still in the Eltz family. Apparently the family still lives there during certain seasons and opened up some rooms for tourists to bring in some newly-adopted Euros.
We found our way to the Rhine and embarked on a river cruise down the Rhine. We saw many castles, charming towns, and the famous Loreley Rock.
We took the train to St. Goar and took a very uphill walk to Burg Rheinfels Castle. The view from the top was spectacular and we had a good time exploring the huge castle. Built in 1245, it withstood a siege of 28,000 French troops in 1692, but was destroyed in 1797 by the French Revolutionary army.
We stayed in Bacharach that night, which is a great town. Our hotel, the Hotel Altkölnischer Hof, was wonderful and served the best coffee in the morning. It's the building on the left of the bottom left picture.
After Bacharach, we drove on the Romantic Road along the Rhine into Rothenburg ob an Tauber and explored the walled city.
After the quick stop, it was back on the Road through many picturesque towns and trying to decipher the many strange road signs. Fortunately we did not get arrested because I'm pretty sure we broke many traffic laws on this trip.
Finally, we were in Füssen on the Germany/Austria border. We were staying at the Hotel Kurcafe right on the rounabout, which had an incredible bakery on the ground floor. Here's the hotel, and the view from the room. The hotel serves a great breakfast (included with price of room; the pistachio bread was wonderful).
Then it was off to see the King's castles! Rather than wait for the horse-drawn carriage, we thought, hey, we can walk this! It was a pretty steep walk. First up was Shoenschwangau (High Swan Land), home of Maximillian II and (Crazy) Ludwig III.
And the main attraction, Neuschwanstein, the inspiration for Sleeping Beauty's Castle in Disneyland. t was beautiful and breathtaking and .... under scaffolding and mesh. It was still good. (Hint: you can get tickets on the internet, otherwise the waiting can be long or sold out.) The best view of the castle is from the Marienbrücke (Mary's Bridge), which spans between 2 mountains. I couldn't go more than about a half way out on the wooden-planked bridge. It was fun to see the reactions of people when they step on loose boards.
After the castles, we drove back up to München (Munich). It only took 20 minutes of looping through the city to find the otherwise very easy to find Kempinski Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten (Four Seasons Kempinski) where pressing pants costs a mere Euro 16! (We passed.) The clover-shaped bathtub was almost worth the price of admission. We met up with my friend, Thomas, for dinner. Sabing wanted to check out the Hof Brauhaus, but that was far too touristy, so Thomas suggested the Altes Hackerhaus for good traditional (non-touristy) Bavarian eats.
The next day, we walked around the old town and from the Viktualienmarkt (for breakfast pastries). through the Residenz and up Ludwigstraße. Here is the famous Marienplatz and the glockenspiel.
Other sights and sites of München -- Schloß (Castle) Nymphenburg and turtles in the botanical gardens:
The Olympicpark and Tom and me at the top of the tower:
We rode to the top of the tower with beefy Russian-speaking fellows wearing long trench coats. We made sure to keep quiet and look at our shoes. We saw nothing, understood nothing.
Salzburg, Austria
After a quick trip through the Viktualienmarkt for apples, bread and coffee, it was out of Germany and into Austria. We really enjoyed our short 2-hour visit to Salzburg, birthplace of Mozart (27 January 1756). That's the famous Getreidegasse street, the Salzach (Salt) River with the Hohensalzburg Fortress atop, and Sabing at one with a statue in front of Mirabell Palace (featured in The Sound of Music).
After the quick lunchtime detour, we were back on the road to Vienna. Along the way, we attempted to luge, but were denied.
"From Monday, 8 April 2002 to Friday, 12 April 2002, we will be doing renovations. We know you came a long way for this, but NO LUGE FOR YOU!! But hey, on Saturday, 13 April '02, come on back!" (Or something like that.)
We we continued on to Wien (Vienna) with Sabing driving very fast on the Austrian Autobahn.
Finally we arrived in Vienna and spent over an hour trying to navigate through the streets of Old Vienna. In the dark. While it was raining. Sabing seemed to have a grand old time and we probably saw every street in Old Vienna (except the one we wanted, of course). I'm pretty sure we broke several traffic laws, but at last found our hotel, the Pension Pertschy. The owners were Asian. That night we walked to the Breze Gwöld, an awesome restaurant. The cellar's older than the US. The beef goulash and dumplings were fantastic.
We spent the next couple of days sightseeing in Vienna. The Schönbrunn Palace . . . and the Gloriette.
A view of the palace from the top of the Gloriette:
The Austrian Parliament (I think).... the Staatsoper (opera house) ...
Graben Street (under construction) and the plague monument, the people's way of thanking God for letting the folks survive the plague. It's a very weird statute filled with death scenes. God says, "Er, you're welcome."
It's not a proper trip to Vienna without indulging in a cup of cafe melange and a slice of the decadent Sachertorte. Here, at Cafe Demel.
Next up.... Prague