May 13 - 16, 2015 GERMANY & AUSTRIA - Bacharach, Rhine River, Rothenburg, Dachau, Reutte (Tour days 4 - 7) Post 2 of 5

May 13 - 16, 2015 GERMANY & AUSTRIA 

Bacharach, Rhine River, Rothenburg, Dachau, Reutte

(Tour days 4 - 7)

Post 2 of 5

First I want to add something here that I did not add to the previous post.  Here is the key to the amount of daily activity:

Light Walking Day: Up to 4 miles but mostly level
Moderate Walking Day: Up to 6 miles with some hills and stairs
Strenuous Walking Day: Up to 8 miles with lots of hills, stairs and uneven terrain

Wednesday, May 13, 2015 
Bacharach, Germany and the Rhine River
(Tour day 4)
Strenuous Walking Day

Good thing I am used to doing lots of walking, because before this tour ended, I don't know for sure, but I must have walked at least 75 miles and stairs!!!  Stairs and more stairs!!! Most Hotels did not have an elevator and when my room was on the third (6 flights) or fourth floor (8 flights), that meant lots and lots of stairs to lug my bag up and to go up and down, every time I left the hotel.  Thankfully, I knew this before I packed and made sure to take only exactly what I would need and nothing else!

Germany is half the size of Texas with three times as many people.  Texas has a population of 27 million and Germany has 83 million.  Yet, with all these people, we stayed in these quaint little places and small villages, and not the big cities, therefore, we did not feel 'crowded'.   Unlike Italy... that was a zoo, but more about that later.

In the medieval village of Bacharach we stayed at this half-timbered tower hotel, right on the Rhine River.  This hotel is around 700 years old and is part of the old wall that ran around the city. The walk on top of this wall was used as they ran around the city to alert residents of any danger.

Our hotel Kranenturm from the street and river side.

From the back  and city side.  This is where we entered the hotel to check in.  All stairs, no elevator.

Actually you had to lug your bags up two flights of stairs just to check in!

Narrow walk on top of the old city wall that led to the front door of our hotel is actually part of the front wall of the hotel.

The railroad tracks actually abut the front of the terrace of the hotel and this is where the outdoor table and chairs were.  Every few minutes a train would come whizzing by, but for some reason, we all liked sitting out here anyway, along the Rhine River.

Now as for sleeping, I guess that was a different issue. I was fortunate, I had the basement room here so I did not get so much noise, but those sleeping on the track side of the hotel did not have a very good rest according to Duncan and a few others.  It wasn't just the loudness of the trains, but the sudden onset of the sound.  The tracks are so close to the building, there's no time for a buildup of the sound.  They are simply there; rumble, rumble, rumble, and then they're gone.

Credit to Tina for this picture

By the time we arrived in Bacharach, we had now all been together for four days.  Martin felt it was time to test our name remembering skills.  We were all freaking out a little and looking at our list of names we were given on the first day (we did not wear name tags), and trying to make sure we could match the right people to the right name.  However, we needn't have worried... Here's how it went.  We had to introduce ourself, then everyone had to say hi (that person's name), and then repeat everyone's name who had previously introduced themself.  By the time we had done this twenty-seven times, I think we all remembered everyone's name... anyway I did for a day or two :)  jk

After a good nights rest and a good buffet breakfast provided by the hotel, we were ready for a local tour.

Our guide today was a local 83 year old gentleman, Herr Rolf Jung, who had experienced the war first hand as a young boy.  He was 14 years old when the war ended and very hungry!

These stories were very personal to him.  After the war, he made it his life's work to help Jews and refugees.  We all loved listening to him talk.  Not only was he informative, but was also humorous at times.

By now, if you read my previous blog, you are aware that much of what we saw these first few days of our tour, involved WWII.  The countries and how much effect it had there and on the people who lived with it.  Herr Jung was so moved at times while he was talking to us, that more than once he had tears and so did we.  He was a dear old soul.

Herr Jung.  He was the town’s school headmaster, and has known almost every person in this town since they were kids. You could tell he has great pride in his town, and seemed eager to share his knowledge.

He told a story of hearing the planes and he was only a young teenager.  He could tell exactly 'who' it was (enemy or friendly) by the sound of the engines.  He watched as a young man's plane was hit and came crashing to the ground.  He went to the crash site and as he stood there and wept, he said he wished he knew how to write to this young man's mother to let her know that someone was with her son when he passed away.  After all these years, he wept as he told this.

Herr Jung gave us copies of book descriptions we might like to read, written by Wolfgang W.E. Samuel. Here are they are:

One was "German Boy, A Child in War". Here is the one about German Boy: As the Third Reich crumbled in 1945, many of the German people scrambled to flee the advancing Russian troops. Among them was a little boy named Wolfgang Samuel, who left his home with his mother and sister and ended up in war-torn Strasbourg before being forced farther west into a disease-ridden refugee camp. German Boy is the vivid, true story of their fight for survival as the tables of power turned and, for reasons Wolfgang was too young to understand, his broken family suffered arbitrary arrest, rape, hunger and constant fear. Because his father was off fighting the war as a Luftwaffe officer, young Wolfgang was forced to become the head of his household, scavenging for provisions and scraps with which to feed his family. Despite his best efforts, his mother still found herself forced to do the unthinkable to survive, and her sacrifices became Wolfgang's worst nightmares. Somehow, with the resilience only children can muster, he maintained his youth and innocence in little ways--making friends with other young refugees, playing games with shrapnel, delighting in the planes flown by the Americans and the candies the GI's brought. In the end, the Samuel's begin life anew in America, and Wolfgang eventually goes on to a thirty-year career in the U.S. Air Force. Bringing fresh insight to the dark history of Nazi Germany and the horror left in its wake, "German Boy" records the valuable recollections of an Innocent's incredible journey.

Here is a description of another book, also by Wolfgang W. E. Samuel, "The War of Our Childhood, Memories of World War II": One survivor tells of the fire bombing of Dresden. Another recounts the pervasive fear of marauding Russian and Czech bandits raping and killing. Children recall fathers who were only photographs and mothers who were saviours and heroes. These are typical in the stories collected in this book. For this book, the author, Wolfgang Samuel, a childhood refugee himself after the fall of Nazi Germany, interviewed twenty-seven men and women who as children -- by chance and sheer resilience, survived Allied bombs, invading armies, hunger and chaos. "Our eyes carried no hate, only recognition of what was," Samuel writes of his childhood. "Peace was an abstraction. The world we 'kinder' knew nearly always had the word war appended to it." Samuel's heartfelt narratives from these innocent survivors are invariably riveting and often terrifying. Each engrossing story has perilous and tragic moments -- school children in Leuna who are sent home during an air raid but are strafed as moving targets; fathers who exist only as distant figures, returning to their families long after the war -- or not at all; mothers who are raped and tortured; families who are forced into a seemingly endless relocation that replicates the terrors of war itself. In capturing such experiences from nearly every region of Germany and involving people of every socio-economic class, this is a collection of unique memories, but each account contributes to a cumulative understanding of the war that is more personal than strategic surveys and histories. For Samuel and the survivors he interview, agony and fright were part of everyday life, just as were play, wondrous experience and above all perseverance. "My focus", Samuel writes, "is on the astounding ability of a generation of German children to emerge from debilitating circumstances a sane and productive human beings".

Herr Jung walked us around the town and was very spry! He even climbed up the hill side with us.

He took us to a music shop and we had a private, one man 'concert'.

I had a video of him playing, however, blogger will not let me upload it here, says it is too long.

Cobblestone streets

When Herr Jung showed us this home, with it's Jewish plaque, you could see his heartbreak when he recalled the suffering his Jewish neighbors went through during the war and the tough road that he and all his countrymen endured in the aftermath of the war.

An old wine press.  Said to be from 1893

Credit to Patrick P for this picture

Each year on the Feast of the Epiphany chalk is blessed at Church and people are invited to take some home and mark their homes with a prayer for blessing. Seeing the marking at the door is a gentle reminder of God’s blessing, and a sign to all of a Christian home.

Using chalk either above the door, outside, or at the side of the door, outside or inside, the markings 20 + C + M + B + 15 are made, or (20+K+M+B). 20 and 15 being the year, C (K), M, B being the initials of the traditional names of the wise men, Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar, they can also stand for Christus Mansionem Benedicat, the Latin words meaning, May Christ bless this home.

Just see the backside of Patrick & Vannie here

 We went down some very narrow alleys and streets

 Even tossed a penny in the wishing well.

Through these doors (which Herr Jung gave Cristina P the privilege of unlocking with a massive old key) ...

Credit to Patrick P for these two pictures 

... is Altes Haus. This red and white building is one of the oldest in Bacharach, dating back to 1368.

The wooden spiral staircase is one of the oldest in Germany

The red and white building is the original Posthof (Post Office).  UNESCO funded the restoration of several old buildings dating back to 1579

Bacharach was spared the Allied bombing during WW II so some buildings here are over 1000 years old and have been preserved

This city was part of the 30 year war from 1618 - 1648

Rhine Castle Stahleck

The age of everything here in Europe just astounds me.  Being from America, which is such a new country, it is hard to get my brain to accept such ancient things.  I am fascinated by all this though, so I did a little research, and this is what I found out about this old Castle that sits high on the hill above Bacharach.

(It's exact date of origin is not known, but it has been proved that the castle was already occupied since the year 1095. It's first mentioned in documents in the year 1135 under Goswin von Hochstadt. Until 1148 almost 10 years of fight followed for the rights of the Stahleck. Through evil manipulation Hermann, brother-in-law of King Konrad III, finally won. The palatinate and the estates fell to him.  In the year 1156, after the death of Hermann of Stahleck, his stepbrother Konrad von Hohenstaufen became count palatine of Bacharach. The Castle was assigned from the emperor Barbarossa to his brother Konrad in the year 1190. In the year 1194, the wedding of Stahleck, the secret espousal between the son of Heinrich des Lowen and the daughter of the count palatine Konrad made history. In the year 1214, the castle was appointed as a done feud to the Wittelbacher Ludwig of Bavaria, so it became domicile of the palatine castle count and the official office staff. In the Thirty Years' War, in mid October of the year 1644, as the Catholic party banished the French out of the town with 250 cavalries and 450 Cologne foot soldiers, these fled into the castle Stahleck. Colonel of Nievernheimb, commander on the fortress Ehrenbreitstein, let the castle be fired at without occupying it. In the year 1666, was reestablished by the count palatine Carl Ludwig. In 1689 Stahleck was exploded by the French troops from Ludwig XIV. The city of Bacharach was burned down to the foundation walls. The blasts destroyed the roof of Werner chapel, which has been a ruin since then. For 237 years this castle was left a ruin until 1828 when it was purchased by Prussia. In 1909 it was sold to the Rhine River Society for preservation and it was restored in 1910. Then in 1925 work was being done to establish it as a youth hostel, which opened in 1926. Additional reconstruction was done in 1965 and onward. It is now one of the most well-known youth hostels.)

Wernerkappelle was built in 1289 but has been in ruin since 1689 when the castle above it was destroyed also.

Germany produces some of the best white wines in the world. It is like a storybook paradise of crumbling castles and vineyards clinging to cliffs.  There are these same hillside vineyards and olive trees in much of Europe I've noticed.  Especially in Italy here where I am.

Then we started climbing up the hill.  Talk about hillside farming!

Then we climbed the stairs to the top of this tower to get the most beautiful pictures of the old town and the River Rhine as seen below.

The gang all listening intently to Herr Jung

After we came down off the hill and completed our walk through the town with Herr Jung, we took a few minutes break back at our hotel before going to see Rheinfels Castle.
Picture taken from the window in my room.

Now we are on the bus and heading up to the medieval Rheinfels Castle above the town of St. Goar.  Taking pictures out the bus window as we travel along the short distance to the castle.

When we arrived in St. Goar, we had the option of hiking up the hill to the castle or taking a shuttle.  Several of us chose to hike.  Wayne and Ginette, me, and Patrick and Vannie all hiked up first and had a bit of a rest at the restaurant before the rest arrived.  Had a wonderful lunch here before we met our guide and started touring the castle.  However, by this time the restaurant was very busy, and it was difficult to find someone to 'give' our money to :)

Saw this parked at the castle.  How cool is this old thing!

Rheinfels Castle.  One of the biggest castle ruins on the Rhine.  It was actually five times larger than this before it was destroyed and then much of the stone was used to construct other buildings.

What I found out about this castle:

(The counts of Katzenelnbogen founded the Castle around 1245. The castle was used as the count’s residence. In 1479 the castle came to the landgraves of Hessen who expanded Rheinfels to a fortress. As the only military complex arrangement on the left bank of the Rhine River it withstood the troops of Louis XIV in 1692.  Then in 1794 Rheinfels fell, without a fight, to the French revolutionary army.  They blew it up. The remains served later as a stone quarry for other construction, before Prince Wilhelm of Prussia acquired the medieval part of the ruin in 1834.  Since 1925 Rheinfels Fortress is a property of the city of St. Goar. )

Beautiful fabulous views of the Rhine River and all the river boats and barges. It is a very busy shipping river. It is the second longest river (about 766 miles long) in Central and Western Europe, after the Danube.

The castle's walls with it's crossbow slits and hot oil chutes and tunnels booby-trapped with gun powder ready to blow up even parts of it's own walls to save the castle was it's defense against invaders.  We got to traverse one of these tunnels (see picture posted later). If the castle came under siege, up to 4000 people could safely survive under the protection of their lord. In exchange for this protection, these people were required to give him a large percentage of their harvest.

I would not want to climb those stairs!  This picture does not do them justice... much taller than it looks here.  When the walls are this tall, hard to get a good perception of the size of things.

Credit to Patrick P for this picture

Tunneling was used throughout the world in the medieval period. Often they connected towns, villages, religious and political buildings. They were used for supply, communication and as escape routes.  A particular use of tunneling was where tunnels, braced with timber supports, were dug under the castles or towns, which when fired would collapse, bringing down the wall.  Here we are going down into one of these tunnels.  We were warned that if we are claustrophobic, we should probably not go, however, I am just to curious to not see it, so I went down anyway.  I was happy to see it, however, by the time I got out of there, I had a raging headache.  I had to sit down for a little while after that.

Gigantic vault cellar.  I suppose to run a castle, though, would take an army of people, therefore, a huge amount of food as well.

After spending a considerable amount of time around the castle, I then headed back down the hill.  We were to meet at the boat dock for our Rhine River boat trip back to our hotel in Bacharach.

An old cemetery I saw along the way.

Castles on every hill.

Now cruising down the river.  What a perfect finish to a beautiful day.  The weather was fabulous.

Sometimes others would use my camera and take pictures of me, for me, so I didn't always have to take horrible selfies.  This time, Thank you Jim.  Other pictures posted here in this blog with me in them, I have 'borrowed' from what others took, but want to make sure and give the picture credit to them.  This credit is posted directly beneath the picture.  Thanks everyone... nice to be in a few pictures... this is what happens when I solo travel... everyone in the pictures but me otherwise :)

Also, a few pictures of mine either were not so good or I failed to get one of something that I wanted to blog about, so if others had that particular picture, again, I borrowed it for the purpose of the blog.  Credit again will be posted under the picture.  Thanks everyone!  Also, if there is one you would like me to specifically use, let me know and I will post it.  Also, anyone on this tour group that sees any 'glaring errors', feel free to message me so I can 'fix' them :)

Patrick and Christina.  What a sweet couple.  Shortly after this photo he got a 'make over' :)  I'll show you later...   Credit to Patrick P for these two pictures. 

You know how to stay on my best side don't you Patrick :)

Credit to Wayne/Ginette for this picture

Lorelei Rock. It marks the narrowest part of the river between Switzerland and the North Sea.  It is the most famous feature of the Rhine Gorge. A very strong current and rocks below the waterline have caused many boat accidents there. Folklore of course likes to tell the story of an enchanting female associated with the rock. In the poem, the beautiful Lore Lay, betrayed by her sweetheart, is accused of bewitching men and causing their death. Rather than sentence her to death, the bishop consigns her to a nunnery. On the way there, accompanied by three knights, she comes to the Lorelei rock. She asks permission to climb it and view the Rhine once again. She does so and falls to her death, thus the rock and the murmur it creates have inspired various tales. 

The heavy currents, and a small waterfall in the area created a murmuring sound, and this combined with the special echo the rock produces to act as a sort of amplifier, giving the rock its name. The murmuring is hard to hear today owing to the urbanization of the area.  But of course, myth always wins... the murmuring is Lorelei seducing ships (men) to their death on the rocks.

Beautiful fields of green as we motored down the river.

Oberwesel.  St Werner's Chapel

What a beautiful old church in Oberwesel.  Church of our Lady.

Pfalzgrafenstein Castle in the middle of the river.  Below is more information I found out about this castle.

(The keep of this island castle, a pentagonal tower with its point upstream, was erected 1326 to 1327 by King Ludwig the Bavarian. Around the tower, a defensive hexagonal wall was built between 1338 to 1340. In 1477 Pfalzgrafenstein was passed as deposit to the Count of Katzenelnbogen. Later additions were made in 1607 and 1755, consisting of corner turrets, the gun bastion pointing upstream, and the characteristic baroque tower cap.  The castle functioned as a toll-collecting station that was not to be ignored, as it worked in concert with Gutenfels Castle and the fortified town of Kaub on the right side of the river. A chain across the river forced ships to submit, and uncooperative traders could be kept in the dungeon until a ransom was delivered. The dungeon was a wooden float in the well.  Unlike the vast majority of Rhine castles, "the Pfalz" was never conquered or destroyed, withstanding not only wars, but also the natural onslaughts of ice and floods by the river. Its Spartan quarters held about twenty men.  The island of the castle was used for the Rhine crossing by 60,000 Prussian troops under Blücher in the winter of 1814 in his pursuit of Napoleon. The castle was acquired by Prussia in 1866, and toll collections ceased in 1867. It continued to be used as a signal station for the river boat traffic for about another century. In 1946, the castle became property of the State of Rheinland–Pfalz.  The State eventually turned "the Pfalz" into a museum and restored the color scheme of the baroque period.)

And now we are back in Bacharach.  What a gorgeous day.  I took a little time and walked around the town again and captured a few more pictures before heading to our hotel for dinner.

Beautiful old glass wear I found in the shops in Bacharach.

Now back at the hotel for what was suppose to be a wonderful Schnitzel dinner.  The evening before, we were asked if anyone wanted to have German Schnitzel.  They took a count (8) of those of us who did so they could be prepared for this evening when we all returned.  We all arrived around 6 or 7 pm on the terrace by the tracks, sitting around having a great visit and relaxing after a long day of climbing and walking and stairs.  This was in fact a very strenuous day.  Anyway, we were sitting there for a very very long time before the waiter came to take our order.  We all chose to continue to sit outside, since the weather was so beautiful and the river was there in all its beauty.  We ignored the trains that came roaring past every several minutes.  Just stopped talking until they passed.  Anyway, I digress.

Our waitress the evening before was the young lady who had dumped the whole glass of beer on Margaret.  This evening we had a young male waiter and this was only his second day on the job.  He said the other waitress had gone to London, leaving him by himself, to serve all of us, about 10 or 12 and four or five other couples who came a little later.

Considering all this poor boy had to go through, I am surprised he didn't just quit on the spot.  I don't really know what happened in the kitchen, however, they did not get the food prepared very timely and of all of us, only the very last meal was 'as ordered' and she ordered lamb.  Everyone was completely finished eating before her meal came.  

Credit to Duncan for this picture

 I was served the first Schnitzel.  It would be 45 minutes before the others got theirs.  I have had Schnitzel many times and so this first picture is what my mouth was watering for.  Fresh tender veal.  Oh my expectations weren't really too high, considering I was in the country where Schnitzel originated.  The night before we had eaten at this same restaurant and the dinner was absolutely delightful.  All served on time, everyone ate together.  However, not this night...

This succulent, fresh tender veal, in wine sauce.... What I was expecting.  

   

 

What I got.  A huge slab of fried, until it was dried out, chicken.  Also french fries, which I have never liked very much.  About 45 minutes later, all the other seven who had ordered Schnitzel got theirs and it was veal, however, they were good, but not exceptional.   I needed a bucket of ketchup to get through this dry meat and fries.  Actually, several helped themselves to huge chunks of it, since no one else was getting anything to eat.  By the time everyone had been served it was nearing 10pm.

Our poor waiter, we all felt so sorry for him, as really it was not his fault, he was doing all he could, bringing the food when the kitchen finally got it prepared.  Tipping isn't much here in Europe, so we all took up a nice collection for him.

Really, there were many things that came into play in this scenario. These were new owners of the hotel. The cook/owner/housekeeper was all the same person.... probably her day was way worse than our eating experience. Also she was Asian... we should have ordered a rice dish and would have been fabulous I'm sure. All in all, everyone made the most of it and now, we have something to 'remember' :)

Also, this evening I sat across from Patrick and Vannie. It was my first time to really get acquainted with them. As many of you know, I have a bit of sense of humor, however, it has mostly been put on hold while I have been in Italy for a year. Not something that is easy to do with language and culture differences. The first few days on the tour, I was 'feeling' my way, as I did not know these people, but was warming up fast, as they got my humor. It had a chance to come out a bit this night, as we were all waiting for our dinner, and Patrick for the first time started realizing it. He made the comment that he thought I was this quiet, serious type... Now that is worth a good laugh in itself as all you people who 'really' know me can relate to. But now Patrick was getting to see a bit of this and here is how he responded to it. "I would totally marry you" !! I said, "but I don't need to marry you... really!.. all I need is just a little more ketchup. That should help me get the rest of this dry dinner down. Anyway, we had a good laugh, and he and Vannie and I became really good friends. We had some great times on this tour. More stories to come.. promise.

Time to get to our rooms and get sorted out for tomorrow morning.  Time to move on!  Breakfast at 7, on the road by 8.

Thursday, May 14, 2015 

Rothenburg, Germany

(Tour day 5)

Moderate Walking Day

Next morning.  Beautiful countryside as we motored along, heading to Rothenburg

Fancy toilet seats at the rest stop.  The whole seat top turns and the piece comes out over it has water and cleaner in it to clean the seat at it turns.  Not bad, however, the seat was a little damp if it didn't have a minute to air dry between 'customers' 

ROTHENBURG!  Great city.  Clean and beautiful.

Our Hotel here.  We arrived here before noon and had the day to see and do what we wanted.

First thing I went in search of after we had a bit of orientation tour, was a camera shop.  I still had not had time to find a battery for my camera.  I did find the shop.  Didn't do me any good.  It was closed.  Turns out this day was a holiday here in Germany.  So for now, I still using only my phone camera.

I had a very decent room in this hotel.  Only a couple floors up too, so not too many stairs :)  Unfortunately, we only stayed one night here.

Now that was a long sausage!!.... or hot dog.  You can rest assured, I did not have one (I think Ben and Eva did though).  Just not something I like, however, I did go find a place to have a real sausage and kraut dinner.  Yummy!  I love German kraut.

Our group getting instructions for something it looks like.

Church of Holy Spirit.  The 500-year-old, 35-foot-high wood carving by Tilman Riemenschneider, Altar of the Holy Blood (1504), in 14th century St. Jakob's Church (St. Jakob-Kirche). Stained glass church windows rise 56 feet and date from 1400.

What I remember from our tour guide (the night watchman). During the 30 years' war, the Catholic Count of Tilly, wanted to quarter his 40,000 troops in Protestant Lutheran Rothenburg. Rather than allow entrance, the town defended itself and intended to withstand a siege. However, Tilly's troops quickly defeated Rothenburg, losing only 300 soldiers. After the winter they left the town poor and nearly empty, and in 1634 the Black Death killed many more townsfolk. Without any money or power, Rothenburg stopped growing, thus preserving its 17th-century state.

Town Hall

I walked all over this beautiful city.  It was just wonderful.  It's a well preserved medieval old town, however, like all these towns in Europe has a long history.  Here's some history I found on it:

(In March 1945 in World War II, German soldiers were stationed in Rothenburg to defend it. On March 31, bombs were dropped over Rothenburg by 16 planes, killing 37 people and destroying 306 houses, 6 public buildings, 9 watchtowers, and over 2,000 feet (610 m) of the wall. The U.S Assistant Secretary of War John J. McCloy knew about the historic importance and beauty of Rothenburg, so he ordered US Army General Jacob L. Devers not use artillery in taking Rothenburg. Battalion commander Frank Burke (Medal of Honor) ordered six soldiers of the 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Division to march into Rothenburg on a three-hour mission and negotiate the surrender of the town. First Lieutenant Noble V. Borders of Louisville, Kentucky; First Lieutenant Edmund E. Austingen of Hammond, Indiana; Private William M. Dwyer of Trenton, New Jersey; Private Herman Lichey of Glendale, California; Private Robert S. Grimm of Tower City, Pennsylvania; and Private Peter Kick of Lansing, Illinois were sent on the mission. When stopped by a German soldier, Private Lichey who spoke fluent German and served as the group’s translator, held up a white flag and explained, “We are representatives of our division commander. We bring you his offer to spare the city of Rothenburg from shelling and bombing if you agree not to defend it. We have been given three hours to get this message to you. If we haven’t returned to our lines by 1800 hours, the town will be bombed and shelled to the ground.” The local military commander Major Thömmes gave up the town, ignoring the order of Adolf Hitler for all towns to fight to the end and thereby saving it from total destruction by artillery. American troops of the 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Division occupied the town on April 17, 1945, and in November 1948 McCloy was named Honorable Protectorate of Rothenburg. After the war, the residents of the city quickly repaired the bombing damage. Donations for the rebuilding were received from all over the world. The rebuilt walls feature commemorative bricks with donor names. Traffic-reducing measures were put in place in a significant portion of Rothenburg to increase safety and accommodate tourism.)

This perfectly preserved old medieval town, with city walls still completely intact, overlooking the beautiful green countryside, was quite breathtaking.

Italians need to take some cooking lessons... wow the baked goods were fantastic!  Light and fluffy, not heavy and bready (not sure that is even a word... well it is now!!)

Now that is a car I could enjoy driving!

One of the gates into the city.

Oh my, the best chocolate cake ever, ever, ever.  I would go back just for this !

At some point in my wanderings around this town, I went clothes shopping at Die Kleiderey.  I bought a skirt and two blouses.  I have continued my search for a pair of black dress shoes, but so far haven't found anything.  Was very happy to get a few clothes here however.  My suitcase is expanding...

Wayne & Ginette... run Ginette run... he is gaining  :)

I think I got more pictures of the backside of Ken than anyone else in the group :)

 

The Night Watchman's tour.  At eight o’clock straight up, the Night Watchman showed up dressed in his authentic attire carrying a lantern and a large medieval axe. He was great.  Had been doing this for years, and had this 'strange' inflection to his voice, that made him fantastic to listen to.  Had a great sense of humor too.  As the sun set, we followed him around the town as he shared many stories of the city's history.  Here is a YouTube link to part of his tour that someone else (not anyone from our group) posted.  https://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=Rq-clCjYGZA

At the stroke of 8 o'cock, the two windows on each side of the clock opened and mechanical people moved around, like a giant cuckoo clock, which as we all know Germany is famous for.  

When my brother was stationed in Germany after his tour in Viet Nam, he of course, bought one for our parents.  That clock hung on their living room wall for years and years.  My bedroom was directly above that room and it became very annoying... cuckcoo, cuckcoo... Needless to say, I did not buy a cuckcoo clock in Germany :) !  Neither did I purchase a beer stein, something else that is a popular German souvenier  :)

After the night watchman's tour, a few of us went and had gelato.

This kind of pastry has been known for at least 300 years and is very popular here.  The main ingredients are flour, eggs, sugar, butter, cream, and plum schnaps. To give it this strange shape, the dough is rolled out and cut into even strips then the strips are alternately over and under a stick, or the handle of a wooden spoon. Eventually the stick is lifted and slowly removed while the dough strips are formed into a loose ball. Using a special holder called a Schneeballeneisen in order to retain the shape, the ball is deep-fried in boiling fat until golden brown, and then dusted with confectioner's sugar while warm, or dipped in chocolate, etc.  I did not try any because Martin had told us about these before we arrived in Rothenburg, and discouraged us from purchasing them... said many had tried them and they didn't think they were all that good.... probably because they are 300 years old!  

Now there's a Meat Shop!  All preserved... Just like their town, I guess they want to keep it a long time :) 

Friday, May 15, 2015 
Dachau, near Munich Germany 
(Tour day 6)
Moderate Walking Day

Just before leaving Rothenburg, I bought snacks for the road.  Same place I had had the chocolate cake the night before.  That was such good cake, I figured these would be scrumptious too.  Not only that, they looked so pretty too!  Laid out on the tray in the bus looking great!  And they were!

Before this day was over, I was really glad I had them, as it was the last food I had for the rest of the day, until dinner late that evening.  Where we were headed, really affected me emotionally and it took me a few hours to get over it.  A Very Sobering Morning !

We got up early and hit the road after a very nice breakfast in the hotel.  We were headed for Dachau.  Now I won't say much about these pictures, as they are self explanatory as well as I took pictures in the Museum with most of the information, which you can read.

Here we are, entering the gate of Dachau Concentration Camp, just like thousands and thousands did during the War years.  This very entrance... however, the gate has been replaced.  The original iron gate had been stolen.  The theft happened overnight on Sunday, Nov. 2, 2014.  There is no surveillance system at Dachau, but it is monitored by private guards. It was discovered cut into three pieces days later.

 'Arbeit Macht Frei' ('Work sets you free')

Dachau was the first concentration camp set up by the Nazis in 1933, a few weeks after Adolf Hitler had been appointed Reich Chancellor. More than 140,000 died there before its liberation by US troops in 1945.  This camp served as a model for all later concentration camps and as a "school of violence" for the SS men under whose command it stood. In the twelve years of its existence over 200.000 persons from all over Europe were imprisoned here and in the numerous subsidiary camps.

Thousands of Jews, foreigners and other groups persecuted by the Nazis were later held at Dachau - initially built to house political prisoners. Many inmates were shot or gassed, with thousands others dying through starvation, disease or overwork.

We had a very informational tour guide here, (an Irish boy from Ireland) however, even for him, he stated that he could only do this once in a while, as the gravity of it was just to severe.

Across a bleak roll-call area, prisoners were forced to stand motionless for hours.

Here we are, walking the grounds where so much pain and suffering had been.

These gravel boxes are representative of where the original barracks stood.  Most had been torn down before this was declared a Memorial site.  Germany has taken a new view of this, making it a Memorial site,  "LEST WE FORGET".  School children are required to know about what can happen and hopefully never, ever happen again.

 Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it--George Santayana, 1863-1952, from Life of Reason, "Reason in Common Sense," 1905

Camp road with the poplars planted by prisoners, their meeting place during their few free hours. Two of the 34 barracks remain. Built to hold 200 prisoners each, they eventually were crammed with up to 2,000 each. Horrific medical experiments conducted by the Nazi Third Reich in three of them.

A quote by Martin Niemoeller, 1892-1984, a Protestant pastor in Nazi Germany and prisoner of the Sachsenhausen and Dachau concentration camps.

"First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out--because I was not a communist. Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out--because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out--because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out--because I was not a Jew. Then they came for the homosexuals, and I did not speak out--because I was not a homosexual.  Then they came for me--and there was no one left to speak out for me--"

The Camp was fenced with electrified barbed wire, with grass strips, ditches, and a wall. Guards in seven towers around the perimeter, shot the prisoners who stepped onto the grass. Many who were so sick and desperate, would deliberately step here to be 'put out of their misery'.  Others were pushed or just shot and then the guards claimed it was suicide.

The first crematorium turned out to not be 'big' enough to 'get the job done', so

they built this bigger one.

This small door was where the hydrogen cyanide in the form of Zyklon B was placed and went directly into the room where the prisoners were told to 'take a shower'

The 'shower head' that was really where the gas was sent into the room

The gas chamber

The new incinerators (crematoriums)

Our group, very solemn.  Some had connections to this place through relatives.

After walking the grounds, several of us wanted to go through the museum and the rest went to have lunch and go back to the bus.  At this point, I was no longer able to even think about food and wanted to go through the museum.  What an ugly, horrible, despicable, evil person could do such a thing as this.  What depravity of mind.  I am so glad God says that vengeance is his, because I don't know anything that could ever make up for this.  Man's inhumanity to man.

If anyone is interested in reading these, just click on them and they will open a much larger picture that is readable.

Here in the museum were disturbing displays that explained the Nazi rise to power and war: Fear of a vague enemy ... Fear of what people looked like ... Fear of their religion ... Attacks on minorities ... Charismatic leaders ... Vengeance ... Courts overturning human rights ... Government propaganda and lies ... Feeding untruths to the news media ... Limiting access to information ... Setting examples of "critics" ... Stifling dissent ... Rounding up "enemies" ... Spying on ordinary citizens, on one another ... Torturing to get information ... One-party rule ... Merger of state and corporate power ... Flouting international law ... Attacking, invading and occupying sovereign countries ...

In the museum, I took pictures of all these giant posters.  They were well laid out and numbered and easily readable.  They tell the whole sad story.  If you want to read them, just click on the picture and it will open in a larger view, and make it easier to read.

Long deep breath, even as I write this now.  Hard to think about this kind of thing.

And now we are back on the bus, heading for Austria seeing more beautiful country.  My mind needed to see some beauty after the horrors of this morning.

We turned at this station to take another route over the mountains that would be more scenic, however after we had gone a short distance, it was posted that the highway was closed due to snow, so we turned around and went another route, which took us by this beautiful old church in the Bavarian countryside.

Wieskirche. The Pilgrimage Church of Wies near Oberammergau, originally built 1746-1754

What gorgeous countryside and cows in the pasture and chickens in the road.

After our stop at the church, we are now on our final leg to Austria and arriving at our hotel near dinner time.

Somewhere along the way a day or two ago, I sent a long-time friend, Donna Jicha, (also from America, but now in Czech Republic) an e-mail, hoping to find a location for church on Wednesday.  However, she replied that no one was in this area of Austria or Germany at this time. I will get in touch with her later when I go to Czech in the near future.. I hope.

Wayne and Ginette, passing off and waving the flag.  Leaving Germany, entering Austria. And now we have arrived at our hotel.

 Alpenhotel Ernberg

 I was up six flights of stairs in this hotel, so had plenty of stair climbing here... especially back and forth to the laundry, taking things out of the washer and into the dryer, etc., and oh yes, it was in the basement, so extra flight of stairs. My room in the picture above is the top floor, the tiny square window on the left without a balcony.

Here at this hotel was the first time we had laundry facilities and we all needed to do some clothes washing. There were only a few machines, so it was a mad dash as soon as we arrived at the hotel, for everyone to get their things in and out as soon as possible. Was also expensive $14 a load!! (Thank you Lynn for giving me your extra token)! There was such a scramble for the laundry, so I just decided to wait until after dinner when most everyone else would be done... (some were jumping up and down during dinner checking on theirs). However, waiting to be the last one made me very late for bed. It was about 12:30 before I actually got to bed. Needless to say, I crashed.  My bed looked and felt really good after such a long and emotional day.

But I get ahead of myself.. We had a lovely dinner and fabulous dessert here at the hotel in Reutte, Austria with the group, and this day was far from over...

Credit to Wayne/Ginette for this picture

Credit to Wayne/Ginette for this picture

On day one of our tour, we had to choose a buddy, which I described how that worked previously. Now this particular evening, after dinner, everyone and their buddy had to stand in front of the group and share what they had learned about their buddy, that most likely the group did not know.  I will have to admit, I had not spent a lot of 'personal' time with my 'buddy', and therefore we had not talked at any great length, however, we did scramble at the last minute and manage to 'know' a few things about each other, unlike a couple of guys who just stated they didn't know anything and left it at that. We all had a good chuckle about that one. All in all, it was a very entertaining evening and we all learned some nice things about each other.  

Now it is getting late and I still needed to do my laundry. On one of my treks down all those stairs to check on my last load, I met Patrick P along the way... he also was still up, hanging out at the bar.  He asked if I wanted to have a drink with him.... then joked that he wasn't a short Italian. The reason I mention this, is that on the first day as we introduced ourselves, I mentioned that I was considered very tall to the Italians where I am living here in Bari, that most of the men are rather short. Now, everytime anyone got a chance (Duncan mostly), they always teased me about this. Anyway, I was not up for going to a bar, a drink, or a visit at this time of night... I was about on my last leg and badly in need of rest.  It had been a long day... physically and mentally.

Saturday, May 16, 2015 
Royal Castles and a Luge ride 
(Tour day 7)
Strenuous Walking Day

And we woke up to rain.  This morning we had a short drive back across the border into Germany to see some castles near Fussen.  

These houses looked pretty nice to me, especially just coming from a year in Italy, however, these look like shoe boxes compared to what we were about to see!

We arrived and hung out here for a bit waiting for Martin to return with our tickets to tour the Castles.  Now what we didn't yet know, this was going to require some serious hiking up a very steep hill to get there.

Us milling around and taking pictures while Peter sat on the bus, doing what Peter does... waiting.  A lot of waiting.  He has been here many times, seen it all.  Must get very boring for him sometimes.  Maybe that is why he got so upset when 'some (unnamed) one' used the bus toilet instead of the public one while we were hanging around the bus after our 'lunch'.  Gave him a new focus :)

And now for the castles.  We first hiked up to the Neuschwanstein Castle, however, I want to talk about the Hohenschwangau Castle first, as this was Ludwig's boyhood home originally built in the 12th century.  I purchased a book about these Castles while I was there and the following was taken from that:

("A family of knights was responsible for the construction of the medieval fortress, and it served as the seat of the local government of Schwangau. In 1523, the schloss was described as having walls which were too thin to be useful for defensive purposes. After the demise of the knights in the 16th Century, the fortress changed hands several times. The decay of the fortress continued until it finally fell into ruins at the beginning of the 19th Century.

In April 1829, Crown Prince Maximilian (the later King Maximilian II of Bavaria) discovered the historic site during a walking tour and reacted enthusiastically to the beauty of the surrounding area. He acquired the ruins - then still known as Schwanstein - in 1832. In February 1833, the reconstruction of the Castle began, continuing until 1837, with additions up to 1855. The architect in charge, Domenico Quaglio, was responsible for the neogothic style of the exterior design. He died in 1837 and the task was continued by Joseph Daniel Ohlmüller (died 1839) and Georg Friedrich Ziebland. Queen Marie created an alpine garden with plants gathered from all over the alps.

Hohenschwangau was the official summer and hunting residence of Maximilian, his wife Marie of Prussia, and their two sons Ludwig (the later King Ludwig II of Bavaria) and Otto (the later King Otto I of Bavaria). The young princes spent many years of their adolescence here. The King and the Queen lived in the main building, and the boys in the annex. King Maximilian died in 1864 and his son Ludwig succeeded to the throne, moving into his father's room in the castle. As Ludwig never married, his mother Marie was able to continue living on her floor. King Ludwig enjoyed living in Hohenschwangau, especially after 1869 when the building of his own castle, Neuschwanstein, began only a stone's throw from his parental home.After Ludwig's death in 1886, Queen Marie was the castle's only resident until she in turn died in 1889. Her brother-in-law, Prince Regent Luitpold of Bavaria, lived on the 3rd floor of the main building. He was responsible for the electrification in 1905 and the installation of an electric elevator. Luitpold died in 1912 and the palace was opened as a museum during the following year.

During World War I and World War II, the castle suffered no damage. In 1923, the Bavarian Landtag recognized the right of the former royal family to reside in the castle. From 1933 to 1939, Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria and his family used the castle as their summer residence, and it continues to be a favorite residence of his successors, currently his grandson Franz, Duke of Bavaria. In May 1941, Prince Adalbert of Bavaria was purged from the military under Hitler's Prinzenerlass and withdrew to the family castle Hohenschwangau, where he lived for the rest of the war.")

The view the town's people get of Hohenschwangau Castle.

We were not allowed to take pictures inside, but my impression as we walked through, was that it was not a very impressive castle.  Very small and simple, as compared to how we visualize them.  I suppose that may be the way King Ludwig II felt since off in the distance is ...

...now this next picture was just a hillside when Ludwig II of Bavaria, aka "Mad" King Ludwig first saw it and I can just imagine him stating.. that 'thar' hill's where I will build my masterpiece....

...and sure enough, that's what he did.  While I was standing at the original old castle Hohenschwangau, I took these pictures of his Masterpiece off in the distance.  You can see this huge, turreted medieval-style castle.

Other views taken from the Hohenschwangau Castle

The garden and fountain here

Talk about 'looking down' on the town's people.  Our bus in parked on the far back right.

And now, time to pictorially head up the hill to Neuschwanstein Castle.  It's going to be a long hike, however, with all the walking and stair climbing I've been doing, it really turned out to be a 'piece of cake'.  The walk up to Neuschwanstein is steep and a large elevation change and takes about 45 minutes.  In addition, there are 357 steps inside the castle.  Glad we actually went to this castle first, while I was still full of energy.  

The hike up to the Neuschwanstein Castle or you could catch a ride pulled by these nags.. :)

These poor old 'hawses' certainly don't look very 'princely', and they were probably very exhausted at the end of the day, as they piled as many people into the wagon as possible and it was a steep climb for them too the top.  Round and round they went all day....up and down that hill.

As I was walking along through these woods, they looked like, and I really felt just like I was going to see a "Handsome Prince" come charging out of the these woods and sweep me off my flat feet (or drag me... I'm kind of heavy) and take me to his fairytale castle, way way up this hill !  ... hee hee hee

It really is a fairytale like setting

All the beautiful wildflowers.

And then finally, I managed to make it to the castle rising out of the mist, without my knight in shining armor... made it on my own two feet.  It really does look like a fairytale.  I can just picture Rapunzel or Cinderella here. :)

Neuschwanstein Castle, built from 1869-86 to be the home of Ludwig II of Bavaria, aka "Mad" King Ludwig.

There is a huge long description and tons of information about this castle on wikipedia and here is the link if anyone is interested in reading it.  It is a great read!  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuschwanstein_Castle

Because of the rain today, I was never able to get a really clear picture of either of the castles, however, the mist and low hanging clouds added some mystery to it ...

Are we at Disneyland?

We were not allowed to take any photos inside the castle.

It was very lavishly decorated and furnished.  I could not believe how modern it looked inside.  The kitchen was fabulous!  However, this castle was home to the "Mad" King Ludwig for only 140 days.  He only slept 11 nights in the castle.  He died mysteriously at the age of 40 with only 14 of the rooms finished.  No one ever really lived in the castle.  Only six weeks after Ludwig died, the castle was opened to paying visitors and then the money used to finish the castle.  Smart move... a regular cash cow now...over 2 million visitors and $6.5 or 7 million in revenue a year.

And that was the sad end of "Mad" King Ludwig and his beautiful dream.  So you see, it doesn't matter how big our earthly house is, we all end up in the same size grave in the end.

\

And now back down to earth!  So much for my fairytale... it came to an end...  no Knights in shining armor, no happily ever afters... just reality.

And my reality was Puff Balls! On my walk back down the 'mountain' they were selling Puff Balls. Oh my they were so good!! If I had known they were that good, I would have bought a dozen bags!

After we finished viewing Neuschwanstein, and hiked back down to the village,  Martin had purchased sandwiches and drinks for everyone. As soon as we finished eating, we headed up the opposite hill to Hohenschwangau Castle (the first castle pictures I posted).

Then after we finished touring Hohenschwangau Castle, several of us came back to the village via this walkway.  It was a beautiful walk and came out by the lake.

Thank you Martin for taking these for me, even if it did make you lose your shoe as you tried to walk backwards and stumbled over a cobblestone :)

The view the towns people get of Neuschwanstein Castle.

And that wrapped up the Castles we saw here in Germany.  Now on the bus to go have some physical fun.  You would think after all the hiking, climbing, and hundreds of stairs, we would be ready to call it quits, however, just like children, throw in some 'toys' and we are ready to play.

THE LUGE !  What a fun way to spend the rest of the afternoon.

What a great selfie of my hand!  Actually I was trying to get the luge track, but I sure like the pretty little flowers in this picture :) 

Credit for this picture goes to Wayne/Ginette

 Credit for this picture goes to Wayne/Ginette

 Credit for this picture goes to Wayne/Ginette

Credit for this picture goes to Wayne/Ginette

my good buddy Patrick L was in front of me and kept slowing down, as I was yelling, go go go :)

 

This YouTube link that someone posted a few years ago, was of this very luge ride.  The rod in the middle is the brake.  When you pull it up it slows the luge down.  This person in this video is going very slow.  I did not pull up on the brake once... and it would really motor.  What fun!!

https://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=-1L7D4LSX_g

Some of us were going much faster than this YouTube video is showing, and really riding high on the sides... I think that might have been me... anyway, Patrick L. was 'slow poking' along in front of me and as I came around and off of a high sided curve, I couldn't see he had slowed down in front of me since I was in the curve and before I could even react, I plowed right into him!  We neither one came unseated, however, we both had bruises.  I hit the rail with my left arm pretty hard and today (June 19th, 33 days later) as I write this, the bruise is still faintly visible. It was a very deep bruise to the bone, so took it a while to all dissipate.

Everyone had opportunity to go down the luge two times, however, several didn't want to, so any extra tickets were given to those of us who did. My second and third times down, I made sure no one was in front of me. I could have enjoyed staying here and riding this thing several more times!

However, time to get back on the bus and take more scenic pictures

After we arrived back in Reutte, several of us wanted to go to the shops to purchase various things, and I wanted to check if there was a camera shop, however, again, it was closed!!  After we did a bit of other shopping, we all hiked back to the Hotel, got cleaned up and had another wonderful dinner at the Alpenhotel Ernberg.  

 They had a great chef!

and then we had strudel with Martin doing the honors of slicing and serving.

Oh, my, it was scrumptious!

Went to bed very contented this night and tomorrow we go to Italy!!

Next post will be Tour days 8 - 15, May 17 - 24

Hopefully it doesn't take me as long to get the next post done as it did this one.  I know I am forgetting things the longer it takes me to get these posted, so I may add things to them later, as I remember.  Sometimes when I am working on a different date, something will come to mind. Anyway, this is all for this post now.  Enjoy !