Toward Austria

Day Three

We awoke early and had a typical German breakfast of deli meats, cheeses, and breads. My cousin also put out butter and "marmalade" pronounced "mahr-muh-lahd'-ah" - jelly. Today we were going to see one of the palaces of King Ludwig II. In the US he is sometimes referred to as Mad Ludwig. We had a long travel to reach the Chiemsee where the palace is located. Ludwig built this palace on an island in the middle of a large inland lake. The crossing was on a ferry. It was a short trip, with a wonderful view of the German Alps. Ludwig lived in the middle 1800's when Bavaria was an independent state. He used his personal wealth to construct castles. He was also obsessed with Wagner's music and King Louis XIV of France - the Sun King. Herren-Cheimsee is his tribute to Versailles.


The palace was never completed as he ran out of money. However, some of the things that he had built into it were astounding. He had a simulated marble created that was more expensive that marble itself but was able to create colors unavailable in real marble. The table in his private dining room could drop through the floor and panels of matching carpet slid into place to fill the hole. That way he never had to leave his private quarters to eat. And, the whole palace had central heat. Furnaces in the basement fed heat through cavities in the walls and allowed heat to be released through grillwork in wall panels. The Hall of Mirrors is actually longer and taller than the one in Versailles.

After the palace we were on the road again to Austria. We stopped at a small village that was technically in Germany but was Austrian by nature. The Maypole and frescoed wall of the local Gasthaus show its character. After getting lunch, we started on the road to Salzburg and then to Schmadling for the night. An accident had the highway shut down so my cousin (knowing the roads from traveling with her truck driver husband) pointed us off the autobahn and onto roads that wound through towns until she said to stop in the next parking lot we could find. I did, She jumped out and returned with a sticker for the windshield - a requirement in Austria.

It was getting dark by the time we arrived at the small resort hotel where we'd spend the night. After checking in and getting our things up to the room we gazed out at the dwindling twilight and the mountains across the valley. A trip down to the restaurant and a good meal before heading back upstairs to get some sleep. But not before my wife and I did some laundry in the hotel laundrymat. THAT took too long and I was tired before the dryer finally stopped. But we had clean clothes for another length of the trip. Back upstairs and into bed after telling our two 20-something kids that they needed to get some sleep (still excited I guess).

Back again

A real pain in the neck! That what it was – and it took f-o-r-e-v-e-r to go away. They still don’t know what the original cause of the sore throat was. After I finished the high powered antibiotic (the original “recipe” wasn’t doing anything) I still had the sore throat. Finally went to the doctor this past week as it was finally getting to an acceptable condition. The diagnosis: don’t know. Well, at least the throat is back to normal. Speaking of normal, now that I’m not in pain any more, I want to get back to recollecting the trip to Germany. I need to remember this stuff so that I can , well, remember it!

Day Two

Up in the morning and get ready. It’s drizzling outside (drausen). Not the best day for beginning a trip to a far off land. Anyway, we set off after my two kids (kids? Ages 24 and 21 – still. . . ) have there picture taken with the housekeeper – Sofie and her gnome. The two kids decided that what they would do would be to get pictures of the “traveling gnome.” I think their idea came from watching Travelocity commercials on TV. Anyway, Sofie has a gnome in her yard by the driveway where we parked for the evening. A little rain never hurt anyone. . . .

We drive on to Rothenburg on der Tauber The Tauber is a small stream near the city. Rothenburg is a walled city - on a bit of a hill (hence the "burg" part of the name). There are shops and homes and museums and a big, big church. I was surprised to find out that the city was largely ruble after the war. But the locals rebuilt it and now it is a huge tourist destination. The link in the title for the blog goes to the city’s web site. We buy postcards, listen to church bells and try to stay dry. The rain comes and goes and the city is still picturesque in spite of the weather. We buy some Rothenberg schneeball (snowballs – which are pastries fried into a ball and covered with chocolate, powdered sugar, white frosting or caramel – delicious!) and then we need to leave. After a wrong turn, I got the van turned around and then headed down the Romantic Road toward Munich. It’s Romantic for two reasons – the picturesque towns along the way; and, the road that the Romans used to bring trade up over the Alps into the Germania areas.

The next stop was Dinkelsbühl. It was a bustling town and the weather was starting to break. We found a small store with touristy things and what should we find? Gnomes! OK, so one was obtained to travel along. He looked quite cute with his red hat, sitting on the water pump. Not bad for a small plastic figurine. Some pictures, some shopping and then back on the road. We drove like that until we came to Augsburg at which time the weather took a turn for the worse and we were in heavy rain for part of the time. My dad was trying to get us directed to the cathedral but we never did find it. That was disappointing but we had no more time since it would be dark before long and we still had to make it to Munich – well to my cousin’s home in Furstenfeldbruck – it’s close – a burb really. She has dinner waiting.

Onto the autobahn again and east toward Munich; München in German. I follow the direction that my dad gives me and we’re there in no time. We get there, find the right apartment and there are tears and hugs and shouting (all good). A bottle of wine (wein) is opened, then another , then another. Her husband arrives home (he’s a truck driver and it’s never clear when he’ll get in since he works until his loads are delivered). Then we drink bier! There’s so much food, wein, chocolate, desert, bier, more food, more bier, more wein. It’s late into the night before we finally settle down for some sleep. Sleep – it’s a good thing. After a long day, rest is good.

Another side note
The German’s don’t have a lot of space in their homes. But they make up for it in efficiency. My cousin’s coffee table converts to a dining table – leaves fold up and the table elevates – a really neat idea. Then there is the toilet. It has a flush mounted lever on top of the tank – almost l;ike a light switch. Push on one side and the water runs just like the tanks in the US. Push on the other side and the water comes but not so much. One side is for “one” and the other for “two.” Now, why is it that we don’t have things that smart in the US? What won’t those Germans think up next?!