Day 52 (July 30th): Berlin & Dresden

Woke up at 8:45 AM and packed up our stuff. There was a Jewish Bagel store (called Salomon Bagels) we wanted to go to yesterday but they were closed on Sunday so we decided to eat breakfast there this morning. The store was a block from our hotel. They had about 10 different types of bagels but I ordered the pretzel bagel. We bought our bagels and took them to go so we could eat in the room and finish packing. On our Berlin map there was a Jewish star where the bagel store was located and we had noticed that there was a cop standing at the store yesterday and another cop was there today. When we asked the concierge about the cop, she said that every "Yiddish" owned or operated store/site in Berlin has police presence 24 by 7. Al and I were amazed that this policy was in place. In the room, Hannah made coffee for everybody and we enjoyed our bagel breakfast. After finishing up, we packed up the car and headed over to the Jewish Museum (see picture on left). The museum exhibited the history of Jews from the beginning of time to the present. It was interesting and we spent over 3.5 hours there. You can imagine how the kids felt by the end. Our next stop was the New Synagogue (see picture on right). This synagogue has a long history and was vandalized by the Nazi's and bombed during WWII. Currently it is restored to it's original structure and we went to the top of the Dome for a somewhat limited view of the surrounding area. We then went back to the car and drove over to another section of the Berlin Wall that was still intact. This part of the wall was much larger than the one we saw yesterday near Potsdam Platz. With this section of the wall you were able to get a much better feel for the size, length and impact of the wall (see picture on top middle). We spent some time there taking pictures and got the kids ice cream before heading out (see picture on bottom middle). I still needed to get my casino chip so we drove around looking for one of the casinos. It was hidden away behind construction in the Park Inn hotel and I went in and got a chip. I was disappointed since it didn't say Berlin on the chip. It was getting late and we wanted to eat dinner before leaving Berlin. We drove down to Potsdam Platz and went into the mall food court. Zach got a salami sandwich (that I ended up eating) and Hannah wanted sushi from a Japanese restaurant that had food on a conveyor belt. We sat around the conveyor belt and took numerous plates of food. Since the good ice cream store was in this mall we went upstairs and bought a round of ice cream. I still needed a good poker chip so Al and the kids stayed at the mall while I ran around the corner to the casino. The guy at the door was very nice and went to the back for me and got me a chip (not the usual 11.5 gram clay chip). Usually, all casinos in Germany you need to pay an entrance fee and dress nice. I was happy with the chip this time since it said Berlin on it. I ran back to the mall and everybody was just finishing their ice cream so we went to the car and drove 2 hours south to Dresden. We got to the Sheraton hotel in Dresden around 10:30 PM and dropped our bags off in the room. Since we couldn't get connecting rooms, Zach and I shacked up while Al and Hannah slept together. We then went downstairs for a snack and a drink. Zach had issues with his cheese sandwich and ended up not eating at all. I had a good local brew and Al had a white wine. Back in the room, Zach and I watched CNN since it was the only English station and went to bed around 12:00 AM.

Day 53 (July 31st): Dresden & Wurzburg

Woke up at 8:45 AM, showered and packed up. We walked around the block from the hotel to get breakfast. Al and I commented that there was some nice buildings but overall there was a dreary feeling (same feeling as Berlin). Many buildings looked like they were built in the 1950's and not updated since. You could definitely see a difference between the old East and West Germany. We found a bakery to get food at and I had a turkey sandwich with cabbage and lettuce on a long roll, Zach had a pretzel roll and donut, Hannah had a salami sandwich and Al had a cheese sandwich and coffee. After breakfast we packed up the car and drove to the Dresden Alstadt. It was an overcast day with occasional drizzles so we put on our rain gear in order to walk around. The city was very nice with numerous churches and museums (see picture on left). Dresden was leveled during WWII and all the buildings were reconstructed to their former glory (the souvenir shops sold post cards that showed what the city looked like in 1945). We walked down to the Elbe River and looked at the old buildings along the river (see bottom picture). A little past the river is the Zwinger which is a beautiful palace modeled after Versailles (see top picture above). We walked around for a few hours checking out the sites before stopping at a restaurant for lunch. I had a fish soup, Zach had fries, Hannah had a salad with chicken and Al had a cream soup. It was a nice meal but too bad I couldn't sample the local beers since I needed to drive shortly. We walked back to the car and started driving south to Munich when we decided to change our plans mid-trip. Instead of going to Munich now we headed to Wurzburg which is the most northern city on the Romantic Road. It took about two hours and we arrived in Wurzburg around 5:30 PM. From the Frommer book we found a wonderful little bed and breakfast. They had two non-connecting rooms available so Zach and I roomed together and Al and Hannah slept in the other. The innkeeper was very nice and he spoke very good English. We decided to eat dinner at the inn and had a great meal. I had sliced beef with fried onions, fried potatoes with a salad, Zach had a plain chicken and fries (of course he didn't like the chicken), Hannah had salmon, rice and a salad, and Al had saurbraten, red cabbage and a salad. All of our portions were very large. The highlight of the meal was my beer. I had a Rauch bier from Bamberg. The innkeeper described the taste of the beer as bacon flavored and he wasn't far off. When I took my first sip it was like I just drank liquid bacon. As I kept drinking I enjoyed it more and more.
After dinner, we walked around and checked out the city. Since Zach was hungry we stopped to get him pizza and Hannah got ice cream. There were a few churches, statues and a nice bridge that provided a good view of a fortress on the other side (see picture on right). We walked along the river and went across the bridge and then headed back to the inn. When we got back, Zach took his nightly shower and then he and I laid in bed labelling pictures on the computer. He was getting tired and fell asleep around 11:30 PM and I stayed up until 12:00 AM working on the pictures.

Day 54 (August 1st): Wurzburg, Romantic Road

Woke up at 6:00 AM and couldn't fall back asleep. The sun had come up already and I took a picture of the church from our room window. Then I laid in bed and took some notes for my blog. I was able to fall back asleep around 7:00 AM and then woke up again 8:00 AM. I showered and we all went downstairs for a buffet breakfast. It was a great breakfast with; all sorts of fruits, rolls, meats, cheeses, juices and cereals. In addition there was cold spinach ravioli, crawfish and mushrooms. I chowed (emphasize CHOWED) on everything but mainly the ravioli and crawfish and washed it down with plum juice. Not a big surprise but I was hurting all day. The kids had cocoa cereal and croissants. After breakfast we packed up the car and went across to the fortress but got to the parking lot at the top of the mountain and we decided not to go in. We turned around, stopped for gas (and a couple of volvic waters) and then went over to the government residence which we didn't realize we had already seen earlier in the day. Our plan for the day was to travel south down the Romantic Road which has a number of little medieval towns along the way. We had a difficult time finding the Romantic Road at first and stopped at a Lidl (supermarket) and stocked up on volvic waters (new flavor; grape berry) and other tasty snacks. We hit the road again and finally found the Romantic Road. The Road meanders through the country and goes on for 180 miles south all the way to Fussen. Our first stop was Bad Mergentheim where we parked for about 45 minutes. While we were parking the kids ran to a playset not realizing it was part of a pre-school. The teacher spoke to us in German and we had no clue what she was saying. We used the bathroom at a random hotel then walked around town. It was a cute town with typical old style German timber buildings and a market square. We walked back to the car and hit the Romantic Road again. Our next stop was Creglingen which Frommer's listed in its book. We parked the car and we weren't sure if it was legal or not but decided to leave it there and head out. There was an old guy sitting on the side watching us very closely. When one of the shop owners came out the old guy ratted us out that we had parked in front of his place, but we kept walking. We went to the local Schloss (castle) but it was closed then walked over to the town church. The town is so small you can see everything in 15 minutes (see top left picture). We walked back to the car and I saw the old guy still sitting there and waved to him (instead of giving him the finger). Our next stop was Rotingen ODT which Frommer's listed as one of the best towns on the Romantic Road. This town dates back to medieval times and has a tall wall that completely surrounds the town. We parked the car and walked through the gate entrance. There were beautiful old timber buildings that lined the cobble stone road. We checked out some stores then made our way to the town center where the Rathaus was (there were lots of tourist here). In the middle of the platz, we bought some fresh pressed apple juice and then stopped for lunch at a bakery. Zach had cheese on a pretzel (that he didn't like), I had turkey on a pretzel, Hannah had a salami sandwich and Al had a cheese sandwich with a coffee. After lunch we continued walking through the town looking at the shops. Most of the shops sold steins (see middle bottom picture), food or other touristy items. We walked all the way to the other end of the walled city (see bottom left picture) and found a shop that sold a horse wall hook that we bought for Hannah. Of course Zach wanted something now so we bought him a miniature metal knight. All throughout the city they sold these unique desserts we called canon balls. These were crunchy dough balls that either came plain or with a filling and a topping. We bought a chocolate filled canon ball that was very tasty.
It was getting late and our 2 hour time limit (2:00 PM to 4:00 PM) was soon approaching on our parking ticket. We used the restrooms by the parking lot (lucky we had hand sanitizer) and then found a playground right down the street. The kids played for an hour before we hit the road again. Our next stop was Dinkelsbuhl which is known for making Ginger bread. When we got to the town we looked all over for the Ginger bread but couldn't find it. We stopped at the information shop and they informed us that Ginger bread is primarily made during Christmas, but we might find it at one of the bakeries down the street. We got to the bakery and incorrectly assumed that Ginger bread meant Ginger bread man. They did have the bread, not the little flat guy from Shrek. We bought some bread and other snacks (croissants and pretzels) that we ate outside on a bench. After finishing up, we headed back to the car and drove to Nordlingen. Nordlingen sits in a gigantic crater that was formed millions of years ago. We got to the town but couldn't find a crater, but I did find a public restroom. By that time it was getting very late and it was our goal to make it to Fussen (last town on the Romantic Road)by night fall. We had a 2 hour drive ahead of us so we hit the road. On our way to Fussen we passed through the Bavarian Alps and I pulled over when I saw a great mountain scene (see top middle picture). The Alps were in the distance with a lake in front of it while the sun was setting. I pulled over on the side of the road and everybody jumped out and ran down to the lake. It was perfect timing and I took some great pictures (see picture on right). After 30 minutes, we got back in the car and drove to Fussen arriving around 9:00 PM. Luckily, we found a hotel right in the middle of town that had availability. Our room had a king size bed with a pull away cot. Zach slept in the king with Al and I, while Hannah slept in the cot. We ate dinner at the hotel and Hannah had a turkey salad, Zach had an apple pancake (that he actually enjoyed), Al had a cheesy pasta and I had Bavarian ravioli (filled with meat and spinach) with fried onions and bacon on it. Of course, I had to have a tall Bavarian beer to complement the meal. After dinner we brought our bags up to the room, the kids showered and we settled in for the night. Today was a very busy and fun day.

Day 55 (August 2nd): Neuschwanstein Castle & Munich

We woke up at 7:00 AM, packed up our stuff and went downstairs at the hotel for a great buffet breakfast. They had all types of rolls, eggs, meats, cheeses, cereals, fruit, chocolate pudding and chocolate covered strawberries. Everybody enjoyed their meal. After breakfast we packed up the car and went over to Neuschwanstein Castle. This is the castle that Disney used to model their Cinderella castle (see picture on left). It took about 15 minutes to drive there from Fussen (where we were staying) and arrived at the castle ticket house at 9:00 AM. Al ran inside and bought tickets with an assigned tour time of 10:45 AM. You are not allowed to drive up to the castle so we parked at one of the lots at the foot of the mountain. There are only three ways to go up the mountain; mini-bus, walk or horse drawn carriage. We opted for the last option since we thought the kids would really enjoy it. We waited on line for about 20 minutes before the carriage arrived. Before we got in the carriage, the horse raised it's tail and passed gas for 10 seconds. As you can imagine the kids were in tears laughing. Now that the horse was ready for us, Al and I sat in the back while the kids sat up front with the carriage driver. It was a very nice ride up the hill especially watching the people walking up who were definitely straining. The carriage would hesitate once in a while and the kids would start laughing which meant that one of the horses was relieving himself. We got to the top most section that the horses can go and we all exited the carriage. It was still a 5 minute walk up to the castle on a decent incline. As you approach the castle it is extremely impressive and looks exactly like what you would expect a real castle to look like, unlike some of the other ones we saw in Europe. Since we still had 45 minutes before our tour started we hung out on the grounds and took some pictures. As our tour began the tour guide walks you from room to room explaining the various highlights of the castle. They move you through pretty quickly but the interior is lavished decorated with lots of painted walls. Not all of the castle was completed before "mad" King Ludwig died so they only show you the two top floors. The tour lasted about 40 minutes then we made a pit stop at the souvenir ship (obviously the exit also) and bought the kids some postcards. We then hiked up past the castle and made our way to our suspension bridge that had a great view of the castle. We decided to keep going up the mountain and soon we faced some serious climbing (see picture on right). Before we knew it we were on all fours climbing the mountain. From this new vantage point, we had a magnificent view of the castle, a lake (see center picture) and the whole surrounding area. We decided that we better not go up any further especially since there was no protective barriers and none of us were wearing appropriate shoes (Zach had crocs on). As we began our descent it started to rain on us. Luckily we had made it past the difficult part of the climb before everything became to slippery. Originally we planned to walk down the mountain but with it raining we opted for the carriage ride again. By the time the carriage made it to the bottom of the mountain the skies cleared and it was a beautiful day. It was past lunchtime and we hadn't eaten for awhile so we found a nice cafe to relax at. Hannah and I split a potato soup and trout fillet, Zach had a cheese sandwich with fries (he only ate the fries) and Al had a potato soup and salad. It was 3:00 PM when we finished and hit the road to Munich. The drive through the Alps was nice with beautiful scenery all around. We made it to Munich a little after 5:00 PM with no hotel to stay at. We spent the next two hours driving around from hotel to hotel looking for a room. Finally we located a Marriott through the Navigation system and drove a couple of kilometers outside of the Alstadt. I waited in the car as Al went in to investigate availability. Luckily they had the perfect room for us at a great price. We ended up getting a room with two queen beds and the hotel had an indoor pool also (what else could we ask for). We had our bags brought to the room and then we went back downstairs and ate in one of the hotel restaurants. The restaurant was a sports bar called Champions that had mostly good ole' American food. We were psyched and Hannah had buffalo winds, Zach had a cheeseburger with fries (yes, he ate it), I had a taco salad with chili and a BIG beer (supposedly from the oldest active brewery in the world), Al had a chicken sandwich and a white wine. The kids were excited to swim so we went swimming after dinner and met another family there who had kids from Raleigh. We swam for awhile and then went back to the room to relax before falling asleep.

Day 56 (August 3rd): Munich & Dachau

We woke up at 8:45 AM, showered and got dressed. There was a bakery down the street from the hotel so I waited in the car as Al and the kids bought some baked goods, i.e. croissants and danishes. Our destination for the morning was the Dachau Concentration Camp. We debated whether or not we should bring the kids, but decided that it would be a good opportunity for them to learn more about the Holocaust first hand. Dachau is a 30 minute drive from Munich. Before we got to the Concentration Camp, Zach got hungry so we stopped at a Kaufland (big supermarket) to pick up some food. The last thing Al and I wanted was Zach complaining about being hungry at Dachau, so Zach and I ran in to the store and bought some salami, rolls and bananas. We got to Dachau around 11:30 AM just in time to see a 30 minute documentary about Dachau in English. Then we went back to the visitors center and got audio sets that provided a self guided tour of the facility. As you approach the main entrance to the Camp there are words on the metal gate in German that say "Work Will Set You Free" (see picture on left). It's at this point that reality sets in and you realize what transpired here. Only a few of the original buildings still remain and you walk around the grounds listening to the audio description from prior inmates and historical commentators. There is no point in providing any details or descriptions of some of the things I saw or heard on the audio, but needless to say it was a very emotional day. We finally left around 3:00 PM completely emotionally drained. Our next stop was the Biergarden in the English Garden park outside of Munich which is one of the largest Biergardens in Europe. It provided us a fun and lively environment where the kids were able to run around in a playground, while Al and I enjoyed a cold beverage and food. We split some fries and red cabbage and I had a tall beer. Soon the sky became dark and we headed back to the car before it started raining. We got back to the room and relaxed for a little bit before heading out to dinner. It had stopped raining and we walked 15 minutes to an Italian restaurant called Grisini. We were told there was a free wireless connection so I took our laptop in a backpack so we could try and book a hotel for Baden Baden. For dinner, Zach had a pizza (which he ate some of even though he said it didn't have any flavor, which it didn't), Hannah had buffalo mozzarella and tomato, Al had a pasta with a marinara sauce and white wine and I had a penne with sausage and garlic along with a tall Spaten beer. The food was ok and it was starting to get warm inside the restaurant so we didn't prolong dinner. We tried out the wireless internet but it didn't work so we walked back to the hotel. The kids were excited to go swimming so we put on our bathing suits and went down to the pool. Ten minutes before we planned to go back to the room (10:00 PM) the family we had seen the night before from Raleigh showed up with their three daughters. The kids were very happy to see them again. While the kids played, the adults talked and we all left the pool at 10:20 PM and went back to our respective rooms. The kids showered up and everybody was sleeping by 12:00AM.

Day 57 (August 4th): Munich Zoo & Hofbrauhaus

We woke up at 8:30, showered and got dressed. Since the kids had put up with walking around alot without too much complaining, we promised them we would go to the zoo. Munich has one of the largest zoos in the world and we thought this would be the perfect place to spend the day. It was a gorgeous day out and we stopped at the bakery down the street to pick up breakfast (croissants and danishes) before heading over to the zoo. While Al and the kids got breakfast, I went into the supermarket to pick up some bottles of Volvic flavored water. The zoo was about a 15 minute drive from the hotel and we arrived there about 11:00 AM. After parking the car, we got a map of the zoo and started our journey. Our first stop was the petting zoo where the kids played with the goats and sheep. We saw too many animals to mention here but the highlights were the Siberian Tiger, Polar Bear, penguins and monkeys. All around the zoo they have excellent food stands. One in particular was an Asian stand where they sold really good spring rolls with a sweet and spicy sauce. It's interesting to note that the tray the spring rolls came on was eatable. Zach didn't want a spring roll so he got a big gummi worm instead. Later on the kids both got ice creams also. We took a break at the zoo biergarden where Al had a wine spritzer and I had a beer while the kids played at the playground right next to the biergarden. We kept walking around and then the kids took a camel ride that they loved. The zoo was a lot of fun and I took some great pictures. We left the zoo around 3:00 PM and headed to the Munich Alstadt where we parked the car in a parking garage since the streets were packed and there were no parking spots available. In the Platz (market square) there were many food vendors and there was a band playing music. We walked around and then passed a Subway sandwich shop and the kids got some food. Al and I figured that at least Zach would eat a real meal. We then headed over to the Rathaus clock tower that had mechanical figures dance around at 5:00 PM. It was not 5:00PM yet, so we waited in the square watching a street magician do his magic. When 5:00PM rolled around the figures in the clock tower moved around but it was pretty lame. Our next stop was a smoothie store where Hannah and Zach bought smoothies (Zach didn't like his and we ended up throwing it away). We kept walking around and found a great street performer that looked like a statue. He would shoot water out of his fingers when people passed by and the kids loved him (he was very good). We walked some more past churches, statues and a bunch of old buildings before we decided it was time for dinner at the Hofbrauhaus. You've got to go to the Hofbrauhaus while in Munich. It's like a shrine for all beer drinkers of the world (see picture on top right). The last time I was there was during college and for some reason I don't remember much. When we walked inside the Hofbrauhaus it was hot and loud since the band was playing. We decided it would be best to sit outside where most of the other families were situated. We sat down and I ordered a stein of their dunkel (dark) beer along with a Bavarian stuffed cabbage and Al had a cheese plate. Hannah wasn't hungry and Zach got a huge pretzel (see picture on bottom left) that we bought from a woman walking around selling them. The kids got drinks that were served in small steins and they had fun knocking their glasses together (see picture on top left). One of the highlights of the Hofbrauhaus is to watch the waitresses carry the big steins of beer (a full liter). These things weigh a ton and they can hold many of them at once. The most I saw a waitress carry was 8, but Hannah said she saw one carry 10. After dinner we went to a couple of souvenir shops and Hannah bought some postcards for her collection. We then got our car and headed back to the hotel to swim. The kids were hoping to see the family from Raleigh down at the pool but they never showed up. We finished swimming around 10:00PM and went back to the room to shower and pack up since this was our last night there. It was around 12:00 AM before lights out and everybody was sleeping.

Day 58 (August 5th): Freiberg, Triberg & Baden Baden

We woke up at 7:00 AM since we had some driving to do today. We showered, finished packing our bags and then loaded up the car. We stopped at the bakery down the street and Zach went crazy with the croissants. Besides the cherry danishes, we ended up buying eight croissants because Zach liked them so much. We then hit the road and drove 3.25 hours to Freiberg where our former Au Pair, Sarah (see picture on left) was going to school. It was a great driving day and the last section of the drive took us through the Black Forrest. We arrived at Sarah's dorm around 1:45 PM after driving 360 km. Sarah had a friend in town, Julia, who also was Au Pair in Atlanta during the time Sarah was there. It was a nice day out so we walked to the tram and took it down to the Alstadt which was about a 15 minute ride. Throughout the Alstadt they have a 6 inch wide stream of water running through the city (see top picture). I believe it used to be a source of fresh water for the people living in the city. Since it was lunch time, we ate outside at a local Italian restaurant. I had a penne ariabiata, Al had a pizza with zucchini, Hannah had a salad and Zach had a pizza (that he liked). After lunch we got some ice cream and found a playground for the kids to play at since most of the stores were closed (it was Sunday). We then headed down to the river and found an outdoor bar with a seating area in the sand right next to the water. While I played with the kids in the sand, a random little girl decided to join us as the kids buried my feet. We then washed off in the cold river water before heading back to the tram and back to Sarah's dorm room. Note: Since the drinking age is 16 in Germany they have vending machines in the dorm that sell both soda and beer. A bottle of beer was one euro. Imagine if they had those vending machines in the States? In Sarah's room, we used her Internet connection to research hotels in Baden Baden, where we were planning to stay tonight. Luckily one of the very nice hotels that Al wanted to stay at had a family suite available for two nights so we booked it. We left Sarah's dorm around 5:30 PM and everybody said their goodbyes. Instead of going directly to Baden Baden, we decided to make a pit stop and head over to Triberg that had the largest waterfall in Germany. It took about 45 minutes to drive through the Black Forrest and arrive at Triberg. We parked the car and went down the steep path that ran parallel to the waterfall. It was a beautiful setting with the water rushing down the mountain through the rocks. We took a bunch of pictures (see picture on right) and made it to the bottom where there was a playground for the kids to play in. The center of town (Triberg) was also at the base of the waterfalls and we decided to eat dinner there before heading on to Baden Baden. Instead of all of us marching back up the mountain, Al volunteered to go get the car while I watched the kids. Al embarked on her journey and close to an hour later she arrived at the playground. When I met her at the car, she went on to describe the ordeal she went through hiking up the steep mountain and how her legs almost gave out. There weren't many restaurants to chose from and after reviewing the menus, we chose the most "Zach appropriate" restaurant for him to dine at. Zach ordered a hot salami and cheese sandwich on baguette and didn't like it. Luckily it had onions on it so we asked them to take it back and we ordered a pizza for Zach instead (that he liked). Hannah had a potato soup, I had a trout strudel with a salad that was very good and Al had a vegetable strudel with a salad that she liked also. Since we were in the Black Forrest we had to order Black Forrest cake. The cake comes with two options, either with or without Kirsch Wasser (Cherry Schnapps). We obviously picked the traditional option with the Schnapps. When we ate the cake certain sections of it were so strong with alcohol that it was difficult to eat. All in all it was still tasty. We finished dinner and got back into the car around 10:30 PM and had an hour drive to Baden Baden. It was a tough drive through the Black Forrest at night with no lights and very windy roads. We finally made it to our hotel called Der Kleine Prinz where we were pleasantly surprised to be upgraded to a suite. We had our bags brought up to the room and the kids each had their own bed while Al and I had a king bed. Lights out at 12:30 AM after another long, fun day.