April 28, 2001

My lovely wife Heather and I arrived at SFO with plenty of time to spare only to discover that the flight was going to be late. The Air France plane had not yet even arrived from Paris. It finally arrived a couple of hours late, and after some time we boarded. Then, due to mechanical problems (gulp) the plane could not leave. Finally, three and a half hours late, we were cleared for takeoff.

April 29, 2001

We arrived in Paris to find that our connecting flight to Munich had been missed, but AF had arranged for us to take the next flight out, in less than an hour. We quickly made our way over and boarded on an outside gate.

We arrived in Munich Sunday evening. The attendant at the in-terminal subway station sold us two tickets for Marienplatz, and we headed for Pension Seibel. As night fell, we emerged from below Munich's main town square, alongside the spectacular neo-Gothic New City Hall. Walking under the vaulted arches of the nearby Old City Hall, we headed for the Viktualienmarkt, Munich's marketplace.

The shops were closed as we made our way around the market square, looking for our hotel's street. I took the opportunity to try my German on some passersby, asking for directions to the hotel. Unfortunately my perception of the spelling of the hotel was off, causing me to mispronounce it. One gentleman on a bicycle assisted us, actually escorting us to the hotel. On the way there, he told me about his travels to East Asia (in English, of course). As it happened, we only needed to continue an additional block to find our street, but I appreciated the chance to meet the locals. As we approached the hotel, I waved at some people looking out the window of a neighboring hotel, who amusingly smiled and waved back.

Even though it was now 9 p.m., the hotel had held our room for us. Heather had long wanted to go to the Hofbrauhaus ( http://www.hofbrauhaus.com/ ) to dine on sliced radish, so off we went. I had a sausage plate, Heather had weiner schnitzel. It was pretty good, but the best part was the sauerkraut and the radish. The sauerkraut I had at all times during the trip (and it was ubiquitous) was fresh and delicious. The radish was also quite tasty and made a good complement to the slightly honey-flavored wheat beer.

April 30

We woke up early due to jet lag, so I went for a little walk before breakfast. I saw a huge multi-pig-knuckle roasting oven and a great truffle shop. I stopped at Field Marshall square, where Hitler assembled his mob for the Beer Hall Putsch. Heather and I climbed a steeple to take a look over Munich, it was clear enough to see the Alps. Unfortunately Heather's camera was malfunctioning. Time to check out and pick up the rental car from Avis, for which we had made arrangements through Autoeurope. We dragged our bags a few blocks to the Marienplatz, stopping to watch the glockenspiel on the New City Hall do its rendition of the marriage party of a Bavarian king.

We headed east in our Opel toward Bernbeuren ( http://www.bernbeuren.de/ ). I selected this town because a Germany tourism events page indicated that a "Maibaumaufstellen" or Maypole erection would be occurring there this year. Of the cities that I found hosting such an event, this one seemed the most scenic and "cute." The town's web page featured the town band, seemingly made up of most of the citizens of the town, in full dress.

The Alps now loomed larger as the road narrowed. The deep green fields were studded with incredible concentrations of bright yellow dandelions. After passing through a few towns, we arrived at Bernbeuren. It was a bit hard to find, not being on some of my maps. The town had some tourist industry but did not seem oriented to tourism. It was essentially a Bavarian farm town that had some hotels and guesthouses mainly due to its proximity to the Alps.

I knew that the information bureau closed at noon, so I brought my list of available hotels and rooms from the town's web page and translated into English. We could not find our first choice of hotels (the address was actually in a neighboring town) so we picked a guesthouse that seemed acceptable and that would not be too hard to find.

Outside the modest, suburban-style house was a stream and some happy-looking ducks. The lady answering at the house, Mrs. Kohler, seemed surprised to see visitors. She did not speak English, requiring us to communicate as best we could in German. Mrs. Kohler showed us a room which was quite nice, so we accepted.

Having secured lodgings for the night, we backtracked somewhat for a trip to Andechs monastery ( http://www.andechs.de/ ). The back roads took us through some pretty countryside and by a lake. The hilltop monastery is famous for its beer and cheeses. I had the hax'n (pig's knuckle), which we shared along with a pretzel and some cheese.

May 1

Mrs. Kohler brought us a delicious breakfast of cheese, bread and meats at the pre-arranged time of precisely 8 A.M. We each received a soft-boiled egg in a cup, amusingly covered by a color-coordinated knit cap.

After breakfast, Heather and I went down to the main road where the town band and the maypole would be passing on their way to the town square. After the procession, we took a short-cut to the square. The town band took its place and the preparations for the maypole began.

There seemed to be a few tourists there as well as the locals. I tried to start a conversation or two but my German was lacking. We each had a steak, which I think was actually grilled pork. There were also wonderful home-made pastries for sale, which were constantly being replenished by the local ladies in their dirndls.

The lifting of the maypole is done manually and therefore requires a great deal of time. Luckily there was plenty of beer on hand, and the band would occasionally play. The pole was lifted bit by bit using wooden struts. A few hours later, the pole was braced into place. It was surprisingly hot by this point. Heather headed back for a nap; I went for a walk to see the Auerberg church atop the nearby hill. On the way to the top, I came across a hedgehog. There was also a village perched on the hillside. I was surprised to find the original hotel we were looking for at the top of this hill. The old church was the site of a Roman settlement. Some nice examples of items recovered there are in the hotel's restaurant. The church itself was undergoing extensive renovations, but the view from the steeple had far-reaching views in all directions.

When I returned to our room, Mrs. Kohler guided me to Heather on the back balcony. Here was a fine view of the Alps. I was hot and exhausted from the walk, but luckily our room had a refrigerator that we had stocked with refreshments. We dined at the hotel/restaurant on the hill (driving this time). I had beef in a rich Madeira sauce with spaetzel, Heather had a stuffed pork dish. Another excellent if heavy meal. Heather thought it was the best of this vacation.

May 2

This was our "castle" day.

We started at the famous Neuschwanstein ( http://www.twenj.com/bavarianeu.htm ), built by "mad" King Ludwig in the 19th century. We took a horse cart up the scenic road to the castle. I bought a hat to protect myself from the increasingly hot sun. My previous afternoon's walk had given me my worst sunburn in years, something I wasn't expecting at this latitude.

We then took a scenic road past a long, narrow lake and through snow-covered hills to Linderhof. While waiting for our admission, I had apple strudel with vanilla sauce and Heather had strawberries and cream. Inside, we saw Ludwig's dining room, which included a dining table that could be raised and lowered from the floor below. After the tour, we took a stroll around the extensive grounds. We peeked in Ludwig's colorful peacock throne room and his strange "hunting lodge," which featured a tree growing inside the cabin.

We headed back through Obergammerau. Heather was craving seafood/fish. I had venison gulash, Heather had a local specialty, roast trout.

May 3

We bid Mrs. Kohler adieu. She seemed sad to see us go; we certainly enjoyed our short stay there.

Before leaving for Salzburg, we stopped at the nearby Wieskirche. It is a lovely baroque church out in the country. The altar contains a small 13-th century wooden statue of Jesus. When it was found in an attic, it was said to be shedding tears. A rich businessman built the church to house the relic.

We took a little side trip to lakeside town of Tegernsee ( http://www.tegernsee.de/ ). I had heard rumors of an especially atmospheric beer hall. We walked toward the older part of town until I found the likely site. When I saw inside, I knew this must be the place. Many people in Bavarian dress were passing the time here. Joining us at the table were an older couple from Munich who spoke good English. We talked of our travels, it turns out that he had been to San Francisco. The husband pointed out a large neighboring table where a family was assembled. They were very cute, with simple clothes and messy hair (except for the mother). They seemed to be excited to be in town. The fellow from Munich said that they must be farmers or ranchers because they have four kids. Most Germans, he said, do not want this many children unless they need the help on the farm. He also complained about the Euro. I had to admit that I was happy with the situation, as it made travelling less expensive for us.

We also stopped at a small gothic church. The church was hard to find, as our guidebook warned. The old church still had some original medieval murals. Inside, a school group was assembled. The instructor told them some stories about the place (in German, of course). To our delight, the group then began singing. The sound was lovely in the little church. I remarked on how I liked seeing European art placed in its religious and historical context; Heather emphasized the spirituality of the people who built and patronized the houses of worship.

We arrived in Salzburg in the afternoon, and checked into our hotel, Hotel-Pension Berglund.

I was now badly suffering the consequences of sunburn, so we went to an old-fashioned looking apothecary, where the clerk fixed me up with some sun cream and salve. We headed toward the city center, passing through the quaint streets and alleys on our side of the river. As you approach the bridge, the old town looms massively, emanating the wealth that made this city great. Above the old town, atop a cliff, is the Hohensalzburg fortress.

We wandered through various squares and alleyways for a while, then split up so that Heather could do some shopping, and I could explore the fortress. We met up for dinner at a nice Italian restaurant, where I had a spicy pizza and Heather had a fresh-tasting pasta dish.

May 4

We took the "Sound of Music" tour. Our jovial, American-born guide took us to many of the sites from the film as well as other scenic points of interest in the area. After the tour, we walked around Mirabell gardens, which was also used in the film. We encountered some giant garden gnomes therein.

In the evening, we relaxed in the hotel's comfortable bar/recreation room, which was stocked with books and board games.

May 5

We headed southwest toward Zell am Ziller and Gauderfest, a major Austrian beer festival (http://www.gauderfest.at).

We took a side trip to Berchtesgaden, where we rode a boat on Konigssee lake to a good fish restaurant. There was a tour on the boat in German, I was able to make out some of what he said. The boat stopped so that the captain could blow a trumpet, and the echo would heard across the mountainsides. A church next door was having a wedding. We drove out of the park on the Hohenringstrasse, an alpine road that cuts across mountain ridges.

We stopped on the way through central Austria to see Krimml falls, one of the highest waterfalls in Europe. The road then took us over some mountains, on a route that would be more acceptable to goats than to drivers. A large reservoir was on the other side. We went through the ski town of Mayhofen before descending steeply into the Ziller valley.

In Zell, the festivities were already beginning. We made our way through the town and past the small church to our hotel. After checking in, we had dinner in the hotel restaurant. We then went across the festival grounds to the midway rides area, and rode the bumper cars.

That night, one of our neighbors had too much to drink, and was evicted by his roommates. Furious, he yelled until the management threw him out. Outside, he yelled "Sheisshaus" and other unknown to me obscenities.

May 6

The day started rainy, causing a delay for the morning's parade. Luckily, our hotel room window furnished a nice view of the parade. Citizens of different towns passed by in traditional costume, sometimes carrying traditional weapons.

After the parade, we made our way to the festival. There was a large tent with a band playing inside. There was also an outdoor beer garden with several vendors and kitchens. Inside the tent, we enjoyed the music and drank the special Gauderfest beer. The band played a combination rock/oom-pah sound (including a Queen cover). The audience was clapping along and dancing on the tables. No doubt the Jagermeister maids helped the situation. While I was sitting back on a bench, one reveler rubbed my belly and said "schmecken, ja?" I could only agree.

May 7

We headed back toward the autobahn and the Inn Valley. We stopped for a time in the old town of Rattenberg, which is squeezed between a mountain and the river. Heather picked up some cute egg cups from an artisan there.

The long drive from Zell to Cesky Krumlov featured a castle near Salzburg. It was fun driving 100 mph on the Autobahn (and getting passed!). Sometimes it seemed like a real racetrack. As we approached the Czech border, the land rose up into a fog, a fitting way to enter the mysterious Bohemia. As we drove along the Vltava river, we passed little towns with people on bicycles, smoke rising from chimneys, and lovely forests.

Instead of getting lost, this time we happened to stop right in front of our hotel, the Barbakan (http://www.interacta.cz/accol/02cesky_krumlov/barbak_e.php). It was at the edge of the old city. Cesky Krumlov ( http://www.ckrumlov.cz/uk/i_index.htm ) is almost completely surrounded by the river, with only a narrow isthmus preventing it from being an island. See http://www.ckrumlov.cz/uk/atlas/i_cmm.htm for a great map, the town really looks like that!

Wandering the town, we found many wooden toy shops and handmade puppet vendors. We found a simple restaurant featuring a wood-fired oven. I had fried cheese (a Czech specialty long before it became bar food in the U.S.). The food was inexpensive and once again excellent.

May 8

We crossed back across the foggy frontier to Austria. We stopped first at Mauthausen, which was by no means easy to find unless you knew what KZ meant. This concentration camp (KZ) is still mostly intact from the Nazi era. A large barracks contains photos and information in German about the Nazis. Nearby, one can see the prison cells, gas chamber and crematorium. The buildings are grim and formidable. Across the way are more barracks and the cemetery that was added after the Nazis left. There are some moving memorials from each of the many countries whose citizens suffered here.

We proceeded down the Danube valley into the scenic Wachau. We looked at a couple of towns before stopping in Spitz, where we went for a walk in the surrounding hills.

May 9

We drove through the narrow streets of Vienna to our hotel, the elegant Konig von Ungarn.

We walked around Vienna today. First of all, we had to have the incredible eis (ice cream) from Zamboni and Zamboni, right around the corner. Heather got us tickets to a concert tomorrow from a sidewalk ticket vendor. We went to an outdoor market for lunch, where we ate at an Italian café.

Later that night, we went to an outdoor café in what was the Jewish quarter in medieval times, next to an ancient church that was once shared by Christians and Jews. I tried the European version of tacos (couldn't resist, it's my favorite). It was OK, kind of like flautas, with lots of sour cream. Heather decided to try a Campari because it seemed like a café thing to do. We found it to be a very bitter drink!

May 10

We went to an outdoor market for lunch, where we ate at an Italian café. There was a nice art nouveau building across from the market.

We went to the Natural History Museum and its "twin" Art Museum. The Natural History Museum features the world's oldest work of art, a 25,000 year old statuette known as the Venus of Willendorf. It is kept in a little case with a dramatic light and sound show. The art museum has a lot of Rubens. Usually I don't like his style, but some of these were irresistible. Heather liked the Bruegels, which were featured in the book she was reading.

We explored Shoenbrunn Palace in the afternoon, former summer home of the Hapsburgs. The grounds are huge, and include the oldest managerie in Europe (now a nice zoo). We took a tour of the crowded palace. As we attempted to get our audio tour devices, a huge mass of schoolgirls arrived and swamped us. Luckily some of them took pity on us and passed us our machines.

The palace reminded me of Las Vegas. Everything was red carpets, gold leaf, and crystal chandeliers. I guess the Vegas guys took their cue from "classy" European royalty. There were some nice (east) Indian miniature paintings. The Hapsburgs kind of creeped me out. Even though he was his own grandson, one emperor kept Napoleon's son a virtual prisoner here until he died at a young age. I'm sure they did some good things, but it seemed that they fought a lot of wars - and lost.

We dined in a nearby café after the tour. We found that the food in Vienna is generally not as good as other areas. In the evening, we went to the Mozart/Strauss concert at the Shoenbrunn Palace Orangerie, which also featured some dancing (waltzes of course).

May 11

We went the the Hundertwasser house on our way to the local amusement park. We rode on the big ferris wheel there.

This evening was the opening event to the Wiener Festochen, a summer arts festival. The night's event featured a concert by the Vienna Philharmonic held in the plaza outside the old city hall. A giant video screen was next to the orchestra. While waiting for the performance, we waited by a nice fountain.

The show was evidently being televised, because between songs there would be short video clips. One segment had highlights from past festivals, including an all-female Hamlet and a funny clip of an opera singer suddenly being interrupted by a kangaroo (get it?). While the music played, the screen showed the conductor, who had the most amusing expressions of concentration on his face. The orchestra played some crowd-pleasers, such as Offenbach's can-can tune and of course Blue Danube. After the concert, fireworks were set off over the city hall.

May 12

We headed for Prague today. On the road out of Vienna we passed another roadside castle. Soon after crossing the Czech border, we entered detour hell. Suddenly the road ended, and we were forced onto a small country road. We tried to guess the detour on road after road, and our map was no help. In time, were surprised by a magnificent hilltop fortress. When we saw some Czech police, we were concerned. It turned out that we ended up back at the Austrian border! So we headed back to the fortress and took a different road, trying to follow the towns on the map at the border.

Eventually we made our way to Telc, a couple of hours later than we expected. Telc has a lovely, colorful renaissance town square. It was strangely unpopulated, however. I feasted on pickled sausage and a spicy roast trout. I noticed that the staff seemed to be engrossed in a televised hockey game. I thought it strange that they would care so much about hockey on a fine spring day. We left, and though we had to follow more detours, at least we knew where we were, and traffic was very light.

In Prague, we quickly found a parking garage near our hotel (Pension Museum ). On our way past the garage, we noticed a crowd assembling in the State Opera building. We peeked in to see if any tickets were available. As it happened, Madame Butterfly was playing in half an hour. We bought our tickets (only $35 for both of us) and headed back to the hotel to make a quick change of clothes.

The audience was chiefly Japanese, many in traditional dress. We made our way to our box (just down the hall from the President's box), that we shared with an American couple here on business. The production was good, and the music was beautiful. Having never been to an opera before, I had nothing to compare it to except musicals. Despite the language problem (an Italian opera set in Japan with Czech supertitles) I was able to figure out enough about the plot to keep it entertaining. Heather said she noticed a few flubs by M. Butterfly (including her wig falling off), but I didn't notice. After the show, we had a quick bite at a Chinese restaurant on Wenceslas Square.

May 13

We explored the Jewish Quarter and the old city today.

On the way, we stopped at the Havelska Market to see the unusual toys and gifts.

We ate lunch at a restaurant in the Jewish Quarter named after Svejk, the Good Soldier of Hasek's novel. I had a goulash, Heather had dumplings.

The famous Jewish cemetary has many centuries-old tombstones crowded into the tiny graveyard. Nearby is the Old New Synagogue, so named because it was new - in the 11th century.

We went for a walk in the New Town, our hotel's district. In the bars, people were watching another hockey game. The Czechs were behind.

When we tried to find a place for dinner, our first choice was closing(even though their closing time was supposedly an hour later. We looked around for another restaurant. We found an Italian place, which looked good though we were the only ones eating there. In the back we could hear the staff watching the hockey game. I had a spicy pizza, Heather had a pasta dish.

After dinner, as we were walking back to the hotel, we were being passed by cars honking their horns. Sometimes the cars would have flags waving out the windows as well. We supposed that the Czechs must have won the game. When we got back to Wenceslas Square, traffic had come to standstill though it was ten o'clock Sunday night. I went back to the hotel to grab the camera as the square was quickly filling up with people. Everywhere people were cheering, waving flags, and heavily celebrating. Some began to climb on the Wenceslas statue. We joined in the festivities by cheering the flag wavers. A few of the locals seemed to be making fun of the jubilant hockey fans. The celebration went off without serious incident, and we headed back to our hotel to get ready for the next day.

May 14

In the morning, we took the tram to Prague Castle.

We had lunch at At the St. Thomas, a historic beer hall right at the foot of the Castle hill. I had a delicious fire-roasted chicken, Heather had a cheese plate. The beer was also great.

We walked back through the Little Quarter, which contained some very old buildings, the St. Nicholas church and some embassies.

We stopped at a little island near the bridge before crossing back to our side of the river. There was a park where we rested and looked out over the river.

As we walked back over the Charles bridge, large groups of young people who probably coulndn't make it out for the last night's celebration were walking the other way. Cheers could be heard coming from different places. We walked down along the river past some gorgeous art nouveau buildings. We took a break at another little park by the river. As we turned away from the river, we could see the "Fred and Ginger" building.

I noticed that some locals were dining outdoors at the restaurant next door, so we decided to try it. We were treated to another delicious, inexpensive meal.

May 15

Before heading back to Germany, we made a detour to the Bone Ossuary at Sedlec. Considered a holy burial ground in the Middle Ages, tens of thousands of plague victims were buried here. Eventually the monastery decided to put the land to better use, and the bodies were dug up and stored in the ossuary. By the 19th century, it was decided to put the old bones to good use as artwork for the chapel. A carpenter was hired to decorate the ossuary with chandeliers, a crest, and gothic-style buildings made out of the old bones. An eerie place, to be sure.

We sped back toward the border on a freeway, interrupted only in Pilsn. We had lunch at a restaurant at the Pilsner Urquell brewery. I had more pickled sausage as well as wiener schnitzel (and of course beer). Heather had roast duck. After crossing into Germany, we encountered a torrential thunderstorm.

We stopped for the night at a traditional brewery inn in Bamberg (Bamberger Weissbierhaus), where the toilet was down the hall, and the hall was outside. Bamberg has a lovely church originating from the 11th century. It contains some fine statues and intricate woodcarvings.

May 16

In the morning, as I walked through town, the streets were packed with children on their way to school. We explored the town and the Kaiserdom.

Before entering the Tauber valley, we saw some giant electric windmills on the hilltops. We stopped at a castle to peek inside the courtyard. The narrow Tauber valley road took us through some little towns nestled among the green hills. Heather spotted a bunny on a hillside.

Approaching Rothenberg is reminiscent of a theme park. We drove around the high town wall to parking near our hotel (Gerberhaus http://www.gerberhaus.rothenburg.de). We parked in one of Rothenberg's many large parking lots (with tour buses) and bought a parking ticket. We carried our bag through the town gate (free admission) to our hotel. Our room was nice and bright, and the bed had a canopy. We explored the town, which was bigger than I thought. We went into the town's largest and most spectacular shop, Kathe Wollfahrt. The Christmas-themed shop contains thousands of tiny wooden toys and ornaments. Heather was overwhelmed by the variety, so we shopped at one of the smaller gift shops.

At 8 p.m. we went to the Town Hall to take the night watchman tour. As rain showers started, the watchman strolled up to start the tour. He took us to some of the town's historical sites while telling humorous and strange tales of the Middle Ages. Rothenberg was frozen in time at about 1630. It seems the town never recovered from the 30 Years War. From the west side of town, there are beautiful views of the valley.

We ducked out of the rain and dined on some tasty pizza at our hotel.

May 17

We spent the morning exploring the town and shopping. Heather ordered some items to be shipped later, some of which arrived damaged. We headed back for Munich, stopping in some scenic towns on the Romantic Road. Some of the towns had buildings at least as old as Rothenberg, but were not presented as a tourist attraction. Some of the buildings had a saggy "lived-in" look and looked ready to topple at any minute. As tourists, we attracted attention from the surprised locals there.

We returned to the Seibel for our final two nights. This evening, we ate at a nice buffet restaurant located near the Hofbrauhaus.

May 18

We walked through central Munich to the Pinakotek art museums. The Neue Pinakotek contained a nice selection of impressionists. The Alte Pinakotek had a DaVinci and some Rembrandts.

In the evening, we searched for a "yodeling bar" which was supposed to be somewhere between the HB house and the town hall. Eventually we found it, but it was packed, so we headed back out. Earlier, we had seen a fondue place, so we went back there and had a nice cheese fondue. The restaurant(Weinhaus Schneider) was quite cozy and romantic.

May 19

The flight home. We had a tight connection in Paris but with the help of Air France we made it. The flight back was not so bad, even the movies were good. The food was tasty, you had a choice of regional French food or North African cuisine.