Germany
Guten Tag to Bacharach on the Rhine River!
Tuesday September 6th - Our first travel day ended with us arriving in the charming town of Bacharach. There wasn't any fanfare going from one country to the next (a little sad for me - I would love to have a passport filled with stamps). The only thing we saw to indicate we were in a new country was a road sign. We checked into our first German hotel and WOW - so impressive! There was a little bit of time to get settled and cleaned up then it was a quick walk to the main hotel for dinner. After dinner, Steve and I walked around the town in the moonlight.
Wednesday September 7th - We started our day with a tour of Bacharach with a local guide. Then it was a quick bus ride to St Goar - while on the bus we learned about the legend of the Loreley and the poem written about her menacing charms. We had a tutorial on bier steins and cuckoo clocks and how they were made. The cuckoo clock put a spell Steve and it was a good thing we could ship one home. From here we had a traditional German lunch then we climbed to the Rheinfels Castle and had a guided tour from Alwin. After an exciting day it was nice to relax on our cruise down the Rhine River back to Bacharach. We cleaned up for dinner and joined our new tour friends Mike and Kathy and Mei and Twon, who graciously invited us to dine with them. We had a unique and delicious dinner at one of the local spots recommended to us on our tour, complete with great company. It was a lovely ending to another wonderful day.
As we were guided through the medieval town of Bacharach, we were shown ancient dwellings (still in use!), the town wall and something we had never heard of before - stumbling stones, or Stolpersteine. Theses plaques are scattered throughout Europe in city streets and sidewalks and they commemorate the lives lost in the Holocaust. The Stolperstein pays homage to a victim of the Holocaust at that person's last known address. The plaque includes the victim's name, date of birth, deportation date and death date, if known. We appreciated that, unlike many museums, these plaques pay tribute to the person individually. There are more than 45,000 of these stones rooted across Europe.
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While on our Rhine River boat cruise we were able to see the area that inspired Heinrich Heine to write 'The Loreley', based on a legend of a seducing mermaid who lures seamen to their death.
I don't know what it means That I am so sad A legend of bygone days That I cannot keep out of my mind. The air is cool and night is coming. The calm Rhine courses it way. The peak of the mountain dazzles With evening's final ray. The fairest of maidens is sitting Up there, a beautiful delight, Her golden jewels are shining, She's combing her golden hair. She holds a golden comb, Singing along, as well An enthralling And spellbinding melody. In his little boat, the boatman Is seized by it with a savage woe. He does not look upon the rocky ledge But rather high up into the heavens. I think that the waves will devour The boatman and boat in the end And this by her song's sheer power Fair Loreley has done. |
Rothenburg
Thursday September 8th - Time to pack up and move on to our next stop in Germany, Rothenburg. Rothenburg is a preserved medieval town on the Romantic Road. As we walked into the walled city, it felt like we had entered into a time machine. We checked into our hotel and went out for our orientation walk. We were free until the evening when we were to meet up for the Night Watchman's tour. Steve and I began our Rick Steves' Rothenburg Town Walk. We experienced colorful buildings, fountains, gardens and a religious relic. We stopped for a traditional lunch then it was back out to explore. We checked out the Crime and Punishment Museum with some very interesting artifacts. Lastly, we headed to the town square to wait for our evening excursion. It was an amusing reenactment of a local legend and an unforgettable way to end our stay here.
We stopped at St. Jakob's Church (or as we know him, Saint James) to admire the exterior before heading inside. The statues above date back to the 14th century and showed Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. Once inside there was so much to see but the main draw is the carved alter in the loft, the Alter of the Holy Blood. This 35 foot high Gothic alter depicts the Last Supper, Jesus entering Jerusalem, Jesus praying in Gethsemane, Jesus with the Crown of Thorns and the piece this was all centered around - the drop of Christ's Holy Blood.
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Dachau
Friday September 9th - We only had a one night stay in Rothenburg, so we packed up and headed to Dachau where we planned to visit the World War II concentration camp. It was a very somber morning and good time to take a moment and reflect. From Dachau we continued on since our stopping point for the night was in Austria. We did have two good breaks to stretch and explore on our way. The first was a biergarten in Andechs with warm pretzels and hot mustard, sausage, pork knuckle and of course beer for a late lunch. The second stop was in Steingaden where we visited the 12th century Steingaden Abby and Wies Church. My favorite part of this stop was seeing all the farm animals and gazing off at the foothills of the Alps in the distance.
On the bus we learned the German drinking song, Ein Prosit so we were ready for the biergarten. The only part I could remember was the chorus, Zicke Zacke Zicke Zacke - Hoi! Hoi! Hoi!