Even *more* blooms of Keukenhof

Okay, so these are just flowers

More flowers, and some cool tiled/mosaic sculptures

Last pics, I swear.....

Germany

Where to start, where to start….

We landed in Germany right on time, then figured out the train system to buy a ticket to Bacharach, where we were staying for the next few days. It turns out that a great tip I got from Tripadvisor.com was totally incorrect, so we did not end up getting a regional train pass--we just bought tickets each time we took a train(this was the cheapest way).

Lesson learned-> don’t trust everything you are told by other travelers.

The train took about 1.5 hours to get to Bacharach, passing through other little towns along the way. We changed trains in Mainz, and saw a massive buildup of police around the train station. We were a bit concerned….but we are pretty sure it was all for this massive crowd that emptied off the next train in--I think their favorite soccer team had just had a big victory. A few hundred people with flags and matching shirts and beers in their hands marched from the stadium singing at the top of their lungs. I wish I knew what they were saying!!

When we finally DID get to Bacharach, we relied on a google map I had printed out to get us to our hotel. As it turns out, there is like one street in Bacharach, so it would have been overly difficult for us to get lost, but we were prepared regardless.

Our room was nice. Simple, but a comfortable bed, and a teeny bathroom in the room. We were pretty tired, but wanted to get SOMETHING out of this first day, so our plan was to drop our bags and head back to the train station to catch a train to the next town over, St Goar, to see some castle ruins.

Now, we have since learned that St Goar is NOT the next town over. There is a little town called Oberweisel, which is between the two, and TOTALLY skipped over by guide books and travel forums. We never actually stopped there, but it was a very cute and quaint town, with my most favorite German church there. I oohhd and ahhhd over it every time our train passed the town.

In St Goar, we caught a cheesy ‘train’ (tractor-like thing that pulls little train like cars up the hill) to the ruins of Rheinfels castle. This is supposed to be the most extensive castle ruins on the Rhine river. We were relying on a Rick Steves written tour to tell us how to get around the ruins, along with a map of the ruins from his book

Lesson learnedà Rick Steves does not make the best maps, and his directions are often confusing

We got to about step 8 of 30 before we were a bit lost. Regardless, we wandered through these huge ruins for a while, enjoying the view of the town below us. Beautiful, sunny skies overhead--a great entrance to our trip.

We walked down to town from the ruins, and had dinner on an outdoors sidewalk terrace at Hotel am Markt (a Rick Steves recommended restaurant)

Lesson learnedà Rick Steves recommended restaurants have great food for good prices.

This restaurant is where we were introduced to schnitzels. I have heard of schnitzels, but did not actually know what the were. Let me tell you--they are delicious. It is more a way of cooking meat, rather than an actual type of food. I had a schnitzel with 4 types of potatoes (that was the actual name on the menu). The 4 types of potatoes did include French fries, which I now know are VERY prevalent in Europe. We saw fries being served EVERYWHERE on our trip--even in nice restaurants with fancy meals.

We had a lovely dinner, then took the train back to Bacharach and crashed in our hotel.

Sunday

The next morning, we got up and headed to the nearby town of Boppard. Well, we headed in that direction. The train stations are announced just before you arrive in each town--I knew we needed Boppard, but didn’t realize that there would be TWO towns that were something slash Boppard BEFORE we actually got to Boppard. So, at the second one, I assumed we must actually be in Boppard, and we got off. This was the Bad Salzig-Boppard station. Let me tell you--I know why Bad Salzig is not in the guide books. This teeny town has no tourism whatsoever. We saw not a soul as we wandered the town, killing time until the next train came (about an hour). We did finally see a church, which was just letting out (must have all the people in there). Then we headed back to the train station and continued to Boppard.

My plan in Boppard was to take the Sesselbahn, or chair lift; up to a viewpoint called the four lakes viewpoint. The Rhine river makes such a big U-turn here, it looks like you can see 4 distinct lakes, which is actually just the serpentine river. Anyway, we walked through this slightly larger town toward the lift. This was a bit of a mistake. I didn’t really think about the fact that Ethan does not really like heights, especially when you are on a sort of ski-lift apparatus. He was not pleased with this plan. But, he toughed it out and we made the ~15 minute trek to the top. At the top, there was a restaurant, so we sat cliff-side and had some wine--mine was blackberry wine and was lovely.

There was a lot of wind up here, which is why I couldn’t feel the heat of the sun on me, and was burnt to a crisp. A crisp. Blisters and all. Worst sunburn since high school. For some reason, I didn’t bring any sunscreen with me at all. When I go to Mexico or some beach vacation, I don’t bring any lotion whatsoever except sunscreen, and that has worked well for me--I don’t usually get burned. But in Europe, I was hosed. By the time we got back to the town at the bottom of the chair lift, I knew I was burnt up, but there was nothing I could do about it.

We took a cruise from Boppard back to our home base at Bacharach--about 2 hours in all (it is a 30 minute train ride, in comparison). The cruise was great. They stop at each and every teeny town along the way (maybe 10 or so for our trip) to pick up and let off passengers, and call out info on the castles and towns we see along the way.

Lots of castles. Lots of pictures. Lots of towns that seriously look like Mr Rogers’ neighborhood. So freaking cute, I feel like I am in a fairytale.

Anyway…we had a great time on our little cruise. In Bacharach, we had dinner at a quaint family-owned restaurant with very limited English speaking, so I got to use my Rick Steves menu decoder--it has words in German that you might see on a menu, listed alphabetically so you can decipher what is available to eat.

Lesson learnedà Rick Steves does not have any words in his decoder that are actually present on menus. Well, maybe a few, but not a ton. Not so helpful. In Germany, anyway…

We still managed to have a great dinner, and learned that actual German saurkraut is pretty tasty and not at all like it is in the US. We also had some great salads, but I cannot for the life of me remember what we ate. Probably schniztels.

Monday was our last full day in Germany. I started out by memorizing the German word for sunscreen (sonnenschutz), and walked to the nearby pharmacy (apotheke), where they took one look at me and directed me to the sunscreen. I also got some much appreciated aloe vera. Later, we took the train back to St Goar, then caught the small ferry that takes people and vehicles across the river to town of St Goarshausen. Since we had a while before our train came, we had lunch here. Don’t remember what it was, but it was good…

We took the train to the town of Braubach, where Marksburg castle is located. This is the one un-ruined/unconquered castle on the Rhine river. We wandered through town for a while, then finally found a taxi to take us up the steep and windy road to the castle on a bluff overlooking the town. They have an English language tour every day at 1600, and we arrived with about 15 minutes to spare.

The tour was awesome. We learned a ton about castles in general, and life back in the 1300s and beyond. Definitely one of the highlights of Germany for us. After the tour, we bought a small resin replica of this castle as a little souvenir to remind us of our Germany visit.

From here, it was a taxi back to town, then a train again to St Goarshausen, ferry to St Goar…..then a quick stop for a bottle of wine, then train back to Bacharach.

In Bacharach, I wanted to make sure I got to see the ruins of an old church that is right in town, but up 110 stairs (I counted), so we trekked up there to get a few pics. There is very little of the church left, but the sheer height of the walls is impressive. After this brief stop, we headed back to the room to relax a little before heading out to dinner.

The thing about little towns is that they roll up the sidewalks and close down very early. We could NOT find somewhere to have dinner (around 9pm). Not at all. We wandered the very few streets, then finally found ONE place that was open. Very small, and VERY smoky. I am pretty sure it is no longer legal to smoke in restaurants in Germany, but this place obviously did not care. Oh, my god it was smoky!! They were gracious and wonderful and served us the absolutely most delicious schnitzels we have ever had, along with some great white wines. Wonderful food!! We really lucked out here!! After dinner, it was back to the room to pack and go to bed, and off to Amsterdam in the morning.

A bit of a heads up

So, Ethan and I took a total of 2,655 pictures and videos in Europe. I can't bring myself to upload them onto the net until they are edited/cropped/prettified. So. A bit of a wait. I took some lovely pictures, and want to show them at their loveliest. So I am cropping away and color correcting and lightening and sharpening, etc, etc, etc.

I have edited most of Germany (all of my pics--just need to edit Ethan's), and all but the flower pics in Amsterdam. I will post pictures and stories probably Wednesday. I have a very long doctor's appointment that morning, and a Costco trip after that, then I am free to get hand cramps editing pics and posting them. We have oh, so many stories to tell.

Finally, home

We made it in early this morning. Finally. It was a very, very long day.

We caught an airport shuttle bus at 820am in Rome, drove for over an hour through the city picking up passengers, and heading to the FCO airport near the coast. Once we boarded our 1130 flight (at 11am), they announced that we would be delayed and sitting on the tarmac for about 2 hours. There was volcanic ash over parts of England and Ireland that was causing some airspace closures there, meaning that northern transatlantic flights would have to travel further south. Our flight was far enough South to not need to be redirected, but the airspace in Spain was saturated with these extra flights, so we had to sit and wait for people to move out. Not the news that you really want to hear when you are already expecting a 10.5+ hour flight. Anyway. We were sitting in the middle section (configuration is 2 seats, aisle, 3 seats, aisle, then 2 seats), which was much better, I am thinking than the side sections. The ceiling is taller and it feels more roomy. No window view, but still much better.

After our 2 hour wait (they did give us water...), we headed off. LOOOOONNNG flight. I watched Young Victoria and the Soloist (both, meh), read a book (the Devlin Diary--very good 1700's setting book with a sort of Da Vinci code feel--I need to get the author's previous book that has some of the same modern-day characters in it--the book is about some modern time people researching a murder that is linked to a diary from the 1700's. Goes back and forth in time and is really good), read some of The White Queen (Phillipa Gregory book), ate a million times, got extremely bored and ready to get off that plane. We FINALLY landed in Chicago at about 545pm. Our connecting flight to Seattle was scheduled at 530pm. Not so good. THe flight attendants were utterly unhelpful in determining what to do, but did tell me there was an 830pm flight to Seattle, so when we landed (and spent another 30+ minutes sitting on the tarmac waiting for a gate to open up), I took Ethan's cell phone and called American Airlines and asked to be rebooked on the 830pm flight. Off the plane, through customs....then I see the departures sign and see that the 530flight is delayed until 650. We have just enough time!! We drop our bags and re-check them, then literally RUN through the airport to our gate......and re-book back on our original flight...which is delayed and delayed again. The plane broke. And the other, 830pm flight is also delayed. Broken plane. Not looking so good for American airlines.... We sat there sweating and tired, but sorta punch drunk because we are exhausted. Both flights eventually leave around 945pm, and we fly home and amazingly enough our bags are NOT lost and we live happily ever after. All in all, 25+ hours of travelling to get home. Woo to the hoo.

At home, the cats are frantic to see us. Shadow screamed at the bedroom door all night (went to bed around 2am), and now has a hoarse voice. Poor baby. Needs some extra loving this weekend. We really wanted to bring home/adopt this little Boo kitty we met in Rome named Frank Sinatra. SOOO much like our Boo. Frantic but very sweet, just wants to hide in a dark hidey hole and be safe. He would have loved it here. THe shelter staff says that US adoptions are tricky, since it is pretty spendy to fly an animal here. They also said they discourage us from adopting to the US, since animals here are put to sleep in shelters, and THEIR animals will never be. They would rather us save a life here. So, we left little Frank Sinatra behind. Such a sweetie, though. And so tiny--maybe half the size of our kitties, and they are not overly large, either. We may now actually get another cat. Not a kitten, but a young adult. Probably from PAWS, because they house them in an open area/big room where we can see a cat interact with others and figure out personalities. We want another Boo kitty, it has been decided. Which is odd, because I definitely adore the Shadow man the most. But the Boo kitties need us more, and we have a good environment for them (no kids, rare visitors; calm, stable environment with lots of hidey holes for kitties). Anyway..


Will update lots o pictures at some point. Need to do some editing, but I have oh so many stories to tell from our trip. We had a fabulous time, and adore each of the cities/areas we visited. They are all back on the list of places we want to go.

A few pics from Rome

This may be my last post from this side of the pond....too much to see and do. I will definitely put up pics and stories once we get home, though....

We are off to the Vatican today. On the docket: The Vatican museum/Sistine Chapel, St Peter's Basilica, and Castel St Angelo.

Yesterday was spent at the Colosseum/Forum/Palatine hill (awesome tour--we were the only ones with the guide!), Capitoline Museum, VE monument, Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Travestine area for dinner


The Baths of Diocleten (now a church), and The Trevi fountain at night

The cats of Rome

We decided to go to the Largo Argentina cat sanctuary when we were in the neighborhood...and are so glad we did. They have been squatting in an underground area located directly in some Roman ruins for several decades. There are currently over 200 cats there, with an upswing expected come kitten season, to bring them up to around 350. They vaccinate and neuter each cat that comes in, treat abscesses, fractures and other injuries. They dock half of one ear on a cat once they have completed the vaccination/neutering, so that they can easily identify a new cat that shows up/is dumped there. They have a hospice area with sick/infectious cats that are separated from the others. There is also an indoor area with a few dozen cats who cannot go outside for various reasons--either they are waiting for their vaccines to be completed, or healing from surgeries, or they are a danger to themselves. One cat, Barack Obama; was kept inside because he had an extensive history of running in the streets and getting hit by cars, so they now confine him indoors. He is not terribly excited about that idea.
There were several cats with three legs--they are kept indoors until they seem to be getting around allright, then they are allowed to come and go as they please. The area of ruins is set down 15-20 feet below street level, so they can run amongst the ruins without fear of vehicles or people or dogs (it is fenced off). They can stay in the sanctuary area in open cages with bedding, or roam about and only come in when they are hungry. These are well-fed animals. Many happy, healthy cats, and some injured ones. A siamese cat in the indoor area was recovering from two broken front legs (car accident). He had been adopted by someone in Switzerland who visited, and will make his trek there next week, once his adoption papers are completed. He sort of hopped around with both front legs landing at the same time. We felt so sorry for him....but then another cat came into his personal space and he whapped him and sent him on his way--so this cat can certainly take care of himself.

There were a few blind cats--either with no eyes, or just no vision. They are allowed to come and go as they please, but have nice open cages that are their own, and tend to stay there. Such sweet kitties!! Ethan and I fell in love with a little teeny black kitty who so much reminds us of the Boo Kitty--so skittish and nervous and frantic that they just must be related.

This was truly an amazing place to see, and they are run solely on donations. They have no running water, but recently got electricity from the city, which allows them to sort of permanently squat there.

Yes, Mom; we had some gelato

Per Mom's explicit request....here is a pic of our gelato. I had pink grapefruit and strawberry, and Ethan had dark chocolate and coconut. Delicioso!

Roma

We flew to Rome this morning. Early--flight left at 710am. Got here bright and early....but some sort of food poisoning or something intervened whilst on the plane (I will spare you the details), so we were not up to much when we got here.

A slow lunch while we waited for our room to be ready, then over to the Baths of Diocleten, which is also a church whose name escapes me for the moment. Huge awesomeness. I am the queen of balancing my camera on something, then taking time delayed pictures in areas where flash is not allowed. I rock. You will eventually see....there was a man playing a massive like 30 foot tall organ that made haunting music. Awesome. Ethan took video, which I will upload once we get home.

After that church, we were finally able to get into our room, where we took a 1.5 hour power nap. Then over to the Nat'l Museum of Rome....which was no longer renting audioguide headsets (they stop at 5pm, were were there literally at 502. Whatever), so we went to the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore. Holy huge church, Batman!! Pretty on the outside, with a mass taking place in one of the side chapels. We could hear the chanting and singing. So beautiful to hear in such a pretty place.

After this, it was a long trek up towards the Spanish Steps area for dinner. We accidentaly wandered upon the top of the steps and walked down them. Beautiful!! Purple flowers and foliage among the people.

We found a restaurant tucket into a niche nearby, and had a delicious Italian dinner. Then walked to the Trevi fountain (more delayed timer pics), then the long walk home. And here I am, typing just for you. Now I am handing the computer over to Ethan, and I am off to put my PJs on. We are headed to the Colosseum/Forum/Palatine hill in the am (tour guide), so we've gotta get up bright and early.

Maybe pics tomorrow??

Paris

Where was I...

Okay, so we took the train into Paris on Saturday, dropped our things off at our hotel, then headed out to the Montmarte area to see the church of Sacre Coeur. Ethan was not too impressed......until we got close and he saw how massive it was. Then we were both impressed. In our audioguide, it said that the church was paid for through a sort of fundraiser, where you could donate X money for a non-visible stone, X more money for a visible stone, even MORE money for a visible stone with initials or something written on it. You could even sponsor a column or a beam or something. All paid for by the people. It is in desperate need of cleaning (the pollution gets sucked up by that white stone), but gorgeous.

After Sacre Coeur, we had our first French meal (sorry...no pictures), then headed back towards the Eiffel Tower to meet our bicycle tour group. We walked back to their office, then spent the next ~3 1/2 hours riding around town, seeing the sights. It was cool to take over the streets and/or bike lanes in our big pack, all in reflective vests. The cars are very respectful of bikes, and it felt very safe. We even stopped at Berthillians for some ice cream/gelato. I had apricot, and it was divine. Near the end of our trip, we stopped for an hour-long cruise up and down the Seine River, to see the sites lit up from the water. Ooh, la la! Paris is a beautiful city.

We are three for three in cities we must return to and explore further.

One quick look at the massive Sacre Coeur before I turn off the computer and head out for the day....

Queen's Day in Amsterdam

The thing about Queens Day, is that it is a massive carnival, complete with rides; it is also a massive flea market and yard sale (city wide. Literally--the entire sidewalks over the entire city. Entire), as well as a sort of mix between New Years Eve and Seafair in Seattle. Tons and tons of booze (but everyone is behaving responsibly, and there are families and kids everywhere), music booming out of boats on the canals, bars on the streets, and massive stages set up in all the open squares. Utterly overwhelming. There was one point, while trying to pass a bar blaring music in a narrow street, where Ethan and I were totally squashed. I couldn't move at all--forward or back. I ended up losing my lens cap, because it popped off my camera (I know, what idiot has their camera out in this situation--but in my defense, this was the first we had seen where the crowd was utterly packed like this), and there was no way I was going to bend down to try to pick it back up. I would have been totally crushed.

Anyway...mostly we were in awe of all the celebrations. The police here are called Politie. And they are polite. Very polite. The let people do what they wish, just make sure they are being safe. With all the massive drunkenness here, you would think there would be arrests galore and lots of boorish behavior, but I saw none of that. Definitely couldn't do this in the US!!

There was a massive mess after all of this, but when we got up Saturday morning to walk to the train station, most of it was already cleaned up. The city was back to normal

Catch up

So much has happened since that last blog post....

Ethan and I went on a 30km bike ride through the canals and windmills outside of Amsterdam with picture perfect weather; we got bitten by what must be super-sized mosquitos, since the welts left behind are bigger than a quarter and massively itchy; we wandered through Queen's Day celebrations across Amsterdam, and were absolutely blown away by the sheer size of the celebrations....then we took a high-speed train to Paris yesterday (Saturday), where we visited the church of Sacre Coeur (massive) and took a bike ride through the city, followed by a cruise up and down the Seine river.

On the docket for today? Lots of museums, the Arc de Triomphe, and tonight will cap off with the Eiffel Tower (8pm our time, 11am your time--we got reservations to skip that massive line)

Flowers in Amsterdam