Last Epic German Road Trip Day 6: Trier and Idar-Oberstein

Trier was a surprise hit on the epic road trip, and the ampitheater was a surprise hit in Trier. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it was not this - the entire space is incredibly well preserved. To the point where it takes almost no imagination at all to recall where the citizens would enter and sit, where the gladiators, animals or slaves would be held while they awaited their turns. The kids had a blast in the center of the arena pretending to fight to the death, or pretending to be the emperor calling for the fight to begin, or sparing a life.

After the ampitheater we headed to the Roman Museum. It boasts the largest collection of gold Roman coins in ... not sure. Germany? Europe? the world? It also has a local mummified child, numerous artifacts from when Trier was an enormous, important Roman outpost. It was cool, but we kept being yelled at by museum security/docent folks for leaning on glass cases. Or touching them.

Our last stop on our way back to Frankfurt for the night was Idar-Oberstein. Our friend is a jeweler and had learned about the gem mines in Idar-Oberstein while studying for her degree. This was another sight we would never have thought to put on our list but was an enormous hit.

Amazingly, we arrived at the site with 10 minutes to spare before the next tour was departing. We got helmeted and our audio guides and headed down into the coolness. We learned about the gems that were mined there, how they were mined, and saw lots of examples of unmined gems peeking out of the more boring rock.  After the mine, just a bit down the road, is the mill where the gems were cut and polished. There was an interesting interaction when the tour started, as a woman sounded very angry when she told us there wasn't an interpreter (we never asked for one, or made any comment at all about the German capabilities of our group). Then the same woman rallied a volunteer (who seemed to have been the woman's granddaughter, or niece, or someone who was related but not her own child) to to an ad hoc interpretation. As the terminology relating to century old gem processing practices is relatively uncommon, she was often searching for words that the entire group participated in helping her find.  I decided in hindsight that the original woman wasn't angry at all, that was just how she spoke.

Last Epic German Road Trip Day 5: Geierlay Bridge, Trier

From Burg Eltz we headed, wearily, for our stop for the night, Cochem. We had great plans for Cochem, but in the end visited neither the castle, nor the mustard museum, nor did we take the chair lift that probably afforded very lovely views. After checking into our hotel we wandered around the town, finding life sized chess and checker boards by the waterfront. This of course was exactly what thrilled the kids so we let them have some downtime while we watched the sunset.

 

The next morning we set off for Geierlay Bridge. A friend had mentioned German's longest suspension bridge, not too far off the road from Cochem, and it was just obscure enough to catch our attention. It's a suspension bridge over a valley. Google and online information direct people to one side as the "starting point" and that is where we went. All the reports online warn of hostile villagers and that people should only park in designated lots or else... so in some respect i do wonder what is on the other end and if parking there would have been friendlier.

There was a couple doing a photo shoot on the bridge, complete with props and costume changes. It was interesting to watch for a minute and a half, but as they had gotten between us and the kids we eventually bullied our way through to catch up.   

After getting some fresh air and exercise, it was time to settle in for the drive. Our friends put Trier on the list - it just wasn't on our radar - and it ended up being such a highlight! We got to town early enough to get the museum/sight tickets and wander around Porto Nigra - an original gate from when the town was a major Roman city.

We also wandered around the town and ended up checking out St. Ganglof Church (because it sounds so much like Gandolf! and because it's a market church, right in the middle of everything) as well as the Liebfrauen Kirche because I love the ladies' churches. They are never as outrageous and gilded as the mens'. I tell myself this is because nobody would spend all that money on silly females. We were a bit church'd out so we have no photos. It's hard to go church-sighting when the first one was Cologne's Cathedral. Few other things compare.

The other highlight of Trier was introducing our friends to doner. It is not obvious to everyone that Turkish food is quintessentially German (i.e., because of the huge ethnic Turkish population) but it was delicious and I wished we had done this sooner in the trip.

Last Epic German Road Trip Day 4: Schloss Drachenberg and Burz Eltz

From Cologne we planned some time in the Mosel River area, ostensibly for some more wine tasting although in the end we decided to keep wine to mealtimes and do other exploring. Terry and I made a secret pledge to visit no more than two churches, or two castles, or two museums (get the picture) on any one day. So we maxed ourselves out on our way to Cochem, which was originally chosen as a nice midpoint on the Mosel on the way to Trier.

Up first, Schloss Drachenburg. The climb to the top of the tower reminded the adults of how out of shape we are, but had a lovely view of the entire valley. The rooms are exceptionally arranged with all the furnishings they would have had when the building was occupied. There was also a somewhat random exhibit of the local flora and fauna housed in a separate room that had two different entrances from outside/a stairwell but no apparent entry into the rest of the building.

Schloss translates roughly to "palace" and burg is "castle" - the difference between a building built for royal enjoyment and one meant to protect and defend. From Schloss Drachenburg we headed to Burg Eltz - one of the few stops on this trip where I had previously been. To me Burg Eltz is a total fairy tale castle. Although the group outvoted me - we did not take the walking path to the Burg but rather the shuttle bus one way and we walked on the road the other way. They thought it was a shortcut, I am pretty sure it wasn't.

We got there at the height of the day, so the line was LONG. I sent the family to check out the treasure room - a smallish museum that one can free enter and exit housing armaments, jewelry and such - while I manned our places in line. Admission into the Burg is only with a guided tour and no photos are allowed inside. It's still totally worth the visit. They were so busy they only had German language tours (although the web site says they can also do English or Dutch), but we were given pamphlets in English that did a surprisingly good job of summarizing what the tour guide said. Burg Eltz is still in the hands of the family that has owned it since the twelfth century and many if not all of the artifacts inside are family heirlooms.

Last Epic German Road Trip Day 3: Cologne

We reached Cologne on Easter Sunday, which was fitting for the city whose most iconic sight to see is a cathedral. We wandered around the city a bit, got to the Cathedral a little bit before Mass ended so had to wait to enter. The incense was overpowering so Terry and the kids beat a hasty retreat back to the fresh air. I followed a little while later.  We tried to take another look at the mosaic floor from the Roman-German Museum but it was covered. It was the introduction to the Roman theme of the trip - I constantly forget how much the Romans were around Europe. 

We also wandered into another church, obviously less imposing but simultaneously more accessible. We also saw a Ferris wheel across the river, so we wandered over the bridge and discovered a fair. It was only in town a few weeks, which would be why I didn't remember it from previous trips. The kids enjoyed the ride, then we introduced our friends to the deliciousness that is candied nuts - ubiquitous in Europe but not so common in the USA. 

We also introduced our friends to kolsch, which I enjoy more than Terry, but when in Cologne ...

Last Epic German Road Trip Day 2: Kloster Eberbach and Schloss Johannisberg

For our second day trip, we hit the wineries. The weather was absolutely stunning, which was a wonderful reason to wander among the vines at a couple of local-ish wineries and taste some of the fruits of the vine. Pretty much everyone who drinks wine and is part of the Consulate community recommends Kloster Eberbach and I see why. It's a very well established and smooth running establishment. We tried a few wines at the tasting counter and in the end did make a purchase.

Next up was another winery just up the road. Schloss Johannisberg is a schloss, but one is not allowed into the actual palace looking part. The shop, wine tasting, cafe and vineyard are all open for wandering though and had some spectacular views.

Last Epic German Road Trip Day 1: Rudesheim and boat cruise

We brought in reinforcements for our last epic road trip - good friends who came to visit. It meant the kids never had to sit with each other in the car (yay!) but also meant we did a tiny bit of revisiting.

On their first full day in town, we hit Rudesheim for a day trip. Once again we rode the cable car and chair lift, although our hiking route in between was a bit more direct. You can see a LOT of vineyards from the chair lift.

Then, instead of taking the river cruise back to Rudesheim, we went farther up the river. This was unchartered territory for everyone. We saw Bacharach, St. Goar, the Loreley Gorge, and about a million castles along the river. I had read many of the places were especially nice to view from the river, so we disembarked after, rather than in, one of the allegedly more interesting towns. Big mistake. There was absolutely nothing there, just an extra half hour wait for the train back to town. 

We ended on a high note, however, when we revisited the restaurant we'd eaten in during our first trip and Terry got to order the pork in brandy sauce, made with the special local brandy. Then we went home and everyone collapsed.

This castle is actually built to look like a boat! You can see the prow and the general boat shape

Bingen forest

About an hour from Frankfurt is a forest. I mean, there's forests a whole lot closer too. But one small stretch of this forest contains trees that have faces carved into them - according to Atlas Obscura, 66 to be exact. 

Atlas Obscura refers to Stockschleifern, but other references are to Steckeschlääferklamm. I don't understand why they do not have the same name and I definitely blame my inability to find the parking lot on my first try on the confusion of names. When Google Maps told me I had reached my destination, while I was clearly on a one-lane road without shoulders and about to enter "no actual road" zone, I knew that I had perhaps lay my trust inappropriately. Lucky for me, there was a van packed on the side of the road and a few people wrestling with equipment, and when I asked where Steckeschlääferklamm was, they pointed a short distance back the way I had come and said I could park there and the entrance was across the street from that.

A while into our hike I saw the group again, working on a new sculpture in a length of tree trunk. Cool!

Turns out, you can go home again. Or at least stand outside and peek through the gates, Part 2

Day 3 - Can you go home again?  We first ran out to Ta'Qali to see how expensive the house signs really are, now that we finally came up with a name for the cabin that we all liked. Turns out that they are removing all the old Quantas huts and making pretty little stone buildings, so there is a ton of construction and it was hard to find Bristow Pottery (where everyone we knew back when got their signs) and also that they cost a lot more than we cared to pay for an upgraded 1950s hunting shack. Then off to the new Embassy (well, 8 years new or so, but they broke ground when we were there and we never saw it) for a tour by an old friend and seeing a lot of old faces in a very fancy new surroundings. I love that they created shade for the car parks by putting up solar panels. Solar in a country with 330 days of sunshine is just a no-brainer.

After that visit it was time for lunch and the "trip home". We first went to the parking lot of the local grocery store, where I used to buy all my produce from the lady with the truck. (this is a stock photo to get an idea of these produce trucks). She used to give Alex a banana to snack on while I made my selections and my weekly or more frequent trips were a big part of my Maltese experience.


There was a truck still in the parking lot, but manned by someone who was clearly no relation. My heart sank a bit but we resolved to buy something there for old times' sake before we left. Then off  for pastizzi and other pies for lunch!  When we discovered the place we used to go to was still there and the cost of all the food we bought - the best meal we had eaten so far - was a fraction of even the  cost of the doner we ate the day before, we kicked ourselves for not eating more meals this way.  Thus fortified, we went back in time. Or rather, we walked past our old house. As we passed it, they had the front and back doors opened so I could see down the long, wide hallway that led from one to the other. We could see a tiny slice of the back yard and were reminded of how lovely the garden was. Then on to another one of our favorite spots in the country, San Anton Gardens.

The house where we had lived was one block from the Gardens and Alex and I had spent untold hours there in the shady green and relative coolness. There are ducks and swans in the various ponds, and red-eared sliders - the kind of turtle Terry used to have.  There's a small zoo-ish enclosure - all birds - to one side and a garden clock.  One of the side ponds now houses a pair of black swans who were mesmerizing to watch, especially noting the clutch of eggs the mom swan kept wandering back over towards (in their little shelter in the middle of the pond) when people came too close. Near the main pond is now a peacock and two hens. When we got to the main pond there were all the ducks and the white swans, but no turtles. We started to lament ever having tried to look backward. Then as we were leaving we decided to pop over to the third pond/fountain and there they were. All of them. Reminiscent of Yertle the Turtle's pond except with less fascism. Very survival of the  fittest, though, as we watched one particular turtle try to get out of the chilly water to sun himself and be constantly thwarted by other turtles either in his way or, in their own efforts to get up, pushing or kicking him back down. We all cheered when he finally got clear just before we headed out.

Returning to the car, we noted a different person manning the produce cart and he looked more likely to be a relative of the woman I remember so fondly. I asked him and it turned out he was her nephew, and he had been helping her for enough years he must have been one of the young men I remembered some times being there!

By then we were waffling on what to do next, whether to return to the apartment for a rest or hit one more spot. Going for gold, we decided to take the kids to the northwest coast where we missed the exact spot we were looking for and thus ended on a rocky, craggy part with much sharper points on all the rocks. Did not deter the kids, who by the end of the hour were soaking wet and thrillingly happy.

Epic Road Trip, Part Last: Dresden

From Wroclaw we returned one final time to Germany. Dresden has been on the top of Terry's "to visit" list since reading Slaughterhouse 5 and this road trip had us passing right through it.

First up: a visit to the "Kunsthof Passage" or "Art Courtyard Passage". Everyone was less impressed than I thought they would be but in truth, there wasn't actually all that much to do there. We had some fun looking for hidden animals in the one courtyard, and wandered around all the others too. The water one was fun because it had rained relatively recently, so there was still water trickling through some of the piping and running out at the bottom.

We had a relatively quick stop at the Frauenkirche - the "woman's church" - which was more rounded, softer, pinker with less gold than the average massive church. I get why it's got the name but it still irked me for some reason. Is everything pink considered the feminine version?

We thought we had booked the Slaughterhouse 5 tour, but it turns out the tour guide who runs it is a complete flake and he just never showed up. We had a suspicion (as of that morning, anyway) that this might happen and we had our backup plan in place.

We bought our tickets for the Green Vault and then wandered around the outside of the Zwinger Palace. It was a beautiful day and there were plenty of statues, fountains, trees and other sights to check out. There is a little cafe in the outdoor area and we sat down for some refreshment ... then baked in the sun until we decided the indoor part would be a better bet.Calmed down, cooled off and calorie-d up, we headed into the museum.

The Green Vault is in one section of the museum and tickets are (1) separate from tickets to any other part of the museum and (2) strictly time controlled. Knowing the kids' attention spans, we only got tickets to the Green Vault but someday I would like to see the rest of the museum. This was also our first experience with the magic that is the audio guide. I don't really know why but with the audio guide pacing them a bit, the kids were entertained and engaged - to the point of coming over to Terry or me excited with some piece of information and dragging us over to one piece of art they had just learned about. This way, we were able to peruse the exhibits at our leisure - a first with kids in tow! - and absorbed almost 2 hours of the afternoon. The exhibits were pretty spectacular.

Turns out, you can go home again. Or at least stand outside and peek through the gates, Part 1

Ever since I was informed my next post would be Frankfurt, I have been planning to return to Malta and show Alex where she was born. The island generally, of course, not the hospital. That would be even more boring than the ancient historical pit where miniature hippopotamuses were found. Yeah, kids are too worldly and jaded.

Mid-February is the so-called Ski Break where apparently we're supposed to go skiing. Kids have never been, It's a great time to go to Malta, not too cold and there might even be rain. Between some issues with leave and Terry's ideas about how much time we actually needed to give to this venture, we booked a Tuesday to Friday trip. We also noted and kept marveling during our time there that we were returning to Malta within the week of the 10 year anniversary of our departure.

Day 1 - arrival mid-afternoon, discover that the apartment where we were staying expected the payment in CASH, and use almost every last Euro paying that. Find an ATM, replenish, and head off to my favorite city, Mdina. I really do love me a walled Medieval city. We wandered a bit before the sun went down, getting to the Bastions a bit late to watch the sun actually setting. The kids loved racing down the high walled narrow cobblestone streets of the nearly deserted city. We found a place for dinner, chosen because it opened before 7pm. Big reminder: Maltese food is rarely delicious and it's a near miracle to get out of dinner for fewer than two hours.

Day 2 - meant to be "see the sights" day. First stop, Ghar Dalam. It's a prehistoric cave that was filled with animal and human bones. There is a huge bone display in the museum area and a bit of information about the plate movements that led to Malta detaching from some other landmass (Sicily? Europe?) and the shrinking of some animals that were caught here as well as the enlarging of other animals.  Then you can go visit the cave. The kids were, as described above, absolutely not impressed. The ticket for Ghar Dalam also included admission to another prehistoric sight that was recently opened (within the last year) so obviously nothing Terry and I would have seen before so we also wandered down that way.  The kids insolently asked why we thought they would be interested. Ugh.

We decided to cut short some of the other sights we planned to see, and instead headed to Rabat and the Catacombs. When we got there we confirmed that although we had been to St. Paul's Church and Grotto we had never visited the Catacombs. With the kids' love of all things Roman these days we figured it would be a hit and it was. The Catacombs were marvelously done, with pavilions explaining an aspect of what we were seeing (for example, the different kinds of burial vaults, or the differences in how different religions used the spaces). The kids of course were thrilled with running in and out of the various vaults and places where lots of dead people used to be - bonus that it's underground!

As we had driven into Rabat to get to the Catacombs, I thought I recognized the vendor where I used to buy the crazy delicious Maltese nougat. After the Catacombs we all needed a treat so we visited the vendor, who offered us tastes of other treats we had totally forgotten, like a pastry that is what Fig Newtons want to be (dried figs, honey, nuts, I think some citrus, in a fresh buttery pastry crust). When everyone had made their selections, I also got as much nougat as I thought I could carry home. More than a week later I am still working on it and it is still as delicious as I remember. We took our treats across the street to a cafe for cappuccinos (mom and dad) and a non-dairy smoothie (kids). It was a moment where I was a bit astounded at how much we had remembered, as I don't recall going to Rabat even a dozen times and yet the town center felt very familiar.