Ich liebe Deutschland

I love Germany! I really do. It was so awesome visiting Germany. As I was planning the trip I asked Laurie what she wanted to see. Her response “I want to see Germany.” That’s like saying “I want to see the beautiful state of Georgia.” Germany has a lot to see. I settled on three cities: Heidelberg, Wurzburg and Rothenberg. All were my favorites when I was stationed in Germany. I knew we wanted to see our friends the Troil’s…and they live near all three cities so that was easy.
We landed in Germany and waiting for us with smiling faces and warm hugs was the Troil family (Eric, Val, Emily and Vance). Timmy was so excited to see Vance (best friends in San Angelo). Timmy had talked constantly about what he and Vance were going to do…lots of adventures. But it had been over a year and I was a little worried that things might have changed…they hadn’t. Timmy and Vance fell right back into being best friends as we were walking through the airport. Timmy even rode with Val, Emily and Vance to their house (Eric got stuck with me and Laurie).
The Troil’s house…I’m jealous and envious. I love their house. It’s so German and yet so spacious. We had our own guestroom downstairs with a bathroom..it was like being at the Ritz. Laurie and I would wake up in the morning to cool fresh air and look outside and see flowers, trees and bushes and we were in a real neighborhood where people talked to each other, women drove cars..it was awesome.
The first city we went to was Heidelberg…the romantic city of Germany. I fell in love with it all over again and Laurie fell in love with it. The café’s, restaurants, Neckar River, cobblestone streets, old hotels, the market square and cathedrals everywhere. So beautiful. We walked and walked and never got tired. It was just so refreshing to walk. We went to the castle…stunning even though most of it has been destroyed. The gardens are nice to walk in. You get a sense of what it must have been like to be royalty.
Heidelberg has the Neckar River running through it. I loved being able to stand on the old bridge and just watch the river. Heidelberg also has so many alleys that seem to have something more exciting or enticing than the main walkway that we were on. They beckon you like the Pied Piper to follow them..it takes strong resolve to stay on the path…and yet at times it was fun to veer off and see what there was. This is a city to have your camera ready and have extra batteries with you.
Next we went to Rothenberg. This town is like living in a fairytale town. This is a town that Disney would have in some movie. But it’s real. It’s so charming, so quaint. We walked along the city wall ducking our heads at time because we were taller than they were when the wall was built, ate in a restaurant that overlooked a valley, went to the castle grounds and saw people enjoying life. You feel like some knight in armor is ready to defend the chastity of his fair maiden. I really expected to hear horses come galloping down the street. It’s a must see town.
Laurie and I went to Wurzburg by ourselves…Timmy was spending his days with Vance (and he had a great time…I am SO grateful for friends like Eric and Val who made sure Timmy was safe and had a good time). Wurzburg with the Residence of the Prince-Bishops built on the scale of Versailles very grand and ornate. The gardens were gorgeous…breathtaking almost. The inside was very royal. If you stood still you could almost hear the servants rushing to and fro while the Prince-Bishops were holding court and ladies were swooning over some handsome man. The chapel was so ornate and gaudy it almost had an unholy feeling to it (as if the world was more comfortable there rather than Christ). The Residence is absolutely incredible. But there’s more to Wurzburg than the Residence. There’s the Fortress where the Prince-Bishop’s and their entourage would go to in times of emergency. So we started walking.
Laurie and I loved the walk. There was so much to ohh and ahh at. We stopped for lunch in the market square. Had schnitzel (have to eat pork when we can and the schnitzel was SO delish….a little lemon squeezed on it…yummy) and frites (we ate more potatoes…fries, mashed, fries…but delish). Our waitress showed us the map so we could continue our journey and off we went. In Germany we walked a lot. It’s just easier to walk or take the bus/train…driving on the autobahn is nice but driving in the city is a big headache. We crossed the beautiful bridge and saw the Fortress. Then we saw a sign…20 minutes if you follow path A and 45 minutes if you follow path B. We chose A. But it took us a lot longer than 20 minutes. The walk up was challenging but worth it. Once we got to the top…wow! We could see for miles…the town…the churches…the river. It was an awe inspiring site. The Fortress had a very nice tour that we took on our own. Again you really can get a feel for what it was like to be powerful.
Germany was more than castles and cathedrals. It was good food, fresh air, good friends and three days in a hotel without Timmy (charming hotel in Heidelberg…the best breakfast buffet…and romantic). We saw vineyards (Val took us to some vineyards in their town on our final day and it was the perfect ending for our trip), orchards, things growing…life. We saw incredibly beautiful flowers…different colors and varieties. We walked and walked and never really felt tired.
Most of you know that I love food. So I have to mention that almost every night I got spaghetti eis (spaghetti ice-cream). Sounds gross doesn’t it? It’s vanilla gelato that they make look like spaghetti (they spoon it into this spatzle do hicky, squeeze and viola spaghetti) , then they put a strawberry topping on it and sprinkle it with some white chocolate flakes…it looks like spaghetti with cheese. It is SOOOO DELISH!!! I had some made with chocolate gelato…it was ok. Made with vanilla eis….DELISH.
I love Germany! Laurie and Timmy love Germany. And the cool thing is Timmy had 3 days of adventures that Laurie and I didn’t have with him…he has his own memories and that’s awesome.
If you’re thinking of going to Germany…go. We thought the end of Sept was the best…the weather is cooling down, the trees are green but with a hint of color and it’s not too crowded.
Where are we going next? Maybe back to Germany!