Reading about someone’s vacation can be as exciting as looking at a slide show of someone’s vacation. Yep, no one wants to go there, least of all me. Instead, what I will attempt to bring you is an abbreviated, personalized look at some of the regions I’ve visited.
Travel abroad has been my passion since I stumbled upon a short (four-year) career as a flight attendant with Air Florida in the early ’80s. If you are traveling to one of these countries or have already been, you’ve no doubt referred to Rick Steves’ or any of the other numerous guides out there for detailed information. This series will provide a brief reminiscence of some of my past experiences.
Southern Germany and Austria
We flew into Frankfurt, Germany, and took a train to Ansbach bei Sachsen, where we had friends. The timing was late September, so not only was the weather about as good as it can get, we were there for Oktoberfest. On day one, we visited Nuremberg, a beautiful, low-key city in northern Bavaria known for its medieval architecture. We wandered through the old town and some of the new before settling in at one of the many outdoor dining areas, all set up as half-timbered cottages. The fare was similar everywhere (lots of “wurst”), so we picked one and had our first taste of the many different sausage dishes, beers and wines. Little boiled potatoes accompanied every dish. I found them boring little carb balls and, being health conscious, decided to limit my carb intake to beer.
The next day, we drove to Rothenberg. Rick Steves does a wonderful 30-minute show on this tourist spot, but you’ll need to see it firsthand. It’s a well-preserved, medieval, walled city with shops, restaurants and hotels catering exclusively to tourists, but you won’t care, it’s too charming to pass up.
The third day we rented a car and drove down the Romantic Road, stopping briefly for coffee in Dinkelsbuhl, another walled city. I could have spent a day there and in most of the towns we passed: Nordlingen, Harburg, Wurzburg. Do yourself a favor and stop frequently. We made it to Garmisch-Partenkirchen in the Bavarian Alps by dusk. Garmisch-Partenkirchen is primarily a ski town, but it’s beautiful year round and was uncrowded at that time of year. The next day was spent exploring in the town and the neighboring town of Oberammergau, with its scenes of the crucified and risen Christ decorating almost every conceivable wall space (it’s where the annual pageant is held every week leading up to Easter).
We took another day to visit Linderhof Castle and Neuschwanstein Castle. Again, another very touristy destination, but we were right there. If I ever get back to southern Germany, I’ll linger in the small towns and skip the big tourist spots.
Leaving the Alps, we headed to Munich where, after checking into the Westin, we headed immediately to the famed Marienplatz clock tower and – we were too late! We had to reconcile ourselves by having a beer at the historic beer hall, Hofbrauhous. I wish I could tell you what we had for dinner that night – probably weisswurst, bratwurst, or something with wurst on the end of it – but I only remember how very large and very alcoholic the beers are there. I think I had only one (which is equivalent to at least three here).
The next day dawned beautiful again as we headed first to a small museum (Franz von Stuck) and later to Oktoberfest. I’ll only say this about that: We stayed too long at the fair. We met lots of people, sang songs in German (and no, we don’t speak German, but when there’s a will, there’s a way), made toasts every few minutes, discussed lederhosen and dirndl dresses…you get the picture. The next day, we walked around the English Garden with our water bottles, atoning for our brief but significant mid-life crisis of the day before. Later, we headed onward to Salzberg. Ok, another tip: the day after Oktoberfest, don’t plan another drive – just hang out.
We got to Salzberg, checked into the Blue Gans, a small hotel in the historic area, had dinner and immediately took the lift up to the castle. Why are we such gluttons for punishment (recall that we’re still recuperating)? Well, we only had a day and half before moving on again, so we made the most of it, even staying for a concert of chamber music in the castle that night (and yes, staying upright was a challenge since we almost fell over with fatigue). The next day, we checked out the city center as best we could with limited time and got back on the road toward Vienna with renewed rest.
Vienna in two days is like Paris in two days. You just have to see what you can and plan another trip. We stayed next to St. Stephen’s Cathedral in the historic and elegant Hotel Konig von Ungarn, which has been around since 1746. We took a driving tour of the city, stopped at the Schonbrunn, the Habsburg’s winter Palace, went to the Belvedere Palace, St. Stephen’s, had nice dinners, shopped, peeked inside the Opera House and walked all over that part of the city. But I really feel like we tried to do too much in a short period of time. It was a bit of a fire drill. We haven’t made that mistake again. But it was still a good time.
