by - KJones2840
I lived in Schwarzenbach am Wald, a town of 5,000, near Hof, Germany, back in July 1966 to July 1969 with my family, my Dad was a Air Force career NCO. He was assigned at a radar site up on the East German/Czech border back then. It was one of our better assignments, made several life lasting friendships while in Germany. Over the years thought of Germany often, wanted to return for a visit, but never did any serious planning. Always seemed something else took priority, college, marriage, kids, job, etc. Finally in June 2000 did get to return for a short vacation to the Hof area, then in June 2001, returned to the Hof area, on to Rothenburg, and then south to Garmisch/Chiemsee regions.
In September 2002 again traveled to Germany
for a short vacation. This report is of the latest trip.
After going to Germany two years in a row had not thought I'd return for a while, but soon got the fever after
the New Year arrived. I started requesting information from various TI's, reading trip reports, checking all the
links on Ben's website and emailing various members of the Stammtisch with questions. I went with Orbitz on airfare due
to price ($733.00) and good scheduling. Used AutoEurope for the car rental. I had not laid out a very efficient trip route
for my stay in Germany, but thought it would be ok. I am flexible on day-to-day activities, but do want to know
where I'm staying for the night. I feel, after returning from this trip, I made some mistakes with my planning,
but still had fun and do learn from each journey.
Anyway, D-Day arrives September 8th, bags packed, passport, money, credit cards, air tickets, etc., ready to go.
My traveling companion, Barbara, is on time with her parents to whisk us to the Nashville airport. No problems
checking in and quickly we go thru security. Finally we board a United Express CRJ to Washington DC Dulles. Good
quick flight, easy walk/ride to our depature gate to Munich via United flight 962. We depart on time with a full
767, we are in seats 28A/B, crammed in like sardines, but it's ok, we are on our way to Bratwurstland.
All in all a pretty good flight, very nice, hard working flight attendants, the pasta meal was so-so. Barbara's fruit plate was better. Good movie selection, but after the meal service we popped sleeping pills and tried to get some shuteye.
Arrival to Munich was near 0730, a few minutes early, skies are black, raining. I had expected the rain as I had been checking the weather reports for Germany before our departure. Thankfully this was the only bad weather day, the rest of the trip the weather was great.
Slow going thru Passport Control, but surprise our bags made the trip and are coming around the carousel, we are off to the car rental section, a pretty good hike from baggage claim at the Munich airport. We get to the AutoEurope/Avis desk with no line, the clerk is friendly and helpful. We get lucky, an Audi A-4 diesel with less than 300 kms on the odometer.
A few moments orienting to the car and away we go. Easy egress from the garage and the airport property.
We have reservations for 2 nights at the Hotel Palmengarten in Dinkelsbühl, we figure it's a 2 hour drive to our hotel and not thinking we can check-in before noon we decide to head south to kill a few hours before going north. Since Barbara had never seen the Ettal Kloster or the Wieskirche I decided to make a run to Ettal first, then over to the Wies. The weather is lousy, it's raining hard with the temp near 46 degrees. I head over to the A-9 autobahn without difficulty, but quickly run into a major stau, I get off the autobahn, exit 69 at Eching, connect to Hwy 471, bypassing Dachau, along to Fuerstenfeldbrueck and head south along the Ammersee. The rain has slacked off to a drizzle and with no traffic on these secondary roads the drive is not bad. We pickup Hwy 2 and continue on to Weilheim then Murnau. We finally connect to Hwy 23 and shortly are at the Ettal. The rain has stopped for a few minutes and we are able to wander the main buildings and grounds for a short while without getting wet.
On to the Wies via the Echelsbacher Brücke, the church is crowded, the rain has started again with the wind picking up. With the rain, wind and temp in the 40's, the walk up to the church is unpleasant, but once inside the weather is forgotten. I agree with everyone's opinion, the church is just wonderful.
We decide to head over to Füssen. Before long we are there, parking near the town center in one of the underground garages. The rain and wind have stopped. We walk around the pedestrian zone for a few minutes, stopping for my first bratwurst mit semmel und senf at an imbiss. Sehr gut ! We hit Woolworth's buying two dozen or so Ritter Sport bars at 69 cents apiece. Still hungry, I get a shrimp sandwich for myself and a fried cod sandwich for Barbara at Nordsee across from the Hotel Sonne. No place to sit, we eat while wandering the streets.
Shortly we head out to Dinkelsbühl, we leave Füssen on Hwy 310, connecting to the A-7. Once on the autobahn, I put the hammer down, the skies stay gray, but no more rain. We finally arrive in Dinkelsbühl just past 3 pm. We go to the Gasthof Sonne where we are greeted by Frau Danner, she directs us to our hotel, just around the corner a 100 yards or so, where Herr Danner is waiting.
We are shown to zimmer # 1 on the ground floor. Thank you, no lugging bags up any stairs! Our room has a sofa, two chairs with a table, a small desk, TV, king size bed, a large schrank, on one wall is a sink with mirror. The room is quite crowded with all the furniture, however the sofa makes a great luggage rack. Our private bathroom is just outside the door. The price is 63 euros per night. We unpack and head out to explore the streets. Shortly we return to the room, jet lag is catching up with us. We rest for a couple of hours, decide to go to the Gasthof Sonne for supper.
Barbara has a bowl of tomato cream suppe
mit brot, I have gulaschsuppe and schweine schnitzel mit pommes frites along with a mixed salad, of course a local
bier. The total bill was 20.50 euros. Back to our room and off to dreamland.
The next morning, September 11, breakfast is at the Gasthof Sonne. What a spread. There are several meats, cheeses,
breads, cake, cereals, yogurts, fruits and eggs. Good coffee and juices. There is decent weather predicted for
today, mostly overcast, but temp in the 60's. We load a few things in the auto and off we go for a long day of
sightseeing.
We get onto the A-7 north, leave the autobahn at exit 107, connecting to Hwy 470 for several miles, we then hit Hwy 505 near Hochstadt and continue north past Bamberg to Hwy 173. Our first stop is Vierzehnheilgen (Fourteen Saints Church) near Lichtenfels.
When I lived in nearby Schwarzenbach, my family and I visited this church often. I wanted to share it with Barbara. The church is awesome and to me, compares to the Wies. The grounds are elevated and the view from the church of the fields below is just wonderful. If you ever make the trip bypass the parking lot you will see about halfway up the hill and continue driving, there is parking next to the church near the souvenir booths, this will save one alot of walking. Sometimes I have been charged for parking, sometimes not.
From Lichtenfels we hit Hwy 289 over to Hwy 4 to Coburg. Stopping by the Hummel factory store just past Coburg in Roedental, no bargains here today. My main reason for coming to this area is to show Barbara Veste Coburg, a magnificent fortress overlooking Coburg. Great views here along with a couple of large pretty courtyards. It's near noontime and we decide to have lunch at the Cafe Burgschaenke just inside the main entrance gate at the castle. Barb has the gulaschsuppe mit brot, I have zwei Coburger bratwurst mit kartoffelsalat. We each have a coke. Total bill 12 euros.
Our sightseeing done for the day after touring the castle, we head out for the return to our hotel via Hwy 303 toward Schweinfurt with plans to hit the A-70 connecting to the A-7. After several kms on the 303, Barbara notices we are just a few klicks from the village of Ebern, (a quick note here, Barbara ia a master navigator, she keeps me from getting lost often) a Helmut Gemeinhardt and his family are friends with all my family. I had thought about visiting them, but was afraid I would not have time and don't like to drop in unannounced, but we are so close. I decide to swing by his haus.
We pull up to Helmut's haus and find a note on the door, gone on vacation, return Sept. 13th. Oh well ! We take a small country road from Ebern and are soon on the A-70 and to the A-7 south passing Würzburg.
We decide to stop in Rothenburg o.d.T. a few minutes to go to an internet cafe on Paradeisgasse not far from the Roedertor. Found this place a while back thanks to Larry and Ben. We park in the parkplatz near the Hornburg Hotel. We find the cafe out of business. Rats ! We walk to the TI and the nice lady puts us onto the Roter Hahn Hotel, Obere Schmiedgasse 21.
They have four computers for use in a bar near the front desk. Three euros for 30 minutes. We check messages and send a few emails. It's getting late in the day, alot of the shops are closing, we hurry to a couple of our favorites and make a few purchases. Hauling our sacks back to the car, we decide to go ahead and eat supper here, then go on to our hotel. We drive to the Eiscafe "Italia" Pizzeria, Herrngasse 8, parking in front. Barbara has the pizza margherita, I, the pizza salami, with drinks the total bill is 14.50 euros. By the way, they have ice here and will put some in your drinks if asked. We head out to Dinkelsbühl and arrive over half an hour later. Tired. Looking back, probably was too much in the way of driving for one day, but did get to see a lot of pretty countryside.
September 12th, Thursday, we wake early, have another great breakfast at the Gasthof Sonne, checkout, Barbara goes to the Volksbank across from the Gasthof to exchange some American cash, the exchange rate was 1.03 euros to one US dollar, fee 1.50 euros per $100. I use the ATM with my credit union ATM card without problems. We then are on our way to Rüdesheim via the A-7 and the A-3, finally connecting into the road running along the Rhine River.
We arrive in Rüdesheim, find a spot to park and walk to the Hotel Germania, Rheinstrasse 10 to see about checking in to our room. It's near 12 noon. I had really messed up on this reservation, when first making it I thought the rate was 57 euros per night per room. Later I discovered when going over my plans the rate was per person per night. Darn, had hoped not to pay so much for rooms this trip. And too late to find anything cheaper, tried several places, everyone was booked. I should have, in retrospect, cancelled the reservation and winged it.
Found many places with zimmer frei signs, but of course these were places I had not checked. We found the hotel locked up tight, but push on the doorbell and soon the door opens, the lady does not speak English, but with my limited German we get her to understand we have a reservation. She shows us to zimmer # 6, nicht gut, the room looks to be a single, very small, the bed is a futon type mattress over flat ribbon type springs, no where to place bags, the bathroom however, is huge and looks newly remodeled. I ask to see another room, she tells me someone in authority will be along in 30 minutes or so, I should talk to them. We leave, returning about an hour later. This time a gentleman takes us to zimmer # 15, unfortunately this is up 3 flights of stairs. The room is not much bigger, has cheap looking art deco furniture, the bed is acceptable, has one small table, one chair without legs, one dresser, TV. One person can only pass at a time between the wall and the foot of the bed. On a good note the bathroom is very large and nice. The rooms are clean, but had expected better for 114 euros per night. I really don't want to stay here, but not knowing better, take the room. We go to the car and get our bags, man what a climb to the room.
After getting settled we leave to check out the Drosselgasse. At an imbiss Barb has an ice cream cone, I grab a bratwurst mit brotchen. It's close to 2 pm by now, we cross Rheinstrasse and purchase tickets, 27.60 euros, at the KD booth for a cruise up to St. Goarhausen. The ticket seller asks if we plan on taking the train back. Ja ! He then writes the train departure times for the next 4 trains after our arrival in St. Goarhausen on our ticket without us asking. Thought this was super nice and cannot thank the man enough for his courtesy.
The cruise along the Rhine is great, nice sunny weather, wonderful Kodak moments. We depart the ship, walk over to the Bahnhof, purchase tickets from the machine, have about a 15 minute wait and then we are on our way back to Ruedesheim, just a 24 minute ride.
- 
The train was 4 euros each for the one-way fare. Val, thanks for all the train riding tips. Once back, we go to our hotel to rest up for a couple of hours.
Later that evening we go window-shopping and eat supper at Cafe Seilbahn, Oberstrasse 43, Barbara has the barschfilet mit pommes, I have the schnitzel wein mit pommes. The meal with drinks is 25.70 euros. We continue to wander the streets, making a few purchases, enjoying the music coming from the various restaurants/bars. Done with shopping and tired with walking, we stop at the Winzerkeller, Oberstrasse 33 to have zwei Quarkpfannkuchen mit eis and some wine to end the day.
Later that night, after stopping the count
at 50 passing trains, I wonder if Barbara is going to kill me, the tracks are just across the street, the next
morning I tell her sorry about the noise, what noise ? Great, off the hook, she died, never heard the trains, matter
of fact they didn't bother me after I tapped out.
September 13th, Friday, we go down for breakfast, pretty good spread, typical German fare, the rolls are somewhat
stale, but everything else is ok. We get the car and drive up to the Marksburg.
No English tour this morning, but we are given English pamphlets and join a German group. The guide is helpful and answers our few questions. Very enjoyable tour, neat place. We continue our drive and cross over to the other side of the Rhine at Koblenz, we stop briefly in Boppard, Oberwesel and Bacharach visiting some of the churches that had caught our attention on the cruise and doing some shopping. In Bacharach we stop in a Konditorei, Barb has a piece of cake, I have a bowl of soup with a ham and cheese sandwich, the bill with drinks is 11.60 euros. After lunch we are walking the streets window shopping, I happen up on the wood burning shop that I have read about on Ben's website, I go in to say hello to Frances (Frances Geuss who owns the Holzbrandkunst Geuß Woodburning shop at Oberstraße 60)
and tell her how I found her shop. A very
nice lady, and thanks to Ben and Larry, gives me a discount on a purchase. Leaving her shop we hit a grocery store
nearby and purchase more Ritter Sport bars, 59 to 69 cents apiece. We had thought we might find an internet cafe
in Bacharach, but no dice. We backtrack to Oberwesel since we had seen a sign on the street for an internet cafe
as we were leaving the town. This is inside upstairs at a small hotel, I forgot the name, the terminals are coin
operated like a pinball machine, one euro buys about 25 minutes, but no problem signing on to AOL. We spend a few
minutes here before heading south again, notice a ferry across from Kaub and cross back. Soon we are in our hotel.
That evening we eat supper at the Riesling-Stuben, Oberstrasse 54, Barbara has pizza caprese, I have the holzfallersteak
mit bratkartoffel. Wunderbar, very tasty food, total tab with biers, 26 euros. Later that evening after more shopping,
wine tasting, we stopped at the Graf
Von Rudesheim, Oberstrasse 35 for dessert. I have
the apfelstrudel mit eis and sahne, Barb has the heisse waffle mit vanilleeis/himbeeren mit sahne. With drinks,
15.50 euros. Making like Porky Pig we waddle back to our room.
Saturday, September 14th is to be a long day of driving as we are heading to the Alps. Upon checking out the manager
of the hotel informs us he is charging an extra 35 euros for breaking the headboard on our bed. Huh ? We haven't
broken any bed. We did find the headboard for half the bed between the wall and bed the day before after being
gone most of the day. I reattached it to the bed, it was cheaply made but the pegs on the board easily fit into
the holes on the bed frame, anyway to make a long story short and not knowing what to do concerning matters such
as this in Germany we pay the bill and leave. Never have been treated so unfairly or rudely in Deutschland as this.
I had already decided to not ever stay here again due to the high price and crummy room, the "getting ripped
off" confirmed it.
We drive along the Rhine connecting to the autobahn heading toward Frankfurt. Just before the Frankfurt Airport, stop, massive stau due to road construction and tons of cars. Finally get thru this mess and now are able to breeze along as the traffic has thinned to nothing past Würzburg on the A-7. Out of wonder about the cars passing me as I hum along at 90 mph, I kick it up to 200 kms. Autos are still blowing my doors off, whew these guys drive schnell. I back off after a few minutes to my 85 to 90 mph. Soon we are near Rothenburg and decide to lunch at one of our favorite restaurants here. We again park near the Hornburg Hotel and walk over to the Italia Pizzeria. Barb has the spaghetti Napoli, I have the schnitzel lunch special. Total bill is 14.50 euros.
We head over to the Roter Hahn to use the computers and shortly are on our way. We get on the A-7 over to the A-6 east, near Schwabach we get off at exit 57, hit Hwy 2 down to Roth, then over to the A-9 heading south to Munich. At Munich we bypass the city on A-99 over to A-8 east, heading to Salzburg, off the autobahn at exit 106, Bernau. We then drive Hwy 305 down to Reit Im Winkl where we are staying for 3 days. Quickly we find the Gaestehaus Buchner, Rosenweg 4, Frau Heidi Buchner is waiting for us.
This place is so nice looking. It is a large
alpine type house. It has 7 rooms/apartments. Numerous flower baskets and pots abound. Four foot high Christmas
trees mark the property lines around the back of the haus. Our room is on the ground floor, there is a foyer, to
the left is a generous bath with a heated floor, to the right is a small kitchen with sink, 2 burner stove and
half frig. The refrigerator is stocked with different biers, wines, schnapps, soft drinks and juices. The kitchen
has a table with chairs, a TV. Off the kitchen/sitting area is a patio with chairs and table. The bedroom has a
king sized bed with large closets on each side of the headboard. The zimmer is spotless and is just perfect. The
smell of fresh cut hay lingers in the air. The price is 57 euros per night. After getting settled we walk into
the town center, not quite one km, checking out the shops most of which are closed. The wind is picking up on the
way back and with the sun setting and the upper elevation, the temperature is dropping fast making it a brisk walk
back to our room. We ask Frau Buchner for a restaurant recommendation, she directs us to the Winkler Stuben, Tiroler
Strasse 37, parking out front, Barbara has the toast Hawaii, I have a noodle dish with tomato creme sauce along
with grilled pork medallions and a mixed green salad. A sehr fein mahlzeit. Bill comes to 20.10 euros. Back to
our room, we watch TV a few minutes, then lights out.
Sunday, September 15th the fruehstueck is super. To choose from are several cereals, juices, jellies, yogurts.
There are 6 to 7 meats along with as many cheeses. Three different kinds of rolls. The coffee is very good, Frau
Buchner brings soft boiled eggs to our table. After breakfast we head north to Prien to take the boat over to the
Herrenchiemsee.
- 
We take the English tour of the schloss, amazing the contrast between the finished vs the unfinished parts of the schloss, after the tour we walk over to the Gasthaus near the docks, time out for a large soft pretzel for Barbara, a pair of brotwursts for me. Not as good as bratwurst, but will do.
From Prien, we get on the A-8 east getting off at exit 112 and head south on Hwy 306 to the 305 going down to Berchtesgaden. Not much going on here as it is Sunday. We drive over to Ramsau, take a walk up to the church there.
Slowly we work our way back to Reit Im Winkl
stopping now and then to take a photo of the beautiful countryside. It's late afternoon by now, we decide to eat
supper and turn in early. We go to the Gästehaus Münchner Kindl,
Tiroler 20, recommended by BavariaBen. I hear our waitress tell someone "zwei Englisher hier" soon a
man dressed as a chef comes to our table. I tell him about Ben's website, and the trip reports found there with
a recommendation to try his place from Ben. Herr Frank thinks this is awesome. He asks if we need help with the
menu, no, we then order. Barbara has a noodle dish with tomatoes and sauce, I have grilled schnitzel with a peppercorn
cream sauce along with fried potatoes. Man oh man, an excellent meal. Our total bill came to 16.40 euros. When
we are finished eating Wolfgang comes out and spends 45 minutes or so talking to us about the USA, his car business
and the over 50 license plates from the USA he has nailed to a wall in the hallway. A very fine gentleman, someone
you like the minute you meet him. He surprises me by telling us he is a country music fan, likes the old singers,
such as Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, he thinks it's great that we are from Nashville. He also expresses sadness
and dismay over the 9/11 mess in NYC. All in all a very nice meal with good company, thanks Ben, it was one of
the highlites of the trip.
Monday, September 16th, another good breakfast, we head out to Salzburg via the A-8, stopping in Bernau a minute
to purchase the vignette sticker, we pass the Salzburg Airport and leave the autobahn shortly after. My plan is
to park near Mirabell Gardens, explore this area, then wander over to the Altstadt. Traffic is intense, also notice
a very heavy police presence. Policemen are walking the streets in pairs, at least 2 or more at every intersection,
wonder what is up. I turn right, off a main street to head over to Mirabell, wrong, drive into a police roadblock.
One of the officers tells me there is a European Economic conference in progress, turn around, no one allowed in
the downtown area around the Mirabell, then I remember the news from last night on the TV and the protesting going
on involving hundreds of people and hundreds of police. Wishing I had picked another day to visit, I head back
to the autobahn. We circle around Salzburg and enter from the south, following signs to the Altstadt, parking at
the tunnel in the underground garage. We walk most of the narrow streets window shopping, on Getreidegasse I chow
down on a bratwurst from an imbiss and we head over to the Dom Salzburg, a beautiful cathedral.
We purchase pretzels at one of the numerous stands under the Fortress Salzburg. Wander Mozartplatz, the Residenz areas working our way back to the car. It's an easy return to the autobahn.
Once on the A-10 we travel south to Werfen, Austria to visit Burg Hohenwerfen. This castle I found out about by reading Bill Hickox's articles on Ben's website. This is a most impressive castle sitting on top of a small mountain with larger mountains surrounding it. Easy exit off the autobahn, good signage to the castle and I take Bill's advice and hire the taxi for a ride up to the castle. Four euros per person round trip. What you didn't tell me Bill was about the walk after the cab ride. Whew !!! We literally pulled ourselves up along the wall with the handrail that is there. This straight up hike of between 150 to 200 yards is rewarded with about 50 steps in steep stairs to the first landing. Then there are more stairs to the courtyard. But the climb is worth every bit. We get lucky and an English tour starts in just a few minutes. The guide is excellent and takes us all over the castle. The tour is enjoyable and is one of the best I've been on. At the end of the tour is a demo with the falcons that are trained here. A careful hike to the taxi stand, walking downhill at such a steep angle is rough also, in a minute we are back to our car. Thanks Bill, this was a neat place to visit.
We drive north on the A-10 to exit 8, hitting
Hwy 160 and go down to Berchtesgaden. There is more going on today as all the shops are open, we make a few purchases,
grab a snack at one of the bakeries, we get on Hwy 305 to return to our room. We are bushed from all the walking
today. Once we get to Reit Im Winkl we stop at the Porto Bello, Birnbacher Strasse 1, parking in front and have
pizza along with some zwiebelsuppe for myself, very good pizza, with drinks, our total is 21.30 euros. Off to our
room to rest our poor tired feet.
Tuesday, September 17th, our last full day in Germany, we take our time eating breakfast, packing, then driving
up to Munich. We decide to go on to Eching, where we are staying the last night at the Hotel Huberwirt, Untere
Hauptstrasse 1. Our room is a standard hotel room much like in the States. I have stayed here before and the apartments
are very nice. The room is ok, nothing fancy, but stay here due to it being close to the airport and the autobahn,
the restaurant is great, the breakfast second to none, the staff friendly and there is a grocery store across the
street for last minute purchases. The room price is 87 euros a night. The restaurant happens to be closed this
night, so we eat at Michel's Bistro next door at Obere Hauptstrasse 2, they have a limited menu here, but the food
is wonderful. I have the truthahn schnitzel with a creme sauce, potatoes and string beans. Barb is not very hungry
and has an apple strudel dessert. Total with drinks is 15.50 euros. Busy place.
Parking for the Huberwirt is out front and they have an underground garage. There is an Italian place behind the hotel and a few other places to eat back toward the autobahn.
Before going to Michel's we had taken the
train into Munich, Bahnhofstrase runs behind the hotel, but it is a km or so to the train stop. We drive to it
and park. The train comes shortly and it's about a 20 minute ride to the Karlsplatz, where we exit. I stop at one
of the lunch stands here underground and purchase a bratwurst mit semmel und senf. Very good stuff. We head upstairs
and start walking toward the Marienplatz, stopping along the way to visit the Frauenkirche along with various shops
and large department stores. I'm still hungry and continue over to the Viktualien Markt, where
there are several bratwurst stands to choose from. The small Nürnberger wursts is what I'm looking for, my
favorites. Ahh, belly full, we head back to Kaufingerstrasse for more shopping. We now work our way back toward
the Hauptbahnhof. We want to check out the Hertie store, I have read they have an internet cafe in their computer
department. (our man reason we were on the computers so often is Barb's daughter is awaiting word on a health problem
she has and she promised to email us with the news, we get the word finally on this last day, it was good news)
The sales clerk at the computer section says they have no internet access anymore, but directs us to exit the Hertie
at the rear end of the building, turn left, walk maybe 50 yards and we will come upon a large internet cafe. We
do and find Easy Everything at the corner of Schuetzenstrasse and Bahnhofplatz in the same building as a Post Office.
The place is massive, probably 300 terminals in place. At the entrance there is a vending machine, one euro for
30 minutes, after depositing money you get a ticket with a sign-on code, find an available terminal and sign-on.
This place is open 24/7 I'm told. We get the good news we are hoping for then return to the Hertie to finish up
our shopping. It's getting late in the afternoon, we go downstairs and catch the S-1 back to Eching. After getting
back to the hotel we clean up then go over to Michel's, from there we cross the street to purchase a few goodies
at the grocery store.
Wednesday, September 18th we are up early, excellent German breakfast at the Huberwirt. We have packed last night
so are ready to go. The drive from the hotel to the airport is less than 15 minutes by the A-9 connecting to A-92,
but as we cross the overpass to turn onto the entrance ramp we see traffic backed up north and south as far as
the eye can see. Oh no ! I continue straight without getting on the autobahn. I'm not sure where I'm going and
this is no time to get lost, but I figure this road must go in the general direction of the airport. Sure enough
after several kms we come to a traffic circle with markings directing us to the airport not to mention we start
seeing lots of taxis coming up from the south. In a few minutes we are on the airport property, but not home free
yet, lots of road construction here and of course I take the wrong fork at a mass of orange barrels dividing the
road, no problem, around the airport we go and this time I get it right. No problems returning the car to Avis,
very friendly employees here. Easy check-in at United, Frau Schnell, the ticket counter clerk was so nice and without
us asking reassigns our seats to better spots. I wish I could repay her for this favor, it made the long flight
back much more comfortable. We are on flight 963, again a 767, in seats 22D/E to Washington DC. We have almost
two hours to kill before departure which we spend exploring the airport. I had no idea there is a full grocery
store here or that the shopping mall is so large. I have a last shrimp sandwich at the Nordsee imbiss. We then
join the long line to clear Security. Shortly after this, we board the aircraft with lift off on time.
We breeze thru Customs at Dulles, easy transfer to our connecting gate and have a good flight back to Nashville.
Our ride is waiting on us.
Es war ein wunderbarer Ferien, but always
good to get back home.
I want to thank Ben (BavariaBen), Larry (PStuyvsant), Val (Fadoinka), Dick (JESTER1J2D), Bill (BHICKOX3) and others for your patience in answering my questions. Your advice
and guidance is much appreciated. I apologize, in advance for all misspellings and grammar errors, an English major,
I'm not.
Auf Wiedersehen !
