(Bill - wah524@comcast.net)

Travelers: Bill - wah524@comcast.net - and - Erskine - hhav@aol.com

Countries visited: Germany - Austria - Liechtenstein - Switzerland

Day 1 (18 & 19 Oct)

The trip originated when Erskine (HHav) asked me of any interest in a European trip with him. I was surprised but happy by the invitation. Graciously, Carolyn, my understanding wife, agreed - bless her heart - and proceeded to help me with arranging the personal details.

Erskine did all of the planning with occasional input from me. Over a two-week period we arranged for the cheapest airline tickets and a general route, which included Weimar, Germany, the capital of the Weimar Republic of the 1920s, arranged after Germany lost the First World War. It is infamous as the unsuccessful republic, which failed in 1933, because of the severe reparations demanded by the Allies. The failure was caused by the severe inflation of the Reichmark, which, in turn, was caused by the inability of the German nation to pay the reparations. The unfairness caused the German people to be ready for a stable government, and they supported Hitler to achieve this.

So our general route would include flying into Frankfurt, taking the train 175 miles to Weimar, two days with Eckhard and Baerbel, my friends from 35 years ago, then by car to Dresden, on to the area of Munich in Bavaria; then to central Austria, for a few days, and west to a small town near the Swiss border, into the Black Forest of southwestern Germany, and completing the trip at Stuttgart airport. Stuttgart was chosen because it was closer to the southern German border, preventing a drive further north back to Frankfurt.

Erskine chose small towns in this route, and arranged for, inexpensive hotels and pensions. Some of the hotels Erskine had stayed in on previous trips. He obtained reservations for all the sites over the Internet.

The flight from Nashville to Atlanta was fine. Then the troubles began. The Delta 777 had electrical generator troubles and we departed, finally, two hours late. Arrival in Frankfurt was about 1.5 hours late. The train station is in the airport and we bought our two tickets on a group plan for two, which reduced the price by one third, down to Euro 50. Trains in Germany arrive and depart within a few seconds of the scheduled time, and this record was maintained for this trip, leaving at 12:20. We had planned to stop over for two hours in Fulda for two hours, a beautiful city of cathedrals, but after the late airplane arrival, and a later train departure, we canceled the stopover.

We arrived in Weimar on time and were met by Baerbel and Eckhard as planned. It is only a short distance to their home near the center of town. Their spacious apartment is on the second floor of a typical German building. The city is old by American standards and was deteriorated during the occupation by the Soviets from 1945 to 1990. Since East Germany was joined to West Germany in 1990 a general renovation of the houses has been in progress. A few remain, which are old, gray, and dilapidated. But most have new stucco and paint and are like the western German houses. They are painted in many muted colors and were very beautiful.

Baerbel prepared a wonderful supper of fondue with three kinds of beef. There were six kinds of sauce to dip it in of many different flavors. She added pickles and olives for contrast… really a wonderful meal; and the Gemütlichkeit (good discussion and warm feelings) was very interesting. We sat and discussed politics and every other subject imaginable, and retired for the night about 22:30. Needless to say I slept like a log unbroken until 7:00 the next morning.

Day 2 (October 20, Thursday)

The day began with the typical German breakfast with about four kinds of cold cuts, several types of hard rolls (picked up fresh from the bakery that morning), and four kinds of jam, butter, two cheeses, and excellent coffee.

After breakfast a horse-drawn open carriage and driver picked us up as arranged by the Domesles. We proceeded into Old Town Weimar where we picked up our tour guide. She was skilled in German and excellent English. Old Town Weimar is beautiful with many old government buildings and a park running right through the center bordering both sides of the Ilm River. We learned from the guide about the famous people from Weimar’s past including Herr Goethe, poet, novelist, playwright, courtier, and natural philosopher, one of the greatest figures in Western literature.

Especially interesting was the Elephant Hotel, overlooking the open market, and the balcony on which Hitler addressed his adoring fans early in his reign. The guide had a picture of him making a speech from this balcony (which I photographed) and then I photographed the balcony itself.

We also were shown the building where the Gestapo (Nazi secret police) jailed and tortured thousands of political enemies of the Hitler’s Third Reich. On the last day of the war in 1945, the SS soldiers took 8,000 prisoners from the their cells in this building out into the countryside and executed them all. All-told about 65,000 people passed through this building. After the war the Russians, who occupied East Germany for 45 years, also used it for imprisoning and torturing political enemies of the state and captured individuals from many foreign countries conquered by the Nazis. One would never suspect the crimes committed there from the restored beauty of it today.

Baerbel, Erskine, and I walked home after strolling in the mall. Eckhard, who suffers from cystic fibrosis, took a taxi. He can’t walk far without frequent rests. At home we feasted on potato soup that Baerbel prepared from scratch. I’m sure I must have put on at least five pounds in the past three days. Baerbel’s food and their hospitality could not have been better. We expressed our appreciation by giving them each an engraved natural wood pen made for them by my woodworking friend, Jim McCoy.

Day 3 (October 21, Friday)

We rose about 7:00, had another German breakfast and departed about 11:00 with the rental car, a manual shift, 2.0 liter, diesel Ford Focus.

We decided to visit the infamous Nazi concentration camp called Buchenwald, one of several hundred established by Hitler to imprison, starve, gas, and/or work prisoners to death for the war effort. Six million Jews plus thousands of other nationalities suffered in these camps. Buchenwald is located eight miles northwest of the city where 250,000 undesirables, including Jews, gypsies, and homosexuals, were concentrated. About 65,000 of them were starved to death from overwork and lack of food and ended in the crematorium. They were slave labor and supplied parts for the V-1 and V-2 rockets used to bomb England, in the last year of the war. The rockets were assembled by slave labor in tunnels in Nordhausen, a town a few miles northwest of Weimar. We saw the places where the Buchenwald barracks were located, now preserved as black riprap rectangles to show where the long-departed barracks were before their destruction after the war. We went to the crematorium and saw the ovens where the bodies were cremated. The clock at the front gate of the camp is stopped at 3:15 pm representing the exact time that the camp was discovered and liberated by American soldiers on about April 11, 1945 just before the war ended. The camp is located in a dense forest, and the Germans in Weimar claimed not to have been aware of what was going on there. After the liberation the townsfolk were brought in and forced to tour the camp and help dispose of hundreds of dead bodies piled like cordwood destined for the crematorium.

Many other people were touring the grounds, including many young people, and as they passed through the crematorium they were all very silent and reverent respecting the hordes of people who had burned there. It was a very moving experience for us all. After the tour we attended a 30 minute film that described the rise of the Nazi party in the 1930’s, the establishment of the camps of this type throughout Germany and Poland, and the atrocities committed there by the SS soldiers and the party members, all with the full knowledge of Hitler and his henchmen who planned and engineered the camps. It is the most heinous crime of the 20th century, and represents what can happen when a despot captures a nation by whatever means and enslaves all the people it conquers. We should never forget, and never allow it to happen again.

We departed Buchenwald about two in the afternoon and proceeded east toward Dresden on the autobahn, arriving at our reserved hotel at Rossau about four p.m. We had to cancel the visit to Dresden that was another seventy miles east because of the time consumed by the Buchenwald visit. I think the concentration camp visit was much more worthwhile. Everyone should see it.

We found a small restaurant called Gasthof Oberrossau near the hotel where we ate our supper. We had wiener schnitzel, topped with two fried eggs, and potatoes. It was more than we could eat, but very good, and a typical German meal. The cost was E 8.40 including a half-liter of dark beer, tip and tax, whereas it would have cost almost double that at the Rossau Hotel where we slept.

We returned to the two single rooms at the hotel. The room was clean, well arranged with the typical fluffy quilts, and included a private bath. We turned in about 9 p.m. The cost was E 31.00 or about $38 for each of us.

Day 4 (October 22, Saturday)

The day started about 7 a.m. with a trip to the beautiful dining room. The selection was extensive… you name it, they presented it. And it was included in the room price. That hotel was the best bargain imaginable, but it was located right out in the country with cows and barns across the road, and the sweet scent of cow manure floating through the air. After satisfying our hunger we ‘lifted’ a roll, cheese, and a slice of ham and sneaked it into our plastic bags for lunch.. With that and a pear and a chocolate bar, I had a good, balanced lunch. The total cost for lunch was Euro 0.23 for the pear and about Euro 0.25 for a couple of squares of the chocolate bar. I must give Erskine credit; he really knows how to squeeze a dollar (or Euro in this case).

We departed about 8:30, picked up the autobahn A72, and branched to 93 to Regensburg. We left the autobahn for about three hours and roamed the back roads through some very beautiful forests, hills and farm country, some of prettiest country we have seen. We stopped off for a village walk in Neustadt just off the autobahn.

We arrived in the Regensburg region near the confluence of the Regen, Naab, and Danube Rivers about 3:30 p.m. Of course, the beautiful blue Danube is the one of which we are most familiar, and it lived up to its name. Although the weather was hazy, the sun was out on a typical autumn day with a temperature of about 70 F. We have been extremely fortunate with the weather so far, no rain at all, but had some partially cloudy days.

Erskine has been here many times before and knew of the Walhalla Memorial overlooking the Danube. This is a replica of the Parthenon almost identical to the one in Athens and in Nashville. It sits high on a hill overlooking the Danube and the city of Regensburg. The scene was breathtaking and I took several pictures of the building outside and interior where there were many busts of many of the famous German historical celebrities. I took shots of Goethe and Beethoven, both famous men of the German 18th and 19th century, but there were many more that I didn’t recognize.

We are staying at an old monastery converted into a hotel and famous restaurant (Prösslbräu Adlersberg). Erskine knows the owner, Henry Prossl. They are also famous for the beer that is brewed right there on the premises. We ate supper here.

They have bench-type tables out in front of the restaurant where all the locals gather on good weather days to talk, eat and drink beer, which is called Gemütlichkeit.

We shared a double room, two single beds facing foot to head, with bath.

The church, which is part of the monastery, is still in use, and is in good repair. The original walls of the monastery are still here but a bit dilapidated, which gives the place character. The bell in the renovated church tower sounds on the hour except after bedtime, and it reminds me of the ones we used to hear regularly in Rhynern, Germany where we lived for three years in 1967-‘70. I really felt at home.

Day 5 (October 23, Sunday)

I had a good sleep and awoke at 7:15. Breakfast in the Prossl Restaurant was strictly German in nature. We had a nice limited conversation with the waitress who came to Germany from just west of Moscow, Russia in 1992. She was a friendly, sweet lady who also cleaned our room.

When we finished and started back to our room a beautiful brown dog met us in the hall, demanded petting, and hand licking. Dogs are completely accepted in the inn and restaurants all over Germany. They are considered one of the family.

Today was the day to see Regensburg, but before driving there we decided to take a walk along the Naab River in the beautiful, sunshiny day. The inn is only a short car ride to the river. The footpath leads east along the river to a footbridge to the other side of the Naab, just above where the Naab joins the beautiful blue Danube.

There was a beautiful Catholic church just letting out after Sunday morning mass. We went inside and took a picture of all the gold filigree. Leaving there we strolled up the riverside paralleling the Danube until we came to a railroad bridge that we crossed on an attached footbridge. Now we were on the south side of the river and headed east, again parallel to the Danube but on the other side. After about a mile we realized we had to get back across the river somehow. Observing a map sign we studied it intensely to get our directions straight and to determine how to re-cross without retracing our steps. Much confusion ruled until Erskine observed there was another rail bridge right over our left shoulder, high up above the valley, it too with an attached footbridge. That was the solution, and we crossed it, returning to our original path and back to the car. The walk was outstanding with the trees garbed in all the colors of autumn.

Now it was time for Regensburg, and we drove toward town following a vague map that left something to be desired. As we entered the city center, old town area, many of the streets were for foot traffic only. We had an difficult time finding a way to drive through the old town area to the river’s edge, got lost several times, and finally realized we must park in an underground parking garage near the edge of old town and walk. At last we began a walk of about 10 minutes arriving at the Dom, or huge double-steepled cathedral.

An outdoor restaurant serving bratwurst and beer - much beer - was located in the platz surrounding the church.

We feasted on an E 1.80 bratwurst in a hard roll, and passed up the beer since it was earlier than five p.m. Erskine doesn’t drink beer before 5 p.m. and that agreed with my feelings too. I took many pictures in the area including one on a many-arched pedestrian bridge, now closed to car traffic. It gave us a good, distant view of the Dom and the Danube waterfront.

By now we were a bit tired and decided to return to the inn and take a rest before dinner. I loaded all the new pictures into the computer.

Dinner was in the Prossl Inn dining room where we had a Helles beer before dinner, then ordered four bratwurst on sauerkraut. It doesn’t sound too good, does it? But it was delicious. The kraut isn’t as sour as is in the US version and the bratwurst was about ½ inch diameter and 4 inches long, and cooked to perfection.

While finishing our dinner old Herr Prossl came in, sat down to read the paper.

He is a typical Bavarian German with his light green, no-collar jacket. As the owner he was well known by all the people entering who greeted him as the Meister (brew master) of the village of Adlersberg. After finishing our meal I asked if I could take his picture, and he agreed. Then we were off to bed.

Day 6 (October 24, Monday)

We had the usual breakfast. We stuck a roll, cheese, and a ham slice in our plastic bag as usual for lunch. The bill for two nights for the two of us was E 98, or E 49 each. That comes to E 24.50 per person per night including breakfast and lunch. Converting to dollars gives about $30.

Our first destination was by back roads to Riedenburg on the river, a quaint small town and a favorite of the Germans on vacation. Unfortunately, since leaving the inn we had thick fog and this continued. We weren’t able to see much, the river cruise planned was closed for the season; and after roaming a bit, we headed out, again on back roads south toward Munich. After leaving the river valley the fog dissipated, and as the day progressed the sun came out on a beautiful blue-sky day. We arrived about 1:00 at our next hotel, the Langasthof-Obermeier at Oberappersdorf, a small town about 30 miles north of Munich.

It was a large room on the second floor, and I lugged my 50 pound bag upstairs again. In the afternoon I decided to do my laundry consisting of five sets of underwear, two shirts and socks. They are hung in the shower stall to dry, and, since we would be here two nights, they dry before we depart.

Then we rode a few miles down German road 301 to Freising so that Erskine could research how to catch the commuter train at Freimann next day to travel into Munich. There is a great advantage to using the train because the traffic and parking in Munich is prohibitive. With the inner city ticket and the cheaper price for two people for the day one can travel all over the city on that ticket. The ticket for both will be E 10.50 or E 5.25 each for all day, for the entire inner city. Pretty cheap compared to using the car. Parking at the ‘Park and Drive’ train station is E 1.00 for the day. We took a walk up the hill near the village of Oberappersdorf to work up an appetite… probably about a mile. I took a picture of the village with the church in the center. All villages have their church, regardless of the size, and here in Bavaria, the denomination is Catholic. In the northern part of Germany it is mostly Protestant.

We went to supper in the Gasthaus dining room and had very tender beef and spatze, a noodle, and a half-liter of beer. With the beer the price was E 8.20; without the beer the price would have been E 6.20 including a soup, entrée, and salad.

Day 7 (October 25, Tuesday)

Today began with the usual delicious German breakfast. We skipped storing away a roll, bread, and cheese for lunch, and decided to eat from the ‘street’ in Munich. The ride down from Oberappersdorf was about 25 miles, but using local highway 301 through Freising was very slow. We parked the car in a Park and Ride near the Kieferngarten U6-Bahn station. Erskine bought the E 8.00 Partner (2 to 5 people included) daily ticket, good for anywhere in the inner city ring. My half was E 4.00. The procedure requires that before leaving the station you must validate the ticket in a blue meter in the station. Failure to do this, if checked by the bahn police on the train, can result in a hefty fine. This is the only time the ticket will be punched. There is no conductor on the train for ticket punching.

The train took us to our chosen destination, Munich’s Marienplatz that is near the main train station and the tall tower of the Rathaus (main government building, or courthouse). Tourists gather in the huge square in front of Rathaus daily for the 11:00 a.m. display of the famous Glockenspiel puppets, a 10-minute automatic play with music half way up the tower. We finally found some postcards of which I bought four, but then realized I didn’t the addresses of the children. So I wrote up one to Carolyn, and another to son Steve (I had his address), but had to leave off Linda and Laura until I get their addresses. I could acquire these when calling Carolyn later that day. One can call the US simply by entering 001, the area code, and phone number: very simple and cheap. E 1.00 will get you about 1-½ minutes, just long enough to check in. A meter on the phone counts down to tell you when your time is up, and it clicks off immediately with little concern that you may be in the middle of a sentence. Very rude.

We then walked about two blocks to the famous Hofbräuhaus with directions from very friendly and helpful Germans on the street. We went inside and listened to the oompa band while having a bowl of potato soup.

I remembered the day in 1967 when we visited there on our way to St. Johann, Austria to ski with the children. I was also reminded of the railroad station restaurant where I ordered Kalbhirn for lunch only to find it was watery, half-cooked calf brains, which I couldn’t eat.

Erskine suggested we take the U3 Bahn to the Olympic Stadium where the BMW Car assembly plant and museum is located. The old museum was closed as they constructed a new, monstrous one, but there was a small substitute nearby, so we went there. The senior rate was E 1.50. It only displayed, perhaps, 25 cars tracked from the earliest, made after the first world war, to the latest, a 2002 hydrogen powered beauty, of which only one was made.

We then took the U3 Bahn train, which connected to the U6 train back north to the Münchner Freiheit station. There we disembarked, walked about a half mile to the English Garden Park, a beautiful lakeside park with ducks and geese, and a beer garden and restaurant. After a brief rest we returned to the U6 bahn station, took the train on north to Kieferngarten station, disembarked, paid E 1.00 for the car park, and drove back to Oberappersdorf Landgasthof Obermeier via the A9 autobahn, exiting at Schweitenkirchen.

I give all this detail for future use in case I ever return. If one knows how things work in the large German cities one can save lots of money and time. All train (U Bahn, S Bahn, and D Bahn) tickets can be bought from a vending machine at each station rather from a ticket agent. The small outlying stations don’t even have an agent available. There are many choices one can make by punching the right buttons, which are explained beside the buttons if you can read a bit of German.

The inner ring ticket is good for the city center only. If one buys an outer ring ticket (same price), it covers only the outer ring, not the outer and inner ring combined. One can also buy a more expensive ticket that covers all rings. There is a discounted ticket, also, if the ticket covers more than one person (2 to 5). Another choice is a daily ticket, a weekly ticket, or a monthly ticket. The discounts are more the longer the period.

Day 8 (October 26, Wednesday)

The day began with the usual breakfast, good as always. Lisa was our English-speaking waitress and owner, and she was very friendly and helpful. If we ever communicate with the place again we should address to her.

We followed the autobahn through Munich, south (A 9, 99, 8) then to a state road, 318. As we continued south the trees became evergreens and really beautiful. All the hardwoods were in full color. We soon passed into Austria and into the Alps mountains. We passed Innsbruck on the westbound autobahn, and left it to head up into mountain valley where our next place was located in Leutasch near Seefeld, The Liasnhof, a farm bed and breakfast. We rode on up to Mittenwald, a small town deep in the valley overlooked by steep granite-topped mountains. Here I bought two postcards to send to Laura and Linda, who I had missed on my previous mailing the day before to Steve and Carolyn. When I called her yesterday I told her I would call today and get the addresses of Laura and Linda. So, when I called with an E 2.00 coin (2 minutes), she had forgotten to have the street numbers available. I hung up, planning to call in 20 minutes. On this next call the phone booth would not take a coin; the slot wouldn’t accept it. I finally found another booth and tried again with an E 0.20 coin. I was planning to insert an E 2.00 if needed to extend the call, but, again, the slot wouldn’t take the added coin. We were cut off on the first call just in time to get the addresses. I wrote the cards, and finally, mailed them. I never had so much trouble making a phone call or sending two postcards in my life. That little episode cost me $3.50 and we still had no time to talk. We explored buying a phone card, but soon realized they are useable only in the country in which bought. Here in Mittenwald we were in Germany, but one KM back toward the hotel we would be in Austria, and we would be in Austria most of the remaining part of the trip. So I think it is best to stay with coins and avoid the country and left-over-minutes problems.

The farm owner here owned many sheep and some cows and ran an active farm. This time of year he was constantly busy cutting firewood and splitting and stacking it. In the late afternoon when it was time to bring the 30 to 40 sheep from the pasture into the barn for the night it was interesting to watch him attract them with an empty feed can. When the sheep had gathered in a group around him he then opened the pasture gate and they followed him across the road to the barn attached to the house. I presume they were eventually rewarded with their supper.

Here is a very famous church call the Wies Church, and is the one we visited when we lived in Germany in 1968.

Again, I took several outside and interior pictures because the church is one of a kind, with gold gilt everywhere.

I took several pictures, but the best were some from a bridge that spans a gorge just west of the castle.

We grocery shopped in Bludenz for two night’s supper since the gasthaus apartment in Brand, our next stop, had full cooking, refrigerating, and serving facilities. The apartment cost is E 54 ($65) per night, or $32.50 per person per night. It will bed down five people easily, and I believe the cost would be the same for five as for two.