Tuesday, May 26th, 2009:
So, now that our very eventful, long, FUN, and stressful drive to Berlin was behind us (and a few beers in us, I might add), it was time to be tourists. People always make fun of tourists but aren't we all when we're not at home?
Woke up really early. I set my alarm for about 6am everyday there. Yes, we were out late on most nights but our thought was that we could sleep any ole time. When and how often do we have the chance to visit Europe?
So... 6am and of course I want....wait....need some coffee. In Germany, there are these little stands literally on every corner. Some are in actual spaces, some are carts. But they're called Imbiss and they genereally have snack foods, bratwurst, Cola, etc. Well, tehre was one right between our hotel and the little bar I had gotten ripped in the night before. It was a small shop up front and most obviously a man and his wife's abode in the back. They were having coffee themselves in the back part (the door separating the two was open). The gentleman came to the front and cheerfully wished me a good morning ("morgen"). I ordered a cup of coffee and a little pastry filled with apples. WOW!!! Some of you know (most of you don't) that a well-made apple fritter is my morning vice. This little apple-pastry was nothing like a fritter but blew the fritter completely out of the water. Wow! You know what was even better? The two of them together was less than 2 Euros. :) SCORE! Of course the cup of coffee was tiny compared the Venti I get daily at home but it was good coffee and I appreciated its morning power. :)
Even though we're at the end of May, it was downright cold over there. Well... atleast to us Arizonans. How cold? Maybe 14-18°C. Not freezing, mind you. But not shorts on a motorcycle weather, either.
Went back to the room and took a.....bath? Shower? Mix of the 2? Bawer? The bathing situation of there was interesting. First of all, I don't take baths, I shower. Have any of you ever watched Everybody Loves Raymond? There is an episode where they go to Italy and there is a scene where Ray is taking a bath but has to hold a shower head in his hand to get water on him. Well, that was me. It was just strange to me to be sitting in a tub but holding a shower head.
We decided not to eat hotel breakfast this morning as it just seemed too expensive for us and we didn't know what to expect, anyway. Instead, we found the car, opened up some maps and decided we would hit up the Brandenburg Gate first. So, we plugged it into the trusty ole BlackBerry, once again and off we went.
Ok, I forgot to mention that it was now close to 8am. It took us a couple hours to drink our tiny coffee and get ready for the day. Why is this important? Well, rush hour traffic in a major city is not just an American affliction. Apparently, it is a global pandemic. :)
So, here we were, in the Punto on roads which were poorly marked and in a foreign language. I'm still only about 36 hours into the driving in Germany experience so I was not entirely comfortable although the rush hour experience will get you up to speed pretty quickly. Aside from being generally lost but feeling like we were headed in the right direction, we got to see a couple of interesting things. One was a guy on a scooter (like a vespa) that got hit by a car. He was alright but it's just not something you get to see everyday. The other point of interest was me almost running over several bicyclists. Not funny at all...especially when you're being cursed at in German.
Finally made our way through and around town enough to say we'd travelled it several times. You see...there really is no grid to the majority of the streets. They just sort of go whichever way was most convenient at the time of their construction. So, I took many turns thinking "it goes in the right direction" and that always got me further into the state of "lost." But then there was the Victory Tower. What a gorgeous piece of architecture that just sits as the conterpiece of a large round about now. A piece of history...
At this point, we're starting to see some tour bus activity so we figured they would be heading to the place we wanted to go...Pariser Platz. Sure enough we followed them long enough and I could finally see the famous Qudriga that sits atop the gate above some of the buildings in the area. I got a little lucky and found a parking space fairly close to the whole thing so we parked. The pay parking over there is pretty similar to ours. There were these little machines that you put in your money and got a little receipt that you had to put in the window. So, instead of a meter at ever spot, there was one meter to get your receipt and display it.
The parking spot was right next to the Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe--a 4.7 acre field of black concrete slabs (2,700 of them). They were very solemn. Rows and rows of these slabs. Up and down the little hills. One could easily go into the rows and be in darkness even in mid day. Beneath the slabs was an Information Center that contained to names of all the known Holocaust victims. Very sad.
Since we had not eaten breakfast yet, we saw a Dunkin Doughnuts...yeah, Dunkin Doughnuts of all places. We had a couple of these doughnuts and some coffee and proceeded to walk to Pariser Platz and the Brandenburg gate. The direction we came from actually put us right next to the American Embassy in Berlin.
Then, there we were. So awe inspiring to look at the same piece of architecture that Napolean fought and won at. The same place that Hitler draped his horrendous Nazi flags at and paraded through in a show of power. The very same place that was utterly detroyed near the end of WWII. All of the buildings around demolished except for the gate itself. The symbol of Prussian Power prior to its collapse as a nation. The place where just on the other side, President Ronald Reagan spoke for democracy. The symbol of a divided nation that had previously wrapped around the gate. Wow. I couldn't get enough of looking at it.
There were these two Italian men playing guitars near the gate and selling CD's for 5 Euros each. I bought one even though music is clearly Italian inspired. It was just neat. There was also a man dressed in traditional German Military attire making fake Visas that were used to get through the various sectors of Berlin...The French, British, American, and Soviet sectors each had their own stamp admitting you through the sectors on a single visa. Of course we got a couple of those.
After about an hour of just being in the presence of this magnificent work of art, we took a little stroll down to the Bundestag (formerly known as the Reichstag). This is the big German Parliament building with the words Dem Detschen Volke in giant letters above the main entrance. It was an amazing sight as well...knowing the history that has occured in this very building. We were actually stopped outside of the Bundestag by a news crew asking us about our opinions on the upcoming European elections. We explained that we were American so we really didn't have any knowledge or input about it.
We left the Bundestag and went back towards the Brandenburg Gate. We were hungry and remembered seeing a few restaurants in the area. We stopped at one called the Hofbrauhaus Berlin. I don't remember what I had but it was delicious. My wife, on the other hand, ordered a baked potato and when that thing came out, it took up the whole damn plate! HUGE potato covered in this thin sour cream. The sour cream over there was a real point of interest to us because there was something different about it. We eventually looked up what it was and the difference was the dill they put in the sour cream. Delicious!!! Of course, I had a couple beers with lunch. I seemed to have beer with every meal over there (except breakfast--not that I'm opposed to it, it just wasn't available). I ordered Pils, of course (Pilsner Beer) since that's the common style of beer--at least in Berlin. As we were sitting at lunch, we both made comments about how it really wasn't all that different there than here. People coming and going...eating lunch....catching the bus. Just in a different language and with a different cultural flare.
After lunch we were trying to figure out exactly what to do. It was still fairly early in the day and we had daylight until 10pm, anyway. We had time. We input the address to the last remaining portion of the Berlin wall into the Blackberry and set our course. It started raining while were driving and the whole atmosphere was just plain gloomy. Knowing we were in former East Berlin and heading to see a wall that did not serve to keep people OUT of a country. It kept its own people IN their country. Sort of backwards and not ever really recorded in history aside from East Germany. On the way to the wall, we once again found ourselves sharing our driving lane with the train tracks. That was something that we didn't understand the whole time we were there. We really had to pay attention to if a train was coming so we could get the hell out of the way.
We made it to the wall. The rain had slowed to a drizzle and the streets were shiny with the standing puddles and just moisture in general. We had parked right next to a cemetery which coincidentally was just on the west side of the portion of the wall that was left standing. There was a plaque on the wall in both German and English and we read where they had to move all the graves in the cemetery back (West) to make room for the wall. Horrible. The portion of the wall was open on the side and we were able to walk in the open section between the physical barriers. If you don't know, it was not just a wall. It was a wall, then a very wide section to patrol in, and then another wall for the other side.
Across from the wall was an information center and gift shop. The info center had a short tower that we cold climb to the top of and see out over the wall. That put an even bigger perspective on things. You could visually follow the path of the now fallen wall through the city. Like a barren wilderness just a few yards wide in the midst of a large city. To the right we could see a big pile of rubble from where the wall was torn down. I don't know how long it had been sitting there but it was still various shades from the graffiti that had once adorned the wall. You've seen the pictures. While we were atop the tower, there was a tour going on. The group consisted of what was obviously a bunch of American High School students. The tour guide was apparently of American background but now resided in Berlin. It was interesting to hear her speak to the tour group about some of the history of the wall. One of the things she shared really took me by surprise. She had mentioned how many East Germans were disappointed when the wall came down because, regardless of how the democratic world viewed the communist nations, people had their identities as such and now were forced to live how others thought they should. We were done with the wall. Quite moving. We stopped at the gift shop and bought a couple books and a postcard that had a piece of the wall in it (in a little plastic bubble attached to the card. It's kind of neat to say that I own a piece of the Berlin Wall.
I forgot to mention that we had gotten a tour book of Berlin and the surrounding area from the receptionist back at the Alfa Hotel. Within the book, there was mention of a concentration camp just outside of Berlin called Sachsenhausen. It was situated just on the edge of a town called Oranienburg. Literally on the edge of town. So, we decided that it was a must that we one of these for ourselves. Neither of us really knowing what to expect. So, into the Blackberry it went and we were on our way...about 35km.
Sure, we got lost a couple of times on the way but eventually found where we were supposed to be. There were actually signs for the camp as we got deeper into town. That made it easier for us. As mentioned in an earlier blog, the signs were brown with white lettering to mark the historic landmark. Way back at the end of town as you head from the Autobahn, there it was. It already looked gloomy. Coming up the camp, we were greeted by the sight of a tower at the corner of a wall. On that wall was the constantan wire. Of course we were on the outside of the camp but it still looked overwhelming.
We weren't exactly sure where to go but we found a welcome center that was once the headquarters for the whole base. Aside from being a camp (Konzentrationslager), this was also a military base and more specifically a weapons storage facility. Everything around was dedicated to the German military at one point and the concentration camp was just a part of it all.
I want to take a minute here to shed some light on the idea behind concentration camps as they were designed to be...not what they ended up being. I learned about it while visiting Sachsenhausen so, I'm no expert. These camps were designed for storage of prisoners of war. Not meant to kill people but to put them to work. In fact, Sachsenhausen was more of a Soviet POW camp than anything else. Of course, eventually, the atrocities of the era would change everything about that.
Inside the welcome center, there were several personal items that were discovered and on display. Some were letters, spoons, diaries, shoes.... It was almost just too heavy. I don't know if that makes sense to everyone but your heart hurt a little when you read the translations from these letters. There was also a bookstore within the center. My wife and I browsed through several books and read some of the personal accounts of what was witnessed at the camps. Sachsenhausen, Auschwitz (Auchwiz), and others. The stories were sad. Very sad.
We left the center and made the 400 meter walk down to the entrance of the camp. The wall was to our left, looming over us as we walked. To the right were historic barracks that were built for the Nazi officers who worked the camps. To the left, we finally made it to the gate. Inside the first gate, it looked like this was at one time a sort of receiving area. There was a gate and walls but there were other walls and a gate a little further beyond. We walked through this receiving area and got to the main gate to the camp. Wow... you almost didn't even want to walk through the gates. Like if you went in, you were entering hell on your own accord. On the iron gate were the words that appeared on every concentration camp gate: "Arbeit Macht Frei." Work Means Freedom.
Most of the barracks (that's what the Germans called them) had been burned down by activist groups throughout the years. But, the semicircle arrangement of the barracks was still very easy to discern. I would ask that you look up the Sachsenhausen camp so you can see what I'm talking about. Although this one is not as known as Auschwitz, Sachsenhausen was the model for concentration camps going forward. It was the first one.
Off to the right were the barracks that were dedicated to the Jews that were brought to Sachsenhausen. We went to those barracks to see the inside. It was horrible. The room that contained the bunk beds was small and number of beds was outright unbelievable. How was it even possible for this many people to be forced into a single room. There was a general community room, as well. Many tables in rows where they were allowed to congregate when they had the chance. The restrooms and bathing rooms were roped off but you could see in them. By each, there were plaques with stories about the evil things that were done to the Jews while in each. Once, a man washed his feet in the washroom (there were places to actually wash feet). A Nazi officer drowned him for that. Right there in the room I was looking into. It was very easy to get choked up when reading these stories.
On the opposite end of these barracks was a museum type display of many other items recovered from the camp. All along the walls were pictures and stories about the innocent people in their prior lives. There was a timeline along the walls which gave me a better understanding of how and when Hitler decided that the Jews were a European "problem." The part that bothers me is that so many people bought into it. How? I don't get it.
We left the barracks and started walking through the camp in general. There were many towers along the walls. Also parallel to the walls was a "caution zone" that was about 5 yards wide. This separated the wall from the rest of the camp. It was wide open but had rocks instead of grass. If a prisoner crossed that line, they were shot. No warnings. Just shot. We walked through a lot of the camp but didn't go all the way to the back. I was under the impression that it was only a train station back there (prisoners were brought in that way, as well). It wasn't until after I got back home that I realized that there were actually execution trenches back there. It is difficult to say without sounding odd but I really would have liked to see that. Not for any good reason really. It's just something that I can say I looked upon with my own eyes. Something that represented how evil humans can be to one another. But it was sort of raining and we needed to get back to the car soon.
We walked back to the car. The walk seemed long and we really didn't say much to each other. Just sort of taking it in. After getting in the car, we saw signs for a mass grave. We did go to see that. It was a large squared off piece of land in the middle of a field, just behind the walls of the camp. Very sad. Ugh.....
It was now around 4 or 5 in the afternoon and we were hungry. We drove through the town of Oranienburg a couple of times. Either we didn't know what what we were hungry for or we just weren't ready to eat. I don't know. One of the sights that really was something to see was Schloss Oranienburg. It seemed like every little town had a Schloss or two in it. That was either a castle or a mansion. Either way, the term was the same. Schloss Oranienberg sat along the bank of the River Harvel. Big, beautiful white mansion.
After a couple of trips around town, we found ourselves outside of town a little and settled on a little place along a different part of the river. That looked good enough for us so we stopped. I should have known by the blue and white exterior decor and the chosen font of the place that it was a Greek restaurant but I wasn't paying enough attention. I'm not really a big fan of Greek food outside of real Gyros (not the bullshit you get over here). Once we sat down, however, I felt it would have just been rude to leave so we ate there, regardless. The meal started with a shotglass of Ouzo for each of us. I hear many people talk about ouzo and many others wanted to make sure I drank it while I was there. I had ouzo back in the 90's and didn't care for it. This time was no different. It really tastes like burnt licorice to me. I don't recall what we had to eat but we finished up and headed back to Berlin.
By this time, directions were getting much easier to follow. My wife was learning more about reading the directions, and I was learning more about how to actually follow them. We made it back into town and I had exited the Autobahn. I stopped at a red light that was positioned just before a roundabout. Once I got the green, off I went. I damn near hit someone but made it through without incident. The next turn was coming up but I wan't exactly sure where it was. All of sudden, there was the street I was supposed to turn on. I was going like 60km/h. Shit! I hit the brakes and turned left as quickly as I could. I then thought to myself that the streets of Berlin might be better navigated a touch more slowly. So, I slowed it down. There was this van behind me and he was right on my ass. I decided that I needed to speed up the get him off of me. He was trying to pass me so, relieved, I moved over a little. Just as he got to the side of me, an oncoming car forced him to fall back in behind me. By now, I'm irritated and just want this guy to go around me ASAP. Well, he gets beside me this time and stays beside me. I look over and there's this gy hanging out of the window with a lit sign that says "Stop." Great.
I pull over and the van pulls over in front of me. The guy from the passenger side gets out and comes to my side of the car. He pulls out his badge from inside of his shirt (wearing it like a necklace) and begins speaking to be in a very flat but fast German. Because I don't even think he stopped to breathe, I let him finish before telling him politely that I didn't speak German. He motioned for the driver to come back there with him and asked him in German if he spoke English. Of course the driver (another cop) did not speak English, either. I was a little baffled, actually. Now, I already feel bad because I didn't speak their language while being in their country but of all places, I figured Berliners would speak English. After several minutes of neither one of them knowing what to do, I understood that the roundabout I had gone through earlier apparently had another red light in the MIDDLE of the roundabout. It had been red for 4 seconds when I went through it That must have been why I almost hit another car. Oops. But who the hell puts a red light IN the roundabout. Aren't those supposed to negate the need for traffic signals? Regardless, they let me off the hook and off we went. Heart was pounding cause I was nervous as hell but we made it through that.
Back to the Alfa Hotel we went. By the time we had gotten back, t was really starting to get dark. We were tired and had seen and done many things today. I was really looking forward to tomorrow by then. It was time for bed.
Three Castles and the Autobahn (Day 2 of Germany)
I've been letting this go for too long so I figured I'd better get on here and update this before the details slip away. Pardon my spelling. I'll edit it later.
That first night of sleep was out-freakin-standing. Interesting note about the beds in Germany--at least the hotel beds. They all used these really small beds that were quite smaller than what we know as a twin bed. If you got a "double" room, two of these beds were crammed together side by side. Every hotel had the exact same type of white down comforter and they were warm as hell.
We got up fairly early and got our things together. Did our thing--you know...shit, shower, and shave. We didn't pay for breakfast with the room but we had the option to pay for it separately so we exercised that option this morning. Went into the restaurant and not being used to the customs yet, we didn't know if it was a buffet style or if we needed to order. Sure enough, it was buffet which always sounds good to me. The breakfast here in Frankfurt was well diverse but it sort of set the pace and kind of eased us into the breakfasts in days to come. There were some cereals and milk. Juice and coffee, of course. But the thing that struck us as different was the large selection of what I would call "deli-meats" and cheeses. Hams, turkey, cold sausages...then there was this one particular meat that sort of reminded me of bologna but not quite as pink. This "bologna" had pieces of mushrooms IN the meat. It was actually quite good. Neither one of us really knew what to eat so our meal was quite small.
After breakfast, we sat outside on the patio for the restaurant for a few minutes. There was a local men's soccer team who were coming back from a workout or a team run. The coaches passed by and smiled and said "morgen" to us. We replied in the native tongue of course but it was nice to appear that we just blended in.
Time to go, I guess. We loaded our car, took a few pictures and headed out. At this point, I had not QUITE figured out how to put in addresses accurately in Google Maps but I was starting to get the hang of it. So, I just typed in "Berlin" and got directions. Let's keep in mind that from this point, we had no itinerary and absolutely NO HOTEL accommodations reserved anywhere. We were foreigners in a car heading whichever direction the BlackBerry told us. And that was fine by us.
We decided to hit up the bank before we took off from Frankfurt. I had discovered the night before that the max my bank would let me take out at a time was 150 Euros. Seems like enough but you'd be amazed at how quickly you can go through that. BUT... I had to keep track of the days in the U.S. for the withdrawals because if I didn't time it right (and being 9 hours ahead of AZ), I was "screwed" out of an ATM withdrawal for the day.
There is a term--or rather a street sign I should say-- that everyone going to Germany should know and understand well. "Einbahnstraße." Pronounced: Ein'-bon-shtrass-a... Guess what that means? "One Way Street." They're on blue signs with a big white arrow. Problem I had with German street signs was that they seemed to be fairly low and typically further back from the intersection that I'm used to. German streets were crowded enough. Throw in a lost American going the wrong way down a one-way street and it's a "puckering" experience.
Pulled over and got my bearings. Looked around a figured out where we were and the ole lady started reading directions to me. We got lost a couple times (as we certainly would the remainder of the week) but we never let that slow us down. On this particular morning, we followed one road entirely too far and ended up on the bank of a river. We got out and took some pictures. Sure, it was like any river in any place but took pictures anyway. There was an older woman across the river on the opposite bank feeding ducks by herself. Just sort of neat.
Got back in the car and finally found the exit for the Autobahn. Here we were....still didn't know the courtesies of the Autobahn yet but I would learn that day. After about 20 minutes, I realized that again, we were heading the wrong way on the autobahn. :) Dear oh dear... This is going to be a long week. Finally got turned around the right direction and off we were. Heading toward Köln (Cologne). We weren't stopping there but that was the direction we were heading on the A5.
Once we got well out of town, I decided that the child-sized coffee I had at breakfast wasn't going to cut it. I found a little pull off with a gas station/convenience store. These little pull-offs are absolutely nothing like American ones. I'm talking slow down from 170km/h to stop in about 500 feet. Imagine the dinkiest little "rest area" on any given American Freeway, bring it right up against the freeway, and put a gas station in the middle of it. That's what we're talking about here. Went in to get coffee and was greeted by a young child--probably 6 years old--who was bulky as hell and wearing nothing but some tighty-whiteys. Ok...WTF? Not my culture...can't judge.
Got my coffee and the wife came back from the restroom. In Europe (fairly Universally), restrooms are denoted in public by the letters "WC." In German, that is pronounced "Vee-Tsee" (those are the letters in the German alphabet, after all). She told me about this little dish next to the WC that had change in it. People were putting change into the dish but she didn't because neither one of us understood what that was really all about. It's not like they had people in the WC giving out towels, etc. We later learned that these were to pay for the cleaning of the WC and there were usually people in vests outside of the WC who probably took care of that.
Off we go again. We don't really talk much in the car during this week. We both just sort of keep to ourselves and take it in. The countryside here is absolutely gorgeous. Most of actually reminded me of driving through TN and GA. We started noticing that every town, village, collection of houses had a very large and ornate steeple (attached to a church, of course) somewhere near the middle of the town. They were all black (the steeples) and most were pointed although some were rounded. I think--but never received confirmation--that the round ones were Jewish Synagogues.
On our way through some of the mountainous terrain early in today's voyage, we see this traffic jam on the Autobahn that looked like it went on for a while. I thought "damn...glad that ain't me." Why is this important? It's not but as we were driving, we noticed that this traffic jam just kept on going. And going. And going. Wow. I'm talking 20-25km of a traffic jam. STOPPED cars, not slowed cars. Everyone was out of their cars…smoking, talking to other drivers (or non-drivers at this point). It looked really bad and it appeared to have begun with one single broken down truck that blocked a single lane. Crazy.
We had all day to get to Berlin and by-gosh we took all day. We stopped a couple times for no reason at all. Once, we stopped in this little town just because it looked classic from the autobahn. We drove around for a minute or two, got out, walked around for a few minutes, and took some pictures of the church in the middle of town. Got back in the car and headed back to the autobahn again.
The historical markers on the freeways are similar to the ones on our roads. They are brown signs with white lettering. We kept seeing these signs for historical houses, mills, churches, etc., but we never actually saw any of the historical landmarks that they were supposed to represent. But then, we saw one. :) The marker said "Drei ......" I don't remember what the second word was but it was basically talking about "three castles." The word was not "Schloß" which would make sense. We saw three castles (or ruins of them, rather) spread out on top of three different hills (the three largest in the area). Of course, we took the exit to get to the most accessible one. It was called Die Mühlberg and was built sometime in the 700's. The tower still stood high and it was rather small but wide open. To get to the castle, you actually had to walk across a bridge that most obviously used to cover a moat. Yeah...a freaking moat! I loved it. You could tell time really took effect on this little castle. You could see remnants of the walls inside. We got some great pictures of the castle. We climbed to the top of the tower and took pictures of the surrounding area--the other castles and the town below). We also walked down into the dungeon. VERY cold down there and hardly any natural lighting at all. It was a neat little side-excursion because there was no guide for this thing. We could take it in at our leisure and by ourselves.
Back on our journey NE...
We left the state of Hessen where Frankfurt lies, and headed into the state of Thuringen. For those of you who don't know, Thuringen is the home of the Rostbratwurst (how we know bratwurst). We stopped at a little "truck stop" (they call it a truckstop but it was more like a rest stop without gas...restaurant, gift shop, etc). I ordered a Rostbratwurst mit senf (brat with mustard). They also had on tap... Köstritzer Schwarzbier (I'll try my best to pronounce this: Koo'-stritz-a Shvatz-bia). This is my absolute favorite beer. It's a Black Pilsener beer from the State of Thuringen from a little town called Bad Köstritz. On tap...at the truck stop. DAMN! Anyway, more on that in a few blogs.
Back to the Autobahn we go. Heading out on A4 this time. Hey, did I explain "The Autobahn" to you? Let's set the record straight here. There is no such thing as "THE Autobahn." That's like saying "THE Freeway" or "THE Highway" over here. "Bahn" basically means "way." "Autobahn" is just the name of their freeway SYSTEM. Not one road. And there are certainly speed-limits. Did anyone adhere to them? No way. The large Audi A6 and the Volkswagens were the car to have there. I'm talkin' fast, brotha. Yes, there were some short sections with no speed limit but the majority of the time, the limit was 120-130km/h. But there was a LOT of road construction so you couldn't really get going that fast for very long. So... I call bullshit on the autobahn myth. There was a courtesy though that I learned on this day. If you were slower, you DID move to the right. No question. And nobody passed on the right. Instead, they would come up on you and move in directly behind you so you could move over and let them pass to the left. Brilliant!
So, we head on up and through and get near the A14 (somehow, we were actually on the A9 from the A4). That was the section of freeway that took you to Leipzig. I REALLY wanted to see a little of Leipzig and more specifically Thomaskirche. Johann Sebastian Bach did most of his work from Leipzig and was the cantor for Thomaskirche before he died. His grave is supposedly in the church. That would have been cool. But, It didn't know where I was going and it was getting late in the afternoon. Instead, we saw a really filthy part of Leipzig and just wanted to get out of town.
On the way back to the A14, I decided that now would be a good time to stop for gas. The had 3 selections. Benzin, Super, and Super Plus. WTF was Benzin? It took us about 30 minutes to get gas because I wasn't sure which was just plain old unleaded gas. I asked the clerk in the store but no English and I didn't know enough German to navigate the gas pump question. We settled for Super and that seemed to be a good choice. Let's put price into perspective for a moment. Gas was about 1.80 (Euros) per liter. That's right...liter. And the car took about 30 liters to fill up. Small tank but it was damned expensive to fill up.
Back on the road. Confused as hell as we get near Berlin. The directions are starting to be more obscure because, if you remember, I simply put "Berlin" into the map. Who knows where we'll end up. So we stopped again and a roadside gas station to look up some hotels. Found one and input the address and headed out once again.
We get downtown and now it's about 6:30-7pm. I don't know where I am. I'm realizing now that if Berlin is anything like Frankfurt, I'm looking at not finding anything open very soon. I'm starting to stress a little but try my best not to let the wife see that. Once I realized where we were, I started fresh in the blackberry and got us to a hotel near Schloß Charlottenburg (you should look that up). Lucky for us, it was still open. Unlucky for us, they had no rooms available. Ok, I was really starting to worry that we would be sleeping in the car. Was I worried for my sake? No way! I've slept in a lot worse places in my adult life. I was worried that it would stress my wife out and I wanted her to be comfortable--more so than me, anyway. So, again to the blackberry. This time I did a search of the area for hotels. Found one just a km away and drove there. We walked into the lobby at 8:20. They closed at 8. But they had a bar that was attached to the lobby and a waiter greeted us. We told him our situation and he was so nice. Went out of his way for us really. He called the owner of the hotel to see if he would let him check us in anyway. The owner said no but the waiter called some more hotels until he found us one. It was nice of HIM to call because he could speak to the other hotel personnel in German and as a local. He secured us a spot at the Alfa Hotel--just a few blocks away-- for two nights. I breathed a sigh of relief as we thanked him for his kindness and drove away to our hotel.
We checked in to the Alfa Hotel. We had a room on the top floor. There were only about 4 rooms per floor sp it's not like these hotels were like ours at all. At the end of our very short hallway was a door to the roof of the hotel. What a good view! Sure, it was city, but a good view of it, regardless.
By this time, we're hungry and it's 9pm. I knew we weren't far from the Schloß Charlottenburg and I remembered seeing a restaurant/brewpub nearby. I plugged it into the BlackBerry and it only took us a minute to get down there. The place was called Brauhaus Lemke. We ordered food and of course I wanted to try their beers. They had 4 on tap that were brewed there at the pub. Lemke Original (which I got the recipe for from Mr. Lemke. Just brewed it 2 weeks ago), a Seasonal Maibock, a Pilsner, and a Hefeweizen. Of course I had a large one of all 4. :)
I don't remember our exact meals but the food in Germany was outstanding. Lots of meats, mushrooms, and brown gravies.
We asked for our bill ("die rechtnung, bitte"). I asked the waiter (fairly nice man) if it was common to offer gratuity in Germany. I told him this was our first meal at a restaurant so we didn't know the custom. He seemed embarrassed a little. He said yes it is. I tipped him 5 euros and he was the most thankful waiter I had ever seen because of a tip. Wow!
It was late, I had a buzz, time to go back to the hotel. We get back and I'm not ready to quit drinking German bier yet. I just happened to notice that right next to the hotel was this little hole in the wall bar. I HAD to go in there of course. I knew there would be no other tourists. Only locals. And I welcome that. My wife went with me of course. I drank more beers there and struck up conversations with the only other 3 people in there (one guy was an ass so we excluded him pretty quickly). The other 2 were very friendly. One of them was rolling his own cigarettes too (like I was) so I offered him some of my American tobacco (yes tobacco). The other guy was like a trip back to 80's American rock. He was probably mid-late 40's with a mullet and a denim jacket on. He told us the story about going to America for Woodstock '94. He talked about smokin' grass and speeding through Montana. He talked about cops, politics, and the health of jobs in Germany. It was really a good conversation and it was nice to feel welcome in that cozy little bar that served really shitty Pilsener (Berliner).
Back to the room and into bed. Since the hotel was technically "closed," the room key also opened the back door to the hotel. It was REALLY dark and I was REALLY drunk. But we made it up to our room. The room was sort of hot but the night air was cold. Not really an A/C to speak of in the Alfa Hotel but the window opened wide and cooled us off pretty well. The only problem I had was that the window had no screen and it opened up directly to the fire escape. Technically, anyone had access to our room from the fire escape.
It was a long day in Germany but it was fun. It was rewarding.
That first night of sleep was out-freakin-standing. Interesting note about the beds in Germany--at least the hotel beds. They all used these really small beds that were quite smaller than what we know as a twin bed. If you got a "double" room, two of these beds were crammed together side by side. Every hotel had the exact same type of white down comforter and they were warm as hell.
We got up fairly early and got our things together. Did our thing--you know...shit, shower, and shave. We didn't pay for breakfast with the room but we had the option to pay for it separately so we exercised that option this morning. Went into the restaurant and not being used to the customs yet, we didn't know if it was a buffet style or if we needed to order. Sure enough, it was buffet which always sounds good to me. The breakfast here in Frankfurt was well diverse but it sort of set the pace and kind of eased us into the breakfasts in days to come. There were some cereals and milk. Juice and coffee, of course. But the thing that struck us as different was the large selection of what I would call "deli-meats" and cheeses. Hams, turkey, cold sausages...then there was this one particular meat that sort of reminded me of bologna but not quite as pink. This "bologna" had pieces of mushrooms IN the meat. It was actually quite good. Neither one of us really knew what to eat so our meal was quite small.
After breakfast, we sat outside on the patio for the restaurant for a few minutes. There was a local men's soccer team who were coming back from a workout or a team run. The coaches passed by and smiled and said "morgen" to us. We replied in the native tongue of course but it was nice to appear that we just blended in.
Time to go, I guess. We loaded our car, took a few pictures and headed out. At this point, I had not QUITE figured out how to put in addresses accurately in Google Maps but I was starting to get the hang of it. So, I just typed in "Berlin" and got directions. Let's keep in mind that from this point, we had no itinerary and absolutely NO HOTEL accommodations reserved anywhere. We were foreigners in a car heading whichever direction the BlackBerry told us. And that was fine by us.
We decided to hit up the bank before we took off from Frankfurt. I had discovered the night before that the max my bank would let me take out at a time was 150 Euros. Seems like enough but you'd be amazed at how quickly you can go through that. BUT... I had to keep track of the days in the U.S. for the withdrawals because if I didn't time it right (and being 9 hours ahead of AZ), I was "screwed" out of an ATM withdrawal for the day.
There is a term--or rather a street sign I should say-- that everyone going to Germany should know and understand well. "Einbahnstraße." Pronounced: Ein'-bon-shtrass-a... Guess what that means? "One Way Street." They're on blue signs with a big white arrow. Problem I had with German street signs was that they seemed to be fairly low and typically further back from the intersection that I'm used to. German streets were crowded enough. Throw in a lost American going the wrong way down a one-way street and it's a "puckering" experience.
Pulled over and got my bearings. Looked around a figured out where we were and the ole lady started reading directions to me. We got lost a couple times (as we certainly would the remainder of the week) but we never let that slow us down. On this particular morning, we followed one road entirely too far and ended up on the bank of a river. We got out and took some pictures. Sure, it was like any river in any place but took pictures anyway. There was an older woman across the river on the opposite bank feeding ducks by herself. Just sort of neat.
Got back in the car and finally found the exit for the Autobahn. Here we were....still didn't know the courtesies of the Autobahn yet but I would learn that day. After about 20 minutes, I realized that again, we were heading the wrong way on the autobahn. :) Dear oh dear... This is going to be a long week. Finally got turned around the right direction and off we were. Heading toward Köln (Cologne). We weren't stopping there but that was the direction we were heading on the A5.
Once we got well out of town, I decided that the child-sized coffee I had at breakfast wasn't going to cut it. I found a little pull off with a gas station/convenience store. These little pull-offs are absolutely nothing like American ones. I'm talking slow down from 170km/h to stop in about 500 feet. Imagine the dinkiest little "rest area" on any given American Freeway, bring it right up against the freeway, and put a gas station in the middle of it. That's what we're talking about here. Went in to get coffee and was greeted by a young child--probably 6 years old--who was bulky as hell and wearing nothing but some tighty-whiteys. Ok...WTF? Not my culture...can't judge.
Got my coffee and the wife came back from the restroom. In Europe (fairly Universally), restrooms are denoted in public by the letters "WC." In German, that is pronounced "Vee-Tsee" (those are the letters in the German alphabet, after all). She told me about this little dish next to the WC that had change in it. People were putting change into the dish but she didn't because neither one of us understood what that was really all about. It's not like they had people in the WC giving out towels, etc. We later learned that these were to pay for the cleaning of the WC and there were usually people in vests outside of the WC who probably took care of that.
Off we go again. We don't really talk much in the car during this week. We both just sort of keep to ourselves and take it in. The countryside here is absolutely gorgeous. Most of actually reminded me of driving through TN and GA. We started noticing that every town, village, collection of houses had a very large and ornate steeple (attached to a church, of course) somewhere near the middle of the town. They were all black (the steeples) and most were pointed although some were rounded. I think--but never received confirmation--that the round ones were Jewish Synagogues.
On our way through some of the mountainous terrain early in today's voyage, we see this traffic jam on the Autobahn that looked like it went on for a while. I thought "damn...glad that ain't me." Why is this important? It's not but as we were driving, we noticed that this traffic jam just kept on going. And going. And going. Wow. I'm talking 20-25km of a traffic jam. STOPPED cars, not slowed cars. Everyone was out of their cars…smoking, talking to other drivers (or non-drivers at this point). It looked really bad and it appeared to have begun with one single broken down truck that blocked a single lane. Crazy.
We had all day to get to Berlin and by-gosh we took all day. We stopped a couple times for no reason at all. Once, we stopped in this little town just because it looked classic from the autobahn. We drove around for a minute or two, got out, walked around for a few minutes, and took some pictures of the church in the middle of town. Got back in the car and headed back to the autobahn again.
The historical markers on the freeways are similar to the ones on our roads. They are brown signs with white lettering. We kept seeing these signs for historical houses, mills, churches, etc., but we never actually saw any of the historical landmarks that they were supposed to represent. But then, we saw one. :) The marker said "Drei ......" I don't remember what the second word was but it was basically talking about "three castles." The word was not "Schloß" which would make sense. We saw three castles (or ruins of them, rather) spread out on top of three different hills (the three largest in the area). Of course, we took the exit to get to the most accessible one. It was called Die Mühlberg and was built sometime in the 700's. The tower still stood high and it was rather small but wide open. To get to the castle, you actually had to walk across a bridge that most obviously used to cover a moat. Yeah...a freaking moat! I loved it. You could tell time really took effect on this little castle. You could see remnants of the walls inside. We got some great pictures of the castle. We climbed to the top of the tower and took pictures of the surrounding area--the other castles and the town below). We also walked down into the dungeon. VERY cold down there and hardly any natural lighting at all. It was a neat little side-excursion because there was no guide for this thing. We could take it in at our leisure and by ourselves.
Back on our journey NE...
We left the state of Hessen where Frankfurt lies, and headed into the state of Thuringen. For those of you who don't know, Thuringen is the home of the Rostbratwurst (how we know bratwurst). We stopped at a little "truck stop" (they call it a truckstop but it was more like a rest stop without gas...restaurant, gift shop, etc). I ordered a Rostbratwurst mit senf (brat with mustard). They also had on tap... Köstritzer Schwarzbier (I'll try my best to pronounce this: Koo'-stritz-a Shvatz-bia). This is my absolute favorite beer. It's a Black Pilsener beer from the State of Thuringen from a little town called Bad Köstritz. On tap...at the truck stop. DAMN! Anyway, more on that in a few blogs.
Back to the Autobahn we go. Heading out on A4 this time. Hey, did I explain "The Autobahn" to you? Let's set the record straight here. There is no such thing as "THE Autobahn." That's like saying "THE Freeway" or "THE Highway" over here. "Bahn" basically means "way." "Autobahn" is just the name of their freeway SYSTEM. Not one road. And there are certainly speed-limits. Did anyone adhere to them? No way. The large Audi A6 and the Volkswagens were the car to have there. I'm talkin' fast, brotha. Yes, there were some short sections with no speed limit but the majority of the time, the limit was 120-130km/h. But there was a LOT of road construction so you couldn't really get going that fast for very long. So... I call bullshit on the autobahn myth. There was a courtesy though that I learned on this day. If you were slower, you DID move to the right. No question. And nobody passed on the right. Instead, they would come up on you and move in directly behind you so you could move over and let them pass to the left. Brilliant!
So, we head on up and through and get near the A14 (somehow, we were actually on the A9 from the A4). That was the section of freeway that took you to Leipzig. I REALLY wanted to see a little of Leipzig and more specifically Thomaskirche. Johann Sebastian Bach did most of his work from Leipzig and was the cantor for Thomaskirche before he died. His grave is supposedly in the church. That would have been cool. But, It didn't know where I was going and it was getting late in the afternoon. Instead, we saw a really filthy part of Leipzig and just wanted to get out of town.
On the way back to the A14, I decided that now would be a good time to stop for gas. The had 3 selections. Benzin, Super, and Super Plus. WTF was Benzin? It took us about 30 minutes to get gas because I wasn't sure which was just plain old unleaded gas. I asked the clerk in the store but no English and I didn't know enough German to navigate the gas pump question. We settled for Super and that seemed to be a good choice. Let's put price into perspective for a moment. Gas was about 1.80 (Euros) per liter. That's right...liter. And the car took about 30 liters to fill up. Small tank but it was damned expensive to fill up.
Back on the road. Confused as hell as we get near Berlin. The directions are starting to be more obscure because, if you remember, I simply put "Berlin" into the map. Who knows where we'll end up. So we stopped again and a roadside gas station to look up some hotels. Found one and input the address and headed out once again.
We get downtown and now it's about 6:30-7pm. I don't know where I am. I'm realizing now that if Berlin is anything like Frankfurt, I'm looking at not finding anything open very soon. I'm starting to stress a little but try my best not to let the wife see that. Once I realized where we were, I started fresh in the blackberry and got us to a hotel near Schloß Charlottenburg (you should look that up). Lucky for us, it was still open. Unlucky for us, they had no rooms available. Ok, I was really starting to worry that we would be sleeping in the car. Was I worried for my sake? No way! I've slept in a lot worse places in my adult life. I was worried that it would stress my wife out and I wanted her to be comfortable--more so than me, anyway. So, again to the blackberry. This time I did a search of the area for hotels. Found one just a km away and drove there. We walked into the lobby at 8:20. They closed at 8. But they had a bar that was attached to the lobby and a waiter greeted us. We told him our situation and he was so nice. Went out of his way for us really. He called the owner of the hotel to see if he would let him check us in anyway. The owner said no but the waiter called some more hotels until he found us one. It was nice of HIM to call because he could speak to the other hotel personnel in German and as a local. He secured us a spot at the Alfa Hotel--just a few blocks away-- for two nights. I breathed a sigh of relief as we thanked him for his kindness and drove away to our hotel.
We checked in to the Alfa Hotel. We had a room on the top floor. There were only about 4 rooms per floor sp it's not like these hotels were like ours at all. At the end of our very short hallway was a door to the roof of the hotel. What a good view! Sure, it was city, but a good view of it, regardless.
By this time, we're hungry and it's 9pm. I knew we weren't far from the Schloß Charlottenburg and I remembered seeing a restaurant/brewpub nearby. I plugged it into the BlackBerry and it only took us a minute to get down there. The place was called Brauhaus Lemke. We ordered food and of course I wanted to try their beers. They had 4 on tap that were brewed there at the pub. Lemke Original (which I got the recipe for from Mr. Lemke. Just brewed it 2 weeks ago), a Seasonal Maibock, a Pilsner, and a Hefeweizen. Of course I had a large one of all 4. :)
I don't remember our exact meals but the food in Germany was outstanding. Lots of meats, mushrooms, and brown gravies.
We asked for our bill ("die rechtnung, bitte"). I asked the waiter (fairly nice man) if it was common to offer gratuity in Germany. I told him this was our first meal at a restaurant so we didn't know the custom. He seemed embarrassed a little. He said yes it is. I tipped him 5 euros and he was the most thankful waiter I had ever seen because of a tip. Wow!
It was late, I had a buzz, time to go back to the hotel. We get back and I'm not ready to quit drinking German bier yet. I just happened to notice that right next to the hotel was this little hole in the wall bar. I HAD to go in there of course. I knew there would be no other tourists. Only locals. And I welcome that. My wife went with me of course. I drank more beers there and struck up conversations with the only other 3 people in there (one guy was an ass so we excluded him pretty quickly). The other 2 were very friendly. One of them was rolling his own cigarettes too (like I was) so I offered him some of my American tobacco (yes tobacco). The other guy was like a trip back to 80's American rock. He was probably mid-late 40's with a mullet and a denim jacket on. He told us the story about going to America for Woodstock '94. He talked about smokin' grass and speeding through Montana. He talked about cops, politics, and the health of jobs in Germany. It was really a good conversation and it was nice to feel welcome in that cozy little bar that served really shitty Pilsener (Berliner).
Back to the room and into bed. Since the hotel was technically "closed," the room key also opened the back door to the hotel. It was REALLY dark and I was REALLY drunk. But we made it up to our room. The room was sort of hot but the night air was cold. Not really an A/C to speak of in the Alfa Hotel but the window opened wide and cooled us off pretty well. The only problem I had was that the window had no screen and it opened up directly to the fire escape. Technically, anyone had access to our room from the fire escape.
It was a long day in Germany but it was fun. It was rewarding.
A Rental Car, a Map, and Some Change (Day 1 of Germany)
Yep, this one may be a bit lengthy.
As some of you know, my wife and I went to Europe from May 23rd-May 31st. Specifically 6 days in Germany and a day and a half in England. Boy what an experience! I have been to many countries in Europe before but only for a few days at a time. I had never been so immersed like I was for this brief stay...I say brief because my passion for Europe makes my stays always seem short. I'm proud to be American but I truly believe I was born in the wrong continent. So, what is this blog for? I want o try my best to recount each day as they went. Bear with me and if you make it through, fine. If not, oh well. I may just write this so I can look back on it, too. :)
Saturday, May 23rd, 2009. We’ve been waiting for this for a little more than 5 months. It's hot in Phoenix today. We leave tonight. Do we have everything? I sure as hell hope so. Plane tickets...rental car papers...first night in Frankfurt Hotel reservations...passports...International driving permit? Check! Spent the day with the kids and her mom. Took them to Peter Piper Pizza. They left for Yuma and it was all of a sudden just us. Get to the airport about 3 hours before takeoff and because we had not checked in until now, we could not get seats together. Uh-oh! She's scared to death anyway. Now I can't even sit by her? What to do, what to do...
So, we sat at Chili's in the airport and had our fill of beer, wine, and spinach artichoke dip with chips. :) YUM! Getting ready for takeoff, I asked a middle-aged British man if he would mind trading seats with me because I wanted to comfort my wife during takeoff. He was hesitant but conceded his seat just for takeoff and up until altitude. That was fair enough, I reckon. Off we go.... 9.5 hours in the air. I couldn't sleep at all, although we purposely did not get much sleep the night before. Instead, I watched movies on the plane for the whole trip. Several hours into it, I couldn't wait to get to Heathrow. Most of you know I'm a smoker so I was envisioning this cigarette in London. No dice. Damn. Instead, I suffered the three hours in the airport AND the 1.5 hour flight to Frankfurt. You bet your ass that's the first thing I did in Germany though.
So, we make our way through the Frankfurt airport. Sure, there were signs for things but they weren't many and very vague to say the least. We finally found the baggage claim area and there was a passport control point. No problem. I've done the international thing before. There were many desks for this control point but only 1 desk had any officers at it. So we went to that one. The guy was a plain dick. He asked me in English: "What is this line for?" "Passport control?" I replied. "What does the sign say?" he responded. I stepped back so I could see the sign and it read "EU Passports Only." Ok....but these were the only desks open so it's not like I had options. "So, why did you come to this desk?" he asked....clearly irritated. I checked my smart-ass nature for a moment and apologized for the misunderstanding. He cleared me anyway. Got our bags directly after this and headed to Hertz to pick up my car. Found it at level U1 in spot 19. A little FIAT Punto. Tiny 4-door, hatchback, manual transmission car. Verity called it "cute." I had to smile, of course. So, we get in and I couldn't find reverse. Shit! I'm trying everything I could think of. I remembered that the old VW's used to get reverse if you pushed downward and over but that didn't work. I kept playing with the shift until I finally figured out that there was a little collar below the shift knob that you had to pull up to get to that elusive reverse gear.
I should pause to tell you that we had no local phone, no paper maps of any sort and no hotel reservations after tonight. Instead, I bought a global blackberry off of ebay and activated a global voice and data plan. We LIVED on Google Maps for this trip...a little shout-out there.
So, we pull out of the parking garage and I found myself in the lane that automatically puts you on the Autobahn (A3 to be exact). Ok... seems like we're going a little far and I don't know the rules of the road yet. People are absolutely flying by me in the left lanes. My little Fiat has no shot at keeping up. So, we get off on the exit for the B43/44. Ok. We're not supposed to be there yet, I guess but these highways are on the directions list somewhere so we figure we're good. We go one way for a while, then turn around and go the other way. Then we figured out we were heading back to the airport so we turned around again. THEN we went through this little section of a suburb but I was in the wrong lane and headed back the other way (toward the airport).....again.....so we turned around.....again.... :)
This time I say I'm going to get into the far right lane. So I did and it proved to successfully get me the hell off of that highway. :) No idea where I'm going, the street I'm on isn't even on our directions list in Google maps. I took the first right because a car in front of me did and I knew I could. Now, we're in a residential area and I tell my wife we'll pull over and try to figure out where we are and how to get directions from there. Guess where we were? Right in front of our hotel. What are the odds that with all of those mistakes, neither one of us knowing how to read the directions, that we would end up right in front of our hotel? Whew! Sigh of relief. So we check in and find our room. I had forgotten to get cash at the airport like I had planned on so I needed an ATM (Geldautomat). The hotel receptionist told me there would be one at the end of the main drag we were on. We were both dying for a shower so I let her take care of hers while I went for a stroll down the road to find this ATM. After a while, I could not see the end of this street and turned back. No biggie. I got to stretch my legs after spending all that time in the plane and the car. But I did notice one thing. There wasn't really anything open. And we were hungry!!!
Went back, took a shower, got the car and finally found the "end of the street" I was looking for. Sure enough, there was a Deutsche Bank right on the corner. Pulled out some Euros and we found this little pizza joint not too far from the hotel. Ordered up a pepperoni and mushroom (champignons) pizza (these were Italians there in Frankfurt so the Pizza was good enough). Interesting thing is, they had these little peppers on the pizza that had a flavor like pepperoncinis but a little more spicy. This was very relaxing for us. It felt like we had been on the go for a week. We were having fun but were stressed and in a brand new environment.
After dinner we figured we would try our luck at driving around in downtown Frankfurt. Let's keep in mind a couple things as we go through this journey. First: Frankfurt is like any big American city, by the way. Large buildings, slums, and ritzy areas. However (and secondly), let's also remember that the streets in European cities are older than our country so driving can be a challenge. These streets and the structure of traffic was not originally setup for cars, buses and trains. We got a lost a few times that night...even found the Frankfurt Hells Angels clubhouse somewhere in the mix. Somehow, we found our way back to that familiar hotel that we had already accidentally found earlier.
So, after a late dinner and all the evening activities, we went back to the hotel and crashed. I'll also point out here that it stayed daylight until about 10pm every night. That was odd for us but welcome.
As some of you know, my wife and I went to Europe from May 23rd-May 31st. Specifically 6 days in Germany and a day and a half in England. Boy what an experience! I have been to many countries in Europe before but only for a few days at a time. I had never been so immersed like I was for this brief stay...I say brief because my passion for Europe makes my stays always seem short. I'm proud to be American but I truly believe I was born in the wrong continent. So, what is this blog for? I want o try my best to recount each day as they went. Bear with me and if you make it through, fine. If not, oh well. I may just write this so I can look back on it, too. :)
Saturday, May 23rd, 2009. We’ve been waiting for this for a little more than 5 months. It's hot in Phoenix today. We leave tonight. Do we have everything? I sure as hell hope so. Plane tickets...rental car papers...first night in Frankfurt Hotel reservations...passports...International driving permit? Check! Spent the day with the kids and her mom. Took them to Peter Piper Pizza. They left for Yuma and it was all of a sudden just us. Get to the airport about 3 hours before takeoff and because we had not checked in until now, we could not get seats together. Uh-oh! She's scared to death anyway. Now I can't even sit by her? What to do, what to do...
So, we sat at Chili's in the airport and had our fill of beer, wine, and spinach artichoke dip with chips. :) YUM! Getting ready for takeoff, I asked a middle-aged British man if he would mind trading seats with me because I wanted to comfort my wife during takeoff. He was hesitant but conceded his seat just for takeoff and up until altitude. That was fair enough, I reckon. Off we go.... 9.5 hours in the air. I couldn't sleep at all, although we purposely did not get much sleep the night before. Instead, I watched movies on the plane for the whole trip. Several hours into it, I couldn't wait to get to Heathrow. Most of you know I'm a smoker so I was envisioning this cigarette in London. No dice. Damn. Instead, I suffered the three hours in the airport AND the 1.5 hour flight to Frankfurt. You bet your ass that's the first thing I did in Germany though.
So, we make our way through the Frankfurt airport. Sure, there were signs for things but they weren't many and very vague to say the least. We finally found the baggage claim area and there was a passport control point. No problem. I've done the international thing before. There were many desks for this control point but only 1 desk had any officers at it. So we went to that one. The guy was a plain dick. He asked me in English: "What is this line for?" "Passport control?" I replied. "What does the sign say?" he responded. I stepped back so I could see the sign and it read "EU Passports Only." Ok....but these were the only desks open so it's not like I had options. "So, why did you come to this desk?" he asked....clearly irritated. I checked my smart-ass nature for a moment and apologized for the misunderstanding. He cleared me anyway. Got our bags directly after this and headed to Hertz to pick up my car. Found it at level U1 in spot 19. A little FIAT Punto. Tiny 4-door, hatchback, manual transmission car. Verity called it "cute." I had to smile, of course. So, we get in and I couldn't find reverse. Shit! I'm trying everything I could think of. I remembered that the old VW's used to get reverse if you pushed downward and over but that didn't work. I kept playing with the shift until I finally figured out that there was a little collar below the shift knob that you had to pull up to get to that elusive reverse gear.
I should pause to tell you that we had no local phone, no paper maps of any sort and no hotel reservations after tonight. Instead, I bought a global blackberry off of ebay and activated a global voice and data plan. We LIVED on Google Maps for this trip...a little shout-out there.
So, we pull out of the parking garage and I found myself in the lane that automatically puts you on the Autobahn (A3 to be exact). Ok... seems like we're going a little far and I don't know the rules of the road yet. People are absolutely flying by me in the left lanes. My little Fiat has no shot at keeping up. So, we get off on the exit for the B43/44. Ok. We're not supposed to be there yet, I guess but these highways are on the directions list somewhere so we figure we're good. We go one way for a while, then turn around and go the other way. Then we figured out we were heading back to the airport so we turned around again. THEN we went through this little section of a suburb but I was in the wrong lane and headed back the other way (toward the airport).....again.....so we turned around.....again.... :)
This time I say I'm going to get into the far right lane. So I did and it proved to successfully get me the hell off of that highway. :) No idea where I'm going, the street I'm on isn't even on our directions list in Google maps. I took the first right because a car in front of me did and I knew I could. Now, we're in a residential area and I tell my wife we'll pull over and try to figure out where we are and how to get directions from there. Guess where we were? Right in front of our hotel. What are the odds that with all of those mistakes, neither one of us knowing how to read the directions, that we would end up right in front of our hotel? Whew! Sigh of relief. So we check in and find our room. I had forgotten to get cash at the airport like I had planned on so I needed an ATM (Geldautomat). The hotel receptionist told me there would be one at the end of the main drag we were on. We were both dying for a shower so I let her take care of hers while I went for a stroll down the road to find this ATM. After a while, I could not see the end of this street and turned back. No biggie. I got to stretch my legs after spending all that time in the plane and the car. But I did notice one thing. There wasn't really anything open. And we were hungry!!!
Went back, took a shower, got the car and finally found the "end of the street" I was looking for. Sure enough, there was a Deutsche Bank right on the corner. Pulled out some Euros and we found this little pizza joint not too far from the hotel. Ordered up a pepperoni and mushroom (champignons) pizza (these were Italians there in Frankfurt so the Pizza was good enough). Interesting thing is, they had these little peppers on the pizza that had a flavor like pepperoncinis but a little more spicy. This was very relaxing for us. It felt like we had been on the go for a week. We were having fun but were stressed and in a brand new environment.
After dinner we figured we would try our luck at driving around in downtown Frankfurt. Let's keep in mind a couple things as we go through this journey. First: Frankfurt is like any big American city, by the way. Large buildings, slums, and ritzy areas. However (and secondly), let's also remember that the streets in European cities are older than our country so driving can be a challenge. These streets and the structure of traffic was not originally setup for cars, buses and trains. We got a lost a few times that night...even found the Frankfurt Hells Angels clubhouse somewhere in the mix. Somehow, we found our way back to that familiar hotel that we had already accidentally found earlier.
So, after a late dinner and all the evening activities, we went back to the hotel and crashed. I'll also point out here that it stayed daylight until about 10pm every night. That was odd for us but welcome.
Big Brews and Good News
Man, oh man! My brewing addiction...errr...hobby ;).... has really taken off. Over the past 5 months, I have lived, breathed, dreamed about, and of course practiced the art and science of brewing beer. Zymurgy has become a way of life for me and while my beers have been exceptional, I'm still looking for more knowledge. MORE MORE MORE!!!!
Since I made that step to all grain brewing, my beers have been absolutely outstanding! Sure, I'll probably not win any competitions real soon but I have not tasted a beer that I like better than my own....honestly. My Bitter Bitch Ordinary Bitter....Black Nipple Milk Stout....Crack Attack Amber Ale....House Hefe Weizen..... Delicious! What I'm doing now is practicing the now defunct Reinheitsgebot (Germany Purity Law). Although it is not the law any longer, many brewers still claim to brew this way as a testament of pride. What is the Reinheitsgebot? When it was first established, it stated that beer could only be brewed using Malt, Hops, and Water. That's it! At the time, they relied on wild yeasts (they didn't know what it was yet) and their beer was undoubtedly sour and just plain RANK! But it was more sanitary to drink than water, believe it or not...and that's why they brewed it. Then when Pasteur discovered the fermentation properties of yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), the specific yeast was added to acceptable ingredients for beer int he Reinheitsgebot.
So, yes....that's how I brew. Malt, hops, water, and yeast. That's it.
Good news? I finished the semester with a somewhat decent finish. I had a semester GPA of 3.77 which brings my cumulative down to a 3.93. Hopefully, I can bring it back to a 4.0. Of course this IS possible because at ASU, an A+ (98% or better) gives you a 4.33 in that class. I need some more of those.
More good news? Me and the wife are going to Germany in 6 days from now, as I write this blog. I can't believe it's that close to our departure. I loved Europe... you know...the birthplace of white folk? My times in Europe as a younger man were undoubtedly some of the best days of my life. The people there do not live in a world of "watch what you say or I'll sue." No, they live in harmony with each other and take things a shit-ton easier than we do. I would live there if I had the opportunity.
So, it's 10:41 and time for bed.
Since I made that step to all grain brewing, my beers have been absolutely outstanding! Sure, I'll probably not win any competitions real soon but I have not tasted a beer that I like better than my own....honestly. My Bitter Bitch Ordinary Bitter....Black Nipple Milk Stout....Crack Attack Amber Ale....House Hefe Weizen..... Delicious! What I'm doing now is practicing the now defunct Reinheitsgebot (Germany Purity Law). Although it is not the law any longer, many brewers still claim to brew this way as a testament of pride. What is the Reinheitsgebot? When it was first established, it stated that beer could only be brewed using Malt, Hops, and Water. That's it! At the time, they relied on wild yeasts (they didn't know what it was yet) and their beer was undoubtedly sour and just plain RANK! But it was more sanitary to drink than water, believe it or not...and that's why they brewed it. Then when Pasteur discovered the fermentation properties of yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), the specific yeast was added to acceptable ingredients for beer int he Reinheitsgebot.
So, yes....that's how I brew. Malt, hops, water, and yeast. That's it.
Good news? I finished the semester with a somewhat decent finish. I had a semester GPA of 3.77 which brings my cumulative down to a 3.93. Hopefully, I can bring it back to a 4.0. Of course this IS possible because at ASU, an A+ (98% or better) gives you a 4.33 in that class. I need some more of those.
More good news? Me and the wife are going to Germany in 6 days from now, as I write this blog. I can't believe it's that close to our departure. I loved Europe... you know...the birthplace of white folk? My times in Europe as a younger man were undoubtedly some of the best days of my life. The people there do not live in a world of "watch what you say or I'll sue." No, they live in harmony with each other and take things a shit-ton easier than we do. I would live there if I had the opportunity.
So, it's 10:41 and time for bed.
Busy Busy
Wow! So, I started this blog and I feel as though I've been neglecting it. :)
Where have we been since January 7th? Well, I finished my winter class with an A+. Very fast paced class and I feel better about my technical writing...that is...not on a blog, of course.
Spring semester has started and we have finished 4 weeks of course work. I've only had 3 assignments to date and I feel as though either I'm just used to the 16 hours of classes or they're getting easier. I hope it's the latter, to be honest. Of course, this semester, I have 2 honors contracts to fulfill. I need to get started on those while things are slow.
Brewing has been going FAN-FREAKIN-TASTIC!!!! I have been truly living the art of making beer. Whether it is brewing, reading, listening, asking, etc... I have simply immersed myself into the beer brewing culture. I dig it!
Family life is going well but with the start of the semester and my schedule being as spread out as it is, I don't get to see the kids much. They're gone early, I'm home from work/school late... Damn...15 months and I'll have the B.S. in Global Business.
Well, here's to you! Cheers!
Where have we been since January 7th? Well, I finished my winter class with an A+. Very fast paced class and I feel better about my technical writing...that is...not on a blog, of course.
Spring semester has started and we have finished 4 weeks of course work. I've only had 3 assignments to date and I feel as though either I'm just used to the 16 hours of classes or they're getting easier. I hope it's the latter, to be honest. Of course, this semester, I have 2 honors contracts to fulfill. I need to get started on those while things are slow.
Brewing has been going FAN-FREAKIN-TASTIC!!!! I have been truly living the art of making beer. Whether it is brewing, reading, listening, asking, etc... I have simply immersed myself into the beer brewing culture. I dig it!
Family life is going well but with the start of the semester and my schedule being as spread out as it is, I don't get to see the kids much. They're gone early, I'm home from work/school late... Damn...15 months and I'll have the B.S. in Global Business.
Well, here's to you! Cheers!
Bottle 'n Brew
Today was an exciting day for me as I got to finally bottle my first beer!!! I brewed it on Christmas day after opening presents but before the mess was picked up. Fortunately for me, I found the best beer forum on the net (www.mrbeerfans.com). If it had not been for them, I would have certainly tried to bottle after only 1 week of fermenting versus the 2 weeks.
Yesterday, I made several stops in order to make sure I had everything I needed (made a list of course). Picked up some supplies at my Local Homebrew Supplier (LHBS), some tools at Home Depot, and some labels at Wal-Mart. Stayed up late last night making sure I had everything in order.
Woke up, prepared a sanitizing solution and got to work! Bottling went without a hitch and I have 22 beautiful babies sitting in my closet for another 2 weeks of carbonating. Boooooooo! To top it off, I have to wait 2 more weeks after that (cold conditioning) before I can call it "done."
Since I had the sanitizing solution already made up, AND I had a new keg leak checking downstairs (after a successful spigot mod), I figured I would start batch 3. Man! I'm addicted to brewing already!
Made a Cherry Wheat beer...now I gotta name it. Hmmmm....... We'll figure it out. Got to use a hydrometer for the first time and I used a thermometer, too. I wanted to make sure the yeast was pitched at the right time!
Lesson learned today?
1. Brew and bottle at night. Those UV rays are dying to kill your brew.
2. I love this hobby (thanks mom).
3. It ain't over til it's over. Don't put shit in the sink 'til you're done. Go ahead, rinse it off, and put it back in the sanitizing solution.
I'm brewing again tonight (Cranberry Maibock)
Mike
Yesterday, I made several stops in order to make sure I had everything I needed (made a list of course). Picked up some supplies at my Local Homebrew Supplier (LHBS), some tools at Home Depot, and some labels at Wal-Mart. Stayed up late last night making sure I had everything in order.
Woke up, prepared a sanitizing solution and got to work! Bottling went without a hitch and I have 22 beautiful babies sitting in my closet for another 2 weeks of carbonating. Boooooooo! To top it off, I have to wait 2 more weeks after that (cold conditioning) before I can call it "done."
Since I had the sanitizing solution already made up, AND I had a new keg leak checking downstairs (after a successful spigot mod), I figured I would start batch 3. Man! I'm addicted to brewing already!
Made a Cherry Wheat beer...now I gotta name it. Hmmmm....... We'll figure it out. Got to use a hydrometer for the first time and I used a thermometer, too. I wanted to make sure the yeast was pitched at the right time!
Lesson learned today?
1. Brew and bottle at night. Those UV rays are dying to kill your brew.
2. I love this hobby (thanks mom).
3. It ain't over til it's over. Don't put shit in the sink 'til you're done. Go ahead, rinse it off, and put it back in the sanitizing solution.
I'm brewing again tonight (Cranberry Maibock)
Mike
First Blog
Ok....Here I sit. In this chair my mom got me for Christmas a few years ago. Pretty comfy. What do I write? What do I say? It's my blog, right?
I was looking at some pictures on myspace today of my cousin Susan (Step-Cousin which is no longer valid due to my step-mother's death 12 years ago). One of her pictures she is sitting on a hammock with her family and in the background I see the familiar sight of the Tennessee forest. Brought back some memories and I wondered: what if they never leave?
Could have gone to UT. Could have traveled the world. Could have continued to get to know the landscape, the smells, the sights and sounds of my Alma mater. Could have taken for granted the grassy slopes, the towering mountains, and the Dogwood trees. Could have ran moonshine again. Could have picked blackberries every season and made fresh cobbler. Could have still been eating pinto beans and cornbread with every meal. Could have shown my children where papaw was raised. Could have let them experience the outhouse, the pump house, and the barn. Could have taken them to the hayloft where my brothers and I would buck hay on the weekends. Could have taught them how to milk cows and gather eggs like we did. Could have shown them where I used to sit and wait for the doves to come back so I could shoot them again. Could have stayed in church...the little Baptist Church down by the creek where papaw would wear his GOOD overalls...he was a deacon, after all. Could have shown my kids how to throw big 'ole rocks into a fresh cow patty. Could have shown them where me and my brothers used to fish for bream, just below the barn in the backwater. Could have been there wishing I was somewhere else. Could have taken for granted the life I had.
Instead I....avoided going to jail by joining the Marines. Went to Parris Island and learned how to be disciplined for the sake of others around you. Learned how to kill. Traveled the world on a ship. Saw the world from the open window of a helicopter. Learned how to be scared and not let anyone know. Learned how to keep others distant so I could let them go more easily. Practiced promiscuity. Moved to AZ. Made a family. Embarked on an educational journey.
Who knows where life takes us. We can only tag along.
Mike
I was looking at some pictures on myspace today of my cousin Susan (Step-Cousin which is no longer valid due to my step-mother's death 12 years ago). One of her pictures she is sitting on a hammock with her family and in the background I see the familiar sight of the Tennessee forest. Brought back some memories and I wondered: what if they never leave?
Could have gone to UT. Could have traveled the world. Could have continued to get to know the landscape, the smells, the sights and sounds of my Alma mater. Could have taken for granted the grassy slopes, the towering mountains, and the Dogwood trees. Could have ran moonshine again. Could have picked blackberries every season and made fresh cobbler. Could have still been eating pinto beans and cornbread with every meal. Could have shown my children where papaw was raised. Could have let them experience the outhouse, the pump house, and the barn. Could have taken them to the hayloft where my brothers and I would buck hay on the weekends. Could have taught them how to milk cows and gather eggs like we did. Could have shown them where I used to sit and wait for the doves to come back so I could shoot them again. Could have stayed in church...the little Baptist Church down by the creek where papaw would wear his GOOD overalls...he was a deacon, after all. Could have shown my kids how to throw big 'ole rocks into a fresh cow patty. Could have shown them where me and my brothers used to fish for bream, just below the barn in the backwater. Could have been there wishing I was somewhere else. Could have taken for granted the life I had.
Instead I....avoided going to jail by joining the Marines. Went to Parris Island and learned how to be disciplined for the sake of others around you. Learned how to kill. Traveled the world on a ship. Saw the world from the open window of a helicopter. Learned how to be scared and not let anyone know. Learned how to keep others distant so I could let them go more easily. Practiced promiscuity. Moved to AZ. Made a family. Embarked on an educational journey.
Who knows where life takes us. We can only tag along.
Mike
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