Unexpected Journey

Earlier this month, I made an unexpected trip to Germany to visit my daughter. She was having some minor surgery and needed her mom. So, off to Europe I went.

I flew out of RDU in Raleigh, NC the last Friday in January for a week-long vist. It was 70 degrees that day, which is unusual, even for North Carolina. But we've been having a mild winter. It's not uncommon to have wild temperature swings in February and March. During those months, it can be sunny and 70 one week and below freezing and snowing the next. But I've never gone from 70 to 17 degrees in less than twenty-four hours before. I did that day.

My connecting flight was in Philadelphia where I expected it to be much colder than in NC. Apparently, Philly is having a mild winter this year too. I arrived at the airport in the City of Brotherly Love late in the afternoon and the temp was still hovering around 58 degrees. Not bad. I had on a sweater so I didn't even put on my coat when I stepped off the plane and rushed through the airport to make my connecting flight to Munich. But when I arrived in Germany nine hours later, I was in for a real surprise. It was snowing.

As we circled the runway, the pilot announced the current time and weather. The time was 8:00 a.m. and the temperature outside was 17 degrees Fahrenheit with snow flurries.

Flying over Munich

Munich Airport

Flurries? I could see the snow covered fields from the sky.
I about froze the moment I stepped off the plane.

 Luckily, my daughter had warned me about the bitter cold so I was prepared. And my son-in-law's car has heated seats.

It's 193 kilometers or approximately 120 miles from Munich to Weiden, where my daughter was recovering from surgery at the hospital there. But thanks to the autobahn and no speed limits in sections, my son-in-law made the trip in just under two hours, despite the snow. Than again, the snow plows and brine trucks had started clearing the snow the moment it started falling. Despite the somewhat scary speed at which we traveled, I was able to enjoy the beauty of the Bavarian countryside. 

(Left)Hops field covered in snow.Windmill in background.(Right) German Village outside Munich.

I've been to Germany twice before but this trip was different. It wasn't a vacation, and I hadn't planned for it. I'd gone to be with my daughter after her surgery, which turned out to be less invasive than originally expected and with a much better outcome. While I was there, I got to visit a German hospital which isn't something I'd normally do on a visit to another country. But it was educational.

In the US, I work in a hospital, but it's nothing like the one I visited in Weiden. For starters, US hospitals don't sell beer in the hospital cafeteria. The hospital in Weiden did! 

The rooms look similar, but the beds looked more like glorified stretchers. Some of the equipment looked the same as in the States but in the US, most hospitals use IV bags. My daughter's IV was in a plastic bottle the hospital recycles. 

Thank God, my daughter's hospital visit was brief and she recovered quickly--more quickly than anticipated. So, what started out as a visit to take care of her turned into something fun. We got to spend quality time together without her having to stay in bed.

near my daughter's neighborhood.

View of Rauher Kulm from Eschenbach

 By the middle of the week, we were able to get out and take a walk through her neighborhood and town.

Downtown Eschenbach

We ate at a nice Chinese restaurant where I enjoyed a nice, dark Dunkelweizen. We visited some of my daughter's friends, went to a German deli, and on the last day of my visit, we went shopping in Weiden.

Although this wasn't my first trip to Germany, it was the first time I'd every traveled alone. I was a bit intimidated at first, but on my international flight to Munich, I slept with a handsome 31 year old man. Just kidding!

My "seat mate" on the plane was a cutie from Texas and we did sleep a bit on the plane. He was traveling to Munich on business. He'd previously spent two years in Germany while working for the same management firm. The woman who'd taken his place when his work Visa expired was taking some time off for maternity leave and my handsome seat mate was going back to Germany to fill in for her.

Although we never exchanged names, he was a nice young man. He was also quite handsome. Standing well over six feet tall, he reminded me of Matthew Perry from the Friends TV series. We had a nice chat and I thought of several ideas for a possible romance novel that could start on a plane. Imagine falling in love on an international flight and getting separated in the airport only to realize you'd never exchanged names or information to help you find that person again.

I was intrigued by the concept of writing such a story. But I write historical and paranormal romance. Perhaps I could change the plane to a coach. Or, my handsome Matthew Perry look-a-like could be a werewolf returning to Germany in search of a cure. Since the first recorded Werewolf sighting was around the countryside of German town Colonge and Bedbur in 1591, I could incorporate some of the sites I've seen in Germany. Or, maybe I'll have to try my hand at writing romantic suspense.

What do you think?

Back to Germany: Vacation Day Six

After our trip to Amsterdam and the long bus ride home, we were exhausted. And my poor son-in-law had to return to work, even though Monday was an official German holiday. The Easter holiday in Germany runs from Good Friday through Monday. So, most every business in Germany was closed. And we were all tired, so we hung out at my daughter's house in Amsterdam.

My daughter lives in Eschenbach and it's a beautiful town. We visited once before in August 2008. So when lunch time rolled around, my husband and I offered to walk up down to buy lunch.
There's a Turkish Imbiss (fast food stand) on the other side of town that doesn't close for German  holidays.

So, we started off on our journey hoping we wouldn't get lost.

We walked through my daughter's neighborhood, and crossed the bridge. Our youngest daughter was able to go with us when we visited Germany in 2008 and we had taken a picture of her on the bridge crossing the creek when we were there before. It made me miss her and wish she'd been able to come with us this trip.

We saw the tunnel running under the street and new we were still on the right path.

After passing through the tunnel, it was uphill all the way, but such a beautiful walk.








Eschenbach, like so many German towns is a mixture of new and old, with some buildings dating back to medieval times.

In town, the streets were practically deserted. Which was a far cry from the last time we visited. In August 2008, Eschenbach was celebrating it's 650th anniversary and the streets were filled with street vendors and historical displays. But on this Easter Monday, all was quiet.

 

Even the Polizei (police) seemed board.

 But as we walked, we took in the scenery, wondering if the people of Eschenbach marvelled at the beauty of their town as we were doing. Or, did they take it for granted because they saw it every day?

 
 
 
We finally reached the top of the hill and crossed the street to the Imbiss.
And with the help of my daughter's notes, we were even able to order our food in German. Which greatly relieved the Turks who own the Babylon grill as they did not speak English. And the food there is amazing.
 
My husband and I ordered the doners: grilled lamb, goat cheese, a yogurt and cucumber dressing called tzatziki, on grilled flat bread. My daughter had the schnitzel with potato salad. Schnitzel is is a batter fried pork chop and if you've never had German potato salad, I highly recommend it. Yum!
 
We then place our food boxes in the cloth sack my daughter provided and started back toward my daughter's house on the other side of town. The walk home was just as enjoyable, even toting the food sacks.

 

After lunch, we visited with my daughter and played with her dogs. When my son-in-law got home, we played ladders in the yard and then my daughter fixed a fabulous supper. That night, we sipped wine (the men drank German beer) and we watched a movie. Season of the Witch starring Nicolas Cage. The movie was nothing like what I expected from having seen the previews. It was a good movie with a surprising twist. If you haven't seen it and you like the paranormal, I recommend it.



Day 3 Vacation Adventures

 

On day three, we decided to drive to the Czech border. My son-in-law first took us on post to gas up their Jeep. It's cheaper for them to fill up on post and pay American prices of dollars per gallon than the more inflated (if you can believe that!) Euros per liter they'd have to pay on the German economy.

To get on post, our names had to be on a list. My son-in-law had to show his military ID. My daughter had to show her spouse ID, and we had to show our passports. The gate is patrolled by private German security officers and military MP's.  It's nice knowing such security measures are in place to protect our soldiers living on foreign soil.



The tower at Grafenwoehr

 Grafenwoehr is a beautiful town known for it's American military installations and training areas. It's also the post where Elvis was briefly stationed during the Korean War. And during WWII, Hitler used to watch his troops from the tower at Graf.

After fueling up, we headed to The Czech Republic.
I've heard Prague in The Czech Republic is beautiful. My daughter has been twice and loves it. The Saint Charles Bridge with it's statues of the saints is reportedly amazing, as are the restaurants and unique shops. But we didn't have time to make the 4 hour drive to Prague, as we were scheduled to catch a bus from Graf to Amsterdam at 9:00 that night. So, my daughter and her husband decided to take us to Pilsen, Czech, just across the German border and only an hour and a half drive.

My husband and I wanted to see as much of the world as possible. And my daughter tried to accomodate us. She even had brochures from Pilsen, advertising brewery tours and great restaurants. But, the trip to Czech came with a warning. Americans and/or anyone with foreign tags should only park in a secure parking garage or gated hotel parking lot. Czech has a high rate of automobile thefts and car-stripping and as a soldier, my son-in-law did not want to take the chance of getting stranded in another country. But the Pilsen brochure said there was a parking garage near the brewery. So, off to Czech we went.

As we drove away from Germany, the landscape became more flat and the mountains gave way to low, rolling hills. Then, just across the Czech border, we stopped at a truck stop to use the restroom and buy some water.

The bathroom at the Czech truck stop was free, as opposed to the German rest areas and truck stops. On the autobahn in Germany, it costs about .50 Euro cents to use the restrooms, but you get a .50 Euro cent voucher to use toward any purchase inside the store. But the bathrooms are immaculate! When you flush, an arm comes down, sprays disinfectant, the toilet seat rotates 360 degrees , and a sponge inside the arm cleans the seats. Color me impressed. It was worth paying to pee!

In Czech, there were no fancy toilets and the bathrooms weren't all that clean. Kind of like in American truck stops. But what really got me was when we left the truck stop and drove by the underpass. Parked just beneath the bridge was a Sprinter van with two prostitutes on either side. Even before we looped around to get back on the autobahn, both ladies had customers. And one of them was pregnant!

Call me naive, but that's the first time I'd ever seen anything like it. I still find it disturbing. And once we got into Pilsen, the strange didn't stop. There were quite a few strange stores, including one that sold fire-fighting supplies. Whether one had to be a firefighter or not was unclear, but I found it odd.

There were also random shacks sprouting up in various locations around the railroad tracks.

And the buildings downtown were painted loud, unmatching colors.

There were new and old buildings, just like in Germany, but in Czech, the beautiful old architecture was blighted by giant billboards plastered on the sides of those glorious old buildings. And to top it off, we couldn't park because the only secure garage was closed for construction and the hotel parking areas were for guests only. So, the only time I got out of the car while in The Czech Republic was to use the restroom at the truck stop. Pilsen is by no means Prague. Next time, it's Prague or I'll skip the trip to Czech altogether.

But, the day wasn't a total loss. After our misguided adventures across the Czech border, we went back to my daughter's house, changed clothes, grabbed their two dogs, and drove about four miles or so to Roucher Klum, the small mountain visible from the upstairs window of my daughter's house.
We parked at the bottom of the mountain in a parking area outside a small rest area/snack bar. Then we followed the long winding trail up the mountain.

 

 

I love the trees in Germany. I don't know what kind of pines they are, but they're tall, majestic, and beautiful.

And the mountains near Eschenbach are basalt and part of an ancient stream of lava rock.

About mid way up the mountain, was the remains of an ancient fortress.

 
 



deep gully near the old fortress.



Views along the trail were spectacularly beautiful.

Toward the top, the trail became rocky and more difficult to navigate.
 

Until we reached the tower.

My son in law's camera has an awesome zoom.

 

Climbing to the top of the tower was like climbing to the top of a lighthouse. The view was breathtaking from every direction, and I felt humbled by the vast expanse of beauty God created for our pleasure. 

  

Going down the mountain was a bit trickier. We took a narrow, rocky path.

 



We spotted a lizard along the trail.



And along a narrow ledge, I met a local woman going up. I don't speak German, but I'd been getting my daughter to teach me a few words and phrases in German. Things like please (bitte) and thank you (dankeschön.) I'd also asked my daughter how to say excuse me.  The German word is entschuldigen, which translates apology or apologize. My daughter taught me to pronounce it as "en-choot-ee-gun." I remembered the pronunciation because it sounded sort of like, "I shoot a gun."

So, as I passed the German woman on the narrow trail, I tried to say excuse me in German.  But when the words left my mouth, they came out the way I taught myself to remember them. I opened my mouth and said, "I shoot a gun."

Apparently, the German woman understood English a lot better than I speak German. Her eyes bulged and her jaw dropped. Then she moved quickly away as if she feared I'd push her over the edge.

After I got over the initial shock of my own stupidity, I couldn't stop laughing. I thought my daughter and son-in-law would roll down the mountain laughing at me.

It wasn't my finest moment, but at least I got some great pictures!