Germany, by car.

We now return to the rest of the European story...

7:30 am, January 1, 2009, Zurich Hauptbahnhof.

Thus began our four day trip into Germany and let me say Zurich never appeared more dead then then this day after the big New Years Eve party that took over the town. We saw more discarded alcohol containers then people that morning. We boarded a train to Freiburg in Breisgau, Germany and in 1.5 hours we arrived in a town even more dead then Zurich. Our first order of business was to get some coffee, which I am ashamed to say involved a well-known American chain with a green logo, but honestly, there was nothing else open at this point and we needed our coffee. We did have a chat with a young local, also having some coffee that admitted to us proudly that he had yet to go to bed. Ahhh, to be young (or stupid.) After getting our jolt of caffeine we took off to see the town, which was surprisingly beautiful, definitely a good place to spend a few hours and one the W's said they may try to get back to. Once we had obtained our rental car, a cute black Mercedes, we took off for the land of cuckoo clocks and Hansel and Gretel, the Black Forest. I see now why fairy tales were written about this region in Germany, it has hidden lakes, dense forests, winding roads and quaint villages. With a fresh layer of snow highlighting the sites, we headed north on a well planned route, with the help of Helga, GPS assistant. Conveniently there was a small brewery set amongst this backdrop for us stop into and have lunch and try some German beer. Continuing on we went encountered the "center of the Black Forest," or so it billed itself. The small town of Triberg is built along the walls of a canyon at the bottom of which was the "highest waterfall" in Germany. Though the waterfall was quite small compared to anything significant in the Sierra Nevada's, it was beautifully lit and for just a couple of Euro's we went up to view it. The town was easily out of a fairy tale, with small shops selling cuckcoo clocks, half timber houses, the small river through the lower center of town and white lights everywhere. Of course, this was just 7 days after Christmas so the spirit was lingering. After our short hike and coffee break we headed on to the Hotel Gasthoff zum Weyssen Rossle in Shiltach for the night. This inn was a perfect setting in the Black Forest; mom and pop run, amazing restaurant and inviting rooms. We really enjoyed our very German meal and our comfortable rooms for very few Euros. The next morning we took a walk around the village, which is billed as the "prettiest" in the Black Forest and I would have a hard time denying it.

Day two was centered around two cities, Baden Baden and Heidelberg. We took the high road through the north part of the Black Forest and it was breathtaking. We had clear skies and little traffic as we enjoyed the view of a snow covered landscape across the top of the mountains. Dropping into Baden Baden we had a couple of objectives, stretch our legs, have a nice lunch and get an impression of this famous spa town. The town was bustling compared to what we had seen the previous day but still slow to recover from the New Years events. It definitely has the aura of affluence and privilege but we certainly didn't feel out of place. We found a great little French restaurant for lunch (yes I was a happy girl, but so was MW since they had great flammkuchen) and then and even better place to get some Black Forest cake and coffee a little later. We walked by the casino, saw the remnants of their Christmas market and then it was time to move on. We took the autobahn to Heidelberg for our next stop and overnight stay. I visited Heidelberg for a couple of hours almost 2 decades ago and it was the one place in Germany that I remember really enjoying. I enjoyed it even more this time and would love to return for longer then 18 hours. We found The Hip Hotel, a great, affordable place right in the heart of Heidelberg and every room is themed after a world city. We had the difficult decision between the New York(MW's favorite city) or Paris (my favorite) rooms, Paris won out due to a better set up for the 3 of us and it was much cuter. With two local breweries available to us we set out to see the sights and enjoy the local beer and food. The city is beautifully lit up at night and the castle was a sight to see sitting atop the hill, but we could tell it was still recovering from it's celebratory hangover.

In planning this trip, we thought about heading towards Berlin but knew the 8 hour return train trip would be too much, so we continued up the western part of Germany along the Rhine River to see the castles. I also wanted to see this part of Germany again, but wasn't so sure since we knew it would be very quiet following the first of the year. We tried making reservations in a few of the small towns along the river for the night but were told they were closed or never received a response. I would not recommend this time of year for this region, since it is not at it's best but as always the three of us still had a great time. The storied part of the Rhine between Rudesheim and Koblenz is home to 30 or so castles that were built over the last 1000 years in order to levy tolls on this vital waterway. Most of the castles are in ruins but are quite a sight as you come across them, one after another, around every bend of the river. We stopped in Bacharach on the western bank to find some lunch, in the guide books this is listed as a busy tourist town but we found it almost deserted with just two places open for lunch. The village was still magical with it's tiny streets and city walls, the lack of people only added to this feel. We continued north, recrossing the Rhine on a car ferry, with a mission of arriving at Marksburg Castle before it closed. This is one of the few castles that is not in ruins and we were fortunate to catch the last tour of the day. Though the entire tour was in German, our guide did translate the information about the instruments of torture into English for us. The castle afforded us great views of the sun setting over the river and was very interesting inside too. We ended our evening in Koblenz, an unremarkable town along the Rhine and though the old town paled in comparison to anywhere else we visited we did enjoy our dinner. We ventured across town in the cold to an area noted as a "replica of a recreation," now housing restaurants instead of wines from throughout the region.

Our final day dealt with history and beer. (Shocking, I know) We drove the autobahn up to the former capital of West Germany, Bonn, just to have a look around. We walked through the old town which seemed very nice though it was hard to tell at 10 am on a Sunday. We saw the Beethovenhalle and Beethoven's home while living in Bonn along with a view of a completely different Rhine River from the day before. After our short stop we headed on to Köln (Cologne,) to return our car and catch our return train to Zurich later in the day. Last year, the W's made a stopover in Köln and enjoyed the city due to it's unique beer culture. The city has a 14 local breweries producing in the Kölsch style and similer to Champagne, only those in region may call their liquid Kölsch. In the pubs, the 0.2 liter servings are continuously brought to you and the server marks the coaster to keep track of how many glasses are dropped off. We stopped in at 5 different places to do some taste testing, have some lunch and pass the afternoon. In the evening we boarded the train for home.

The last minute trip was a great success and though many of the places were closed for January we did enjoy seeing sights without the swarms of people. Driving a Mercedes on the autobahn was an added bonus but the beer disappointed us; of course, we compared it Irish and Belgian beer (and stay tune for my assessment of Czech beer.) This journey ignited an interest in visiting the rest of Germany that I did not get from my trip 20 years ago.

Thanks for reading.