Celebrating 5 years of marriage in the Rhine Valley

Noah and I recently celebrated our 5^th wedding anniversary by spending a long weekend on the Rhine.  When looking for a place to spend our anniversary, I focused on the idea of staying at a castle hotel.  My search turned up the Burghotel Auf Schönburg in Oberwesel, and I fell in love with the photos online.  Sadly when I tried to book us a room there for the long weekend, I was given the message that it was fully booked.  Being the overly dramatic person I am, I was devastated and sure that nothing could be done.  Luckily my husband is more pragmatic in these situations, and simply emailed the hotel to see what could be worked out.  Turned out only the Saturday was booked, and we could stay there Sunday and Monday nights no problem.  Whoo hoo!  So that meant I needed to find a different option for Saturday night only. 

Hence on Saturday we made the drive to St. Goar to stay at the Romantik Hotel Schloss Rheinfels – also booked as a castle hotel.  Well we ended up in the Villa next to the castle, and not IN the castle proper, but we had a beautiful view of the Rhine from our balcony. 

The view from our balcony

As the castle hotel is connected to the ruins of Rheinfels Castle, built in the 13^th century.  It stood as a central figure in the area until the French Revolution, when the castle was blown up at the end of the 18^th century.  What is left are the ruins of tunnels and walls that you can extensively explore on your own.  Noah and I were both incredibly impressed with this castle – for only 5EUR each, we were given a map and suggested route, and are set free.  You can crawl inside these narrow tunnels, climb the stone staircases, and wander through the entire grounds.  Luckily I read that a flashlight was suggested, as some of these areas do get very, very dark. 

After we were done exploring the ruins, we went into town for a super romantic anniversary dinner at Asia Kim.  Ok, so this wasn’t supposed to be our big celebratory dinner as our next hotel came with fancy 5 course dinners included.  And knowing that the next two nights would give us such fancy dinners, we decided to keep Saturday night’s dinner low key.  And as we get plenty of Germany food already, we settled on Asia Kim where we had the place to ourselves (based on the phone calls we heard, I think most people just get their food to go). 

Back at our hotel after dinner, we decided to use the spa and go for a swim.  Actually I tend to just float around while Noah does all the swimming.  Then we spent our anniversary night watching the Eurovision finale, where Germany came in DEAD LAST.  Our favorite was Latvia, but she only came in 6^th. 

Noah splashing around

Night on the Rhine

Sunday we decided to check out the Sesselbahn in the nearby town of Boppard (I had read about it in our Germany guidebook we brought over with us – who needs the internet??).  I wasn’t sure what kind of ‘bahn’ this was going to be, and the guidebook mentioned a 20 minute ride up the mountain.  This led me to assume it was some kind of slow cog train that left only every hour or so.  This is why when we parked, I rushed Noah to buy the tickets, assuming that the approaching time of 10:30 could be meaningful.  Nope.  Turns out it is a continuous chairlift, so my rush was not needed.

At the top of Gedeonseck, we walked to the advertised ‘Vierseenblick’, or ‘Four Lakes View’.  So the thing is, the river forms an oxbow right around here.  You first come up to a café with a beautiful (or at least when the weather is nicer) view of the entire oxbow.  But you see these signs for this ‘Vierseenblick’ view, so you keep going.  Then you get to a second café with this alternative view…. What I think really happened is the café owner bought this land, and then later realized, ‘Oh crap, we have an obstructed view of the river that the other café doesn’t have.  I know – let’s market it that the river looks like 4 lakes from here since you can only see bits and pieces of it.  Then people will come even though our view sucks!’.  <End scene>. 

After backtracking to the first café with the better views, we shared a piece of strawberry cake (where I had to scrape off the gelatin that surrounds the fresh strawberries - I just don’t get why Germans do this and ruin a perfectly good cake with gelatin). 

The full oxbow view

As it was getting close to check-in time at the super amazing castle hotel, we hopped in the car and drove south to the town of Oberwesel. As my mom has a better photo of this castle/hotel from her Rhine trip last year, I will use that one (we never had clear blue skies this last weekend). 

I have to say – this place did not disappoint.  In fact it blew us away.  Minus the four flights of stairs to get to our room (good exercise) – there is nothing negative I can say.  Our room was decorated how you would want a castle hotel room to look, and it had a balcony with a gorgeous Rhine view.  I only wish I could have checked out each and every room because they are all different (based on what I saw online).  For our records, we had room 35. 

After picking up our jaw from the floor, and Noah lugging in our luggage (he didn’t want to use the advertised luggage service since he is big and strong), we set off to check out the gardens.  Because hotel guests have exclusive access to the castle gardens.  Even more wows.  I mean there are so many nooks and crannies in the multi-level garden that you can sit and read a book.  And they have things like a tree-house, a bocce ball court, a dart board, and a pool table – all hidden around the gardens.  They did a FABULOUS job for sure! 

A small hut on the left with reading chairs inside, the tree-house on the right with two levels of seating

Not the garden, but the pretty courtyard of the castle hotel

Because the gardens were so pretty, and we were dressing up for dinner, Noah had the idea to take the tripod back down there and have a photo shoot of us.  Like I am going to pass that up!!  I only wish I had something other than green dresses with me to keep me from blending in.  We ended the photo shoot at the dartboard, so naturally we had to play.  For whatever reason, these darts just wouldn’t work for me.  I ended up dropping one on my leg (thank goodness I have my tetanus shot) and only made a few hit the board.  It was a dumb dartboard.  

Soon it was time for our 5 course dinner (included when you stay at the hotel).  It was all very fancy as expected, but also very delicious.  We ate things like snails and truffle pasta and homemade peppermint ice cream.  Yum!  And they even had our name on the table – it made me feel important.

Based on another tip from our German guidebook (I think this is only the second trip we even looked at the book), we drove down on Monday to the little town of Bacharach.  This town is super adorable – it is full of timber-framed houses and is surrounded by pieces of the old stone town wall. 

As the guidebook only suggested going here, and didn’t tell us what to do beyond parking and walking in, Noah and I began to wander.  We took a side street and found a sign with a picture of a donkey and an arrow leading up some steps.  Naturally we followed the sign, and soon found ourselves gaining elevation above the town and eventually made it to the Postenturm – an old tower along the town wall.  We were able to walk up most of it for some amazing views, and to help plan our next move. 

We followed a path that led us through a magical part of town where people’s entrance ways to their front gardens took you over a bridge over a creek (I don’t have photos because I just don’t), and eventually up to the Wernerkapelle.  Photos of these ruins don’t do it justice – it is so beautiful to see these windows without the glass. 

After a picnic of PBJ’s by the river, we drove back to our hotel for some Piratenbilliards (my gift to Noah for our ‘wooden’ anniversary) and maybe we watched Dumb and Dumber… isn’t that what you do on a romantic anniversary trip? 

After our last (fancy) dinner, we made it back to our balcony to see that the clouds actually parted to give us a sunset!!!  It was the best ending to an amazing getaway! 

We came back home Tuesday to some tiny dogs (we had them shaved last week) who were happy to have us home.  I was glad, seeing as Sadie gave us some major shade on Saturday when we left them.  She was sitting in the living room, so I went to pet her head goodbye.  She ducked from my hand and moved over 2 feet.  So Noah goes to her and tries to pet her goodbye, and she ducks him and goes under the coffee table to avoid us both.  Good to know all is forgiven!

Celebrating the New Year at Neuschwanstein

We didn’t waste any time in 2015 before heading out to do something new. We set out for Schloss Neuschwanstein with our guests on January 2^nd – and this time actually went inside!  We had visited the castle in the fall of 2013 but we weren’t in the mood to fight the crowds to take a tour.  Instead we had opted for the more relaxed (in terms of crowds) Hohenschwangau Castle tour across the way. Aunt Ellen and Uncle Rüdiger were more than disappointed in our decision and have made fun of our cultural blindness for the better part of a year.   How could anyone visit the world’s most famous castle and not go inside!?  Well in 2015 we redeemed ourselves! 

Julie’s uncanny planning skills came in handy on January 2^nd.  She motivated us to get out of the house by 7am so we could beat the crowds and the forecasted bad weather.  Upon arriving we found a front row parking spot and already the parking attendant warned us to hurry to the ticket office and secure our castle tour.  They were expecting double the number of visitors because Neuschwanstein is closed New Year’s Eve and Day, and there were plenty of tourists visiting Munich/Bavaria for the holidays (including our 3 guests). 

The drive in wasn't too shabby

After securing tickets for a 12:45 tour and making the 15 minute ‘hike’ up the hill to Neuschwanstein’s entrance, we were initially disappointed to see the trail to the Marienbrücke (Mary’s bridge) was blocked off due to the snow.  This bridge is where you can get photos of the castle in its entirety – and the main reason Julie wanted to come that day (to photograph the castle in snow).  After about 5 minutes of deliberating if we should ignore the fence, we saw a couple come through the barricade from the bridge’s direction.  When they said the path was just fine, we made the decision to duck through the railings and make our way down the trail. 

It ended up being an easy walk to the bridge, even in the snow, and we were able to capture some really great shots of Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau in the winter elements.  And we were not the only ones that had ignored the warning signs/gone around the fences – there were a handful of other people with their cameras enjoying the views. 

The castles weren’t the only things looking beautiful under a blanket of snow – the Bavarian countryside wasn’t too shabby either. 

After an early lunch it was time to take the castle tour.  The tour itself was quick and dirty and involved too many people to really absorb much information.  However we were all stunned by how amazingly beautiful the castle was on the inside.  We had expected that because it was technically not finished that the interior would not be very lavish.  Instead the level of detail in all of the architectural elements is incredible and there are some wildly unique decorations including a rainbow, some vibrant blue tiles, and the most detailed woodcarvings I have ever seen.  I guess you will have to see it for yourself because you are not allowed to take photos inside. 

Ok, we took a selfie in the gift shop as proof we went inside.  I think this photo is ok - the only 'artwork' we put at risk were those plastic placemats behind us.

At the end of the tour, we passed by some windows facing the valley.  As we looked out in the distance we were all shocked to see the incredibly long line of cars sitting in traffic all headed to where we were. 

And they weren't even close to the parking areas.

Upon exiting the castle we observed the trend of jumping the fence to go to the bridge had only increased 10 fold.   The crowds were so thick and intense it was quite entertaining to watch people pushing their way forward and essentially falling through to the other side of the fencing.  And when we saw the Marienbrücke from the castle, we could see it was packed full of people. 

The weather had turned cold and rainy (as forecasted) while we were taking the tour, which meant it was time to leave the massive crowds at the castle and make our way down the trail.  We finished up by taking some photos at the lake and then piled into the car for road trip cupcakes and our journey back to the apartment. 

So now we are proud (and relieved) to be able to visit with our aunt and uncle without feeling shame that we have been to Neuschwanstein but haven’t gone in.  This time we took the tour and can honestly say we were thoroughly impressed!  So what is the secret to having nice weather and minimal crowds when visiting Germany’s biggest tourist destinations?  Make sure you have Julie in your group to make the plans. 

Celebrating the 29th year of my existence

Last week, Noah and I packed up the car and the dogs and headed west for my birthday vacation.  While the destination wasn’t as ‘cool’ as an Amazonian jungle (how Noah spent his 29^th birthday last month), it was still an amazing vacation spot: Lake Constance.  The lake lies on the border of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.  We decided to stick to the German side of the lake – mainly because it was the closest spot to Munich / the shortest drive for us.  Plus as Switzerland is not on the Euro/ I hear it is rather expensive, we passed on that country.  So even though I could look across the lake to the Swiss side only 15 kilometers away, I still have yet to set foot in Switzerland.  Future trip here?  Ok, I digress…. 

Switzerland across the way (and a Swiss boat to boot!)

We stayed at the beautiful historic Hotel Bad Schachen near the island of Lindau.  The history of this hotel began over 250 years ago when a mineral spring was transformed into a spa.  The current hotel that we stayed in was built in the early 1900s.  In fact after WWII, the French occupational troops used Hotel Bad Schachen as a holiday location until 1949, when the hotel began to welcome guests once again.  Of course I just did all this research writing this blog, so we had no idea of all of that when we were actually there last week. 

But what we could easily see was that our choice of hotels was perfect.  For starters, we had a wonderful corner balcony with a beautiful view of Lake Constance. 

The next great perk of the hotel: a lakeside swimming pool with a huge lawn of lounge chairs and direct access to the lake.  My first birthday activity (after unpacking of course) was a given.  It was time to lather up in my SPF 100+ sunscreen and do some swimming.  After dipping one foot in the lake, I bailed and dragged Noah to the swimming pool which was supposedly 2 whole degrees warmer.  Once I had my fill of swimming, I was ready to lay in a lounge chair and enjoy my book.  Noah, who can never get enough of the water, grabbed his snorkeling gear and jumped into the lake.  Crazy boy. 

The only picture I took of the pool area... and you can't see the pool

Soon it was evening and time for my birthday dinner.  Noah had found a BBQ restaurant nearby – Stadthaus – known for high quality BBQ.  As we are always looking for alternatives to a traditional Bavarian-German meal, this sounded fantastic.  And we both knew that we shouldn’t have our expectations too high, what with coming from Texas and all.  My official review on this place is if you go in expecting a unique style of smoked meats, and not Texas BBQ, then this place is great.  But even though my mind knew that the pork in my pulled-pork sandwich was truly fantastic, I couldn't help but wish it had some amazing BBQ sauce in it to truly make it perfect.  Damn you Texan BBQ and the high standards you have instilled in me!!! 

Ready to head out for my birthday dinner

The next day we decided to check out the island of Lindau – about 3 kilometers away.  Since the morning weather was so perfect, we skipped on figuring out a train route and instead leashed up the dogs for a wonderful walk through Schachen and then along the lake.  We passed some truly amazing homes mansions, and I spent some time dreaming about a life where we could live at one of these places.  Though I will happily take a 5 day visit and count myself lucky. 

The dogs waiting at the train crossing; Beautiful photo of the park path Noah took

40 minutes later we were in the heart of the island.  We stopped for an amazing lunch at Cafe/Bar/Restaurant Großstadt, a lunch so great Noah claimed this was his favorite restaurant ever and began outlining a plan for us to open a similar place ourselves.  Our food was simple – a pepper soup and a Mediterranean wrap – but it was done so perfectly and with such a freshness that gave it an edge that other wrap/soup cafés just don’t seem to have.  Though you should pass on the chocolate milkshake – it was a room-temperature protein shake.  I don’t know when I will finally learn my lesson and stop trying to find a good chocolate shake in Germany.  

We spent the next few hours exploring the little island of Lindau, which was so small we could walk all the way around it in that short time.  We saw the Rathaus, strolled along Maximilianstrasse, saw the pretty tiled Diebsturm, and checked out the harbor, Seehafen.  We even found a place that would put your name on rice.  I had no idea how international this idea was. 

Left to Right: Diebsturm; Rathaus; Cute colorful buildings

Seehafen

Your Name on Rice!

As we walked back to the hotel, we could feel that the temperature had definitely risen since our morning stroll.  So what better way to cool off?  Back to the pool/lake – where this time I toughened up and skipped the pool and went straight for the lake.  We spent the rest of the afternoon swimming and reading and relaxing.  That night after dinner, we watched The Shining.  I had mentioned to Noah that the hotel reminded me a bit of the hotel in the movie and was shocked to learn he had never seen it!  Now he is all up to speed on the famous ‘Here’s Johnny’ scene, and next time will not be shocked to learn what Redrum means. 

Our only set plan for Friday was to rent a paddle boat in front of the hotel, but when we woke up to choppy water and lots of wind we decided to move that plan to later in the afternoon.  Instead we took a short drive down to Austria’s Pfänder Mountain where you can take the award winning cable car up the mountain.  Seriously – it earned the title of "Ausgezeichnete Österreichische Sommerbahn", or “Excellent Austrian Cable Car”.  At the top there is a small ‘Wild Park’ with a walkway through a few zoo-like pens.  We accidently started at the back and wound are way to the front, where only after we exited the entrance did we see the sign that the dogs weren’t allowed.  Oops! 

The trip down

Back at the hotel that afternoon, we saw the water had finally calmed down.  Paddle boat time!  We Noah paddled us around to check out the beautiful mansions that neighbor the hotel.  And of course I had my floatie with me, so I was prepared for our swim in the lake.  

I'll take either one of these - I won't be picky

Saturday brought the rain with it.  And it was nonstop rain – beginning at 10am Saturday and then following us back to Munich the next day.  I had expected the weather to turn, so we had made sure to fill our prior three days with all the outdoor activities that were a ‘must’ for us.  Because of that, we had no problem with the idea of staying inside all day.  We spent the morning reading on the balcony, and then had a nice lunch of cake down in the hotel lobby.  In the afternoon we checked out the hotel’s spa / indoor pool area (have I mentioned how amazing this hotel was?).  I am finally learning to use vacation time to simply relax, and this was definitely the place to do it.  The rest of the day was spent watching movies, reading, and playing minesweeper on the iPad (we are both obsessed).  The dogs were also happy to have a respite from such ‘busy’ days so they could work on catching up on all that missed daytime sleep.  

A well-rounded, healthy lunch

When Sunday morning arrived, it was time to make our way back to Munich.  Of course the dogs were extremely alert to our packing - working hard to ensure they didn’t get left behind.  By the time we made it back home, we had left the rainstorms behind and returned to blue skies.  And since I have extra vacation days from working while Noah was in Brazil, I was able to take Monday off too.  It was nice having one more day of sleeping in before returning to reality (sorry Noah!).  

Sadie watching our every move while we packed up