A Rhein (Rhine) River Cruise - Germany

First, let me start out with the fact that I wasn't sure how to spell Rhein for the title of this post. I know how to spell it, it's just that there are two spellings. The American spelling of R-H-I-N-E and the German spelling, R-H-E-I-N. I am an American, but I live in Germany. Which is correct? As you can see, I totally went with the German spelling (when in Rome, after all), unlike what I do in my blog with most places. I usually use the American spelling of European places because that is what most people type in to Google. And I want to be searchable! Okay, on to the river cruise.

Matt and I went on a Rhein river cruise for the day clear back in April for our anniversary. There are several companies that offer a day cruise up and down the Rhein where you can just sit back and enjoy the scenery and a meal. Here is where we got on in Rüdesheim. You can also start your cruise in nearby Bingen which in on the other side of the river. HERE is a link for the website for the boat we used to go up and down the river. All in English and great!

This here is Ehrenfels Castle. It was built in the 1200's and destroyed in 1689. It is open for tours.

The real appeal to going on a Rhein (Rhine) River day cruise are the castles. This section of the Rhein is sprinkled liberally with castles and the ruins of castles. 

All these castles and picturesque villages are in the little section of the Rhein from Rüdesheim to the Lorelei rock. That's a lot of castles in a little place.

Next up is Rheinstein Castle. It is privately owned by an opera singer, but still open for tours March through November.

Right across form Rheinstein Castle is a quaint little town with an even quainter name.

Yes, that is really the name of the town. 

Even though it has a funny name it is just a normal German river village. I didn't notice any ass men walking around the streets.

Assmannshausen, Germany. If you are wondering why the hills look a little brown that is because those parts are the vineyards and the grape vines were just getting their leaves. In two months these same hills will be lush with ripe grapes.

This is Sooneck Castle. Like most of the castles along the Rhein, it was built by a robber/baron. The Rhein was, and still is, a major shipping lane for this part of Europe. It is the easiest way to get goods from the south up to the ocean. Back in the 1200's, everybody wanted to stick their fingers in the shipping pie. They would build these castles on side of the Rhein gorge and stop anyone or anything going up or down the river, and of course, take a cut of whatever it was they were moving. There are so many toll stops on this part of the river, I am amazed that anyone arrived at their final destination with any cargo left at all.

Here is Heimburg Castle. It was destroyed in 1689 and is not open to visitors. It does sit above a cute and colorful town, though.

Right next to Heimburg Castle sits the Fürstenberg Castle ruin. It too is privately owned and not open for tours. Who are these people that own castles in Germany? And how can I be one of them?

Not only were the castles impressive, the little villages that sat on the banks of the river under steep hills were just as eye catching as the castles.

The next castle is Stahleck Castle.

Stahleck Castle was built in 1135 and then blown up in 1689. It has been restored and now is a popular youth hostel. You might be saying, 'Hey, a lot of these castles were destroyed in 1689. What happened then?' Funny you should ask. The Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) was fought by almost every country in Europe, but mainly on German soil. By the end, a third of all Germans had died. France emerged from the war very powerful, but it was not enough for the French king, Louis XIV. He started the Nine Years' War and set out to take parts of Germany where he instituted a "scorched earth" policy where the French troops destroyed everything in their path. They made it as far as this section of the Rhein. Here the Rhein River sits in a deep gorge and is difficult to cross. His troops never made it across, but they decimated the left (west) side of the river. This is also the war that they destroyed the Heidelberg Castle. Read about that HERE. Okay, history lesson over. Okay, maybe it's not over. Germany ceased to be a major player after France had their way with them. The events of the 1600's and then the Napoleonic Wars of the 1800's directly influenced Germany's deep distrust (read hate) of France. This distrust and hate directly influenced the decision for Germany to invade France, and many the events leading up to WWI and WWII. Maybe if France had been nicer 400 years ago, certain events never would have happened. I'm just sayin...

Okay, NOW the history lesson is over.

This is Rick Steves favorite town along the Rhein, Bacharach, Germany. In fact, this town is the cover for his Germany travel book. 

More of the beautiful Rhein.

Up next is Gutenfels Castle. It too is privately owned and not open for tours. It is, however, a working hotel, as you can see by the paint on the wall. 

The end of the line is in St. Goar. That is where the boat turns around and makes the return trip to Rüdesheim or Bingen.

Beautiful Sankt Goar, Germany with the impressive Rheinfels Fortress in the background. The boats stop at several towns along the voyage where you can stay on or disembark to explore the village. Just make sure that there is another boat scheduled to come later on in the day and you aren't trapped in the quaint village without a way out. At least you know there are several castle/hotel/hostels to stay in along the river.

Katz Castle was built in the late 1300's and then destroyed in 1808 by Napoleon. It has since been restored and is, you guessed it, a hotel. Want to know more about the castles on the Rhein? Click HERE for a map and descriptions about all the castles including opening times and restaurant information.

Even though our river tour was over in Sankt Goar, it is not the end of the castles.

Off in the distance we could see Maus Castle, an intact castle built in the 1300's and open for tours and even weddings.

The castles continue on to Koblenz. The river cruise that we took can be completed in about five hours and is great way to spend an anniversary, or any day, just drifting down the Rhein. 

It's A Heatwave In Germany

It's hot. It's like really hot. Hot for Germany, anyway. If you're used to like Dubai or Baghdad temps, you might not think it's that bad. I am not used to Dubai or Baghdad temps, so I am miserable. And it's not just Germany. The heat is all over Europe. I read an article about some feral cats that attacked a woman in France. Apparently you shouldn't mess with French cats. It would seem that officials speculated that these French cats attacked the woman because it's been so hot and so dry that the rodent population has considerably died off. I don't know how a cat goes from rodents to women, but it happened.

So how hot has it been?

And then it got even hotter.

These aren't the actual temperatures outside. But it is the temperature under the hood of my Volvo. My dark grey Volvo with black, leather interior. Yeah, what I thought was so cute and fashionable in car design last fall is looking like a big, fat mistake every time I leave the car with stitch marks burned on the backs of my thighs.

You might be thinking I am a big wimp. It's true. I am. You might also be thinking, 'Hey, didn't you grow up in the semi-desert-mountainous west of the United States where it can get really, really hot?'

Yes. I did. But the big difference between the semi-desert-mountainous west of the United States and Germany is one, minor detail. Air conditioning. Blessed, sweet, life sustaining air conditioning. My home was cooled with central air. When the wonderful temp of 75°F got to warm, we cranked the air conditioner down to 74. And not only did my home have air conditioning, every other place did too! Movie theaters - so air conditioned you had to bring a sweater! Grocery stores - air conditioned! Convenience stores - air conditioned! The local church - air conditioned! There was so much air conditioning going on that I am surprised we didn't just cool down the whole state to a more tolerable temperature.

Needless to point out, Germany does not embrace America's love of air conditioning.

I know that electricity and money and everything is different over here. But I think I've reached a point where I just don't care. I went to the local store yesterday and it was so warm in there that the Pfefferminz Rittersport (German peppermint flavored chocolate) candy bar I picked up was already melted and soft in the package! Argh! If no one will think of the poor, hot Germans, will you at least think about the chocolate?! Will someone PLEASE think of the chocolate?!

So what do we do, other than lick melted chocolate (hey, chocolate is chocolate, melted or not) out of a Rittersport package when it's hot? We set up our own version of central air.

Let me introduce you to the portable air conditioning unit and industrial size fan to blow it around the house. It has been so humid that we need to keep a condensation bin under the A/C unit. Not pretty, but it gets the job done.

Right now I am begging for cooler temps and rain.

It seems that I will get my wish.

PS - Remember back in the spring when I was complaining about how much rain we were getting? Read about that HERE. My how the tide has turned. Seems I begged for too much sun back then.

The Coast Of Cassis And Puking In France

Matt and I can only take the "big city" for so long, so after a day in Marseille we packed the kids up in the Volvo and headed east along the coast to the town of Cassis.

That's better.

Cassis is a small commune located in a little bay east of Marseille on the Mediterranean Sea. The water was blue, turquoise, aqua, and crystal clear to the bottom. Tall cliffs called calanques sheltered the small town. 

I left Matt and the kids exploring the tide pools on this rock and I went for a stroll by myself.

Cassis.

The view during my walk.

An interesting fact about Cassis is that this is where the stone for the base of the Statue of Liberty was quarried. Thank you, France.

I had shed my jacket during the walk because the temperature had climbed all the way up to over 60°F. When I rounded the corner, I saw that my boys had shed some things too.

Ahem.

After getting my boys dressed again, we ventured into Cassis and got Provençal sandwiches which consisted of warm chicken, olive oil, cheese, and tomatoes on a fresh baguette. So good!

Our view while eating our sandwiches. 

And of course, what is a visit to anywhere in France without going to the bakery to load up on eclairs and tortes.

Yes, please. At this bakery it was a point-and-hold-up-your-fingers-for-what-you-want situation. 

I found this French rooster pitcher here in Cassis. It was made nearby in Provence. Love the bright colors.

We went back to the rental house and enjoyed our French treats and fell asleep to dreams of blue Mediterranean waters, ancient towers, and delicious food. The next day we were planning on going to Cannes, Nice, and Monaco. And then on the third day Avignon.

But...

Little did we know that we would see those delicious Provençal sandwiches and delicious baked goods again later that night. But in a slightly different form.

I awoke at 4:00 am to the sound of my child throwing up in the bathroom of the rental house. After cleaning this child up and cleaning up the floor I finally got back in bed at 5:30 am. At 6:00 am I heard a different child throwing up in bed while their bedroom partner asked "Do you want me to go get Mom?"

Oh... for heaven's sake.

I cleaned this child up. Puker #1 then came into our bedroom to say that they still didn't feel good. And then they puked on our floor.

Puker #2 was throwing up every 30 minutes, but at least they made it into the toilet.

This was so not turning out to be the day I had in mind.

Now remember, we are in a rental house, in France, and the owners speak hardly any English. We had exhausted our supply of sheets and towels that they have given us to use. Matt went downstairs and tried to explain to them that our kids were sick and could they wash these pukey sheets and towels so that A- the entire house didn't reek of vomit, and B- so that we could continue to contain the situation. They didn't understand what Matt was saying until he pointed upstairs and pantomimed throwing up and made fake retching sounds. I knew they got it when I heard "Mon Dieu!" and "Sacra bleu!" 

Our plans had definitely changed for the day. Our sick to healthy ratio stood at 50-50. The first two pukers were finally resting comfortably. I didn't want to waste the day. Matt suggested that I take the two non-pukers on trip around Aix en Provence to see some sights, have some lunch and then return to see how the pukers were. If they were better, we would go somewhere close, maybe the beach, where they could rest and just sit in the sun. 

Matt took a nap with the two healthy children because we all had been up rather early. Right as I was getting ready to wake the healthy children for lunch, the next child, who was asleep right next to Matt, sat straight up and puked all over our bed and Matt's arm. 

Oh geez. There go my Aix en Provence plans.

I realized that I wasn't going anywhere. Puker #3 was now lying on the bathroom floor silently weeping that they were going to die. I checked Puker #1 and Puker #2. They had fevers and were still throwing up. They complained they were thirsty and French tap water wasn't going to cut it. I needed to get out and get some fluids. 

This was a Sunday and grocery stores are not open in France (or hardly anywhere in Europe) on Sundays. Gas stations close too. I got in the Volvo and started driving all over Aix en Provence looking for an open gas station where I could get Coke, or Sprite, or juice, or anything. It took 45 minutes and five tries before I found something. I found a BP petrol station. I stocked up on clear fluids like apple juice and Sprite and mineral water. They even had fresh bananas!! I went to the check out and placed my items down. After checking out the items, the clerk looked at me and said something like this "Je na pada la la la je ne blah blah."

Should I even point out that I had no idea what he said?

Most of the time in Europe I make an attempt, albeit a small one, to understand what people say to me in their language. Not today. I was tired. I had cleaned up puke from three kids. And I was in France. I looked right at him and said "Je ne parle pas français." I don't speak French. At all.

He looked at me, smiled, and in perfect English said, "Can I get you anything else today ma'am?" 

I almost wept in relief.

He then told me my total in English. €11,50. He even said "Have a nice day!" 

The rest of the day progressed pretty much how you imagine. Three pukers, soiled towels, backs rubbed. Sips of apple juice going down and coming back up. The last child still wasn't feeling sick and when I returned Matt took pity on this child and took them to the French McDonald's out in town. Probably not the best idea.

We saw that cheeseburger again at 8:00 pm when the last child standing became Puker #4. This one then threw up all through the night. In the bed, in the hall. And do I even need to mention that I did the majority of the throw up cleaning by myself? My husband has a severe puke aversion. You can read about the first time I found that out right here. See - Wedding Day Vomit.

We finally left Aix en Provence the next morning. The owners of the house weren't that sad to see us go. Cancelled our plans to see Avignon and zipped home on the autoroute (French freeway) as fast as we could.

So that is why you will see no pictures of Cannes, or Nice, or Avignon here. At least not now.

As we drove home, all four pukers were quiet in the car. Most of them slept all the way home. Me? I just stared out the window and thought of this.

My happy place in Cassis.

When we got home, we told our story to our friends. They laughed and said, "Well, it sounds like you've had The Trip."

What's The Trip? It's the trip where something goes horribly wrong. We then heard stories of broken bones, car accidents, severe food poisoning, lost passports, and flights delayed for eight days. Oh what fun to be had.

I don't think it was food poisoning. The kids didn't eat anything that we didn't. But Matt and I were so scared that we were going to get sick while we were there that we went to bed Sunday night without having dinner because we figured it would just show back up again. When we got back, we heard that there had been illness going around the schools. Sounds like a virus. Luckily, Matt and I never fell to the Great French Puke Fest of 2013 as it shall now and forever be known.

Marvelous Marseille - France

When Matt asked me where I wanted to go next, I had a quick, easy answer. Somewhere where I can see the sun. This winter has had the least amount of recorded days of sunshine ever in this part of Germany. I had counted five since Thanksgiving. Things were feeling pretty gloomy around here. We decided that Marseille, Avignon, Cannes, and Nice sounded like a nice place to go. And if we had time, Monaco. 

It was snowing and cold when we left Heidelberg. As we drove down through Germany, the snow stopped. When we hung a right toward France, the clouds started to lift. And when we hit Orange, France, the sun appeared. Palm trees were waving on the sides of the road. Birds were chirping. Flowers blooming. Paradise.

We rented the top floor of a private home in the town of Aix en Provence. They had a beautiful little homestead that looked out over the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of France.

As we drove from Aix en Provence to Marseille, we noticed the architecture of the homes had a much more Mediterranean feel than the typical French architecture we saw in Paris. In fact, it wasn't that different from what we saw in Tuscany.  

Marseille is the second largest city in France, located in south eastern France on the Mediterranean coast. It is the oldest city in France, having been founded in 600 BC by Greeks. Looking around Marseille, it seemed like a mix between France, Spain, and Italy.  

The first thing we saw in Marseille was the Cathédrale de la Major. It is a large scale cathedral built in 1852. Cathedrals have been built on this site since the 5th century. 

Marseille is built in a valley that opens to a natural bay with the Massif de l'Étoile mountains to the northeast. There is a large limestone hill that rises in the center of this valley. This point was used as a fort and a lookout for thousands of years due to the fact you can see for miles in every direction. Here is some of the view.

The sprawl of Marseille.

One thing about Marseille is that there are very few English speakers compared to Paris. I don't want to seem like an ugly American and expect everyone to speak English. I don't expect them to. One of the funnest parts of travelling is picking up and learning new words and phrases. We always try to learn important phrases, numbers, polite language like excuse me, thank you, your welcome, and so on in the language of the area we are going. But once most people hear our accent (or see the way we are dressed, or see how many kids we have) they know we are American and slip right into passable English. In Marseille, communication was difficult. It took all of my 8th grade French, and then some to get along.

Looking south.

Looking west.

As you can see from these pictures, we had great weather. Sunshine galore. But it wasn't something that we were used to.

We felt like a bunch of vampires squinting in the sun and holding our hands over our eyes to keep from being blinded. None of us hissed or bared our fangs though.

The Notre-Dame de la Garde or Our Lady of the Guard. We ducked into the cathedral for a quick peek.

The alternating stripes of color are not paint. They are red and white marbles quarried from France and Italy. It was cold in the cathedral without the sun to warm us, so we ducked back out.

We could see way out into the bay from this hill. There are four small islands out in the bay. 

This is the Château d'If. A real place where the fictional character of Edmond Dantès was imprisoned for 14 years in the book The Count of Monte Cristo. I remember reading that in my senior honors English class. I must say that being here is much more interesting than reading about it.

After enjoying the view from the hill, we ventured out into the city. It was Saturday and there were fresh fruit and vegetable markets set up all over.

It was near this square, the rue Longue-des-Capucins, where we stopped and sampled all the different foods that were being cooked here. Armenian pizza, Moroccan lamb, and olives. There were olives everywhere. There were two French policeman on this street watching everyone. I watched them watching the shoppers. They spoke with no one. But when I walked down the street with my four children, they turned around and made sure they made eye contact with me and gave me a quick "bonjour". After walking up and down this street three times I got it. They were watching us to make sure we were safe. We were obviously not from Marseille and as Americans I guess we stuck out like sore thumbs. Not five minutes after I realized that the police were keeping an eye on us because we were Americans, a dirty, little, dark haired girl ran up to us and with a mouth of rotting teeth said "Give to me money, please."

Matt gave her a €1 coin and she shouted "Merci!" and ran off. 

This brings me to a delicate point. Marseille is a rough town. It has a much different feel than Paris. Due to it's position in the Mediterranean and it being the largest port in Europe, there are a large amount of immigrants that come to France here. We heard many different languages and saw turbans, scarves, and hijabs adorn the people of Marseille. And matching velour Adidas track suits.

Although Marseille was rough, we always felt safe. We actually loved that it was less touristy than Paris and that we had more chances to actually experience what a real life in Marseille might be like.

Looking towards the Vieux-Port, or Old Port of Marseille.

Around the Vieux-Port, there are all these ancient stone buildings and fortifications. 

This is the Abbey of St. Victor, a monastery founded in 415. In the eighth and ninth centuries, the Saracens (a European name for Muslim, Arab, or desert dweller) destroyed them. They were rebuilt in the eleventh century and that is the structure you see in this picture. Just ignore the traffic sign lit up by my flash. 

Marseilles is said to be the place where the first Christian saints landed in Europe in order to spread Christianity to the Pagans. Around Marseille, you hear the legend of Les Trois Maries, or the three saints named Mary who with St. Lazarus (the one and the same who was raised from the dead) came here to Christianize ancient Provence. In commemoration of the voyage, you can find little cookies and breads called les navettes baked in the shape of a boat and spiced with orange.

Here we are eating our Christian-boat cookies. Tasty!

Matt and I wanted to see more of the countryside, so we loaded the kids up in the Volvo and headed east down the coast toward Cassis.

Cassis, France coming up next!

...With The Sound Of Music - Austria

On to Salzburg! Salzburg means "Salt Fortress". The city of Salzburg sits at the northern boundary of the Alps. Salzburg's skyline is dominated by the Festung Hohensalzburg, or literally the High Salzburg Fortress, with spires rising in the foreground and green snow capped alpine mountains as the backdrop.

The Festung Hohensalzburg is a castle that began in 1077 with just a small tower and square around it. When Salzburg was under control of the Holy Roman Empire the Archbishops expanded the castle. It was kind of like the cutting of a tree. There were rings and courtyards, the newest being on the outside while the oldest structures were hidden deep inside. We parked several kilometers away and got a good workout climbing up this hill - "Climb Ev'ry Mountain. Search high and low..."  And so on.

Once we reached the top we were rewarded with a sweeping 360 degree view that showcased the mountains behind the castle and the rolling hills and Salzach River in front.

These are some of the hills that Maria claimed were "alive". 

Salzburg Altstadt (Old Town).

The Festung Hohensalzburg was interesting. We went on the tour and pondered what it would have been like to have been a prisoner at the fortress/castle. It was used as recently as World War I to hold Italians and Nazis. Of course, the Nazis were held here before they came to power in Germany and before the start of the Anschluß which was the annexation of Austria into the Third Reich. Maybe they should have just kept those Nazis locked up in here. Could have saved everyone a whole lot of trouble.

There is no escape. 

Luckily for us there has been a funicular railway installed that takes you up and down the large glacial hill that the fortress sits on. Much easier on the knees.

As you walk around Salzburg you can't turn around without bumping into something that says "Sound Of Music This!" or "Mozart That!"

My children as the Von Trapp family marionettes.

Salzburg was still decorated for Christmas and quite cold. But we managed to find comfort in giant Bavarian-style pretzels sold on the streets.

Everywhere you look you see these boxes of pistachio flavored chocolates called Mozartkugel. 

Poor Mozart. He was a musical prodigy and now they use his likeness to sell green chocolate.

My two oldest children have played the violin for years so they had quite a bit of interest in seeing Mozarts Geburtshaus or Mozart's birth house/place.

I wonder if Mozart's parents got the idea for his name from what it said on the front of their house. Hmm...

Inside his house we saw the room where he was born (1756), where he slept, where he grew up, and most importantly, where he played the violin. Mozart lived in Salzburg and was a court musician. He grew restless and at the age of 25 he travelled to Vienna where he achieved fame, but no financial security. He died a mysterious death in 1791 at the age only 35. He was survived by his wife and two children. During his life he composed over 600 musical works. 

The street behind the Mozart house was built right into the rock hill that juts out in the middle of the city. 

These buildings on this whole street were built in 1408. That is 84 years before Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue. And this part isn't even the Altstadt. This is where they built because they had run out of room. This is the extension of the city. They sure knew how to build things that last.

After the Mozart stuff, we had to do The Sound Of Music stuff.

The Sound Of Music is a Broadway production that was adapted to a 1965 film starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. Wayward nun Maria becomes a governess for a ornery military man and his seven children. And through the power of song she convinces the children and the father, in that order, that she is wonderful and her carefree attitude about life is great. The Nazis then show up in town (should have kept them locked up) and things change. The father doesn't want to work for the Nazis so the family escapes and hikes over the Alps into Switzerland. I've seen those mountains and I really can't see anyone hiking over them in nothing but lederhosen. Of course, things might be different if you are being chased by Nazis. I heard from first hand accounts that they weren't very nice.

There are many tours throughout the city that you can take where you ride a bus all around Salzburg with the soundtrack to the movie blaring out speakers. We did a do-it-yourself tour.

Here I am kissing Matt at the gazebo where Liesl kisses traitorous Rolf. What kind of a name is Rolf anyway? Sounds like someone throwing up. "I'm Rolfing."

The gazebo used to be located on the grounds of Leopoldskron, a palace that was used for the shot for the imposing Von Trapp home in the movie. The gazebo was moved to the the Schloss Hellbrunn because so many trespassers came to see it. The grounds where the gazebo is now located are quite beautiful.

Next we were off to the Mirabell gardens.

Schloss Mirabell is a palace in downtown Salzburg where in the movie the children dance around the Pegasus fountain and up and down stairs.

Because it was winter, they had the steps that they use in the movie chained off. So all we could do was stand by them and sing, "Do, a deer, a female deer. Ra, a drop of golden sunnnn!"

Mirabell Gardens. Made me wish I had an absent mother and authoritative father and a governess who had a penchant for making pinafores out of green curtains, because nobody can belt from their lungs in public "So, a needle pulling thread! La, a note to follow so! Te, a drink with jam and bread!" like I can. A point proven while walking around these paths. My kids got really tired of it.

"That will bring us back to Do!"

Andre is saying here, "Mom, if you sing that one more time I'm going to bring this stone dog back to life and ride him out of here."

I had one stop left and that was the Silent Night Church. The Christmas carol Silent Night or Stille Nacht in German was composed in 1816 in the village of Oberndorf. A flood destroyed the original church in the early 1900's, but a memorial chapel, the Stille Nacht Gednächtniskapelle was built in it's place.

We sang a little a capella Silent Night in the chapel. 

We had had a great time in and around Salzburg. We had walked miles and had been cold and had had great food and seen beautiful things. It was time to go home.

Auf Wiedersehen, Salzburg (I wonder if that's what the Nazis said when they let them out).