European road trip.

After about a year of planning we were able to execute a good ‘ol fashioned road trip through Europe.  Chevy Chase and the gang would be so proud!    Our goal was to visit 6 countries in 10 days.  Here’s how we did it.

Krishna and Jayci got a head start by landing in London a day after the Olympics started and hooked up with Jacqui and her family for a few days.  Brian is a Nike big-wig and was assigned to oversee operations at this time.  Here’s a look at London through the eyes of an American Teenager.

From Heathrow they flew to Frankfurt, as did I, to begin the road race.  We spent our first day there exploring the city, mainly the Am Mainz section.  The most poignant part for me was to realize the history that this area played in WWII.  I tried to imagine the destruction the Allied planes wreaked on these buildings and town square.  Virtually everything in sight was leveled to the ground and had been reconstructed since the mid ‘40s.  It now is an impressive look at yesteryear, replete with traditional architecture and ambiance.

Another memorable experience was the visit to the oldest known Jewish Cemetery in Frankfurt and the Holocaust wall.  This area was known as the Jewish Ghetto and housed a large concentration of Jewish homes, synagogues and other cultural artifacts.  In the late 1930s the Nazi’s did their thing to eliminate them, thus destroying much of the area.  Recently, it was excavated and dedicated as basically a large memorial.  The wall around the cemetery was quite emotional as it displayed thousands of small plaques memorializing the Jews killed during the Holocaust.

The next morning we saddled up our trusty Ford Focus and took off up the Rhine River for a scenic 20 mile castle viewing extravaganza.  The stretch of rode we explored sidled along the river affording front row looks at some amazing castles, vistas and mountainside vineyards. Our first castle was the Alstadt Eltville.  We walked the grounds as royalty, if for only a moment, for a few good pics.

We then spent the next couple of hours taking in “a back in time” journey that included 8 historic castles.  This stretch of road is UNESCO registered and you can see why…  

Once the castles had been explored, we now turned our compass South towards a quaint and historically intact walled-in city called Rothenberg.  To get there, we traveled a back way called the Romantic Road.  This is a byway that meanders through a series of truly German towns.  Along the way we discovered an old Monestary that was first owned by the Catholics, then acquired by the Presbyterians, and ultimately returned to the Catholics.  It was idyllic and provided some really cool pics 

Finally, we arrived at Rothenberg and we were transported back in time.  This walled-in city appears today as it did 500 years ago.  It escaped the bombardments of WWII, therefore it now is considered a real Bavarian treasure.  We found a place to eat there, checked out a few Cukoo-Cuckoo clocks and called it good

On to Munich!  We were really looking forward to getting there because of two highly anticipated sites;  Neu Schwanstein Castle and Dachau.

We decided to go to a happy place first – the castle.  This is the one from which the Cinderella castle was patterned.  The 2 hour drive to the castle alone was worth the price of admission.  It was green, Alpine and mesmerizing in its views.  Once we arrived, it felt like we had entered into a theme park on steroids.  It had all the trappings from long ticket lines, employees in costumes and horse drawn carriages/wagons. 

However, once we left the main grounds and started the trek up the hill to the castle the feeling changed.  The superficial window dressing from below gave way to the REAL DEAL.  This castle is amazing from every angle.  From the exterior design to its royal perch, it is awe-inspiring.  King Ludwig II really did it right.

After a 25 min tour of the interior, we chose to hike up a little further to the hanging bridge that sat on the posterior side.  Once we arrived, we immediately knew that there was no prettier place on earth than where we stood.

 Our next stop definitely gave us all a reality check and a brief look into one of the world’s worst nightmares- Dachau.

There is a real foreboding spirit hovering over this place which made us feel squeamish as we explored the museum, barracks area and crematorium.  

The silver lining to Dachau is the commitment to never forget and never let it happen again.

As a help to orient you, think of a triangle with Frankfurt at top, Munich in one corner and Zurich in the other.  This roughly represents our route.  So with our visit to Munich we had completed the first leg.  Our sights were now on Switzerland.  To get there, we would need to pass through Austria and Lichtenstein.  The intrigue of this part of the journey was not so much the cities we would see, but rather the immersion into the Alpine experience.  Our plan was to drive to Innsbruck, what we didn't plan on were the stunning views we encountered along the way.

Once in Innsbruck, we found the Olympic park and walked around.  It still has a lot of charm and the Ski jump prominently stood out.  

Next we headed to Vaduz, Liechtenstein.  This country is famous for not being famous.  It’s like that corner store that all the locals know and like, but has never created its own identity.  We googled the top 10 things to do in Vaduz (the capital), and it was a little sparse.   But we went with the top two selections, which were basically small cottage communities and this is what we saw.

Overall Liechtenstein was a nice place and certainly worth checking out for a few hours.  OK, Switzerland is calling and we need to answer, so off we gooooooo.

Again, we soon realized that the journey truly is more amazing than the destination.  Here is a stunning lake we saw along the way.

BTW, yes those are Ferraris, 5 in all.

On our way to Zurich, we had a little family business to take care of.  The little town of Zell is where the Winklers (my mother’s family) originated.  We were treated to some unforgettable memories.  First we met Roger who was the town pastor and he guided us to the local cemetery. 

He informed us that these burial plots are used for about 30 years, then the remains are exhumed to make room for someone else.  Therefore, we didn't find any Winklers we recognized from our genealogy  but it still was a worthwhile visit.

Roger then took us to the town church and gave us a tour.  From the outside it looked like just another quaint meetinghouse, but once inside we discovered that it had been built on 700AD by the Romans.  There was one room that had painted stucco hundreds of years old and in the belfry we saw the inner workings of the bells and motors.

We spent a few hours there and left richer in knowledge and friends. 

There stood nothing between us and Zurich now and we were ready to get there.  We found our hotel, got to sleep and then awoke ready to explore.  Our impression of this city is that it holds a lot of history and importance, but appeared a little worn down.  The Alps were green and inviting and the city held some very interesting angles for photos.  We, of course, found some Lindt chocolates to add to our goodie bag.

As I mentioned before, Zurich is positioned as the lower left corner of the triangle, therefore we have now finished 2/3 of the trip.  What remains on the return vortex to Frankfert is Selestadt, France and Heidelberg, Germany.  

It was at his point that Jayci said she wanted to have breakfast in Switzerland, lunch in France and dinner in Germany.  It kind of brought into perspective what part of the world we are in. 

Before we knew it, we were sitting in the shadow of a 600 year old church and eating the French version of pizza and grilled cheese sandwiches.  It was located in the Selestadt town square, which is rich in history.  Because of its close proximity to Germany, it was one of the first French properties to fall to the Nazis.  Most of the buildings were casualty to either the German or Allied bombings. 

Krishna had been talking about how excited she was to see Heidelberg.  She also had been lamenting the fact that we hadn't done any bicycle touring so far.  Well, it was time to do something about it.  Heidelberg is laid out perfectly to bike and see, and luckily next to our hotel we found a store that could hook us up.

We rode up and down the Rhine for hours, exploring everything from mountainside trails to old town square.  Here are a few of the highlights… 

The next day Jayci and Kris flew back to Saudi, I however still had an extra day to spend sightseeing in Turkey.  My layover was for 8 hours and I decided to rent a freelance guide to take me to “Old City”.  Right up front I will tell you that it is an amazing place if you like history, conquests and artifacts of previous dynasties.

Rather than drone on about all the history I learned, I will share some pics of historically significant structures and include the names and then you can wikipedia the info to learn more.

The Hipodrome.  It was once used as a Chariot race oval track back in the Roman Times then other structures we included when the Ottomans showed up. 

The next significant structure was the Hagia Sophia.  This was originally built during the Roman times as a Christian cathedral.  When the Ottomans showed up they converted it into a mosque.  It was the place where all significant events occurred (Coronations, etc).  Notice how there are both Islamic writings and a mural of Mary and Jesus on the same section of the wall.

These are mausoleums of previous Sultans.  It is interesting to note the number of green tombs inside the building.  The reason is because when the ruler was declared, all of his brothers and sons were killed so that there would not be any contention for the position

This is the inner court yard of the old city, here is were the administration of the government as well as city sponsored activities were held.

The Blue Mosque.  This is considered a newer structure for the old city grounds.  It is a large and highly esteemed mosque.

By the end of the day I my head was full, but not my stomach.  So my guide and I got a bite to eat and then I sped off in a taxi to catch my flight.

This was an amazing trip from start to finish and I’m still trying to digest all that happened over these days.  Writing this blog a few weeks after this trip still creates warm feelings towards the people and places we’ve seen.

We hope to have a few more entries coming over the next couple of months so stay tuned.