September 18, 2008 BLOG

Thursday, September 18, 2008, another dark day in the history of Koblenz! In addition to the city being hit particularly hard by bombing raids during WII, it also was witness to our laptop deciding to have a problem. The charging circuit on the main mother board went out. Without our laptop, some of the tasks we planned to do on-line to facilitate our trip were going to be very disruptive. Needing to keep in touch with relatives and friends at home and manage some of our finances, we needed access to the internet from our own pc. Without it, we would have to depend on finding and using unsecure internet cafes instead of the relatively secure and convenient hotel networks. That put a damper on my spirits especially since I took precautions to avoid possible electrical problems by bringing a spare battery and power supply. For the next 36 hours, it became a preoccupation to try and get it fixed. Eventually, realizing a fix wasn’t going to happen while we were traveling, the unplanned expenditure for a replacement was accepted as necessary to keep us going without a lot unnecessary distractions. (While Ed is preoccupied, I venture to a neighborhood grocery store to find our important “snacks and wine!” Trying to decipher names of cheeses, etc in German is a challenge, but I am successful! dz)


With a plan formulated, it’s back to our sojourn. On Sunday, September 21, we head out for Heidelberg along the West side of the Rhine with its many castles, vineyards and a planned stop in the small town of Sankt Goar. We had heard they were having a festival called “Rhine on Fire” and it also had one of the largest castles along the Rhine open to the public. According to the locals, the “Rhine on Fire” lights up the Rhine from both sides of the river and culminates in a fireworks show second to none. People were coming in from all over the area and with limited accommodations being booked months ago there was no convenient place to stay. However, we did tour of the local St. Goar castle and have lunch in the midst of the festive crowd. (I discover a new drink – “new wine” which is unfiltered and somewhat sweet. dz)


One of the things we have noted to date was even though we’re traveling in what is supposed to be the off-season, everywhere we go there is some sort of celebration or conference going on. So much for having Europe all to our selves!


The day is sunny with a low in the morning of 5 C heating up to 16 C in the afternoon and the scenery fantastic. We read in the guides, the stretch from Koblenz to Heidelberg had more castles than anywhere and it’s true. Looking at those massive 12th and 14th century structures high up on top of mountain peaks makes you wonder how in the heck they managed to get them built. They’re all stone (large ones), no beams or timbers.


Arriving in Heidelberg, we stopped at the downtown Tourist Information Office to check on accommodations. Guest what, they were having a convention, but we found a great B & B with a restaurant about 20 minutes out of town high on a hilltop. Great little place, relatively new, nicely decorated and owned by a young couple. The husband, Nick, spoke excellent English, was the chef and ran the restaurant. We had a great meal, even if it was another Wiener schnitzel (no more oxen parts for me) and learned another useful German word, “sayne”. Ordering coffee after diner, our waitress asked, “mit sayne” (sounds like “sun”). Looking stumped, the waitress got Nick to come out of the kitchen to tell us “sayne” means cream.


When we started, I thought my 2 years of college German would get me through our stay in Germany. It may have 40 years ago but it would prove to be a little but not a lot of help today. Unfortunately, that is the single biggest disadvantage in getting the most out of our trip. Even though we have just started, we’re finding that we’re missing a lot by not being able to read descriptions and explanations of what we see. A lot of monuments and sites have plaques or signage explaining the history or background. We’re able to make out some of it but miss a lot. The other thing we’re finding is that not knowing the full history of an area is a disadvantage.
After a typical German breakfast of cold cuts and rolls (where are the eggs?), we thanked and said good bye to Nick. On the way into town to find an internet café, we pass the Heidelberg castle and cross over a river in time to see a Sunday morning sailboat race. It’s good to see the boats and makes us nostalgic about being away from home.


After many wrong turns and learning downtown Heidelberg in minute detail, including how to back our car out of pedestrian-only walk area (!), we find an internet café and park in a city garage. We spend almost 4 hours on the internet trying to catch up on emails and spec'ing out, comparing and ordering a new Dell laptop. The café has 20 to 25 computers, and almost all of them are being used by kids playing on-line games. It slows down the response time for us and along with smoking being allowed, the time we spend there is agonizing.


Finally, we decided on the laptop we want, submit the order, work out shipping to Dorothea’s sister, Linda, and take care of the billing details. We had to have the laptop shipped to Linda for three reasons. One, ordering and shipping to Germany would have required the order to be processed in Dell’s overseas department and configured with a German keyboard, not English (which has z’s and y’z in unusual places among other differences!). Secondly, shipping direct to Germany would have required us to pay an 18% Value Added Tax (VAT). Thirdly, we had to work out the logistics on where we would be for an extended period in order to receive the shipment. We had to get it ordered while we were in Heidelberg so the order could be processed while we were traveling and get to us during our extended stay in Murnau in southern, Germany.


With that done, we are ready to head for Wurzburg for our trip down the “Romantic Road.” But first, I had to get out of the parking garage. When we entered, an automatic dispenser gave us a ticket. Seeing an attendant in a booth, I thought you paid when you left. Not so! I get to the exit gate and there is no attendant and nowhere to pay. As I’m trying to figure what to do, cars pull in behind me blocking any possible retreat. The gentleman behind me keeps saying, “Gasse, gasse.” I’m thinking, I’ve got plenty of gas. Finally, he gets out of his car and leads me to a machine (kasse (cashier), not gasse!) 100 feet away where you put in the parking ticket and it calculates the fee. You put in the appropriate amount, get your change and validated ticket. You then have to run back to your car and place it in the gate controller to get out before more time is added. That little bit of info was never found in any of our travel guides!


Ed and Dorothea – See associated photos on our Kodak web site