October 2, 2008
Needless to say, the Wednesday following Tuesday’s Oktoberfest visit had a slow start and a long finish. Instead of using guns in WWII, Hitler should have held a beer drinking contest. The country with the most soldiers standing at the end of the contest would take home all of the goodies!
By Thursday, things were back to normal, and we continued our exploration of the area around our new home in Murnau. We headed to the little picturesque town of Garmish-Partenkirchen at the base of the Alps which was a short 20 minute drive from home base. The skies were grey but the vibrant colors of the leaves against the backdrop of the Alps created their own sunshine. This apparently is a very popular ski area though too early this time of year for skiing.
We stopped in a little restaurant for lunch and were promptly served. We have found, when the gratuity is included in the bill, food is served instantly but getting a check or “Rechnung” takes forever. The servers, normally only one or two regardless of the size of the restaurant, must get paid based on the orders processed not by the money collected. Even though this restaurant accepted credit cards, when we tried to pay, the server said she didn’t have time to run a credit card and wanted cash only. That wasn’t going to fly! So, we escalated it to management and had our way and paid by credit card. Before the trip, when we opened our new bank account to use in Europe, we received a credit card that for 12 months had no interest on the outstanding balance and only required a minimum monthly payment. When we charge, we pay the current US dollar exchange rate but no premium and no transaction fee. On the other hand, when we withdraw cash from an ATM using our debit card, we pay not only the exchange rate difference but a non-member bank exchange premium and an ATM fee of between 4 and 8 Euros. Needless to say, we want to charge!
When we got back to Murnau, we had dinner and walked to main street to celebrate the unification of East and West Germany with the locals. The highlights of the evening were three hair stylists with very elaborate hair-dos, mini hot-air balloons made of paper, a terrific drum group and a local group singing Jimmy Buffett’s songs, including Margaritaville, in English but with a German accent. In German, “w’s” are pronounced like our v. So “wasting away …” becomes “vasting avay …” and “…woman to blame’’ becomes “…voman to blame." In spite of the accent, they were good and it really made us think of being home.
The little hot air balloons were really cool. When we first noticed the little orange lights in the black night sky, I thought they were a group of paratroopers like we have at our air show. Then I thought they were helicopters and finally, I thought Marnau was being attacked for celebrating the holiday and we were all going to die. When we asked, we were told they were small, paper balloons with a burning tea lite to create the hot air. They really lasted quite a while even with a light rain. We also found out since they had a live flame and were a fire hazard; they were going to be outlawed from use in Germany. But, no fear, they are planning to create a safe one to use. We are going to keep our eye out for them!
America heavily influences Europe. There are a couple of 24 hour TV news channels, “BBC” and “CNN Europe”, with heavy coverage on US topics. At the time, they were very closely following the Presidential Race and even televised the last Obama-McCain debate in its entirety. The analysis following the debate went on for two days. The TV in our apartment received 140 channels. There were only a few entertainment type channels, a lot of news channels (mostly German but a lot from France, Russia, and Iran) and a whole lot more channels advertising ‘900’ telephone numbers (I really did save Ed from those naughty ads – I held the remote at all times! DZ)
On Sunday the 3rd, we took a trip to “Bad Tolz” about an hour away. The city is a SPA Resort town situated on the Isar River. Bad is pronounced Bat and means “bath.” These curative spas are very popular here. We hiked up to Calvary Church to get a view of the river, town and Alps from its high vantage point. The still active Catholic Church dates back to the 1800s and has Stations of the Cross along the path to the Church. The views were breathtaking.
On Monday the 4th, we took off to the SE for a drive through the Lake District to the high mountain lakes and a mountain peak called “Herzogstand.” (It was 3 degrees C and it snowed for a few minutes! Ed was outside the car taking a picture of a marina with sailboats on a lake 2,400 ft. above sea level and had snow on his jacket! What a treat for me since I can count the times I have seen snow on one hand! (DZ). We had lunch at a restaurant on one of the lower lakes that was 54’ deep in the center. En route to the restaurant, we noticed a handbill advertising a mountain race for old cars, from what we saw they had MGs, Porches, Vettes, Bentleys and VW Beetles. The race course was on the mountain we were on with a very narrow, very winding road with slopes of 15-18% between two small towns. The road was closed to traffic for the race, thankfully, while we were having lunch! And our helpful GPS notified us of the road closing! While we drove through the mountainous area during the afternoon, we saw some of the racers returning from the race. Our day trip ended in the quaint Alpine Village of Mittenwald famous for its painted buildings and incredible view of the Alps. We stopped at a little Café on the Village Square and, as is the afternoon custom in the area, had our Cappuccino and Pastry. (Somehow, I am not sure why, we have not gained any weight yet! DZ)
Having a place in Murnau to stop and collect our wits, we did a spot check on how we were doing. Our car, a Renault III Estate Wagon Turbo Diesel, 150 HP, 6-forward speed manual transmission work horse was serving us well. We were averaging 35 miles per gallon and the most we paid for diesel was 1.41 Euro in France and averaging 1.31 Euros per liter (about $5.36 per gallon). The price of oil was dropping and the future looked promising for lower diesel prices. The car is comfortable, easy to drive and incorporates some of the latest technology (proximity warning, tire pressure read out, keyless entry, shift prompts and break control to name a few). (I have to say that Ed has driven the entire time and is doing such a marvelous job, even though when we’re on the mountain roads my knuckles got a little white and I brake often with my imaginary brake! DZ) Budget wise, we are pretty much on track and think we will be able to stay the course and not have to write home to ask you all for money!
Ed and Dorothea
Friday, November 28, 2008
Thursday, November 27, 2008
September 30, 2008
Roughly a week before starting down the Romantic Road, we were approaching Frankfurt on a Sunday afternoon and noticed the northbound traffic was bumper to bumper and stop and go for over 20 miles. Wondering why there was so much traffic, we finally realized all of the locals were returning home from Oktoberfest. Originally planning to get to Murnau on Friday so we could go to Munich that weekend to catch Oktoberfest before it ended, we changed our minds. After seeing all of the traffic we figured weekends in Munich would be nuts so we decided to wait until Tuesday to go when the crowds thinned (wrong).
Instead, we would use the weekend to do domestic stuff. But, that wouldn’t prove to be very productive. We had use of an apartment size washer and dryer in the cellar which could handle about a single change of clothes. We found we were soiling clothes at about the same rate they were being washed. We checked with a local laundry and they wanted 40 euros per kilogram which is about $26.00 per pound. With our three weeks of laundry, that would tally up to over $1,000. At that price, we seriously thought about throwing away our soiled clothes and buying new ones. We badgered our land lady enough she caved in and let us use her commercial equipment. In 4 hours, we had everything clean.
Murnau isn’t one of your more well known German towns. However, we picked it from “Google Earth” and our Garmin’s “Map Source” because of its convenient location. Murnau is about equi-distant from Munich, Innsbruck and Salzburg and all accessible by rail. We gave ourselves 3 weeks to visit them while we set up home making in a distant apartment. Our apartment was a two block walk from the rail station as well as a short walk from town so we could park the car and give it a rest.
On Tuesday, we bought our tickets to Munich and headed for Germany’s biggest party. The morning was a pleasant 10 C and the sun was shining. The train ride went through mostly agricultural countryside with the exception of the resort area of Lake Starnberg which is about 14 miles SW of Munich. Just outside of Munich, in a suburban area, we noticed an apartment or condo complex that had an interesting arrangement for “green space.” Behind the complex there was a line of 10 x 20 meter lots, each different that resembled your typical suburban back yard. One had a child’s swing set, the next one had a lawn building, the one next to that had a vegetable garden and next one had lawn chairs and a BBQ grill. It appeared the plots were a substitute for a private back yard. It was easy to imagine a summer scene where kids would be playing and 30 feet away their next door neighbors would be tiling the garden while 30 feet from them a couple would be having a cook out. Not being from a big metropolitan city where it might be common, I thought the arrangement was quite ingenious.
After arriving In Munich and a visit to the Tourist Information (TI ) center we were off to “Zentrum” (town center) to spend most of the day exploring the regular part of Munich that wasn’t directly celebrating October Fest. We were on our way to see the infamous “Hauf Brau” haus and passed through a very large central square, “Marienplatz”, that had every retail shop conceivable. These were not your typical tourist trinket shops but high-end classy department stores. From the type of stores and their prices, resident of Munich appear to be doing very good financially.
We came out of one store just in time to see the “Glockenspiel” in the bell tower of the “New Town Hall.” We watched like a couple of kids while the upper figures engaged in a jousting tournament and the lower figures did their mechanical dance. Later, we stopped and had lunch at a neat shop (“Bread & Butter”) that was a cross between “Sharper Image” and “Pies & Plates.” It had all sorts of high end household items and fresh bread being made at the lunch counter.
According to local accounts, the Hauf Braus haus in old Munich was instrumental in the development of beer brewing and while it was an October Fest venue, we went there to visit its museum. All of the placards and displays provided information on how it contributed the early brewing development. Not that it was important except from an historical perspective, nothing was mentioned about it serving as the mass meeting place for organizing Hitler’s Socialist Worker’s Party. I guess that aspect of their history doesn’t need reinforcing.
Leaving “Old Town”, we made our way over to the west part of town where October Fest was “really” being celebrated. We were anxious to see if Munich’s “October Fest” would top Key West’s “Fantasy Fest”. It did!
When we walked through the main gate, we could not believe our eyes. We expected a couple of beer tents like they have in Cape Coral and a fairly large crowd. What was there was immense. It is a huge fair, with an enormous midway (larger than the Florida State Fair in Tampa) and huge beer tents that more permanent structures than tents and can hold at least 1,500 people. Remember, this is a Tuesday afternoon around 5:00 pm, somewhat cold and dreary. That didn’t matter, the crowds were thick and every beer tent we peaked into was packed.
On the recommendation of our friends Bob and Joyce Ryan who lived in Germany for a while, we found our way to the Spaten (a German brewer) tent. It was really great but we didn’t know all of the tables were bought and paid for months in advance. A nice little waitress managed to find us a couple of empty seats at a bought table and asked the table owners if they minded if we joined them while we ate. The two guys were Catholic Frat brothers from the University of Munich with a young girl who appeared to be a Frat groupie chick and also a student. At first, they were a little hesitant to have a couple of old folks sit with them but after a toast or two and showing them we could sing the German drinking song, which was sung by everyone in the tent, we were accepted. Their little ditty went something like:
Ein Prosit, ein Prosit Der Gemütlichkeit Ein Prosit, ein Prosit Der Gemütlichkeit
Eins, zwei, drei – zuppa!
That short song, played after every Oom-Pah Band song, was designed to promote beer drinking. 1 Liter mugs don’t last long when you take a long draw from them every 4 or 5 minutes. For dinner, we had another one of those delicious ½ fried chickens, drank a little more beer than moved on when the table’s owners other guests arrived. No problem though, making friends in a beer tent with a bunch of happy people was easy. We met another group of young folks who adopted us and hung out with them for awhile (awhile meaning way too long). Having a good time and trying to keep up with our newfound German friends, things got a little fuzzy. I forgot we came by train and to get back home, we needed to make our way back to the station before the last train out of Yuma. Dorothea, my trusty, forever vigilant navigator got us back to the train station with 20 minutes to spare before the last train departed.
Dorothea and Ed
Roughly a week before starting down the Romantic Road, we were approaching Frankfurt on a Sunday afternoon and noticed the northbound traffic was bumper to bumper and stop and go for over 20 miles. Wondering why there was so much traffic, we finally realized all of the locals were returning home from Oktoberfest. Originally planning to get to Murnau on Friday so we could go to Munich that weekend to catch Oktoberfest before it ended, we changed our minds. After seeing all of the traffic we figured weekends in Munich would be nuts so we decided to wait until Tuesday to go when the crowds thinned (wrong).
Instead, we would use the weekend to do domestic stuff. But, that wouldn’t prove to be very productive. We had use of an apartment size washer and dryer in the cellar which could handle about a single change of clothes. We found we were soiling clothes at about the same rate they were being washed. We checked with a local laundry and they wanted 40 euros per kilogram which is about $26.00 per pound. With our three weeks of laundry, that would tally up to over $1,000. At that price, we seriously thought about throwing away our soiled clothes and buying new ones. We badgered our land lady enough she caved in and let us use her commercial equipment. In 4 hours, we had everything clean.
Murnau isn’t one of your more well known German towns. However, we picked it from “Google Earth” and our Garmin’s “Map Source” because of its convenient location. Murnau is about equi-distant from Munich, Innsbruck and Salzburg and all accessible by rail. We gave ourselves 3 weeks to visit them while we set up home making in a distant apartment. Our apartment was a two block walk from the rail station as well as a short walk from town so we could park the car and give it a rest.
On Tuesday, we bought our tickets to Munich and headed for Germany’s biggest party. The morning was a pleasant 10 C and the sun was shining. The train ride went through mostly agricultural countryside with the exception of the resort area of Lake Starnberg which is about 14 miles SW of Munich. Just outside of Munich, in a suburban area, we noticed an apartment or condo complex that had an interesting arrangement for “green space.” Behind the complex there was a line of 10 x 20 meter lots, each different that resembled your typical suburban back yard. One had a child’s swing set, the next one had a lawn building, the one next to that had a vegetable garden and next one had lawn chairs and a BBQ grill. It appeared the plots were a substitute for a private back yard. It was easy to imagine a summer scene where kids would be playing and 30 feet away their next door neighbors would be tiling the garden while 30 feet from them a couple would be having a cook out. Not being from a big metropolitan city where it might be common, I thought the arrangement was quite ingenious.
After arriving In Munich and a visit to the Tourist Information (TI ) center we were off to “Zentrum” (town center) to spend most of the day exploring the regular part of Munich that wasn’t directly celebrating October Fest. We were on our way to see the infamous “Hauf Brau” haus and passed through a very large central square, “Marienplatz”, that had every retail shop conceivable. These were not your typical tourist trinket shops but high-end classy department stores. From the type of stores and their prices, resident of Munich appear to be doing very good financially.
We came out of one store just in time to see the “Glockenspiel” in the bell tower of the “New Town Hall.” We watched like a couple of kids while the upper figures engaged in a jousting tournament and the lower figures did their mechanical dance. Later, we stopped and had lunch at a neat shop (“Bread & Butter”) that was a cross between “Sharper Image” and “Pies & Plates.” It had all sorts of high end household items and fresh bread being made at the lunch counter.
According to local accounts, the Hauf Braus haus in old Munich was instrumental in the development of beer brewing and while it was an October Fest venue, we went there to visit its museum. All of the placards and displays provided information on how it contributed the early brewing development. Not that it was important except from an historical perspective, nothing was mentioned about it serving as the mass meeting place for organizing Hitler’s Socialist Worker’s Party. I guess that aspect of their history doesn’t need reinforcing.
Leaving “Old Town”, we made our way over to the west part of town where October Fest was “really” being celebrated. We were anxious to see if Munich’s “October Fest” would top Key West’s “Fantasy Fest”. It did!
When we walked through the main gate, we could not believe our eyes. We expected a couple of beer tents like they have in Cape Coral and a fairly large crowd. What was there was immense. It is a huge fair, with an enormous midway (larger than the Florida State Fair in Tampa) and huge beer tents that more permanent structures than tents and can hold at least 1,500 people. Remember, this is a Tuesday afternoon around 5:00 pm, somewhat cold and dreary. That didn’t matter, the crowds were thick and every beer tent we peaked into was packed.
On the recommendation of our friends Bob and Joyce Ryan who lived in Germany for a while, we found our way to the Spaten (a German brewer) tent. It was really great but we didn’t know all of the tables were bought and paid for months in advance. A nice little waitress managed to find us a couple of empty seats at a bought table and asked the table owners if they minded if we joined them while we ate. The two guys were Catholic Frat brothers from the University of Munich with a young girl who appeared to be a Frat groupie chick and also a student. At first, they were a little hesitant to have a couple of old folks sit with them but after a toast or two and showing them we could sing the German drinking song, which was sung by everyone in the tent, we were accepted. Their little ditty went something like:
Ein Prosit, ein Prosit Der Gemütlichkeit Ein Prosit, ein Prosit Der Gemütlichkeit
Eins, zwei, drei – zuppa!
That short song, played after every Oom-Pah Band song, was designed to promote beer drinking. 1 Liter mugs don’t last long when you take a long draw from them every 4 or 5 minutes. For dinner, we had another one of those delicious ½ fried chickens, drank a little more beer than moved on when the table’s owners other guests arrived. No problem though, making friends in a beer tent with a bunch of happy people was easy. We met another group of young folks who adopted us and hung out with them for awhile (awhile meaning way too long). Having a good time and trying to keep up with our newfound German friends, things got a little fuzzy. I forgot we came by train and to get back home, we needed to make our way back to the station before the last train out of Yuma. Dorothea, my trusty, forever vigilant navigator got us back to the train station with 20 minutes to spare before the last train departed.
Dorothea and Ed
Thursday, November 13, 2008
September 25, 2008
Continuing our drive along the Romantic Road admiring the spectacular fall colors of the hardwood trees (some had an iridescent red we had not seen in the States) we stopped just outside of Steingaden to visit a Pilgrimage Church called the “Flagellaged Saviour in the Meadow”or Weiss Church. It was just beautiful. Although there was a service going on, the many visitors were tolerated and we were able to admire the creativity and ingenuity of artist, architects and builders from the 1800’s. On another historical note, while strolling the meadow path, it was here we discovered German cows actually wear cow bells around their neck!
When we got to Fussen, as usual we drove around to get the lay of the land and look for signs advertising Zimmer Frei or Gasthauses. The B & B, Haus am Forggensee was just outside of town at the base of the Alps and had a room available. Even though it was overcast with clouds in the mountain tops, the view from our room was spectacular. While we sat there admiring the scenery from our balcony, the cool mountain air mysteriously caused a bottle of wine to evaporate. Directly across the street from our B & B was an upscale resort and spa on Lake Forggensee. The rooms were 250+ Euros/night which explains why we were at the B & B and not there! However, undaunted (vino has many powers), we decided to explore the resort and see what made it so special. While wandering around trying to look like we belonged there we got lost and somehow ended up right in the middle of their candle-lit, formal dining room in the jeans we had had on all day, looking like we were dragged in from the cold (it was). The maitre d’ came over to us and asked if we wanted a table for two. So, what do you say with everyone watching and trying to figure out what language you’re speaking; “No thanks, we’re from the B & B across the street and we’re just snooping around.” We stayed for dinner, had fun with the waiter and enjoyed the company of a young couple next to us who spoke fluent english.
So, managing to leave in good graces with everyone, we spent the evening in our humble B & B with Heidi our host and had breakfast in morning. All along the Romantic Road all of our accommodations have included breakfast. Well sort of. Breakfast over here is a bologna, ham or cheese sandwich. Fruits, packaged cheese spread, crackers and other miscellaneous “goodies” adorn the little buffet tables (but nothing Ed really wanted to eat at 7:30 am). We found since no one really watched over these items, we could, discretely take a few of them with us for emergency road rations. Last year when we were leaving the Marathon Yacht Club (Florida), a power boater told us, “… sailors have to be watched because they’ll take anything that isn’t locked up.” Well, Heidi must have known we were sailors because she made sure there would be no free road “goodies” for us that morning.
Our itinerary for the day in Fussen was to tour King Ludwig’s two famous castles, Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein. Both were spectacular and Neuschwanstein (construction started in 1869) supposedly was the inspiration for Walt Disney’s Cinderella Castle. It also was the hardest to get to. To reach the castle, we had to walk about 45 minutes up a steep incline and stop numerous times to take pictures and more importantly to catch our breath. For a couple of “flatlanders, it was tough; but seeing the castle was really worth the trek. It truly is a fairy tale castle built by a troubled, very young king (who had problems not much different than today’s everyday life struggles) with an intriguing story.
After touring the castles, we headed to Murnau to check into what was going to be our home for the next three weeks. It was a good thing too, because after being on the road for 3 weeks, there was no more room in the car for one more laundry bags. They were starting to fall out when we opened the doors to get the luggage out for a night’s stay. In spite of what the guide books say, there are no self service laundries in France, Belgium or Germany.
We checked into the apartment late in the afternoon, found a place for all of our stuff, re-arranged the furniture and headed to the local convenience store to pick up a few groceries until our planned shopping trip on Saturday. This 1 bedroom, 1 bath with a combined kitchen, dining and living room unit probably will not serve as the model we’ll use when we decide to downsize!
We did most of our shopping on Saturday at one of the largest markets in the area (about the size of one of our large CVS or Walgreens pharmacies). They do not have anything that resembles a Publix and for sure there is not one on every corner. It took a long, long time to figure things out but we did learn a lot about local customs. Paper napkins are not used, saltine crackers don’t exist, canned vegetables are few and far between, beef is very limited and while pork is supposed to be plentiful, the cuts are not from the prime sections. Evidently, bacon, Jimmy Dean sausage or waffles, Orville Redenbacher popcorn, potato chips were never introduced in Germany or if they were they were not well received! While most of the countryside is used to raise dairy cows, based on what’s available on the store’s shelves, milk apparently is not consumed in large quantities. People seem to drink the unrefrigerated milk in cartons and not fresh milk. Sodas are scare but .5 Liters of beer come in a case of 15 for 12 euro or $15 (plus deposit) and wine averages 2.75 euro per .75 Liter or $3.25 (at an exchange rate of 1.4). In addition to what is and isn’t familiar in the market, the metric system is used to measure quantities. When we ordered 1 kilogram of bologna, the butcher in the deli looked astonished, holding his hands horizontally, about 18 inches apart, he quizzically asked; Ya? We quickly learned a kilogram is roughly 2 pounds so we adjusted our request to 100 grams. We couldn’t understand exactly what the butcher said but it sounded a lot like “Amerikaner dumkoff”.
On Sunday, we planned to make a quick trip to pick up a few previously unfound grocery items only to find everything was closed. Instead we found Murnau was having a Street Festival which sounded like a good way to celebrate our arrival. That evening at the festival, a Blues group by the name of “Williams Wetsox” was the headliner. They were singing blues in German and their music sounded great. So good in fact, I had to buy one of their CDs. Dorothea says they can’t sing and true they may not be Jimmy Hendricks but to a blues fan, they have an intriguing sound and they made the party groove.
Look for a link in our separate email to the associated photos. You'll have to wait until the next group of photos to see "Williams Wetsox". The group's photo is on my IPhone and I haven't yet loaded Itunes on our new pc.
We would like to thank all of our friends who provided us with information, books and hints on where to go and what to see. All of the information has been extremely informative and has helped to make our adventure all the more pleasurable. Also, thanks to all of those back home who continue to help us realize a dream by taking care of those everyday that always need attention.
Ed and Dorothea
Continuing our drive along the Romantic Road admiring the spectacular fall colors of the hardwood trees (some had an iridescent red we had not seen in the States) we stopped just outside of Steingaden to visit a Pilgrimage Church called the “Flagellaged Saviour in the Meadow”or Weiss Church. It was just beautiful. Although there was a service going on, the many visitors were tolerated and we were able to admire the creativity and ingenuity of artist, architects and builders from the 1800’s. On another historical note, while strolling the meadow path, it was here we discovered German cows actually wear cow bells around their neck!
When we got to Fussen, as usual we drove around to get the lay of the land and look for signs advertising Zimmer Frei or Gasthauses. The B & B, Haus am Forggensee was just outside of town at the base of the Alps and had a room available. Even though it was overcast with clouds in the mountain tops, the view from our room was spectacular. While we sat there admiring the scenery from our balcony, the cool mountain air mysteriously caused a bottle of wine to evaporate. Directly across the street from our B & B was an upscale resort and spa on Lake Forggensee. The rooms were 250+ Euros/night which explains why we were at the B & B and not there! However, undaunted (vino has many powers), we decided to explore the resort and see what made it so special. While wandering around trying to look like we belonged there we got lost and somehow ended up right in the middle of their candle-lit, formal dining room in the jeans we had had on all day, looking like we were dragged in from the cold (it was). The maitre d’ came over to us and asked if we wanted a table for two. So, what do you say with everyone watching and trying to figure out what language you’re speaking; “No thanks, we’re from the B & B across the street and we’re just snooping around.” We stayed for dinner, had fun with the waiter and enjoyed the company of a young couple next to us who spoke fluent english.
So, managing to leave in good graces with everyone, we spent the evening in our humble B & B with Heidi our host and had breakfast in morning. All along the Romantic Road all of our accommodations have included breakfast. Well sort of. Breakfast over here is a bologna, ham or cheese sandwich. Fruits, packaged cheese spread, crackers and other miscellaneous “goodies” adorn the little buffet tables (but nothing Ed really wanted to eat at 7:30 am). We found since no one really watched over these items, we could, discretely take a few of them with us for emergency road rations. Last year when we were leaving the Marathon Yacht Club (Florida), a power boater told us, “… sailors have to be watched because they’ll take anything that isn’t locked up.” Well, Heidi must have known we were sailors because she made sure there would be no free road “goodies” for us that morning.
Our itinerary for the day in Fussen was to tour King Ludwig’s two famous castles, Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein. Both were spectacular and Neuschwanstein (construction started in 1869) supposedly was the inspiration for Walt Disney’s Cinderella Castle. It also was the hardest to get to. To reach the castle, we had to walk about 45 minutes up a steep incline and stop numerous times to take pictures and more importantly to catch our breath. For a couple of “flatlanders, it was tough; but seeing the castle was really worth the trek. It truly is a fairy tale castle built by a troubled, very young king (who had problems not much different than today’s everyday life struggles) with an intriguing story.
After touring the castles, we headed to Murnau to check into what was going to be our home for the next three weeks. It was a good thing too, because after being on the road for 3 weeks, there was no more room in the car for one more laundry bags. They were starting to fall out when we opened the doors to get the luggage out for a night’s stay. In spite of what the guide books say, there are no self service laundries in France, Belgium or Germany.
We checked into the apartment late in the afternoon, found a place for all of our stuff, re-arranged the furniture and headed to the local convenience store to pick up a few groceries until our planned shopping trip on Saturday. This 1 bedroom, 1 bath with a combined kitchen, dining and living room unit probably will not serve as the model we’ll use when we decide to downsize!
We did most of our shopping on Saturday at one of the largest markets in the area (about the size of one of our large CVS or Walgreens pharmacies). They do not have anything that resembles a Publix and for sure there is not one on every corner. It took a long, long time to figure things out but we did learn a lot about local customs. Paper napkins are not used, saltine crackers don’t exist, canned vegetables are few and far between, beef is very limited and while pork is supposed to be plentiful, the cuts are not from the prime sections. Evidently, bacon, Jimmy Dean sausage or waffles, Orville Redenbacher popcorn, potato chips were never introduced in Germany or if they were they were not well received! While most of the countryside is used to raise dairy cows, based on what’s available on the store’s shelves, milk apparently is not consumed in large quantities. People seem to drink the unrefrigerated milk in cartons and not fresh milk. Sodas are scare but .5 Liters of beer come in a case of 15 for 12 euro or $15 (plus deposit) and wine averages 2.75 euro per .75 Liter or $3.25 (at an exchange rate of 1.4). In addition to what is and isn’t familiar in the market, the metric system is used to measure quantities. When we ordered 1 kilogram of bologna, the butcher in the deli looked astonished, holding his hands horizontally, about 18 inches apart, he quizzically asked; Ya? We quickly learned a kilogram is roughly 2 pounds so we adjusted our request to 100 grams. We couldn’t understand exactly what the butcher said but it sounded a lot like “Amerikaner dumkoff”.
On Sunday, we planned to make a quick trip to pick up a few previously unfound grocery items only to find everything was closed. Instead we found Murnau was having a Street Festival which sounded like a good way to celebrate our arrival. That evening at the festival, a Blues group by the name of “Williams Wetsox” was the headliner. They were singing blues in German and their music sounded great. So good in fact, I had to buy one of their CDs. Dorothea says they can’t sing and true they may not be Jimmy Hendricks but to a blues fan, they have an intriguing sound and they made the party groove.
Look for a link in our separate email to the associated photos. You'll have to wait until the next group of photos to see "Williams Wetsox". The group's photo is on my IPhone and I haven't yet loaded Itunes on our new pc.
We would like to thank all of our friends who provided us with information, books and hints on where to go and what to see. All of the information has been extremely informative and has helped to make our adventure all the more pleasurable. Also, thanks to all of those back home who continue to help us realize a dream by taking care of those everyday that always need attention.
Ed and Dorothea
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