Chris's blog:
Day 1- we had a really long plane ride but i enjoyed it and watched 3 movies and then slept some. We got off the plane and breezed through customs and went and got some food since we had to wait for 4 hours for the train. I had a german donut and chocolate milk. The donut was definitely inferior to American donuts and had way less sugar. All three of us slept in the mall connected to the airport and waited for the train. Then we got on the train and i slept till we got to trier. We got off the train and i had to go to the bathroom.... and found out i had to pay to use the bathroom which mad me mad. It was only 50 cents but didn't make sense. We walked to our hotel and then went to dinner. At dinner i had a steak that was pretty rare but was OK tasting. I ate some of dads food which was basically just country fried steak with no gravy. Then we went back to our hotel and went to bed.


Day 2- we went to the information center and got tickets to go see the bathhouses and arena. We saw the port nigra or whatever its called it was a big black ruin. Then we went to the museum of trier i think and that was interesting and there was a huge foot statue outside. Next we walked to the arena which was a lengthy walk. It was really cool to see the rooms they held the gladiators and animals in. Underneath the arena was a cool sort of cave we got to walk through too. Next we took a bus and went to the bathhouses and just walked around outside of it. For lunch we had burger king when we got back. I went back to the hotel after that with a headache and we had pizza for dinner that was alright.


Day 3- we had the hotel breakfast and i had bread and all the lemon cakes (3) and apple juice. We took trains to some place to get to burg eltz. The walk to the castle was really enjoyable. We saw nobody and stopped and rested at a hotel that had good looking cakes. After the stop we walked through the hills or mountains or woods I'm not sure. It was really pretty and we followed a stream all the way to the castle. The castle was amazing. The only downside was it was somewhat painted and refurbished for people to live in. We got to tour some rooms and saw weapons and gold. Overall the castle was really impressive and then we walked back to the train station.
After we got off the train dad had the brilliant idea to go to a Chinese restaurant across the river instead of the one right in front of our hotel so we took a bus there and it isn't stop so we got off the bus in the middle of no where and had to wait an hour out in the cold for the next bus. Then we got back eventually and had food and went to bed.


Day 4- today we went to the war museum after our usual routine. We encountered some problems however with the trains today. Different people were telling us different things about where the trains were going and eventually we just took a bus. We got to the museum and it was awesome. It had tons of displays and authentic material. It was a great experience.


Day 5- today we left our hotel and went to St Goar which was a nice small town without any wifi.... we went to lunch and i had some chicken nuggets and they were terrible. Then we walked around and went up to the castle. The castle was amazing we got to go through it and on top and underneath. It was really cool to see the ruins of it and where everything was back in its day.

April 4, Thursday, continued

After storming the castle and enjoying a coffee at the St. Goar cafe, we had dinner at a German steakhouse on the main town strip. Unlike most villages that have one flank of hotels and stores along the river, St. Goar boasts a street, kind of a walking mall, in the middle of town with two rows of hotels, restaurants, cafes and tourist shops--especially cuckoo shops. St Goar has at least four churches and another smaller castle overlooking the town from the other side of the Rhine. We found out that it is privately owned by a Japanese businessman.

At dinner, dad had spatzle noodles with bologonese sauce and I enjoyed pork pepper steak with cream sauce. Chris opted for the Margarita pizza. All were good. We agreed that the only mediocre meal we had during our trip was the Asian meal in Trier. I'm sure I gained a few pounds despite all the walking that we have done.

After dinner we went for a short walk along the Rhine. We stopped by the ferryboat station that ferries pedestrians and cars across the Rhine to St. Goarshausen which looks like a residential suburb of the main town. The ferry was cheap: only 1 euro for walkers and 5 for cars. It was chilly alongside the Rhine with a stiff cold wind. The temperature throughout our stay in Germany varied little. I'd say it was 30 to 45 degrees with mostly cloudy skies and a light wind most of the time.

We unwound with German television before bed. We watched team handball and the amusing world curling championships before attempting unsuccessfully to add English subtitles to a sci fi flick. We really enjoyed our stay in St. Goar!

April 4, Thursday

We said a fond goodbye to Trier this morning after one last continental breakfast at Hotel Pieper. I tried some of the local marmalade on the German nut bread. Very tasty. I wish we could get bread like that at home.

We took the 10:15 train to Koblenz and changed trains to St Goar, about a 2 hour trip. The trains were more crowded today than earlier in the week, no idea why, but we still had plenty of room to stretch out and watch the German countryside roll by. The train tracks run alongside the river Mosel and every five minutes or so we come upon a German town of anywhere between 100 and 10,000 residents, I'd guess. Every town, regardless of size, has a medieval-looking church with high steeple, a rail station, and a port for the numerous barges that sail up and down the Mosel. I wonder if truck traffic to the towns is greatly reduced on German roads because of the rail and barges.

The town of St Goar lies about 30 minutes from Koblenz by train. After disembarking we searched the narrow streets for our hotel, Zum Goldenen Loewe (The Golden Lion.) Two charming old German ladies greeted us at the lobby in English, then took us to our rooms. Both of our hotel rooms in Trier and St Goar were in Baroque era buildings but the bathrooms had been renovated with modern fixtures. That is much appreciated. After settling in we went in search of lunch.

We settled on an international looking restaurant that featured pictures of all the main dishes. Smart marketing for illiterate travelers like us. Dad had the schnitzel, paul spaghetti shrimp scampi. Chris risked immediate deportation by ordering chicken NUGGETS! We pretended not to know him.

After lunch we decided to tackle the nearby castle, Reinfels.  We had some difficulty (no surprise to the alert reader) in finding the bus to the castle but we eventually found the right bus stop. The castle was immense with two major sections. The best part of the castle visit was our ability to roam the ruins at our leisure. There were dark tunnels that required our flashlights, a dungeon, a tower and lots of battlements. The tower granted a superb view of the whole area and we took lots of pictures. It was great fun exploring the castle and we even managed to pillory Chris on the way out.

After making our way back to town we decided to stop at Cafe St. Goar for coffee and jelly donuts. They also have one of the few Wi-Fi connections in town so I will upload now and complete this evening in tomorrow's blog.

April 3, Wednesday

We had continental breakfast again at hotel this morning. I'm becoming addicted to strong German coffee... Dad tested the fish at breakfast but Chris could not be persuaded to sample it...

We took the 930am train to Luxembourg but after changing trains there for Diekirch we were told by a train employee to get off in two stops and change trains again. This was not what were told earlier but we dutifully disembarked. We waited for awhile on the platform until a different train employee told us that there was no train to Diekirch. Huh?  Clearly, we were no longer enjoying the German train system! A gal at the ticket counter sold us a BUS pass to Diekirch and we reluctantly boarded the bus. But where would we end up? Fortunately the bus driver understood my pidgin German and he knew of the military museum so he let us off near the site. Before entering the museum, we paused for sandwiches and potato soup at a nearby bakery which gave me another chance to butcher the German language. We needed return directions to the train station but i discovered, to my horror, that the bakery owner only spoke French! Sacre bleu! I can't win.

The museum was tough to get to but it was worth the effort. It documented in dioramas and actual hardware the story of WWII in that area with an emphasis placed on the local Luxembourg resistance fighters. They also showed a great deal of German arms and armor and the perspective of the German soldier which I thought was a nice touch from the victors.

Our trip back from Diekirch was much better. We navigated the bus and two trains without a hitch. I did get us into one last bit of trouble when i seated us on the 1st class section of the train to Trier. But instead of throwing us off the train the German ticket taker just asked us nicely to move to 2nd class.

We all had a tasty dinner at Zum Christophel back in Trier under the shadow of the Black Gate. Chris and dad had schnitzel, i had pork medallions cooked in red wine. Great finish to the day!

April 2, Tuesday
Got up early for our big castle day. Had continental breakfast in our quaint hotel dining room. Eggs, fruit, meat and lots of wonderful German bread. Dad met a cop from Baku Azerbaijan who brought his wife to Trier for medical treatment. He spoke no German and very little English so he was struggling to talk with people. We helped him figure out how to use the strange hotel shower controls which should make his grumpy wife happier. After breakfast we took about a one hour train ride from Trier to Moselkern, a cute village that seemed deserted since the train station was closed and there were no people on the streets. We had a walk of about 2.5 miles to the castle but we stopped halfway for a coffee and Apple cake refresher. The walk from the hotel to the castle was through thick forest and mountainous terrain that reminded me of Colorado. Very pretty. The green color and moss covered rocks and hillside made me feel like I was walking in Middle Earth. Then we broke into a clearing and the castle loomed over us! Wow! We were allowed to visit rooms filled with furniture, weapons, chinaware and family jewelry. We also took the tour which told of the lives of some of the family members that had inhabited the castle over the past 33 generations or 800 years. The timespan of history here is hard for Americans to grasp, I think. We asked about a bus ride back to the train station but were told that there was none. Silly tourists. So we walked back through the forest (with another stop and snack up at the hotel). After riding the train back to Trier we tried to take a bus to the Trier riverside for dinner but our driver didn't stop where we wanted and instead got on the road to Luxemburg! We hastily got off but then had to wait 45 cold minutes for the return bus to Trier. We were tired, cold and hungry so we ate at a Chinese restaurant near our hotel. Decent but not great food. Chris and I then tried to see an American movie but they had dubbed them all into German. So we went back to the hotel to write up the day's events and contact friends and family back home. I don't think I'll ever forget Castle Eltz! A truly magical place.

April 1, Monday
Slept well and woke up late. Since we missed the breakfast time at the hotel we went and ate breakfast at a cute cafe in the square. Had a croissant with cheese and ham. Very tasty. Washed it down with milchkaffee: kind of a strong latte. We decided to hit the three big attractions in Trier today: the museum, the baths, and the amphitheatre. Trier museum was fascinating as it covered the history of the area from the Celts to the Romans to the Franks to the medieval period through the renaissance. Lots of roman artifacts including coins and statues. Only downside of the museum was the fact that most of the signage was in German, very little in English. After the museum we walked through the ruins of the roman baths. Lots of excavation work being done there. From the baths it was about a ten minute walk to the amphitheatre. We got to tromp around the arena and the arena basement where the gladiators prepared for battle. The amphitheatre itself was impressive- in its day it had stone seats for 20000. The natives must have been impressed, even if they were part of the entertainment! After lunch at Burger King per Chris's request, we went to Karl Marx's house near the center of town. It was an ordinary looking Trier house filled with lighted displays detailing the major events of his life and some of the people he influenced. I picked up a Karl Marx button for a left-leaning friend back home. :) On the walk back to the hotel we stopped by the Dom cathedral, the biggest in town. It reminded me of the cathedral in Trondheim. Mom, I lit a candle to atone for my Notre Dame sins. :) For dinner, we decided to go back to the square and try a pizzeria. Good pizza! Great day! We went back to the hotel and collapsed. Looking forward to castle exploring tomorrow.

March 31, Sunday
Deutschland! The Frankfurt airport was a combination of modern art and techno-style. You immediately felt like you were in Europe. We had no problems getting our luggage and passing through customs. Airport was not busy. Security was light in these post cold-war and post 9/11 days, and the German soldier who stamped our passports found my pronunciation of "Trier" amusing so he corrected me. We then walked through the labyrinth underbelly of the Frankfurt airport until we finally emerged into the train station. It was a huge glass and steel dome next to a shopping center/convention center. We spent our first euros on pastries and coffee and then settled down for a nap to wait for our train. The German trains were sleek, fast and on time which was good because we had to switch trains in Koblenz and we had only a 13 minute layover. No problem. Really enjoyed the train ride through the German countryside. We saw numerous quaint German villages alongside the Mosel river. Lots of barges but very few roads and cars or even people were out on Easter Sunday. After arriving at Trier train station, Chris got his first taste of European civic life when he had to pay 50 cents to use the bathroom. :) We walked the quarter mile or so to Hotel Pieper. I love the streets of Trier: row upon row of different colored Baroque (I think) style houses and businesses. After checking in to our room we went out to eat at a German restaurant: Ratskeller in the town square. Dad and I had schnitzel, Chris had a steak. We hurried back to the hotel afterwards. It was chilly and we weren't dressed for Trier weather yet. Tired but eager to see the city tomorrow.

March 30, Saturday
After a leisurely walk over to A concourse and then through DIA security (and a full body scan) we stopped at Caribou for coffee.  As luck would have it our magnificent Lufthansa 747-700 was parked next to the coffee shop window so we had a good look at our air chariot. Our flight gate was surprisingly empty but we learned that our flight had originated from somewhere else and people were already onboard. Even so, our flight was not full and we were able to spread out after takeoff. I was impressed with both the service of our German airline crew: they kept us well fed and watered throughout the trip, and with the entertainment options. I watched several movies: the Campaign. James Bond movie Sky Fall, Life of Pi, and an excellent biography of ian Fleming. Even Chris was impressed with the movie choices. The only problem for me was my inability to sleep. On the almost 10 hour flight I slept only about an hour so when we landed in Frankfurt I was ready for a nap. Great flight to start the trip!

March 28, Paul's posts will start on Saturday.

March 18, 13 days to go!