From Munich to Frankfurt, Up and Down, All Around

Dear Visitor: 

I thought you might be interested in reading a little about our recent trip to southern Germany. There were eight of us, including our guide, Derek, a German teacher at a local high school here in northwest Pennsylvania. We were Husband Jim and me; our friends Mary Jane and Tim; a retired art teacher and her daughter; and a man who traveled solo.

Derek has visited Germany 16 times and really knows his way around, especially when it comes to navigating public transportation—trains, subways, trolleys, and buses. We walked more than 10,000 steps every day, and much of this was through hilly German cobblestone streets. 

One day, we logged more than 20,000 steps. I sent an image of a week’s worth of steps to my kids at home and captioned it, “Our guide is trying to kill us.” In the end, I’m glad Derek pushed us, because we never would have seen as much and experienced as much if he hadn’t. After two weeks traipsing around Germany, we all returned home in much better physical shape than before the trip. 

Well, here’s a day-by-day account of our experience in Germany. For a more-professional account of where we went and what we saw, check out Mary Jane’s blog, Exploring the World. It is a treasure.

Sunday/Monday (June 23-24, 2024) – Departure/Arrival

Our flight took off from Erie, PA, at about 2:00 p.m. The plane was tiny with two seats on one side and only one on the other, but we felt just a small bit of turbulence. In Charlotte, NC, we had just enough time to run to our next gate for Munich. I swear that was the longest gate dash I’ve ever performed.

The plane that took us to Deutschland was an American Airlines Boeing 777. I know many people say, “If it’s Boeing, I ain’t going,” but it was a pretty good experience. We enjoyed a special vegan meal with rice, beans, hummus, and grains. Later we had a breakfast of yogurt, toppings, and coffee. 

Guide Derek was already in Germany when we arrived, having just concluded a tour with his students, and he met us at the airport in the early morning of June 24th. We took two trains and a bus to get to the hotel, Bürgerbräu, in Bad Reichenhall. 

We were exhausted from the red eye, but we let Derek drag us around the charming Bad Reichenhall where we visited Bad Reichenhaller Gradierhaus, the world’s largest Alpine inhalatorium. We walked along a structure containing black thorn branches through which they pump salt water. This is supposed to be good for your lungs. There’s also a pool of frigid water you can walk through or swirl your hands in. That’ll wake you up.

We ate dinner at the hotel that first night. I had a salad and fries. Jim had a spaetzle dish. Afterward, we crashed in our room, which was right above the kitchen. There was no air conditioning, typical for Europe, so the windows had to stay open. Below were cooking odors, clanking of pots and pans, conversation by the workers, and roars of soccer fans, but by 11:45 p.m. it was quiet and we slept well.

Tuesday, June 25, 2024 – Salzburg

We took a bus to the Zum Salzbergwerk salt mine in Salzburg. A tram took us deep into the earth and then we were supposed to slide further down by sitting directly on two wooden rails. Thankfully, there was a staircase option, and I took that. I couldn’t fathom how I would perch myself on those rails without flying off. Jim went down the slide, though, and found it quite fun. 

It was interesting to see how salt is mined, but I pity the people who do it and will never take salt for granted again. 

After the salt mine, we took a bus to Berchtesgaden. This is where Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest is located high up on a mountain. We didn’t visit that site, but we had lunch and shopped. Jim got a new pair of shoes. 

Later, back in Bad Reichenhall, we took a long walk to dinner at Schwabenbrau. We shared spinach dumplings and a “colorful” salad. Most times in Germany, we were able to request English menus, and if one wasn’t available, Derek translated the options for us. 

Wednesday, June 26, 2024 – Munich 

After a nourishing breakfast at the hotel, we walked to a bus stop with our bags, hopped on one, then on a train, and plus one more to Munich. We were grateful that all throughout the trip, Derek stayed with our bags and told us to just find seats. He heaved those bags up onto the very unsafe shelves wherever he could above the passengers’ heads and managed to return each of our belongings every single time. I’m glad we started working out before this trip, because lugged our bags up and down staircases, across gaps between trains and platforms, etc. 

By the way, most German trains are very smooth running, unlike in the USA. Also, they operate in both directions, so if you suffer from motion sickness and don’t like riding backwards, you will want to try to guess the direction the train will be traveling in before selecting your seat. Also, some trains split apart and go in opposite directions, so you’ll want to pay attention to announcements, which are usually in English as well as German.

Interestingly, even though we bought passes for both trains and busses, we rarely had to show them. How does that work? Are Germans just very honest? Does the transportation system operate in the black?

The people on the trains and busses we sat in were very quiet. The trains running in the opposite direction whiz by, seemingly inches away.

Note: Many people bring their bicycles on the trains, and there is a designated area for them. Staircases often have a rail along the sides for pushing the bikes up. Many people find maneuvering the weight of their bikes difficult and hold up everyone behind them. The German bicycles are larger than in the USA, and many are e-bikes, which I assume are heavier than regular bikes. 

In Munich, we dropped off our bags at the JAMS Music Hotel and then took a subway into the city. We had lunch at the original Hofbräuhaus, built in the 1500s for royalty. After dinner, we walked around an outdoor market and then came back to the hotel. We had dinner at an Italian place next door. We split a salad and aglio e olio, which is spaghetti with olive oil and garlic. I make that sometimes at home and add broccoli.

The hotel was nice and modern, but no air conditioning, of course. While I was resting, I saw the biggest flying insect ever and Jim had to practically wrestle with it to the death. We closed the windows and used the fan after that.

Thursday, June 27, 2024 – Regensburg

In Regensburg, we toured a cathedral and a basilica. I had thought if I’d seen one church, I’d seen them all, but I was wrong. These were unlike any I’d ever seen. They were so ornate and beautiful inside, perhaps more beautiful than those we saw in Italy, including the Vatican.

We did some shopping but didn’t buy anything. We ate at a coffee shop and shared spinach balls and salad. We did not have cell service all day. Apparently, there was a worldwide outage of a couple of carriers, including Verizon, which we use. They are refunding our fees for two days, but in general, coverage with Verizon was very poor, and apparently, this is well known.

Derek quizzed us on how many cities in Germany have more than 100,000 people. Germany is about the same in area as Pennsylvania where we are from. We have only three cities with populations over 100,000. Germany has more than 80! Derek explained that the German government ensures that one third of the land is for people and industry(?), one third for farms, and one third for forests. That’s why the cities are so congested.

Note: From the train, we saw many, many solar panels, both in farms and on the roofs of homes. So many dogs! In restaurants, subways, trains. Germans love their dogs.

Friday, June 28, 2024 – Dachau

Visiting the Dachau concentration camp was a very somber experience. Although it wasn’t a death camp, many people died there. As we walked in the heat among the foundations of barracks, I thought about what it must have felt like for the prisoners on that day eighty years ago.

In the afternoon we traveled back to Munich and had some food before heading to “The Residenz,” a huge palace. I threw a hissy fit when they expected me to check my bag with my passport, medications, wedding ring, credit cards, etc. The man who was checking the bags tried to assure me that it was safe to leave my bag hanging in full view with all the others, but I wasn’t buying it. Derek wasn’t touring, so he held my bag. If I had known that they wanted to check bags, I would have opted to go shopping.

In the evening, we strolled through the English Garden, where we observed some crazy people surfing on the river. I wonder how many people have smashed their heads on the concrete walls. . . Many people also floated down the river, which contained signs warning against swimming, but no enforcement. Interesting how Germany trusts its people to have good judgment, which many don’t. In the USA, we have multitudes of guardrails and other safeguards to protect us from ourselves.

Saturday, June 29, 2024 – Tübingen

On the way to Tübingen, we observed an escalator that goes both up and down, depending on who calls it. Pretty brilliant. 

In Tübingen, we ate at a restaurant on the Necker River. Jim and I each had a veggie burger, which was basically hash brown patties on a bun. Pretty bland.

We walked around Old Town and ate ice cream. We also walked up a long hill to the Hohentübingen Castle, operated by the University of Tübingen, which houses ancient artifacts dating back to 40,000 BCE. Quite a walk and quite a museum.

Our lodging in Tübingen was Metropol Apartments, just steps from the river. No air conditioning, of course, and our room was right above the noisy city street. We slept surprisingly well, though, and didn’t need to use the provided ear plugs.

One day, on our way back to the hotel from the train station, we observed two young men starting a “mural” on a public structure. A couple of days later, we saw the finished product. I’m not exactly sure what it means. If you do, please comment below.

Sunday, June 30, 2024 – Lindau

We took some trains to Lindau, which is right on the Bodensee (Lake Constance). It is very quaint. There we met up with my cousin Petra and her son, Paul. They came from their home, a couple of hours east. I was so happy to see them and so sad to leave them. It has been five years since I first met them and last saw them, though we have stayed in touch.

Monday, July 1, 2024 – Hohenzollern Sigmaringen

Today we trained south to see the castle, Hohenzollern Sigmaringen. It’s a fascinating place, and we took an interesting tour with devices that allowed us to listen to English while the tour guide spoke German. She seemed very informative and entertaining, so I feel we missed a bit by not knowing what she was saying, but it was very interesting anyway.

Fun fact #1: One of the princes became the King of Romania and is buried in Curtea d’ Argeș, where our son and daughter-in-law were married and where our grandson was baptized. Our daughter-in-law is from Romania.

Fun fact #2: At one point on our train journey, we were only five miles from Obernheim, where my paternal grandmother lived until she was 27 years old. We visited there in 2019 but did not include that town in this trip since we were with a group.

Tuesday, July 2, 2024 – Bacharach am Rhine

It took five trains over a period of five hours to get us to our last hotel in Bacharach am Rhein, a town of 1,800 with many nice restaurants to accommodate the tourist traffic. We saw the ruins of an old cathedral in the town. The mountain behind the village is steep and grapes grow on the slopes. We wondered how they manage to harvest the grapes, and we saw a tractor way above puttering along the vines.

Our room at Hotel zur Post was technically on the third floor, but the stairs are very narrow and winding, so it seemed like five. What a great workout!

After dinner and a walk around Bacharach we took the train one stop north to Oberwesel and walked around. It was very quiet, and it seemed like they rolled up the sidewalks at night. 

Wednesday, July 3, 2024 – Cologne

Most mornings, we stopped at a bakery on the way to the train station, and I had a pretzel and coffee. Our train ride to Cologne was two hours and by this time, I had about had it with trains and crowds. Especially when a young woman sat next to me with an odiferous sausage in one hand and a large sandwich in the other. 

The cathedral in Cologne is the biggest I’ve ever seen—covered in soot and very dark and imposing. Inside, it is very opulent. Was all this excess necessary to bring the masses closer to God? Might it have been better to feed their bellies and care for the sick and poor?

We toured the Lindt chocolate factory, and at first, I was less than enthused about this activity, because I remembered the Hershey tour, which was not impressive at all. I was wrong. The museum taught us all about how cocoa is grown, traded, and manufactured. AND we received no less than eight pieces of chocolate! Step it up, Hershey!

You must pay a euro to use the bathroom at the train station. Apparently, your receipt can be used for half a euro at the food court, but we didn’t know that, when we ordered our veggie whopper and veggie nuggets from Burger King. 

After some shopping, we started home on the rails and arrived in Bacharach at around 8:00 p.m. We devoured pizza at the pizza and kabop [sic] across the street from our hotel. 

Thursday, July 4, 2024 – Koblenz and Trier

We met up with the group at 8:00 a.m. and took the train to Koblenz and Trier. We saw a monument to the Kaiser Wilhelm and walked up the stairs to look at the inscriptions. Jim got a new man bag in Trier, a town, like many in Germany, that has some fascinating Roman ruins. Here in America, we tear down perfectly good buildings after 35 years to make way for something trendier. 

In Bacharach, Jim and I saw a castle up on the mountain and decided to try to reach it. It took quite a while to figure out how to get there and to hike up the switchbacks, but we did it! The place is now a youth hostel called Stahleck Castle. That was a 20,000-step day.

Friday, July 5, 2024 – Mainz

In Mainz, we visited St. Stephan’s Church which contains stained-glass windows designed by Marc Chagall. Mary Jane, friend and fellow traveler on this trip, met Chagall when she studied in France in the 1960s. He signed a print for her, which she still has today.

We marveled at the ruins of an old Roman amphitheater, which was discovered when they were putting in the rail lines. They sure don’t build like they used to, do they?

After we returned to Bacharach, four of us walked about 1.5 miles to see the Pfalzgrafenstein on the Rhine, a castle that was once a toll for the river. It sits in the middle of the river at the town of Kaub. Both Derek and I have paintings of this castle. Mine hangs in our music room. I acquired the piece from my Uncle Dan’s house after he died. I think my Uncle Russ might have brought it home from Germany after he was stationed there in 1946, right after WWII ended. The castle is now painted white and I almost didn’t recognize it, but if you look closely at the roof lines, it’s clear that it’s the same structure.

Saturday, July 6, 2024 – Heading Home

We all met at 5:15 a.m. to catch the train to Frankfurt for our 9:20 a.m. flight to Charlotte. At security, everyone had their carryons searched, but me, and two members of our party had a full-on pat down performed on them. It was funny, because I sailed right through, even though I forgot I had a water bottle with me. 

The flight across the ocean was generally calm. The food was not bad. Jim was sitting in front of me, and my seatmates were not annoying at all. Still, as always, my quads told me they wanted to run around the plane, even with meds from my doctor. Better get that resolved before we travel to Australia and New Zealand next year! 

In Charlotte, my smugness about Frankfurt security ended when Jim and I both forgot to take our iPads out of our backpacks, so they had to go through the scanner again. We had just enough time to make our flight back home.

Reflecting on our experience, I’m very happy that we took this trip and enjoyed our group very much. Each one of us had our own personality, and we all got along very well. Our guide, Derek, was so patient with us, and I highly recommend him. He knows the language and is a wealth of knowledge about all the sites in Germany. He’s also very funny and witty.

As mentioned at the beginning of this post, I highly suggest you take a look at Mary Jane’s blog about our trip!

And check out my Facebook page for more photos.