Germany
Bacharach
When we arrived at Bacharach, we had dinner together in the hotel. Though I don't remember what we ate, I do remember it was delicious, especially the soup which was amazing. Unfortunately, my knee was bothering me, and I was eating gluten again because everyone said it was different and better in Europe. But everyone lies, and I realized I needed to go back to gluten-free to avoid the pain. Luckily, there was one other person in our group who was also gluten-free, so I wasn't alone, and every place we ate was accommodating. Despite this, I couldn't help but feel sad about missing out on the amazing bread in Germany.
The no stairs thing was a bit of a challenge, but I managed it. The next morning, I skipped the local guided tour up the hill and did some laundry. Later, I met up with the group for our adventure on the Rhine. We took a short 30-minute cruise down the Rhine, enjoying some incredible views of castles, churches, and little towns. Chuck had a coffee, and I savored some hot chocolate on the boat. The fall weather was a bit chilly on the top deck, but the views were worth it. We then had a bratwurst lunch together as a group in town before we prepared to "storm the castle."
Most of the group decided to brave the steep climb and walk up. However, I chose to take the shuttle with a couple of others. We had a great guided tour of Rheinfels Castle and learned some fascinating history of the area. Dinner was on our own that evening, and I was looking forward to trying some tasty schnitzel. Unfortunately, I was disappointed with what I had. I kept trying different places, but the German's just couldn't seem to cook it right. No seasoning at all - a little salt and pepper would have gone a long way. It made me realize that even though I'm half German and half Italian, there's a reason why there are a lot more Italian restaurants out there.
Rothenburg
Rothenburg is another medieval walled city. It looks like a cute little Christmas town. We did a short orientation walking tour and then were set free to find food and shop and wander around. Jody recommended we eat at a local hotel. We just window shopped - lots of cute windows to look at. No room in my suitcase to buy anything. I bought a couple of magnets and a pin on our entire trip - and a scarf here in Rothenburg because I was cold. We walked along the wall and joined the group for the Night Watchman's tour in the evening. My belly was burning from the previous days of eating gluten, but the tour was fun wandering around in the dark with a large group of people.
Bavaria
The next morning we headed out on our way to spend the night in Austria. We stopped at Dachau on the way and I chose to sit in the café while the rest of the group did the tour. I just don’t have the stomach for it. They were all very somber when they came back.
We stopped in Bavaria to see an over the top Roccoco church at the monk owned brewery. I enjoyed apple juice while most of the group enjoyed beer. We tried all the food - it was interesting and not like the German food I expected. I was looking forward to some "real" German potato salad but that wasn't what I got. I might be biased, I make a mean German potato salad. It was busy, it was loud and a nice little break in our day. There was a weird little sculpture garden and some animals roaming around.
Neuschwanstein Castle
Being a Disney lover, I was so excited to see this castle! I was so disappointed when they said no pictures inside. It's so fun inside with all the little fairy tale details. I chose to take the bus up to Marienbrücke - the bridge and then walk down to the castle. Chuck walked up as did many in our group. It's very steep - those European's are made of heartier stock! The view from Marienbrücke is amazing and a must see. We walked back down to meet up with the bus - so steep and took it slow. We had a group lunch together after our morning castle tour. I think we were all getting a little tired of bratwurst and German food. We had a fun little adventure down the road after lunch, riding an alpine slide with a fantastic view of the castle in the background. Even Peter our bus driver joined in the fun.
