Bath, England

Crazy busy, still flying around, coffee meetings, killing the cell minutes, but found a break to blog. Directly from our France visit Mom and I drove about an hour south to the Basel Airport and flew to England. We landed in London Luton, which is a city unto itself. It was completely industrial and didn't warrant pictures, but we walked to dinner there--a Thai restaurant. So we're in England at the only restaurant we could find, Thai, and the music is the common Thai hit, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," picture it.

We wanted to head to Greenfield, Grandma Audrey's old home, but were deterred by the fact that the rail doesn't run many trains to the North on weekends. We chose instead to visit the historic city of Bath. This town is named after the Roman baths that were located there during the Roman occupation (I think).
Nearly every building is constructed with the "white stones of Bath," which are nearly all brown with dirt. Jane Austen used to vacation here for extended periods with her family. It was here that she wrote Persuasion and Northanger Abby, neither of which I've read; sorry.
It rained on us before the sun realized I had relocated temporarily. The sun, being one of my greatest fans, thus rushed to England to grace my photography with color. Above, you can still see the last bit of precipitation on the cobblestone. Sun lovers, follow me, I'll lead you to your happy place.
Consistency of style is not a common theme among the British; neither is engineering. But a bright note is the vast sights, each unique.

Jane was probably a bit short for me so I had to scrunch pretty good. I think that's what smashed my normally beaming smile.
This, above, is a typical street, with the typical 6-10 chimney setup on top. They don't waste time with yards here.
A few older parts of the city boasted cobblestone, but unlike Germany, it isn't as embraced.
This pic., above, is evidence of the sun's late realization of my relocation. I forgave it for its tardiness.

Slightly farther North than Germany, Bath gave us a great sunset, which I only captured well after it had faded to a sky and silhouette. We spent a lot of walking time all through the city. A volunteer, much in similarity to my late Grandmother, gave us a free tour, then we re-toured a few times. We had a great time.
I will express a bit of disappointment for the "traditional British breakfast." It was lousy, especially when compared to the brötchen, cheeses, meats and specialties of the Germans.
I should also express grand appreciation towards the company that offers free bathrooms across many nations. Thank you Starbucks for not locking your bathrooms and for being everywhere at the danger of ubiquity and brand delusion--my Mom especially thanks you. With that, we left for London, one of the crazier and more expensive places on the European continent.

Colmar & Eguisheim France

On our way to the airport (en route to England) Mom and I stopped in two little towns in the Alsace region of France, Colmar and Eguisheim. Both are quaint, one is a town that I must see every time I visit the area.
Colmar, the first town we visited, is much larger than Eguisheim and much busier with tourists and bustling gift and coffee shops. I love the partially-timbered designs.

There are a number of squares and churches in Colmar; this may be the prettiest of them all.
I'm still working on the hair (this picture is from May, imagine 7 more weeks of growth). It's ridiculous I know and it will get cut pretty quickly after returning home.
Below is the outer ring of Equisheim. Just past this picture Mom and I stopped at a little crape shop and had a wonderful lunch.

The road is tiny on the ground, then headroom tightens as each story above expands outward. I guess this is called making the most of your postage stamp lot.
The French in this region are not afraid of color. I wonder if they intentionally plan on having a different color than their neighbor or if they are just that unique--after all, they are French.
Here is Mom posing among the little houses.

Below looks like the city planner had a little trouble with his circle expanding so he threw in another row of houses. As you can see it would be impossible to get even a Ford truck down these roads let alone any sort of fire equipment.
Eguisheim's main square boasts of a small church that is open to the public and a fountain. I forget which one but a pope took refuge here about 800 years ago.

Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures outside of these towns, they are surrounded by vineyards. Every hill in this region is packed with grapes and tiny local wineries. Either way, the Alps were behind us and an airplane was only hours away. While I'm not a huge fan of France, this area can't be denied for its beauty or wine making abilities.

Berner Oberland, Switzerland

After our morning in Meersburg Mom and I drove into the heart of Switzerland. We visited the towns of Mürren and Gimmelwald. The towns view the majestic 13,600 foot Jungfrau, which is accompanied by the almost as tall Eiger and Mönch.
Mürren must survive completely on tourism. There are no automobiles in the town, everyone goes everywhere on foot; there are, however, a few tractors. I'm not sure how many guesthouses and hotels there are -- many! This area is a busy ski resort by winter and wandering/hiking area by summer.

A short walk down a paved path leads to one of my favorite European villages, Gimmelwald. This quaint little place boasts of one hostel and one bed & breakfast; nothing else. There can't be more than 50 residents, all of which are related. This village also has no cars.
The trails offer view after view of the mountains across the way. We were actually lucky enough to see a few avalanches caused by the weight and pressure of the melting snow.

We hiked as far as this waterfall. In my younger days, I hiked over this fence and climbed up these slippery rocks to get pictures. Funny thing is that those pics are now in a photo box -- I don't think I've pulled them out since development.
We strode back up to Mürren and cruised to the top of town, hoping to hike a few miles back to the gondola that lifted us over the massive cliffs these towns both sit on (I'd guess somewhere in the ballpark of 1,000 feet). The snow was still piled too high in the trees though to do much hiking so we mosied towards the car and ultimately the town where I lived for a year, Maugenhard, Germany.

While the Alps don't have the cool shapes of the volcanic Oregon mountains, they have a naturally stark appearance; they're rugged, tough, and steep. They also get enough water to grow lush green grass far above the tree line. It is quite a treat to hike the rugged, yet different than home, Alps.

Meersburg, Germany

Meersburg was the one town where I made a mistake that could have been prevented. The plan was to arrive in the evening, find a quaint guesthouse, then enjoy the evening. Reality proved that it was a much farther drive than I had remembered, there were only two hotels still open, and both were excessivly expensive; we still had room in budget though, what can you do?
Meersburg is located on the Bodensee, or Lake Constance, on the German/Swiss border. It is surrounded by water and vineyards. This would be a great place to spend some time for an anniversary.
Mom and I were only here for the night, then after our breakfast we had to hurry off to the Alps.

There is an ancient castle in Meersburg, which I've seen probalby five times but never ponied up the money to go inside and see the museum.

Such a lovely city, so little time.

Disney Castles Tour: Linderhof, Neuschwanstein, Hohenschwangau

Germany has castles; really cool castles. Mom and I were able to visit three in a day (for a mere 25 Euros, or $40 per person nonetheless). We visited Neuschwanstein (above), Linderhof Palace (directly below), and Hohenschwangau (two below).
We actually toured Linderhof first because it is located in Austria and was the closest destination to Reutte, where we had just stayed. This is the palace where King Ludwig, the one many called crazy, spent the last years of his pathetic life. The inside of all three castles are, unfortunately, photofree zones. The inside of Linderhof is almost entirely gold plated and is completely unrealistic fantasy. Linderhof is also the site of a large manmade cave, complete with colored lights (one of the first electric-lighted places in Europe) and everything else we've seen at Disneyland -- Walt would have been lost with Ludwig's misguided genius.
Hohenschwangau was castle #2 for the day and was designed by Ludwig's father. It is much more livable and in a sense normal, as far as royal castles go.

Before leaving Linderhof, however, we spent quite a bit of time on the grounds. The smallest of the three castles, it is nestled deep in the edge of the Austrian alps. There are small ponds, creeks, and trails dotting the tourist map. If I recall, on a previous tour I was told that this palace was initially a hunting lodge (Ludwig in his obsessions turned it into a wanna-be French thing).
We stopped and had a little picnic lunch along this lake. It's a rough view but somebody had to take it in.
At the edge of the lake, the water was a glowing green color. There are a lot of interesting water colors in the Alpine creeks, rivers, and lakes; varying from perfectly clear to white, gray, blue, green, and all between.

Keeping with the lake theme, Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein, which are located within about 500 yards of each other, also sit next to some pretty puddles.
Germany is shameless with their tourism. Nearly every public restroom in the country has a fee. This one cost us 50 cents per person (though we might have hopped the bar once due to a lack of change). After $40 each you think they would let us freshen up.
Hohenshwangau, barely in the picture above, looks over a lush valley. I would consider myself privileged to live in such a pretty place. I would consider myself even more privileged if I had a summer castle with this sort of view.

Last thing of the day (with the exception of 3 hours in the car) we hiked up to Neuschwanstein, the unfinished, unbelievable mansion castle that inspired one of the world's greatest dreamers, as mentioned Walt Disney. Yes, Elsa, this is where it all began.
Mom was kind enough to pose in the exact same spot that Dad did for me 3 years ago.

The entrance was large enough to drive a coach through, then safely exit once inside. And the castle was large enough to host half of the country. Pictured below is an interior courtyard where a church was planned but never erected. All construction stopped abruptly when Ludwig mysteriously died.
In my quick assessment, King Ludwig was not crazy, he was eccentric. I guess a nice way of saying it is that he was fabulouss (emphasize the lisp). My firm opinion, after multiple tours, is that he was gay in an era that didn't coddle that sort of behavior, while at the same time he was a figurehead that stood in the way of a coming government in the united Germany. After all, what are the odds of two people drowning (Ludwig and the Dr. that diagnosed him as crazy) in waste deep water one week after being labeled insane?

Reutte, Austria

Füssen, Germany marks the end of the Romantic Road, but is a touristy border town serving as a busy gateway to King Ludwig's castles. With that in mind I drove mom the extra 5 miles to Reutte, Austria, where we thought we'd see some castle ruins and have a quiet evening.
Before heading to the ruins we stopped at a nice looking little guest house and made our evening reservation; a cute old couple said they'd wait up for us. We were off. I drove a back way (I guessed it was a back way and got lucky) to the ruins, ending on a small road from which we could see our end goal. We parked right there.

Hiking up, we were rewarded with an up close and personal self-guided tour of an old fortress; one of a pair that guarded a steep mountain pass. The ruins are falling apart but in general are safe enough for the public (things are different in Europe as far as safety and lawsuits).

As the sun dipped behind the Austrian Alps we headed down to the car. Just before we were to the little road, a mountain biker zoomed past us. Mountain bikes are common here, we ignored him until WHACK, I looked and saw the bike about 15 feet high flipping through the air as the young rider was rolling his way towards the windshield, then ragdolling to the road. I handed Mom my camera and ran to help.

.

The kid was instantly up, but very dazed. The driver of the small grey car was pretty well in freak out mode, while I struggled in German to ask the kid how he felt. "Are you Ok?" He replied simply, "Yeah, I'm fine, shook up, but fine."

.

Turns out the 17-year-old races on a circuit; with the exception of a few rips in the shoulder of his protective raincoat (it was sunny, therefore a weird but fortunate choice of clothing) he and his $2,000 bike - the one that flew about 15 feet high and traveled a distance of about 30 feet before colliding with a pasture - showed zero harm. The insurance man came - no police though - info was exchanged, then the kid said, "My mom will go crazy when she hears about this." Unclimactically, he rode home.

By this time Mom and I had missed our window to visit any traditional restaurants so we grabbed some dönar kebab and headed to the homestead. The guest house was nice, but was an extension of the elderly couple's home. As I headed to the room the Grandma-ish proprietor asked what time that we wanted breakfast. Eight o'clock sharp.
7:58 am: I'd been up for a while and was showered when the Grandma called, "Frühstück ist fertig! Frühstück ist fertig! Frühstück ist fertig! Frühstück ist fertig!" "Ok, Ok, coming, coming" I replied. She invited us into her kitchen and sat us at her table. It was covered with breads and rolls and meats and homemade jams and, best of all, homemade juice. She also was preparing a scrambled egg extraordinaire - 8 eggs for the two of us, complete with peppers, onions, Austrian bacon, and cheese.

After finishing cooking she sat with us at the table, not to eat, but to chat. We struggled for at least an hour in non-stop thick accented German confusion, with poor mom sitting lost asking for constant interpretation (which I could not easily give as I was nodding more than I was understanding). After insisting we had to leave, I spent 45 minutes fixing the Grandpa's computer before failing to teach him how to say the English phrase, 'We have vancancy.' Picture an old Austrian man kind of leaning intently forward saying, "Vee hab fakancy."

We finally escaped. As we pulled out of the driveway, the couple waived and waived goodbye. Just my luck I couldn't find a break in traffic. Looking in the mirror, they were still waiving.

Mom was laughing as we finally hit the freeway. She commented that you can't help but picture Billy Crystal, in the Princess Bride, smiling and waiving, "Have fun storming the castle!" Ironically, we were driving to Neuschwanstein, credit card in hand, intent on do just that -storming the castle.