The Grand Tour

Of camps and castles...

Hello from Nuremberg! It's taken us a few days to get back on the Internet. Thanks for being patient. :)

We spent a relaxing second day in Munich, staying at a charming little pension and walking around the city, especially through the ginormous English garden there. The pension was located near the technical university in the city, where we were surprised by the number of Asians (mostly male) studying there. Technical university - should have known!

The next day we picked up our rental car to begin our drive through Western Europe. Poor Toli had to figure out how to navigate this enormous station wagon (large by European standards, at least - its footprint is still smaller than our Ranger) through very confusing streets and a lousy map. We managed to make it out of Munich and to Dachau to visit the concentration camp there.

It's hard to put in words the sobering aspect of visiting a concentration camp, especially in the middle of a freezing December snow. I had visited Auschwitz several years ago, and what made Dachau strange was how educational and museumy it was. Lots of school groups, a lot of pictorial displays, and we had an amazing tour auf english.

We ended up staying there a lot longer than planned because the tour was so informative and interesting (plus we gave some Australian girls a lift to the train station), so we had to make do and stay over in nearby Augsburg. We had to navigate the city without a map, searching for a train station/tourist office/hotel where we could find a place to stay for the night. After about two hours of mindless searching (resulting in our first argument abroad) we both gave in and bought a map of the city.

Finally, we found a little hotel with a *very* nice, english-speaking innkeeper who took good care of us. That, plus a dinner at a local Greek restaurant (and some free ouzo, thanks to Toli's Greek-language skills) managed to salvage the evening. (It also probably helped that Christine was falling-down drunk with all the ouzo. One shot glass goes a long way.)

The next day was fabulous - we drove up the Romantic Road that runs through several medieval towns in Bavaria. Twas very romantic, with beautiful architecture, landscapes, and several castles. We enjoyed a very German meal in Nordlingen with the company of a little old German lady (who drank at least three huge beers while we ate) who thought Toli was Italian. The day turned a wee bit unromantic when we came back to the car to find a parking ticket!!! Lucky for us, though, a gentleman nearby explained that we needed to have this little parking disc in our window to show how long we were parking and very generously gave us one to use during our trip. He also told us that we could pay the ticket at a nearby bank, where the teller was very sympathetic to our plight. Both Toli and I were impressed by the friendliness of everyone, and no one treated us like dumb American tourists for getting a ticket!

After that, we spent the evening at another medieval town - Rothenburg ob der Tauber - which had a lovely Christmas market of its own. Christine enjoyed a ride on the carousel, and we munched on crepes for dessert.

That evening, as we left for Nuremberg, Toli and I noticed a car in front of us with its hazards on. Turns out, they were following a lost German shepherd and trying to catch it and get it off the highway. Of course, being the pet-loving schmucks that we are, we pulled over and tried to help them out. Fortunately, we were able to divert the dog to a side road, and a police car came out to help. How funny that even in Europe we can't avoid helping the occasional animal!

Finally, we made it to Nuremberg where we've spent the last day. There is much to be said about the town and its world-famous Christmas market. BUT this entry is very long-winded as it is, so I will just say Tschuss for now!

Posted by Christine at December 20, 2003 02:04 PM