The Romantic Rhineland

Tuesday, July 27, 2004 - Amsterdam to Düsseldorf

We have another terrific breakfast, some internet time and check out.  Amsterdam has one last surprise for us, though - a laundry charge of 85 Euros.  We could have damn near replaced the laundered items for that.  Amsterdam deserves it's reputation as one of the most expensive cities in Europe.

Still in sticker shock, we checkout and head for the Central Station.  We get another Yemeni taxi driver so the conversation is limited.

Düsseldorf's Altstadt Area

We had decided to take our chances on seating rather than wait hours to make a reservation.  We have no problems when the train arrives, late, believe it or not.  Note that this train is going to Germany where, according to legend, the trains always run on time.  It will be interesting to see if the legend is true.

The train is beautiful as is the countryside.  We arrive, late, at a busy Düsseldorf station but nowhere near as busy as Amsterdam was.  Now we must find our hotel which is a "five minute" walk from the station according to the Hotelclub.net web site.  We stop at the TI office to get directions and some idea as to where we are in relation to the rest of Düsseldorf.  We realize we are facing a "10 to 15 minute" five minute walk and struggle with our bags through a seedy neighborhood to our hotel, the Residenz Hotel.

We have trouble rousing anyone to come to the desk.  When a young man and woman finally show, they seem strangely unfamiliar with the procedures to check us in.  They are, obviously Middle Eastern and speak little English.  Somehow we manage to get checked in.  I am second guessing my decision to get a hotel near the train station.  In retrospect, I would have been better off booking a hotel closer to the river.  The taxi fare would have been worth it.  I find that the train station areas in Germany are not nearly as desirable as they are in Italy or France.

The room is spacious but Pam will have to do her internet thing while sitting on the bed since there is no desk.  This arrangement creates a bit of a problem since I am hoping to take a quick nap before we head out for sightseeing and dinner.

Somehow, I doze off and an hour later we are off to the center of Düsseldorf, a "30 minute" 15 minute walk.  We first wander down Königsallee, the Rodeo Drive or Champs-Elysées of Düsseldorf.  The weather is clear and sunny but cool.  We walk down to the river and stroll along the bank. We also check the schedule for the boats that ply the Rhine as we plan to take a boat tour later in the week.

We circle back into the Altstadt in the old part of the city looking for a restaurant.  I want to go to the same brewery I had been to the last time I was in Düsseldorf, 1986.  I was working for a Saudi company at the time and was so starved for beer and atmosphere that I fell in love with the Braueri Uerige.  Pam resists because the menu shows only heavy German dishes and snacks available. 

Braueri Uerige

We compromise by strolling around and choosing the Altstadt Restaurant which serves the Uerige Alt beer I want but also has an extensive menu of Pam-like items, mainly green stuff.  We can sit outside and people watch while drinking and eating.  I order the specialty of the house, roast pork knuckle, and wash it down with a liter and a half of beer.    The food surpasses my expectations.  The beer is as good as I remembered it.    We josh with our waiter who is working hard to get an American family at the next table to order something other than roast beef.

We need a walk to open up room for dessert.  We get to the "Kö" - Königsallee to the locals - and find an Italian place where we can sit under the trees, eat tiramisu, drink cappuccino and watch the people parade by.  Düsseldorf is not that popular a tourist destination so most of the passers-by are locals.  I don't understand why Düsseldorf isn't more popular.  The town has a number of attractions and the Altstadt is one of the nicest, pedestrian-friendly eating and shopping areas in Europe.  Rick Steves doesn't even mention it in his guide to Germany - a serious omission.

We stagger back to our hotel as full of good food and drink as possible.  Pam decides to pass on the internet so I fall asleep watching CNN.  I don't believe Pam snuck a look at her e-mails while I was asleep but I'll never know.

Wednesday, July 28, 2004 - Düsseldorf and Köln

Today Pam and I mark our 25th wedding anniversary.  Neither one of us makes a big thing out of it, agreeing to celebrate when we get back to Hong Kong.

I did not sleep very well last night.  I think it's because, I ate too much so I have no one to blame.  I have a hard time getting out of bed.  When I finally go to breakfast, I meet a Thai woman, working in the dining room, who married a German some 10 years ago.  We discuss how she likes living in Germany.  She acknowledges she likes it O.K. but still hangs on to her dream of returning to her home in Phuket, soon.

We are slow to get to the train station and we struggle with the ticket machine.  Suddenly, a man pops up and starts to help me figure out how to use the machine.  It has multiple options and I'm not sure which one to use.  With my Good Samaritan's help, I select a five person all-day ticket for 25 Euros - what a deal!  We can use it on any train except an Inter-City (IC).  The trains have so many designations; it's difficult to sort them all out. There's IC, EC, RE, S, and A trains.   We pick one that we assume is going to Köln.  The train is late.  Are we really in Germany? 

We arrive at Köln Dom Station.  Because of construction, the place is a mess.  It takes us 10 minutes to figure out how to get from where we are to the square in front of the Köln Cathedral.  We can see the Cathedral, we just can't find it.  We are late for the English language tour of the cathedral so, using our trusty guide book, we explore the place on our own.  I've seen many churches and cathedrals but this one is in a category all its own.  We spend almost two hours exploring. You can see the pictures on my Köln photo site.

After the Cathedral, everything else is likely to be a disappointment, anyway, so we choose the Stollwerck Chocolate Museum for our next stop.  A wheeled tram makes the run in about five minutes but true to today's rhythms, we just miss it and decide to walk. I'm glad we do.  The paved path along the Rhine provides vistas and photo opportunities by the dozens.  The people-watching is fruitful, too. 

We enjoy the Chocolate museum far more than we thought we would.  I learn a lot more about chocolate than I ever wanted to know.  I like the historical information best.  I also enjoy watching people make the chocolate and am fascinated with how they create chocolate sculptures in so many sizes and shapes.  The museum is surprisingly crowded.  I guess chocoholism is a universal disease.  We eat in the museum cafeteria and the food is quite reasonably priced and good.  I can't believe we skip dessert.

Chocolate Fountain

Naturally, we just miss the tram back to the main square.  We decide to walk back.  Pam takes off at her usual pace, just below that of a long distance runner.  I have a problem.  My repaired Achilles tendon hurts like hell and I can't keep up.  Hell, I can't keep up with strolling young parents pushing their infants in prams.  I send Pam ahead, as if I could hold her back, and tell her I'll meet her at the TI center on the square.  I walk for a while and rest for a while.  I pop a couple ibuprofens but they will take a while to go to work.  A half hour later I manage to get to the bottom of the stairs leading to the square.  I square myself away and pull myself up the steps using the handrail as an aid.  I stagger into the TI building to meet Pam, who is enjoying a relaxing cup of coffee.  I'm exhausted.

Barge on the Rhine

Pam immediately expresses a desire to visit the Roman Museum on the Square.  I beg off for two reasons.  One, I can hardly stand erect much less walk and two, I saw quite a bit of Roman ruins along Hadrian's Wall and I'm headed for Italy later this week. I suspect I'll be "Roman'd" out before this trip is over.  Pam is not dissuaded and takes off. 

I decide to enjoy a glass of apple juice - they don't serve beer here.  I notice an exhibit set up, outside the Center, to support the Palestinian cause.    After I recover from my exertions, I go out to look at it.  The site features a number of photos of alleged Israeli atrocities.  Many of them are of the English girl who was run over by a bulldozer while protesting the Israeli effort to knock down houses to provide an obstruction free zone between Gaza and Israel.  I approach the person in charge of the exhibit intending to ask, "Where are the pictures of Israeli children and other innocents blown up by Palestinian suicide bombers?"  I can't ask, though, because I don't speak German and the man doesn't speak English. I'm still incensed at the one-sidedness of the presentation but I can do nothing about it. 

Pam returns saying how much she enjoyed the Roman Museum.  We decide to see the multi-media story of the Cathedral. We buy our tickets for the next English language showing.  We descend into the bowels of the building and get lost.  The place is not over-signed.  We try a number of doors and finally we open one, to find ourselves in the midst of a German language presentation.  We quickly retreat and wait for the German contingent to leave.  We re-enter, take our seats only to be accosted by an usher who asks, "How did you get in here?"  I do not mention that if she had been around before, we would have entered normally.  I figure German-American relations are bad enough. 

The slide and sound presentation is mostly interesting but boring in spots.  Worth our time, though.  We have a much easier time getting out than we had getting in and decide we've seen enough for today and head for the train station.  The train we want is crowded.  Nevertheless we are able to sit together in our mutually exhausted state.  We are no longer surprised when the train arrives late to Düsseldorf.

In our room, Pam works, I nap.  Pam working on the bed cannot stop me from immediately falling asleep.  Later we decide to eat at a near-by restaurant.  We just want to have a light supper. 

We find an outdoor café near our hotel and down the street from a bus stop - a different sort of bus stop.  All the busses are going to Eastern European countries and the sidewalk is covered with passengers and their luggage.  There doesn't seem to be any organization or structure to what's going on.  I catch myself staring at everything.  I realize how lucky I am.

Our luck runs out at the restaurant.  Our waiter is a newbie and speaks no English.  Ordering is a communication adventure.  I've had better luck in the remotest parts of China.  Pointing at the menu doesn't help.  It turns out he doesn't read much German either.  I fantasize that he just got off one of the nearby busses and was immediately handed an apron and told to go to work.  To our waiter's credit, he is embarrassed and fetches a waitress with whom we can communicate.  The food is actually quite good and we tip the waiter when we leave for trying.  I hope he shared it with the waitress.

Pam announces she needs to spend some time with e-mails so I grab a seat at a nearby internet place.  Only One Euro per hour. That's cheaper than the Philippines.  I soon find out why.  The place also has phones for International Long Distance calls.  The cacophony of many different languages is almost too loud to think.  The ventilation is non-existent and the aroma of many different bodies with little opportunity to bathe is even more overwhelming.  I take it as long as I can, read a few e-mails, delete the spam and get out of there.   

I decide I owe myself a reward for going above and beyond…so I treat myself to a gelato, a large gelato.  I save a little for Pam who is just finishing up her internet foray.  I watch the latest bad news from Iraq on the BBC and am soon asleep.

Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof

Thursday, July 29, 2004 - Düsseldorf to Frankfurt

The day starts on a low note and never quite recovers. 

When we check out we discover charges in the hundreds of Euros for phone access.  There is a discrepancy between the time and the charges.  Even though, Pam will be reimbursed, I question the accuracy of the charges.  The owner is behind the desk and is extremely helpful.  He tries to call the phone company to straighten things out but they, of course, cannot respond immediately.  This is a problem because Pam and I have a train to catch.  We figure out that Pam most likely was on the internet for more time than showed on the bill so we agree to pay and the owner agrees to reimburse us if it turns out we are over-charged.  The question I cannot answer is, "Why do I trust this man?"  But I do and we roll to the train station.

As we enter the station, I look up at the departure board and cannot find our train number.  I have a Eurail schedule and a printout that agree with each other for a change.  Where am I screwing up?  We check at the information desk and the agent tells us in a very Germanic way, broaching no disagreement, that there is no such train number, even when I show him the schedule.  He gives us the number and platform for a train we can catch in an hour or so that, with a change at the Frankfurt Flughafen train station, will get us to Frankfurt in the early afternoon. 

Appropriate of nothing, I love the word Flughafen or as I imagine it "flight haven."  I also like hauptbahnhof or "Chief Train House."  Sounds like a good American Indian name.

While waiting, I notice the original train number is listed on one of the many bulletin boards meant to help travelers.  It includes a visual description of the train configuration.    Evidently this particular train has been permanently cancelled.  Then I realize our train will be late.  I ask myself, "Is the German train system running a management exchange program with Italy or what?"

The train itself is very comfortable and though we arrive late at the Flughafen Station - there's that word again - we make our connection to the Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof.

To facilitate my 5:30 AM departure on Saturday, we stay at a grand old hotel, across from the hauptbahnhof, named The Monopole Hotel - high ceilings, wide hallways and a huge bathtub.  We unpack and rest for a while before going back to the hauptbahnhof. (I love the word but I'm getting tired of typing it.)  We need to buy tickets for the train to Koblenz where we will catch a boat to take us up the Rhine.  I mistakenly think we cannot use our Eurail passes on both the boat and the trains on the same day - a 50 Euro mistake. 

I realize later I asked the agent the wrong questions.  I asked if we could use our Eurail pass on the boat and did we need train tickets to Koblenz.  She answered yes to both questions without pointing out we could also use our Eurail pass for the train on the same day.  Because many Germans speak good English, I often forget to be specific about what I am asking and assume they will provide additional information to fill in the blanks.  Wrong!  This is neither the first nor last time I make this same mistake.

Pam and I are famished by this time and head up Kaiserstrasse, a main street, looking for a sidewalk café that serves salads as well as the usual German fare.  We finally choose an Australian restaurant, the Kakadu.  It's a little weird but we just aren't up for sausage and potatoes.

After lunch we walk through a narrow park on our way to the reconstructed  Opera House and the Main Tower.  We pass the Euro Tower, home of the European Central Bank.  They must be doing something right - the Euro costs $1.24.  The weather is beautiful and the park has its share of joggers, strollers, pram pushers and as in any big city the homeless.

Frankfurt Opera House

The Opera house is most impressive.  You can see pictures of it and other sights in on my Frankfurt photo site.  After wandering the Opera House Square, we spend the next 30 minutes trying to find the Main Tower.  It's a well-known landmark and tourist destination so I can't figure out why we are having such a problem.  I even stoop to asking for directions and we still enter the wrong building.  Finally we find it and take the long elevator ride to the top.  The view is astounding and I take some. 

Some folks are shooting a commercial on the platform but I'm not watching them.  Instead I'm looking at a couple, who are with the commercial shooters, but are oblivious to all but each other.  They are making out with such passion and enthusiasm that I'm afraid they are going to topple over the guard rail and plunge 55 stories to their mutual deaths.  I poke Pam who doesn't always notice such things, being more interested in the view and she ignores them.  I finally give up hoping they'll consummate what they've started and instead focus on the magnificent 360° view. 

After an ear-popping elevator descent, we walk east from the Opera House, down a beautiful tree lined street, Grosse Bockenheimer, nicknamed "Gourmet Street."  We stop for a cappuccino and a beer to watch the pedestrians stroll by.  After our break we go over one street to Goethe Strasse, which is lined with fashion stores.  To me it's not near as interesting as "Gourmet Street."  We walk by Goethe House but decide not to stop but instead to go to the hotel.  Pam must make a phone call and I absolutely must take a nap. 

We have trouble finding a restaurant near our hotel that meets our major requirement, a decent salad menu.  We decide, after walking around for quite a while, to return to the Kakadu.  We sit under the trees, watch the passing crowd which is more interesting in the evening than it was during the day - we aren't too far from the red-light district.   

We are looking forward to tomorrow's Rhine cruise so we call it a night relatively early even for us.  Neither of has any trouble falling asleep.

Rhine Castle

Friday, July 30, 2004 - Koblenz, Rhine Valley, Bacharach, Frankfurt

We are both very excited as we will be taking a boat up the Rhine, today.  Breakfast is interesting.  First, the food comes from down the street at the Hotel Europa.  Second, many of our fellow diners are from Taiwan.  I try my best "Ni hau ma" greeting to no avail.  I don't know if they don't understand me or are just ignoring me. 

Rebuffed at my attempt at cross cultural communication, Pam and I cross the street and board the train for Koblenz.  We are traveling second class since I still didn't realize we could use our First Class Eurail pass.   The train trip is pleasant enough.  Pam is getting off on identifying castles and announcing them even though I don't want to see them until I'm on the river.

When we get to Koblenz, we can't find the TI office because the station is being renovated.  We finally do find it after walking around for 10 minutes and are told the KD Rhine Line boat pier is about a 10 minute walk from the station.  It's a beautiful morning and we enjoy looking at some of the older houses as we move towards the river.

We find the KD ticket office which is staffed by a very jolly lady who is laughing as hard at my attempts to speak German as I am at her attempts to speak English.  She is, however, the first person to tell me the truth about my Eurail Pass, that I could have used it on the train that day.  Oh well, another expensive lesson learned.

Rhein Wein Terraces

We kill the time waiting for the boat, which will be one-half hour late, by having a coke in a nearby garden restaurant.  The woman behind the counter is not only surly but insulting when she yells at Pam to clean up our table when we are getting ready to leave.  Some German's have the skill to still remind us of the Nazi era.  Maybe it's a genetic thing.

The boat has an open deck with just a few umbrellas and it is very sunny and hot.  We find some seats in the shade and sit back as we roll up the Rhine.  I take many photos of castles and the passing scenery.  You can see them on my Rhine River Cruise photo site.  I keep waiting to have fun.  We do enjoy a chuckle at the boat company's attempt at entertainment.  When we pass the huge rock called the Lorelei, a woman in a blonde wig and a dress that most likely would never make it off a thrift shop rack strolls around the deck accompanied by an accordionist from central casting and sings folk songs.  While I am not convulsed, I do enjoy a good laugh at the scene.

As we roll along the trip actually starts to get boring.  A question: why is it that time passes so much faster on a train then it does on a boat or a plane?  Send your speculations to my e mail address.

We decide to eat.  The dining room is overcrowded and understaffed but the food is good, especially the sausages.  At one end of the dining area, a group of passengers are having a roaring good time, liberally lubricated with wine and beer.  They don't seem to be interested in the scenery or the castles and they seem to be enjoying themselves - may be a lesson in there somewhere.

We go back onto the sun deck where we meet a Dutch man who, with his wife, had biked from Switzerland to Koln at an 80 mile a day rate.  He is very thin and she looks anorexic and lizard-like as she suns herself.  The man is a bit of a character.  He speaks excellent English as a result of spending a couple of years at a bible school in Georgia.  He has a curious mind and is eager to answer questions about their bike trip.

It's the Lovely Lorelei

After a while even the conversation with the bicyclist gets boring so Pam and I decide to get off the boat and take the train to Mainz rather than continue the cruise.  We disembark at a little town called Bacharach, named after Bacchus not Bert.  After we locate the train station and learn the schedule we wander around town. It is anything but Bacchanalian.   I'm mostly interested in finding a WC before my bladder bursts but I can't seem to locate a public one and the one restaurant in town is filled to overflowing with dour looking customers.  I decide to relieve myself in the underpass at the train station.  Just as I get started, a train pulls in.  Damn, I'm busted and I can't stop.  Fortunately, it's a freight train so no passengers interrupt me.  Whew!

The train to Mainz arrives.  We sit in the first class section with a family that epitomizes the myth of the "Ugly American" or in their case Americans.  They had been hiking and have their feet on the seats across from them.  They also use seats instead of the floor for their backpacks.  They talk so loud I am learning more about their family relationships than I ever wanted to know.

When we arrive at Mainz we notice that an IC train headed for Frankfurt is late.  Thank goodness for the inefficiency of the German railroad system.  We decided we will pass on exploring Mainz, which I remember as a beautiful little city from attending a fasching celebration 20 years ago.  Hopefully we will get back here someday.

Bacharach, Germany

We notice the family of reputation destroying Americans is getting on the same train so we choose a different car.  The ride is pleasant and scenic.  The conductor fears that we plan to stay on the train past Frankfurt but we assure him we are not planning on doing that.  Evidently they have a lot of seats reserved leaving Frankfurt.  We arrive at the Frankfurt hauptbahnhof about the same time the boat would have delivered us to the docks at Mainz.  We made a good decision.

We decide to eat at the hotel to save time.  My train leaves for Munich at 5:30 AM so I must pack tonight.  The dining room is empty when we sit down.  I go to the desk to see if we can order some food and the clerk says, "of course."  After a few minutes a very rumpled man shows up to take our order.  We order beer and wine and after he serves the beverages, he disappears for about 20 minutes.  Turns out he's the cook as well as the waiter and the busboy too.  Management sent him over from their sister hotel, The Europa, to take care of us.  Fortunately we ordered a light meal or we might have waited a long., long time for our food.  He explains the situation.  The Europa is for tour groups and the Metropole for individual bookings, which explains the crowd at breakfast and the absence of fellow diners at dinner.

As soon as we get back to the room, I start to feel bad about separating from Pam.  I also get into my pre-departure craziness. This condition manifests itself whenever I have an early departure. Truthfully, it often manifests itself when I have any kind of departure.  I can't find items - usually because I've already packed them.  I keep checking my tickets to insure I haven't misread the departure time.  I drive everyone crazy including myself.  I finally retire and try to read myself to sleep.  I doze off until about 2:30 A.M. at which time I awaken wondering if my wake-up call will come through as scheduled.  I finally drop off again for what's left of the night - about an hour.