A Schnitzel a Day: tcreath's trip to Germany from the Mosel to Bavaria
 

This is not going to be a lengthy, detailed trip report because I�ll be honest�.I didn�t take any notes like I usually do so I�ll have to go by memory alone! But just as the title suggests, at least one of us had at least one schnitzel a day! ;)
Okay, here I go. I'll warn you though...I lack that ability to produce a really entertaining trip report so bear with me!

My husband and I, along with my younger brother, left for Germany on April 18th and came back on April 27th. I am 29, DH is 30 and my brother is 25. My husband and I travel quite a bit, and this was our third trip to Germany. My brother doesn�t travel too often, although he did join us on a short trip to Rome in 04. We used FF miles, flying AA from RDU to LRH and BA to Frankfurt, returning from Munich on BA to LHR to RDU. Our itinerary was:

3 nights in Cochem � Ferienwohnung Am alten Kirchplatz (http://www.fewo-cochem.de/)
1 night in Rothenburg � Hotel Klosterstuble (www.Klosterstueble.Rothenburg.de)
3 nights in Schonau am Konigssee � Ferienwohnung Familie Hinterbrandner (www.hinterbrandner.de)
1 night in Munich - Hotel Perlach Allee Hof (http://www.book-golden-leaf.com/)

We prefer to stay in apartments, and with my brother this worked out well because it was more economical (he was on a tight budget) and we each still had privacy. I will say, in advance, that we liked each of the places we stayed and would readily recommend them.

Day 1
We live in Charlotte but because we had AA miles, and there aren�t many AA flights out of CLT, we decided to fly out of RDU instead. We drove to the airport that afternoon, where we met my brother (he was coming from St. Louis) and hopped on the 6:05 flight to LHR. I was really nervous about my brother not making his flight, and I don�t think I got too excited about leaving until I got to RDU and saw him waiting for us. This is Raleigh�s first, and only, overseas flight and it was great to fly from a smaller airport with much shorter security lines.

The flight itself was uneventful. We landed in T3 and made our way to the new T5. I was nervous about this too, as I was worried about our luggage. Luckily everything worked out just fine in the end. T5 itself is fine, much more spacious than T3. We had a four hour layover so we ate some (not so great) food from one of the sandwich stalls, did a little shopping at Harrods and then made our way to snag some of the huge red couches so we could take a little nap. Our flight left a little late but we arrived in Frankfurt on time to some very gloomy, rainy weather.

We arranged for a Budget rental car through Auto Europe, our rental company of choice, and after filling out all of the required paperwork we walked to our car, a Seat Leon, and started to make our way towards Cochem. At first my brother wasn�t too impressed (�it kind of looks like Illinois�) but once we got off the autobahn he started to get excited. We stopped at�.McDonalds. I know I know�but we were hungry, brother had to use the restroom, and it was there. We approached Cochem from behind and I got that thrill of vacation excitement when we pulled into town�it was exactly what I had hoped it would be! The town is small but large enough that there was enough to do, and the castle was an awesome sight. The apartment we stayed at was across the river, so we had wonderful views of the castle every day from our balcony.

I did a lot of research, both on my own and here on Fodors, to find the perfect town to base ourselves. My husband and I prefer smaller towns, and would probably choose Beilstein for our next trip to the area, but my brother likes to do things at night so in the end Cochem worked out great. It was off season, but the restaurants along the river were always open. And I loved our apartment. I spent a lot of time finding the �perfect� accommodations and stumbled upon this place while doing one of my many online searches. The people who run it were very nice to work with and our apartment was lovely, with two bedrooms, a large bathroom, and a nicely equipped kitchen and living room with the lovely balcony. We were within walking distance of town, which made it perfect. I think we paid 70 euro per night.

We didn�t do much this afternoon because it was chilly and very rainy. We unpacked and walked across the river to town, where we meandered around, took photographs, and found a nice place to eat dinner. I do apologize because I have no idea what the name of the restaurant was, but the food was very good. I had a schnitzel with a mushroom sauce on it that was divine, and of course a glass of delicious reisling. We all kind of looked at each other sheepishly after dinner because none of us wanted to admit that we were exhausted and wanted to go back to the apartment on our first night in Germany, but finally I broke the ice and the others agreed. My brother fell asleep on the chair in the living room five minutes after we got back!

Next: Burg Eltz, a new country for us (Luxembourg!) and Trier

I forgot to mention that this was our first visit to this part of Germany. My husband had wanted to visit the Rhine/Mosel region for awhile now and finally got his wish. It was worth the wait though...the area is gorgeous!

So we all wake up bright and early, ready to start our day. There is a heavy fog/haze, but it made for a pretty cool view, with the haze kind of surrounding the castle. We get ready to go and head into town to eat at one of the cafes right across the street from the parking lot. I was so excited to get a German croissant, but it was such a let down. The croissants were okay, but I had been telling my brother how awesome the croissants are in Bavaria and these paled in comparison. Oh well….at least the cappuccino was good! We had quite an itinerary planned for today so we hurried up and ate so we could get going.

So after breakfast we start heading towards Burg Eltz, following MaiTaiTom’s Rick Steves’ directions because we didn’t want to hike in this chilly weather with the ground still soggy from the rain the day before. We find the parking lot and start walking down towards the castle. The cool thing about walking down towards the castle is that you can see it kind of looming there as you approach and it’s a pretty cool sight. It sits in this gorgeous valley, with a little river flowing way down below. We stop at the lookout point to take the obligatory “picture in front of the castle” photos before walking the rest of the way down. We check out the gift shop, pick up our tickets and wait. Luckily it wasn’t very long before a tour in English started, and there were only four of us on the tour.

Now I know that people on here rave about Burg Eltz, and we did like it, but I wasn’t as impressed as I expected to be. I guess deep down I prefer the ruined castles versus the prettied up ones. Still, it was a neat experience and my brother had a ball. It was great being there with him. We are very close, and being able to experience these things with him made the trip all that much better. He is your typical guy; he loves beer, history and cool castles….and Germany certainly doesn’t disappoint on any of it.

From here the plan was to head towards Trier. At first we were going to drive along the Mosel River but after awhile we realized how long it would take us to get to Trier so DH pulled out the map and found a quicker route. Still, driving along the river is gorgeous. I can’t believe how steep the vineyards were! There were beautiful panoramas after beautiful panoramas that were like postcards. This region is much hillier than I had imagined, and just absolutely beautiful.

We get to Trier, where DH had a few choice words to say before we finally found a parking lot across the street from the Porta Negra. Now talk about a cool sight…we are all lovers of all things Rome and when I saw this I had to remind myself that no, we were not in Rome. We took lots of pictures and decided to tour it on our way out, mostly because we were hungry for lunch. We saw all of these doner kebab restaurants and decided to stop at one, right on the main street. The food was really good, although different than what I’m used to. In St. Louis there are some great Bosnian restaurants, and the doner kebabs come with the meet and tzatsiki sauce on thick bread. This was a plate of the meet and sauce but without the bread. Still delicious though, and the sauerkraut was excellent. We sat outside and ate our food, drinking our beer and (for me) wine with the view of the Porta Negra and talked about how this definitely does not remind us of Illinois! We walk around town, visit the historic baths and coliseum and then head back to the Porta Negra (probably more interesting outside than inside, although the views were great). Next stop: Luxembourg!

Okay, so in retrospect we could have skipped Luxembourg, but my husband and I have been to a lot of countries in Europe and Luxembourg was one that we were missing. Since we were so close, we felt it was imperative that we visit. Luxembourg City itself is nice, very green and walkable. We walked around for a little bit, and then stopped in a town just before the border where we picked up a nice bottle of Luxembourg wine.

We drove back along the river, taking in all the sights and stopping at a few wineries along the way to sample wines and purchase some bottles. I love Rieslings, so I was really excited about visiting some of the local wineries. Every wine I tried on this trip was delicious, and we ended up bringing about six bottles back with us. We stopped in the town of Bernkastle where we ate at a wonderful restaurant in the center of town. I had a pork fillet in a pepper sauce that was really good. We then stopped in Beilstein because this is the town that I had heard so many raves about. Very small but super cute and quaint. My husband and I loved it and will definitely stay here on our next visit. We then head back to our apartment and open up one of our Riesling’s and toast the wonderful day.

Wonderful!

Some people will poo-poo crossing a boarder just to say you have been there but I understand completely and would do it too!!

I loved the Mosel Valley, so charming. There was a weird park of some sort high in the hills above Beilstein and the River that had an excellent viewpoint. DH wasn't too happy about taking the car up there :)

Glad you had fun and can't wait to hear more.

More! We'll be there in July.

Tracy, you're doing very well for not having detailed notes! I'll probably be in Germany a couple of times when my daughter spends an academic year there in '08-'09. I'm saving your Mosel info.

Do you speak German? I find it comes in handy in the smaller towns, not that my German is very good, but I have been refreshing with immersion tapes in my car.

I totally understand about Luxembourg, I've been tempted to detour myself, but would really want a stamp in my passport, which I suppose doesn't happen in these EU days. When we took the train from Germany to the Czech Republic I embarrassed my entire family by asking the Czech border guards if they would please stamp my passport. They had the stamps but apparently it isn't something they do routinely. Of course, my children then requested stamps for theirs! I don't think the guards were too pleased with me when several other people in our train car also asked.

Tracy, great start! You bring back memories of a trip we took along the Mosel many years ago, coming through Luxemburg from Holland. Trier was great and the vineyards amazingly steep like you say. I still buy Mosel wine based on my memories of the prettiness of the villages and haven't gone wrong yet drinking Bernkastle!

Looking forward to the rest of your report, Tracy. I'm glad you enjoyed Cochem, Beilstein, and Trier.

I usually prefer the ruined castles myself as well, but I consider Burg Eltz an exception because it has been owned by the same family for so many generations, and it is full of their stuff!

The Mosel really is an incredible area and probably my favorite part of Germany.

Tracy
Love your report, looking forward to the rest

Burg Eltz is one of the few castles in Germany that survived the attacks of the French troops in the late 17th century. It is also one of the few that has been maintained by the same family for multiple (around 30, I think) generations. Maybe that's why it seems "prettied up" compared to the others.

Glad you took the time to visit Luxembourg City. Most people skip it and it's really worth at least a weekend.

Thanks for starting this. Looking forward to more!

Thank you all for your kind replies! I wasn't going to do a report, but a few people on another post requested that I do so, and I did start several posts asking for advice so I feel that it's my fodorite duty! ;)

noe, I do speak a little German and it was helpful, especially in the smaller towns. I am working on a degree that requires four semesters of a foreign language, and I chose German because I like the sound of it and because it very useful in so many European countries. I can't say that my accent was that great though...I did get a few "what is she talking about" stares!

I'll add more when I can. This is finals week for me (had my German final yesterday!) but I should be able to add more soon.

Thanks again for reading!
Tracy

Oh, forgot to add that I do have pics if anyone is interested. They can be found at www.kodakgallery.com/tracybates. It's the album at the top.

Tracy

Hi Tracy,
Thanks for the report and photos. Great! After many trips we finally stayed along the Mosel last fall and loved it. Glad you all had a good time.

Paul

Tracy-- I have been looking forward to your report-- it's great and your pictures are amazing!! I really hope to visit the Mosel area and it looks as beautiful as I thought it would.

It sounds like your trip was wonderful and it is so nice that your brother could go with you. I'm waiting for the rest and thank you for sharing with all of us!

Thanks for taking the time to report in, I am enjoying it so much. Loved your photo's too.
We are in the middle of planning our trip to Germany for next year and like you we are starting at the Mosel so I am soaking this all up.
Looking forward to reading more.

Luxembourg was actually my first European country (I flew Icelandic in 1973 with a group of friends and we set off from L. with a Eurailpass). I think it is worth at least a brief detour.

My husband and I were there in 1984 (dropping my sister and BIL off for another Icelandic flight) for the national holiday. We enjoyed seeing those celebrations (the Grand Duke and duchess walked by the crowds in the city very informally), touring the imposing fortress, etc.

In 1986 we spent an afternoon/evening along the Moselle sampling the wines there before yet another Icelandic flight. I thought the wines were good and an interesting contrast to the German Mosel wines on the other side of the border.

tcreath
I am enjoying reading about your adventures. I am looking forward to more. You are right, this is a wonderful area of Europe to visit.

Hi tcreath,
nice to hear you enjoyed your trip. I was used of living nearby Trier and so I know a lot about it.
Just a tiny correction: couldnt have been a doener kebap shop you went to or you didnt order a real doener. A doener in Germany is just served the same way you mentioned it, with bread and sauce and the meat inside. And they definetely are not serving any sauerkraut in a small doener shop.

wolfmisc, it was definitely a doner kebap cafe. I distinctly recall the picture of the big screwer of meat, the ones that are at every doner kebap restaurant, and we wanted to try one so that's why we went. I wish I could remember the name of it, but it was right on the main street, within view of the porta negra. And it was definitely sourkraut served with it. I remember mentioning that it was a weird combination, but the food was pretty good.

Tracy

Tracy-
I am enjoying your report and your pics look awesome. That's great that your brother was able to go as well... I remember a trip around Europe my sister and I took about 5 years ago- so glad we had that experience together. Keep the report coming!

I really enjoyed your report. Germany is one of my favorite places to visit, and I really enjoyed seeing Trier and also the Mosel, especially Burg Eltz. I have somehow missed visiting Cochem, and your remarks make me determined to see it the next time I am in Germany.

I hope that if you do visit Beilstein again, you will stay at the wonderful Hotel Haus Lipmann and have some meals there. The prices are reasonable and the rooms charming.

When my sister and I registered there, we were given a third-floor room. I was temporarily using a cane, and after we'd been in the room a couple of minutes, the manager came an asked us if we'd like a room on a lower floor. That was really very thoughtful.

Tracy:
Thanks for sharing your nice collection of pictures, it's great to relate your narration to those pictures. I wished we could insert pictures on our posts here on Fodors.

Thank you everyone for your kind replies! If I can answer any questions please just let me know.

Day 3

Today we had plans to visit some of the towns along the Rhine, so we get up bright and early again (waking up around 7 am seemed to be our routine each day). It was another very hazy day, and it stayed this way most of the day. Still, it was fun to wake up each morning and head to the living room to look out the window at the castle. Cochem castle looked much cooler and more dramatic than we thought it would, so we decided that before we headed towards the Rhine we would take a tour of the castle.

We get dressed and head to town, where we found a bakery filled with interesting donuts and pastries. We each pick a different selection so we could do a taste test of each, grab a few coffees to go and sat around the fountain near the bridge to eat our treats. None of us were really in the mood for a hike up the steep hill to the castle, so Matt (my husband) managed to somehow get us up to the top by taking various roads through town. We parked extremely close, just minutes from the castle at the start of the vineyard. Actually, I think that we may have parked in some sort of employee only lot, but the gate was open and we risked it…and the car was still there when we returned.

We purchased our tickets and were handed the English language flyer that gave an explanation of each of the rooms we were to tour. We waited a few minutes, took some pictures (The photo ops from the castle are amazing) and then gathered for our tour. The really nice thing about traveling during off season is that there were only seven of us on the tour so it felt a little more personalized. I heard just so-so things about the castle, but we really enjoyed it. The rooms were beautifully decorated and our tour guide was fantastic; even though we were on a German tour he would give us stories in English that were not on our flyers. I would highly recommend a tour of Cochem Castle.

After our tour we walked around town a bit, did a little souvenir shopping and another wine tasting, and then stopped at a brat stand for some white brats and potato salad that were pretty good. Then it was on to the Rhine. Matt and I pondered back and forth on whether to stay on the Rhine or the Mosel. We loved the towns along the Rhine but preferred the Mosel because of its beauty and quaintness. Our first stop was Boppard, where I spotted the chair lift that was supposed to afford some amazing views. My brother decided to sit it out, and hung out in the car while we made the journey to the top. It was a fairly nice day out, but got very chilly as we made our way ever so slowly up the hill to the top of the mountain. The views were wonderful, but the ride up was so slow (I think it takes 20 minutes, and it felt like we were crawling) and the weather was gloomy and cold so I wish we would have skipped this.

After Boppard we made our way down the river until we got to Rheinfels Castle. My brother really wanted to see a real ruined castle, and according to my guidebooks Rheinfels was the one to visit. Unfortunately I was not feeling good at this time so I decided to skip it. I have stomach problems that occasion can give me quite a bit of pain, and unfortunately this was one of those days. I stayed in the car and took a nice nap while my husband and brother explored the castle. Of course I managed to skip out on what they claim was the coolest part of the trip. They get back and are totally pumped, talking about how awesome it was and just going on and on. At first I thought they were doing it on purpose to be funny, but they still talk about that castle so apparently it really is that cool. So if you are in St. Goar, take their advice and visit!

We then head to Bacharach because I read about a wine tasting in Rick Steves’ book where you could sample a carousel of fifteen wines. How could we pass that up? So we head into the picture-perfect town and quickly find the place. The wines really were good, and it was fun trying to decide which ones we liked best. My brother isn’t really a wine drinker but even he bought a bottle to bring home. Afterwards we wandered around town and stopped at a bakery for some pastries to help absorb some of that wine. By this time it was starting to get a little late so we decided to head back to Cochem for dinner.

Dinner tonight was at one of the restaurants on the river front. Most of the menus are very similar, but we chose this one because of its appearance. It had a cool wine cellar appeal to it, with a little water fountain on the first floor and pretty wrought iron banisters leading up the stairs to the second floor. There were wood beams on the ceilings with fake grapes dangling from them. Very pretty, and from our table we could see out to the river. Our food was also very good, and I had the schnitzel that night that was excellent. At the end of the meal we decided to split an apfelstruedel and our waitress brought out free shots of some kind of local liquor they were advertising.

We walked along the river for a bit, chatting and admiring Cochem, sad that we would be leaving tomorrow morning and that this portion of our trip was coming to the end.

Next up: Rothenburg!

Your report is making me very excited for our trip!

ttt

Tracy, I'm still enjoying your report and your photos are wonderful. We took much the same route as you many years ago. I even brought home a dozen of the wine glasses with green stems in one of your photos and get them out whenever we have white German wine!

Thank you to everyone for reading! I know this is kind of boring, but hopefully it offers some good advice or insight for someone planning a trip to the area.

LOL Moolyn... I was tempted to buy some of those glasses as well. How fun!

Day 4

Today we are heading to Rothenburg. We were looking for somewhere to spend one night on the way from the Mosel to Bavaria and I struggled with this because I really wanted to go back to Rothenburg and Nuremburg, and I was trying to figure out what my brother would prefer. In the end we chose Rothenburg because we were there for a day in 05 and loved it, but we did not get to do the complete Night Watchman’s tour because it started to rain really heavy so we skipped out after about 10 minutes. However, my brother is into WWII and really wanted to see the Nazi rally grounds, so we promised him that we would stop by to see it on the way down to Bavaria the next day.

So we wake up bright and early again, and head back into town for some more pastries and coffee. We packed the night before so my husband went to the owner’s house to drop off our keys and we said our goodbyes to Cochem. I really loved the Mosel. I always read great things about this area, but to be honest my husband was more interested in this area than I ever was. However, my expectations were definitely blown away. The area truly is gorgeous and the tows are quaint and beautiful. I already miss it.

Today is kind of dreary with rain off and on. We get to Rothenburg and are anxious to get out of the car, but of course we get lost. This was like de ja vu, as we got lost last time we were in Rothenburg as well. The town is not very large, so I’m not sure what’s up with that! We stayed at the Hotel Klosterstuble for the night. This is the same hotel we stayed at on our last trip and we fell in love with this hotel. The rooms are beautiful, with big, heavy wood furniture and meandering hallways. And the breakfast is one of the best I’ve had in Europe. I booked a double room that was just lovely, with a beautiful four poster bed with a needlepoint canopy and a second, smaller sitting room with a banquette and another day bed. My brother was just down the hallway in his tiny but nice single room. We get checked in and head out to explore.

The Klosterstuble is just minutes from the main square in town, so we head that way. My brother sees a schneeball café and even though I try to warn him that they taste kind of gross and stale, he had to try for himself. Surprisingly he kind of liked it, but his was dipped in chocolate so it must have disguised the not-so-pleasant taste… 
As we are walking around we start to get hungry, so we stop in another doner kabob place for some kabobs. This place wasn’t very good so I won’t get into too much detail. We find a gate with stairs to the wall, and spend an hour or so walking the wall and taking in the sights. Rothenburg is touristy but with good reason, as it’s such a neat town. I couldn’t spend a lot of time there, but a day or two is perfect. I am happy that my brother seems to be enjoying himself just as much as we were.

We exit the wall near St. Jacob’s church and pay for admission to see the beautiful wood-carved alter. My brother works in construction so he was just amazed by this. The alter is just stunning. After this we decide to split up. Matt and I want to visit the Medieval Crime and Punishment museum and since I had absolutely no interest in this whatsoever, I decide to do a little souvenir shopping. My mother-in-law is the worst to shop for because she has particular taste and if she likes something she buys it, so I’m always looking for the perfect gift for her for various occasions, and if I can find it in Europe all the better because it means that she (probably) doesn’t already have it. After visiting a couple of shops I stumble across a tiny lace shop that sells handmade German lace. This stuff is gorgeous, so I buy a table runner for myself and for her, as well as a couple of floral lace window hangings. I skip the Christmas shop because I just can’t get into the Christmas spirit in April, and after a little bit more shopping I decide to head back to the hotel. I do like to shop, but not really on vacation. A couple of souvenir shops here and there and I’m usually done. And with the exchange rate, unless it’s something fabulous I’m probably not buying it.

We have been moving non-stop since we arrived in Germany, so I get into my pajamas and crawl into bed for a nice, long nap. It’s starting to rain outside, and there is a chill in the air…perfect napping weather. Just as I start to fall asleep Matt and my brother return. They were both thrilled with the crime and punishment museum, and luckily they too were in need of a nap. I think we slept for about two hours and were just starting to get up when my brother knocked on the door to see what we were up to. We all talked about how great it was to take that much-needed nap. We get ready to go and head out to look for dinner.

I really wanted to eat at the Klosterstuble, as the food at the restaurant is really good, but alas they were closed that day. We walk around for awhile, menu shopping, when we spot an Italian restaurant that smells heavenly. I wish I knew the name of this restaurant, but as it’s probably one of the only (if not the only) Italian restaurant in Rothenburg I imagine somebody here knows the name of it. My brother orders a pizza funghi, I get the baked gnocci and Matt orders the pesto gnocci. We all get German beers and split an order of garlic bruschetta that is out of this world good. My gnocci comes and is amazing, and my brother loved his pizza, but Matt’s dinner was the winner. The pesto was mixed with cream, I believe, so it was creamy and delicious. My brother proclaims this the best pizza he’s ever had (and he’s been to Rome)! By the time we are finished it’s time to head back to the square for the Night Watchman’s tour.

I couldn’t believe how many people were waiting! It’s a chilly, dreary April and there are at least 50 people on our tour. But the Night Watchman’s tour is a highlight and I can’t recommend it enough. Even my brother loved it, and he doesn’t have much of an attention span for tours. He’s funny and gives great history. At the end of the tour we learn about Hell, a local bar, and decide to go there. This place is packed but so cool and atmospheric. We squeeze into the table left and each order a beer. Lots of people from our tour group were starting to fill into the bar, all having the same ideas, when here comes the Night Watchman. We all get a laugh talking about how he probably gets a cutback or are part owner of the bar. He sits at a large table filled with people from our tour who, and we talk about how unfair it was because we wanted to sit with the Night Watchman too! Oh well….we had a great time and overall it was a great day.

Next: the beautiful Bavarian Alps!

Tracy, the altar you saw in Jacobskirche is the Holy Blood Altar carved by Tilman Riemenschneider. He was a sculptor of the late middle ages who lived in Wurzburg, so much of his work is in the nearby area.

Also in Rothenburg, there's a Reimenschneider carving of St. Francis in the Franzischerkirche. It's much smaller than the large altarpiece you saw, however.

If you ever get to Bamberg, the Emperor's tomb in the cathedral is a stone work by Riemenschneider that is stunning.

Anyway, some info on him can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilman_Riemenschneider
And a few helpful tips on seeing other of Reimenscneider's works:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic...d_Bavaria.html

tcreath:

I wish you can remember that Itallian resturant! It sounds wonderful!

The gentlemen that runs the Nightwatchmans tour must be the richest man in town! I wonder what the locals think about his little enterprise!

Yes! I found 'hell' as well when I took the tour, neat bar to spend the evening

Nice report!

Tracy, I am so sorry I messed up your thread with that long url. I usually use tinyurl.com, and I just didn't notice how long this one was before I posted :(

noe, no worries! I thank you for posting the links. I have a pamphlet somewhere at home that gave more information but I'm "hard at work" today and didn't have it with me.

bmw, I've been doing researches to try to find the name of the restaurant. The only Italian restaurant I found in the historic town is Adria, so that may very well be it. It was on one of the larger streets, and the food was delish. I'm usually much better at taking notes, but as I had my brother with me we spent more time trying to find places that we all thought looked good and it just completely slipped my mind to write down any notes.

Thanks for reading!
Tracy

Tracy, thanks for another great report. I knew you'd love the Roman history in Trier!

If the Italian resto was down the street from Käthe Wolfhart's store (on the opposite side of the road), I believe it's called Eiscafé Italia. We ate there on our trip a few years ago and it was very good.

Looking forward to more...

Thanks mvor! We loved Trier and would liked to have spent more time there.

This Italian restaurant wasn't really near Kate Wolfahrt. I'm trying to remember correctly, but I think that if you are standing in front of the town hall at marktplatz, it's to the right, down the street towards the wall. I'm looking at a map and I *think* it's on Heugasse. I'm not sure if it's exactly on that street, or another street off of it. I don't think it was a cafe...it looked more like a pub, with heavy wood tables and booths and there was a bar in front. It was very popular. I don't recall any references to eis, so I don't think it was an eiscafe.

Tracy

I was doing a search to try to find the Italian restaurant I mentioned above and I came across a Rick Steves webpage that mentions Pizzeria Roma at Galgengasse 19. That could be it.

Tracy

Thanks for a great report. Enjoying reliving some of my own trips in those areas. Loved your pictures, especially the ones of the hotel rooms and apartments in which you stayed.

Keep it coming.

The Mainfränkisches Museum in Würzburg
also has some beautiful sculptures by Riemenschneider

Day 5

I was so looking forward to this day because I am a mountain girl at heart and loved loved loved the Bavarian Alps on our last visit in 05. I wake up happy and ready to move on to the next leg of our trip. It was incredibly foggy out this morning, and kind of chilly. We make our way downstairs to enjoy breakfast. I chose the Klosterstuble partially because of the breakfast, as I remembered it being very yummy. Well, it certainly didn’t disappoint. The buffet consists of huge, buttery croissants, various pastries, yogurts and jams, various cereals, breakfast meats, rolls…quite a large selection. There were also four different types of juices, and the server brought out individual pots of tea and coffee for each person upon request. Everything was very good, and the breakfast area is lovely. We fill up our tummies nicely, pay our bill and our quickly on our way.

My brother is really interested in WWII history, so he wanted to see the Nazi rally grounds in Nuremburg. To be honest I could have skipped this, but this was one of the few things on the trip that he specifically requested so we decided to make the stop on the way to the Alps. I found the whole thing unsettling, and spent most of the time by myself sitting at one of the benches in front of the lake of what was to be a huge stadium. The weather was warming up quite nicely and I sat in the sun and relaxed for a bit. I would have liked to have spent more time in Nuremburg, as we spent the night here on our last trip and really enjoyed it, but time simply did not allow it so we got back in the car.

We ate at a rest stop just outside of Munich. The restaurants at the rest stops in Germany are much better than the ones here in the states! We loaded up on food cafeteria-style and it was all pretty good, albeit a little pricy. Not long after this we start to see our first glimpses of snow-capped Alps. My brother is in heaven. He has never seen mountains before, and I could just see his eyes lighting up.

We chose to stay in the small town of Schonau am Konigssee. Many only visit the touristy area of town near the Konigssee, but we stayed in the valley in the area of Hinterschonau in a beautiful ferienwohnung. Last time we were here we stayed in a lovely vacation apartment and just fell in love with the apartment and our view, so I contacted the owners to see about staying there again. She did not have a two bedroom apartment in that particular house, but we stayed in a two bedroom apartment at her daughter’s house next door. The apartment was delightful and very large. We had a separate kitchen and living room, two large bedrooms, large bathroom and balconies on both sides of the apartment offering unbelievable views. The apartment was very cozy, with beautiful warm wood accents throughout. Each morning she left rolls outside our door, and we had a couple of visits from the resident cat (I’m a cat lover) that basked in the attention. I loved this area. Each morning we walked to the local backerai for delicious chocolate croissants and a trip to the ATM.

I can’t say enough about the beauty of Berchtesgadenland. I just love it here. The mountains are amazingly beautiful, the lakes are pristine, the food is delicious and the people are very friendly. If you have a chance, definitely make it down there…you won’t regret it!
So we settle in to our apartment and decide to spend the afternoon and evening in Salzburg, a very short 20 minute drive away. It was kind of overcast, so we didn’t want to go into the mountains just yet because we were waiting for a clear day. I really like Salzburg but failed to fall in love with it like many on this board. We spent time there on the last trip and I felt the same way, so I was hoping that maybe this time I will feel different but that just wasn’t the case. For us a half day or day in Salzburg is enough.
We stopped at the cheese stand at the local market where we sampled some delicious mountain cheeses before purchasing a small assortment. We nibbled on our cheese as we wandered around town. We went into the cathedral and church, made jokes at all of the Mozart stuff everywhere (my brother proclaimed that he never wanted to see another Mozart ball again in his life!) and just enjoyed the day. We made it up the last tram ride to the fortress and slowly made our way around. Everything was closed, but it was quite empty up there so we had it mostly to ourselves. Finally we walked down, working up quite an appetite.

We decided that the first night we would eat at the Augustiner Braustauble, so this is where we parked. After walking around town and down the fortress, all the sudden the walk felt really really long. Oh well…nothing a nice cold beer can’t fix! This place is very cool. The beer (only one selection) is good and it’s fun to walk along the different food stalls looking at the selection. I went with….a schnitzel of course. My schnitzel sandwich and warm potato salad definitely hit the spot. My brother had a fish on a stick and Matt had a weiswurst and we were all quite content. This is a great place for people watching and the food was good….overall a very fun evening.

As its still semi-light out, I ask my husband to drive to Maria Gern because I wanted to take a picture of the beautiful church against the backdrop of a misty sunset. Breathtaking! We then head back to our apartment where I worked on some homework while Matt and Ray watched Smallville dubbed in German.

Next: The Salzkammergut

Hi Tracy -
I would love to ask you some more questions about your trip. Would you mind emailing me or I can email you? I also live in NC (Raleigh) and would be flying out of RDU. We are hoping to go to Switzerland/Germany next May and I need some of your advice about Bavaria.

Thanks!
Gina

Gina, absolutely! I'm always up for travel chat and would be more than happy to help. You can feel free to email me if you want. My personal email address is [email protected].

Thanks for reading!
Tracy

Thanks Tracy -
I sent you an email last night. Did you get it?

Gina

Hello Gina!

I just checked and I don't think I got it. Did you get the whole address? When I look at it only part of it is in a hyperlink format.

Tracy