Germany and Luxembourg

Saturday morning I flew to Frankfurt where I met my friend Schankey for her last weekend in Germany.

View of the mountains from the plane






Schankey and her friend Englebert picked me up from the airport for a whirlwind two days. We drove to Heildelberg which is on the Neckar River. When we arrived we parked in the Fraunparkplatze...in Germany, they have special parking for the women...I won't tell you about Schankey's park job!


Female parking




Our first stop was Kamps so I could try Schankey’s favorite German treat the laugenstangen which is a soft pretzel. I was very impressed.

Kamps laugenstangen





We walked through the streets of the town which is home to Germany’s first university before walking up to the Heidelberger Scholss, the castle.

View of Heidelberger Scholss from the town




The castle was originally built in the 13th century and expanded through the 17th century. Inside the castle you can view the giant barrel used to brew wine in previous centuries and also the German museum of pharmacy.

View of the Neckar River from Heidelberger Schloss




Sundial in Heidelberger Schloss



In addition to beautiful views of the city we were treated to mulberries fresh picked from a mulberry tree. If you ever encounter a mulberry tree know that the red ones are not ripe…they are bitter. The dark purple ones are much better!

Heidelberger Schloss




Picking mulberries


Schankey and I at Heidelberger Schloss

Our second stop was Trier, the oldest town in Germany founded in the early first century by the Roman Emperor Augustus. As you approach the city center you pass the Porta Nigra which was one of the original Roman Walls build in the 3rd century around the city.

Porta Nigra

The annual city festival was going on so there was a carnival and live music. We toured the cathedral which is said to house Jesus' robe the Roman soldiers cast lots over after stripping him of his garments.

Trier Cathederal

Inside Trier Cathedral

Explanation of Jesus' robe

Trier Cathederal garden and cemetary

We decided since we were so close (and having Englebert driving on the autobahn) we should head over to Luxembourg. We toured the small Duchy and saw Cathedrale Notre Dame (begun in 1613) and the Palais Grand Ducal (since 1809 the royal residence). It was a neat city built around the castle on the hill that overlooks the Alzette and Petrusse valleys.

Luxembourg Castle

Cathedral Notre Dame

Luxembourg Palace

After our whirlwind day we headed back to Bonn for a traditional German dinner at Em Hoettche on the Marktplatz. This restaurant is housed in one of the oldest buildings in Bonn and was a favorite spot for Beethovan to take his lover to dance. Englebert told me about the origin of Klosch beer that the area is famous for. The beer does not use the typical brewing process as it is a top-fermented beer at a warmer temperature. In addition, it is served in a smaller class, .2 l and should be drank within 20 minutes after being served as longer than that will cause the beer to go bad.

On our way to Marktplatz

Marktplatz

Great German food

On Sunday morning Schankey took me for a quick tour of her work area in Bonn.

Eaton's Street in Bonn

The brotherl down the street from her office

After the tour we we had brunch…although I had two desserts for breakfast. I mean how can you pass up apple strudel in Germany? I guess I could have passed up the crepe but I had a craving for Nutella!

Perfect Breakfast

After breakfast Schankey and headed to the city center to tour the Beethovenhaus where Beethoven was born and lived until his early twenties. The house had many interesting artifacts from his life including many of his instruments.

Beethoven House

Letter from Mozart to Beethovan (right before I was reminded no cameras were allowed)

We walked through the streets to the Bonn Minster before heading to car for our drive to Cologne. We also passed the Sterntor which was one of the medevil gates of the city.

Bonn Minster

Sterntor (stargate)

I thought about not mentioning this but I have to…sorry Schank…but as we approach the car we wonder why it seems that the reverse lights are on. The answer…Schankey left the keys in the ignition! Crazy that no one took the car as it sat there for two hours!

Our first stop in Cologne was the Cologne Cathedral which houses the shrine of the Three Kings.

Cologne Cathedral

Cologne Cathedral Entrance

Tomb of the Magi

We also toured the treasury which displayed some very old and amazing church artifacts. In addition, while constructing the church two graves dating back to the 6th century were found and the artifacts are also displayed in the treasury. For some reason we thought climbing to the top of the south spire would be a good idea. I am still not sure why as you have to pay to climb over 500 stairs in a small, spiral, non ventilated, two way traffic staircase! I guess it was worth it as the view from the top of the Rhine River was beautiful (although my legs were shaking for at least thirty minutes after we got down).

View of the Rhine from atop the cathderal

View of the Rhine from atop the cathderal

In addition to the cathedral the city is also the birthplace of cologne! In 1709 the Italian perfumer Giovanni Maria Farina from Santa Marie Maggiore, Italy, created the scent and named it in honor of his new home town. We had a great lunch of lentil soup and potato pancakes across the street from the cathedral as we enjoyed a Kolsh…and water! Schankey drove me to the airport for my flight and as we drove we discussed the past few months and are respective experiences here in Europe and it really hit me that I am leaving very soon. I only have one more month to cram in weekend in trips so stay tuned!

Menton, Monaco and Piemonte

Tuesday evening was the parade for Torino’s saint, St. John the Baptist. There was a parade that went right by my house so we were able to see it from the window. The people were all dressed from different eras and since I’m not an expert on days of yore or yesteryear I can’t tell you exactly which era! There were royals, peasants, bakers, blacksmiths, knights, and court jesters.

San Giovanni parade

Wednesday morning we drove to Monaco and the French Riviera. We stopped and had lunch in Menton which is a small town on the Riviera.

Menton, France

My mom and I in Menton

The hills of Menton

Our server made a great suggestion of the crepe special…ham and cheese crepe followed by a crepe covered in sugar…heavenly! We drove along the coast taking in the beautiful views as we approached Monte Carlo, Monaco. We walked around the city and stopped in the casino. We had to check our cameras (like a coat check) so I don’t have any pictures inside. We played the slots and I lost my entire ten euros…oh well I had an hour of fun!

Monte Carlo Casino

Monte Carlo's Bean

Monte Carlo Casino

We headed back to Torino for the firework display for San Giovanni. A rock hit the windshield and cracked it on the way home but luckily I purchased the extra insurance so it wasn’t a problem! Piazza Vittorio was very crowded as this celebration is typically the biggest of the year. The fireworks were set to music and were an amazing display above the Po River.

Piazza Vittorio packed for the fireworks

San Giovanni Fireworks

Thursday we exchanged the car (I was a little afraid the entire windshield would come down on my lap) and headed to meet our guide outside of Torino for a day of chocolate, cheese and wine. We started off in Cherasco where we tried chocolate covered orange slices, chocolate truffles, chocolate filled with a liquor, chocolate covered espresso beans, chocolate with a hazelnut mix and the famous “baci” which means kiss which are made from dark chocolate chopped hazelnuts.

Our chocolates

Our next stop was the Giolito Formaggi in Bra for cheese tasting. Marco showed us how they aged the cheese and how they tested the cheese wheels to see if they had broken (using a small hammer). We then tasted cheese from goat, sheep and cow. We also got to taste the “drunken cow” cheese which is made by pressing the cheese wheel between the grape skins which are separated from the grapes during the wine making process.

Marco shows us the cheese cooler

Testing the cheese

Enjoying our cheese

The third stop was Castle Cavour.

Castle Cavour

View from Castle Cavour

The castle is used for the annual truffle auction. Truffles are a fungi that grow underground. There are two types of truffles…black and white. The white truffles are very rare and can only be found in the Langhe area in south Piemonte and the Istria peninsula in Croatia. Every year after the harvest in October and November, people from all over the world come to the castle to bid on the white truffles which typically sell for between $1,000 and $2,200 per pound! Dogs are trained to find the truffles under the ground and may even attend the truffle hunting school near Alba. Pigs were previously used to find the white truffles but dogs are more common as they are less likely to eat the white truffles after they find them! After the castle we drove to Barolo for the tasting of the famous Barolo wine. Barolo wine is one of the wines made from nebbiolo grapes. We toured the winery and saw the large barrels the wine is fermented in.

Giant wine barrels

Thursday evening my mom and I went out to dinner with some of my friends from the office. We had an amazing dinner of traditional Piemontese food. Thanks to Michele, Massimo, Elena and Veronica for making my mom feel so welcome. The girls let Friday afternoon and I was sad to see them go. It was nice to be able to share Torino with them!

Milano e Venezia con Mama!

It has been an exciting week! I started it off by visiting my friend Eliana and her new family at the hospital. As I mentioned Pietro was born on Friday, June 12 and I was able to see him on Monday. He is such a little peanut with a full head of hair. I am excited to get to know him in my remaining time here!

Saturday I took the train to Milano to meet my mom and our family friend Mrs. Kroll. I walked around and saw some of the old churches in the city.

San Ambrogio

San Lorenzo (these columns date back to the 4th century)

The ladies flew into Roma on Tuesday, spent Tuesday and Wednesday in Roma, took a bus to Siena for the day on Thursday and continued on to Florence, Friday they had a day trip to Cinque Terre, and Saturday they explored Florence, saw fake David and met me in Milano. It was so nice to see them get off the train! We walked around the duomo a bit Saturday evening before having dinner. We went the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele and were treated to a fashion show.

Galleria Vittorio Emanuale

Milan Fashion show

Sunday we woke up and went to mass at the Duomo and after we went up to the roof and saw great views of the city and the Alps in the distance. I really can't get enough of them! We explored Milano and even found our way to a castle.

Looking up at the duomo

The lovely ladies atop the duomo

The view from atop the duomo

Gothic architecture up close

Castle Sforzesco

We took the metro all over the city and the girls kept mentioning how nice it was to have me around (I am not so sure Tuesday at 3:00 AM they were thinking the same thing...read on for more). Milano is a confusing city as the streets are not very gridlike so it is a bit difficult to get around.

In the early evening we took a train to Venice. We found our hotel (of course up down and around stairs) and set out to have dinner. Venice is such a unique city with the waterways winding all through the streets. The public transportation and taxis are all boats!

Vaporetto (a.k.a. city bus)

Taking the vaporetto to our hotel

Houses and a side "street" of the grand canal

After dinner we sat outside a church and listened to a concert of Vivaldi's Four Seasons. We were too late to get into the concert itself so we settled for sitting outside under the window. Mrs. Kroll asked me to climb up to see what was going on and as I sat hanging from the window I was able to see the five musicians playing their strings (sorry the picture of this spectacle is on my mom's camera...but you can picture it...window sill is about ten feet off the ground...I'm hanging on to the metal bars on the window hoping my feet stop sliding off the incline I pulled myself up by a pipe on).

Third window sill from the left is the one I was hanging from

It was a pretty cool way to spend the evening listening to amazing music in a piazza in Venice. Afterwards we walked to St. Mark's Square which is the largest piazza in the city...it was flooded! People were walking around in the water which was about six inches high and shop owners had wooden pirate "planks" to get into their stores.

Flooded St. Mark's Square

Monday morning we walked back to St. Mark's and the tide had gone down. The church is amazing and so different then what you can see at night.

St. Mark's

Clock Tower in St. Mark's Square

The domes of St. Mark's

Gondole station

Gandola in action

We took the water taxi (we bought 24 hour passes and had to make the most out of them...Milano 24 hour pass 3 euro...Venice 24 hour pass 18 euro) from St. Mark's back to the train station and walked our way back down around and through the streets of Venice to the Rialto Bridge (which is sort of like Ponte Vecchio in Florence with shops all along it) where we saw many amazing shops with the glass Venice is famous for!

Trust me ladies this "street" is on the map!

San Giovanni

Rialto Bridge

Shops along the Rialto Bridge

Dad don't worry they have hot dogs in Italia!

We purchased some sandwiches for the train, picked up our luggage from the hotel and headed to the train station. We were about an hour early so the girls sat outside while I did some last minute shopping. We went in at about 18:30 for our train at 19:02. I went inside to look on the board and of course no trains to Torino. I asked at the desk and she said it left out of the other train station...of course I should have looked at the ticket or read more closely the email my mom's friend sent me. We purchased tickets to the train (it was the next stop) and hopped on a train that left at 18:48 and would get us there perfectly in time to catch the train. Main problem...the train didn't leave. The conductor got on to say it was broke. OK...we hoofed it over to the next train (please picture me running in flip flops...which fell off...with two rollaway carry on suit cases and a backpack with two ladies trailing behind me) and it got to the station at 19:06...train had departed. Of course the train we needed to be late wasn't (both trains my mom and Mrs. Kroll had taken in Italy were 20 minutes delayed)! I took our tickets and waited in line at the ticket stand to exchange them...only problem is Betsy (my mom's friend) had booked them through her travel agency and the man told me I would have to return to the station that issued them to exchange them. That station happened to be in France. I purchased three new tickets to Torino via Milano. The train pulls up and we are in standing in front of car two...our tickets are for car ten. I begin running to the end of the train as it is so much easier to run on the platform then cart your luggage through the train. As I'm running the train is getting to leave. I hope on car eight and see my mom and Mrs. Kroll at about car four leisurely strolling towards me. Sensing they don't understand that the train will leave without them I yell for them to get on the train and luckily they do! The train ride to Milano was fine except that we had to move to car ten from car nine (which was pretty empty so we decided to just park it there) as something was "broken" in car nine and there was a mention of the polizia. In Milano our train was supposed to depart at 00:15 (and contrary to what my mom thinks this does not mean IN fifteen minutes it means fifteen minutes after midnight) but of course it was delayed 20 minutes as we had to wait for a train from Napoli to arrive. Then about 20 km out side of Torino we stopped and were treated to wonderful fumes of what smelled like burning brakes. I am really not sure what happened but we stopped there for about 30 minutes and ended up in Torino at 3:30 AM. Traveling with me is always an adventure!