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Danny writing here:
This past weekend was our last time with Nick, so we decided to make it a good one and see as much of Germany as we could that we haven't seen already, and give it some contrast to the big cities that Nick has seen so far.
Nick arrived in Metz and hopped on a bus to GTL. I met him at the bus stop and we headed to my room to drop off the suitcases, shower up and pack up for the weekend. We went into Metz and walked around for 2 hours before our train at 9:15. We were getting ready for our series of overnight train connections to get to Rothenburg. Most of the connections went smoothly except for the connection from Strasbourg to Offenburg. We had printed that we were supposed to catch a 00:05 train to Offenburg, but the only thing listed on the digital screen was an "Autobus" at 23:35. After asking around we figured out the bus should pick us up in front of the station somewhere. We found a bus waiting and luckily some French guys were able to tell us that the bus went Kehl, and a train from there went to Offenburg. Several other German speaking people wanted to get to Offenburg too, and the bus driver was not helpful at all in telling them how to get there. It all ended up working out though...got to Kehl, and waited a few minutes for the train to Offenburg. The rest was smooth sailing.
We arrived in Rothenburg before 10 am, and none of the stores opened before 10. I was craving a sausage...and finally around 11 we found a stand that sold one of the best tasting sausages I've ever had. We were very fascinated by the city: it was a very cozy little walled in city that overlooked green valleys below. The wall went entirely around the whole city of terra cotta roofed homes and shops, and the you could walk along the wooden paths of the 20 foot wall that used to be used to look out and guard the city. We did a lot of shopping there...because there were sooo many shops, good prices, and a large selection of stuff. We all bought the German hats that you see the men wear with lederhosen and Laura got a dwarf looking hat...in preparation for drinking the night in Bamberg.
We left around 5 pm and got to bamberg before 8 pm. Our hostel was the coziest place we've ever stayed. No one was there when we arrived except for an Australian couple that just arrived and were about to head out. We found a note for us by the hostel keeper, found our key in our room, got showers, and headed out. We were in search of a certain bar that the Australians mentioned, but it was closed so we went into the main part of town (15 min from our place) and found a beer garden/restaurant/hotel. We had probably the best meal yet there and got to try Bamberg's famous Smoked beer..."This tastes like bacon bits" - Nick. After dinner we went walking in search of more places to try some of the 9 beers that are brewed in Bamberg (the most breweries per area in europe). We stumbled across a festival along one of the streets that had two stages of music and several tents w/ different beers on tap. We stayed there for the remainder of the night, sampling the different beers in our traditional German hats. The city was actually a very beautiful little place with what looked like an interesting castle hill that overlooked the city, and buildings that came right up to the river that cut into the middle of the city. We hobbled back after getting two more delicious sausages.
Sunday morning we set out early to Fussen to see the Magic Kingdom-looking castle called Neuschwanstein Castle meaning "New swan castle"...I'll talk bout that later. We left at 8:30 and got to Fussen around 1:00 pm. Unfortunately it was raining, but luckily Laura had bought our tickets online so we didn't have to wait around in the rain to get into the castle. The only way to go inside is through a 30 min guided tour. We scaled the mountain to get to the castle, which overlooks the green land, red roofed buildings, and lakes below. Also below, the castle is the Hohenschwangau Castle, where King Ludwig II grew up and decided to one up his father by building the Neuschwanstein castle bigger and higher (that's what I'm assuming). Anyways, the castle was very beautiful, built to honor the playwright Wagner, so all the murals throughout the castle were painted from scenes of different operas by Wagner. Swans, were King Ludwig II's favorite animal, thus the name of the castle and the thousands of swans throughout: carved along trimming, painted, carved wooden door handles, faucets, you name it. Now let's see something...the king's favorite animal is a swan, he dedicated the castle to a playwright, and he wasn't married...no wonder he was pronounced clinically insane, killed, and therefore the castle was never finished after 17 years of construction in 1886. That same year, it was opened for visitors. The castle had a very ornate bedroom for the king, with gothic spires carved into his bedframe and running water from the mountains to a swan faucet. The throne room was very elaborate with golden painted ceilings, blue marble columns, a 2000 lb chandelier, and I think 2 million tile mosaic floor. Another interesting room was one that led from his bedroom that was made to look like a cavern. Overall a very impressing castle and a great end to an awesome weekend...well almost end.
After looking at our train options to get back to Metz, I realized we didn't have to leave Munich until around 10 pm, and it we could probably catch a 5 pm train to get to Munich around 7pm...enough time to go to the Hofbrauhaus and get some beers...which we did. Except the train route we had printed showed an overnight train that needed a reservation and after asking, it turned out to be 75 euros for all of us...hek no. So instead we found some other train connection that would have a 2 hour layover, but no reservation needed, so we went that route. Nick got a taste of the Hofbrauhaus and we had a lot of fun there, sitting with a group of guys from Britain.
We had no trouble with our train connections on the way back and made to Metz around 8:30 am. We were unable to book reservations to get from Metz to Paris, so Nick and I were just going to hop on and hope to avoid the fee. The only obstacle we faced that day was the buses from Metz to school were limited to 1 every half hour...and we didn't have that much time. So we got a 10 euro taxi to school and took the bus back. I went with Nick to the airport...I got stuck paying the fee as I tried to pass the conductor and he asked for my ticket, but Nick was lucky to avoid him during his planned 15 min. WC visit. Luckily I was able to book a reservation on the way back to Paris, even though I was told it was full when we were in Munich. I went with Nick to the airport to see him off and headed back to Metz...too bad Nick couldn't stay another weekend b/c this one was a lot of fun!
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