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July 7, 2013 - Germany
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Today we left France. Had a 9:47 AM train to Karlsruhe that we caught after breakfast. It was a TGV, and at one point the video display said we were going 247 km/hour. Traversed lots of flat farmland with wheat and corn. Didn't know what to do in Karlsruhe, but they had a bookstore with English language paperbacks. I bought the new Jack Reacher novel and evan got some techo-thriller. He's doesn't believe in switching books until he's done reading them, so he's plowing through the rest of The World According to Garp. There's a zoo with a nice park and outdoor restaurant seating right across from the train station, so Evan got a chocolate milkshake, or something that was vaguely familiar, and we hung out at the tables there and read. It was really pleasant on this hot day as there was a cool breeze in the shady park setting.
An interesting bike in Karlsruhe.
The bike's owner.
Caught the next train to Mainz, which is just across the river from Weisbaden where I lived and worked for 8 months in 1987. Not a very long layover there. There's a Yorma's store in that station with awesome cheap sandwiches that we bought. I felt some weird rumblings in my stomach then and wondered about the steak tartare from last night's dinner. Then the final milk run to Bacharach. Lots of stops on that train. We went right by my old windsurfing haunt in the town of Bingen on the Rhine. It's a sister city of Bingen on the Columbia river in the Gorge. When I used to windsurf there I'd hear cuckoo birds in the trees there. They really exist here, this being the land of cuckoo clocks. Got off in Bacharach and decided to head up the hill to the Burg Stahleck Castle where there was a Rick Steves-recommended youth hostel. No rooms left there. Only mattresses on the floor in a group room for 20 euros a head. We headed back down the hill and got a really nice private room in the Orth Zimmer, with breakfast for the same price. We don't know if it was Ursula or Irmgard Orth who was our host, but she was super welcoming. She held Evan's face in her hands when she gleefully commented on how he must be my son since we look so alike. She doesn't speak much English , but it didn't matter.
The trail up to Burg Stahleck.
Our room at the Orth Zimmer.
We walked the town using Rick Steve's walking guide, which is exactly what I did with Max 3 years ago. Climbed the same tower, saw the same stuff. I like Bacharach. Back to the room for a shower and brief nap, then out to dinner. We picked a Greek restaurant and had very large hunks of pork on a bone. Evan's with rice and mine with Fava beans. It was great. They gave us a couple of shot glasses of Ouzo on the house. Evan actually tried it, but didn't want anything to do with it after that. (turns out Im not destined to be an alcoholic -Evan) Gelato afterwards from Eis Cafe Italia, where they serve Riesling flavored gelato. It was pretty late at this point, so back to our room. I had some violent itching going on on my shoulder, possibly from a flea bite from the hotel in Strasbourg. Then I heard the rumblings in my stomach get worse. I ended up with diarrhea throughout the night. So much for steak tartare. Not sure how this is going to affect our hike tomorrow to Oberwesel. I kept drinking water and then making more trips to the bathroom. Yuck. Very little sleep this night.
The Alt Haus in Bacharach.
Bacharach.
My favorite tower in Bacharach.
Burg Stahleck Castle.
View from our room in the Orth Zimmer.
Evan trying Ouzo.
Dinner. A nice big hunk of pork with Fava beens and cheese!
The street in Bacharach that our B&B was on.
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