Europe Day 9 – Neuss to Rudesheim
Vanessa was feeling much better today. We woke up, showered, and started packing our suitcases. Sebastian’s mom was nice enough to do all of our laundry the night before. We joined them for breakfast and enjoyed a couple of uncomfortable silences until Sebastian showed up (yes, late again). Sebastian’s dad drove us to the train station. Sebastian offered to join us for the ride to Cologne.
Once we arrived in cologne it was very handy having him there, because the Avis rental car place was nowhere to be seen. After asking several people we finally found it. Sebastian was nice enough to let me talk to the guy in German. While it is handy to have someone with you that speaks the language, sometimes it’s nice to put all of those years in German class to use and do it yourself. While the guy behind the counter was looking my information up on the computer I noticed he had pulled out a key with a Mercedes symbol on it. I had reserved an Intermediate size car which on the Internet was supposed to be an Opel (German division of General Motors). The car was supposed to be a simple boring car. When we walked out it was an E-Class. Wow. Not bad. Sebastian decided at this poin that he might come along for a little more of our trip. He grabbed a train schedule and we jumped in the car. It took me about 5 minutes of just sitting in it to get situated.
I was really won over when the seat went back so far that I could barely reach the pedals. For the first time I was more comfortable without the seat pushed all of the way back. To top it off, the car had a GPS navigation system, so I didn’t need my computer. I started the car, put in our first destination, and we were off. It was a little distracting for the first 10 minutes or so. Different car, different street signs, getting directions from the car in German, Vanessa was trying to figure out the radio. Sebastian was in the back seat helping me with the road signs. I had been paying attention when he had been driving for the last couple of days, so I knew most of them.
Within a couple of minutes we figured out how to change the language in the car to English and I was on the Autobahn and cruising along. I was very cautious… at first. The Autobahn has very strict rules. I’m not sue if I already covered this in a previous blog, so if I did, forgive me. Not all of the Autobahn has an open speed limit. Much of it is regulated and depending on where you are and the conditions of the road, it goes from 50 mph, to 60 mph, to 75 mph, to no speed limit. There are speed cameras, and there are huge penalties if you go over the speed limit by a certain percentage.
The Autobahn is nothing more than a 2 or 3 lane highway in America except for a couple of things. The roads are in great condition, it is illegal to pass on the right, and people follow the laws. If you are in the fast lane, people actually move out of your way. If they don’t they can get a huge ticket. Another nice thing, is when there is a speed limit, there is a reason for it. It’s not like in Los Angeles when you approach a curve, the speed limit is reduced to 40 mph, but you can easily go 60. In Germany if there is a curve, and the speed limit is reduced, there is a reason, and you can’t drive faster than that without possibly losing control.
Mom, if you are reading this skip to the next paragraph. Once I was on a part of the Autobahn where the speed limit was lifted, I eased the car to about 100 mph. No problem. The car was smooth, no wind noise, no shaking, just cruising. You don’t realize the speed, because everyone is going 90 mph or faster. Later when the road was flat and straight, I go the car up to 125 mph. That was fast enough for my first day.
Welcome back mom. We spent the day driving to monuments and castles along the Rhine. The first castle we stopped at was Rheinfels. It was from the year 1200. Most of it was ruins, but there was also a small hotel in part of it. There were some beautiful views of the Rhine from the top. This was Vanessa’s first time seeing a real castle. She read information about the castle from a sheet and gave us a little tour. Afterwards we drove back into town and went to lunch. The waiter at the restaurant was a total jerk, so… no tip.
Sebastian was taking the train back to Neuss from there, so we said our goodbyes. I am pretty sure he will be coming to visit us in October. I am looking forward to showing him around again. The last time he came to California was 10 years ago. I continued driving down the Rhine and Vanessa was clicking off pictures of castles faster than the camera could save the images. We ran into some bad luck when we went to see the next to castles. The first one was obviously closed before we even got out of the car. The gates were closed at the entrance. At the second castle we parked the car and walked up a trail which must have gone up about a thousand feet. No kidding. We were a little winded and disappointed when we got to the top and the gates were closed. When we got back to the bottom we noticed at the bottom of the posted hours there was a small thing about the castle being closed until January 10th. That sucked.
I was nice to get to our hotel a little earlier though. We crossed the Rhine on a ferry and after 10 minute for driving though 8-foot wide cobblestone streets I found the hotel. We checked in and relaxed for about an hour before exploring the town. It was 6:00 pm when we left the hotel, but you would have thought it was 4:00 am. The streets were empty and everything was closed. Strange. We did find a little Italian place that was still open. I promised myself before going in that I was not going to order pizza.
This area is famous for it’s white wines (Gewürztraminer and Riesling). This is the place in pictures where you see the vineyards growing on steep hills along the river. The town we are staying in (Rudesheim) is famous for it’s small wine bars, where you can taste the local wines. Naturally when the waiter asked if I would like anything to drink, I asked for a Gewürztraminer. He looked at me dumbfounded. They don’t serve these wines in this restaurant. When I thought about it it kind of made sense, because it was an Italian restaurant. It still seems kind of weird. I ended up ordering a Chianti and for dinner I had a Cordon Bleu (yes, I know it’s French) with some spaghetti. Vanessa had some Penne Pesto.
When we got back to the hotel she started feeling sick again. I think she is dehydrated. It is kind of hard to get regular water in Europe. When you order water in a restaurant you get sparkling water, unless you specify it. Even then you sometimes get lightly carbonated water. And there is no such thing as free refills. Everything, including water, comes in small bottles. If you want more, you pay more (even for water). Tomorrow is an easy day. We are planning on walking around town in the morning and driving to Baden Baden, which is about two hours away.
Once we arrived in cologne it was very handy having him there, because the Avis rental car place was nowhere to be seen. After asking several people we finally found it. Sebastian was nice enough to let me talk to the guy in German. While it is handy to have someone with you that speaks the language, sometimes it’s nice to put all of those years in German class to use and do it yourself. While the guy behind the counter was looking my information up on the computer I noticed he had pulled out a key with a Mercedes symbol on it. I had reserved an Intermediate size car which on the Internet was supposed to be an Opel (German division of General Motors). The car was supposed to be a simple boring car. When we walked out it was an E-Class. Wow. Not bad. Sebastian decided at this poin that he might come along for a little more of our trip. He grabbed a train schedule and we jumped in the car. It took me about 5 minutes of just sitting in it to get situated.
I was really won over when the seat went back so far that I could barely reach the pedals. For the first time I was more comfortable without the seat pushed all of the way back. To top it off, the car had a GPS navigation system, so I didn’t need my computer. I started the car, put in our first destination, and we were off. It was a little distracting for the first 10 minutes or so. Different car, different street signs, getting directions from the car in German, Vanessa was trying to figure out the radio. Sebastian was in the back seat helping me with the road signs. I had been paying attention when he had been driving for the last couple of days, so I knew most of them.
Within a couple of minutes we figured out how to change the language in the car to English and I was on the Autobahn and cruising along. I was very cautious… at first. The Autobahn has very strict rules. I’m not sue if I already covered this in a previous blog, so if I did, forgive me. Not all of the Autobahn has an open speed limit. Much of it is regulated and depending on where you are and the conditions of the road, it goes from 50 mph, to 60 mph, to 75 mph, to no speed limit. There are speed cameras, and there are huge penalties if you go over the speed limit by a certain percentage.
The Autobahn is nothing more than a 2 or 3 lane highway in America except for a couple of things. The roads are in great condition, it is illegal to pass on the right, and people follow the laws. If you are in the fast lane, people actually move out of your way. If they don’t they can get a huge ticket. Another nice thing, is when there is a speed limit, there is a reason for it. It’s not like in Los Angeles when you approach a curve, the speed limit is reduced to 40 mph, but you can easily go 60. In Germany if there is a curve, and the speed limit is reduced, there is a reason, and you can’t drive faster than that without possibly losing control.
Mom, if you are reading this skip to the next paragraph. Once I was on a part of the Autobahn where the speed limit was lifted, I eased the car to about 100 mph. No problem. The car was smooth, no wind noise, no shaking, just cruising. You don’t realize the speed, because everyone is going 90 mph or faster. Later when the road was flat and straight, I go the car up to 125 mph. That was fast enough for my first day.
Welcome back mom. We spent the day driving to monuments and castles along the Rhine. The first castle we stopped at was Rheinfels. It was from the year 1200. Most of it was ruins, but there was also a small hotel in part of it. There were some beautiful views of the Rhine from the top. This was Vanessa’s first time seeing a real castle. She read information about the castle from a sheet and gave us a little tour. Afterwards we drove back into town and went to lunch. The waiter at the restaurant was a total jerk, so… no tip.
Sebastian was taking the train back to Neuss from there, so we said our goodbyes. I am pretty sure he will be coming to visit us in October. I am looking forward to showing him around again. The last time he came to California was 10 years ago. I continued driving down the Rhine and Vanessa was clicking off pictures of castles faster than the camera could save the images. We ran into some bad luck when we went to see the next to castles. The first one was obviously closed before we even got out of the car. The gates were closed at the entrance. At the second castle we parked the car and walked up a trail which must have gone up about a thousand feet. No kidding. We were a little winded and disappointed when we got to the top and the gates were closed. When we got back to the bottom we noticed at the bottom of the posted hours there was a small thing about the castle being closed until January 10th. That sucked.
I was nice to get to our hotel a little earlier though. We crossed the Rhine on a ferry and after 10 minute for driving though 8-foot wide cobblestone streets I found the hotel. We checked in and relaxed for about an hour before exploring the town. It was 6:00 pm when we left the hotel, but you would have thought it was 4:00 am. The streets were empty and everything was closed. Strange. We did find a little Italian place that was still open. I promised myself before going in that I was not going to order pizza.
This area is famous for it’s white wines (Gewürztraminer and Riesling). This is the place in pictures where you see the vineyards growing on steep hills along the river. The town we are staying in (Rudesheim) is famous for it’s small wine bars, where you can taste the local wines. Naturally when the waiter asked if I would like anything to drink, I asked for a Gewürztraminer. He looked at me dumbfounded. They don’t serve these wines in this restaurant. When I thought about it it kind of made sense, because it was an Italian restaurant. It still seems kind of weird. I ended up ordering a Chianti and for dinner I had a Cordon Bleu (yes, I know it’s French) with some spaghetti. Vanessa had some Penne Pesto.
When we got back to the hotel she started feeling sick again. I think she is dehydrated. It is kind of hard to get regular water in Europe. When you order water in a restaurant you get sparkling water, unless you specify it. Even then you sometimes get lightly carbonated water. And there is no such thing as free refills. Everything, including water, comes in small bottles. If you want more, you pay more (even for water). Tomorrow is an easy day. We are planning on walking around town in the morning and driving to Baden Baden, which is about two hours away.
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