It is a very hot day and we sat out in the sun in chairs at a little table for almost the whole ride. Boy, did I sweat. We got to Rhudesheim at 3:45, about a half hour later than the scheduled arrival. All the boats are somewhat delayed because the river is so low due to the drought. It's incredible how hot and dry it has been so far this year for us. It was a lovely cruise. Very pretty little towns along the river and lots of vineyards up on the hills.
We had to wait almost an hour for the train to Frankfurt and we ended up taking a combination of a train and the S-bahn so we didn't get to Frankfurt until 6:30. We put our big packs in lockers andt then took the
S-bahn (we can also ride that for free with our Eurail tickets) out to the Youth Hostel.
It is a very large hostel filled with lots of young people. Not my favorite kind of place. We checked in, went to use the internet and then got some dinner. We were in a 8-bed dorm and it was boiling hot in our room. One of the Japanese ladies in the room had closed the window and was sleeping with a comforter on her. It must have been 80 degrees in there, so we opeded the window. It helped somewhat but there was no breeze so it was a very uncomfortable night. At least I had a good station on my radio. I listened to NPR for awhile. From what I heard this heat wave is all ove Europe (110 degrees in Paris) and the Middle East (130 degrees in Kuwait). It might be hot, but at least it's not raining.
8/12: We got up at 6:30, got some food in the cafeteria to take with us when it opened at 7AM (breakfast was included in the price of the room) and walked quickly to the train station. We got there just before 7:30, got our bags out of the lockers and went and bought tickets for the bus ride. The price for the Romantic Road bus trip (350 kilometers) is normally 70 euros but we paid only 28 euros with our Eurail passes.
The bus left right at 8AM and it was wonderfully air-conmditioned. We made three stops in little towns on the way to Rothenburg and we had about 20 minutes in each town to quickly look around before we were back on the bus. There was some taped narration during th ride (in German, English and Japanese) and the bus driver gave some commentary in English as we drove through some of the small towns along the way. We got to Rothenburg just before 1PM, and we got our big packs from the bus and walked about 1 mile to the old section of the city to the Youth Hostel. They didn't have any reservations for us and when I checked my notes I realized we weren't staying there. You can only stay in the youth hostels in Bavaria if you are less than 27 years old. Luckily we had reservations at the Golden Rose hotel just, a 3-minute walk from the hostel. I'm so happy we aren't at the hostel. The hotel is quiet, quaint and our room has a nice big window, so hopefully we can get some breeze. It cost only 36 euros ($18/each) and it includes breakfast.
We went for a walk around the streets of Rothenburg and up on the walkways along the walls surronding the city. We also went to visit the Medieval Crime Museum. It is amazing how easy it was to be convictd of a crime in Medieval times, and the forms of punishment (torture with the rack, stretching tables, thumbscrews, pillory, dunking chairs) and methods of death (guillotine, hanging, drowning by being tied into a sack and thrown in the river) were awful.
We went back to the hotel about 5:30 for a short nap and then went back to the Market Square in the center of the old city for our 8PM tour with the Night Watchman. He was teriffic! He was all dressed up like a night watchman of old, and took about 100 people on a one-hour tour of the old city, explaining the history of the city from its inception in 1150 to the present time. The old part of Rothenburg is beautiful, with most of its Medieval buildings still intact. One particularly impressive sight was the huge door in the wall built in 1555. It also has a small door inset into the bigger door just big enough for one man to go through at a time. In the old days they would sound a horn one hour before closing the big door to let people know it was time to ome back in the city. If you were late you had to come in through the small door (called a man hole) and you were fined for being late. They also have a mask in the wall over what used to be the draw bridge. If the enemy was able to get past the moat and get to the wall, one last point of defense was to pour boiling oil into a container behind the mask. The oil would run out through the eyes and mouth of the mask onto the heads of the enemy.
8/13: It was very hot in he room last night but at least it was quiet. I looked at the thermometer in the garden today about noon and it was 38 degrees celcius (100.4 degreesfarenheit) in the shade. I know it is well over 100 degeress in the sun. We had a nice breakfast at the hotel (cold meats, cheese, rolls, juice and coffee) and then went to walk around the city on our own. We were able to leave our big packs at the hostel because our bus didn't leave until 2:30 for Munich.
First we went to the tourist information center where we could use the internet for 15 minutes for free. Then we walked up the tower in the old city hall for a panorama view of the city. It was quite a climb up - lots of stairs and then narrow ladders near the top. Finally, we did a self-guided walking tour described in the brochure and we passed a lot of sights we had seen yesterday.
After a delicious lunch of McDonald's french fries and a vanilla shake we got our packs and walked to the bus station. I would highly recommend a stop in Rothenburg for anyone who is visitng Germany. It was a great 24-hour visit.
We got the bus at 2:30 and had a boring bus ride to Munich. The bus stopped at a few towns for bathroom breaks for about 15 minutes each stop. The countryside wasn't much to look at so I mostly slept or listened to my MP3 player. The bus got to Munich at 7:30 PM and we went to the information center for brochures on Munich walking tours and Dachau, and for a city map, and then we walked about 20 miniutes to the our hostel - The Easy.
This place was recommended by the people from the Circus Hostel in Berlin. It is a private hostel so there ae no age restrictions and it only opened in July so parts of it are not finished. We are in a 6-bed room which is quite spacious - 3 sets of 2 bunks each, a table and 4 chairs and its own bathroom. The room is nice but the common areas are kind of dark and there are no bathrooms except in the rooms. If someone is taking a shower you just have to wait.
We settled in and then went next door to the cafe to sit outside and plan our time in Munich and Austria. I orderd a beer, and Shari went to McDonald's to get a coke. I started talking with this German fellow, Michael, and when Shari came back the 3 of us just talked for about 1.5 hours. He was a nice guy in his mid 30s and he works as a visitng nurse in Munich. Needleess to say we didn't get any planning done, but it was more fun talking with Michael than reading about hostels and trains. I got some food at McDonald's about 10:30 and went back to the room to eat. There are also a young couple and a young fellow from Germany in our room.
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