Philosophia

Heidelberg was the trip love of Michael's first trip to Germany a few years ago, so he couldn't wait to introduce us. After our morning spent not really visiting the fairy tale castle, we headed up north in the general direction of Frankfurt to the small University town below an ancient castle. Driving into the town it appears to be modern and fairly large, but just a few minutes later we were in the small, old stone city I expected to see. Our chosen hostel was brand new, and by far landed at the very top of our lodging recommendation list. The location was phenomenal and the owner as sweet and welcoming as you could ever ask. Our cute little upstairs room was so comfortable, and we settled in for our short two-night stay. We took a recommendation from the owner for dinner, and were so pleasantly surprised with a chicly rustic restaurant that opened right up to the city's cathedral. We had a nice walk about after our meal, and headed back to take care of the annoying necessity of laundry. 

The next morning, we set out to see as much as we could manage in our only whole day. The main goal was a trek up to Philosophenweg, or Philosophers' Way - a beautiful mountainside trail that overlooks the city and the castle on the other side of the River Neckar, a smaller branch of the Rhine. We crossed the beautiful river, and started the unexpectedly tiring ascent up the stairs and hills. The cool German rain began to fall again, but this time it was welcome (besides it forcing Mark into his ziplock and into my purse). Halfway up, we passed one of many gates that led to small private orchards on the hill and heard a man's voice calling us over. In the usual German fashion his English was perfect, and he invited us into his garden to offer us some of the hundreds of green apples his tree was bearing, explaining that he had more fruit than he and his mother knew what to do with. The rain was falling, we were surrounded by hundreds of happy bees, and this sweet man just wanted to share his apples with everyone who passed - something about it all just made me feel overwhelmingly happy, and we continued up the hill refreshed and munching on the tastiest apple I've ever had. The view from Philosophenweg was (wait for it...) beautiful, and the sun came out just long enough for me to photograph and obsess over the incredible flower gardens. We climbed to the top of an old watch tower, had our lunch on a vine covered bench, and headed back down just in time to get out of a summer storm and into a beer. Then it was off to the grocery so we could have a home cooked meal and cocktails. 

Sadly we had to leave the next day, but not before making the hike up to the castle (which we could see out the hostel's kitchen window, by the way). We put on our serious shoes and made the steep climb. First stop was the castle's absolutely enormous wine storage barrel (approximately 58,100 gallons). No longer used to store wine, but a sight nonetheless. Next we decided to check out the very random German Apothecary Museum across the courtyard. I will just say, never did I expect to be so completely enthralled by an apothecary museum - we have both since become obsessed with furnishing homes, kitchens, and bars with apothecary cabinets and painted bottles. We spent the rest of the time exploring the amazing ruins and grounds. Before long, we had to pull ourselves away to get ourselves fed for the drive ahead, and I had to drag Michael away from his discovery of German Christmas superstores. Up next was the Netherlands, and though I didn't have quite enough of Heidelberg, I was ready for some windmill action...

The Man Who Sold The World

Entering Germany in itself was an experience. This is the land where no toll roads go, and, joyfully, neither do speed limits. Our drive in was steadily swift, setting the cruise control at 165km/h (102mph), which was, as we would find, a modest speed. Audis, Mercedeses, BMWs and the occasional Opel walked us like we were standing still. If we were cruising at 102, some of those ground-based jets were hovering over the roads at an easy 200mph. Easy. As we neared Munich, the intensifying rains impeded higher speeds, which gave us plenty of time to marvel at the acres upon acres of bountiful hops fields growing like giant kelp in every prairie and on every hillside. The harvest nearing fruition, whose reaping in a mere few weeks' time would become the central focus for Munich's most notable occasion -- Oktoberfest.

Though with us came the rain, which converged over Munich for all four of our days there. The steady strength and sheer volume of the downpour paralyzed much going out, but we still managed to see a good portion of the city in spite of it, and much of the surrounding lands.

Munich is big, so we were already limited in our explorations, and the hours lost to the rain forced further sacrifices. The first day, however, we made my one required trip that I missed last time around -- Andechs Abbey. Roughly 45 minutes outside of Munich we explored the hilltop, Benedictine abbey featuring the most ornate (some may say gaudy) cathedral in all of our travels. We drank the strong and delicious dopplebock liters, ate pork knuckle, sauerkraut and pretzels, and failed in our bid to rob the monks of the liter mugs. Damned be the rain! We made the most of it and the green, German countryside.

The next three days were spent exploring Munich, itself. We spent time in the main platz, marveling at the large rathaus that is the center of Munich's very democratic city; visited the main brew halls of Augustiner and Löwenbräu, as well as the famed Hofbrauhäus -- Bavaria's most distinguished brew house. While the brew halls were all very amazing, and the Bavarian people have a genuine kindness that was unrivaled in all of our travels; Munich, maybe due the rain, was rather uneventful and unimpressive. A stark difference from my experience there during Oktoberfest, when even sleeping was eventful. The best days we had there were the two days we explored the surrounding Bavarian lands: Andechs Abbey, and the sites we saw on our way out... This included an attempted visit to Neuschwanstein Castle just clear of the Alps, on the border of Austria. A two hour southerly detour didn't seem like too much to handle for a glimpse of the castle that allegedly inspired the one and only Cinderella's Castle at Disneyland. The drive was breathtaking, and at first glance of the castle on the hill we knew we were in for a treat. Unfortunately, that treat involved a 2 hour line followed by a 2 hour wait time to see the castle. This made the view from below seem much more pleasant, and we explored the shops in town and the surrounding woods instead, admiring the magical castle from afar before heading north again to Heidelberg. 

Who'll Stop The Rain

Oh, Prague. Finally, Prague. I'm almost nervous to write this post because it's all been built up so much, and I had to somehow narrow down my 200 favorite photos to around 30. Our four days in Prague were full of ups and downs, the bluest skies we've ever seen and a lot of rain, the most wonderful people and the least wonderful people, the best food and the worst food. All parts making a whole, I can only look back with so much amazement at our time there. I'll try to provide the abridged version... Forgive me ahead of time. 

It was quite a bit of stress getting Pepe and ourselves to Praha. Driving in the Czech Republic is a very strange experience, especially without GPS and with cops outnumbering civilians on the road... but that's all I'll say about that. Regardless, we made it in good time and checked into our perfectly located hostel (just off Wenceslas Square). Michael had come down with a sickness something awful, so for the first night I worked on the blog while he slept like a baby, broke his fever, and got better. We got up the next day a healthy pair, and set out to explore. We wandered until we found the gate to the old city (or Powder Tower) and then the Old Town Square, and just stood in awe for a while. This is where Michael would give you a comprehensive history lesson, but I'll just say that Prague is an incredibly old city with an incredibly sordid and interesting history and yet, in spite of itself, has aged so gracefully. It's truly breathtaking. 

We continued through the maze of Old Town out to the famous Charles Bridge, crossed into the Mala Strana, or Lesser Town, and found ourselves in Medieval Times. The streets are lined with tall, narrow, colorful buildings and roads are cobblestone, all leading to a striking baroque cathedral in the center, all being overlooked by an incredible castle and another gothic cathedral on the hill. It's a sight that can't be described, but must be seen (go!). After paying 29 czk (just over a Euro) for a half liter of beer each, we went down to the river for a different view of the other side of the city, and then headed off to find dinner. We got a sour taste in our mouths thanks to an attempted, but avoided restaurant rip-off and then Prague redeemed itself with one of the best and cheapest meals of the trip at a local hockey bar, believe it or not. The next day was another of wandering. We checked out the Jewish Quarter where Michael marveled at how tiny the people must have been, and headed back across the Bridge to head up to the castle/cathedral (the largest castle in the world, don't you know). Once again, we were blown away. Photos just don't do the cathedral justice, and seeing the actual room where Bohemian Kings and Holy Roman Emperors held court gave me a feeling of awe I can't really describe.

The next day we had the prospect of a fancy 4-star room to look forward to (thanks dad!), so we packed up our stuff, got an early check in, and headed into the old town where our cute little mint green boutique hotel stood just inside the city gate. And then the rain started. Despite how tempting it was to stay cozy in our first king size bed and reconnect with the real world on our first flat screen on the gloomy day, we instead went to out first Czech mall and bought our first European rain jackets. We dragged our cold, wet feet back up the hill to see the Golden Row, a little cobblestoned lane of Medieval houses behind the castle. Michael had to almost double over just to fit through the doors, but it was a worthwhile adventure, if only for the 40 foot hallway lined in Medieval knights' armor. We returned to our hotel, and soaked our frozen feet in a hot bath to thaw out, cleaned up, and went for a nice dinner in the hotel. I wont get into why it turned out to be not so nice, but we had some compensating to do, so why not adventure to a hip underground bar with a drink menu that is literally a hardcover book complete with original comic-style illustrations. Bugsy's Bar is a must see in Prague: unbelievably creative and delicious cocktails, worth the cost, not touristy, and such a cool atmosphere. If I wasn't so terrified of the wrath of an angry (or should I say angier) Czech person I would have had one of those menu books in my big purse so fast. It was a perfect way to top off an imperfect night, and we strolled home across a barren town square, too drunk to care about the pouring rain.

This is getting long. Really long. So I'll be brief(ish...). We woke up with mixed feelings about leaving Prague. I had a last minute rendezvous planned with a friend of mine from the Bay Area, Nicole, who now lives in her native Czech Republic with her unbelievably sweet girlfriend Gina. We were so desperately happy for familiarity so we didn't care at all that the rain confined us to a 2 hour conversation in the hotel lobby. Nicole is the most animated, hilarious, awesome person, Gina literally never stops smiling, and they came with a fuzzy little playmate for me so aptly named Puppy - a welcome departure from the typical locals. Listening to the chronicles of their first 8 months as expats validated pretty much every bad feeling we had about the country and its people, but also provided a fascinating peek into the Czech side of things. If you spent most of your life rightfully paranoid that your neighbor might turn you in for something they heard you say through the wall one night, you might not readily trust the world and smile unabashedly either. I finally allowed Puppy to be pried from my arms and we hugged our goodbyes. We left Prague happily, thanks to a just a little taste of friendship and human connection with these two amazing people. On to Munich we drove.