July 2008 - Non-Motorcycle Adventures in Germany
Early February 2008, George and I decided it was time to plan a visit Germany. George had been before, but I'd never been overseas. We had a place to stay in Koln, thanks to the Schmalz family, so all we needed to do was book a flight. We did just that, and the plans were set. We were flying over July 8th, and returning July 24th. While in Germany, I kept in touch with friends and family via email. My email updates are transposed below.
July 9th, 2008
Day 1 (or 1 ½ is more like it) went quite smooth. We left Columbus and made our way to Chicago O’hare on a little tiny jet. Once at Chicago we didn’t have much time to play around though, there was about ½ an hour between getting our boarding passes and getting on the plane. The Trans-Atlantic flight was with Virgin Atlantic Airlines, and couldn’t have been better. The flight crew NEVER sat down. Constantly walking with snacks and drinks (and dinner) through the entire 8 hour flight. Each seat also had its own TV remote that also served as a gaming controller and there were tons of movies and tv shows to watch, along with a bunch of games you could play with the remote, and then a ‘flight information’ screen. Our flight topped out at about 630 MPH, at 38,000 Feet, where it was a consistent NEGATIVE 80 DEGREES Fahrenheit! It was quite awesome watching the sun set and then raise from my window. We landed in London Heathrow airport, and were told to stand in an hour long line for customs. Once it was finally our turn, the guy told us to go to the international hub and we weren’t supposed to have gone to customs there at all. JEESH. We had a half an hour till our flight left, and it was a good thing we blew through security because they had already closed the gate to our plane (half an hour early! I don’t quite understand), but they managed to get us on, and we were on our way towards the final destination! This last leg was a quick hour long flight, and landed us in Koln Germany, 15 minutes from Julian’s house (where we are staying). To my surprise, BOTH of our checked bags were their waiting for us! AMAZING! (On that note, they DID NOT charge us to check our luggage like they were supposed to, maybe because we bought the tickets before the formed that policy?!) We took two steps out of the baggage claim to find Julian’s mom and brother waiting for us! IT COULD NOT HAVE WORKED OUT BETTER!
After we made it back to Julian’s house, we unpacked a bit, cleaned up, and went out for some Pizza. Apparently around here you’re supposed to eat pizza with a knife and fork… but it’s soooooo much easier our way. Despite some rainy weather, we then headed downtown for a short walk. The Subway is walking distance from the house, and takes about 25 minutes to get to the center of downtown. Just like everything else though, the price has recently gone up, and it’s likely going to hurt our wallets to take the subway often…. But that’s just too bad for us!
There are not nearly as many motorcycles/scooters as I had expected, but it has been wet since we arrived. Also the cars are just awesome. SOOOO many different kinds of cars. SOOO MANY TURBO DIESELS!
It is a mere 9:00 PM here, but we are off to bed! We have been awake for 30 hours now, and to say that it’s beginning to catch up to us would be an understatement.
I didn’t take many pictures at all yet, mostly because we were running very short on time at the airports and it’s been rainy here in Germany. Tomorrow I hope to have many more pictures. Here’s the link to the few I did take. I’m totally bummed I didn’t get a picture of the sunset from the airplane window, but I played with many settings watching the sun raise, and ended up with a pretty good shot I think.
http://flickr.com/photos/mikef5000/sets/72157606070017540/
After we made it back to Julian’s house, we unpacked a bit, cleaned up, and went out for some Pizza. Apparently around here you’re supposed to eat pizza with a knife and fork… but it’s soooooo much easier our way. Despite some rainy weather, we then headed downtown for a short walk. The Subway is walking distance from the house, and takes about 25 minutes to get to the center of downtown. Just like everything else though, the price has recently gone up, and it’s likely going to hurt our wallets to take the subway often…. But that’s just too bad for us!
There are not nearly as many motorcycles/scooters as I had expected, but it has been wet since we arrived. Also the cars are just awesome. SOOOO many different kinds of cars. SOOO MANY TURBO DIESELS!
It is a mere 9:00 PM here, but we are off to bed! We have been awake for 30 hours now, and to say that it’s beginning to catch up to us would be an understatement.
I didn’t take many pictures at all yet, mostly because we were running very short on time at the airports and it’s been rainy here in Germany. Tomorrow I hope to have many more pictures. Here’s the link to the few I did take. I’m totally bummed I didn’t get a picture of the sunset from the airplane window, but I played with many settings watching the sun raise, and ended up with a pretty good shot I think.
http://flickr.com/photos/mikef5000/sets/72157606070017540/
July 10th, 2008
Hello again!
This morning george and I headed back downtown and toured the cathedral. I took plenty of pictures, and we had a great time. After that we enjoyed the beautiful weather by walking around downtown quite a bit more. We headed back to the house for some lunch, and the rain picked up again, so we ended up just watching a movie.
We went out with a couple people for an hour or so this evening, and now we're getting ready to call it a day.
There is a sort of 4th of July celebration here in Köln on Saturday that we are planning on going to, and Julian has some other plans also. We plan on spending Monday in Amsterdam, and hope to just drive back Monday night. It seems a bit silly to pay out the wazoo for a hotel room if we're only two hours away from the house.
My laptop's internet is down (will be back up tomorrow) so I can't upload my pictures right now. Sorry! I'm using Julian's computer right now, so please excuse any typos. This keyboard is just different enough to drive me nuts!
That's all from today!
This morning george and I headed back downtown and toured the cathedral. I took plenty of pictures, and we had a great time. After that we enjoyed the beautiful weather by walking around downtown quite a bit more. We headed back to the house for some lunch, and the rain picked up again, so we ended up just watching a movie.
We went out with a couple people for an hour or so this evening, and now we're getting ready to call it a day.
There is a sort of 4th of July celebration here in Köln on Saturday that we are planning on going to, and Julian has some other plans also. We plan on spending Monday in Amsterdam, and hope to just drive back Monday night. It seems a bit silly to pay out the wazoo for a hotel room if we're only two hours away from the house.
My laptop's internet is down (will be back up tomorrow) so I can't upload my pictures right now. Sorry! I'm using Julian's computer right now, so please excuse any typos. This keyboard is just different enough to drive me nuts!
That's all from today!
July 11th, 2008
Quick check in tonight, because it's already after 3:00 AM! (WHOOPSIES!)
We slept in today because it was raining quite hard this morning. Apparently rain is the norm around here (somethings are the same from Columbus to Cologne). Julian had planned for us to meet many of his friends at his favorite club. It was quite an awesome experience. They all spoke English quite well, and were VERY excited to talk to us about America, and about their lives. We were of course more than happy to find folks so interested in talking to us (in English), and they became more and more entertaining as they drank more and more.
Julian's brother has also been hanging around with us the whole time. He just came back 2 weeks ago from Texas as a foreign exchange student. He speaks perfect English, and is quite cool!
New plans are in the works for Touring the VW plant in Wolfsburg next Wednesday with Julian, then meeting Markus and touring the Audi plant and the Alps The following weekend weekend. Then touring Munich and the BMW plant on Sunday, followed by Heidelberg on Monday. It will be quite the amazing weekend I think.
Pictures are up from the Cologne Cathedral yesterday, although they aren't great. I was more than halfway through taking pictures before I found out the camera was in Manual mode, and indoor shots were coming out blurry. Bummer! But the best shots were from the top of the Cathedral, and still look fine.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikef5000/sets/72157606108101189/
We slept in today because it was raining quite hard this morning. Apparently rain is the norm around here (somethings are the same from Columbus to Cologne). Julian had planned for us to meet many of his friends at his favorite club. It was quite an awesome experience. They all spoke English quite well, and were VERY excited to talk to us about America, and about their lives. We were of course more than happy to find folks so interested in talking to us (in English), and they became more and more entertaining as they drank more and more.
Julian's brother has also been hanging around with us the whole time. He just came back 2 weeks ago from Texas as a foreign exchange student. He speaks perfect English, and is quite cool!
New plans are in the works for Touring the VW plant in Wolfsburg next Wednesday with Julian, then meeting Markus and touring the Audi plant and the Alps The following weekend weekend. Then touring Munich and the BMW plant on Sunday, followed by Heidelberg on Monday. It will be quite the amazing weekend I think.
Pictures are up from the Cologne Cathedral yesterday, although they aren't great. I was more than halfway through taking pictures before I found out the camera was in Manual mode, and indoor shots were coming out blurry. Bummer! But the best shots were from the top of the Cathedral, and still look fine.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikef5000/sets/72157606108101189/
July 13th, 2008
Last night was the "Cologne Lights" fireworks celebration on the Rhine river. We headed downtown to stake out a spot along the river with Julian's friends at about 5:00 PM, and stood their until the celebration on the river began at 11:00 PM. I have never been downtown to Red White and Boom, so it's probably an unfair comparison, but HOLY COW I have never seen anything like this celebration. They had massive speaker stands setup around the whole area, and when the thing actually got started, they absolutely blasted music, and it was all EXCELLENT! At first, 45 massive yachts and tour boats came up the river with a bunch of lights. Then the pulled out a small barge full of fireworks, and the party started! The fireworks went with the music just like Red White and Boom, but there were so many more fireworks, it was like a continuous finale for 35 minutes, and the music was just so powerful it was fantastic. The fact that all of this was happening right in front of the massive Cologne Cathedral just added to the intensity. It made it seem absolutely worth the 6 hour wait. Then it was over though, and we were stuck in the middle of an estimated 1 million people, all trying to get the heck out of there. The US standards of personal space are obviously non-existent here, as EVERYONE is pushing in EVER direction. I was shuffling through the absolutely massive crowds, smashed in between thousands of people, with my hands in my pockets, one holding my wallet, and the other holding my camera. The subway ride was also quite hilarious. Can you say "Can of sardines"? We made it back around 1:30 AM and headed straight for bed. It felt AMAZING getting off my feet.
I narrowed my pictures down quite a bit, but there are still 45 of them in this collection. I also took a video with my camera, but I have yet to upload it.
Pictures:
http://flickr.com/photos/mikef5000/sets/72157606137975694/
I narrowed my pictures down quite a bit, but there are still 45 of them in this collection. I also took a video with my camera, but I have yet to upload it.
Pictures:
http://flickr.com/photos/mikef5000/sets/72157606137975694/
July 15th, 2008
AWWWWWWWW I just wrote a huge email about how amazing Amsterdam was, but when I went to send it, it failed AND I LOST IT!
I do not have the patience to rewrite the whole thing right now... so I'll just pass on the pictures.
There are over 100 pictures from yesterday (did I tell you how much I loved that city?).
Hopefully I'll get to write the email again later this evening.
Pictures:
http://flickr.com/photos/mikef5000/sets/72157606180134151/
I do not have the patience to rewrite the whole thing right now... so I'll just pass on the pictures.
There are over 100 pictures from yesterday (did I tell you how much I loved that city?).
Hopefully I'll get to write the email again later this evening.
Pictures:
http://flickr.com/photos/mikef5000/sets/72157606180134151/
July 16th, 2008
We spent today in Wolfsburg at the VW factory and headquarters. It was a very interesting experience. Quite a strange place, but very cool non the less! The screwed up and put us in the German factory tour, but it was what we were looking at that was impressive, I didn't need to understand what the heck they were talking about.
Tomorrow begins our 4 or 5 day trek. Not exactly sure what we'll be doing, or where we'll be doing it, but it should be a good time! Hopefully I'll be able to keep emailing updates.
Now for pictures!
Yesterday we went to a large observation deck on the top of a 28 story building in downtown Koln. It was pretty cool! Not too many pictures, and I didn't bother naming them.
Pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikef5000/sets/72157606208454129/
Tomorrow begins our 4 or 5 day trek. Not exactly sure what we'll be doing, or where we'll be doing it, but it should be a good time! Hopefully I'll be able to keep emailing updates.
Now for pictures!
Yesterday we went to a large observation deck on the top of a 28 story building in downtown Koln. It was pretty cool! Not too many pictures, and I didn't bother naming them.
Pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikef5000/sets/72157606208454129/
Then todays shots from Wolfsburg! LOTS of these!
Pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikef5000/sets/72157606208982655/
Pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikef5000/sets/72157606208982655/
July 19th, 2008
Been too Busy (and too far from an internet connection) to shoot out an email lately, sorry!
George and I took the high speed train to Nurnberg Thursday morning, and spent the day walking around the city. We are officially in Bavaria now, so things are looking much more like the Germany that I have learned so much about from the movies.
We were sitting out front of the train station when Markus pulled right up in his cute little car. Meeting up couldn't have been easier. From there we went to Alfmeir (Markus's Company) and got quite the tour of the facility.
Friday we headed straight to Ingolstadt to tour the Audi plant. We were stuck on the German tour again, but it was still excellent. After the tour we spent some time in the museum and I took plenty of pictures.
From there we headed to Fussen and took the hike up to the base of the castle that inspired the Disney World Castle. (Again, many pictures, all of them better than Markus's)
Then we headed to Garmish, which is apparently Opa's favorite city in Germany. The balcony in our hotel room looks straight out at the Alps. It's an absolutely awesome view.
Markus has some great sounding plans for today, which will land us in Munich tonight. Markus is leaving tomorrow morning, and George and I have reserved spots for a tour at the BMW facility down there. Monday afternoon we will be taking the train to Heidelberg and Meeting up with Christine (my relative) and we will stay there for a day. Tuesday we will be heading to Stuttgart to spend a day walking the city, and we will attempt to get into a tour of the Porsche plant. Then Tuesday evening we will head back to Cologne. Wednesday we have no plans, and Thursday we will be on our way back home.
That's all for now. If our hotel has internet tonight I'll be able to upload pictures and I'll get out another email.
George and I took the high speed train to Nurnberg Thursday morning, and spent the day walking around the city. We are officially in Bavaria now, so things are looking much more like the Germany that I have learned so much about from the movies.
We were sitting out front of the train station when Markus pulled right up in his cute little car. Meeting up couldn't have been easier. From there we went to Alfmeir (Markus's Company) and got quite the tour of the facility.
Friday we headed straight to Ingolstadt to tour the Audi plant. We were stuck on the German tour again, but it was still excellent. After the tour we spent some time in the museum and I took plenty of pictures.
From there we headed to Fussen and took the hike up to the base of the castle that inspired the Disney World Castle. (Again, many pictures, all of them better than Markus's)
Then we headed to Garmish, which is apparently Opa's favorite city in Germany. The balcony in our hotel room looks straight out at the Alps. It's an absolutely awesome view.
Markus has some great sounding plans for today, which will land us in Munich tonight. Markus is leaving tomorrow morning, and George and I have reserved spots for a tour at the BMW facility down there. Monday afternoon we will be taking the train to Heidelberg and Meeting up with Christine (my relative) and we will stay there for a day. Tuesday we will be heading to Stuttgart to spend a day walking the city, and we will attempt to get into a tour of the Porsche plant. Then Tuesday evening we will head back to Cologne. Wednesday we have no plans, and Thursday we will be on our way back home.
That's all for now. If our hotel has internet tonight I'll be able to upload pictures and I'll get out another email.
July 23rd, 2008
We had an amazing time out and about with Markus all over Bavaria, and then Christine and Walter in and around Heidelberg. Despite our lack of planning ahead, I think everything worked out extremely well.
I took TONS of pictures with Markus, and they tell the story much better than I can. All I can say is that George and I were both just floored by everything Markus was showing us. Look at the pictures. We ended up in Munich to find out that this weekend they are celebrating the city's 850th Birthday! Quite the celebration! We had a blast... until it was time to find a hotel.
After we left Markus we took a train to Heidelberg and met up with Christine and Walter at the station. We spent the afternoon and the next day all around Heidelberg, Happenheim, and Mannaheim. We went downtown, to the Heidelberg Castle, and to an Auto/Train/Plane museum in the area. Cool Stuff! Again... Lot's of Pictures! They all were extremely generous, and we had a great time.
Porsche and Benz would not allow us to take the tours (cross them off the list of my next car!), so Christine took us to the largest dealerships in the area and we were able to get up close to all the models, and we got a handful of literature.
Rain moved in, so instead of taking the train on Tuesday to another city to walk around before we headed back to Cologne, we ended up sleeping in, and taking the train directly to Cologne. We were cruising at over 160 MPH in the train!
Yesterday evening we went bowling again, and had a great time.
I've gotta run! But free up an hour and check out the pictures:
Pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikef5000/sets/72157606330716729/
I took TONS of pictures with Markus, and they tell the story much better than I can. All I can say is that George and I were both just floored by everything Markus was showing us. Look at the pictures. We ended up in Munich to find out that this weekend they are celebrating the city's 850th Birthday! Quite the celebration! We had a blast... until it was time to find a hotel.
After we left Markus we took a train to Heidelberg and met up with Christine and Walter at the station. We spent the afternoon and the next day all around Heidelberg, Happenheim, and Mannaheim. We went downtown, to the Heidelberg Castle, and to an Auto/Train/Plane museum in the area. Cool Stuff! Again... Lot's of Pictures! They all were extremely generous, and we had a great time.
Porsche and Benz would not allow us to take the tours (cross them off the list of my next car!), so Christine took us to the largest dealerships in the area and we were able to get up close to all the models, and we got a handful of literature.
Rain moved in, so instead of taking the train on Tuesday to another city to walk around before we headed back to Cologne, we ended up sleeping in, and taking the train directly to Cologne. We were cruising at over 160 MPH in the train!
Yesterday evening we went bowling again, and had a great time.
I've gotta run! But free up an hour and check out the pictures:
Pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikef5000/sets/72157606330716729/
My Favorite Pictures!
(Click For Larger Image)