It's About the (RV) Journey....: Detour from the RV journey........

Wow, its been a long time since I've posted anything! This post is really not about the RV journey per se. Since my last post, we put our camper in storage for a couple of months, and traveled many many miles. We've driven across the country in our car to the East coast-spending a great week with our kids in Virginia, another week with my parents and sisters in south Jersey, and then north Jersey to visit friends, doctors and dentists. It was just so great to see everyone! Really!! Except for maybe the medical visits-hahaha.

Then off to Germany for two weeks! It was not a spur of the moment trip...oh no...it had been planned for years and postponed several times. We struggled with the idea of postponing it for a few more years, when we settle down in a stick and brick, but decided against that for various good reasons.We thought if we put our "house" in storage it would make sense to do all the traveling at once...east coast and Germany. I'm sure this is more information than you need, but other full timers may benefit somehow from our experiences. It certainly was a long time to be away from "home"! A lot of advanced planning was required to get all of our medical and dental appointments in, and to find when our family and friends were available. Lots and lots of planning. Our next trip to visit family/friends/doctors will most likely be much shorter and by plane since we won't have so much to cart around in the car and the added complication of an international trip. That was the last of "big" trips....right Tom??

Once we came back from Germany, we spent another several days with my parents, then a follow up dental visit before arriving in Virginia, where we are right now. This is our last stop before heading "home". These visits have to last us a few months! I'll be honest...that is the hardest part of this amazing lifestyle.

I really had no pictures to post here.....I don't want to invade my family and friends' privacy, so....after much internal debate, I am posting some pictures from Germany...even though it is not part of the RV journey. Now is the time to close this post if you aren't interested:)

Our first stop was Berlin. We arrived too early for check-in, but we were able to leave our luggage and spend the day touring. Funny, our hotel in Berlin was decorated with beautiful photos of scenic spots in the U.S. Antelope Canyon was one of the first pictures that caught my eye!

recognize the photos? Antelope Canyon right behind Tom

Right down the street from our hotel was the Berliner Dom, and not too far from that...the Spree River, where we took a boat tour through the old and new sections of Berlin. We then used the city tour hop on-hop off bus to get an overview of the city, getting out at only a few stops since it was getting late in the day.

Berliner Dom

inside the church

Holocaust Denkmal (Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe)

Brandenburg Gate

Berlin Wall

the Wall

other side of the Wall

Check Point Charlie

Check Point Charlie area

Check Point exhibit

plaza outside our hotel in Berlin

We love walking and being outdoors, so we took the time to walk through the Tiergarten in Berlin, and found our way to the Berlin zoo. This huge park was amazing and very big...and a great place to ride a bike! Berlin, and many of the cities in Germany, are biker friendly. There are many many people that ride bikes to work, and school, and shopping. Nicely and safely, due to the many bike lanes both on the street or on the sidewalks. I really liked that!!

Tiergarten

Berlin Zoo

cute

we see you Mr. Hippo

After all the walking (I'd guess at about 8-10 miles total!), we took a nice long break at the very happening "place to be" area in Berlin....Kurfurstendamm....or the Ku'damm! Its the happening coffee/cake spot in the afternoon, and the drinking spot at night. Oh, and the main shopping area! We had a good time relaxing and enjoying the people watching, while gathering our energy to get the hop on-hop off bus to get back to the hotel. Hahaha. Actually,the break revived us and we found the energy to check out the DDR museum down by the Spree River, which was intriguing. So glad we had some time to check that out!

enjoying a beer

a coffee

and amazing apple strudel

DDR Museum

photo of the wall (East/West)

Trabant-the East German car you had to wait years to get

depiction of a typical East German home

interrogation simulation-not fun!

Next stop....Dresden! We traveled by train between the cities we visited. Our hotels were located close to the train and the areas within the city we wanted to explore. It was great not to have to rely on buses or taxis within the cities we visited. We were able to walk everywhere!

The Dresden City Centre was a short walk from our hotel and was truly magical. The buildings are so old! The detail is incredible-not sure how they did that back in the day! The plaza here was enormous, with many beautiful churches and castles. The Residenzschloss and the Zwinger were two castles we explored while walking. Again, the city had a beautiful park we walked through! We took advantage of another scenic boat tour this one went down the Elbe River. We floated by several castles and I took tons of pics of some of the very scenic countryside. Though the day was "raw", there were many people out and about enjoying the parks and the outdoors. And, always bikers! Not just bikers in spandex and helmets....but in regular street clothes and shoes. No big deal. I was especially happy to explore Dresden...a city where Jess (our daughter) worked for a summer when she was in college. I guess its a mom thing!

trains were awesome

hmmm....I know enough German to interact at the Baeckeri

gorgeous green fields....in October!

sunflowers for as far as you can see

Dresden....plaza in Old Town

restaurant row!

boat tour on the Elbe River in Dresden

Prosit!

park in Dresden

beautiful

early morning in Dresden

exploring before catching the boat ride down the Elbe

at the Zwinger-each bell chimed separately-nice!

Zwinger

view of old town Dresden from the boat

pretty chilly!

random views of the countryside

castles and houses throughout

Pillnitz Schloss

more countryside

oldest working suspension railway ever (1901)

check this out

Worked up an appetite on the boat ride! Love those wursts! (not me...I'm partial to the pretzels!)

Entertainment! Really good too!

decadent heisse scholade on the plaza

one of the German words I know!

zwei heisse schokolade, bitte

cheers! to a wonderful visit in Dresden

staying warm with hot tea under the heated umbrella!

On to Saalfeld....and Tom's cousin! Wolfgang and Ursel were the best hosts! We had such a great time with them!! I was glad I learned a teeny tiny bit of German-it helped somewhat. Good thing Tom is fluent. Our favorite sayings were "left field" and "top secret", when I didn't understand. Too funny. Lots of laughs.

It was great to be able to ask them about German culture too. So much to learn. I just loved the garden houses. I don't think we have them here in the U.S. A garden house is on a small plot of land away from your house, almost like a second home. Great place to relax or entertain. And garden, of course! There are also garden house colonies, which seem to be garden houses very close together. I took lots of pics of these from the train. They are all over Germany.

We visited so many places with Tom's cousin we never would have seen on our own travels. The town of Saalfeld is so picturesque...lots of winding cobblestone streets. Old and new buildings. Several castles. Shopping in the plaza. The views from above the city were especially nice. We also took a nice walk in the countryside, and saw the view from East Germany into West Germany (where they could not go) that they had to endure for so many years. Can't imagine life like that....without freedom.

that's traveling light?

enjoying another train ride

garden houses-aren't they cool?

love this idea

Opi's hometown

here we are....Tom's cousin's (2nd floor)

Wolfgang and Ursel....the best hosts!!

gourmet soup to start

Prosit!

skyping Jess and Andrew

no, that's not our hotel...we are next to it!

old monastery

concerts held here now

lots of explanations and background...very interesting!

Oberhof -Wnter Sports training center-luge

they go really fast as you know

Olympic training takes place here

Oberhof -Winter sport center (bobsledding, luge, ski-jumping, biathlon all happen here)

have you ever seen indoor skiing??

downhill and x-country skiing

nothing like a ride on the autobahn!! We actually went 220 KPH! (140mph)

walking through the woods in the Thuringia area

a spot where you could see West Germany from East Germany, but could not get there-can you imagine?

Freedom right over there

more walking in the beautiful nature

this sign says "watch for poisonous snakes" - though its old and outdated!! Thankfully!!

view from Wolfgang and Ursel's deck

lunch

window shopping in Saalfeld

the center of town in Saalfeld

Wolfgang and Ursel's garden house

view of Saalfeld from above

heisse schokolade

more cruising around Saalfeld

sadly, we are leaving Saalfeld

Nuremburg...another beautiful city! We arrived late in the aftenoon and were immediately drawn to the "old town" section...with many plazas, shopping and eateries. The next day, we logged many miles exploring this lovely town!! At the top of the hill is an old castle, with amazing views of the countryside beyond. Again, the churches and buildings were so picturesque...and we had fun
window shopping, especially at the outdoor vendors. There were many opportunities to take a break and have a drink and just "take it all in". So nice. Oh, and we almost had a visit to the hospital...the same one Jess was in when she visited Nuremburg with Andrew. Leaving out all detail, someone had an issue with a kidney stone. In a word...excruciating. Amazingly, things worked out okay and we continued on to Munich. Very scary moments (hours!) though!!

Nuremburg-lots of vendors along the plaza

and churches

cheers!

Nice place...overlooking the plaza

early morning-beginning our exploration of Nuremburg

lots of streets in the old town area

and beautiful churches too

walking around-taking it all in

very picturesque area!

more heisse scholade...near the castle

Nuremburg's answer to Munich?

castle on the hill above the old town

lots of (uphill) walking today!!

very cool castle

great views from the castle

produce on the plaza!

picturesque!

which way Susie?

time for some refreshments

we did a lot of walking!

isn't that beautiful?

Prosit!

Next stop...Munich. After a relatively short train ride, we arrived in Munich and had a beautiful afternoon ahead of us. Since all appeared to be ok (the kidney stone issue), we traveled by tram to Nymphenberg Schloss, an amazing castle with gorgeous grounds. The access to the grounds are free, and I think the locals come here every weekend just to walk around and enjoy the beautiful surroundings. I know I would too! There are tours available as well...but it was too late in the day for us. Besides, we were just thankful to be feeling good and able to walk around!

We made it to Munich!!!

even went to Schloss Nymphenburg

doesn't Tom look good? Amazing difference from last night!

very extensive grounds, and very popular with the locals!

The next morning we put on our hiking shoes and spent the day and night in "old town" Munich. One of the most famous places in Munich is the Marienplatz and the glockenspiel. At this time of year, it only goes at 11am. That's it. We were at the train station getting tickets for the next day's adventure, so we race-walked to get there and just made it. It was very special....so glad we were able to see it. Much later in the day, we sat at the cafe across from it to have dinner....and the bells went off, but no glockenspiel action! Lots of people were standing around waiting for something to happen...and were a bit disappointed.

We had the whole day, so we decided to explore the Residenz, the former residence of Bavarian Kings. We took the tour of the Residenz, which was divided into two tours...the residence itself, and the treasure area, where gifts to the kings were displayed. It was so incredible inside. We were allowed to take pics with no flash, but I've just posted a couple. The outdoor gardens are open to the public, and are also beautiful. The real gem is very close by..and that is the Englisher Garten. Many many people were enjoying the park in the beautiful weather. After all the walking we did, we also had some good eats in the Marienplatz! Great people watching too!!

Marienplatz!

A close up of the action

Residenz-gold table settings for about 100!

one of the hallways in the Residenz

lunch

outdoor grounds of the Residenz

Englisher Garten

German ducks :)

The Englisher Garten was beautiful!

Surf's up in Munich!

surfing at a river in the Englisher Garten

German dinner-across from the Glockenspiel

Sue's "German" dinner!

our view at dinner...nice!

On ~~our~~ my wish list was a visit to Schloss Neuschwanstein in the Bavarian Alps! This is the ultimate in fairy tale castles (an inspiration for Disney's Cinderella Castle). The setting is amazing, and the views from the windows were just magnificent. We toured the inside, sorry no photos allowed.....and it was beautiful. This castle was King Ludwig II's, and we were shocked to learn that he only spent 172 days there. The castle was never finished...but what is finished is amazing. To get here, we took a beautiful 2 hour train ride, with the Bavarian Alps in the background, then a bus. It was a full day adventure to be sure. There are other castles in the area open to tours, but we only went to this fairy tale castle.

At the base of the hill are several hotels and restaurants. Oh, forgot to mention, the hills! Lots of "up" to get to the castle, and then the tour involved going up 3 flights (each with about 90 steps on a circular staircase!). Lots of walking to be sure!

Since the train would get us back to Munich close to 7pm, we decided to have our main meal of the day at one of the great looking restaurants nestled below the castles. We enjoyed traditional German food in a fairy tale setting!! What a special day!! (Actually, they all are!)

enjoying our meal in Fussen at the base of Neuschwanstein

a "real" German meal

Last stop....Frankfurt. We were planning on visiting more relatives here, but unfortunately it did not work out. Tom's cousin took a nasty fall, and we were unable to visit her. In lieu of visiting, we spent the day walking around Frankfurt's "old town"....window shopping, eating, drinking, as well as walking along the Main River. The town was getting ready for Christmas...and we watched as the Christmas tree was erected in the center of the town square.

walking along the river in Frankfurt

old and new buildings!

Romerburg area in Frankfurt

is that wool?

old town Frankfurt

And now...the road is leading us back "home"! We have been able to enjoy a bit of the fall beauty here in the east as we visit with everyone one more time before heading out. Let's see where the road takes us! (Phoenix!)