Wanderlust

Wanderlust is defined as "a strong, innate desire to rove and travel about." It's not something that can be held back, no matter the circumstances. So we saved up our pennies and dimes and took a budget road through Southern Germany. Here is the map of our route, I'll include more details below!

    So "Q" is Bingen, our home, where we departed Thursday August 16th, headed for Strasbourg, France. The drive was less than 2 hours and really nice. The views were mostly flat with a few rolling hills, and lots of futuristic looking windmills(typical here).  We spent 2 nights in Strasbourg so we had one evening and one full day to explore. Our hotel was cheap, the beds were fairly miserable and the hotel was kind of falling apart, but had a few charming details and was a in good location, so in the end we were okay with it. By the way- I booked all of the hotels (with Simeon's approval) so I have every right to put them down :) Anyways, Strasbourg was really a great city! Since we had recently been to Amsterdam and they are both canal cities, it was hard to not make comparisons. They were each unique in their own way- Amsterdam with small canals, tight streets, and dark, brick buildings while Strasbourg was a little more open with German style architecture. I preferred Amsterdam but I would also recommend a visit to Strasbourg- for no longer than 2 days though as it's fairly small and easy to cover a lot of ground.

     We left Strasbourg (B on the map), headed for the Black Forrest (C on the map) to visit Simeon's friend Praveen and his girlfriend and her son. It was wonderful to have a clean place to stay for 2 nights. They were lovely hosts and I had a great time getting to know both Praveen and Miriam better.    On Sunday we went to their church and a sweet lady translated for me, which was awesome because I was able to really soak up the message while Simeon did the same. That afternoon we went into the mountains, which were beautifully full of trees and grass. We had staked out a lake to relax at and when we finally found it, realized we were not the only ones with this idea. It was a decent walk from the car to the lake but totally worth it. The water was situated on the middle of a mountain amidst the forrest. The only negative was all the people.. it was a good sized lake and we had a challenge finding a spot to sit. Finally we ventured under some wire to sit in some high grass up on a hill. There were other people there so I didn't even consider if it was safe to touch the fence, but Miriam said we better be careful. I used some shorts to grab the lower 2 wires (not sure if that helps) and sure enough it was fine. We got settled on our picnic blanket with the outdoor elements and Simeon and I got ready for a swim (more specifically, I balanced on a log in the water while he swam). As we returned to our spot, Simeon seemed very unsure about touching the wire fence.. but I reminded him that I had held it for the group to pace under earlier. He persisted that it must be electric and I just could not understand this as I had touched it and was 100% positive it was not. I quickly set out to prove my point by firmly grasping the top wire to the middle wire and BAM I felt a very strong, unusual force run up my arm, through my body, and a quick black out. Needless to say, a second or two later when I returned to complete consciousness my confidence about the state of the wire had faded.

    We left Praveen's Monday with a final destination of Bichlbach, Austria (G on the map) where our hotel would be. But on the way we made several stops. First, at the Rheinfall (D on the map), which is the largest plain waterfall in Europe. The water was really blue and it was tempting on the hot day to jump in but we held off for our next stop, which was Meersburg (E on the map). However, when we arrived we realized there was no swimming area :( so we enjoyed seeing the town and the beautiful Lake Constance (Bodensee), ate a currywurst and headed on to Lindau (F on the map). It was a smaller city than I had imagined, although we really just explored the little island. It was also much less touristy than I had expected. We walked along Bodensee, through the village, took a relaxed swim, enjoyed eis, and cocktails before the storms rolled in. We drove rather briskly to Austria as the official "check-in" time at our "hotel" was at 10 and we were cutting it close. As we drove into Austria  the lighting bolted around us and the thundered roared, we saw dozens of massive mountains and could only imagine how they would look in the sunlight. When we reached our destinations we quickly unpacked the bags and wandered into the "restaurant" of the hotel where we found a slightly rough bunch who gave us the key  to our room. We lugged the bags up the dark stairwell to find our quaint, wooded room- no towels, no sheets, no trashcans, and a little dirt and maybe one toenail on the floor.. what I should have expected for 25$ a night I suppose. We survived both nights and ended up being really thankful for the absolutely stunning views around the hotel and directly off our balcony. We stayed about a fifteen minute, breathtakingly beautiful, drive from the "castle region" where 3 of King Ludwig II's castles stand. I had been to the foot of Neuschwanstein (the castle Disney was modeled after) 2 summers ago but did not have the opportunity to tour it as one in our group (if you know my family you can guess who), was not up for dealing with the crowds. So on this trip I arrived determined to see it no matter the price or the overwhelming groups of people. But... then it was 24 euros and a long line and we said ... hmm..no. I can now proudly say I have been to Neuschwanstein twice.. without actually entering it. We did however find some grand alternatives.. such as tobogganing with the castle in our view as well as paragliding directly over it! We also found time to visit some less toursity but just as magnificent castles later in the trip. A couple hours of our day in the castle region were spent on a frigid river (which flows directly out of the mountains).  There were a few families on the rocky shore but we saw no one in the water. It was just too much of an adventure for us to resist, so we stuck in our tippy toes, only to find them in deep pain. I'm not talking about "wow that's cold!", I'm talking about straight up pain. So the only solution was to jump in, full force. We found an area that got deep enough for us to float in and enjoyed jumping in, screaming and moving with the water, running out as quickly as possible, and hopping in again- it was delightful and refreshing on a hot day. Our last evening in Austria we made a spontaneous hike up the mountain right out our bedroom door. We began along a creek, crossed it, walked through a strange deserted area of cabins (we did not see one person or animal along the hike), and eventually made it to the top. Each step gave us a new indescribable view- so I won't even try to put it into words. We saw the sunset at the top- around 8:00 and decided our descent needed to be speedy, as it would be dark soon. We held hands and took our time on the very steep parts, and managed not to fall even once! It got pitch dark about 20 minutes before we arrived back but thankfully we had a flashlight and made it home before 9:00. That was definitely one of the highlights of the entire trip.

view from our hotel room in Austria

river we swam near Füssen

      The following morning we had our paragliding trip, which was almost canceled because of the weather but it cleared up just in time and we loved every minute of it. Beautiful views, flying like a bird, and fresh air.. who could ask for more? Next stop was Starnbergersee (J on the map), where Simeon spent several years going to camp. It was cool to see where he has so many fun teenage memories. We hung out on our own little slice of beach (rock) for an hour or two and even witnessed a pony on a leash with his human and dog family. Too funny.

    We then had a short drive to Munich (K on the map) and arrived at our hotel before dark eager to explore the city we spent our first weekend together in as an official couple (on a trip my family had planned a year before me meeting Simeon). We spent 3 nights in our nicest hotel yet, which was not saying much, but it was a chain, so we trusted that everything was clean and we had all the basic amenities you would expect at any hotel (clean sheets, soap, a trash can hehe). But seriously, I felt like a queen. The only downside of the hotel was the staff- very unhelpful and almost rude. Luckily, we are youngsters who find it easy to receive everything we need via the internet but I saw many people seeking basic help from the "concierges" and receiving a cold shoulder. There was one sweet, older American couple I saw go to the front desk at least three times asking about a tour to Salzburg so finally I interrupted the concierges weak attempt to say she couldn't help because she was new by offering to look it up at the computer in the lobby. They ended up being from Atlanta, the wife grew up in Alabama, and I had a fun conversation with them about my travels, their plans, etc.
   Anyways, other than the unfriendly hotel staff, our stay in Munich was pleasant. The first morning we mostly explored the city by bike. We spent the afternoon at the English Gardens, which is what makes Munich such a special city, in my opinion. There are huge open areas on grass, surrounded by trees, where young and old accumulate to nap, flirt, kick the soccer ball, picnic, etc. The gardens also contain a small, but long, fast flowing river, which can be surfed or swam. Two spots have been created, by the placement of logs, to create perfect waves for surfers. The first time we were here, the first weekend Simeon met my family, he made a little show for us by jumping into the flowing water in his whitey tighties. We later returned, during the trip, to enjoy the swim all together. Rain or shine, we were going to swim in that river on our trip this time. We first enjoyed lounging in the grass on our picnic blanket with lunch and our bible study book. After a little resting we realized it was turning cloudy so we quickly worked up the courage to hop on in. The fun... or not... of this river is the temperature. It wasn't AS frigid as the water in Füssen that we rode a couple days prior, but it's enough to pretty much take your breath away. This natural (and fast) lazy river is something that must be experienced by all... such a thrill!
    Our second day in Munich was rainy, so it was slightly less productive. However, we did visit the "Deutsches museum", which was packeddddd with informative exhibits. Our favorite was the air/sea  section with tons of old planes and ships. I think it was a little overwhelming for us though and I would recommend to other visitors to either allocate an entire day or just choose one section of the museum to visit. We had two lovely dinners while in Munich and were thankful we had saved money in the previous days so we were able to treat ourselves. One was at "Brenners" and the other "Augustiner am Dom".

Dinkelsbühl

   We left Munich, headed for Dinkelsbühl (L on the map), unsure of what we would find in this little town I saw on the Internet. We drove in through an arch in the city wall and entered to find a wedding party walking across the street into an old church, a horse carriage pulling 12 people in a hay ride style coach, and VERY few tourists. It felt like we had stepped back in time, or into the German version of Seaside. Every building was a fun color, with adorable window frames or shutters, and a nice garden. The town still has its old walls intact and there were loads of tiny streets. It was simply adorable. In such a uniquely German town, you would have expected us to eat traditional food, but the little Asain restaurant was just too tempting.. and boy was I glad we chose it! I ordered fried rice and it was the best I have had yet in Europe! We honestly could have hung here all day, or maybe all week, but we knew we had to stay on track with all of the driving ahead. We had a short drive to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, which was a little larger but equally quintessential German. I had, again, wrongly suspected tourists and found hardly any. Of course, by this time it was late August so perhaps the tourism season was dying down a little, but I think these two towns are definitely less known than so many overrated German cities. Which brings me to the thought of.. why am I writing this in my blog???! I should keep these gems a secret for myself! hehe. But honestly, I recommend these two more than anywhere else I have visited in Germany, as long as you don't mind the more quiet atmosphere, as opposed to a bustling city. Rothenburg also had a city wall that surrounded the entire place, as well as a beautiful hillside situated picture perfectly next to it. We walked about half of the city wall and explored an old abandoned part of the wall/castle.. super cool, no lie. Once again, we had to drag ourselves away, with promises to return again one day.

   By this time, the sun was setting and we had a drive still ahead to Nuremberg (N on the map).  We arrived in the dark to a sketchy seeming area but a surprisingly "nice" chain hotel. We enjoyed the sauna and lobby computers before hitting the hay. We only stayed one night in Nuremberg, so we didn't have quite a full day to explore the city. At first, it was a little disappointing, not that exciting of a city. But THEN we discovered the ballin' castle on the hill. .. so unique and probably way cooler than the castles that charge 25 euros.. so we did a cheap little tour, saw the old well, which was 30 meters deep, some awesome history, and lots of legit armor and weapons.

Castle in Nuremberg

Castle in Nuremberg

     Before hitting the road that afternoon, we visited the Nazi party rally grounds, which was a really well done museum. It was more so about the role Nuremberg played at the center of the Nazi party and during the trials, and Hitler's rise to power, as opposed to the Holocaust, but of course touched on that as well. Of course that made for a somber afternoon but I was really thankful we went. We headed straight from there to Dresden (O on the map), which was a 3.5 hour drive in the rain. By time we arrived the rain had stopped and we followed our GPS to our hotel, straight through the cobblestone city center. After our 10 days of halfway livable hotels, we looked like kids at Chucky Cheese when we arrived here. We had the option of room service, 2 saunas, a steam room, actually helpful concierges, a legit room, and AIR CONDITIONING. We immediately went out exploring and found a really cool outdoor theater right on the river, but all the movies playing for the following days were in German and so we decided against it. The city took our breath away at night, it really was charming, but in daylight we found there was not a large amount to do. We explored the entire day and saw some pretty and unique things but I think a day was enough. We enjoyed great food, relaxed time, and unbelievable weather. We found it challenging to leave our hotel the following morning to head home, but somehow we mustered up the courage, knowing our apartment was waiting for us.

I cannot describe what an adventurous 12 days it was. I am so thankful to have a best friend who loves to explore with me. We love taking turns challenging one another on a daily basis to do new, fun things, and see new places- even if it's just up over that hill, or around the corner.. we wouldn't have half this fun without one another. So here's to more days of satisfying our "wanderlust"! It's off to a new city and start tomorrow.