First Time in Germany

Emily, a friend and former colleague, was on a business trip to Frankfurt last week. Her meetings took place over two days in the hotel at the Frankfurt airport. She didn't even leave the hotel/airport over those two days. But thanks to the cancellation of a third day of meetings and the OK to stay an extra day before heading home, she had two days for an introduction to Germany. What to do?

Day 1 started with the train trip from Frankfurt airport to Koblenz where I met her at the train station. Emily arrived early enough that we could come back to the apartment for a German breakfast (see previous post).

About 10am we headed south for a tour of the "Upper Middle Rhine Valley", a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We began a Braubach with a tour of the Marksburg castle. This castle, built in the 12th century, is one of the few that have never been destroyed. Upstream we stopped at the Loreley. The story of the Loreley distracting the ship captains with her song and her beauty and causing them to wreck their boat brought on the observation, "It just like men to find a woman to blame their mistakes on." Later, we crossed the river using the auto ferry at Kaub, during which we could get some good view of the toll castle, Burg Pfalzgrafenstein. Next we spent a couple of hours exploring Bacharach, a village with a fantastic collection of half-timbered houses and great wines, and its Burg Stahleck. Finally we drove back to Koblenz to explore St Kastor (we were lucky to find the door open so we could see the interior of this Romanesque church that dates back to the 800-900 BC) and Deutsches Eck.

Day 1 finished with dinner at home consisting of very German menu of roast venison, apple sauce, rotkohl, potatoes, rote grutze and a Bacharach wine. Of course that also meant a conversation around the table until jet lag got too much about 11pm.

Day 2 involved a tip to Cologne to see the Cathedral, another UNESCO World Heritage Site, lunch in a traditional Kölsch pub, a bumble through the Altstadt, finishing at the Chocolate Museum. The last stop was to the sake of Emily's two boys.

Day 2 ended in the Koblenz Altstadt walking trough the stalls of the Christmas Market and having a pizza at a small Italian restaurant.

5am the next morning, we drove to Frankfurt to catch the 8:00 flight.

Well I realize, we only glimpsed a small part of what is Germany. Given the time available, I think we did a pretty good job putting together an introduction. Time will tell if it was enough to simulate the wanderlust for some follow-up trips.