Our driving loop took us to Northern Germany first as we traveled through small towns and visited the mud flats on the North Sea and Baltic Sea. It took us quite awhile to get used to driving on the auto bans. Cars that appear like a speck in your rear view mirror blow past you in a matter of seconds. Scary!
Part of the reason for our route was to try and find the home town of my paternal great-grandmother. According to the immigration records on Ellis Island, she was from Werbelow, Russia. There is no town in Russia called that, so one of my theories is that at the time she came over, this part of Germany was Prussia. No confirmation of that but we visited the town none the less in case future research proved true.
Our route continued through Berlin and then headed south towards Munich. We took a side trip to Innsbruck, Austria and then headed back into Germany near the southern Alps. Southern Germany is really beautiful. Our trip to the top of Zugspitze (highest point in Germany) gave us magnificent views. It was freezing up there and we were wearing shorts. What were we thinking?
When we got to the Bavaria region the weather turned bad. It was pouring down rain the day we were to visit the Neuschwanstein Castle (the castle inspired Walt Disney to create the Magic Kingdom) the low cloud cover hid the castle in the clouds. We waited out the rain in a bakery eating German pastries. As soon as the clouds lifted we headed for the castle. Torrential downpours started again as we finally reached the castle up in the mountain. We were soaked, not a fun visit. But we saw the castle.
Next was the Black Forest Region. The geranium baskets on the houses were beautiful! Great idea for Logwood! We drove through the spa town of Baden Baden and visited Triberg so we could get a Cuckoo clock. We think of that town every hour when the bird pops its little head out and lets us know it is still alive.
On our way to Frankfurt, we took a river cruise down the Heidelberg River through the locks. It was very relaxing passing through the towns and seeing castles on the cliffs. We met a guy in a bar in Heidelberg that lived ten miles from us in the United States (orbit!) and made arrangements to meet up again at a sports bar/restaurant in Frankfurt the night before our flight out. Before leaving, we visited the towns of Damm and Aschaffenburg, where my maternal great-grandfather was born and baptized. There was an American restaurant in Aschaffenburg that had GREAT breakfasts and real coffee! We were sick of cold cuts and yogurt. For an unplanned trip, we had a great time!
