We just recently returned from a short trip that included Germany, France and Luxembourg. This time we tried a slightly different model for travel - it involved limited use of road maps, no GPS, and where possible no hotel reservations! It was an incredible way to travel... not a good way, but incredible nontheless.
We did have a reservation for several nights when we first arrived. We traveled up to Koblenz, Germany - a spot that we had briefly passed through 35 years ago. Back then it was cold, wet and I was sick. This time I wasn't sick. We did have a chance to walk down to the Deutchen Eck, or the German Corner where the Rhine and Mosel rivers come together.
The following morning we drove up to Cochem, which is supposed to be the most picturesque spot on the Mosel. Our hotel was right on the river, and it was really nice. Would have been even nicer if anything had been open in town, or if the car park was a little closer to the hotel. It was six block straight uphill through really narrow streets.
We chose to drop the car at the Frankfurt train station the next day, which on paper looked pretty good. Finding the station was actually pretty easy, finding AVIS at the station - not so easy! We finally found the office and got the car returned in time to get taken for a ride - literally and figuratively by a Frankfurt cabbie.
We were in town for a trade show - Paperworld at the Messe Fairgrounds. This is a truly impressive facility. Ten multi-floor buildings each floor probably in the area of 100,000 square feet. We spent parts of four days on mostly one floor of one building!
On Tuesday morning we set off for the train station again to pick up another car, only to be told that we had to go "downtown" to get it. How much more "downtown" can one get than the Central Train Station? Fourty five minutes after arriving, we drove off in out rental car bound for La Barouch, France. I dare you to find it on a map without Googling it! Five hours later we slid into town, halfway up the Vosges Mountains outside of Strasbourg, France.
Susan had e-mailed the hotel ahead of time to see if their restaraunt would be open. They replied that while it wouldn't, several others would be open in town. Well, as we went out for dinner with our friend Maria Pfaff, we came to realize that perchance our hotel had erred - there was nothing open. We finally found a pizza place open in an even smaller town 15 miles away.
On our way back to Germany to fly home, we decided to head back by way of Trier, Germany and Luxembourg. This is where the no resevrations came into play, and it wasn't fun. We did find a hotel in Trier that was convenient to the Autobahn (and nothing else!). It was affordable, but bore a striking resemblance to a flop house. We chose to go elsewhere, and headed into the city center - specifically towards the Porto Nigra. We found a great hotel and after only 40 minutes managed to get to it.
Turns out that Trier is a pretty interesting place, and we'll try to get back there for a more complete visit - maybe even in warm weather. Our trip back to Frankfurt was highlighted by a very quick side trip to Luxembourg where neither Susan or I had been before. Because we had plenty of time, we took mostly back roads and really enjoyed a relaxing ride.
It was a successful trip and we managed to survive the lack of reservations etc. Next time, oh heck, next time will have its own set of challenges which we'll deal with. I'm already looking forward to it.
No comments:
Post a Comment