Saturday morning, we’re up bright and early, and off to the Köln Bonn Airport. After managing to convince Continental’s computer systems that Liz isn’t a security threat, we enjoy a long but uneventful flight back to Newark, where we part ways with Anne, stand in the time-warp of the world’s slowest airport security line, are overwhelmed by tacky nationalism (and surprised that “America! The Store” doesn’t carry America: The Book, truly baffling!), and Liz and Karla watch in horror as I take deep and satisfying pleasure in the eating of A&W; chili cheese fries. Then it’s just a (relatively) short flight to Cleveland, where our journey concludes with a reminder of the joys of home ownership.
germany, photos, travel
Friday continues as we hop a train from the airport and arrive in downtown Köln, in the shadow of the Dom. After picking our jaws up off the ground, we hike down to the Chocolate Museum, wherein we witness much chocolatey goodness. Continuing the train theme, we take the Shoko-Express from the Museum back to the Dom, where we wander around the interior for a while, followed by dinner at Hausbrauerei Päffgen, where we discover the joys of Kölsch, the local beer, and make friends with a bachelor party. We do a bit of sightseeing and souvenir shopping as we walk back toward the Dom (finally getting some good light on this otherwise grey and difficult photography day), then take the train back to the airport, by which point it’s time to head back to the hotel and make sure we’re all packed up for our return to the US.
At this point the map gets a bit moot; this batch of photos is all at number fifteen on the itinerary.
beer, chocolate, germany, photos, travel
Friday begins in Beilstein; after a tasty breakfast at Hotel-Haus Lippmann, we narrowly avoid a confrontation with a gang of rowdy swans, and then we’re off for a drive along the Mosel toward historic Burg Eltz. We spend an hour or so visiting the castle (alas, photography is not permitted inside the guided tour portion of the castle), then hit the road for Köln, where we check back into the Holiday Inn, return our rental car at the airport, and hop a train into the city for further adventures.
For those following along with the map, these photos are from numbers thirteen, fourteen, and fifteen on the itinerary.
- Mood:photographically inclined
germany, photos, travel
Thursday continues with a stop in Zell (home of the famous Zeller Schwartze Katz), a scenic drive along the windy Mosel, and our arrival in romantic Beilstein, a place out of time, instantly charming. We check into historic Hotel-Haus Lippmann, home of the duke who originally ruled Beilstein, have a lovely dinner on the terrace above the river, and do a bit of twilight sight-seeing before concluding our evening with drinks and dessert on the terrace as night takes hold.
Got the map handy? (Good!) These photos cover items twelve and thirteen on the itinerary.
- Mood:photo-tastic
- Music:Rusted Root – “Cat Turned Blue”
germany, photos, travel
This is another half-day post as about a quarter of the photos we shot for the week were taken on this fifth day (Thursday) in Germany.
Our day begins in Worms, with a visit to the Martin Luther monument (the largest in Germany), a return trip to the Dom (quite worthwhile, I think), and a stop at the morning market. We then hit the road and head for the Pfalz, driving through Bad Dürkheim to Deidesheim to tour the cellar and taste wine at Weingut Basserman-Jordan. We lunch at the favorite restaurant of former Chancellor Helmut Kohl, where a sudden and much-needed rain soaks us as we’re finishing up; then it’s back on the Autobahn as we head north to the lower Mosel…
If you’re following along on the map, this block of photos covers items ten and eleven on the itinerary.
- Mood:photoriffic
- Music:Einstürzende Neubauten – “Alles”
germany, photos, travel, wine
Bloody hell, it’s been almost twelve days since I’ve posted any new photos from the Germany trip. Harrumph. I guess that’s what happens when I let myself get distracted by other things: houseguests, complete disassembly of the office/computer space to prep for painting, work, catching up with Tivo (I can’t believe I’ve gotten Liz hooked on “Eureka”, woot!), catching up on long-overdue library DVD’s (Paradise Now, Munich, and, somewhat embarassingly, Aeon Flux, which at least I didn’t have to pay for), slogging bravely through Neal Stephenson’s The Confusion, and going to Oktoberfest with ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
geoffimusprime.
Today was part one of the annual two-day company pep rally thing for this year, which, on one simple fact alone, instantly qualifies as the best so far: free beer coupons for happy hour. Hooray, beer!
I have at least rated, retouched, and sorted the remainder of the vacation photos; hopefully I’ll get around to posting them over the coming days. And then I’ll have to find something else to blog about for a while. 
- Mood:swamped
- Music:Vaux – “Are You With Me?”
beer, books, germany, house, life, movies, photos, travel, tv, work
Day four concludes in Worms, the oldest city in Germany, where we rejoice at a local gelato bar, visit Dom Worms (and the interior too), and after a tour of Valckenberg, are treated to a fascinating history lesson, dinner, and wine tasting by our host, Wilhelm, including an excursion to his personal cellar.
If you’re following along with the map, Worms is number ten on the itinerary.
germany, photos, travel, wine
Leaving Rüdesheim behind, the fourth day begins at Johannishof-Eser, just down the road in Johannisberg, and continues with a mid-day visit to Schloss Johannisberg (dating back to the time of Charlemagne, it is the origin of the “Cabinet”–later “Kabinett”–quality designation), where we visit the vineyards, the basilica, and see the sights, including another amazing panoramic view. Then we get back on the road, go around the narrow one-way streets of Geisenheim a couple of times, and head for Worms.
For those following along with the map, this block of photos covers item nine on the itinerary.
…
This is only half of the intended post for today, but I have unfortunately had an opportunity to learn some important lessons about the FlickrExport iPhoto plugin, which caused me to lose several hours to tagging, re-tagging, and re-re-tagging all of those photos. Yuck! So I’ll be back hopefully before too long (hopefully tonight?) with the second part of this set, covering our afternoon and evening in Worms.
- Mood:third time’s the charm…
germany, photos, travel, wine
Our third day (or fourth, depending on how you count the air travel) begins in the sleepy village of Mehring and takes us to the touristy avenues of Rüdesheim on the Rhein, with wine tasting appointments along the way at Schäfer-Frölich in Bockenau and Krüger-Rumpf in Münster-Sarmsheim, by ferry across the river, and concludes with a cable car ride and spectacular vineyard views from the mountains overlooking Rüdesheim, Bingen, and the Rhein.
For those following along on the map, this batch covers numbers five through eight on the itinerary.
My skills with the new camera continue to improve; there’s a lot of stuff in this batch that I’m quite proud of. Enjoy!
- Mood:artistic
- Music:The Chemical Brothers – “Surface to Air”
germany, photos, travel, wine
The second chunk of photos (56!) from our trip to Germany starts here. This batch begins on Monday at midday on the Autobahn; after having rendezvoused with Karla and our luggage (and converted to lighter clothing, hooray for shorts!), we set out south toward the Mosel for a series of wine tastings: Dr. Loosen in Bernkastel, Clüsserath-Weiler in Trittenheim, St. Urbans-hof in Leiwen. If you happen to be looking at the map, this batch covers items one through five on the itinerary, plus an intermediate stop in Piesport to take in the view, concluding with our arrival in the village of Mehring.
There’s some pretty good stuff in here (if I do say so myself), including a few of what I’d consider to be the stand-out images of the trip. I’ll probably be posting the next batch over the weekend, so stay tuned!
- Music:Coldplay – “A Rush Of Blood To The Head”
germany, photos, travel, wine
