Going back to last week...
Last Wednesday (June 26th) was a normal work day. I woke up, went to the lab, left the lab, went to the gym, and went back to my room. Thursday was more of the same. Ursina and I had to do a calibration of the Vicon system to ensure all of our results are indeed valid. We had to run 10 separate tests of 10 trials each with markers at specific locations on the body. We finished before 4:00pm so I left early. Normally I would never want to leave work early, but because I still had to get ready for my Germany trip I was fine with it. Thursday night I washed some laundry, visited my friend who will be going home soon to Denmark, and packed my backpack for the next three days.
Here was the itinerary I made for the trip:
Friday
6:04 depart from Bern (4 train changes)
12:59 arrive in Rothenburg ob der Tauber
16:06 depart from Rothenburg ob der Tauber (3 train changs)
21:44 arrive in Berlin
Spend the day exploring Berlin
Sunday
00:13 depart from Berlin (3 train changes)
10:17 arrive in Nürnberg
12:02 depart from Nürnberg (0 train changes)
13:12 arrive in Munich
17:28 depart from Munich (2 train changes)
23:56 arrive in Bern
I wrote notes in my phone on the trip. My writing from here on out will be a little more like a diary.
Train to Berlin. I slept to Basel. Relatively flat with hills in the distance as I passed Baden-Baden.
It's 9:37 and I think I'm done taking naps. I went to bed around 1:40am last night and woke up at 5:00am to catch the 5:48 train from Bumpliz Nord to Bern. Anyways, I am really tired.So far I have had 2 train transfers. Both went smoothly. I pretty much slept the whole time on the first two trains. Now I'm headed to Ansbach. I'll get there around noon and by 1:00pm I'll be in Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Looking forward to seeing the city. The country side so far isn't anything special.
Met an American on the train from Ansbach to Steinach. She is actually more German. She lived from age 10 to 16 in Germany because her dad is in the army. Now she is visiting friends for a few weeks. Now on a train from Steinach to Rothenburg (finally) and it is full of handicapped students. Must be some kind of field trip.
It's 12:44pm and I feel overwhelmed as I think about how much I have traveled so far and how much I still have left today. Sometimes I wonder how I orchestrated all of this.
Rothenburg ob der Tauber...
Entering Rothenburg ob der Tauber
Staircase along the city wall
View of part of the city
Another entrance
On top of the wall looking in
On top of the wall looking out
I ate a schneeballe (snowball), which is a ball of wide strips of dough covered in chocolate or powdered sugar, etc. It is kind of crunchy and tastes like shortbread cookies.I liked it but it was nothing spectacular.
Center of the city
It's 17:47 and I'm happy my phone is charging from how much I have used it today (foreshadowing without knowing it at the time). Only one more train to take after this one and I'll be in Berlin. Hopefully, the hostel is easy to find.
It's going on 6:00pm and this is one of the longest feeling days. Too much time on trains and the landscape isn't anything compared to Switzerland. The train I am on is going 225km/h.
I woke up at 9:00am. Left my european outlet adapter for my phone charger on one of the trains I was on yesterday (foreshadowing complete). I asked the person working at the front desk of the hostel if she would let me charge my phone on her computer. She said yes. I walked around for about an hour and a half and then headed back to the hostel to pick it up. Saw a few soccer fields, a track that was locked, and went into a grocery store.
People like to wear fanny packs in Berlin.
It's 2:26pm. I started walking at 9:30am and besides sitting down to eat lunch (salad) I have been walking ever since.
Walking down a nice nature trail. Old man walking a ways in front of me stops. He looks back for awhile and definitely sees me. Now I'm only about 10 meters away from him. He starts walking again and farts. Nice.
Lamborghini Aventadors that drove pass me as I was walking to my first tourist site. The coupes cost 397,500 usd and the convertible roadster (white) costs 441,600 usd. I plan on having one in the future.
A theatre or museum or something. I met a family with a guy wearing a Red Wings shirt in front of the building. He saw my Michigan shirt from a distance and yelled, "Go Blue!" The guy lives in Ann Arbor.
It started raining around 3:30pm. It rained lightly and then stopped. At about 6:00 it started again with some strong wind but it didn't last for long.
Berlin wall
Currywurst with ketchup and bread. Like a bratwurst but with curry spices. I also had doner kebab (kind of like a Turkish burrito/shawarma/gyro), schnitzel, and a Berliner (jelly filled doughnut). Heiner talked about all of these foods and said I needed to try them. Doner kebab was the best.
Suppose to be one of the best German biers. I asked a local (appeared to be an experienced drinker) who was purchasing some bier in the liquor store when I was and this is what he recommended. Tasted like beer to me.
TV Tower (has a restaurant in it) is 368meters tall. It is the tallest structure in Germany.
The coolest looking building in Berlin in my opinion
Holocaust Memorial
It's 2:00am on the train and the Drunk Germans won't shut up. Guys laughing and having a jolly ole time.
3:00am and now I have a 2 and a half hour wait.
Bench that I slept on in the Leipzig train station as I waited from 2:56am to 5:26am for my next train.
Bavarian style Castle
View from the castle
Last but not least, Munich...
Train to Munich is going 300km/h. Getting there quick!
X Games Munich
Big air competition
Olympic Stadium
Random skater laying down his best trick.
Mountain bike Slopestyle course
Train back to Bern. It's 9:14pm. I found an opened bag of peanut M&Ms with a fair amount left. Should I eat them? 9:23. I gave in and ate one. Only one though. I'm waiting a little bit to see if anything happens. 9:28 I have now confirmed the M&Ms to not be poison and have claimed them to be mine. I ate them all.
I took 696 photos on the trip so it took me a long time trying to select the ones I wanted to use in this post. I loved the trip. By the time I was back in Bern last night I was exhausted. I walked the most I ever have in 3 days. Rothenburg ob der Tauber was my favorite city. A must-see city for anyone who is traveling in Germany.
Today (Day 32) was sad. We had a farewell party for Setareh. She is leaving for Denmark tomorrow. Another really close friend I have made here.
I lived in Germany for two years and never visited Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Guess I need to go back ... what did you think of Munich? That's one of my favorite cities in Germany. It's cool that you were able to go to the X Games. It's funny timing - I'm reading your entry about the X Games just after ESPN announced that Detroit lost the bid for the upcoming X Games to Austin, Texas. Boo! :)
ReplyDeleteYou need to go to Rothenburg ob der Tauber. It's tucked away from the major traveling routes, which is probably why a lot of people don't check it out. There is only one set of railroad tracks to the city so when you go you have to take the same way back. Munich was really cool. Unfortunately, I only had time to go to the Olympic Park for the X Games so I didn't get to check out all of the architecture. Austin, BOO!
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