Bacation Collasas Maximus

The much awaited blog entry for our Bacation Collasas Maximus finally begins. We had a great Bacation--my grandson Hudson coined the word on our way to a Thanksgiving family getaway in Gatlinburg a few years ago. Mom made some notes for me to follow as I try to remember all the great places we visited. We bought a new camera before we left, Mom took pictures of everything from family and friends to spectacular views to a McDonalds menu in Berlin. Unbelievable.

We arrived in Stuttgart on Wednesday morning, May 27. We picked up our rental--Kia Rio--and headed for the Marriott in Sindelfingen. We went to a nearby mall--Brunigerland--picked up some cokes and snacks. We were both suffering from severe jet lag so we laid down for a nice much needed 3 hr. nap. We later walked around downtown Sindelfingen and a nearby park.

Thursday morning we took the S-Bahn to Herringberg which is closeby. We climbed the steep steps of the old church and went to view the marvelous handiwork. We spent a couple of hours walking around and enjoying this typical German town. We then headed down the tracks to spend the remainder of the day in Stuttgart. We visited a museum housed in the small castle there in town. We also visited a small musical museum near the old church. We ate at my favorite restaurant--Block House--had a great waiter named Ali from Pakistan. At the train station in Stuttgart while waiting for our train we met 2 missionaries and talked for awhile about their experiences.

Friday morning we headed out for the Black Forest area. The Black Forest is aply named because of the tall dense trees present there. We walked through some shops and an eager salesman gave us a crash course about cuccoo clocks. What to look for in workmanship and authenticity. It was a beautiful sunny day but very cool. We went about another 40 minutes down the road to Lake Titisee. Lots of boats were on the water and shops and restaurants were plentiful. We ate at a nice restaurant at an outside table. Had a great fresh salad. The waitress spoke no English, but was very pleasant and friendly. As a sidenote the Rio did not have a navi. We got a mapquest from the hotel before leaving on our trips each day. We had to stop and ask directions from a couple of really nice guys who spoke no English but as it turns out the names of local towns and hand directions work pretty well. We got turned around coming home, probably went a little out of our way, but returned to our hotel totally worn out.

Saturday morning we set out to visit Neusweinstein Castle. We were traveling with another couple, Eugene and Toni Price from Northport. Eugene had a company pool car with a navi, so we took his car. Toni input our destination for Fussion and off we were to the castle. 3hours later when the navi told us to get off the autobahn Eugene said something doesnt look right. He had been to the castle several times before and it just didnt look right. As he consulted his map and checked the spelling of our destination and reentered the info we found we were still another 3 hours from the castle. We were about 1 hr from Innsbruck, Austria so we headed that direction and had just a magnificent drive through the mountains of Austria on our way to the castle. We did arrive in time to tour the castle and had a pleasant visit with Eugene and Toni and a beautiful ride back to our hotel.

Sunday morning we drove to Rothenburg, about 1 and a half hours away. I had visited the walled city on my last trip and wanted to go back with Anne. As it turned out there was an annual Medieval Festival that day in the city. There was a parade in the afternoon, lots of horses, wagons, bands, and people dressed in authentic Medieval costumes. There were also some cool old cars driving through the cobblestone streets. We visited a toy museum, bought some gifts for our friends here in Germany. We also bought a Christmas navity carosell and a 3-D picture which is being shipped home. Another exhausting but enjoyable day.

Monday was a holiday here in Germany and schools were closed. We were invited to visit Jenz and Christina Ruttiger and their two children Max and Claira. They live in a small town called Waldenbuch about 20 minutes from the hotel. They live directly behind the Ritter Sport chocolate factory. So we left a little early and got our stash of chocolates. We had barbeque pork, chicken, potatoe salad and a variety of fresh veggies. We had a great visit and it was nice to relax a little with our friends.

Well I am about blogged out. My next entry will begin with our flight to Rome on Tuesday, June 2.