Bacharach - Rothenburg ob der Tauber - Dachau - Reutte
Our hotel room in Bacharach was the nicest one on the entire trip with a full living room, kitchen, and nice outside deck overlooking the river. It didn’t have air conditioning but at least they provided a fan that we plugged in to cool down. Funny thing though, at first we couldn’t figure out how to turn on the lights and power. After asking others, we discovered that inside the front door, there was a slot where you had to insert your room key card to turn on all of the electricity. Bacharach was a picturesque village, but seemed rather sleepy and quiet. Maybe most of the locals were away on holiday! Another local guide gave us an informative tour of the town and shed some light on history and the effects of the holocaust on local residents.
The next day we were driven up the river to St. Goar, and went to a shop that sold beer steins and cuckoo clocks, and received a demonstration on how the steins were made. After a nice lunch of bratwurst and sauerkraut, we walked up to the Rheinfels Castle where another local guide gave us a tour of the castle and ancient fort. Afterward we rode a riverboat back down the Rhine to Bacharach for dinner.
The next day we were driven up the river to St. Goar, and went to a shop that sold beer steins and cuckoo clocks, and received a demonstration on how the steins were made. After a nice lunch of bratwurst and sauerkraut, we walked up to the Rheinfels Castle where another local guide gave us a tour of the castle and ancient fort. Afterward we rode a riverboat back down the Rhine to Bacharach for dinner.
Rhine Valley: Bacharach & St. Goar Photos & Slideshow
Next day was a drive to the medieval walled town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber where we spent a single night. Oddly enough we wound up eating dinner at a Mexican place called Restaurant Don Gallo. The owner had attended college in Germany, and decided to bring his family here and open the restaurant. After dinner we all gathered in the town square, and enjoyed the Night Watchman tour that provided insight into the town’s history. There was also a shop in town (Anneliese Friese or The Friese Shop) where the owner (Bernie) knew Rick Steves, and had various photos of Rick as a youngster.
Rothenburg ob der Tauber Photos & Slideshow
As we continued onward, our next stop was to visit the former concentration camp at Dachau. Here we had yet another local guide that gave us a sobering overview of Nazi Germany, and described the atrocities that took place during the war. We visited the gas chambers and crematorium along with the bunks where the prisoners slept. It was a very moving experience, and I feel that everyone should be given the opportunity to see this, so as not to forget what happened during the Holocaust. Our next stop was for lunch at a monastery brewery’s biergarten called ‘Andechs’ that featured big pretzels and big beers!
Dachau Concentration Camp &
Andechs Monastery Biergarten Photos & Slideshow
After a final stop at Wieskirche in Bavaria (an oval Rococo church, designed in the 1740s) we finally arrived at our destination for the evening (The Alpenhotel Ernberg near Reutte in Austria). Here we were treated to an evening performance by two guys in lederhosen playing accordions and singing humorous and entertaining songs. The next day we took a day-hike through the forest to lake Alpsee (where some of our crew took a swim) and then continued on to the Neuschwanstein Castle. After a tour of the castle we enjoyed lunch and rides at a summer luge track (Sommerrodelbahn Tegelberg) before returning to our hotel for a second night. Next morning was back on the bus driving past Innsbruck and across the Europabrücke bridge into the Italian Dolomites.