Well, I got to the train station in plenty of time for my train, only to discover there was no train that morning due to some track work up in the mountains. I was going to have to ride a Bahnbus as far as Bischofshofen. Since it was a bus rather than a train, that meant no coffee, no WC, just stay glued to the seat, and none of the scenery I'd seen on the way in to Austria and had half hoped to try to get a couple pictures of. With this weather that would have been impossible anyway, of course. (The substitution is the reason for the red line on the master trip map, even though it did later turn into a train journey.) There was worse to come; the bus driver was one of those who is convinced passengers want to hear music all the time. The music was awful, with something to offend anyone's taste included, and unlike many other passengers, I didn't have anyone to visit with because my pack filled the seat next to me(the shelf above was just about big enough for a purse), because I didn't want to wait while he got it out from under the bus for a tight connection in Bischofshofen.

Once we got on to the IC at Bischofshofen, I got some coffee, but we were already 12 minutes late and I was afraid I was going to be spending three hours in the train station in Salzburg. My 20-odd minutes to change trains were down to 10 by the time I got there, I had no idea which track my next train would be on, and this was not a little two-track station. I found two at "my" departure time, and neither mentioned Tüßling, where I'd have to change trains again, but only one was a RegionalBahn, so that ought to be mine. I sat down near what looked like the front and waited for the driver to show up. . . and the train started off in the other direction. It did stop in Tüßling, where I had a 20-minute wait and a conversation with a young girl waiting for the same train. She got off at the next station, but my ride was longer. Burghausen turned out to be end station, where everyone else walked across the tracks and climbed up a curb/wall I could see I couldn't manage, so I followed the blacktop out to a street and around to the bus stops. I couldn't figure out what bus I needed from my city map, but found a schedule for one that listed Stadtplatz as a stop. My hotel was there somewhere--as it turned out, only a few yards from where I got off the bus. There's a church just at the end of Stadtplatz, the Pfarrkirche St. Jakob, consecrated in 1140, but later partly burned and now Neogothic, with a combination of steps and path leading up to the castle behind it that I figured I'd probably be coming down the next day.

I had to go into a covered alleyway to reach the entrance to the hotel proper, then up stairs to Reception and ring for help. My hotel room was only a few feet further in, though, and this one even had a mini-kitchen with a refrigerator that actually, as it turned out, kept things cold, compared to the mini-bars in the last two places, which only managed cool. I hadn't seen a grocery store yet, though I found a bookstore when I went out taking pictures around the Altstadt. In den Grüben, a much narrower street, was originally the quarter where craftsmen and such people lived, and that was where I later did find a grocery store and Bananemilch, among other things. The buildings in the Stadtplatz(left) belonged to richer people.

     Later I walked along the river, which looked high from the recent rain. The alleyway running under the Bayrischer Hof, my hotel, was used to reel in boats on the river, with a cable running across the Stadtplatz and down the street to where the bridge is now. Then I went into the restaurant downstairs and had my supper in the no-smoking dining room. I wanted something Bavarian, since I was in Bavaria now, so I actually ordered something that included Knödel, but decided they're just too dense and heavy for me. The meat and the Sylvaner were both great, so it was no big deal.

Tuesdays museums are open. It was castle time! But they don't open very early, and I was awake and hungry early, so even dawdling over breakfast didn't make it nearly late enough to start. Besides, it had been raining really hard when I woke up. (Good thing I took my Altstadt pictures Monday.) Eventually it seemed to stop and I started out--still too early. It hadn't really stopped raining, but it was light rain by then. I was hoping the museums and cafe in the castle would open at 9, but figured I could kill an hour with the walk and exterior shots of the longest castle in Europe. That's what I had to do, as not even the info office was open before 10. Neither was the cafe. By the time I got to the end where the main museum was, it was 10, though. I had taken a lot of pictures by then, despite the rain that refused to go away.

I took shelter in each gate as I came to it to consult my Burgführer and map, trying to figure out which of the 6 courtyards I was in, but I misplaced one, because when I finally came to an unmistakeable one, my numbering was wrong. The one with the little "pepper pot" towers was a good place to take a panorama of the city below, though. By then I was looking for a place to spend a little dry time as I waited for a museum to open, and I found a roofed area with a bench at the top of the stairs/path down to the city, so I sat there trying to sort out my foto record for a little while. I found the cafe just before 10, but decided to visit the museum, which was further along, then come back for coffee afterwards. It's the city museum and has all manner of interesting stuff inside, including some late medieval bits of pots and such they found when they began excavating for an underground parking garage for the Altstadt.

the "pepperpot" towers

A woman who works there gave me all kinds of interesting history tidbits as we looked at a model of the city in late medieval times I'd have liked a picture of, but it was under glass, and even though she said it was OK to take a picture, it doesn't work through a glass case when you can't turn off the flash(the price of a camera I can carry in my pocket). I should have tried anyway, because that particular model isn't in the book I bought on my way out. There were three rich dukes in a row who really built up the castle a lot. Landshut was the center of government, but this was home. But later there were no sons, so there was a succession war--a familiar story.

      After fully exploring the museum and drying off, I bought the fattest of the guidebooks and several cards to show what the castle looked like dry and headed for the cafe. By then I needed not only coffee and something to eat, but a chair, because I'd been on my feet for quite a while. Then I took a few more pictures, but now it was windy as well as raining, so I went down the Burgsteig to St. Jakobskirche. The steps were solid, but covered with wet leaves, so I was going down very carefully. Back at the Bayrischer Hof, I had a real meal and read my new book, which turned out to be as much about the city of Burghausen as the castle, which helped me sort out some of the other pictures I'd taken, too.

Wednesday-Friday, October 8-10: Gelnhausen and more

      It was dark, cold, and rainy at the bus stop, even though I'd had a good breakfast, but there was a shelter. I'd have had a shorter wait if I'd stayed inside a while longer, but I'm always afraid I'll be late, particularly when good connections are few and far between. I was also early at the train station, but so was my train, so I could soon get into it and sit there in warmth while I waited for it to start. (There are advantages to endstations.) The train stopped more times than I expected on its way to Mühldorf, my first change, which threw me off, but I had no problem making the connection.
     Across the aisle from me on the way to München was a woman on her way to Tibet! Then when I got off that second RB, there was an ICE across the platform. It listed some of the same cities I knew I'd be going through on my next leg, but not Fulda, where I had to change trains yet again. I thought about getting on and taking my chances, but wanted to check the schedule first and it pulled out before I was sure. My original itinerary had suggested getting off my RB one stop earlier, leaping into a local S-Bahn across München to the station past the main one where I was standing, and catching the exact ICE that had just left. It had been late leaving the Hauptbahnhof and I could have taken it, had I been a little braver. I might not have found a seat I could stay in for the entire trip, though, and my pause in München let me get a reserved seat on the next one and have a large cappuchino sitting still.

Brief pause to throw in a couple pictures and explain Gelnhausen: I'm a great fan of the Hohenstaufen emperors, particularly the one I call my emperor, Friedrich II. When an internet friend suggested I might like to visit Gelnhausen because it's a historically interesting city and offered to be my local guide, I didn't hesitate long. There is the ruin of one of their favorite residences there as well as a lovely Altstadt. Not only that, but there was a hotel Burgmühle located, according to a book I have with a whole chapter on this particular residence, right where an early castle mill was located. Resistance was futile.

     Back in Munich, it wasn't really long after my transactions that my trains were there. It was two attached to each other, one headed for Bremen and the other somewhere Bremen was not on the way to. I couldn't find car numbers on the outside, so I got in and began walking through them. A conductor told me the one I wanted was in the other half and that the numbers were outside, but I still didn't see them as I got out and walked along to the other part, where I finally found my seat, which I had to take away from someone else(which has happened to me often in the ICEs that I prefer to reserve a seat for myself when possible). It was getting to be the middle of the day, and an InterCityExpress had to have a place to eat. Yes! It was not just a BordBistro but an actual restaurant! I could sit down and have a meal! It wasn't a hot meal I chose, however, because I found Schinken, Salami, and assorted Brot to have with my Apfelschorle. German ham, salami, and German bread and rolls I was not going to be able to get much longer. I got some Feldsalat and a couple fresh cucumber slices, too. It was delicious. Eating on the train is relatively expensive, but a it was lovely break in a 3-hour stretch of the day's trip.
     In Fulda, north of Gelnhausen, I changed to another local train that took me southeast to Gelnhausen. I had now used up my German RailPass, so I asked about tickets and connections for my Friday trip to the airport. It was really crazy; for the same distance I could pay as much as 17,60 Euro or as little as 5,90 and the time was almost the same! The difference was what combination of trains I took.

The train station wasn't on the map I'd copied from Gelnhausen's Internet site, but an arrow with "Bahnhof 100m" pointing off one corner was pretty obvious, so I walked up that direction, found a Post where I got a couple more stamps, and walked along a street that had to connect to the one leading to my hotel, which I could soon see ahead of me.       It takes a view from above to show the whole Burgmühle. I asked whether there was still a millwheel around, and there it was behind glass, but actually with water apparently turning it, on the back wall of one of the restaurant rooms.      I called my volunteer guide, and before long he appeared to take me on a walking tour through the Altstadt. I didn't try to take notes on exactly what I was taking pictures of, but he later drew our route on my map for me. (He also took my picture with some wall.)

It was beginning to rain again, but I still managed to take quite a few pictures, some from shelter of various kinds. It was getting too dark for my film(I was only using ASA 200 for fear of security x-rays), so I stopped taking pictures after the Hexenturm(right-->). We kept walking, though, until the rain got heavier, when we took refuge in a cafe to warm up with coffee(me) and chocolate(him) and visit in comfort for a while. Then the tour continued through the city park in the former Graben between inner and outer city walls to a couple good outlook spots where we could see the lighted-up churches and shadows of towers we'd been closer to earlier.

      I was soaked when I got back, so I draped my jacket in the bathroom, changed my shirt, and went in search of supper. Finding a place to sit in the restaurant was simple enough, but getting food was not. I had something to read and needed to write up the day in my trip diary, so I had something to do, but I was hungry! After a while a young Italian woman joined me in my wait. It seemed there were no menus available, so I asked for a Weinkarte. By the time we managed to get someone to take our wine orders, there were finally menus so we could order food as well. There was a large party in the next room and no menus were available until they had ordered. The next day I discovered there were librarians all over the hotel, staying here while they visited the Frankfurter Buchmesse(book fair). It was nice having someone to visit with during dinner.
     The sky was clear when it began to get light the next morning, but clouds were gathering before 9:00. Breakfast was delicious, the Brötchen were warm and varied, as was everything else.

Today we were going to travel by car, as we'd be visiting not only the Kaiserpfalz here in Gelnhausen, but some castles further off. But it was too early for that, so first I saw some of Gelnhausen in daylight that I hadn't seen or seen only in darkness. We visited the Godobertus chapel, all that remains from an older castle that used to be here. This time I could also take a picture of the city from a tower we climbed, instead of just looking, as I had the evening before. Because a main traffic route came up the Kinzig, which was navigable this far up back then, and then through Gelnhausen, wagon width was determined by the narrowest spot in the town, which has to be in one of my pictures, but I donÕt know which one. We visited an old Apotheke with all the original cabinets, etc. Gelnhausen has a public bath from medieval times, too. And because it was in the middle of the Altstadt, tightly surrounded by other old buildings, the old Jewish synagogue has survived here. I took more dry pictures of the Altstadt, and then it was late enough for the Kaiserpfalz museum to open.

The amount of Fachwerk in the model of the town was not really 13th century, but it was interesting looking at the earlier version of the town. Then we were let into the castle grounds while she took a group of children through the introduction. Naturally I began taking pictures fast before they came inside! It really is lovely and has lots of Staufer windows with the usual varied column styles dividing the arches. Much of the dressed stone missing from the site is in use around the city; my friend pointed some out and later I spotted some more--it's much better dressed than other stone in the same building.       We had hurried a little not only because of the impending rush of children, but also because my friend had arranged a guided tour of Ronneburg for us. It's big, impressive, and there was a lot to see. Although our guide was very good, there were a few nits I could have picked with her when she generalized about medieval life in general. (I was good and didn't say anything to her.)

It's a great castle for reenactments, and they have them in the summer. I saw a couple siege weapons out in the field and took their pictures. The castle well was hacked out 96 meters through solid basalt. A few workers died of asphyxiation before they figured that out and built an enormous bellows to blow air down the shaft. She poured some water down and we had to wait and wait quite a while before we heard the splash from the bottom. Hauling it up was also major work, using a big treadle wheel that had to be worked by people, because an animal wouldn't know exactly when to stop so as not to break anything or spill the water, so the people in this castle probably really did not get many baths. The well-house is 13th century.

I did not choose to climb to the top of the Bergfried--over 120 steps--but I did have my picture taken in the stocks with the aid of our guide, who made sure I had a tight fit. Then in the Burg Restaurant I had Himbeerkuchen(I also love raspberries) with my coffee and we visited while I rested before setting off for Büdingen(right), a traditional rival of Gelnhausen's for centuries. It also has a lovely Altstadt and a very impressive castle. Although it is normally possible to take a guided tour, we couldn't do it that day because a big international conference was going on there just then.

     Since we couldn't get into the castle, I bought all the postcards of Büdingen I could find to go with the pictures I took of the Altstadt and then of the city wall and the park in the dry moat between the two city walls. We'd been lucky so far; despite gray skies we weren't being rained on, but now it began to rain again. There was another castle in the area we could have visited, but we'd only have been able to see it from the outside and the rain was getting worse, so once we were back in the car, we went to a castle-alternative: my friend's house, where his wife fed me coffee and cookies and we talked and talked and I met their daughters. Since I like to sit and visit and drink coffee anyway, particularly on such a gloomy day, I enjoyed myself thoroughly. Later a friend of theirs, a school principal, came over for supper and we also talked shop, among other things, until fairly late in the evening.
     Because I'd been later than usual getting to bed, I managed to use up some extra time in the morning sleeping before one last great German breakfast. Then it was time for my going-home packing: jamming as many dirty clothes as possible into my cylinder purse with my Swiss Army knife and nail scissors to be "checked luggage" made it really easy to get everything else into my backpack.

I walked across the Wiese(which certainly didn't look like a meadow) through what looked to me like a carnival setting up (Gelnhausen's yearly Schelmenmarkt), and past the big ferris wheel that kept cropping up in my pictures of medieval buildings over to where I'd been told there was a store with Gelnhausen postcards; I wanted some sunny pictures to go with all the ones I took under cloudy (and often rainy) skies here.      Later, after I turned in my key and started off for the train station, I couldn't seem to find it! I had happened on a shortcut, I discovered, so although I was close to the tracks and could see trains passing by not far off, I couldn't find the station itself at first. Once I did, I bought my cheap ticket for 5.90 Euro, saving better than twice that amount by taking the S-Bahn from Frankfurt Tief Bahnhof instead of walking across to an IC or ICE.

      Getting to Frankfurt's main station was easy, but then I had to find "Tief". OK, so I was looking for a 3-digit "deep" station. But where was the S-Bahn? Right or left? When in doubt, ask the nearest warm body. I asked a nearby young man which way to the S-Bahn and he, fortunately, knew because he'd just come from one. I needed to go left and had originally started off to my right, so I'd have been some time finding the one I needed without his help. OK, found the big green S sign, but it was directing me to 2-digit trains and I needed one with 3. Aha! An elevator with S and 3 digits--but the wrong ones. Yet another Aha! A second elevator. Inside the elevator there were two choices without labels, but the lowest had to be mine. It was a long way down--definitely deep. Next question: which side? The man at the window in Gelnhausen had told me that I'd want the one headed for Wiesbaden, so as soon as such a train showed up, I got on. It had a map of the system over the door, just like the ones in Munich, Vienna and Berlin subways, but I was shoved so far from it that I couldn't get a good look at it. After some of the crowd got out, I got closer and saw two possible routes for my train, going the same direction but with a different number of stops.
     Well, after managing to get off at the right place, I had to find Terminal 1 at the airport. Got that, but which of the half-mile or so of Lufthansa desks was I supposed to go to? Last time I was on my way out of Germany, I tried an assortment of them, only to be sent off to United. This time I really was supposed to fly Lufthansa, but it took a couple tries to find the right spot. I got the usual reaction to checking the smallest thing I was carrying.
     After going through the x-rays I found a place to sit down and eat and drink yet another Apfelschorle, then headed down to my gate area. Just before it, my poor films and I had to be x-rayed yet again. Penalty for having a high gate number? That was at Gate 60; mine was 62. After sitting there some time, those of us who were early had to get up, go out and get in line with the latecomers, and come back in again, but eventually we got into the plane. My seat partner was a German exchange student, part of a group headed for Tomahawk, Wisconsin! They were scattered all over and were trying to get people to exchange seats so they could sit with each other even before we were ready to take off. She was soon gone and I had a young man from Finland next to me. I had a wee bit more knee room in this Lufthansa Airbus than I'd had in United's 777, which helped, but when it proved impossible to sleep because of the heat, I discovered it was also extremely difficult to read, because when the woman in front of me shoved her seat as far back as it would go, it blocked my ceiling light almost completely!
      The plane did finally arrive in Chicago, my daughter rescued me and took me back to her house, where my dog had hysterics upon discovering I was still alive, and ere long I was sound asleep.