Europe, day 45: A Train of Trains and the City Inside a Wall

After our stay on the ship, we began our most-intensive day of travel thus far. We left Hoek van Holland for Rothenburg ob der Tauber, from the coast of the Netherlands to Bavaria. Our first move was to consult a schedule and make reservations, which turned out to have been to our great advantage. We had previously generated a schedule for ourselves, but as our ship came in about an hour before the first train, we decided to get another opinion and make reservations.

While the the Netherlands, we saw this sign out of the window of the train. It's clearly a joke in English, which is sensible given that the Dutch are generally multilingual – perhaps not quadrilingual as some Belgians are, but at least enough to know English, which did fine for our purposes.

Now, our overall trip was between two smallish cities, so we had to “zoom out” to bigger cities before we narrowed in to the smaller ones, which is very sensible. Unfortunately, bad things start happening when the major trains get late. Thankfully, our planning saved us: we were to change between a delayed train to a mostly-on-time train, but they shared the same platform! We didn't have to rush, only to wait as one train replaced the other. We jumped aboard, and the train departed.

Now, as much fun as traveling is, it's not enough fun to suspend one's hunger like the British Museum can. The trains tend to have a small bistro bar available, which was good for Dad. I, however, was disappointed; there were no vegetarian options! The man operating the bar gave his apologies, and I thanked him, but my hunger went on unshaken.

Rothenburg is an exceedingly quaint town when you take the train; I have heard that parking a car there is very difficult. As one of my professors pointed out, a town become much less “quaint” or “picturesque” when telephone or electric lines are added. The Germans seem to have caught onto this, as there are very few of either above ground. This is all good and well for tourists, but German trains are as electric as possible. As such, one needs to take a small diesel train around something of a loop of small towns that are without the luxury of electric lines.

Upon reaching Rothenburg, we set out for our guest house, but not before we politely declined an offer for rooming from a man at the train station. I suppose one could attempt to “hitch-bunk” across the towns of Bavaria, but I still recommend reservations. The train station was outside the walled city, but our guest house was inside, so it took us a bit of walking to reach one from the other.

Upon reaching the guest house, we were greeted by a most magnificently-picturesque man. His image, especially his frame and his mustache, could sell a great many postcards. I deeply regret that I have no picture to display.

As I had not had all that much to eat, we set out in search of food. We happened across the restaurant "Zum Goldenen Lamm", which had a vegetarian selection on its display menu! I was naturally inclined to pick it as our spot for dinner, and we were most satisfied.

The meal was excellent, and we settled upon a dessert, a relative rarety for us: "Apfelstruedel... mit zwei Gabeln" ("apple studel... with two forks"). It was absolutely amazing! It holds the record for the best apple strudel I had on that trip.

Yet another fascination in the restaurant was its lighting: the lamps hung on a cord with weights attached, which we assume allows them to be raised or lowered with ease and freedom.

After dinner, we set out to explore what part of Rothenburg we could, and we happened upon this scene, only a block or two from our guest house:

I recognized it instantly as a scene I had seen in one of the high-school German texts. (It's rather interesting to find these places on accident.) I was, overall, very intrigued by this discovery, but I must say they picked a good spot in Rothenburg.

Unlike in Belgium, the nights were not a time of great activity. There were, nonetheless, serveral groups of people in the main square (the town hall is on the left), including "night watchman's tour", which we missed, but found later on.

Of all the interesting lore about Rothenburg, perhaps one of the most well-known is that of the Meistertrunk, the masterful drink that spared the city from invasion in 1631. This house was the residence of Mayor Nusch, the man who accomplished the drink.

Europe, day 44: An Abbey, a Tower, and a Ship

On a (relatively) fine Sunday in London, what better place to go to than to Communion at Westminster Abbey? To accommodate our hotel's checkout time, we had to go for the early service, which turned out to be a prayer service with communion at the end. I now know from experience that Anglican communion wine is strong, antiseptic even, and that the wafers are rather devoid of taste.

After checking out of the hotel, we moved on to a tour of London Tower. Our guide, a resident of the tower and a guard, or Beefeater, wore an interesting uniform. (Not a costume, as he points out.)


He spoke in a loud and commanding tone, which is fitting of a man with as much military leadership experience as he. He made for a very good tour guide, of course.


This curious monument stands to those who were executed inside the tower walls, as opposed to the public executions held on the nearby hill. It's in a courtyard that one finds at the end of the tours. The long line is to see the crown jewels. The jewels themselves are big and illustrious, and probably one of the best symbols of excess ever created.

Illusion of a Sword

There was a museum of armaments and armor that had been used during the life of the tower. The collection contains the world's largest and smallest complete suits of armor. Of course, there is a lot of armor, some exotic, some mundane; a whole hall's worth of guns; and plenty of educational games about the early creation of coins, usages of different weapons, and modern defenses.

The London Tower Bridge

Right across the river (literally) from the tower, one can find the London Tower Bridge. The London Bridge is much less ornate and was famously sold to "those gullible Americans who thought they were getting the other one." By this point, we were rather hungry after our five or so hours inside the tower grounds, so we sought a place to eat before catching a train to Harwich, from which our ship was to depart. We were rather hurried, as we had to leave from the Liverpool station, and we had little to no idea as to how to catch the train. (We didn't have tickets, and the EuRail pass is not valid in England.) As it happens, we arrived in Liverpool in time to see the train leave, but not in time to learn how to get on it. We consulted those knowledgeable and found that we could catch a later train without missing our ship. Also, we could justify our travel to be free, and we were never checked to prove otherwise.

Our quarters

Ships may not be the most spacious of vessels, but the accommodations were very good, anyway. It seemed to be in very good repair, and was absolutely facinating besides. We slept well, in preparation for a long day of travel the following day.

Europe, day 43: The sights of London

Big Ben, with the London Eye

The trouble with London is that it has far too much to see in two days. Our first hit list was Westminster abbey, which is right next to the Eye, the Houses of Parliament, and Big Ben. The Eye is madly expensive, and the Abbey is similarly at a generous fee. It does include an audio guide, which is very informative, though pictures are forbidden.

Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey's facade is large enough to make photography difficult. The chimes who take the abbey's name are played by Big Ben. Coincidentally, most of Europe seems to be synchronized to Dad's watch. Big Ben is no exception.

A typical Egyptian pose

The British Museum is really big. Dad and I only got through Ancient Egypt and Greek, taking several hours, and causing me to completely forget about my hunger. I am fascinated by ancient art (not "old art", Brussels), so the Museum was an absolute feast of art(ifacts).

Headband not included

I enjoy trying to copy the poses of statues. I do not deem it fitting, however, to do so naked. The statue and I are both tying invisible headbands after finishing a race. My race was through the British Museum; I didn't ask what he had finished.

The Elgin Marbles

Yes, the British Museum contains a startling amount of artifacts, including those lovingly lifted from their original locations. These marbles once crowned the Parthenon on the Acropolis, but now lounge in the British Museum.

I wish that we had more time to visit the Museum, but like all museums, it closes. Ah well, I guess I'll have to come back some time...

Cleopatra's Needle

Speaking of lifted art, this oft-overlooked piece of Egyptian history and art actually predates Cleopatra. It's one of two; the other is in New York. Maybe there's a connection between having a successful subway system and an obelisk. Anyway, it's under repair, so it'll hopefully be better the next time I visit it.

Europe, day 42: Brussels, the Chunnel, and London

So, as we planned, we were to take the train through the Chunnel to London. The first train we could get in the disconted-for-Eurail-holders bracket was at 2 PM, so we had time to kill in Brussels.

A Church in Brussels

We first visited this church, which, unfortunately, was under construction, so there wasn't too much to see.

An Old/Ancient Fountain

One of the curiosities of Belgium is that it speaks both French and Dutch. This leads to some confusion when visiting an art museum: the French looks like "ancient" and the Dutch looks like "old", so I didn't know which to expect. As it turns out, it was only old art, ca. 1500 and later, in addition to more modern (1800+) art. I am more fond of ancient art (500-), so I preferred the older of the two.

Kriek: Cherry-flavored Beer

We stayed a bit long at the museum, so we were a bit rushed to reclaim our luggage and get on to the train station. We decided to eat at a Falafel-Doener stand that also served beer. While in Belgium, we got a Belgian specialty, kriek, which tasted something like cherry-flavored Sprite, carbonation included.

The trip from Belgium to London entailed a security checkpoint, of which I was not fond, followed by customs. I didn't really have anything to declare, so it went as well as it could for not having an EU passport. (I had to fill out an extra form, but that was painless.) The train itself was very quiet, smooth, and fast. I caught a bit of rest on the train, and everything whizzed by too quickly to catch on film. The France that I saw was not particularly interesting. It took us about 20 minutes to get through the Chunnel, which is a lot of darkness.

We arrived in the St. Pancras station, virtually next door to King's Cross. We needed to take the Underground to get to our hotel, which was quite an experience, as there are a great many people trying to get around and use the Underground. If you fear crowds of people, I don't recommend London. We used the Piccadilly line to get to Earl's Court, where our hotel was. The Piccadilly trains run far underground, so there are a few escalators both ways. We had bought the versatile Oyster cards before arriving, so we saved a bit of time that way.

We had dinner at a "Karma-free" vegetarian Chinese restaurant. The food was good and tasty, and I learned what soy chicken is like. It was rather tough and unlike chicken, but it was passable as meat, interestingly enough.

But in London's West End, why have dinner without a show?

Yes, indeed, we watched Spamalot. It was, on all accounts, awesome. I enjoyed the people who sold killer rabbit plushies during intermission, even though they didn't have albatross. I now have my own killer rabbit, as well.

Europe, day 41: Brugges

Imagine leaving the train station in a city and coming across a lot of bikes. In fact, here's a picture:

A lot of bikes!

Brugges is a very nice city. It's also fairly intact, as it was not Germany or Austria buring WWII. As such, it has a great many churches with beautiful organs and stained glass windows. It's all very ornate, but sometimes seems to run together anyway.

A good view in a good church

Another church, another display.
One of these statues is a Michelangelo.

We headed to a sort of central square, where all the horse-drawn carriages seemed to depart and return. There was also a large tower at one end, which also turned out to be a bell tower: a belfry.

You can climb it, for a fee.

The climb was rather long and tiring. It claims to be 366 steps up from the ground level of the tower's courtyard, but my mind too readily lost count to verify this. It seems right, thought; it's definitely more than 300 from the office to the top, and the office is a full flight of stairs up from the courtyard.

A rewarding view from the belfry

Unfortunately, the bells are now out of tune, so whatever tunes it attempts are difficult to discern.

Europe, day 40: To Brussels

A Gate on the field by Bremen Hauptbahnhof

As planned, Dad and I headed off on our own way Wednesday morning. I had stayed up late packing (again!), and thought that I needed to get another rail pass stamped, so I left around 7:45, arrived at the station at 8:00, then waited for a while. I debated going to get Dad from his hostel, but I decided against it; the weather was cloudy, with bits of rain, and I thought he would realize the situation and meet me at the station. I thought about how hastily I had left, leaving a full bottle of Franciskaner in the fridge without willing it to anyone...

As it turns out, Dad showed up around 8:40, within 10 minutes of our train, and reassured me that our pass was a two-person pass that was already validated. But at least I was ready! Some of my clothes were a bit wet yet, but that can be fixed later. I was amazed that everything fit between my backpack and my suitcase.

As I have come to expect, the train ride was smooth, and our transfers worked out, as we expected. Our hotel in Brussels was rather close to the train station, but it did not have free WiFi. It charged by the hour, with a maximum of 12 Euro for 24 hours. One hour was 6 Euro, though, so we thought it better to avoid paying, so blog updating was not possible.

In Grand Place

After partially unpacking and hanging up my wet clothes, I went with Dad to Grand Place, the ever-alive square where tourists thrive.

Inside the Belgian Brewer's Museum

Right off the Grand Place is the Belgian Brewer's Museum, which cost five Euro apiece for entrance, but included a beer at the end. Apart from the old brewing equipment, there was a room with a very long film that documented many aspects of brews, brewers, and breweries. One memorable note was, “Please, when drinking beer, respect the brewer: serve the beer at the proper temperature and in the glass bearing the name of the brew.” The beer from the museum was served fairly cold, as it was a Pils, and in a specific glass, and I must admit that it was very refreshing.

We went to the tourist office, also off the Grand Place, and asked for the location of Manneken Pis.

Manneken Pis

Manneken Pis is the statue of Manneken, who is... yeah, you get it. The story goes that Manneken, the son of a wealthy family, ran off as a child. His father set guards to find him, saying that, were he found, he would erect a statue of the boy at the spot. Evidently, Manneken was found, relieving himself, hence the statue we know today. There are, of course, a great many souvenirs of Manneken Pis, not all of which are in good taste.

Snack: Belgian Waffles

Belgium has a few signature foods, one of which is the waffle. One can find waffle vendors, most of whom have a variety of fruits and sauces to accessorize the waffle. When they have a table out, you can point and choose your decorations, even though pretty much everyone in a store is at least trilingual.

Avery: Full of Mussels

As our waiter pointed out, there is “no Brussels without mussels!” This brought me to reconsider the lines from Men at Work's “Down Under” about a man in Brussels who was “six-foot-four and full of mussels”, which I thought was “muscles”. Or it could be intentional ambiguity. Either way, we had a gigantic pot of Curry Mussels, and a collection of seafood in rice, called “Paella”. It was very good, and decisively expensive. The beer was good, though.

Germany, day 39: Bremen with Dad

As we had but one day until we left Bremen, Dad and I wanted to see some sights in Bremen. We took the opportunity to photograph the churches I had been to.

There's a well-preserved Medieval part of the city called the “Schnoor”, which, as far as I know, is a unique name. In it, we found a Catholic church, formerly a Franciscan church.

Inside the Catholic church in the Schnoor

We visited the Bremen cathedral, which offered a climb of the tower for an Euro per person, which offered an excellent view of the Teerhof.

Outlook from the Bremer Dom
Apartments are the leftmost red-brick building

The most curious thing about the tower climb is that, upon returning to the foyer down the 200-something stairs, they display two signs on the stair side of the door: “Silence, please!”, and “Caution: Step.”

European Statues

These statues in the Böttcherstrasse demonstrate how comfortable Europeans are with nudity.

Weissbier by Paulaner

As Dad and I were to leave the following day, the group's last supper happened on the Tuesday night. We went to the Paulaner restaurant on the strip by the Weser, and we invited the administrator and organizer of our stay on the German side. (Left of the Paulaner)