27 Days Meandering Through Europe: Day 3

 June 28, 2014 - Berlin, Germany

Good Morning from Cologne, Germany!

I roughly woke up at the same time today as yesterday.  Before heading downstairs for breakfast, I prepared to depart the hostel.  Before leaving Turkey, the backpack I chosen for the trip was packed specifically just over 50% full before the trip, roughly 40 litres, allowing future acquiring of goods and food.  I practiced unpacking and packing the daily necessities with a goal of 10 minutes turnaround time to facilitate quick transit.  The only thing I noticed I was missing and my back would suffer a bit for was the lack of a hip belt, somehow I separated that item from the backpack before I left for Turkey.  After breakfast, I was ready to check out of the hostel.

Child touching locks on Hohenzollern Bridge "Locking Bridge"

Cologne Central Station

Most hostels in Europe have early check out times, the majority having 10-11 AM check outs.  It doesn't allow a lot of time to dillydally with luggage, you have to be prepared to move, most actually prepare the night before for the next day departure.  I was outside with everything I had at around 9:30 AM and started heading towards the main train station in Cologne near the cathedral.  Luckily, most don't have to lug a heavy backpack everywhere after leaving the hostel.  One can either pay a small fee to use a luggage locker at the train stations or slightly dicey proposition of leaving one's luggage in a shared storage room at the hostel, which some don't have.  I just ended up using the train station locker for location conveniences sake because I needed to catch the train to Berlin from the station later in the day.  I saw easy high-speed train access to Brussels, Paris, and Amsterdam only by traveling for a few hours.  Although there were longer connections to Berlin, Copenhagen, Zurich, etc. Cologne is a nice staging city to explore northwestern Europe.

I just walked across the river on the train bridge, taking photography as I slowly crossed.  The train station and cathedral area was abuzz with a lot of activity as I strolled inside to drop off my backpack for the day's sightseeing of Cologne.  I took a short coffee/research on tablet break in Starbucks before seeing the cathedral and making my way through Old Town.

No wonder it took 632 years, look at the detail of this entry!

Cologne Cathedral, or Dom, is impressive at first glance since it dominates the skyline around it.  There are no tall buildings around it so you really can't miss this structure.  It's a UNESCO site and also, Germany's most visited landmark.  Interestingly, construction started back in 1248 and stopped in 1473.  It wasn't restarted until 1832 and finally completed in 1880, that's 632 years of construction!  The church hosts relics from the Three Kings and is rightly a popular pilgrimage site for Roman Catholics.  Even the general ground plan of the cathedral is laid out in a Latin cross.  The interior showcases the height of the cathedral, with tall shafts edging up to a plain quad shaped arrangement on the ceiling.  But all these descriptions are much better served by pictures later.

Cologne Cathedral, or Dom, is impressive at first glance since it dominates the skyline around it.  There are no tall buildings around it so you really can't miss this structure.

Impressive Cologne Cathedral

Most of the souvenir shops around the Dom also sold postcards of the cathedral in the aftermath of World War II.  The Allied bombing campaign literally leveled Cologne into an unrecognizable pulp, except the Dom remained standing.  Hell, the cathedral took 14 bombs as collateral damage from the Allies hitting the nearby railway station.

After taking a lot of photographs and soaking in the awe of architecture that is the Cologne Dom, I walked south through Innerstadt, the Old Town.  Old Town is packed with restaurants and various stores, but my ending destination was a bit more chocolaty...  I was told of this chocolate museum before I left Turkey and all I knew it was south of the cathedral along the banks of the Rhine.  It just happened to be ran by Lindt chocolate, the Swiss chocolate company.  It was a nice little museum covering the history of chocolate and man, did they sell good chocolate... although it was cheap.  I was saving to get the real deal down in Switzerland when the time did come.

Cologne in 1945, the Second World War only the Cathedral survived

By the time I left there, it was early afternoon and I was hungry.  I sought out a restaurant in old town to scarf down food that wasn't cold.  Unfortunately, most places were pretty crowded so I ate outside under an umbrella as it rained lightly at the time.  I ordered some bratwurst.  Towards the Starbucks, was this clown making different things with those tube-shaped balloons.  There was even a dance off between the clown and a random young tourist.  He gave some brilliant balloon toys to passing kids as well.  It was good meal waiting entertainment. I was halfway through the meal when the worst thunderstorm ever occurred. Everyone was scattering, including that clown. It was a good, hearty meal, I won't lie as I downed like 4 Stagens.

Priest lighting candles inside the Cathedral

We waited 30 minutes until the rain began to subside, they looked at me with my finished meal and spoke, "What are you waiting for?"  I replied as a matter of fact, "Waiting for the same thing you guys are... for it to stop."

Stagen Glass with Fruh Kolsch beer

Before I continue, one thing to note in Cologne, beer is served in small glasses called a "Stagen", of 0.2 litre volume.  In this fashion, it serves two purposes, 1) Your beer is always served fresh and cold. and 2) Your waiter will frequently visit your table to give you another glass.  Of course, 0.2 litre is ridiculously small you say and you want more!  Don't worry! The restaurants in this city have honed this down to a fine art.  The waiters are quite fast to give you a new glass of Stagen filled with Kolsch (local beer of Cologne) when you almost finish the one currently working on.  Your bill is penciled on your coaster on how many Stagens you drink by your waiter.  Sometimes, the waiter just hands you more Stagen without being asked.  All of this is just specific to Cologne and Dusseldorf, although in Dusseldorf, the beer is an Alt, not Kolsch.  Don't confuse the two since they have a beer rivalry going on.  This is Germany, where consuming beer is serious business, even if it's in the smallest serving imaginable.

That ceiling though...

Anyhow, back to the story...  I am trapped outside underneath a large umbrella eating a brautwurst with a knife (sorry, this waiter hated the rain and forgot the fork) and the rains is just coming down in sheets.  People were scattering for cover and for everyone else trapped under the various umbrellas, the shifting to escape the angle of rain entry began in earnest.  In the shifting under the umbrellas, some young Germans happened to shift into my umbrella and table. We waited 30 minutes until the rain began to subside, they looked at me with my finished meal and spoke, "What are you waiting for?"  I replied as a matter of fact, "Waiting for the same thing you guys are... for it to stop."  They laughed and asked me where I was from, replying the typical "I am from America." The three of them were from Freiburg, Germany, a nice looking town at the western edge of the Black Forest in Southwestern Germany.  They grilled me about the World Cup, since the obvious Germany-USA matchup just a couple days fresh.  The subject moved onto beer, and I conceded that German beer was fantastic and US beer was so bad, one had to be completely wasted before drinking it.  Since it was raining, it reminded me of home and we talked about that for a bit.  Typical Seattle weather I stated.  I touched on traveling this region of the world so far and how Europe was pretty awesome, but knowing at the same time you know home is awesome as well.

Stained glass, pretty fantastic!

As we reminisced about our respective homes, our conservation ended and bade each other farewell.  They walked into the crowds once again and I searched for a cheap umbrella as the rain continued to fall lightly.  With all this rain, I called it a day here in Cologne and decided to catch the next train to Berlin.  I took a regional train to Hamm to intercept an inbound ICE from Dusseldorf.  Through the rain soaked central Germany, I eventually arrived in the capital of Germany around 8 PM.  

Highways of track

Berlin Central Station is a multi-leveled maze that I quickly realized that I needed to explore fast before heading to the hostel.  After the exploration, I hopped onto the S-bahn to get the next station, Friedrichstrabe, and from there I walked several blocks to the Heart of Gold Hostel.  It seems like a good hostel with a nice common room with a lively atmosphere, a big change from the Jugendherberge network.  I checked in, laid down my bags and checked out the latest World Cup match being shown in the common room as I downed a few Berliners from the tap.  A good mixture of the world was in that room that night, I chatted with before I headed off to bed.  French, Americans, Koreans, Chinese, Japanese... together watching the world's game.

Central Germany countryside by train to Berlin

So you might be wondering what I missed in Cologne that I should have seen while I was there but cut short because the dastardly rain ruined it all. If you have the extra time, here's what you should swing by to see.

• Augustusburg Palace - Located just southwest of Cologne in Bruhl.  A UNESCO site, designed by Balthasar Neumann who refined Baroque architecture.  Stroll among the palace grounds and enjoy one the best palaces in Germany. 

Interior of Augustusburg Palace

• Dusseldorf - Cologne's smaller sister city.  It has a heated beer rivalry between each other, proclaiming itself as the largest bar in the world on nights and weekends.  There is like 260 bars in a one square kilometer area.  Dusseldorf's old town was completely destroyed in World War 2, but they rebuilt it brick by brick to the way it was except for one building.  Wait on getting a few glasses of 'Alt' dark beer and enjoy the company of people in Altstadt.

• Haribo Factory Store - The world-famous candy company most known for those gut-bombing sugar-free gummy bears has it's headquarters in Bonn, Germany.  Entering has a bit of a Charlie In the Chocolate Factory moment to it I've been told.

• 12 Romanesque Churches - Besides Cologne Cathedral, there are 12 classical churches scattered through Cologne.  St. Kunibert, St. Severin, St. Maria Lyskirchen, St. Andreas, St. Aposteln, St. Gereon, St. Ursula, St. Pantaleon, St. Maria im Kapitol, St. Martin, St. George and St. Cäcilien.  Some of these churches I know I just happened to cross by close proximity to the Cathedral like St. George.

St. George Church

• Claudius Therme - Spa and massage is pretty popular in Cologne, this place is next to the Rhine.  Has lots of pools and saunas that are both indoors and outdoors.  What makes German saunas special is two-fold: 1) All sauna areas are mixed sexed. 2) Bathing outfits are banned.  So that's means nudity, except bringing a robe for when outside of the sauna and a towel to not sweat on the wood.  The staff expels gawkers and bath outfit wearing people, so it would have been an interesting experience to say the least. 

More Pictures!

Rhine River, looking south.

Exterior of Cologne Cathedral

St. Agilulfus Alter piece

Cologne City Hall Tower

German Countryside

View of Cologne Train Station Plaza from Cathedral

St. Maria Lyskirchen Church

27 Days Meandering Through Europe: Day 2

June 27, 2014 - Cologne, Germany

I woke up a bit late, roughly around 8 AM... I suppose it's early for some people.  Being in the military, it's been a lot easier to control sleep.  I've learned how to sleep virtually anywhere by now I think.  I didn't get down to the hostel's cafeteria until roughly 8:45 before they closed for the morning.  I read earlier about the breakfast's at the hostels and it was ringing true that the breakfasts, while free, were very sparse.  There were cold meat slices, various breads with jelly, butter and Nutella, basic cereals with tea, water and juice to drink.  I was coming with low expectations due to previous experiences in hostels back in the United States, and knowing that eating would mainly come through lunch and dinner for the next month.

Ground Covered in Day 2

After filling up on food, my mind was dreadfully on how and where to get my rail pass at Cologne-Bonn Airport.  The weather was mostly cloudy and threatened to rain at anytime it seemed.  Daytime Cologne was much more active than when I arrived late last night.  The nearby train station across the avenue was abuzz with people flowing in and out of the facility.  Parking was sparse when I arrived, so I parked the BMW across the busy avenue near the Hyatt Regency Hotel on a side street.

Church - Mainz, Germany

When I rented the car, I was suppose to rent it back in Mainz, but I was a couple hours north of where that city was.  I didn't know of any Europcar rental place in Cologne, but I wanted to drive the car for as long as I could.  But, first order of business, the rest of the trip hinged on obtaining this silly piece of paper that is in the form of a rail pass.  I pushed that key into the ignition of the BMW and turned onto the streets of Cologne towards the airport.

Some 30 minutes later, I was pulling into a parking lot outside the controlled access cargo warehouses in the middle of Cologne-Bonn Airport.  I was kind of lost on where to exactly go to get the package since I didn't see the FedEx building in the initial scouting.  I saw the cargo terminal where the planes drop off packages, but there was a strong gut feeling that it wasn't there.  I believe I wasted an hour or two of time to figuring out the FedEx building by walking around.

Foundation Sculpture - Mainz, Germany

This loss of direction lead me to the passenger terminal building to resolve this issue.  I chatted around to get some directions to the Germans Customs officials in the passenger terminal.  I found them eventually, but it lead to spotting the FedEx building smack in the middle of the airport runways after the Customs officials pointed it out to me.  This revelation discouraged me since it was in a controlled area... "How am I suppose to get inside there?  I am not a freight employee!  I'm not even German! I'm going to be a silly American trying to demand access for a package in that building!"  These negative thoughts raced through my mind, but I had to suck it up.  This is going be part of my story of seeing Europe, rail pass or not.  I had everything to lose, but everything gain if I just tried.

Entering the freight entry registration office, I walked over to get a number and nervously sat down in the closed lobby.  I saw through the glass double doors the Germans who stood on the other side to determine my fate in a few minutes. As my number was called, I strolled into the office, plopped my ass into the seat and submitted my application to the elderly German with my US Passport.  Obviously baffled, I began to explain my story of tracking my rail pass package to this FedEx facility and requested to talk to a FedEx representative on site.  He made a few phone calls to FedEx on site and eventually a FedEx employee, also an middle-aged German came to the office.  Once again, I explained my situation that I was Worrstadt earlier and they stated it was at this airport and FedEx Customer Service didn't know exactly where my package was, even though the online tracking was last this very airport.

Roger Ledbetter - 'FedEx Employee'

 'She had the audacity to ask why I was here, seriously, word for word, "Why are you here? This is a hub, not a pickup location.  Didn't you talk with Customer Service?"  At this point, repeating my story over and over was a broken record that I snapped in my head, but retained outward composure.  I didn't belong here, I didn't want to be here.  The customer resolution system was broken, resulting in drastic measures as getting onto a FedEx hub facility.'

They processed me an entry badge, becoming a temporary FedEx employee for a day! I followed the FedEx employee to his truck.  We didn't speak too much on the way to the facility, his English wasn't good and I didn't know a lick of German to have a half decent conversation.  It was a modestly tall building and entering the lobby, we both walked over to the receptionist who I repeated my story again to her.  I knew I didn't belong here, and was shortly whisked to a nearby office that must handled coordination of shipments.  I was quizzed once again, this time by a deep-voiced, young-looking German lady with tattoos.  She had the audacity to ask why I was here, seriously, word for word, "Why are you here? This is a hub, not a pickup location.  Didn't you talk with Customer Service?"  At this point, repeating my story over and over was a broken record that I snapped in my head, but retained outward composure.  I didn't belong here, I didn't want to be here.  The customer resolution system was broken, resulting in drastic measures as getting onto a FedEx hub facility."Ma'am, I don't want to be here anymore than you seeing me here in the first place.  If the system work as intended, I wouldn't be in front of you.  I did call FedEx Customer Service, they said it was held at Worrstadt and they didn't know why the package is being held up.  I went to Worrstadt, they said it was here.  I know it's here, I just need an explanation why the package hasn't been released. I just want my rail pass so I can enjoy the rest of my trip, visiting you wasn't part of the plan."

House with Roman Wall - Zulpich, Germany

Initially, the FedEx lady didn't know why German Customs held up the package, but I revealed my military identity because I know I revealed it earlier to the Eurail people and FedEx Customer Service.  It took about an hour to figure out that the reason for the hold up that German Customs was treating the package as a military item, which it was totally not.  I was standing for the most part of that, but fatigue and hunger kicked in as the hours passed by.  I drank water from the nearby water dispenser to stay hydrated.  It roughly took another hour to clear up the confusion about the package so FedEx could take control of it.  Hope sprang up as she came back with papers to sign over the package to me.  Weeks of planning were paying off indirectly, but I vowed never again to relive this particular situation.  Escorted back to the lobby, the envelope went through the security scanner before I could finally get it within my hot hands.  I profusely thanked everyone there that assisted as I was leaving, escorted back to the van, and whisked back outside of the gate.

Carnival - Zulpich, Germany

I said my farewells to my German escort and walked back to the BMW.  I opened the car door and plopped inside and opened the envelope again.  There it was, my elusive Eurail pass... the keystone of this entire journey through Central Europe... my pass to further adventure on an already adventurous trip.  I was thinking, "Shit, it's finally on.  I accomplished the impossible... and I am so hungry."  In celebration, I just drove over the parking at the passenger terminal and celebrated with Burger King.  The whole ordeal took up the entire morning and early afternoon, I didn't leave FedEx until around 1:30 PM.  I needed to eat to continue on the day before I could drive the Autobahn one last time.

With the burden of obtaining the rail pass out of the way, it was time to relax and start seeing Europe.  I targeted the town of Zulpich, Germany, a small town built around and on a old Roman Fort just southwest of Cologne.  I was also testing my high speed land record on this stretch of Autobahn 1 around Zulpich.  I briefly stopped outside of the oldest part of town, signified by the ring of a wall surrounding this part of town.  It was quite exciting to see such fortifications outside of Turkey for the first time.  They had a garden walk around most of the parameter of the wall with sculptures and a small carnival park.  An interesting takeaway was this house that incorporated the wall as part of its structure.  I wished I hadn't had so much time wasted at the airport to explore more, but the afternoon was well underway and Mainz was calling after a couple hours lingering in Zulpich.

Historic Gate - Zulpich, Germany

I wove my way back onto Autobahn 1 and it was before turning south on Autobahn 61 that I attempted my speed record with the BMW.  By this time, I was comfortable driving consistently over 100-115 mph in the left lane.  The highway stretched out before me, invitingly to test out the speed of this car finally.  I gauged up to 125 mph as my low-end speed before gunning higher towards 150 mph.  It should be noted that things catch up quickly at such speeds and cars/trucks pop into the left lane without too much warning that are barely over 80 mph.  I wanted to be comfortably dangerous, always keeping enough room in front of me to adjust speed back down if necessary.  The electronic speedometer gauged me around 145 mph as my highest speed with the BMW.

'The Rhine carves its way and you can see picturesque towns hug the shores of the river. As hills rapidly rise up from the riverbanks, you'll see strings of castles perched on the top of the hills overlooking the river, with dominating their position over the Rhine.  This stretches onward for miles, I don't think I've seen so many castles just by driving.'

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to test later as rain plagued most of the journey on Autobahn 61 back to Mainz.  I still mostly felt in control of the car while visibility was drastically cut with how torrential the rain was on my way towards Koblenz.  When I arrived back in Cologne later this evening, I noticed while driving on the Autobahn, I passed the famous Nürburgring race circuit exit.  I didn't realize that the race circuit was in this region of Germany and cursed to myself for missing out on this racetrack.  Oh well, next time.

Picturesque Towns and Castles - Rhine River Valley

I turned off Autobahn 61 onto Autobahn 48 and Highway 9 towards the center of Koblenz.  The city reminded me a lot of Portland, but with a more Germanic and historic flare.  I didn't stop here, but I could already tell I was missing out on stopping here as I crawled in bumper-to-bumper traffic to the south end of the city.  Fighting the traffic rewarded me with a beautiful drive down the Rhine River Valley.  Driving Highway 9 as it hugs the Rhine River is one of the most spectacular regions of the world, in my humble opinion.

The Rhine carves its way and you can see picturesque towns hug the shores of the river. As hills rapidly rise up from the riverbanks, you'll see strings of castles perched on the top of the hills overlooking the river, with dominating their position over the Rhine.  This stretches onward for miles, I don't think I've seen so many castles just by driving.  While driving on by, I could see barges cruise slowly up and down the river and trains speed on by on either side of the river.  I was planning to drive the length of this magnificent valley, but time was sadly against me.  I did drive up to Boppard following an breathtaking bend in the Rhine River, my adventure beginning to take shape in this far away valley in Western Germany.  I broke away from the river and drove up the valley towards the Autobahn once again to rush back to Mainz by early evening.

Castle in the Middle of the Rhine - Rhine River Valley

It was roughly 6 PM when I arrived back in Mainz to end my time with the BMW.  If I had a bucket list, I just completed a couple on that list with this BMW.  One of the Eurocar representatives that happened to be getting off work was happy enough to let me hitch a ride to the train station since the weather happened to be torrential rain from the heavens that evening.  The region was experiencing several systems of thunderstorms as they rolled eastward as the tablet relayed this information to me earlier in the day.

Greetings from the Beautiful Rhine River Valley!

At the station, I returned to Starbucks to get the latest information on weather and some initial plans on Berlin before the train arrived to take me back to Cologne.  I waited patiently as a Intercity Express train bound to Dortmund via Cologne arrived at Mainz Station.  Boarding the train, it was somewhat crowded as I took a seat across the table from a middle-aged German in working clothes.  He definitely knew I wasn't a German, but we said nothing.  This my first test with the rail pass and the train was well on its way down the Rhine Valley towards Koblenz as the conductor reviewed my ticket pass and stamped off the first travel day.  What I missed of the Rhine River Valley by not driving the entire length was made up by the train zipping north up the valley.  As I said before, this valley is so amazing.  It's totally worth a visit, because if you miss visiting here, your Germany trip is woefully missing out on something wonderful.

Typical InterCity Express (ICE) train - Mainz, Germany

Unfortunately, once the train arrived at Koblenz, the conductor made an announcement that made most of the passengers groan, there might be a delay at Bonn.  I could decipher Bonn, but the statement was in German; however, the groaning is the universal cue of something is awry.  How long the delay... it was anyone's guess, but the money was the heavy thunderstorms affecting the electric systems of the trains.   We left about 15 minutes late out of Koblenz, continuing on out of the Rhine valley.  

The train has been delayed numerous times since leaving Koblenz.  We're behind an hour now, so much for the timeliness of Deutsche Bahn...  Weather and another train were blocking the final stretch to Cologne.  The Germans sitting around me joked around about their "perfect" train system.  The older gentleman sitting across from me this entire time spoke in English, thicken heavily with German, to me laughing, "Welcome to Deutsche Bahn!" The sun has finally set and it's raining heavier than ever now as this train is just arriving in Cologne after a delay of a couple hours.

Boppard, Germany

Luckily, the hostel was just across the street from the train station.  I got re-situated and pulled out the camera for some night photography of Cologne Cathedral.  I took a local S-bahn to the main train station on the other side of the river.  I scouted the train station for a bit for tomorrow and then got distracted by the large crowd assembled by the information center.  I don't think I've ever seen such an angry crowd of Germans at a train station ever.  My train delay must have not been the only train delayed because of terrible weather, seems a lot of people were stuck there for the night it seems.

'The Germans sitting around me joked around about their "perfect" train system.  The older gentleman sitting across from me this entire time spoke in English, thicken heavily with German, to me laughing, "Welcome to Deutsche Bahn!"'

Cologne Cathedral 

Anyhow, the rain subsided so I could take some shots of the Cologne Cathedral at night, it's a spectacular site at night.  It's impressive they could build such a building before complex machinery was available.  I saw earlier some of the pictures of Cologne at the end of World War II, everything around this building looked flattened by Allied bombing.  I toured around the area and there is quite the night scene not too far from the train station.  I wasn't in a drinking mode, but I was hungry.  At this late hour, the only thing open to cure the hangovers of Germans were a few Turkish cuisine places selling kebaps and pizza.  Upon further inspection, the Turkish immigrants tweaked their menu to suit their homeland tastes, which confused me at first after being so familiar with Turkish food in Turkey for so long.  However, the stomach doesn't care and just wanted a nice kebap, and so in this small restaurant I observed a late summer night in Germany with drunk people start filing out of the pubs as they were about to close.  

Cologne Cathedal and Locking Bridge

After satisfying my hunger, I decided to call it a night, walking over the Rhine on the Locking Bridge.  It is actually a train bridge, but with a sidewalk on either end.  There is a fence blocking access to the tracks, but there are thousands of padlocks on this bridge, to signify the relationship of lovers locked together.  It was an interesting site as I crossed to the other side back to the hostel.  Tired, I plopped into bed and dreaming of what would happen next. 

Locked for Life - Cologne, Germany

27 Days Meandering through Central Europe: Day 1

June 26, 2014: Cologne, Germany - Jungendherberge Köln-Deutz

I've driven to Cologne, Germany in a rented BMW 3 wagon and my impressions of driving on the Autobahn just feels so nature.  No wonder they've called it the 'Ultimate Driving Machine". I finally started off this dream trip and I'm just awestruck that I'm really in Central Europe... in Germany. After getting delayed in Turkey for departure, I finally left Incirlik AB for Japan.  The plane stopped briefly in Italy at Aviano, and my first impressions of mainland Europe and the Italian Alps made me super excited to be undertaking this trip that I've dreamed and planned for months.

Town of Ramstein, Germany

I arrived at Ramstein Air Base around Noon on the 26th of June and was taken aback by seeing a large base again with actual services. My last contact with anything Turkey was by seeing a couple co-workers heading back to the United States on leave.  I waved "Hello" as I walked up to Passport Control.  The German officer looked at my passport for a minute and I was cleared to start my journey.  Some people asked what I was doing, and I simply told them I was touring Europe.  They grinned and wished me luck.

Walking outside on this partly sunny day, I gazed at the massive hotel on base.  Then I walked up to the BX, and I had to admit that Ramstein's BX complex is massive and had lunch there before leaving for Ramstein village to the west to catch a train for Wörrstadt, a village 23 kilometers southwest of Mainz.  Going to Wörrstadt wasn't in the original plan, but my Eurail train pass was held up at that FedEx local processing facility after the Ramstein hotel I planned to hold the rail pass at did not want to hold it.  It was quite frustrating since the rail pass people stopped changing the receiving address on the pass, forcing me to have it held by FedEx in Germany.  Before I left Incirlik AB, I ordered the rail pass to be held at a FedEx facility in Germany so I could pick it up. 

The Ride - BMW 3 series M-Wagon

Right before the trip started, I was strongly considering heading south to Switzerland first than circle east to the rest of the cities I was determined to visit.  But I was checking weather around the Matterhorn in the days before leaving Turkey and had to have a backup plan to switch directions of travel of my circular route. It wasn't until during lunch hour in Ramstein Air Base that I was fully committed to head to Cologne, Germany, then eastward to Berlin.  I was gambling that the weather would improve a month later for seeing Switzerland when it was sunny.

I proceeded out of the west gate of Ramstein and walked to nearby Ramstein village to catch a train to Landstuhl and onwards to Wörrstadt.  Unfortunately, my walk to the train station missed the train to Wörrstadt by 5 minutes.  Here I was standing at my first train station in central Europe, chilling in the middle of Ramstein village not knowing what to do next.  I needed WiFi to figure out my next steps on my tablet and quickly ruled out getting a train to pick up the train pass.  I found this quaint cafe to figure out my situation just west of the train station and drank carbonated water. I needed to rent a car I figured, I could take the finanical cost since it was budgeted for such an emergency.  There was a car rental place in Ramstein, but it was already closed for the day, but found one in Landstuhl.  I decided get on the local train to Landstuhl.  The first thing I noticed on the train was that a lot of the passengers on the train had the Germany football attire on.  It was the full height of the World Cup season, and I was in the middle of it all. I grinned inside because I knew I was traveling Europe at a good time.

Driving on the Autobahn

Landstuhl is a small town southwest of Ramstein along a major transportation corridor between France and Western Germany. ICE high-speed trains traveling between Paris and Frankfort, along with a major Autobahn route crossing the length of Germany passed through the town.  It was here that I would debark from the station and walk to the nearest car rental place that I located earlier. One couldn't really tell there was a Europcar rental place here, and for 100 Euros and 15 mins of paperwork, I was behind the wheels of the only car on the lot, which was a BMW M3 touring wagon. I even walked passed it on the way to the office too, thinking, "Ah, nice car... too bad I'll have a piece of crap." It was a pity it was an automatic, but this car was full of fancy gadgets that I really didn't have time to mess around with it.  That German had to know what I was going to do with that car, and that was to drive as fast I comfortably could.  If I could get away with speeding in a country without getting a ticket, it would be in Germany on the Autobahn.

Public World Cup Viewing - Mainz, Germany

Driving the Autobahn in a non-urban area gives way to an experience I've never felt before, and coupled with this ultimate German driving machine, it made driving an art.  I rolled across Western Germany through beautiful rolling hills with the nicest car I've ever driven on the best roads I've had a chance to drive on.  Traffic bottled up at various construction zones, but the pavement everywhere was so smooth.  Like in Turkey, the Autobahn was built for enjoying speed.  Every curve wanted me to enjoy speed, feel like racing... For all the initial headaches the beginning of the trip had, I forgot about it all as I pushed this glorious BMW for all the time I had.  As much I love my Subaru Twin Turbo B4 straight from the land of Japan, age and poor maintenance shown on the car compared to this newer BMW.  I cannot say enough about my driving encounter with this BMW.  I know they are a pain to maintain, but at least I knew I wasn't maintaining this car.
  

Windmills - Worrstadt, Germany

My drive to Wörrstadt gave me my first impressions of Germany and how true that their push for renewable energy prevails in the country.  Sleek looking wind turbines dotted the landscape everywhere between Ramstein and Cologne.  Rows of solar panels edged up to the Autobahn, I've seen anywhere where renewable energy was so prevalent. 

By mid-afternoon, I finally arrived at Wörrstadt to pick up the Eurail train pass.  I had a little difficulty navigating to find the FedEx facility, but it was well hidden in an industrial park surrounded by a rolling farmland dotted with windmills. I parked the car and walked in the office with beaming optimism that my journey across Central Europe was truly about to start.  A nice, young German lady working the distribution facility in Wörrstadt was gracious enough to check into my package inquiry; only to politely destroy my optimism, stating it was actually at Cologne/Bonn Airport.  She didn't state why it was held up there, but she offered to inquiry about it.  I politely declined and said I would go to Cologne to pick it up myself. She was quite skeptical of my ability to pick it up there, and I left the office with that thought embedded in my mind as I got in the BMW.

Cathedral - Mainz, Germany

Stepping back into the car, I mused on the next hurdle facing me to get this trip off the ground.  I talked to myself about not getting the rail pass early enough to get to Turkey, but if that happened, I wouldn't be driving this sweet car.  I was embracing the spontaneous circumstances, deciding on-the-fly.  I knew what I wanted to see, how it would happen would be as the day comes.  I drove back onto the Autobahn towards Mainz, knowing I had to go to Cologne.  Embracing this mindset of flexibility was the fact before I left Ramstein, I didn't set up any lodging reservations anywhere until I had a firm grasp of the rail pass.  I thought that if I got the pass in Landstuhl, I would stick around in Mainz, but if not, I would go to Cologne... and in the end, I had to be in Cologne.  

Arriving in Mainz, Germany tested my urban driving skills in a foreign country as I had only a rough idea of how to reach the center of town.  I only knew that running into the Rhine River was enough for me to take a break and enjoy a bit of a day busted by bad news.  I eventually ran into the Rhine and took the BMW into a parking garage near the Rhine as an easy landmark to get back to the car later for the next drive to Cologne.

With my worries about the rail pass in the front of my mind, I was puzzled by the nearly deserted look of Downtown Mainz, until I spotted the Germans with German flags and football apparel throwing my back that it was World Cup season.  This wasn't any other day in World Cup, but it was an important match up between Germany versus USA.  I followed them until I ran into a public viewing area showing the game live on a big projection screen in an area that was usually a park.  There were so many Germans here, and other foreign travelers with their respectful flags... Brazil, USA, Spain.  It was no wonder the city was deserted, it was World Cup season and an important match was going on.  Everyone was gathering wherever large screen TVs were present.

Christuskirche - Mainz, Germany

I walked on through the city, spotting more restaurants, with patrons and non-patrons staring intensely at large TV screens. Game on, beer in hand.  I took photographs with the mind to sit down and eat, watch the game, but I was in scenery overload.  I meandered around Mainz Cathedral, eerily quiet from a typical summer day, a nearby restaurant, masses of Germans watching the TV screens as Germany was soundly beating the US late in the match.  Hunger overtook me and I searched for food, leading me to a supermarket.  Instead of a meal, it was more of a glorified snack.  There would be time for a meal later I thought.

Gradually retracing my steps back towards the train station, I needed WiFi to make accommodation in Cologne on incredibly short notice, I chose a hostel across the river from the main train station in Cologne.  Suprisingly, plenty of Germans were going about their business as the game was going on, but it was early in the progression of the World Cup 2014.  I strolled in Starbucks and made my reservation while listening to the Germany vs USA game as it ended.  A lot more people were moving about the city as the game concluded, the streets filled with a healthy amount of car honks filled the air in celebration of Germany's victory.

It was about 5 PM as I got back on the road again towards Cologne.  I drove on Autobahn 61 on the east side of the Rhine River Valley edge towards Bonn.  The plane ride and being awake for awhile finally took it's toll on me shortly after leaving Mainz.  Somewhere south, outside of Koblenz, I pulled into a rest stop and took about a 90 minute nap in the BMW.  I actually felt quite comfortable in the leather seats. I awoke as dusk approched and launched the BMW into action once more to close the gap to Cologne.

As I drove northward, convoys of trucks hauling wind turbine blades and tower pieces traveled south towards Frankfurt.  The distinct array of amber lights clipped passed me as I raced in the opposite direction.  I was still amazed by Germany's determination towards green energy that I only read in the news.  Around 10 PM, I was diverted to Autobahn 565 straight into Bonn as construction shutdown the highway.  The darkness made navigation only by signs, making things a bit more difficult than usual.  Eventually, I crossed the Rhine and back south onto Autobahn 59.  Fortunately, the construction detour made my arrival to the hostel very convenient. The handy GPS on the BMW guided me onto Autobahn 565 to drop me right in the Deutz neighborhood of Cologne, just on the east banks of the Rhine.  

I had a rough idea of the specific location of the hostel and frustratingly drove in circles for about 20 minutes, it was very reminiscent of the driving confusion I had during the Black Sea trip looking for the hotel in Amasya. I was forced to park and scout by walking around which was taking way too long.  I eventually found the hostel with a handful of minutes until midnight. Exhausted, I checked in to the hostel.  This particular hostel is part of a large national network under the domain of Hosteling International or HI.  They had everything ready as soon as I arrived, although quite late.  I took the elevator up and walked into the room.  I tried the stealth approach to the roommates sleeping as I unpacked for the night... my first night in Europe reaching its conclusion. 

                                     

27 Days Meandering Through Europe: Prologue

It's been nearly six months since traveling through central Europe, you've heard how much I loved traveling the continent solo.  I about to publish a day-to-day account of my travel through a continent that I dreamed of traveling since I could draw maps. The planning for Europe began the day I learned about getting assignment to Turkey, back in August 2012.  It was so rough, I wanted to see it all... all the cities, tourist sites, places no one goes to, etc.  There is a good reason there are many travel books on Europe, there is too much to see in one trip.  By the time June 2014 rolled around, I settled with four countries over a months time after reading so much of Europe.

How did I sacrifice all of Europe for four countries in planning that took over a year?

Simply it came down to time management, travel logistical planning, budget, and USAF travel paperwork. I am not going to lie, planning this trip was very difficult and the route changed a lot until three months until departure.  Big trips require a lot pre-planning to forestall difficulties, but as you also heard was that there was plenty of troubles on the trip as well, but that is part of the beauty and curse of these travels.

During most of my time in Turkey, the main travel plan was to be mostly restricted to overland travel from Istanbul to Ramstein. I was planning to bridge the continent overland and cover a lot of ground, I had three major routes across Europe and all were scrapped in the Spring 2014.  There were three things that I ran into that factored into reducing to the present Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, and Switzerland route.

As for USAF paperwork, I can say this.  Submit early and do not submit your entire travel route, or it will count against you in their cost estimate.  This alone made me abandon the overland route that I mostly fleshed out during my tour in Turkey.  The focus shifted to favorable entry and exit ports of entry for traveling Europe which formulated the circular route I took in central Europe.

1) Understanding Travel Time Management
Through months of research online, the recurring theme of travelers was managing their grandiose trips across Europe.  They felt rushed jumping from one big city to another.  On the trip, my conversations with fellow travelers at hostels reinforced this sediment.  Yes, the major cities of Europe are worthy of visiting, but there is a lot of charm in the small towns of Europe.  It reveals a more authentic European experience from the regular tourist traps of the biggest cities.

If you understand that travel/moving day isn't a sightseeing day, you suddenly realize that you have less days for seeing than for traveling.  It's in one's favor to make shorter travel hops to maximize since travel days are taxing with packing, finding the next train, gaining orientation in the new city, finding the hostel, eating, etc.  Travel days is pretty much lost time to seeing the glory of Europe.  Don't kid yourself that one can defy this, it really does happen.

I came away with a deeper appreciation with my longer stays in the different cities of Europe.  Parting advice, you need a minimum of three days to enjoy a city in Europe, four to five days for large cities like Berlin or Prague.  This is outside of travel days getting in and out, so in reality that's dedicating a minimum of five days to one city in all.  You'll have to visualize on a calendar or you won't see it.

2) Logistical Planning
Figuring out getting from A to B is paramount after solidifying where you roughly want to go.  Since rail is the primary mode of transport of European travel, you have to figure out the most effective budget for transportation.  You could pay out of pocket or pay for a Eurail rail pass.  There are a lot of online resources detailing this and the cost analysis between the two.  There are two definitive websites that I consider fundamental to making a smoother travel process: www.seat61.com and www.rome2rio.com

Seat61 is simply the encyclopedia of train travel on all the habitable continents on Earth.  Managed by a British man who has worked with British Rail and the Ministry of Transport over the decades, this site is the most recommended site for beginning your plans of travel around Europe.  The site has an article on the benefits and pitfalls of the rail pass, as you will see that the rail pass value has decreased in certain countries in Europe.

Rome2Rio is another site to plan out specific times and flesh out a transportation cost for the travel budget.  I don't know how the world would live without this site since it crunches out route data and cost estimates from the maze of websites dedicated to specific nations all on one site. It will show you where the information was obtained from.  This site is useful in determining whether or not a rail pass is worth the cost.

In my planning, and as you will eventually deduct is that the rail pass is most effective in central Europe.  The United Kingdom isn't part of the Eurail program, the Eurostar train between France and England is reservation only, the high-speed trains in France, Spain and Italy require reservations and have limited seats for rail pass holders. I wanted to make my transportation logistics very simple and stick to the rail pass benefits, something of which the four countries chosen did well in not adding in hidden costs, except the train to the Matterhorn.

I will note that if you have a rail pass, you can get onto the train, but for the busiest routes that a reservation maybe required or extremely helpful since they do get crowded and full.


3) Budget
For the traveler with no equipment, there is about a rough $1000 to spend on getting travel equipment and the rail pass for doing something I did.  Mainland Western Europe is expensive and you will spend $100 USD to enjoy it at least.  Eastern Europe can be enjoyed from about $50, but a comfortable daily budget is $70.  My time in Switzerland was the most expensive and I was easily burning through $100 per day, probably closer to $125 to decently enjoy the country.  I would consider Britain would cost close to Switzerland. Before the trip, I roughly estimated that I would average a $100 day budget with an extra $400 emergency.  I can tell you that my daily budget estimate was very close to what someone would probably spend unless they like to pinch pennies... maybe at the expense of the enjoying Europe.


You'll read my day-to-day personal experience of central Europe during the height of the World Cup coming soon.  I had to be flexible, become acqainted with beer in all the different cities I visited.  I was never alone, you'll encounter fellow travelers from all walks of life doing the same thing you will be doing... getting in their quintessential European experience.  At every hostel you'll visit, you'll mingle with travelers, hear of personal triumphs and experiences, gain advice.

At the end of the day, when you're ready to see Europe.  No research in the world is going to prepare you for an experience of a lifetime.  Enjoy it, if something doesn't go your way, it's an opportunity!  There is too much to see in Europe in one trip, be glad what you about to see, and you'll hunger to see more another time, God willing.