Category Archives: Germany

Hanau to Heidelberg

August 10, 2016Germany, Travelcastle, Heidelberg, schlosskarenfranza

8/6 – Gerard and Kathleen will spend several more days in Hanau and Bonn with his children, but it is time for us to move on. Jim always says that once you pay the airfare, you might as well stick around for a while, and see what else there is to do! We plan to hike for a week in the Schwarzwald (Black Forest) in southern Germany. We took the train from Hanau back to Frankfurt, then south about one and a half hours to Heidelberg. We hear they have an old castle there.

We got a room at the Classic Inn, just down the road from the train station. We cruised over to the Tourist Information to find out about the castle, and were directed to jump on bus 33 for the 30 minute ride. When we arrived at the Heidelberger Schloss, we were dismayed to find Disneyland conditions, with tourists of many languages pushing and jostling to buy tickets and get into the mob (sorry, but Asians excepting the Japanse have no concept of getting in a line or queue) that waited for the next funicular up the mountain. We were promised that a funicular would arrive every 10 minutes, and we waited through at least 5 cycles before it was our turn for the three minute ride up.

Once there, we enjoyed the ideal temperature and afternoon sun as we admired the ruined remains of a castle originally built in the 1200s. There was no signage, so I can’t tell you much. It was a castle, built and rebuilt over several centuries, then left to decay. We got to walk all around the ruin, but not inside.

There was also an Old Town with stately buildings and lots of strolling tourists. A lovely afternoon.

Beautiful wild flowers right near our hotel.

Bus 33 brought us right back home, and we went to the grocery next door to see if we could scare up some dinner. Sure enough, pizza! We bought two each and brought them back to eat in our room while we watched the Olympics on tv (in German, of course) and drank a good German bier. No wifi at this hotel – I am writing this offline with hopes to post in the future!

A German Wedding

August 10, 2016Germany, TravelFrankfurt, Hanau Steinheim, weddingkarenfranza

8/4 – Walked from the Ibis Hotel in Frankfurt back to the train station, for a twenty minute ride to Hanau. Here we were met by beautiful niece Jeanette, sister of the groom, and her handsome beau Marcus, who drove us to our hotel. We walked around Steinhaim, which is an old town with the wooden Alpine architecture so typical of Germany. Still gray and rainy, but the sun is supposed to shine tomorrow for the wedding.

8/5 – The wedding day is here, beautiful and sunny. Jeanette and I are waiting at the hotel for the groom to arrive.

Here is Gerard, father of the groom, his lovely wife Kathleen, and Jim at the church, waiting for the groom to arrive.

Happy to say, the groom arrived in the nick of time for the 13:30 service.

The church was decorated with flowers, and there was a full mass. The guests really participated, singing every hymn. The bride, Eva-Maria, was so beautiful! There were no bridesmaids or groomsmen. It was all about the happy couple.

After the church service, all the guests walked down the street to witness the civil ceremony at 15:00. This is something that does not happen at American weddings. The civil ceremony lasted almost as long as the church service, and the witnesses had to promise to help the new couple with everything, including chores. This got a round of laughter, so I’m pretty sure it was a joke.

Then we all went out into the garden, to watch the newlyweds cut a heart out of a big piece of red cloth, using dull manicure scissors, and then step through it together. This is also something we don’t do in the US.

We spent the afternoon in the garden, drinking champagne and eating little cakes, while the bride and groom were congratulated by all.

At 19:00, we filed into the banquet hall for supper. I was starving, and everything smelled so good! The buffet included salads, potatoes, pasta, chicken, fish and the absolutely best roast beef I have ever tasted, cut in half inch slabs and covered in brown gravy. Folks went back for seconds and thirds. Words just cannot do it justice. Everything was delicious.
Then there were games and performances by family members to entertain the bride and groom. The party was still going strong when we took our leave around 22:30, and we heard the party didn’t break up until 02:30. A full day of celebration!

On the Road Again

August 10, 2016Backpacking, Germany, TravelFrankfurtkarenfranza

8/2/16 – Several months ago, we received an invitation to a Franza nephew’s wedding in Germany: Gerard’s son John is marrying his beloved Eva-Maria, after 13 years of courting. We met them eight years ago at a family reunion in Florida. I was honored to be invited, and we started making plans.

We left Virginia where the temperature was over 90F every day, and arrived 16 hours later in Frankfurt where it was a gray and rainy 70F. We spent a full day in Frankfurt-am-Main, walking along the Main River to help minimize our jet lag. We visited Goethe Haus, a tribute to favorite son writer Johann Goethe. His family home was destroyed in 1944 by Allied bombs, but was recreated from the ground up after the war, using artifacts that had been removed and hidden from the bombing.