Heidelberg and Time to Go Home 海德堡

August 7, 2024: We had been in Frankfurt two years ago. This time, we decided on a day trip outside the city. Among several candidates, we picked Heidelberg, which was only an hour and twenty minutes by train from Frankfurt. Unfortunately, we missed an early direct train and boarded a train to Darmstadt instead.

In Darmstadt, we decided to explore a little rather than continue immediately to Heidelberg. We took an Uber to see the Russian church and the Wedding Tower in Mathildenhöhe, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Afterward, we leisurely strolled to Luisenplatz. After four weeks without Chinese food, we craved it and found a vendor in a mall near the square serving crispy duck over noodles and stir-fried vegetables with tofu. The meal was delicious, and as we've come to expect, the crispy duck in Europe didn't disappoint—priced the same as chicken dishes.

We didn’t stay in Darmstadt long and caught a train to Heidelberg right after lunch. An Uber took us to the funicular station up to Heidelberg Castle. Though the castle has been destroyed several times, it is considered one of the best castle ruins in the world. This iconic structure, perched on a hill overlooking the city, is a mix of Gothic and Renaissance architecture. It houses the famous Heidelberg Tun, a massive wine barrel—the largest in the world—once used for tax collection as winemakers paid their taxes in wine. The castle offers stunning views of the city and the Old Bridge over the Neckar River.

After visiting the castle, we opted to walk down the hill to the Old Town rather than take the funicular. The Old Town was vibrant and beautiful, with plenty of cafes and restaurants. We sat down for traditional German food. Besides the schnitzel dish, we ordered sausage salad to get some greens, expecting something similar to a chicken salad in the States—meat on top of vegetables. Instead, the salad consisted entirely of sliced sausage. We remembered making the same mistake two years ago! The salad was tasty but just too much sausage.

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After dinner, we hurried back to the train station to return to Frankfurt.

Tomorrow, we fly home with Condor, a direct flight to Phoenix. In five weeks, we traveled across eight countries and territories, stopping at 20 destinations. We had a wonderful time and experienced some once-in-a-lifetime moments. We’ll be back on the road again soon.

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海德堡-该回家了

2024年8月7日：我们两年前曾来过法兰克福 (Frankfurt)，所以今天决定去城外来个一日游。考虑了几个候选地，最后选择了海德堡 (Heidelberg)，只需乘火车一小时二十分钟即可到达。但我们错过了早班直达火车，之后的火车都必须在另一小镇达姆施塔特 (Darmstadt)转车，于是我们临时决定索性也顺路去达姆施塔特转一转。

到了达姆施塔特后，我们叫了一辆优步 (Uber)，前往马蒂尔登山 (Mathildenhöhe) 的俄罗斯教堂 (Russian Church) 和婚礼塔 (Wedding Tower)，这里是联合国教科文组织世界遗产地，这二个也算是这小镇最有代表性的景点了。之后我们走到镇中心的路易森广场 (Luisenplatz)。离家到现在没吃过中餐，我们开始想念它。于是在广场旁的一家购物中心找到一个摊位，点了脆皮鸭，豆腐炒蔬菜和炒面。味道非常棒，正如我们预期的那样，欧洲的脆皮鸭从未让我们失望过，价格与鸡肉菜相同。

在达姆施塔特我们没有逗留太久，午饭后便搭上火车前往海德堡。一辆优步 (Uber) 带我们到达海德堡城堡 (Heidelberg Castle) 的缆车站，乘坐斜坡缆车到了城堡。虽然这座城堡曾多次被摧毁，但它被认为是世界上保存最好的城堡废墟之一。这座标志性建筑坐落在俯瞰城市的山丘上，是哥特式和文艺复兴式建筑的混合体。城堡内有著名的海德堡大酒桶 (Heidelberg Tun)，这是世界上最大的酒桶，曾用作税收工具，酿酒师们以葡萄酒缴税。站在城堡上可以欣赏到城市和内卡河 (Neckar River) 上的老桥 (Old Bridge) 的绝美景色。

参观完城堡后，我们选择步行下山前往老城区 (Old Town)，而不是乘坐缆车。老城区不仅漂亮而且非常有生机，一条长长的主街上是数不尽的咖啡馆和餐馆。我们坐下来享用传统的德国美食。除了必点的炸猪排 (Schnitzel) ，我们还点了香肠沙拉 (Sausage Salad) 想以此来增加一些绿叶菜，我们以为会像美国的鸡肉沙拉 (Chicken Salad) 一样——肉在蔬菜上面。然而，一大盆沙拉上来全是切成条状的香肠，不见蔬菜。我们这时候突然想起来两年前在德国也犯了同样的错误！虽然沙拉味道不错，但香肠实在太多了。晚餐后，我们坐火车返回法兰克福 。

明天，我们将乘坐德国康多航空 (Condor) 的直航班机从法兰克福飞回凤凰城 (Phoenix)。在五周的时间里，我们游历了七个国家和一个地区(英属直布罗陀），在22个城市/小镇停留。我们度过了美好的时光，留下了难忘的记忆。期待下一次。

Frankfurt 法兰克福

July 15, 2022

The morning in Bacharach was beautiful and tranquil. We did a morning walk before the breakfast. Our son flew back to New York from Frankfurt today. Before we sent him off, we spent time together visiting Frankfurt. Because of the popularity of the €9 travel card, the regional trains were often full, especially on weekends. Today's train to Frankfurt was no exception. The train was so crowded that we couldn't even turn around. But fortunately, a few people got off the train more than half an hour later, and we found seats to sit down.

Once in Frankfurt, we walked around the old town and visited the Central Market (Kleinmarkthalle). The market was much smaller than we expected, and we did not find anything interesting for lunch. Instead, we found a restaurant near the market and had one last schnitzel and roasted pork knuckle. With no disappointment, the food was delicious. After lunch, we did a little sightseeing and visited Frankfurt Cathedral and the Eiserner Steg, a footbridge spanning the Main river. We didn't spend too much time in Frankfurt since our son had a flight to catch. The three of us went to the airport together and said goodbye at the airport.

From there, we took the regional train to Boppard, a historic town on the Rhine and not far from Bacharach, where we stayed. Visiting the archeological site of Römer-Kastell was a treat, not expected. This 4th-century fortress is one of the best-preserved Roman fortresses on the continent. Though much of it is in ruins, the romance of its 28 ancient towers and thick, high walls is palpable. We visited the Romanesque St. Severus Church and the gothic-style Carmelite Church, both beautiful and admirable.

We strolled down on the beautiful bank along the river, and we saw an Indian restaurant by the river. We hadn't had Indian food on this trip, so we just sat down at a table by the river. The food was excellent, and the river view was even better. We were glad that we made this side trip to visit the medieval town of Boppard.

We took the train back to Bacharach. We went to the riverside again, sat by the river, and ate the wild blackberries we picked yesterday as the sun was setting. The Germany tour was almost over, and tomorrow we would return to Switzerland to prepare to return to the United States. The time was flying so fast that the two-month European travel was coming to an end.

欧洲游第五十六天：儿子今天从法兰克福回纽约，我们随他一起去法兰克福转一圈，也顺便送送他。因为9€的交通卡，感觉德国人出门全坐火车了，特别是在周末，那些旅游热点区域线上的火车人满为患。今天去法兰克福的火车就是塞得满满的，都转不了身，幸好半个多小时后有人下车才找到了座位。到法兰克福后就在老城区里走马观花看了中央市场， 教堂还有步行桥。中午就找了一家餐厅再一次吃炸猪排和烤猪肘，没失望，还可以。饭后就随儿子一起去机场，然后我们从那里坐区域火车到Boppard, 也是一个在莱茵河边上的小镇，离我们住的小镇不远。时间不多也只能到此一游，结果看到河边上有家印度饭店，索性就坐下把晚餐给解决了。好像这还是来欧洲近二个月第一次吃印度菜，还算满意。傍晚坐在河边的椅子上，看着太阳落山，喝上一瓶啤酒，品尝着昨天摘下野生黑莓，德国游就此结束，明天回瑞士准备回美。日子过得真快，近二个月的欧洲游马上就要结束了。

Vineyard and Blackberry 葡萄园和野生黑莓

July 14, 2022

Today we didn't have any particular plan, not visiting castles or museums. We just wanted to stay away from the crowds and unwind in the little town of Bacharach. The hotel provided breakfast for guests, and we only had a couple of the hotels offer complimentary breakfast on this trip. The breakfast at this hotel was top-notch, including hot items, freshly baked pastries, and bread. After breakfast, we headed to the nearby vineyards, which began in Roman times, and the vines were full of grapes on the steep hillsides for maximum sun exposure. But walking up and down the vineyard with high incline slopes was not easy, and we felt tired after walking for more than two hours. The scenery view along the trail made it worth the effort.

We had a light lunch with Turkey Barbecue Pita and returned to the hotel for a short nap. In the afternoon, the three of us walked along the river and saw a lot of wild blackberries along the way. We picked them up as we walked. They were not as sweet as those bought from the store, but the blackberry taste was quite strong. We ate a lot of them and even saved some for tomorrow.

We tried a different cuisine for dinner, no more schnitzel and sausage. We had grilled octopus, lamb shark, and pork at the town's Greek restaurant. The food was delicious, and we enjoyed them very much.

欧洲游第五十五天：今天没什么特别的日程安排，什么城堡，博物馆都不去，就在住的小镇放松休整一下。一早在旅馆里吃完早餐之后就去附近的葡萄园走走，这里葡萄园早在罗马时期就开始了，满山坡上都种满了葡萄，据说这里的白葡萄酒很有名。但在葡萄园里上上下下走也并不轻松，有些地方坡度很大，走了两个多小时觉得很累,。中午土尔其烤肉皮塔简单午餐后，回旅馆睡了个午觉。下午仨人沿河边散步，沿路看到不少野生黑莓，一边走一边摘，没比店里的甜但黑莓味道挺浓的，留了不少明天再吃。晚餐改个口味，不吃德国炸猪排，镇上有家希腊菜餐馆，除了烤章鱼，还有有羊腿，猪肉一堆肉，我们挺喜欢的。

Eltz Castle 埃莱芝城堡

July 13, 2022

Eltz Castle is considered one of the top three castles in Germany. This medieval castle, located in the Rhineland-Palatinate region, was never destroyed, even during the most tumultuous historical periods. It sits within a valley surrounded by heavy forests and far away from the towns. We wanted to visit the castle, but there was no convenient way to get there. There was some information online to describe the direction to the castle. To make sure we had the correct information, we visited the tourist office in Bacharach. A lady at the office didn't know how to get there without the car since it was in the forest. But she was eager to help and called the office at Eltz Castle to find out the direction for us. With an official guide, we were ready to start our journey.

With a Germany's €9 transport card handy, we headed out early in the morning to Eltz Castle. We took the train to Koblenz, then changed to another regional train to get off at Hatzenport. Outside the train station, we boarded Bus 365 to a parking lot 1 km from the castle. The bus weaved through endless farmland, which reminded us of summers in Iowa and narrow alleys in a small town. Half an hour later, the bus arrived at a parking lot somewhere in the mountains. But the castle was still a kilometer away. There were two options to get to the castle, on foot or by shuttle, and we decided to take the shuttle because these two days were hot in Germany. Visiting the castle requires a guided tour in English or German. We waited for the English tour. The tour guide took us around the castle and told us the story of the castle. Eltz Castle is a private castle in its 33rd generation and is the only castle in Germany that has not been damaged by any war or natural disaster. Now the castle has become a tourist hotspot, and many rooms of the castle have gorgeous flowers still made by the centenarian lady herself.

Simple lunch was served in the cafe's dining room with bread and sausages. After lunch, we took pictures around the castle and returned to the city. This time we walked from the castle to the parking lot to catch Bus 365. Unfortunately, we missed the bus and ended up waiting at the parking lot for more than 50 minutes. Luckily, we didn't have to wait long at the train station and returned to Koblenzwithout a hitch.

In Koblenz, we first stopped at the Koblenz palace, where the gardens were beautiful with very few people. Then we walked along the Rhine River and noticed the cable car to the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress on the opposite hill. We checked with the ticket office, and it was still open, so we quickly bought tickets to ride the cable car over the river and up the hill on the opposite bank to see Ehrenbreitstein Castle. We spent about 20 minutes outside the castle and hurried to hop on the cable back before the cable car stopped running for the day.

We picked a restaurant specializing in Turkish dumplings for dinner in Koblenz's old town. It was our first time having Turkish dumplings, and we thought the taste was good. Done with the eating, drinking, and sightseeing, it was time to head to the train station and back to Bacharach.

欧洲游第五十四天：今天德国的9€交通卡还真派上大用场了。一早出门去埃莱芝城堡(Eltz Castle)。这城堡躲在山里，交通很不方便，特别是像我们没车的。先坐火车到Koblenz，换乘另一辆火车到Hatzenport下车，然后又换乘大巴，穿梭于一望无尽的农田，让我们想起爱荷华的夏天。大巴一会儿又转入狭窄的小巷，半个小时后来到了山里的一个停车场。可城堡还在一公里之外，有二个选择，徒步或者专车，我们选择坐专车，因为这二天德国又是高温临下。除了专车票必须另外买之外，火车和大巴的车票都包括在9€的月票中。在城堡里导游带着我们转了一大圈。埃莱芝城堡是私人城堡，到现在已经是第33代传人，是德国唯一未受任何战争和自然灾难破坏的城堡。当然现在这城堡已成为旅游热点了，城堡很多房间中摆放着非常漂亮的鲜花都还是家里百岁老太自己弄的。午餐就在城堡的餐厅里吃，面包夹香肠，很简单。饭后在城堡里照几张像后就赶着回城，这次我们徒步到车站，没赶上大巴，结果在车站等了五十多分钟。幸好在火车站没等多久，顺利回到Koblenz。先去看了Koblenz宫殿，那里的花园很漂亮，人也不多。然后沿着莱茵河边漫步，发现去对岸山上艾伦布赖特施泰因城堡（Ehrenbreitstein Fortress)的缆车还开着, 赶紧买票坐缆车过河上了对岸的山头看了一眼城堡🏰，赶在缆车停止前又匆匆赶回。在老城区一家专做土尔其饺子的店吃了晚饭，第一次吃土尔其饺子，觉得味道还可以。吃饱喝足坐火车回住地。

Bacharach

July 11, 2022

We left Nuremberg this morning for the little town of Bacharach on the Rhine River, the last stop of our German visit. After riding the high-speed train from Nuremberg to Koblenz, we transferred to the regional train to Bacharach. Thanks to Germany's €9 national pass, the regional train was packed with tourists and locals. But fortunately, it took only thirty minutes to get from Koblenz to Bacharach. Bacharach is a historic town of less than two thousand permanent residents, with a castle built in the 12th century. Nowadays, this town is mainly a tourist place, but there are not too many overnight tourists.

Arriving in town in the afternoon, we walked from the train station to our hotel, which was only five minutes away. But dragging our suitcases over the cobblestone street made our walk a little harder and longer. Too early for check-in, we found a restaurant next to the hotel to have lunch and had German schnitzel and green salad. When we were done with lunch, the hotel was ready for us. After check-in, the three of us went up the hillside to see Stahleck Castle. It was a 12th-century fortified castle in the Upper Middle Rhine Valley, which was destroyed in the late 17th century but rebuilt in the 20th, and is now a hostel. We had our afternoon coffee break with German cheesecake and ice cream at the castle café at the top while admiring the panoramic view over the Rhine River. The area is also known for its white wines, harvested from the vineyards on the steep hills along the river. Walking through the vineyards definitely was a treat. We knew we would return here to hike on another day.

Dinner was delicious paella, grilled calamari, and local white wine at the restaurant next to the railroad track. It was an unique experience with the train coming and going every few minutes when we were eating, and we didn't expect to have such good paella in a small town like Bacharach. After dinner, we strolled along the Rhine River, watching the trains passing on both sides of the river and the cargo ships and cruise ships that slowly moved along the river. We loved the town, and it was an enjoyable day.

欧洲游第五十二天：今天离开纽伦堡来到在莱茵河上的小镇-Bacharach，也是我们德国游的最后一个住宿点。一早坐高铁从纽伦堡到Koblenz,然后换当地火车到Bacharach. 因为德国9欧元的全国通行票，小火车挤满游客，幸好从Koblenz到Bacharach 只需三十分钟。Bacharach 是一个不到二千人的历史小镇，镇上城堡建于十二世纪。如今这个小镇主要是旅游的地方，但是小镇上游客不多，很安静，是个值得去的地方。下午到达小镇后，在旅馆边找了家餐厅吃午饭，德国炸猪排，蔬菜色拉。安顿好后，仨人就上小山坡去看当地古城堡，土坡上都种酿酒葡萄，据说这里葡萄酒还有点小名声。在城堡上喝上一杯咖啡加上德国的奶酪蛋糕和冰淇淋，欣赏莱茵河上的美景，真的是非常享受。晚餐是西班牙海鲜饭和烤鱿鱼，挺好吃的。有点没想到这么个安静小镇里能吃上海鲜饭。饭后又在莱茵河边漫步，看望着河两岸上来来往往的火车和慢行在河上的货船和游轮，美好的一天这样结束了。

Munich 慕尼黑

July 10, 2022

This morning we took the hour-long high-speed train from Nuremberg to Munich, where we were reunited with our son. We had a cup of coffee in a neighborhood coffee shop and then headed to the Munich central square, just in time for Rathaus-Glockenspiel to chime at noon. Many people watched the clock show lasting more than ten minutes, which was the best we had seen on this European trip.

After the show, we tried to find a place for lunch, but most restaurants were packed. We walked around the area and found a relatively high-end restaurant with many empty seats. We decided to give it a try, but it turned out that the food was not as good as we expected for the price. Maybe that's why nobody dines there. We ordered a sausage salad, and we thought it was a few pieces of sausage in the salad, like chicken salad. We didn't expect the whole plate to be full of sausages with salad dressing. The lamb dish and fish&chip were pretty good, just too expensive.

After lunch, we strolled around the central square and visited a few tourist attractions. Since it was the weekend, the area was crowded with tourists and locals. We left the main square and went to the English Garden. The park was vast and beautiful, with many people walking, biking, and sitting on the benches or grass. We walked across the park to the Munich Royal Palace. Since it was late afternoon and we didn't have enough time to visit the palace, we had our coffee break at the café nearby before we caught a train returning to Nuremberg.

For dinner, we took our son back to the same restaurant we had Nuremberg Sausage before. Besides the tasty sausages, we also ordered beef tongue this time, which was very good. The music festival was over, and most musicians had already left town. Compared to last night's live music and crowds, the old town was much quieter and empty tonight.

欧洲游第五十一天：今天一早从纽伦堡坐一小时的高铁到慕尼黑，与儿子在那里再次团聚。先去了他们的中央广场，正好赶上午时钟楼准时敲钟，这次钟楼雕像秀前前后后持续十分钟，算是这次欧洲行中看到的最好的。中午在附近找了一家算是比较高挡次的餐厅，但味道并不怎么样，要了个香肠色拉，想是生菜里放点香肠，没想到整盘全是香肠，放了点色拉酱。饭后去了英式公园，从那里走到慕尼黑皇宫，也没时间进去参观，就在旁边喝上一杯咖啡就匆匆赶回火车站回纽伦堡，慕尼黑算是到此一游。晚餐让儿子尝尝纽伦堡香肠，另外试了牛舌头，还不错。与昨晚上人山人海相比，今晚的纽伦堡游客寥寥无几，安静多了。

Bavarian Trombone Festival巴伐利亚长号节

July 9, 2022

We visited the Imperial Castle of Nuremberg in the morning. In the Middle Ages, Germany Kings, also Holly Roman Emperors if they were coronated by the Pope, stayed from one castle to another since they didn’t have a capital. Nuremberg Castle was one of the Imperial Castles for the kings/emperors. The castle was damaged severely during World War II, and the restoration took 30 years to complete. The Imperial Chapel inside the castle was interesting. It has two chapels, one above the other and connected only through an opening in the ceiling, thus representing the hierarchical classes in the society. Visiting the 50-meter-deep well also reminded us of the tremendous engineering skills of the people in the medieval period. The staff showed us that water was still down there. We also enjoyed some live music activities as we strolled around the castle.

Before noon, we each had a Nuremberg sausage sandwich for lunch and waited for the Frauenkirche church on the square to ring the clock while eating. The mechanical clock on the church wall has the figure of Holly Roman Emperor sitting in the middle. At noon, a series of little wooden men coming out of a door on the right walked passing the emperor and went into another door on the left.

Done watching the clock, we took an underground Nuremberg guided tour in the afternoon. Hundreds of years ago, the city government required that all beer breweries build a specific size of cellar underground and also made strict laws on the composition of beer. Therefore, many beer cellars are underneath the old city, and some places have four floors deep. Those ancient cellars became bomb shelters during World War II. The tour was in German, but they gave us an audio guide to listen to. We knew we missed a lot of what the tour guide said, but the tour was still fascinating. We were amazed at how extensive and well-constructed the cellars were. We saw some of the cellars were still in use today for liquor other than beer. In the end, the tour took us to a brewery, and we had the famous Nuremberg’s red beer at one of the cafes in the area.

We did not go back to the old town directly; instead, we walked along the old city walls to see more of the old town. Dinner was at the Ramen restaurant next to our hotel again.

When we arrived in Nuremberg two days ago, we saw the stage was being set up in the square. Occasionally, we watched the music being played on the stage. Yesterday, suddenly, a lot of long yellow benches appeared in the square in a peculiar way that the benches didn’t face the stage. Last night there was a live concert in the square. The light blue posters in Germany were everywhere, and we started to see many people coming to the town with Trombones and Brass. Our curiosity took us to Google Search, and we found it was the Bavarian Trombone Festival 2022. With an expected turnout of about 2800 players from Bavaria and beyond, according to the online news. Today the old town street was filled with musicians, and live music was everywhere. Tonight, Nuremberg’s old town square turned into the stage for a gigantic brass festival. This was something we had never experienced before.

Our son would join us in Nuremberg from Berlin tonight. However, the train stopped miles away from Nuremberg for more than one hour for the reason we didn’t know. He fell asleep during the stop. Once the train moved again, he didn’t wake up until it passed Nuremberg when we called him. He missed the stop and headed to Munich. He could return with another train once arriving in Munich but decided to stay in Munich for the night since we would go to Munich tomorrow for the day trip.

欧洲游第五十天：今天就在纽伦堡老城里转转，上午去了皇家城堡, 中午每人买一个纽伦堡香肠三明治，边吃边等着广场边教堂午时准时打钟，看着钟楼上的小木人午时敲打出来走了一圈。下午参加了一个地下纽伦堡游。好几百年前，市政府就立法规定，所有酿制啤酒的酒庄都必须在地下建造一定大小的酒窖，还对啤酒的成分作了严格规定，所以在老城地下有不少地窖，有些地方还是有四层的。二战时这地窖可派了大用场了。纽伦堡的红啤酒🍻是当地最传统的啤酒，当然不能错过，所以地下游结束后我们就直接在酒庄坐下品尝了一下，然后沿着老城墙走一圈。

这个周末，正好碰上德国长号节在纽伦堡举行，白天城里到处是一个个小型音乐会，晚上据说有2800个长号手一起在老城广场演奏，规模宏大，“号”声动听。

Nazi Rally Ground and Nuremberg Trial

July 8, 2022

Nuremberg was the center of the Nazi regime, and it was Hitler's favorite city. Nazi Party chose the city to be the site of huge Nazi Party conventions – the Nuremberg rallies we saw in the films. Several facilities were constructed solely for those rallies, some of which were not finished. Before World War II, they began to build larger and more spectacular gathering places, but before these works could be completed, World War II ended. Many examples of Nazi architecture can still be seen in the city. We went to see the sites this morning. Some buildings were demolished after World War II, and the rest are still abandoned. For example, the Congress Hall was never completed, but it is the biggest preserved national socialist monumental building still in existence. After the war, the question of what to do with the unfinished shell was raised. Converting it into a leisure and shopping center was proposed but was too politically sensitive to start. The northern wing of the Congress Hall is now home to the Documentation Center, a part of which opened as a permanent exhibition we visited. The southern wing houses the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra. Our walking tour started with visiting the permanent exhibition in the northern wing to pass by the courtyard of the Congress Hall. The courtyard looked like a construction dump site. However, we managed to get to the other side of Congress Hall and walked a U-shape 400-meter-long archway alone. On the granite walls, we still could see the bullet holes.

The round tour of the main areas of the rally ground was probably three to four miles long. Halfway, we were hungry but couldn't find any shops in this massive rally ground. Google Maps showed a couple of food options, but they were either closed or not there. Walking on the Great Road, we passed by the lake to head to the Zeppelin Field and hoped to find a place to sit and eat. We finally saw a restaurant next to the lake, and we walked in only to be told that it was closed for a private event. Near the Zeppelin Field, we found a food truck selling sausage and drinks. Since this was our only option, if we did not want to continue looking, we ordered the food and drink from the truck. We saw a picnic table with chairs beside the truck. When the guy saw us walking towards the table with food, he shouted, "no sit," in an unfriendly voice. We couldn't understand why we couldn't sit down to eat the food he had just sold to us. We didn't bother arguing with him and just walked away to find another place to sit down and enjoy the sausage.

After lunch, we visited Zeppelin Field and the Grandstand, where Hitler addressed his followers during the annual Nazi Party rallies. Both structures are massive, and the site is in the process of converting into a museum.

Done with the rally ground, we went to the Nuremberg Trial Museum, a significant landmark worth visiting. With the audio device, we walked through the exhibit, and there was a lot of information. Unfortunately, due to renovation, we could not visit the famous court No. 600. It took us six hours to see the rally ground and the Nuremberg Trial Museum, and we learned a little more history.

Because Nuremberg was the center of Nazi rallying and their military stronghold, it was one of the most bombed cities during World War II, and almost 90% of the buildings in the old city were destroyed. Unlike other German cities, Nuremberg decided to rebuild the old town after World War II by keeping the original traditional style. The old town we see today was rebuilt after World War II, which is exceptionally new and beautiful.

The downtown market was open every day from eight am to eight or nine pm; there was street food, vegetarian fruits, meats, etc., and we bought some green beans, mushrooms, and strawberries in the morning. We also had a pretzel with butter for breakfast from a stand in the market. The strawberries were fresh and sweet, and we stir-fried green beans and mushrooms with a bit of bacon for dinner in the evening.

After dinner, we went to see the Beautiful Fountain at the square. According to a local legend, if you turn the "golden ring" on the grille three times and make a wish, your wish will come true. The ring is relatively small and not immediately noticeable. We found it, turned it three times, and made a wish.

When visiting Nuremberg, the Nuremberg sausage, which has a history of hundreds of years, is on everyone's must-eat list. Tonight, as we strolled on the street, we were attracted to the charcoal smoking from the chimney of the Bratwursthausle. We could not control ourselves and had the second dinner,  having a beer and a glass of white wine, more than a dozen Nuremberg sausages grilled on charcoal, and a sausage sandwich. It had a unique aroma and tasted really good. It was our first time trying the sausage, and we knew we would return for more. There was a live concert in the square at night, and we discovered that tomorrow would be a big music day.

欧洲游第四十九天：纽伦堡是希特勒最喜欢的城市，影片里看到的纳粹集会就是在那里举行的，希特勒把纽伦堡祢为纳粹党集会市。在二战前，他们开始建造更大更壮观的集合场所，但这些工程没有完成前，二战就结束了。今天上午就去看了一下那些遗址，因为政冶上的敏感性有些建筑在二战后就拆除了，剩下的至今还废弃着。有些地方刚开始准备对外开放。看完这些后又去了纽伦堡审判博物馆和当时的法庭，很可惜因装修的原因，我们未能参观著名的600号法庭。正因为纽伦堡是纳粹的集会中心，也是当时他们的军事要地，所以二战期间是被炸的最历害的城市之一，旧城的建筑几乎90%被毁，与德国其它城市不同，纽伦堡在二战后决定重新复造老城区。保持原来传统风格，现在所看到的老城区都是二战后重建的，所以特别新且漂亮。看集会中心及审判博物馆前前后后花了五，六个小时，博物馆里许多语音介绍还根本来不及听。

在市中心的集市每天早上八点开到晚上八，九点，有街头小吃，素菜水果肉类等，我们早上买了点四季豆，蘑菇和草莓，草莓很好，晚上炒个四季豆蘑菇加了一点培根。到了纽伦堡必须要尝尝纽伦堡小香肠，有几百年的历史。晚饭后去街上散步，找了一家饭店要了一杯啤酒一杯白葡萄酒凑个热闹，吃了十几根在木炭上烤过的纽伦堡肠，有种特别的香味，味道真不错。

Museum Island, 博物馆岛

July 5, 2022

When we were in a new place, we always looked for a breakfast/coffee store to experience. We found one this morning to have a brick of roasted pork bacon, and it tasted good.

We bought the two-day Museum passes and started our museum tour today. One island and five museums, a unique collection of buildings in the center of Berlin, make museum hopping much easy. For crowd control, we also needed to get the time entry tickets. We went to the Neue Museum Berlin in the morning, had lunch at the museum café, and then visited the Pergamon Museum in the afternoon. There was so much to see between the two museums. The highlights were the statue of the Egyptian heroine, the golden hat, and the replica of the Iraqi Ishtar Gate. The museum and many of its collections were destroyed during World War II and have been under renovation since the reunification of East and West Germany. In Pergamon Museum, through the protection glass, we observed the staff restoring the collections with cotton swabs.

We were pretty exhausted after visiting two museums in a row. Enough museums for the day, we left the museum island and went to the Turkish market in the late afternoon. The market was huge, selling all kinds of things. We were there a little late, and some stalls had already begun to close. We bought fresh cherries, had the lamb stews and falafel balls from the street food stands. The food tasted delicious, although it took us a while to find one small table with a bench to sit down and eat our food.

Dinner was Vietnamese food. We had a communication issue when we tried to order the food. Since our son was allergic to nuts, we had to ensure that none of the dishes we ordered had any nuts. On top of that, our daughter is vegan, and we would like to have at least one vegan dish for her. It turned out to be a challenge. The waitress did not understand English, and not a single staff did in the restaurant. We had to use the translator on our phone to communicate with her. During the entire meal time, we were worried about the nut allergy.

Berlin was a big city; we had done a lot in just two days and were exhausted. Back to the hotel, we were told that the AC should be back working the next day, another day.

欧洲游第四十六天：今天去了柏林博物馆岛上的柏林新博物馆和帕加馬博物館, 精点展品是埃及女主的塑像，金帽子和复制的伊拉克伊什塔尔城门。博物馆及许多收藏品在二战期间被毁，东西德合并之后一直在整修。P5中隔着玻璃看到工作人员在用棉花棒小心翼翼地修复藏品。柏林的几个好的博物馆光有票还不够，还要专门订进场的时间。连着二个博物馆看下来觉得蛮累的，下午就去了土尔其露天市场，我们去得有点晚，有些摊位已开始收工了。在那里买了点樱桃，顺便尝试些他们的街头小吃。晚饭是越南菜，语言交流有点问题，服务员一点英语都不懂，来欧洲四十几天了还是第一次。为了菜里有没有花生这事搞了半天。柏林有点大，玩得挺累的。

Family Reunion 一家团聚

July 4, 2022

It was the first time the four of us traveled together in Europe. This year, the German government issued 9 euros monthly travel pass for the summer months, June, July, and August. The monthly travel card was available to anyone, including the tourists like us, and could be used nationwide and include all local transportation, bus, ferry, and regional train. It was convenient and inexpensive to travel around Germany with this card.

After reuniting with our son, we spent the whole day exploring the city of Berlin, mainly visiting several attractions related to the Berlin Wall. Much of the Berlin Wall has been dismantled, leaving a small part as the Berlin Wall Memorial. We strolled around Bernauer Street to see the walls, old houses along the wall, and the information stalls to know that part of the history. We had lunch at Zum Schusterjungen, a homemade-style German restaurant. Then we continued sightseeing, including Checkpoint Charlie, a landmark boundary marking East and West Berlin with a white sentry guard house & cobbled border line was the best-known crossing point of the Berlin Wall and a symbol of the Cold War.  

We returned to our hotel for a short break and then went to the hostel with our son. He preferred to stay at the hostel alone, not with us at the hotel. As he was checking in at the hostel, we sat at a Chinese restaurant nearby to wait for him to join us for dinner. But he chatted with his roommate at the hostel and forgot about the time. Eventually, he joined us when we were almost done with the dinner. The restaurant claimed to serve some traditional Chinese cuisine, but we thought the food was so-so. After eating and drinking, we took a bus to the presidential residence. It was a quiet place with no tourists around, except a lawn mower robot working hard on the lawn. Then we wandered around Tiergarten Park to see the Victory Column and returned to the Memorial to Murdered Jews of Europe. We went back to the Brandenburg Gate a third time with a family photo in front of the Brandenburg Gate for the Berlin gathering.

欧洲游第四十五天：儿子今天一早飞到，一家四口在柏林团聚，很开心。这次来德国碰到了好事，今年夏天德国政府发放九欧元一月的交通卡。这交通卡是全国通用，包括所有的地方交通。有此卡后外出就很方便，今天一整天就在柏林城里转，主要去一些与柏林墙有关的景点。柏林围墙大部分已被拆除，留了很小一部分作为纪念，包括查理检查哨等。午饭是以当地的大肉为主，有人还没吃厌😀。晚上在一家中餐店里用餐，说是传统的中国菜，味道很一般，感觉就是骗老外的。吃饱喝足继续溜达又去蒂尔加藤公园看了胜利纪念柱，然后再次回到欧洲被害犹太人纪念碑区及勃兰登堡门。一家四口在勃兰登堡门前照相留念。

Berlin, Germany, 柏林,德国

July 3, 2022

Germany was the last country to visit in our two-months Europe travel plan. This morning we said goodbye to the beautiful Prague old town and headed to Germany. The train from Prague to Berlin took about four hours, and the train was so packed that even some people in the first class could only sit on the ground. Thank god we made our seat reservations for the ride. Since we didn't have time to eat anything in the morning to catch the train, we ordered breakfast as soon as we got on the train. The food on the train was not bad at all and was reasonably priced with an early bird discount. We even ordered the schnitzel for lunch. After the train entered into German, we saw a few policemen hopped on the train and questioned some passengers.

Our hotel unit in Berlin had one bedroom, a living room with a sofa bed, a small kitchen, and a washer/dryer. When we arrived, the front desk staff told us our room AC was not working and should be fixed the next day. We didn't realize that the entire hotel AC was down and the power was off for the AC. The room was warm but bearable. No complaining.

After settling in, we headed out and walked to the Brandenburg Gate. Many people were around the Brandenburg Gate, including a heavy police presence. We were unsure what was happening or if the police were simply for the security of several Embassies nearby, such as the US Embassy and the British Embassy. We did not stay too long, took a few pictures, and went to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. It's a vast area with thousands of concrete slabs arranged in a grid pattern on a sloping field. It was a compelling memorial.

There was a long line for getting into an attached underground information center, and the lady monitoring the waiting line was very strict about the face mask. Not only everyone had to have the face mask on, but they also had to be the right type. Those fabric masks, which were very popular in the US, were not allowed at the museum, and the lady asked anyone with the wrong face mask to change it, including our daughter. Luckily, we brought extra N95 with us. This was our first encounter regarding the face mask in the last 40+ days. In all the countries and places we had visited so far, nobody cared about wearing face masks anymore. The underground information center holds the names of approximately 3 million Jewish Holocaust victims. It had many exhibition halls displaying informative videos, audio, pictures, and letters from the victims to their loved ones. It took us a long time to walk through, and it was a very sobering experience.

Before coming to Germany, we read an article about Berlin's Doner Kebab and thought we wanted to try it on this trip. Although we had already had a simple breakfast/lunch on the train, we could not resist the temptation of Berlin's Doner Kebab and went to one of the popular Kebab places with celebrities' and politicians' pictures all over the walls. The gyro we ordered was good indeed.

After relaxing and recharging, we continued exploring the city. As we walked around the Potsdamer Platz area, we were constantly reminded of the Cold war. Potsdamer Platz was divided between West and East Berlin, and the Berlin Wall cut through the square. A few panels of the Berlin Wall in the Potsdamer Platz provided a history of the Cold War, and many street surfaces were marked with divider lines. We walked past the Brandenburg Gate again. The crowds were gone, and it was much quieter compared to the early afternoon when we were here. The blue sky and white clouds were perfect for taking pictures. We did not have a chance to go inside the Reichstag Building. The roof terrace and dome of the Reichstag Building opened to the public, and admission was free, but advance registration was required, and the space filled up quickly. We just wandered around the area instead.

In the evening, we went to a vegan Thai restaurant. It served various small dishes on ceramic-coated plates, which was very special. Berlin was very Vegan friendly. We had a first good impression of Berlin.

欧洲游第四十四天：二个月欧洲游正在接近尾声，德国是我们计划中最后一个国家。从布拉格到柏林火车大约四个小时，火车上乘客爆满，既使是一等舱也有人只能坐在地上，亏得我们有订位。因为早上为赶火车没来得及吃任何东西，一上火车我们就点早餐，之后又要了简单午餐，觉得火车上的伙食还可以并且也不贵。在柏林的旅馆也是带厨房的，安顿好后就去勃兰登堡门附近走走，参观了欧洲被害犹太人纪念碑和纪念馆。虽然火车上已吃过简单午餐，但挡不住柏林的土尔其烤肉皮塔饼的诱惑，又吃了第二顿午餐😋。晚上去了一家全素的泰国店，很有特色，中晚两餐都还算不错。对柏林的第一印象很好。