It was about a 8 hour train ride from Prague to Stuttgart which was our next destination. Again my dad had some business to attend to and I was not going to argue since that business was in the Black Forest retreat of Baden Baden. This was another resort town founded by the Romans centuries ago because of the natural mineral baths that dot the foothills of the Black Forest. We had the luxury of staying at one of the nicer places in town, and it happened to be the only accommodation that had its own mineral baths and pools on location. While my dad did his thing, I marinated in the soothing warm waters and enjoyed the steam baths and saunas. Life could definitely be worse. If you have not realized in some of the pictures by now, my hair is getting quite long. In fact, it is the longest it has ever been in my life. Walking around the steam baths in my soft robe, long hair dangling and some tats showing, I couldn’t help but feel like a rocker on break from a tour. A subsequent photo would reveal that I am becoming quite the hair lord.
After a day in Baden Baden, we took a drive through the Black Forest. Too bad a lot of the forest is being harvested for timber products. These days the forest is not looking so black. One treat was a tour of the spectacular Hohenzollern Castle. This is a magnificent building perched on top of a large hill overlooking the surrounding countryside. One of the things my Mom wanted to do when she came to Germany was visit a castle, which she did, however, it is too bad she missed out on this one because it was pretty amazing. The views were astonishing and the history of the castle well preserved. The castle was home to the rulers of the Prussian empire and well, it’s good to be king.
After winding our way back to Stuttgart, we caught the train and headed to Cologne for last few days of the trip. Cologne is quite a spectacular place as well and was arguably my favorite city that we visited on the trip. Immediately upon exiting the main train station in Cologne you are greeted by the towering Dom (cathedral). This is probably one of the most magnificent cathedrals in the world and it dwarfs everything else around it. The interior is quite breathtaking and exhibits some of the most intricate stained glass windows I have ever seen, which, by the way, can all be enjoyed free of charge. There was , however, a charge of 2 Euros to climb the 509 steps to the top of one of the towers and it took some convincing but I did manage to get my dad to climb up there with me. (Better get used to stuff like this Dad if you want to do a triathlon!) Upon reaching the top, sweaty and out of breath, myself included, you are presented with a magnificent view of the city of Cologne. It is pretty hard to imagine the people that climbed up here to chisel away back in the days when OHSA or it’s German counterpart didn’t exist. After taking in the view, we made our way back down, avoiding along the way what was left of someone’s lunch. Obviously the height, heat and close confines didn’t treat someone too well.
With all of the exercise in the afternoon heat, I decided that it would be a good idea to cool of with some good beer. Cologne just happens to be home to probably one of the best beers in the world – Kölsch. This is a golden, delicious beer served in a .2 liter thin glass and is unique to Cologne. In the afternoon sun I downed about 4 of them in no time flat. We enjoyed the cool beverage in the beer garden of the famous Brauhaus Früh. This place is a beer hall that serves up the beloved Kölsch in a seemingly never-ending stream, and just so happened to be on the first floor of the inn where we were staying. We spent a couple of days exploring Cologne, which is by no means enough time to enjoy all that the city has to offer. Cologne was a major trading center in the medieval times and has quite an interesting history all well documented at the Cologne City Museum. After a stroll down by the Rhine and a visit to another beer garden, it was time to catch the train back to Frankfurt and our flight home. In all, I spent 3 weeks in Germany and as usual, it went by far to quickly. I saw some great places, made some great new friends and obviously enjoyed my fair share of German cuisine and alcoholic beverages. I look forward to going back soon as I have a score to settle with the Quelle Challenge, a bike ride in the Alps to attend to and the northern half of the country yet to explore.
For more pics from my trip, visit the following link.
