Germany Aug. 31st - Sept. 7th 2014
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GERMANY
GERMANY
topgun92000- September 9th, 2014
Fulda, Germany Aug. 31st - Sept 7th 2014
My Itinerary:
---Fulda---
Fulda Cathedral
-huge cathedral building
Michaelskirche
- Catacombs
Schlossgarten Fulda
- castle
iX Bowling
-nice bowling
Go to the forest.
---Frankfurt---
Main Tower
-360 view of the city
Frankfurter Roemer
-Old town frankfurt
Goethe House (Goethehaus)
- old house of an author
---Wiesbaden (close to frankfurt)---
1888 Nerobergbahn Funicular
-Train ride to the top
Spielbank Wiesbaden
-Casino
My Check-ins:
Hilton Washington Dulles Airport
Fulda - Künzell
Fulda Cathedral
Schlossgarten
McDonalds Restaurant
Pilgerzell, Germany
Würzburger Residenz
iX Bowling
Wiesbaden, Germany
Wiesbaden Marktplatz
Kurhaus Wiesbaden GmbH
Neroberg
My family decided to visit some old friends in Fulda Germany. The plan was to go to a family friends wedding in Israel but make a pit stop in Germany to see some other friends as well. My mom and dad were going to be in Germany for 4 days, go to Israel, and leave me in Germany for the full 7 days in Fulda.
8/31/14
U.S.A
"United Airlines... You are the worst"
Eric drove us to the flyaway so we can get to the airport from there. We got to the airport an hour and a half early so we have plenty of time to shop, eat, and be on our way. We ate at the The Counter Burgers in the airport after we checked our bags in. We proceeded to our gate still 20 minutes before our take off, my mom sees some gifts that she needed to buy for the Germany folks. Still 15 minutes to spare we get to our gate. We go to the guy at the desk, he is talking on the phone looking at us and after a few minutes finally acknowledges us and he proceeds to tell us that our seats have been sold out. He tells us that we needed to be there 15 minutes
before take off. We start panicking, "We were here 15 minutes prior, you were on the phone." Sorry nothing I can do, and he proceeds to printing some papers. We think he is helping us out so we patiently wait for him to tell us what we should do at this point. He goes about his business without any intention helping us out. So I interrupt his work, and ask what should we do? He looks at me with disgust and tells me to go to customer service and turns away... "Okay, where is the customer service?" I ask appalled on how terribly this man is treating us at this point. He points toward the direction and we go.
We get to the customer service desk and they book another flight that leaves in 2 hours. At first we were supposed to go to Chicago then a connected flight to Frankfurt but now the plan was to go to Washington, Dulles and connect to Frankfurt. The problem was that our luggage was going to be in Chicago. When you make a connect flight to international, your supposed to recheck in your luggage. The lady that was helping us told us that she will try to have someone check in the luggage for us and the luggage will be there a day late but no guarantee that our luggage will even leave Chicago. Another problem is we were supposed to drive to Fulda from Frankfurt which was a good 1.5 hours away. My parents were supposed to be in Germany only for 3 days, now we are going to be 2 hours late, and waste 3 hours just getting our luggage IF they get there. Whatever, lesson learned, we will deal with it when the time comes, we take our new tickets and get to our new terminal.
2 hours we wait at our terminal, making sure we don't go anywhere so we don't miss our flight again. Boarding time, we all get up in our Group lane's and wait to get into the plain. 4:15pm we were supposed to take flight. 4:00pm we are still standing in line to get into the plane. What is going on? Finally someone comes out and tells us that the plane is too hot at this time and they are trying to air it out before people can be seated. Don't worry the connected flights will be there on time. 4:30pm, we are still standing outside of the plane. 5:00pm they finally let us in.
Of course inside the plane, the entertainment didn't work. Every time I fly with United, the entertainment doesn't work. Good thing I brought my Galaxy Tab and watched Pirates of the Caribbean. We get to Washington 5 min until take off, I have to run to stop the plane. I run, and run, AND RUN! We landed in terminal D-23 I was supposed to get to terminal B-1. That means I had to run through a good 60 terminals to get to the destination. I didn't get there in time, no one did. Back to the customer service desk we go. They tell us that that was the final international flight, the next one goes out tomorrow at 3:00pm. We were really upset. Now my parents lose a day and a half in Germany. They gave us tickets:
8 x $7.00 comp for meals (For dinner and lunch)
2 x $63.00 comp for Hilton hotel
We get to the transport section of the airport and I show them the Hilton hotel ticket which I thought was the transport ticket. They lead us to the taxi section. I give the taxi guy the hotel ticket and he proceeds to take us to the hotel. After we get there, he tries to kick us out as quickly as possible, I check my tickets and ask him to see which one I had given him, he gives it back it was one of the $63 tickets. Sneaky bastard I think to myself and look for the transport ticket which we didn't have. I finally realized that we weren't supposed to take a taxi but a shuttle to the hotel which are obviously free, another lesson learned. We pay the driver and to the hotel we go. We get our rooms, and proceed to dinner at the hotel restaurant. A dinner there is of course not $7 but the cheapest plate is about $12. Needless to say we spent all of our tickets there and still wasn't enough.
9/1/14
The next day my dad and I got up early to walk outside and check out Washington, Duelles. It was memorial day, no one was out on the streets and everything was pretty much closed. All we could hear are the noisy bugs in the tree's. Wow they were loud, I think they were cicadas. It was also extremely humid, I felt wet as soon as we walked out. We walked about 3 miles round trip. This time we took the shuttle back to the airport. We got there plenty of time to make the trip. At the airport I called United to ask about our luggage. They told me that they weren't in Germany because something happened and it was coming to Washington instead and go from there. Lucky for us we were in Washington and with pure luck they ended up being in the same plane we were. At the time of boarding, we stood up ready to get inside the plane. Waited, and waited, AND WAITED! Finally someone comes out and states that the airplane is in dire need of cleaning and there will be a hold up. I couldn't believe it. Why couldn't they have held up when we needed it to? Instead when we were hours early United obviously made some excuses to hold up the planes. It was amazingly ridiculous. About 45 minutes after actual boarding time, we boarded the plane. This time it had entertainment and it was quite comfortable, the screens were in front of the seat and you can touch screen if you wanted to watch movies or TV Shows.
What have we learned?
1. United customer service is atrocious, no help. United please hire helpful people.
2. Not always on time. United please fix the planes and stop with excuses on why we are being held up.
3. The entertainment is unpredictable making it hard to expect what you'll get. The first plane's entertainment didn't work. The second plane's entertainment was just fine. The third plane (on my way back to America) there was only one screen where you were forced to watch what they put on. To be fair this airplane had wi-fi where you can log on to and watch what you want. But my Samsung device wasn't compatible. Samsung is another company I have a bone to pick with but that's another story. The fourth plane only had direct TV and you HAD to pay to either watch a movie or t.v shows. I don't know if other airlines do this but it's ridiculous. United, please be consistent.
... Case and point, if you are able to choose ANY other company to fly with. Do so!
Deutschland
"Still no luck"
We finally arrive in Frankfurt. We get our luggage, go to enterprise to get our car. I've got insurance from Expedia, which didn't show on their computer so I had to get their insurance. After I got back, I got my refund from Expedia. Since the new sum was in Euro, I don't know if enterprise gave me a better deal or not. I didn't care to look into it, too tired and wanted to get to Fulda. They also offered a way for me to bring the car back with an empty tank and I had to pay $4.30 Euro/gallon to fill it. That was a good deal and I took it. I'm glad I did because the airport is so huge I know I wouldn't have brought the car back on a full tank of gas anyway.
We got the car. It is what they call a super mini, kind of like a hatchback. It was called Opel Corsa. Since almost all the cars in Europe is stick shift including this one, I drove. We had printed directions on where to go because our cell phones do not work outside of the U.S. First thing I noticed was the the freeways (autoban) don't tell you which direction you are going. For instance we have 405 North, they just say A3. We take the A3 in hopes it's going the correct way. Turns out we were. All of a sudden there is a huge X on the left lane, then the second lane, and so on. The autoban has forced us to exit. This was not good because we had no idea where to get on and no detours were posted. My parents just told me to follow everyone else and so I did. After a long stressful game of follow the leader, we finally got back onto the freeway again in hopes of going the right direction, we found our way. Then on the autoban I saw a glorious sign:
My dad, who has already been to Germany before, tells me that that means there is no speed limit. I saw the light, this was my new favorite sign! I sped up. I noticed that almost every car including ours were super mini's. This was the car we rented:
We saw signs for Fulda and were excited we were going the correct way, and just before our exit, the autoban again forces us to exit. We couldn't believe the bad luck we were having. We exit and had to find the rest of the way on the streets. We get to the place where the instructions say but something was off. The directions stopped making sense. The streets stopped making sense. We pull over and decide to ask someone for directions. I swear, that at this point I finally realize that I don't know this country's language! This is the first time I've been at a place where I wouldn't be able to understand a local. I've been to Ireland where they speak English and Mexico where I can get by with my amazing Spanglish skills. But this was a whole different situation. I decided to try anyway. Pulled to a small mart and showed the owner the instructions. He looked at me and starting pointing directions. We get back into the car and try to follow. I started to think, we have the wrong address. I'm sure we copied it wrong and no way we can find it. Again we pulled over, this time at a McDonalds and ask the worker for a phone. My mom dials, the problem is that we had the phone number that we use calling from the U.S. Meaning that it had the Germany country code, area code, and home number. We didn't know which number to start with. Luckily the worker somewhat spoke English and I asked her how many numbers does a German phone number have? I was in shock when she replied, "Sometimes 6 or sometimes 7". My mom tried every which way, someone picked up but it wasn't them. We had the wrong number. I was about to freak out. We were in another country, not knowing the language, lost without a heading. This was turning out to be a terrifying trip. Ok, well let's get at least close to what the instructions say, the worker told us the way to the actual city. I've noticed that no one uses the streets as a marker in Germany. "You will see a theater and turn right after about 500 meters you will see a traffic light." She says. I have no idea how much 500 meters is. I'm also freaked out, thinking even if we get to the city there is no way we will find our friends. I ask her if they have wi-fi, they do. I try to connect, maybe we can email them. The wi-fi that every business there uses is called Telecom. The problem is that you have to register with Telecom and in order to register you need to get a verification code that will be texted to you. We weren't able to get texts outside of the U.S. My heart starts beating hard again. The worker takes a look at our paper with the phone numbers, and says try dialing this number. I dial. It magically works!!! My mom speaks with her friend and planned for him to come to where we are and we follow to the house. We wait outside in the parking lot.
Künzell, Fulda
"We made it"
Our savior meets us at the parking lot and we follow him to his house where we will be staying. We meet the family. We were staying with Misha, Leida, Paya, and Emily. A very kind family that were a lot of fun to hang out with. They had a huge 3 story house outside of the city. We stayed in the bottom floor where there was a guest room, another huge room and a bathroom. The night that we got there we ate dinner, told them our story, they told us theirs and we took our showers, unpacked and went to bed.
9/2/14
"Mushroom Picking"
The next morning we woke up and my dad very much wanted to go to the forest. We didn't even have to drive anywhere it was just a few skips away.
We were just walking and my dad wondered if there would be any mushrooms in this forest thinking that it maybe a bit early for mushroom season. We didn't think anything of it and continued to walk and talk. All of a sudden Leida stops and says there is a mushroom! We don't know how she spotted it, it was a good 10 yards away from us but there it was. My dad got real excited and the hunt for mushrooms was on. My dad told us how to distinguish between poisonous one's from the non-poisonous one's. They all looked poisonous to me. We searched for hours on end and found all kinds of mushrooms.
At night we were having dinner and Leida's mom came over. Her name is also Leida. This is the person that my mom grew up with and how we know the family. My mom's mom was best friends with Leida's mom and so she grew up with them. I have never met any of them, and she comes up to me and told me that she has some of my pictures and knew things about me from my mom's stories. It was nice.
9/3/14
The next morning we went to grandma Leida's house. My parents wanted to say hi to her husband who couldn't come the night before because he was sick. So we came to him instead. A nice cozy apartment, grandma Leida showed me the pictures she had of me and old one's of my grandma. I've never seen my grandma's pictures that young before. It was nice. They fed us and we left.
My dad began to cook the mushrooms that we had picked with potatoes and meat. My mom, Misha, and I went to see the old town of Fulda. In the old town I noticed that there were cathedrals everywhere. The streets were very narrow and were made of cobble stone. It really felt like I was back in time in the old days.
We went inside the Fulda Cathedral:
Leida told me that there were Statues and Paintings in this cathedral which was very rare to have at the time. It wasn't allowed to have any pictures in church, but this one has them. Right outside of the cathedral, there was a palace which I went on a tour later on and a beautiful garden:
We came back home to eat what my dad cooked. It was really good. My parents packed and we had to get to Frankfurt to drop them off. They said they're goodbye's and Misha and I went to drop them off to the airport.
Frankfurt, Germany
"Frankfurter Roemer"
After we dropped my parents off, Misha and I went around Frankfurt. There was a nice canal with a bridge over it.
Then we went to the main tower. It sits on a huge building over a bank. Gives a 360 view of Frankfurt.
I also wanted to do the Goethe House but everything closes at 5 and we didn't have time. Instead we went to a place where they have a bunch of kiosks to walk around and eat. I had my first true German Bratwurst.
The bread was a bit too hard, but the sausage was the best I've ever had!
9/4/14
Woke up, the family had things to do in the morning, so Leida dropped me off back at the old town Fulda and I did an audio guided tour. It was a 3 hour tour for $11 Euro, they charged me 12 for some reason. It showed how people lived in the city at the time and the inside of the palace. The things that stood out most to me was that you can pretty much see the castle from all around the city. There used to be only one way to enter through a gate where they used charged a tax to enter the city. Right in front of the Cathedral is where people used to gather to trade and sell goods. Mirrors were a thing of luxury in the past and wasn't easy to make. Rich people had rooms with thousands of mirrors just to show off as just as they would with gold as well as paintings on the ceilings and walls. They also used to show of with beautiful gardens.
My favorite room. The stage room.
Later I met up with Paya and Emily and we went to IX bowling. The company was the same as it is in the U.S. Brunswick. It was a brand new place they've just built. The bowling balls were in pounds instead of kilos. Leida came and we had fun bowling together.
Afterwards Leida and I went to Wasserkuppe. At winter it's a place to ski. It has green fields and a small observatory that you can go in for 2 Euro. We went onto the observatory and went on the green and yellow planes (fields) which were beautiful.
There were people there flying toy airplanes. Also there is a circuit like DZ Discovery zone outside with trees, looked awesome but it was closed. I wanted to do it some other day but didn't have time.
9/5/14
"U.S.A Lets Drive Like the Germans"
Again the family had a lot going on, so I headed to Würzburger. I've noticed that Fulda is pretty much the center of Germany making everything about 2 hours away. Quite alright with me, because the roads are like glass. Perfectly paved, and the car just glides. Best of all I can go as fast as I wanted. It was nice going a good 180 km/hr consistently. They use the left lane ONLY for passing, even if your going faster than everyone else you turn to the right lane after passing everyone. We have to adapt this in the U.S. it just makes everything so much more efficient. I got to the city. I noticed that there isn't any free parking in Germany. They have automated parking everywhere, that's not an exaggeration either. Maybe that's why the streets were so nice. You have to pay anywhere you park. I had a few Euro's left from making a currency exchange at the airport but not much. I had to find a bank to exchange more. Which was fine, I had quite a few hours before the English tour had begun at the Residenz (Royal capital.)
"Currency Exchange"
I went to a bank, and they told me they don't do exchanges there but a bank "A few meters that way" do. I can see why they don't use streets as reference. The reason being is because they are all over the place and usually don't make sense. In the old days all the streets have pointed to the capital so there wasn't any grid like pattern that I am used to. I made sure to see what is around my car to make sure I knew where I parked. Knowing my track record I could have easily lost my car. So after the first bank, I went back to where I parked and started walking the other way from there. I was very careful. Got to another bank, they don't do exchanges either, but "Right past that construction zone, they will make the exchange." Went there and they finally did the exchange for me. They took 3 euro for commission for making 50 dollars exchange. If this was a fixed rate then it would have been a great deal because the airport makes a $9 commission for any exchange. If it was a percentage commission then it was a terrible deal. I'm not sure which it was. With time left, I decided to drive around the amazing streets of Germany.
I found a park there, where they have a mini zip line type thing. Why don't we have these??
"Imperial Palace"
Went back to the Palace took pictures and went in. The Fulda castle looks like a shed compared to this Imperial Palace.
The top image is just the side of the palace. The narrow side!
This is the front of the palace.
No pictures allowed at the inside of the palace. The most that stood out to me was at the entrance there was a huge painting on the ceiling. The painting represented the 4 continents of the world on each side of the ceiling. Europe had fully clothed people, with a woman resting on a reclining chair eating. There were people reading, eating, and socializing, the painting represented power, strength, and wisdom. On another wall There was Asia also fully clothed writing out equations for math which represented wisdom. The other side had Africa. A little less clothes on which means that they weren't as rich and the Roman artists demeaned them by drawing less clothes on. The ears on the elephant was backwards because the artist never seen a real one in his life. Finally there was America, fully nude Native Americans, with a dark cloud over them because it was where God didn't shine. It also had a room full of mirrors much bigger than the other place. The reason why the Kings had to show off the gold and the wealth is because when friends and enemies came over they saw how much power they had with their wealth that it was intended to intimidate them. Don't mess with me, I have the power to assemble a huge amount of soldiers. Other than the museum, the building was used for a university and apartments that people live in.
The backside
On my way back, hungry I went to Mcd's. I had the Ciabatta burger in Ireland, here they have the McFarm burger. It uses pork patties.
It was good, but it had a bit too much mayonnaise.
9/6/14
"Wiesbaden"
All of us decided to go to Wiesbaden. Another 1.5 hours of driving. It's another city made up of half old style Germany and the other half more today's style. The buildings and roads are mixed between the two it's very interesting to see. We took a little train car that goes around the town explaining where everything is. Misha translated for me, from German to Russian.
This is a rich city and a lot of people from all over the world stop there. Also a lot of wealthy people in Europe live there, a descendant of a famous Russian writer Pushkin lived in the city and a lot of Russians moved there after the war. So they built a nice Russian cathedral.
Halfway through the ride, we got off the train car and got onto a bahn (train). A lift that takes you to a place called Neroberg.
It's an open field that overlooks Wiesbaden. It also has a restaurant on top, one of those DZ discovery zone parks, a circular stadium, and a gazebo. A nice secret little spot to lay on the grass and enjoy the day.
Leo's over Wiesbaden
"The Red Carpet"
We went back to Wiesbaden and walked around the shopping area for a bit. Apparently there was a fair called Taunusstrassen Fest. According to wiesbaden.army.mil "The Taunusstrassenfest, started in 2003 as a marketing campaign for the "In derTaunusstraße e.V." association, has since earned a great reputation and is considered a hidden gem among the festivals in Hessen’s capital. Every year on the first weekend in September, the red carpet is
rolled out over 300 meters to allow visitors to tread lightly from treat to treat. The tradespeople on Taunusstrasse present their varied produce in white pavilions while chatting with guests and offering refreshments. Lighting in the evening and a diverse cultural program are also a guarantee for entertainment and pure enjoyment".
It was cool to walk on the red carpet, I had the bratwurst again with a thin sliced pizza. We then proceeded to go to the casino.
"The Kurhaus (Casino)"
Wow what a place! Definitely not your typical American Casino. Here everyone needs to have formal wear to get in. You cannot play if you aren't wearing a suit.
I of course couldn't play because I wasn't wearing a suit. I did ask how much for roulette minimum they told me 2 Euro's. Which is a good deal.
I did however go inside the slot's building next to it. There you don't need to wear a suit and you can play. So much smoke in the air it was a bit hard to breathe. I put in 10 euro's and lost it in 2 minutes. Tired after a long day we go home.
9/7/14
"Good bye Germany"
I say my goodbyes and Misha leads me to the main freeway to get back to the airport. Sad to know that it's the last day I can whiz through the amazing autoban. I get to Frankfurt airport without any problems turn in my car, it had a few scrapes on the front rim because I had to go around a bus and had to get onto the asphalt to get around it. They charged me 135 dollars for it. Lesson learned.
Walking around Germany I felt out of place because everyone around was speaking German. When I got back to Los Angeles, got the Flyaway bus, finally a more familiar language. Spanish... I'm home!
What an amazing trip. So much history, amazing nature, people are nice and helpful. I want to thank the Kochubei family for letting me stay at their place. Had a hard time getting there but it turned out to be a delightful trip after all.
To view all the photos of Germany Click Here
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My Itinerary:
---Fulda---
Fulda Cathedral
-huge cathedral building
Michaelskirche
- Catacombs
Schlossgarten Fulda
- castle
iX Bowling
-nice bowling
Go to the forest.
---Frankfurt---
Main Tower
-360 view of the city
Frankfurter Roemer
-Old town frankfurt
Goethe House (Goethehaus)
- old house of an author
---Wiesbaden (close to frankfurt)---
1888 Nerobergbahn Funicular
-Train ride to the top
Spielbank Wiesbaden
-Casino
My Check-ins:
Hilton Washington Dulles Airport
Fulda - Künzell
Fulda Cathedral
Schlossgarten
McDonalds Restaurant
Pilgerzell, Germany
Würzburger Residenz
iX Bowling
Wiesbaden, Germany
Wiesbaden Marktplatz
Kurhaus Wiesbaden GmbH
Neroberg
My family decided to visit some old friends in Fulda Germany. The plan was to go to a family friends wedding in Israel but make a pit stop in Germany to see some other friends as well. My mom and dad were going to be in Germany for 4 days, go to Israel, and leave me in Germany for the full 7 days in Fulda.
8/31/14
U.S.A
"United Airlines... You are the worst"
Eric drove us to the flyaway so we can get to the airport from there. We got to the airport an hour and a half early so we have plenty of time to shop, eat, and be on our way. We ate at the The Counter Burgers in the airport after we checked our bags in. We proceeded to our gate still 20 minutes before our take off, my mom sees some gifts that she needed to buy for the Germany folks. Still 15 minutes to spare we get to our gate. We go to the guy at the desk, he is talking on the phone looking at us and after a few minutes finally acknowledges us and he proceeds to tell us that our seats have been sold out. He tells us that we needed to be there 15 minutes
before take off. We start panicking, "We were here 15 minutes prior, you were on the phone." Sorry nothing I can do, and he proceeds to printing some papers. We think he is helping us out so we patiently wait for him to tell us what we should do at this point. He goes about his business without any intention helping us out. So I interrupt his work, and ask what should we do? He looks at me with disgust and tells me to go to customer service and turns away... "Okay, where is the customer service?" I ask appalled on how terribly this man is treating us at this point. He points toward the direction and we go.
We get to the customer service desk and they book another flight that leaves in 2 hours. At first we were supposed to go to Chicago then a connected flight to Frankfurt but now the plan was to go to Washington, Dulles and connect to Frankfurt. The problem was that our luggage was going to be in Chicago. When you make a connect flight to international, your supposed to recheck in your luggage. The lady that was helping us told us that she will try to have someone check in the luggage for us and the luggage will be there a day late but no guarantee that our luggage will even leave Chicago. Another problem is we were supposed to drive to Fulda from Frankfurt which was a good 1.5 hours away. My parents were supposed to be in Germany only for 3 days, now we are going to be 2 hours late, and waste 3 hours just getting our luggage IF they get there. Whatever, lesson learned, we will deal with it when the time comes, we take our new tickets and get to our new terminal.
2 hours we wait at our terminal, making sure we don't go anywhere so we don't miss our flight again. Boarding time, we all get up in our Group lane's and wait to get into the plain. 4:15pm we were supposed to take flight. 4:00pm we are still standing in line to get into the plane. What is going on? Finally someone comes out and tells us that the plane is too hot at this time and they are trying to air it out before people can be seated. Don't worry the connected flights will be there on time. 4:30pm, we are still standing outside of the plane. 5:00pm they finally let us in.
Of course inside the plane, the entertainment didn't work. Every time I fly with United, the entertainment doesn't work. Good thing I brought my Galaxy Tab and watched Pirates of the Caribbean. We get to Washington 5 min until take off, I have to run to stop the plane. I run, and run, AND RUN! We landed in terminal D-23 I was supposed to get to terminal B-1. That means I had to run through a good 60 terminals to get to the destination. I didn't get there in time, no one did. Back to the customer service desk we go. They tell us that that was the final international flight, the next one goes out tomorrow at 3:00pm. We were really upset. Now my parents lose a day and a half in Germany. They gave us tickets:
8 x $7.00 comp for meals (For dinner and lunch)
2 x $63.00 comp for Hilton hotel
We get to the transport section of the airport and I show them the Hilton hotel ticket which I thought was the transport ticket. They lead us to the taxi section. I give the taxi guy the hotel ticket and he proceeds to take us to the hotel. After we get there, he tries to kick us out as quickly as possible, I check my tickets and ask him to see which one I had given him, he gives it back it was one of the $63 tickets. Sneaky bastard I think to myself and look for the transport ticket which we didn't have. I finally realized that we weren't supposed to take a taxi but a shuttle to the hotel which are obviously free, another lesson learned. We pay the driver and to the hotel we go. We get our rooms, and proceed to dinner at the hotel restaurant. A dinner there is of course not $7 but the cheapest plate is about $12. Needless to say we spent all of our tickets there and still wasn't enough.
9/1/14
The next day my dad and I got up early to walk outside and check out Washington, Duelles. It was memorial day, no one was out on the streets and everything was pretty much closed. All we could hear are the noisy bugs in the tree's. Wow they were loud, I think they were cicadas. It was also extremely humid, I felt wet as soon as we walked out. We walked about 3 miles round trip. This time we took the shuttle back to the airport. We got there plenty of time to make the trip. At the airport I called United to ask about our luggage. They told me that they weren't in Germany because something happened and it was coming to Washington instead and go from there. Lucky for us we were in Washington and with pure luck they ended up being in the same plane we were. At the time of boarding, we stood up ready to get inside the plane. Waited, and waited, AND WAITED! Finally someone comes out and states that the airplane is in dire need of cleaning and there will be a hold up. I couldn't believe it. Why couldn't they have held up when we needed it to? Instead when we were hours early United obviously made some excuses to hold up the planes. It was amazingly ridiculous. About 45 minutes after actual boarding time, we boarded the plane. This time it had entertainment and it was quite comfortable, the screens were in front of the seat and you can touch screen if you wanted to watch movies or TV Shows.
What have we learned?
1. United customer service is atrocious, no help. United please hire helpful people.
2. Not always on time. United please fix the planes and stop with excuses on why we are being held up.
3. The entertainment is unpredictable making it hard to expect what you'll get. The first plane's entertainment didn't work. The second plane's entertainment was just fine. The third plane (on my way back to America) there was only one screen where you were forced to watch what they put on. To be fair this airplane had wi-fi where you can log on to and watch what you want. But my Samsung device wasn't compatible. Samsung is another company I have a bone to pick with but that's another story. The fourth plane only had direct TV and you HAD to pay to either watch a movie or t.v shows. I don't know if other airlines do this but it's ridiculous. United, please be consistent.
... Case and point, if you are able to choose ANY other company to fly with. Do so!
Deutschland
"Still no luck"
We finally arrive in Frankfurt. We get our luggage, go to enterprise to get our car. I've got insurance from Expedia, which didn't show on their computer so I had to get their insurance. After I got back, I got my refund from Expedia. Since the new sum was in Euro, I don't know if enterprise gave me a better deal or not. I didn't care to look into it, too tired and wanted to get to Fulda. They also offered a way for me to bring the car back with an empty tank and I had to pay $4.30 Euro/gallon to fill it. That was a good deal and I took it. I'm glad I did because the airport is so huge I know I wouldn't have brought the car back on a full tank of gas anyway.
We got the car. It is what they call a super mini, kind of like a hatchback. It was called Opel Corsa. Since almost all the cars in Europe is stick shift including this one, I drove. We had printed directions on where to go because our cell phones do not work outside of the U.S. First thing I noticed was the the freeways (autoban) don't tell you which direction you are going. For instance we have 405 North, they just say A3. We take the A3 in hopes it's going the correct way. Turns out we were. All of a sudden there is a huge X on the left lane, then the second lane, and so on. The autoban has forced us to exit. This was not good because we had no idea where to get on and no detours were posted. My parents just told me to follow everyone else and so I did. After a long stressful game of follow the leader, we finally got back onto the freeway again in hopes of going the right direction, we found our way. Then on the autoban I saw a glorious sign:
My dad, who has already been to Germany before, tells me that that means there is no speed limit. I saw the light, this was my new favorite sign! I sped up. I noticed that almost every car including ours were super mini's. This was the car we rented:
We saw signs for Fulda and were excited we were going the correct way, and just before our exit, the autoban again forces us to exit. We couldn't believe the bad luck we were having. We exit and had to find the rest of the way on the streets. We get to the place where the instructions say but something was off. The directions stopped making sense. The streets stopped making sense. We pull over and decide to ask someone for directions. I swear, that at this point I finally realize that I don't know this country's language! This is the first time I've been at a place where I wouldn't be able to understand a local. I've been to Ireland where they speak English and Mexico where I can get by with my amazing Spanglish skills. But this was a whole different situation. I decided to try anyway. Pulled to a small mart and showed the owner the instructions. He looked at me and starting pointing directions. We get back into the car and try to follow. I started to think, we have the wrong address. I'm sure we copied it wrong and no way we can find it. Again we pulled over, this time at a McDonalds and ask the worker for a phone. My mom dials, the problem is that we had the phone number that we use calling from the U.S. Meaning that it had the Germany country code, area code, and home number. We didn't know which number to start with. Luckily the worker somewhat spoke English and I asked her how many numbers does a German phone number have? I was in shock when she replied, "Sometimes 6 or sometimes 7". My mom tried every which way, someone picked up but it wasn't them. We had the wrong number. I was about to freak out. We were in another country, not knowing the language, lost without a heading. This was turning out to be a terrifying trip. Ok, well let's get at least close to what the instructions say, the worker told us the way to the actual city. I've noticed that no one uses the streets as a marker in Germany. "You will see a theater and turn right after about 500 meters you will see a traffic light." She says. I have no idea how much 500 meters is. I'm also freaked out, thinking even if we get to the city there is no way we will find our friends. I ask her if they have wi-fi, they do. I try to connect, maybe we can email them. The wi-fi that every business there uses is called Telecom. The problem is that you have to register with Telecom and in order to register you need to get a verification code that will be texted to you. We weren't able to get texts outside of the U.S. My heart starts beating hard again. The worker takes a look at our paper with the phone numbers, and says try dialing this number. I dial. It magically works!!! My mom speaks with her friend and planned for him to come to where we are and we follow to the house. We wait outside in the parking lot.
Künzell, Fulda
"We made it"
Our savior meets us at the parking lot and we follow him to his house where we will be staying. We meet the family. We were staying with Misha, Leida, Paya, and Emily. A very kind family that were a lot of fun to hang out with. They had a huge 3 story house outside of the city. We stayed in the bottom floor where there was a guest room, another huge room and a bathroom. The night that we got there we ate dinner, told them our story, they told us theirs and we took our showers, unpacked and went to bed.
9/2/14
"Mushroom Picking"
The next morning we woke up and my dad very much wanted to go to the forest. We didn't even have to drive anywhere it was just a few skips away.
We were just walking and my dad wondered if there would be any mushrooms in this forest thinking that it maybe a bit early for mushroom season. We didn't think anything of it and continued to walk and talk. All of a sudden Leida stops and says there is a mushroom! We don't know how she spotted it, it was a good 10 yards away from us but there it was. My dad got real excited and the hunt for mushrooms was on. My dad told us how to distinguish between poisonous one's from the non-poisonous one's. They all looked poisonous to me. We searched for hours on end and found all kinds of mushrooms.
At night we were having dinner and Leida's mom came over. Her name is also Leida. This is the person that my mom grew up with and how we know the family. My mom's mom was best friends with Leida's mom and so she grew up with them. I have never met any of them, and she comes up to me and told me that she has some of my pictures and knew things about me from my mom's stories. It was nice.
9/3/14
The next morning we went to grandma Leida's house. My parents wanted to say hi to her husband who couldn't come the night before because he was sick. So we came to him instead. A nice cozy apartment, grandma Leida showed me the pictures she had of me and old one's of my grandma. I've never seen my grandma's pictures that young before. It was nice. They fed us and we left.
My dad began to cook the mushrooms that we had picked with potatoes and meat. My mom, Misha, and I went to see the old town of Fulda. In the old town I noticed that there were cathedrals everywhere. The streets were very narrow and were made of cobble stone. It really felt like I was back in time in the old days.
We went inside the Fulda Cathedral:
Leida told me that there were Statues and Paintings in this cathedral which was very rare to have at the time. It wasn't allowed to have any pictures in church, but this one has them. Right outside of the cathedral, there was a palace which I went on a tour later on and a beautiful garden:
We came back home to eat what my dad cooked. It was really good. My parents packed and we had to get to Frankfurt to drop them off. They said they're goodbye's and Misha and I went to drop them off to the airport.
Frankfurt, Germany
"Frankfurter Roemer"
After we dropped my parents off, Misha and I went around Frankfurt. There was a nice canal with a bridge over it.
Then we went to the main tower. It sits on a huge building over a bank. Gives a 360 view of Frankfurt.
I also wanted to do the Goethe House but everything closes at 5 and we didn't have time. Instead we went to a place where they have a bunch of kiosks to walk around and eat. I had my first true German Bratwurst.
The bread was a bit too hard, but the sausage was the best I've ever had!
9/4/14
Woke up, the family had things to do in the morning, so Leida dropped me off back at the old town Fulda and I did an audio guided tour. It was a 3 hour tour for $11 Euro, they charged me 12 for some reason. It showed how people lived in the city at the time and the inside of the palace. The things that stood out most to me was that you can pretty much see the castle from all around the city. There used to be only one way to enter through a gate where they used charged a tax to enter the city. Right in front of the Cathedral is where people used to gather to trade and sell goods. Mirrors were a thing of luxury in the past and wasn't easy to make. Rich people had rooms with thousands of mirrors just to show off as just as they would with gold as well as paintings on the ceilings and walls. They also used to show of with beautiful gardens.
My favorite room. The stage room.
Later I met up with Paya and Emily and we went to IX bowling. The company was the same as it is in the U.S. Brunswick. It was a brand new place they've just built. The bowling balls were in pounds instead of kilos. Leida came and we had fun bowling together.
Afterwards Leida and I went to Wasserkuppe. At winter it's a place to ski. It has green fields and a small observatory that you can go in for 2 Euro. We went onto the observatory and went on the green and yellow planes (fields) which were beautiful.
There were people there flying toy airplanes. Also there is a circuit like DZ Discovery zone outside with trees, looked awesome but it was closed. I wanted to do it some other day but didn't have time.
9/5/14
"U.S.A Lets Drive Like the Germans"
Again the family had a lot going on, so I headed to Würzburger. I've noticed that Fulda is pretty much the center of Germany making everything about 2 hours away. Quite alright with me, because the roads are like glass. Perfectly paved, and the car just glides. Best of all I can go as fast as I wanted. It was nice going a good 180 km/hr consistently. They use the left lane ONLY for passing, even if your going faster than everyone else you turn to the right lane after passing everyone. We have to adapt this in the U.S. it just makes everything so much more efficient. I got to the city. I noticed that there isn't any free parking in Germany. They have automated parking everywhere, that's not an exaggeration either. Maybe that's why the streets were so nice. You have to pay anywhere you park. I had a few Euro's left from making a currency exchange at the airport but not much. I had to find a bank to exchange more. Which was fine, I had quite a few hours before the English tour had begun at the Residenz (Royal capital.)
"Currency Exchange"
I went to a bank, and they told me they don't do exchanges there but a bank "A few meters that way" do. I can see why they don't use streets as reference. The reason being is because they are all over the place and usually don't make sense. In the old days all the streets have pointed to the capital so there wasn't any grid like pattern that I am used to. I made sure to see what is around my car to make sure I knew where I parked. Knowing my track record I could have easily lost my car. So after the first bank, I went back to where I parked and started walking the other way from there. I was very careful. Got to another bank, they don't do exchanges either, but "Right past that construction zone, they will make the exchange." Went there and they finally did the exchange for me. They took 3 euro for commission for making 50 dollars exchange. If this was a fixed rate then it would have been a great deal because the airport makes a $9 commission for any exchange. If it was a percentage commission then it was a terrible deal. I'm not sure which it was. With time left, I decided to drive around the amazing streets of Germany.
I found a park there, where they have a mini zip line type thing. Why don't we have these??
"Imperial Palace"
Went back to the Palace took pictures and went in. The Fulda castle looks like a shed compared to this Imperial Palace.
The top image is just the side of the palace. The narrow side!
This is the front of the palace.
No pictures allowed at the inside of the palace. The most that stood out to me was at the entrance there was a huge painting on the ceiling. The painting represented the 4 continents of the world on each side of the ceiling. Europe had fully clothed people, with a woman resting on a reclining chair eating. There were people reading, eating, and socializing, the painting represented power, strength, and wisdom. On another wall There was Asia also fully clothed writing out equations for math which represented wisdom. The other side had Africa. A little less clothes on which means that they weren't as rich and the Roman artists demeaned them by drawing less clothes on. The ears on the elephant was backwards because the artist never seen a real one in his life. Finally there was America, fully nude Native Americans, with a dark cloud over them because it was where God didn't shine. It also had a room full of mirrors much bigger than the other place. The reason why the Kings had to show off the gold and the wealth is because when friends and enemies came over they saw how much power they had with their wealth that it was intended to intimidate them. Don't mess with me, I have the power to assemble a huge amount of soldiers. Other than the museum, the building was used for a university and apartments that people live in.
The backside
On my way back, hungry I went to Mcd's. I had the Ciabatta burger in Ireland, here they have the McFarm burger. It uses pork patties.
It was good, but it had a bit too much mayonnaise.
9/6/14
"Wiesbaden"
All of us decided to go to Wiesbaden. Another 1.5 hours of driving. It's another city made up of half old style Germany and the other half more today's style. The buildings and roads are mixed between the two it's very interesting to see. We took a little train car that goes around the town explaining where everything is. Misha translated for me, from German to Russian.
This is a rich city and a lot of people from all over the world stop there. Also a lot of wealthy people in Europe live there, a descendant of a famous Russian writer Pushkin lived in the city and a lot of Russians moved there after the war. So they built a nice Russian cathedral.
Halfway through the ride, we got off the train car and got onto a bahn (train). A lift that takes you to a place called Neroberg.
It's an open field that overlooks Wiesbaden. It also has a restaurant on top, one of those DZ discovery zone parks, a circular stadium, and a gazebo. A nice secret little spot to lay on the grass and enjoy the day.
Leo's over Wiesbaden
"The Red Carpet"
We went back to Wiesbaden and walked around the shopping area for a bit. Apparently there was a fair called Taunusstrassen Fest. According to wiesbaden.army.mil "The Taunusstrassenfest, started in 2003 as a marketing campaign for the "In derTaunusstraße e.V." association, has since earned a great reputation and is considered a hidden gem among the festivals in Hessen’s capital. Every year on the first weekend in September, the red carpet is
rolled out over 300 meters to allow visitors to tread lightly from treat to treat. The tradespeople on Taunusstrasse present their varied produce in white pavilions while chatting with guests and offering refreshments. Lighting in the evening and a diverse cultural program are also a guarantee for entertainment and pure enjoyment".
It was cool to walk on the red carpet, I had the bratwurst again with a thin sliced pizza. We then proceeded to go to the casino.
"The Kurhaus (Casino)"
Wow what a place! Definitely not your typical American Casino. Here everyone needs to have formal wear to get in. You cannot play if you aren't wearing a suit.
I of course couldn't play because I wasn't wearing a suit. I did ask how much for roulette minimum they told me 2 Euro's. Which is a good deal.
I did however go inside the slot's building next to it. There you don't need to wear a suit and you can play. So much smoke in the air it was a bit hard to breathe. I put in 10 euro's and lost it in 2 minutes. Tired after a long day we go home.
9/7/14
"Good bye Germany"
I say my goodbyes and Misha leads me to the main freeway to get back to the airport. Sad to know that it's the last day I can whiz through the amazing autoban. I get to Frankfurt airport without any problems turn in my car, it had a few scrapes on the front rim because I had to go around a bus and had to get onto the asphalt to get around it. They charged me 135 dollars for it. Lesson learned.
Walking around Germany I felt out of place because everyone around was speaking German. When I got back to Los Angeles, got the Flyaway bus, finally a more familiar language. Spanish... I'm home!
What an amazing trip. So much history, amazing nature, people are nice and helpful. I want to thank the Kochubei family for letting me stay at their place. Had a hard time getting there but it turned out to be a delightful trip after all.
To view all the photos of Germany Click Here
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