Hohentübingen Castle & Tübingen

Castle two of our tour took us to Tübingen, a university town. Being a Sunday afternoon most the shops were closed and very few people were out- my kind favorite way to see a town! The day we visited it looked like the town has been sprayed down with fire hoses then flash frozen. Any idea how much fun that was to "walk" around in? Actually, it was a blast but with every unstable step the thought I promised Lori I'd be safe and not injure myself crossed my mind. On a few more dramatic slides I'm positive MAJ 545 was reminded of the promise I made to my marathon training partner. Of course my threats weren't taken too seriously as I was laughing while sliding to a stop and grasping for anything to prevent falling.
My tour guide led me around the quiet town, using the shoe-less guy on a bicycle statue as his reference point pointing out the cathedral and some strange architecture as we made our way up to the castle. The castle is now used by the university but still looks very much like a castle with it's two moats- one with a chair even in the corner of one. The view of the sleepy town below with snow on the roofs, and icicles hanging from eaves made a beautiful scene.

After finding a safe route to descend the hill (the same way we headed up) we visited the main town square where I snapped a few pictures while glühwein was secured to warm us up. It was this point that the next destination was revealed to be visiting the grumpy men. Um. Okay. Why not? And since this part of the town was clearly one of his favorites,  I'm going to let MAJ545 tell you all about it, it's just easier that way:

During Katie's visit to Germany and the day we visited Tübingen, I wanted to introduce Katie to my friends Fred and Stanley in a hidden sqare off the historic town center. Fred, you see, is a contankerous grumpy old fellow who bullies and takes out his frustrations on Stanley. Stanley is affiable goofy little fellow who takes Fred's abuse because he believes that Fred is a good individual who just needs a friend to vent on, which he takes and discards with a grain of salt.

On the particular day I introduced them to to Katie, we first visited the glühwein stand for a cup of hot wine (wine is always preferred when meeting up with these two), Fred was complaining about the cold, the abuse he receives from the local children (who hit him with paint balls) and why his wife lives on the tier below them. It was quite a heated conversation when we arrived, there was some hinting that Stanley had been visiting Fred's wife while Fred wasn't around, and after introductions Fred asked Katie for her point of view on the matter. Katie, ever the diplomat, asked not to get too involved, but after a few minutes tucked in with Fred and tried to block his insults to her knee's namesake. It took a few rounds and both of us getting involved but we were able to settle the matter and on a different note agreed to hunt down the birds that had left their marks on their bodies. After much searching, high and low, we were able to find their tracks but not able to locate their hiding areas. As we departed their square, we said our goodbyes and promised to visit again soon, but had to leave as there was much more to discover in Tübingen.

See? Much easier that way. After meeting those two, stopping in another church (with stained glass windows!), and walking through the snow covered park, we deemed it time to get back into the warm car and go find food. So guess what? That's what we did. Go figure that even in the dead of winter, in Germany a cold beer still tastes delightful with a plate packed with pork and potato dishes. Best thing to do after filling up on all that hearty food? Oh you know, nap away while snow falls from the sky :)

Hohenzollern Castle

Castle number one on the tour was Hohenzollern Castle. We headed into the valley with another guy from his office trying to figure out just where exactly we were heading. And when I say "we" I mean, the town was plugged into the GPS and it was my job to figure it out how to get there after that. Turns out they put the wrong person in charge. Why? Well, when asked if I saw the castle I was busy scanning the horizon, when I apparently should have been looking at the highest point on the mountain. Yep. Totally had the correct girl on navigator duty. Needless to say, we made it.

A short bus trip got us up to the snowy covered castle. We were toured around the inside of the castle by a guide. In between sliding our huge slipper feet across the floors we tried to keep moving to avoid letting the chill set in. After a few minutes into it, we determined that she was the off season English tour guide as we played guess the world she is trying to figure out. It was alright though, kept my mind off my nose and ears slowly getting numb. Turns out that castles really are cold and my house just may be fabulous practice after all! So, after the tour here are our take-aways:

• It was originally built 1000 years ago but was rebuilt in current condition in 1800s.
• Wilhelm was imprisoned there after WWII for five years.
• It has a (creepy) dog on a knight's head in its coat of arms.
• 2/3s of the castle currently belongs to a 35 year old who lives in Berlin.
• Emperors don't wear crowns.
• Central heating doesn't exist in the place.
• The royal family has never actually lived in the castle. 
• The sapphire in the crown is thought to be the largest one in all of Europe. 
• There are two chapels on the grounds because unlike on a military base, Catholics and Protestants apparently can't worship in the same place.

Snowy Stuttgart

With quad chart of action plans in hand, contact information, maps, and knowing exactly where my extraction point was it was like I’d applied all my annual trainings for the arrival in Stuttgart. Or you know, I was emailed FOUO/Katie Specific classified information by my favorite Army guy in an effort to avoid a repeat performance of our now classic adventure tale in Barcelona.


At any rate, I was super excited to disembark the plane trying to figure out which plan I was going to follow and how much waiting time I was going to have. Okay, I was excited, but the previous night rainy cold night run, last minute packing, and crummy sleep had taken their toll, but as soon as I saw MAJ 545 on the other side of the luggage claim that was all pushed out of mind.

With the kick off of our adventure round going so well, it was a sign for a smooth sailing weekend right? Ha. Not quite, but what can you do but adjust to the potenital immediate departure of your adventure buddy if the call comes from the office? Luckily for us, contingency plans are something we're both oh too familiar with and once things settled down a tad, our snowy castle adventure began.

That's right- snow. Lots and lots of snow and temperatures registering in the negative range with a C following the number.  Yes, it did take a few double takes for this California girl to register exactly what I was looking at when looking out the window and saw stuff floating down from the sky. But I did it. I travel to all these places to experience different things- like winter time in Germany. I can do this. Good thing MAJ545 is an east coast guy and is used to all this snow stuff...he's going to be the perfect guide!

A Germana

I know! I am suppose to be headed to new countries, not ones I've already seen multiple cities in! Oh well, it was nice to actually see something other than the Munich airport for the first time this year. This weekend I headed to Garmisch for a women's retreat with 10 others from Naples. The conference was decent- although I swear if I was asked one more time what service my husband was in I was going to slap someone.

Getting there was quite the adventure. My traveling buddy quickly dubbed it as our "planes, trains, and automobiles" day and it was 100% accurate. We left Naples at 0700, took a train from Munich to Garmisch, and then a cab took us the last few miles. On the first segment of the flight (the 30 minute one) I was in what would have been the perfect seat for flying home in: tons of leg room, cushy, wide, window seat in row 2. The Rome to Munich flight had me seated much further back and sharing my aisle with a German who I'm pretty sure was shocked when he heard my American accent. Yep, it never gets old playing my "I'm going to keep my mouth shut and see what language people talk to me in" game.

When it was time to catch our train, we all got on the first one with no problem. As we tried to get on the regional train at the main station there were very few seats. Luckily my traveling buddy didn't want to sit around waiting for the next one, so we boarded using our luggage as seats for the first few stops. I really wish I had pictures to show you just what we experienced on this close to 2 hour trip because I fear that you won't believe me!

While we sat on our luggage in the crowded exit area of the car we had no personal space. No personal space as in I was thankfully the one in the corner. Then again maybe not. At one point I glanced over to the passageway (on the other side of my friend) and saw a college student bending over. Well, that's what I thought I was seeing but upon closer inspection I think he was adjusting the zebra print thong on the outside of his jeans. Um yeah. You try not to laugh when you see that. There was a girl about the same age standing across from me and the looks we shared translated just fine even with the language barrier.

As soon as he left, the beer pong parade began. Yep. More college age guys started to make their way through. First we saw a drunk guy. Then it was a guy holding a stack of plastic cups with ping pong balls in one hand and a bottle of beer in the other. Next up was a rather intoxicated guy balancing a crate of bottles on his shoulder. For some reason he felt the need to stop right in front of us and once again, my travel companion was subjected to danger. Keep in mind, we're on a moving train, this kid has been drinking, not holding on to anything, and he's balancing a crate of glass beer bottles (German sized, not American). A few times it looked like we would have beer falling on us- both in liquid form and bottles filled of it. When a hand reached upward as to prevent the corner of the crate in her face, one of his friends thought she wanted one. Ha. That triggered the "I bet if you take one they won't even notice" talk but luckily for us they got off within a few more stops- along with their traveling table.

We didn't realize we were on the party train!

As the entertainment ceased we started to realize that we were starving and tired; it had been nearly 9 hours since we woke up for our coffee. Not a minute too soon we pulled up to the station. As tempting as it was, we didn't head straight to the Mexican place by the station- I don't think it would have been any better than Taco Bell. We headed up the street in search of anything open and non Italian and settled on a little bakery where the girl spoke English. You know who didn't speak English? The cast of Scrubs on TV. Talk about confusing! We got over it rather fast as we inhaled our sandwiches, coffee, and strudel.

Finally we made it to our destination (via cab), as did the rest of the group not too much later.

Like mentioned before the conference was okay. The highlight of the weekend for me was running around the downtown area early Saturday morning. It was so cold even with my 4 layers on but after the initial shock of cold mountain air it was a great run. I've really missed running the empty streets of a city with the stars overhead. It was relatively flat too so I was a happy camper. Of course after I got back and saw my skin was cold to the touch even under all those layers I was a little thankful Naples is warmer in the winter. I did get the shock of a lifetime when after the sun came up I realized just how much frost was out there. Guess that explained the lack of sweat!

Um, I really didn't see anything new in this town nor did I see anything new while back in Munich the day we were flying out. Again, had fun and did some shopping (yummy raspberries) but nothing I deem blog worthy.
Maybe my attitude wasn't the greatest- I was just ready to head back to Naples. don't get me wrong, I love the mountains and it was a nice change of pace but Garmisch in particular is such a touristy place it sort of reminds me of why I hated Monterey so much. It's funny. For the 3rd time this year I find myself in a beautiful place that is a lot more like home than Naples is and yet I find myself longing to be back in Naples.

Who'da thunk!