Observations and "There's No Place Like Home!

Chocolate Gelato, YUM!  Mix that with a scoop of Cafe Gelato, double YUM!  Make that a double whammy of caffeine!  Oh NO - I don't even know if I slept a wink my last night in Germany!  I think the clock was going backwards!

So we decided to go ahead, get up and get going early - it was just after 6:00am and we had an hour and a half drive into Frankfurt for an 11:30 flight.  So now we wait.....with a huge group of elderly "ugly Americans"!  Lord they are so loud, southern (Texan's I think) and obnoxious!  I actually find myself cringing.  I definitely get why Americans are called ugly - we can be simply TOO LOUD!  Och!  It's so early in the morning and there are people laying in chairs trying to sleep but, nevermind about that!

So I'll report another few observations about Germany. 

1) the taxis are all cream colored and they are Mercedes and in pristine condition;

2) there are electric trains everywhere - passenger and freight - running on both sides of the rivers;

3) there are numerous busses and trams which are also electric even in small cities;

4) it seems like almost everyone here smokes cigarettes, however not in restaurants, and it's not uncommon to see a person walking and rolling a cigarette at the same time;

5) Europeans are quiet. They speak in hushed tones just like the Brits, which makes us REALLY LOUD!  (though Gordon and I are very conscience about the level of our speech);

6) The water you buy here is listed as still or sparkling but even the still is like Perrier, kinda salty.....I like real still water;

7) No matter how many times Gordon ordered something, anything, water, beer, etc., in German, the response was always in English!  He could't figure out how they knew - I think it was the nasaly Scottish accent!  He was mistaken for a German however while we were here but only in appearance;

8) There are lots of black and white war movies on the tele at night - Gordon's just sayin' and he says they are winning in the movies!  Whatever..... 

9) The restaurants are all very clean AND,

10) THE RESTROOMS IN GERMANY ARE THE NICEST AND CLEANEST I'VE SEEN ANYWHERE!

11) Though not all the Germans were friendly, they were courteous.  We never met anyone however that we could sit and have a conversation with.....they all spoke a little bit of English;

12) Again, I've never seen so many buildings with solar panels on their roofs.  It makes us feel foolish living in California without solar for our electricity.  These people won't get as much sun as we do;

13) There's a lot of windpower here and it IS NOT unattractive;

14) The forests are amazing!  The old growth is fabulous in fall color - something I miss about the East Coast;

15) In some countries there is a preference between cats and dogs for instance, in the UK, they like dogs.  In Croatia they like cats.  Here in Germany there seem to be equal numbers of cats and dogs. And the kitties are so sweet and fluffy!  Makes me want my own again....

So I'm including some random pictures.  We easily shot 600+ pictures mostly scenic - castles, hillsides and farmland, and quaint villages and buildings so these are the less ordinary pics.

All of our room keys came on strange-shaped key rings but this was definitely the coolest.  Our own armored night key ring complete with skeleton key!

From our veranda at the Schoenburg Hotel.

We actually had to drive across this tiny wooden bridge over a very deep crevasse.  We paused for quite some time before working up the courage to drive across it!

Gordon trying to look dark/dungeony!

Upon arrival into Koln and the Excelsior Hotel.....a free mini-bar?  What?

Speaks for itself.

Sun setting in Koln.

A tomb inside the Koln Cathedral

Supposedly this is where the ashes of the Three Wise men are buried. ?

The fountain in the front of the Burg Hotel, Colmberg.

Our funky room at the Burg Hotel.

Enjoying the final light of day in front of the watchtower at the Burg Hotel.

Creepy stuffed bird inside the Burg Hotel.  There are plenty more where this came from!

Can't even explain this.  This poor tree had been sacrificed to the top of this striped pole with two wreaths made of greenery hanging below it.  What?  WTF?

A Virginia Creeper I think on the wall of the Burg Hotel

A statue in front of the cathedral in Rothenberg.

A Rothenberg kitty!

Okay what?

The gate exiting Rothenberg.

And on the other side of the gate....note the creepy face.

Outside the city walls fall is happening.

Lot's of shops had these fancy signs hanging out from their storefronts.

The grand clock in the square of Rothenberg had two little windows that opened on the hour and a song played while these two guys in the windows drank a stein of beer.

Lovely window baskets in Rothenberg.

Vineyards going right up the hillsides.

A VERY pregnant kitty in Bad Wimpfy

Those of you who know me will know that even though this may seem creepy...it's the sort of thing I'd like in my garden!

There were lots of shops that had the word Schmuck in their name....need to look that up!

These three little goats lived at the SchlossHotel and were soaking up the last of the heat of the day from the stone they were laying on. Cute!

Another shopfront sign.

Hello kitty!  at the SchlossHotel

Another kitty friend at the Schloss

Many lion faces were lined up on the wall side of the Heidelberg Palace all with different faces like this one and,

like this kinda sad lion face.

Our front seat view on the funicular.

The back of the huge Cathedral in Heidelberg which was also a very big touristy market area on a large square.  Note the white tents along the outer rim of the cathedral.

So Gordon and I are now back in Scotland having slept about 10 hours last night.  It was so good to be back in Moffat in our own bed with lots of comfy pillows and a comforter that's built for two and hangs over the edge of the bed.  Like Dorothy said "there's no place like home".  This will do until we are officially home next week.

We had groceries delivered yesterday afternoon so we are set for our final days here.  Today we did 45 minutes of yoga which KILLED and then took a walk downtown to see Andy one more time and pick up some delicious Scottish Salmon which we had for dinner.  We are trying to break off all our bad habits we've developed over the last 4 1/2 weeks and in particular, the last week in Germany so we ate fish and a pile of veggies for our dinner and watched a couple of episodes of Downton Abbey.  I'm all up to date on the new season!

Tomorrow the weather is suppose to be super after a very hard frost later tonight and we are thinking of taking a long hike tomorrow and visiting Merlin's cave for the first time on this trip.  We'll make plans with Maureen and Hunter for the weekend too and back up to Edinburgh on Monday for Tuesday's flight back to San Francisco.

Click your heels Dorothy!