Roadtrip

the sunrise

The first leg of our trip was the worst. We left Bricquebec at 12am after a full day in the sun, so we weren't exactly fresh when we hit the road. Our first destination was Nancy, a town on the eastern border of France, not far from Luxembourg. It's a 7 hour drive from Bricquebuec and there we planned to stay with Nico's Aunt for a few days. It was a loooong night. I'm not allowed to drive in Europe and to make matters worse, Nico's car is a standar which is not my area of expertise. Needless to say, Nico had to do all the driving and I played the role of passenger. I didn't want to sleep because I was afraid he would sleep. It wasn't easy staying awake because I was pretty tired from all the running around. We did okay until about 4am when we took a break at the side of the road for coffee and sugar. We had to shout to hear each other because there were so many semis zooming by. At around 6am, Nico started nodding off, so we pulled over again so he could take a nap. The semis zooming by made the car shake violent as they passed, so I was unable to nod off. However, I did get to watch a stunning sunrise progress and unveil a completely new landscape. It no longer looked like a Van Gogh painting, but more like a hilly midwest with lush green fields on all sides. I tried to take pictures, but they didn't do the scene justice. After about a 40 minute nap, Nico awoke and we made it to Nancy a little before 9am. I met his Aunt, we dragged our stuff in and then crashed for a couple hours so that we could function. 

one of the entrances to the square

fountain in front of the ornate gates

After about four hours of rest, we dragged ourselves out of bed for some breakfast and a LOT of coffee. Chatting with his Aunt was a riot. She speaks French, German and a minimal amount of English. But throughout the whole trip she was the only person who really tried to have a conversation with me despite the language barrier. If I spoke really slow English and she spoke to me in French, we could get by without Nico as a go-between. She is also very animated and talks a lot. After a great deal of chitchat over breakfast, we went for a wander around Nancy. 

Nico studied for a year in Nancy, so he knows it pretty well. First he took me to the main square, which is known to be one of the most beautiful in the world. Each entrance to the square has an elaborate black iron gate with real gold leaf. There is also gold on the surrounding buildings and ironically enough, the statue in the center of the square is of a Polish king, Stanisław Leszczyński, who received the square after the War of the Polish Succession in 1737. 

rainbow in the fountain

We spent a great deal of time sitting in the Cathédrale Notre Dame, listening to the organist practice for a concert that was scheduled for that evening. Then we took a stroll through the park and had a little ice cream on the way. In one of the gazebos in the park there was a piano concert being held, performed by university music students. After listening to a little Chopin we took a little rest in the grass before going to see the fountain. The light was perfect when we reached the fountain, producing a double rainbow right through the middle of it. Only in France.

gazebo concert

That evening, after dinner we returned to the main square for a light projection show. It was one of the coolest things I have ever seen - although I was informed that this is a common occurrence all over Europe. Different lights and images are projected onto the buildings and timed to music. The theme changes every year, and this year the theme is The Renaissance, so the history of the renaissance was projected artistically onto the buildings. It was amazing how the lights completely transformed the buildings so that you felt like you were in a different place every few minutes. Here is a taste of what I saw:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiZ8pZEtbqY

flowers outside the museum

After the light show my battery was running on empty. I suddenly was so tired, I couldn't even function. Nico kept asking me if I was ok, but I was so drained, I could barely respond. I think I fell asleep before my head hit the pillow and slept past noon. When I finally did wake up, I felt like I had been hit by a truck as I had definitely tapped into my sleep deficit. We slowly got up and moving and then headed to the park to meet with Nico's friend from Normandy, Rafael. 

the rose garden

I had met Rafael several months earlier when he came to visit Nico in Kraków. It was fun to see him again. He took us on a little walk in the park through the rose garden, which was stunning as it was in full bloom and the zoo where I saw animals I have never seen before. Then we got to see where he works, and print our roadtrip plans before heading home for dinner with Nico's Aunt. That night we spent a great deal of time sitting on her balcony, chatting and sipping on some homemade cider. A perfect summer evening.

stained glass window in the church

We got an early start the next day, said our good-byes and headed to Heidelberg for the day. Nico had insisted it was worth seeing, and he was right. The town is itty bitty, but absolutely beautiful. It's a very lush, hilly region with a river, a castle and all the buildings have terra-cotta rooftops. We started out in the Church- of course - where I really liked the stained glass windows. Half of them were very old, classic stained glass designs, but along one side of the church they were very contemporary, artistic interpretations in stunning colors. 

top of the church

We then climbed the winding staircase to the top of the church where you can have a 360 degree view of the city. We spent a great deal of time up there, enjoying the stunning view.

the rooftops of Heidelberg as seen from the top of the church

Next we decided to go see the castle, which ended up being easier said than done. We had some trouble finding the road up to the castle, and once we did find an entrance, the gates were locked. Nico was pretty frustrated at this point, and told me that the last time he was there he had the same problem and his friend, who is from Heidelberg had just jumped the fence. He asked me if I could manage jumping the fence, so that we didn't have to walk all the way down the hill and back up again on the other side; I just laughed. Years of playing cops and robbers with the Frayn boys has made jumping fences like riding a bike. To his amazement, I hopped the fence without help, and we headed up the woodland path to the castle. 

in the gardens outside the castle in Heidelberg

Once you've seen a castle in Europe, you pretty much know what's up. They are a dime a dozen and are all relatively similar. The castle itself was nothing extraordinary, but the view was unbelievable. You could see the entire town, the river and the mountains. After viewing the castle, we started losing steam in the sweltering heat. Walking through the castle grounds we collapsed on a bench and stared into space for a good 20 minutes. It was the beginning of the end. From there we dragged ourselves to the fountain, another lookout point, and barely made it to the main bridge. From there we surrendered and had our first German beer of the trip on the main square. That helped things considerably, and we made our way back to the car and started our four-hour drive to Munich.

Heidelberg - castle in the distance

We arrived in Munich around 11pm. We had arranged to stay with a friend of my Dad's, Dario, and his family for a few days. Unfortunately, Dario was away on a business trip in Spain, but his wife and daughters graciously offered to host us, anyway. His wife, Laura, had waited up for us and she gave us a quick orientation before we hit the hay. Their youngest daughter was going to Austria the next day for camp, so we wouldn't be able to meet her, but she had written us a lovely note in English, welcoming us to Munich and hoping to meet us again soon. 

view from the castle in Heidelberg

Staying with Dario's family was unbelievable. We woke up the next morning to a full breakfast spread laid out for us, as well as several maps and guidebooks to help us orient our way around the city. 

the river

A 20 minute trainride and we were in the city. We wandered around aimlessly for several hours and became familiar with the layout of the city. It soon became apparent that Munich was huge and very spread out. Things that looked fairly close together on the map were actually very far from each other, so instead of walking everywhere, we had to alternate between the train and walking to save time. 

first church of the day in Munich

The first day we took it easy. We saw a few churches. The Frauenkirche (a huge cathedral) in the city center is absolutely stunning. The vaulted ceilings are enormous, and everything was carved in white marble. I was surprised at how much I liked this. It made me think of Nana for some reason, so again, in one of the smaller alcove chapels, I lit a candle for her. 

Another square in Munich

As we were in Munich, we felt it was appropriate to have a touristy experience and so we had a lunch of traditional bratwurst and beer in the Hofbrauhaus. We had a lovely table in the outside garden where we could hear the live music and enjoy the fact that it was once again warm and sunny. 

the square in Munich

We returned home in the evening, later than we intended, to have dinner with Laura. When we arrived we were welcomed by an absolutely lovely scene. She had set up a dinner table in the garden that was beautifully arranged with candles. An assortment of bread accompanied each place setting. We had campari as an aperetif and then an assortment of beer was presented to accompany dinner. She had made pasta, followed by deviled eggs and a prosciutto salad. For dessert, she served us five flavors of homemade ice cream that she had whipped up that afternoon, accompanied by a scrumptious fruit compote. It was an absolutely delightful evening. We really enjoyed her company and had so much to talk about in a variety of languages. She is from Italy, where she studied French, so she and Nico often had exchanges in French. Nico said her French was excellent, which is saying a lot because he is an impossible judge when it comes to his beloved tongue. Laura and her family moved to Munich close to ten years ago, when her husband, Dario, got a job there. Since the move, she has been working for an Italian ice cream company part-time and studying German and English on the side. Their house is now a mixture of languages as her daughters also speak Italian, German, English and French. 

cathedral

In the morning along with breakfast was a note from Laura, asking us to write a little something in their guestbook, which was a lovely little record of all the guests they had hosted since their move to Munich. I enjoyed reading a few of the entries, and even managed to find my Dad's entry from his first stay before adding my own praise to the masses. We then headed back into the city via train and had a little episode on the way. We approached our stop where we were to transfer train lines and when we arrived both sets of doors on either side of the train opened. Nico exited to the left with the map, and I followed the people in front of me and exited to the right. The doors closed before I realized my mistake and we were separated by the tracks. Nico hollered the train line where we were supposed to transfer across the tunnel and we headed out to rendezvous there. Well, I misheard what he said and went to the wrong tunnel. I knew something was wrong when I didn't see him on the platform and I ended up getting stuck in this one tunnel because all the stairwells contained escalators going down, when I wanted to go up. I finally found the main tunnel again and received a text from him with the name of the line where I was supposed to be. I headed that way and when I rounded the corner, I was greeted by a very unhappy Frenchman. He looked like he had seen a ghost and he immediately started hollering at me asking why I didn't answer my phone, where I was, etc. He had had a moment of panic because he thought something had happened to me. I was surprised and mildly amused, because I hadn't been the least bit worried. But then again, I was the one that was lost. 

view from the dome

walked around the enormous park where we saw the hofgarten dome and even managed to find the forbidden surf site. It was pretty deep in the park so that it is almost hidden, and we managed to find it based on the laughter and voices of the people surfing. The the river has a very strong current which makes surfing possible. It was amazing to watch not only the surfers, but the people jumping into the water and letting the current carry them downstream. 

surfing

After the Englischer Garden, we walked along the northern part of the city where we got a gorgeous view of the river and a lovely fountain before heading to the Botanic Gardens. There we took a break for our last German beer and re-charged a little. We were struggling on the energy front, as we had yet to have a break from travel and sight-seeing since we started our trip. But time would not allow for rest, so we battled the fatigue with coffee and determination. 

View down the river in Munich

In the early evening we returned to the house and had coffee and another round of ice cream with Laura before thanking her for her outstanding hospitality and jumped back in the car for our four hour drive to Vienna. 

Botanic Gardens in Munich

Vienna was the final stop on our trip, and there we set-up camp with Julien, another friend of Nico's from Normandy who I had also met several months earlier during his visit to Kraków. We arrived in Vienna around 10pm, parked the car outside of the city and then took the train into town where Julien met us at the station. We stashed our stuff at his apartment and then headed out for a late-night walk around the city. Before we headed out the door, Julien handed each of us a beer. I gave him a quizzical look, as I was not in the mood to be shotgunning beer after such a long day. He smiled and informed me that in Vienna, it is legal to drink in public. 

the beautiful streets of Vienna

Julien took us on a night walk around the city, beers in hand. It was stunning. The buildings were big compared to most of the European cities I have been in and very ornate. The architecture was admirable and the atmosphere was rather elegant. After about an hour I could no longer walk a step. We headed back to the apt and while Nico received the full orientation, I collapsed into bed, exhausted.

rose gardens

The next morning was slow. We had breakfast and then headed out into the city to re-discover our night walk by daylight. We wandered for hours and hours, but I was too tired to even take pictures. I just enjoyed the view. For dinner, we decided to hit-up a kabob place. We stood on the corner, discussing which way to go and out of nowhere, this older man appeared in front of me and asked if we needed help. He was dressed in jeans and a white polo, with nice shoes and carried a briefcase. His hair was completely white, and he had the most piercing, pale blue eyes. I looked at him for a minute, and decided to take a chance. I said, 'do you know of a good place for kebab'? He said, 'you know that's not viennese, right'? He then informed us that he could show us a great place on his way to the post office. This seemed a little fishy and I locked eyes for a moment with Nico in quizzical hesitation. Then I thought, if it gets weird I can always run, so I agreed to follow him. He showed us a good street-stand and chatted with us along the way to a restaurant, because I really needed to sit down. He gave us all kinds of advice about places to see around Vienna and chatted with Nico in what he assessed as excellent French. Then we arrived at the post office where he received and phone call and he we parted ways. The restaurant he recommended was exactly what we were looking for. All through dinner, Nico and I marveled at how nice and unassuming he had been. Kind strangers? What?

top of the hill where we had ice cream

The next day we dragged ourselves out of bed and after breakfast at the crack of noon, made our way to the Schönbrunn Palace. It was immediately my favorite. We decided to wander the grounds and buy tickets for the palace later if we were so inclined. It was immense. We wandered for four hours and didn't even see all the gardens!

ice cream!

We started out at the back entrance of the palace and were met by a stunning sight. A long series of gardens led stretched before us into the distance. Groomed lawns with sculpted hedges and beautiful flowers were framed by two paths that led the way to a large fountain and then up the hill to another palace-like building which perched at the top. I asked Nico, 'are we going there?!' He looked at me like I was an idiot and said something along the lines of 'of course'. 

fountain in one of the side gardens

We made our way slowly to the top of the hill, stopping at many points to capture snapshots along the way. I loved the fountain. You could climb up behind it and look out on the gardens and the palace in the distance through the fountain. Standing there you were hidden from the view of the people below by the giant sculptures spurting water. 

view from the palace

At the top of the hill, we stood for a very long time admiring the view and then decided ice cream was a must. I mean, we hadn't had ice cream in over 24 hours! We sat on the terrace and enjoyed huge sundaes before continuing our exploration. 

The fountain behind the palace

We wandered through the woods on the way down the hill and on the way encountered a squirrel, to Nico's amazement. He took way too many pictures of the thing, and I was less than entertained, as squirrels in Chicago are as common as pigeons in Krakow; they're everywhere. We got sprinkled with a light rain shower as we enjoyed the many fountains, which was the first time we'd seen rain our entire trip. It lasted all of ten minutes to my enormous relief. 

view from the fountain looking at the back of the palace

Soon the palace closed and we headed wearily back to the apt, picking up some dinner on the way. Back at the apt, I enjoyed my dinner on the balcony, while Nico cooked in the Kitchen and Julien gnashed in the living room. There is a pass-thru in the kitchen leading to the living room and a window leading to the balcony, so the three of us could have a conversation despite the fact we were all in separate rooms. After dinner, Julien's friend stopped by and we had a few drinks on the balcony before heading out on the town. We sat in this area outside one of the museums where there are these huge plastic 'seats' that are much like small halfpipes. You can fit about four people comfortably and they were all full of people hanging out and drinking. While we were sitting there, two German guys came over to talk to us, intrigued by the mix of languages we were using. We talked to them for a good while and then were joined by two girls (friends of Julien). We tried to hit the clubs, but it wasn't in the cards that night. We ran into problems at every entrance and so we headed home; sober, tired, and a little disappointed. 

top of the hill

The next morning, Nico and I got up and moving relatively early. We had breakfast on the balcony and then packed up our stuff and headed to the car to start our journey back to Kraków. On the road we hit terrible traffic, and ended-up being in the car for over seven hours. I was a little worried, because Rachel was arriving at the Kraków airport that evening and I was concerned I wouldn't make it back in time to pick her up. Fortunately, I just made it in the knick of time. As soon as we parked the car in front of Nico's apt, I had to leave him to unload himself and hopped a bus to the airport.