A Look Back, part 2

Here's a quick (I hope) look back at each of our stops;

Amsterdam: I heard so many people sing the praises of Amsterdam that I had imagined it as some sort of canal-filled nirvana. It didn't quite live up to that expectation. But it was nice enough, and unique when you consider the canals, bicycles and the red-light district. It's not a place you forget. But since we had seen cities on water before (like Stockholm, which is gorgeous) and we weren't interested in buying sex or marijuana, I just found it nice, rather than amazing.

Brussles & Bruges: Brussles "Grand Place" central square was breathtaking - worth the bother of stopping by itself. But the rest of Brussles was uninspiring. Bruges was a delightful place to spend a day and two nights. Seeing most of the sights only takes half a day, so the bike trip we took was the perfect addition to the sights. To spend more time there you would really have to like lingering or parking yourself somewhere comfortable and reading a good book.

Bacharach & the Rhine: We will remember the hostel in the castle in Bacharach for a long time. It was special. The two days and three nights we spent there was just the right amount of time for a quick look at the villages and castles on the Rhine & Mosel rivers. A person could easily fill another day or two by seeing more villages than we did, but we have learned from past experience that towns like that all start to look alike pretty quickly. The walk from the village of Moselkern, through the woods, to the Burg Eltz casle is a highlight that we will remember for a long time.

Rothenburg: Every bit as cute as it's reputation, but a place that you could easily see in a full day and two nights. We spent the full day away in Nürnberg (which was interesting, but not quite interesting enough, in retrospect to have spent an entire day there) and two evenings in Rothenburg. It felt like we didn't have quite enough time there. It's a great place to just stroll aimlessly. The night watchman's tour was a little cheesy, but delightfully fun. If I had it to do over again, I would sadly have to delete the day trip to Nürnberg and simply spend a bit more time lingering in Rothenburg.

Füssen & Mad Ludwig's castles: I actually came expecting to find the famous castles (Neuschwanstein, in particular) to be too touristy and over-hyped to live up to their reputations. But I was pleasantly surprised. All three were fascinating in their own ways. In particular, the walk up to Neuschwanstein, past it to Mary's bridge, and beyond that up the mountainside, was a highlight of the trip for me. It was like a fairytale. Okay, it had almost no relevance to real castle life, historically. But if you can accept it for what it was, it was delightful. The area around Füssen is full of nicely low-key sights and is a great place to call home base for several days. If the family had been more enthusiastic about hiking, it would have been worth spending a couple of extra days there, but they were not, so the five nights we had were adequate.

Salzburg: There is no question Salzburg has charm. Just hearing the bells ring every hour - sounding just like the opening scene on "The Sound Of Music" warms the heart. But without the movie connection, Salzburg would be worth just a short stop. There just isn't a lot to see or do in the town itself that is exceptional (though all of it is quite pleasant). So our two nights and one full day was adequate, I thought. Seeing Hitler's Eagle's Nest the afternoon before was a memorable experience - not for the "nest" itself, which is now just a restaurant with a great view - but for the whole switchback, mountain climbing experience topped with a view at the top that absolutely takes your breath away. Forget Hitler. It was worth it just for the view.

Vienna: This may have been my biggest disappointment. Not that Vienna was unpleasant, but we found the old town area to be disappointing historically. There simply were not enough architectural "wows" to match my expectations. Yes, there were palaces. But we had seen palaces before, so we chose to skip these. There is only so much ostentatiousness a person can take. We stayed in an area not far from the ring, but so full of graffiti and "grittiness" that I never would have guessed it could have been part of such a highly regarded city. To be fair, I expect that if I lived there, I would grow to like it a great deal more because I would know where to look for the little treasures. But for a tourist getting a quick overview, Vienna (without the palaces) was forgettable.

Budapest: Despite our overbearing B&B hosts, we found Budapest to be worth the extra time we spent there. The baths were a wonderful experience. The castle hill/fisherman's bastion area behind our B&B is a place we returned to each night and will stay in our memories for a long time. The daytrip to Szentendre was only mediocre and in retrospect, it would have been better to trade it for the ability to spend one night in Eger, instead of the long but rushed day trip we took there. We had no time to stroll Eger and I regretted that.

Krakow: This may have been the biggest surprise of the trip for me. Maybe it was just because I came into it with lower expectations, but I found it charming and welcoming. It was also a very good value. The hostel we stayed in was an incredible value (providing free meals, wifi and laundry!) and a fun place to crash for the night. The old town is small, though. So it does not take a great deal of time to see. The three full days we had there with one devoted to Auschwitz/Birkenau was perfect.

Prague: In the Prague blog posts I went into some detail about how Prague seemed to be too touristy, so I won't repeat myself here. Prague is lovely - among the most visually appealing cities I have ever seen. It is wonderful eye-candy. I just wish it had more soul. It seemed too much like one of the stops at Epcot Center in Disney World.

Cesky Krumlov: A fantastic way to see rural Czech Republic. The town is adorable. The food is good and inexpensive, and the river is a great float. It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience and a great way to cleanse the pallet between big city visits. I would not recommend the Krumlov House Hostel, though. Stay somewhere else.

Munich: To be fair, we didn't stay long enough in Munich to see the city fairly. Also, being at the end of the trip, we were not in the mood to see the traditional tourist sights. We just wanted to relax. The "English Garden" bike ride was very nice, and the pedestrian zone passing the town square and glockenspiel was a fun place to hang out in the evening and hear great street musicians. But the city (having been heavily damaged during WWII) lacked historical charm. Unlike Prague, however, it was a city with a soul. It wasn't just for tourists. That was good to see.

Tomorrow I will add my final thoughts and then it's time to look forward, not back...