Summer 2017

     It is early days but I have heard already from Herr M.-L.  He wrote to send me New Year's greetings and of course to find out when I am coming this summer.  Since I will not have to return to the U.S. before September, I think that I want to stay in Weimar all of July and August.  So, I wrote back and asked him for the monthly rate for those two months.  I don't think I should have to pay the daily rate for 2 months.  Granted he has never raised the rate in the 7 years that I have been staying there but the day rate for 2 months is too much.  So we shall see.  He has not written back with an offer yet.  Of course Christmas is 2 days away and he has 2 small children so I do not expect to hear so soon.

Paris-Spring 2017

     As I mentioned before, I am retiring from my job this June.  I have two friends who are also retiring then.  We were talking yesterday and thought it might be a good idea to give ourselves a retirement present.  Then we thought that a Spring Break trip to Paris might be the thing!
     Paris in the Spring!  How wonderful!  I don't think that I have been there in at least 5 years(?).  But the time doesn't matter.  What matters is that I haven't been there in a while and I miss it.  It is so great to be there.  There is so much to see, do, and experience.  Of course you must go to the Louvre for many hours.  It is in many ways too much.  Just to see the Renaissance works takes a long time.  If you want to see the French oils, much less the rooms, the jewels or the Egyptian works, you need two days.
     The Orangerie with the Monet murals and the D'Orsay are also places one must visit again and again.  I also love just walking around the Marais district  and along the Seine.  Walking at night after dinner is also one of life's great pleasures.  And so we come to the food.  Going to Paris just to eat would be a worthwhile trip.  I have eaten a lot of meals there and every single on of them was fantastic.  When I am there I will talk about the places I eat.
     I speak what I call "traveling French".  Meaning I can read and order from a menu in a restaurant, check in to a hotel,  buy a train ticket and read the information tickets in a museum.  I don't think, in fact I know, that I can carry on a conversation.  Even so,  anyone I have ever encountered there, in a restaurant, hotel or museum, has never been anything but kind and helpful to me.  I know people say the French are rude but I have never experienced that.  It is probably A very proper demeanor or a response to rude Americans.
    In any event, the thought of going and the planning I get to do is exciting.

USA 20 October 2016

     It is only October and already I am thinking about Germany and ,of course, in particular Weimar.  The reason is that come June I may be retiring from my job!!!!  I am 54 years and in June will have been at it for 33 years.  Enough is enough.   But what this means is that I can stay in Germany for as long as I want!!
     What I am thinking now is fly over and stay in Berlin for 5 nights and then take the train to Weimar and stay there all of July and August.  Then I could spend the bulk of September traveling.  Maybe Munich, maybe Wien, maybe Paris!  Who knows?  Maybe all three!
     But I have a lot of time before then.  The first deadline for a decision will come when Herr M. contacts me about the apartment for this year.   So then I will decide definitely.  Until then I will be planning and planning and planning, as I always have done.

End 2016

     Well I have been back in the US for 3 days now and it feels like I never left.  The flight home was fine.  It boarded and left on time and we arrived in Newark on time.  I don't know how I feel about being back.  It is the same every year.  Over all I have to , once again, say I had a great 2 months away.  Seeing Frankfurt, Koln, and Heidelberg with Ernest was fun.  My beloved Weimar was the same as always and that is how I always want it.  Dresden was nice mainly because of the hotel.  Staying at the Taschenberg Palais was worth the stop there.  Poland was different and I am glad I went there.  I do have to say that Wroclaw and Poznan were basically the same.  You do not need to visit both.  One is enough.  The food and the drink were great in both and the price of everything was certainly great.  Then of course I was on to Berlin.  I wish I had had better weather,  I think I would have been somehow happier there.  But the Eurostars Hotel delivered again.  The location and the price for what you get can not be beat.  This was my second stay there and I believe that I like staying there better than when I used to stay at the Hilton!!
     Oh well dear readers,  If there are any, I will write again when I start to think of next summer.

Berlin 2016

    I arrived in Berlin on Wednesday 10 August at the Hauptbahnhof.  I took the u-bahn to Friedrichstrasse Station and then walked down the street to Eurostars Berlin.  They called me a VIP but my room was still not ready.  No matter.  It was about 13:45 so I walked to the bank to get money and then went to Standge Vertretung for a beer and a bowl of delicious Gulasch.
    Anyway, my room is the same as last year and I a just as happy.  I have a king bed room and breakfast included for 7 nights for 826.60 euro total.  That is less than $130 a night!!  I believe this price is better than what I got last year.  The first night I went to Vaporetto for dinner.  That is the Italian restaurant on the Spree Ufer next to Standige Vertretung.  I have eaten there many time before.  It is basic Italian.  I ate penne arrabiato and 0.5 liter red wine.  I was happy and then took a walk and came back to the hotel to do a little drinking in the bar.
     I went today and purchased my 3-day card, 3-Tage Karte, for the museums.  I t costs 24 euro and gets you into all the major museums.  I did not need a reservation to get into the Egyptian museum, as I have in the past.  I went to the Egyptian museum and to the National Gallery museum- next to each other.  Both are great!  If you have not been, go.  Get the included audio guide and take your time.  In between museums, I did what you should also do, I went to the cafe at the Zeughaus museum. over the bridge from museum island, and had a huge, delicious piece of cake and a cup of coffee.  After I went to Hackescher Markt and had 2 dunkles beers and a pretzel at Weihenstephaner.  Also a good idea.
     Tonight dinner was a disappointment on 2 counts.  First I walked down Friedrich Strasse to my favorite Berlin restaurant, Dolcini, and it was closed!  But only for vacation, thank god.  I have not been in Berlin this late in the summer before so I did not expect it.  In 15 years of coming to Berlin this is the first time that I am not eating there!!  No la Baker!!  So I walked to Loewvenbrau.  What a mistake.  In the past, when I used to stay at the Berlin Hilton, I very often went there.  It was pleasant and the food and beer and service were great.  But no longer.  Last summer I went in one afternoon and after 30 minutes of no one coming I left.  Tonight I got a menu and ordered and received my beer in a timely manner, but 1 hour later still no food.  Only an empty beer glass.  So I left the beer money on the table and left.  The waiter saw me on the way out and I said, " ich kann nicht mehr warten.  Das Biergeld ist darauf!" .  He said, twice, "alles gut"  I said, as I stormed past, " nay, alles micht gut!"  So I had to go to Amici.  It was fine.  I had 2 dunkles, spaghetti aglio and a salad - 25 euro.
     Tomorrow I will go to Gemalde Gallerie if nice.  If not maybe Bode Museum and Altes Museum .
   

Poznan 2016

     I did not post anything while I was actually in Poznan so here it is in a nutshell.  I stayed at Brovaria.  A great hotel right on the main square.  They only have about 30 rooms so it is small.  My room, number 33, was on the top floor.  A large, lovely room.  It does have air conditioning. However,  there is no elevator so I had to climb 6 flights of stairs every time I went to my room.  I had to have an employee take my luggage up there when I arrived.  I am a fit middle-aged man and it was a little much.  If you can not climb a lot, and I mean a lot, of stairs make sure you are definite about where your room is.  The service was great and the breakfast was fine.  They have a bar/restaurant which is very popular.  The price is absolutely right!!
   Poznan has sights but mostly churches.  I did take a riding tour but for the price it was not worth it.  The guy drove me around and the audio guide spoke to me in English but for 220 zloty, or $55 it was a waste.  However, it was a Monday and everything is closed on Monday.
    On Tuesday I went to the National Museum and to the City Museum.  Both worth a visit.  The National Museum is an art museum.  If you have never seen Polish art, and I have not,  this is the place.  I was there over 2 hours and enjoyed it.  The city museum is in the town hall in the middle of the square.  It is only 5 zloty, $1.25, but not a lot there if you do not read Polish.
    The food in Poznan is great and very, very cheap.  I ate a lot and drank a lot and it did not cost anything.  I went to a great French restaurant , Bistro la cocotte on ul. Murna.  It is only about 2 blocks from the main square.  I had pate de foie gras, beef bourguignon, 3 glasses of good red wine and 2 waters for less than $30!   I also ate at a restaurant called BeeJays. Very good.  I ordered sirloin with rice and broccoli and cauliflower.  I got that with chicken.  I told the waiter that "sirlion" was not the meat on the plate but beef.  I don't think he believed me.  But that dish with 2 whiskey sours and a glass of red wine and a piece of apple pie with cream and ice cream and a coffee cost me less than $30.
     I liked traveling in Poland.  But there was not much difference between Wroclaw and Poznan.  I would not recommend going to both of them.  Either one is great but that is all you need.  I took the train to Berlin and here I am.  In the Eurostars for the second summer in a row.  A wonderful hotel.  You should come to Berlin as often as possible and stay here.

Wroclaw 2 2016

     This is my last of 4 nights in Wroclaw.  Yesterday I did go out to Dom Insel.  On the way I stopped at the church of the holy name of jesus.  It is an incredible Barock church and well worth a visit.  I actually had to hold the back of a pew while looking up to maintain my balance.  I did the guide book walk through the Dom Insel and really all there is to see are more churches.  Actually it is incredible that there are so many churches in such a small area.
     For dinner last night I went to aplace on the main square called Dwor Polski.  The food was very good.  I had  a delicious goulash and then a roast pork dinner with potatoes and cabbage.  I drank 2 glasses of red wine and an Irish coffee.  The price was great and the food was great but I would not go there again!  The service was very rude.  When I arrived it was not full at all.  A man spoke to me in Polish and I said, in English, "I'm sorry I don't speak Polish."   He raised his voice and yelled something at me and pointed to the corner on the other side of the room.  So I went there and sat down.  I must have sat there 20 minutes before I got a menu and the only reason I got one was that I caught the eye of a young guy who seemed to be a trainee. I was there at least 45 minutes before I got any food.  Every time I wanted something I had to call to the waiter.  At the end,  when he finally came to get the money, I needed change.  He took my bill and left without a word.  When he returned he slapped my change onto the table and turned and left.  No thank-you, no good-bye.
     Today I walked over to the Royal Palace.  The exhibition I thought I would see at the National museum, I saw here - The History of Wroclaw and Silesia.  It was very good and I spent almost 2 and a half hours there.  They had a special exhibit on Chagall and some of his contemporaries.  After I walked around in that area for a while.
     For dinner I went back to where I ate at Rodrigo on Thursday.  I ate next door at Il Ristorante Italiano.  Great.   I had half-liter red, water, ravioli with prosciutto ham and cheese in a Bolognese sauce.  I also had a chocolate cake with chocolate mousse and a cup of coffee.  All for 125 zloty, which includes a tip!  So about $31 American.

Wroclaw 2016

     Well I left Dresden without difficulty.  The train did not leave until noon which is the latest that I have ever left, but it was fine.  My hotel is the Sofital and it is wonderful!!  I have walked around the city center and have been to the National Museum.  I think part of it was closed but what I saw was fine.  Last night I ate in the main square at a place called Liv---.  It was great!  I had stuffed peppers and a salad and 2 beers.  Today after the museum I went to CK and had 8 meat-filled pierogis and 2 big beers for $16.  Tonight I ate at Rodeo and had roast beef with fries and salad, 2 big beers - pilsurquell- and a double shot of mextaxa.  All for $20.
     Tomorrow I will walk out to the Dom Insel and see what is there.  It seems to me that there are a lot of churches here but once you have gone into one of them you have gone into all of them.

Dresden 2016

     On Saturday 30 July I left beliebte Weimar and came by train to Dresden.  I believe this is the 5th or 6th time that I am here.  I do know that I was here last summer.  So there is not much new for me to do here.  A city this size can only offer so much.  I went to the Alte Meister Gemakde Gallerie yesterday.  Like the collections in Munich, Vienna and Berlin, always worth a visit.  They have rearranged somewhat.  You still enter at the same entrance as always, don't let the signs fool you, and you still go down to buy your ticket like always.  But the entrance to the galleries has been rearranged and the lay out is now different.  I saw everything and even found a Vermeer I did not know they had!  Also saw the Giorgione they have, that was completed by Titian, that I did not remember.  I was there almost 2 hours.  Today I will go through the Residenz collections.

    It was raining yesterday a lot of the time so it was a good day to be indoors.   I had a coffee and cake in the museum cafe after - disappointing as museum cafes go.  After I went across the street to the biergarten attached to the Italianisches Dorfchen building.  It has become more and more touristy over the years.  If it is not too crowded it is fine.  But none of the tourists seem to be able to get a handle on how it works.  You order and pay at the window and then you collect your order around the corner in front.  If you order something cooked you have to wait and carry it yourself.
     I then walked over the Augustusbrucke to the real Biergarten.  Over the bridge and on the right side.  The food here is better and you can see them cooking it right there.  The dark beer is called "Dresdenr"  and is DELICIOUS.  It is much bigger and less crowded and you get a nice view over the river of the city.   After my beer there I walked back and went to the Madrid tapas place in the Frauenkirche square and it began to pour.  So after my beer there I went back to the hotel.
     This is what is new about my trip this year!  I have abandoned the Hilton, nice as it was, to stay in the Taschenbergpalais Hotel.  This is a Kempinski hotel and the nicest 5 star in this city.

     I got a great deal on the room here.  I choose to upgrade to a superior room with breakfast included and it cost me 140 euro a night.

     You could not get a park bench in New Jersey, much less Manhattan for that price.  The building is huge and I had to have an escort to my room in order to find it. That evening I did spend some time wandering lost, but it has worked out.    The service is impeccable.  The room was not ready when I arrived but they took my number and called me when it was.  When I was escorted to my room my bags were already there and the room was ready to go.  It is very comfortable but of course the air conditioning leaves something to be desired.  But then again, I have always said that Europeans do not understand the meaning of the term "air conditioning".  The ONLY way you can have air conditioning the way Americans understand it is to stay in an American chain hotel such as a Hilton or Ramada.  Otherwise when they claim to be "ganz klimatizert"  they don't mean what you think they mean.

Weimar 2016 - The final Word

     Today is my last night in Weimar.  Another month gone by entirely too fast.  I know I say this every year but it becomes increasingly true.  So I decided to give some advice based on the 7 Julys I have spent here.
     For basic German food go to Sächsischer Hof.   The food and the choices are all the same in all the German restaurants in town but here they have the best  Klöße in town.  The price is right, you sit in a lovely, peaceful garden and the service is good.  Also it is never very crowded so you can always get a table.
     There are now 4 Italian restaurants in town but I have only eaten at 3 of them - Napoli, Versilia, and La Trattoria .   All offer the same basic pasta and pizza menu.  I like them all for different reasons.  La Trattoria is out of the way.  You sit on the terrace out back and it is very quiet.  Versilia has a lot of indoor seating so if it is inclement weather you can still go there.  But overall I pick Napoli.  It too has acceptable indoor seating.  The outdoor seating is in a more active part of town so you get more people passing by as you eat.  But the only real deciding factor is that a half-liter of wine is cheapest there.  The food is good in all of them.  Napoli also offers Krombacher beer vom fass and it is always fresh and delicious.
     For lunch, go to City Doner.  It is in the Theatre Platz to the left of the theater.  Go up to the take-out window and order one to go.  Be sure to say for "mitnehmen"  so you get it in a bag.   Then walk down to the beer kiosk outsice the Rathause and get a beer.  Sit down at a table and enjoy.  It is cheap, good and you are sitting right in the Markt Platz where all the world, or what little of it there is in Weimar, goes by,    Well that's it for Weimar 2016 - bis nachste Sommer!
       

City Kebab

Beer Kiosk

Tomorrow I leave for Dresden.

Weimar 2016 Special Exhibit

     As I previously wrote, there was a special exhibit this summer called "The Ernestinier prägt Europa".  It consisted of 4 parts.  Two parts were in Weimar and two parts were in Gotha.  Part One was at the Stadt Rezidence.  It was interesting but nothing that different than what is normally there.  Part Two is in the Neues Stadt museem.  I have never been there and thought this part was better.  You are told a lot of information on the audio guide that comes with your ticket.  They have the Grand Duke's throne here.

     I had purchased the combi-ticket for 16 euro which got me into all 4 parts during the run of the exhibit.  Really a good deal.  So I made the trip to Gotha on Wednesday.  I did one stupid thing.  If the City-Hopper ticket is offered on the screen once you put in your destination, TAKE IT!!  It is only 5 euro 60 and to go both ways it is cheaper than one way with a regular ticket.  I bought one to come home.
     In Gotha Part 3 is in the Herzoglisches Museem and part 4 is in Schloss Friedenstein.  I have never been to the museem before because the other times that I visited Gotha it was not open.  So it was interesting for me just to go there and your Special Exhibit ticket lets you into the whole museum.  They had mostly art here and it was very interesting.  Part 4 was in Schloss Friedenstein and again, your ticket lets you all through the Schloss including the ducal family rooms.  One thing I did not like is that most of the portraits are not labels.  One thing I did like is being able to see all the portraits that I have only seen in books.

Schloss Friedenstein

Between museums I went down to the town, had a little walk around and then had lunch at an Irish pub

Irish Pub - Gotha

I had Irish Stew and a couple of Franzikaner beers.  Then back to Schloss Friedenstein.  To get here is very easy.  Leave the station out the front exit.  You will see the S-bahns on the left.  Just walk straight up Bahnhof Strasse until you come to ParkAllee.  Go left.  The Herzoglisches Museem is on the left side of the street and Schloss Friedenstien on the right.  The photo of the Schloss was taken from the porch of the Museum.

Weimar 2016

     In previous posts I said that I enjoyed going to Theatre Cafe to hang out and have a beer or a glass of wine in the evening.  It is the same place with the same name but it has changed hands.  It is now an Italian restaurant.  The same waitress was there the other evening when I stopped in for a drink but the menu and the prices have changed.
     It is the standard Italian menu but there are other Italian restaurants near by that offer the same menu but for less.  A glass of chianti was 4 euro 80.   The old Theatre Cafe offered carafes of wine at a reasonable price.  The location still can not be beat so after a dinner and then a nice walk it is still a great place to sit and watch the square.  I do not think that I will be hanging out there that much.
    I find that I have been enjoying the Ratskeller Kiosk more and more.  It is pleasant to sit in the square and relax and the price - one beer= 3 euro - can't be beat.

Weimar 2016

     I arrived in Weimar, from Frankfurt, on Tuesday 5 July.  The train ride was easy - about 2 hours 30 minutes.  My train left Frankfurt at 9:30 am and I was in the apartment at 12:30 pm.  Weimar is just like always.  This is my 7th summer here!  When I go out and walk around I feel the same as I do when I am at home.  I know where everything is and I know exactly where I want to go.
     I have eaten at Texas, Versilia, Sachsische Hof, City Doner, Schwartzberger Hof.  All the same and all still good.  Texas is still my favorite place to eat and Schwartzburger Hof is still my favorite place to hang out.  I was there to watch the semi-final game between Wales and Portugal.  I did not go to the Deutschland semi because I knew it would be too wild.
     There is a special exhibit here at the Stadt Schloss this summer.  It is called, "Die Ernestinier prägt Europa",  It also has a part in Gotha and of course I want to go to both.

Köln/Heidelberg 2016

     After 3 days in Frankfurt we went to Koln.  It was easy to do but the ticket price was 71 euro and I don't know why?  I looked on the ticket machine at the train station and on line and it was all the same.  I stayed at the Hilton which is just up the street from the train station and to the left - very conventient.  The Hilton is the Hilton.  The rooms are nice and the breakfast is fantastic but only if you get a deal where it is included.  If you have to pay every day it is very expensive.
     The city itself is very nice and walkable around the cathedral.  The tiny side streets are quiet and beautiful.  The walk along the river is very nice.  We ate at Toro Negro one night.  Great!!  It has a store front on one of the quaint small side streets and outdoor seating in the back in an unexpected courtyard, which can be used to pass through.  The food was basic Spanish - steaks and shrimp and we drank a liter of red wine.  For the two of us the bill was 60 euro.  I would happily recommend this place.  We also ate at an Indian restaurant up the street from the Hilton in the direction away from the altstadt.  The food was tremendously good.  We ordered a bunch of plates and beers.  The servers were helpful and nice and efficient.
    The cathedral itself is just stunning.  Standing there and looking up is almost breath taking.  I think it is because this giant cathedral is right in the middle of everything.  The art museum has a nice collection and as I said, just walking around on a nice summer evening is great.

     From Koln we took the train to Heidelberg.  I was here a long time ago.  What a beautiful little city to visit.  It is so picturesque and the river views are just spectacular.  The schloss ruins are like a fairytale setting.  To get up there you go into a building that looks like a parking garage.  At the desk you buy a ticket that is good for a ride up and then down and also to walk around the grounds.  If you take a guided tour you get to go inside.  Once again the views from up there are unbelievable.   We stayed at the Leonardo Hotel which is nice enough.  However, believe it or not the water smells.  Its true.

Frankfurt 2016

     I left the US on Friday 24 June and arrived in Frankfurt early Saturday morning.  The flight was fine.  Sitting in 1st class on the over night flight over is well worth it.  At the airport I could not find the S-Bahn, or else did not feel like looking too hard,  so I took a cab to the hotel.  I am at the Hotel Bliss in the MainzerLand Strasse.  It is very nice and very reasonable pricewise.  My room is just a standard double room.

     I met my friend Ernest in the lobby in the afternoon and we went for a walk all the way up the street to the Alte Opern Haus.  There is an out door wine fest going on there so we walked through and then found a place to have a beer.  We ate dinner at a place called Conrad's.  Basic German food and service.  We had two schnitzels and 2 beers and 2 cups of coffee and the bill was just under 40 euro.

     After we walked over to Romer square and looked around and then returned.  We were both very tired.  Today we are off to the Museum Ufer.

Summer 2016

     The final plans for summer 2016 are complete!   After Frankfurt, Cologne and Heidelberg with Ernest and then my month in beliebte Weimar I am off to Dresden, once again, and then to the Fatherland - Poland!
     I will be 4 nights in Wroclaw(Breslau) and then 3 nights in Poznan.
     In Wroclaw I am staying at the Sofital.  I have never stayed in one of these hotel before but I have seen them.  I am getting a king bed and breakfast Magnific for 100 dollars per night.  In Poznan I am staying at Brovaria.  It is a hotel with a brewery!  I think I am paying about $80 per night!
     I am glad to have the plans for this summer complete and I have begun to make plans for the firs 10 nights with Ernest.

Summer 2016

     Well plans for the summer have started to take shape!   I will be flying into Frankfurt on 25 June to meet Ernest.  We will be there for 3 nights.  I have booked a room at Hotel Bliss.  It looks nice and has good reviews on TripAdvisor.  Then it is off to Koln where I will be once again staying at the Hilton.  That is where I stayed the one time I was there.  It is very conveniently located.  And, I can not wait to get there and start drinking the Kolsch beer!!
     After Koln we are off to Heidelberg.  It is a long time since I am there also.  I am staying at Hotel Leonardo and am looking forward to finding everything I can about Liselotte von der Pfalz.
    All of this is done and once again I am flying over 1st class. Yeah!  After Heidelberg we will go back to
Frankfurt for one night and then I am off to beliebte Weimar for a month.  From there I do not know what I will be doing but I will be flying back from Berlin on 17 August.

Weimar 2016

     My only definite plans for this year, so far, are my stay in Weimar.  I will be at "my"  apartment for 4 weeks. all of July.  It makes me happy to have these plans in place.  I don't know what I will do after but I am pretty sure what I will do before then.  I will probably fly to Berlin and stay there at least 6 nights and then go somewhere else for 4 nights before Weimar.  After Weimar, I have no idea.
     As always I can't wait to get there!  I will be there for the "small" wine-fest in July and that is always a lot of fun.  Also I look forward to evenings on the porch at Schwarzburger Hor drinking large beers and Fernet!