Wickliffe Mounds and Memorial Cross

As usual, we were awake early at the Paducah Super 8. Our room was clean and quiet, our only criteria for lodging these days. We did morning language lessons then went to the breakfast room when it opened at 6 am. We had cereal and bagels before checking out of our second floor room.

We drove to Wickliffe Mounds, an archeological site from the Mississippian culture dating from the 1100s to 1300s. Some of the mounds are thought to be ceremonial while others are burial mounds. It is believed that the site’s leaders selected the site since it provided a strategic view of the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and was on a high bluff unlikely to flood. The museum on an excavated mound includes many pots and other artifacts of the civilization that built the mounds. No human remains were on display but were returned to Native groups who reburied them in accordance with their beliefs.

A short distance from Wickliffe Mounds is the site of Fort Jefferson, a stockade constructed by George Rogers Clark in 1780 on orders from then Virginia Governor, Thomas Jefferson. Kentucky was part of Virginia at that time until statehood in 1792. The fort was plagued by illness and constant attacks from Chickasaw Indians and was abandoned only a year later. Because of the site’s view of the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, the knoll was used as a Union post during the Civil War.

Since 1939 large crosses have been constructed at the site. The current cross was completed in 1994 using donations from the sponsorship of bricks and donations from the public. The 90 foot tall freestanding cross is constructed of aluminum and cost over $300,000 to complete. A walking trail and interpretative signage provides information on the historic forts as well as Native cultures in the area. The granite bricks surrounding the Memorial Cross carry the names of the many donors contributing to the construction and maintenance of the cross.

As we left the confluence of Ohio & Mississippi Rivers we saw a town with an interesting name. When we saw a nearby town called “Monkey’s Eyebrow” there was no doubt that we had to go there. The “town” even has its own zip code but is nothing more than a small community of a few farms. Of course, we stopped and took photos of the sign. We learned that the most likely source for the town’s name is the two small hills that are crescent shaped and were covered with brush. A local farmer remarked that the hills looked like monkey’s eyebrows and the name stuck.

On the way home, we passed through Muhlenberg County and stopped at the county seat, Central City, where we went to the plaza honoring the Everly Brothers and John Prine including statues and monuments describing their connections to Muhlenberg County. The Everly Brothers were born in the small Muhlenberg County community of Brownie before moving to Knoxville, Tennessee when the brothers were in high school. John Prine spent many summers in the town of Paradise which no longer exists. Prine’s song, Paradise, made Muhlenberg County well known to many music fans all over the world.

As we neared the Land Between the Lakes area of Kentucky, we were ready for lunch. Friends had suggested Patti’s 1880s Settlement as a great stop for a meal. We were fortunate to be seated without a wait since the restaurant is said to fill up quickly. The décor of the restaurant is intended to be a throwback to the 1880s with waitresses wearing what appeared to be feed sack dresses and items on display from the area’s rural history. Mary had a huge turkey sandwich on homemade bread and I had one of the day’s special, “sticky piggie” was a pork cutlet on a homemade bun with caramel sauce and apple slices. We both enjoyed our meals then walked around the area finding a couple of geocaches before driving back home. We got to the house by 5 pm in time to unpack, do some laundry and get ready to go to our volunteer responsibilities on Thursday morning.

National Quilt Museum & Geocaching in Arkansas

Since the Paducah Super 8 was quiet, we slept well and awakened by 5 am. We did our morning language lessons then went to the breakfast room at the motel. There was cold cereal, a few cups of yogurt, toast and bananas but that was fine with us after the large meal at Strickland’s last night. We drove down to the Paducah Riverfront where we walked along admiring the beautiful murals on the floodwall. There is a long history of the influence of the Ohio on the city’s development.

We walked along the riverfront and chatted with several local walkers about the area’s attractions. The murals along the floodwall were beautiful. Each panel represented an element of Paducah’s history from settlements by native cultures, early European explorers, the Lewis and Clark expedition, the influence of railroads and steamships and the civil rights movement in the city. It was encouraging that we saw no graffiti or other vandalism on the murals. It appeared to us that the murals are touched up and maintained regularly.

Around 9 am Mary walked around the area before she went to the National Quilt Museum. As a quilter, she has wanted to visit this museum for many years. She photographed many of the quilts that interested her and learned about the quilt competitions. She learned that the maker of a winning quilt can choose to get the quilt returned or to give the quilt to the museum and accept a large cash prize. She was at the museum for over four hours before coming out to walk around the surrounding area in Paducah.

While Mary was at the museum, I drove to Blytheville, Arkansas. My motivation was to find geocaches in Arkansas since it was the only state in which I had not recorded geocache finds. I figured that my easiest and fastest way to log a geocache in the state was to go to the Welcome Center. I parked at the rest area and checked my GPS receiver which showed that I was very near the geocache hide. I looked out of the car window and spotted the tiny geocache container suspended in a small tree next to the car. I could have reached out of the window to get the geocache container. I signed the cache log then went to the rest area then made my way back to pick Mary up at the Quilt Museum.

On the drive back to Paducah, I wanted to avoid Interstate highways but to drive through part of the state included in the Jackson Purchase. In 1818, General Andrew Jackson and former Kentucky Governor, Isaac Shelby negotiated the purchase of land east of the Mississippi River with the Chickasaw Indians for the price of $200,000. Today this land makes up eight of Kentucky’s westernmost counties and is typically referred to as “The Purchase” region. This is the area where the New Madrid Earthquake rechanneled the Mississippi River to leave an area of Kentucky that 27 square miles in size that is surrounded by Missouri and Tennessee. This “Kentucky Bend” has a population of nine people.

I was struck by the topography and ecology of the area. It is very much a Delta environment with cypress swamps and river lowlands. The predominate animals that I saw along the road were armadillos.

I picked Mary up at the Quilt Museum around 2 pm then took her to Hancock’s of Paducah to look at quilt fabric and supplies. While she shopped, I sat on a bench near the front of the store which was clearly placed there for husbands to sit while their wives shopped. I chatted with several other old guys as I waited. One fellow whose wife was from California who was primarily in the area because his wife wanted to visit the Quilt Museum and to shop at this shop. She had been at the store area and purchased so much fabric that she took it back to their motel then returned to shop again this afternoon. Her husband, George, and I chatted for a long time and enjoyed each other’s company. I mentioned that we were considering dinner at Broussard’s Cajun Cuisine and he said that they may see us there.

After a short break at the room in the Super 8, we were hungry and went to dinner at Broussard’s Cajun Cuisine around 5:30. We started with a flight of Cajun stews to sample. We liked the etouffee and jambalaya but we both really liked the shrimp gumbo. I fully expected to get etouffee since that is my go-to choice when we go to Cajun restaurants. However, the gumbo was exceptional. The cook came out and chatted with us for a long time as we dined. As we were leaving, we saw George and his wife coming into the restaurant. We chatted with them and exchanged contact information before we left the restaurant.

Before we went to the motel, we drove out Jefferson Street in Paducah to see some of the monuments and statues in the median. Back at the Paducah Super 8, we did our evening language lessons then turned in.

Mahr Park Arboretum and Doran Arboretum at Murray State University

We had been hoping to make a trip to Western Kentucky since we moved to Georgetown in 2020. I have been fascinated by the 1811 New Madrid Earthquake that rerouted the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers leaving bits of Kentucky in Indiana and Missouri. A few years ago, we traveled to Henderson, Kentucky where we crossed the Ohio River into Indiana and back into Kentucky. We hiked along the former Ohio River bottom then stopped by the nearby former home of artist, John J. Audubon.

There were several recent motivations for the trip this year. Mary has wanted to visit the National Quilt Museum in Paducah for some time. I had logged finds of geocaches in every US state except Arkansas. Since Paducah is less than two hours from the Arkansas border, I decided to take the state off my to-do list. The last major motivation for the trip at this time is the Kentucky Garden Trail. On a field trip with Scott County Master Gardeners in June, we visited the Waterfront Botanical Gardens in Louisville and really enjoyed it so we decided to visit all 12 of the botanical gardens in the state. Two gardens on the list are in Western Kentucky.

After breakfast and exercise at Planet Fitness, we left home picking up the Bluegrass Parkway outside of Lexington. The trip would take about four hours but would seem like three hours since we would cross into the Central Time Zone as we traveled west. We stopped for fuel in Bardstown where we had lunch of cold cut sandwiches that we brought from home. We had corn nuts to snack on as we drove. At Elizabethtown, we picked up the Western Kentucky Parkway and continued through towns like Dawson Springs, that had been wiped out by a tornado in 2021.

Our first stop was in Madisonville, at Mahr Park Arboretum where we admired the beautifully groomed 265-acre municipal park. The Mahr family owned the property from 1964 until donating the land to the city of Madisonville in 2009. We enjoyed the well-labelled trees and shrubs throughout the park. We chatted with the volunteer at the park entrance for some time and got stamps for our Kentucky Garden Trail Passports then decided to continue on to Murray, Kentucky.

The drive to Murray from Madisonville was only about 90 minutes through the beautiful Western Kentucky landscape.

Doran Arboretum

There was no attendant at the Doran Arboretum at Murray State University but we were directed to a large mailbox where we could pick up the Garden Trail Passport stamp. The only other person we saw was a young woman on a mower who we gathered was a Murray State student. The grounds of the arboretum were beautiful with trees, shrubs and perennial flowers displayed and labeled. We walked out to the apiary where several bee hives were active. The whole property was very impressive.

Mantle Rock

From Murray, we started toward Paducah but saw a trailhead for Mantle Rock Preserve and decided to stop. We learned that the trail that we were on was part of the Trail of Tears, the path that the Cherokee were forced to travel to Oklahoma in 1838. In total over of 60,000 members of the “five civilized tribes” and their black slaves were removed to western territories between 1830 and 1850. In the winter of 1838-39, nearly 1,800 Cherokees took refuge at Mantle Rock since the extreme cold winter had make the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers difficult to cross.

As we drove, we saw that Possum Trot, Kentucky was nearby so we couldn’t resist stopped by. As expected there was really nothing in the small village but we took a few snapshots of the sign then continued on to Purple Toad Winery. Although we seldom drink wine, we had seen wine from this winery at our Kroger store and stopped to see what we could learn. The visitor center offered free tastings of eight wines and four distilled spirits of our choice. All of their wines and spirits are made on site at the Paducah location. We each tasted our eight wine choices and liked a few. Most of the wines from Purple Toad are very sweet dessert wines but their information sheet identified each wine’s sweetness on a 1-5 scale. We picked out a couple of bottles to buy then sampled some of the spirits. Several spirits including vodka and moonshine are made using their grapes as the based material for fermentation. We sampled some of the bourbons and clear spirits and found them to be fine but not exceptional so we elected to only buy the wine.

When we arrived at the Super 8 Motel in Paducah we checked in quickly and found the motel to be clean and quiet. We were very happy with the daily rate on the room and moved our things into the second floor room.

After changing clothes and relaxing a bit, we checked restaurant ratings and decided on Strickland’s Seafood House which was just a few blocks from our motel. We both ordered the Harris Platter which is an assortment of fish, crabcake, clams and shrimp. Our meals were very good and we returned to the Super 8 where we read then turned in for the night.

Returning home from Germany

Mary and I had our cell phone alarms set for 5 am, but much to our surprise, Peter was already awake and ready to get dressed. We ate a little in the hotel then put our pajamas in our bags then left the Adina Hotel to walk to the Berlin Hauptbahnhof.

Peter finished his breakfast in the Berlin Hauptbahnhof

Once in the train station we bought a couple of pretzels for Peter to have with his hummus for breakfast. The train to the Berlin Flughofen (airport) was only a few minutes from arriving so we didn’t have long to wait. At first the train wasn’t crowded but as we neared the airport, more passengers boarded the light rail. One person appeared to be emotionally disturbed or under the influence of a drug became loud on the train but soon exited the car.

At the airport, we easily checked our three bags then moved to the first security where we got through quickly since we only had one small carry-on each and no unapproved items. We then went to the German exit point where we waited in a long time to present our passports. Once we were at the checkpoint we were approved quickly. When we got in the line only three of the fifteen or so windows were open. Some families were at the window for over 30 minutes. While we were in the line a group of passengers from some Eastern European country started cutting line. We knew that they were not from an EU country or they would have been in an expedited line. Some of the line cutters got through, but the ones who were seen by the agent received a severe scolding and sent to the rear of the line. We passed through this checkpoint in less than a minute once we were at the window.

After going into the next room, our passports and boarding passes were checked by an agent from the US then we walked toward the terminal gates, but had to pass through another passport check which took a very short time. When going through a checkpoint we would put Peter between us in case of a problem. At one of the checkpoints, photographic recognition was used but the camera clicked on Peter before he was fully in place. He was routed to a desk where a human verified the passport. However, Mary had already passed through with Peter’s passport. Peter and I communicated the issue to a German police officer, who got the passport from Mary and straightened things out quickly. At the terminal for our flight, we had a few minutes for a bathroom break and to eat some of the breakfast that we packed. A tall slim man of about 35 years with long hair had been in the lengthy security line with us. While at the gate he was approached by two Berlin police officers, airport security and a representative of Delta Airlines. The police told him that another passenger had reported that his behavior was suspicious and that he needed to have an additional security check and interview. Mary said that she believed that he had been talking to two young girls who were flying back to New York and may have said something that they believed to be inappropriate.

Although we were in group 6 for the flight from Berlin to New York, we boarded quickly, after yet another check of passports and boarding passes. While all of the checks may seem like overkill, we are certainly happy that measures are in place to assure passenger safety. Our assigned seats were in the center section of the Boeing 767-300 so Mary and I had aisle seats with Peter between us. As with the trip to Germany, Peter traveled really well watching the inflight entertainment and snacking on things that we brought for the flight. When the meal was served about 90 minutes into the flight, he even ate most of the chicken curry and rice which is pretty impressive for an eleven-year-old.

When we arrived at JFK Airport in New York around 1 pm, we saw that a flight to Cincinnati was leaving around 2 pm. Our scheduled flight didn’t leave until 6:30 meaning a 5 ½ hour wait in the airport. Mary went to the Delta Airlines desk and unsuccessfully attempted to get on the earlier flight. There was a series of checkpoints and security stops on the way, but we were surprised that we didn’t have to go through customs. Rechecking our bags was quick and easy. Peter has become very skilled at spotting our luggage at the airport. He usually has our bags before we even make it to the carousal.

We walked around the airport, got some food from airport restaurants then sat at the gate while doing some German lessons and reading some eBooks that we had checked out from the library. Peter fell asleep in the seats at our gate and slept hard for almost an hour. We woke him in time to board the flight.

The aircraft from New York to Cincinnati was smaller but we had plenty of legroom. There was no in-flight entertainment but the flight was supposed to take only 90 minutes. However, we were on the taxiway for nearly an hour before takeoff. The cabin appeared to be completely full, and the flight had little turbulence once in the air. Peter slept much of the way while Mary and I read eBooks.

When we arrived at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport, we were met by Sarah picking Peter up. Sarah and Peter were very happy to see each other. Mark and Cindy were flying out of Cincinnati on Monday morning after a visit to a graduation in West Virginia. They met us at the airport and gave us a ride back to the Hilton where we left our car parked.

Although sleepy, I made the one hour drive from the airport back to the house where we went straight to bed, We would unpack and do laundry on Monday but it was after 11 pm and we had been up since 5 am in Germany which was 11 pm Eastern. We are too old for these 24 hour days!

We had a great time on this trip and having Peter with us made it very special. We wanted this to be his trip and to be something that he will remember about us after we are gone. We wanted him to experience another culture and have a broad perspective. We were very proud of him trying different foods that he had never tried in the US. He was willing to try everything and actually really liked several German food items. We were proud of his manners while traveling especially when he offered his seat on the train to an older person. Although we didn’t put a limit on things he could buy or money he could spend, he was very conservative with his requests and wanted to buy things for his family, especially his brother. He loved the pocket camera that we bought for him before the trip. He took well over 2000 pictures, mostly of himself making faces but a lot of sites that he wanted to remember. We are hopeful that we can have successful travel with his brother and cousins when they complete fifth grade.

Sachenhausen concentration camp

"Works makes you free"

We were up early to get the train to Sachenhausen concentration camp. Breakfast wasn’t started until 7:30 on Saturday at the Adina Hotel. While the breakfast buffet was good, the breakfast at Eden Hotel Wolff in Munich was better. Part of it is that we just like Bavarian food better than food from most other places in Germany.

Wall and barbed wire

After breakfast, we returned to the room to change clothes. Since the Sachenhausen concentration camp is a somber place, we felt that it would be inappropriate to go in shorts and t-shirts. We took a short subway trip to Friedrichstraße then changed to a train going to Oranienburg for 45 minutes. After leaving the Oranienburg station, we caught a bus for a short ride to the concentration camp. This camp housed prisoners who were Jewish, dissenters, work-shy, gypsies, disabled persons, homosexuals, and others considered undesirable by the Nazi government. The museum had chairs with straps where prisoners were beaten, sometimes to death, for infractions of the camp rules. There was a gallows where prisoners were hung while other prisoners were forced to watch as a lesson for conformity to the rules. Most of the barracks are no longer standing since materials for the structures were scavenged after the war. However, the infirmary, kitchen and laundry barracks remain standing.  There was a wall surrounding the camp with guard towers spaced along the wall.  Inside the wall were several layers of barbed wire.

Restored infirmary barracks

The medical care received by prisoners was less about preserving lives than allowing young German doctors to practice on the prisoners. Surgeries were sometimes unnecessarily performed so doctors could get experience. Inmates who died or were killed had their bodies dissected in the mortuary area for the education of the staff. Medical supplies were constantly in shortage for the needs of the prisoners.

Shoe test track surrounding the role call area

Near the area for the twice daily roll call, there was a shoe testing area. Prisoners would be required to wear shoes that we being developed for the German military. These shoes were seldom the correct size for the prisoners. They would be forced to walk many miles around the camp in the shoes so the leaders could assess the quality of the shoes and the durability of the shoes to hold up to a variety of terrain.

Execution trench

Although Sachenhausen wasn’t a death camp on the order of Auschwitz and some of the others, many prisoners were murdered here. Some were beaten to death, others hung and there was an execution trench just outside the barracks. Sometimes prisoners were shackled and shot, other times they would be placed in a device to measure height and a guard would be behind to shoot the prisoner at the base of the skull. There were mass burial areas adjacent to the execution trench for the bodies of those killed. The visit to the camp was a very sobering experience but we were glad that we could expose Peter to the history of the war. The camp continued to be used by the Soviets as Special Camp for Germans who had participated in the war, whether or not they had been convicted by a Soviet tribunal.

When we left the camp around noon, we saw that the next bus to the Oranienburg station would not arrive for 45 minutes, so we got lunch at a nearby café. Peter had a hot dog that was over a foot long on a large roll. Mary and I had Apfelschorle which is a blend of apple juice and sparkling water. Peter was very pleased with his meal. We have been very happy that he has been adventurous enough to try a variety of German food and has enjoyed many more than we expected.

Poppy blooming outside the Sachenhausen gate

As we waited for the bus, a group from an Italian tour group arrived. They were very loud and mostly rude. Many of them were smoking so we tried to stay upwind from them. Back at the train station in Oranienburg we quickly boarded the train for Fredrichstraße which took less than an hour. While we were on the train an older couple boarded and saw that all of the seats were taken. I gave my seat to the lady. When a man boarded using two canes, Peter offered the man his seat. The gentleman was appreciative but refused the seat. I was very proud of Peter for his concern.

At Fredrichstraße we went up to street level where we found an Aldi market on the lower level of one of the street buildings. Since we were leaving early tomorrow, we knew that the Adina Hotel breakfast would be unavailable. We bought rolls, cold cuts, cheese, hummus and pretzels for breakfast. We also bought several packages of Haribo items including gummy bears. Peter wanted to take them back as gifts. I got a large bottle of Apfelschole to sip this evening before bed as well as in the morning.

After taking a short subway back to Invalidenpark, we went to a small market and got Peter an ice cream to have up in the room before bed. We finished packing, showered and prepared for an early bedtime. Our flight to JFK boarded at 8:50 am and we knew that we would have multiple layers of security to navigate before we get to the gate.

While packing we had to screen Peter’s luggage. He had packed several glass drink bottles that we had from prior meals, as well as   a pair of Knipex channel lock type pliers he picked up someplace. Those items were not permitted in his luggage. We decided to check all of our bags except our backpacks since we would have 5 hours in JFK and there was nothing in the larger bags that was important or valuable. 

Reichstag Building

We decided to take the night tour on the Hop-on, Hop-off bus so we took a streetcar to the meeting point near Alexanderplatz.  Since we had a little time, we looked for someplace to get a small meal.  We decided on a KFC, Korean Fried Chicken.  We found the chicken to have a lot of fat and gristle, probably wing meat and not especially tasty.  None of us finished the meal.  

Not surprisingly knowing German precision, the bus left promptly at 6 pm.  Using the earbuds provided, we heard a narrative about each area of Berlin and many of the major buildings and historic locations.  We were back at the meeting spot by 7 pm then caught the streetcar back to Invalidenpark near the Adina Hotel.

After our baths, we went to sleep quickly and slept well.

Travel from Munich to Berlin

Peter and Oma on the ICE to Berlin

After waking at 5:30 we did a few language lessons then made our way to the breakfast area of the Eden Hotel Wolff where we had our usual excellent buffet breakfast for the last time this trip. We have come to enjoy the variety and quality of bread and fruit. We were proud of Peter’s willingness to try new things with an open mind, and he found the Bavarian breakfast to definitely to his liking. Although Bavaria is our favorite part of Germany, there are several things around Berlin that we wanted to see. Checking out of the hotel was quick since the travel agent had pre-paid for our room. The travel agency, to-europe.com, got much better rates on the rooms than we could ever have made on our own.

The Hauptbahnhof is a short walk from our hotel and we found our track quickly. Mary had upgraded us to an ICE train since it makes very few stops and travels at a much higher rate of speed. The other train going from Munich to Berlin (IC train) would take four hours, but the ICE made the trip in less than three hours. Using the information and tickets provided by the travel agent, we found our train car (wagon 28) quickly then got to seats 33, 34 and 36 and found that the seats were around a table with fold out leaves. We shared the table with a pleasant young German man in seat 35.

The three-hour train ride passed quickly since the seats were comfortable and we could get up and move through the train if needed. We made it to the Berlin Hauptbahnhof a little after 1 pm and walked the short distance to the Adina Hotel where we checked into our room on the 4th floor. The room was very nice with a small kitchen, washer and drier, a king sized bed in a separate room and a comfortable sofa bed in the sitting room.

Brandenburg Gate

After unpacking, we got directions to the nearest post office from the front desk at the Adina Hotel. It cost about $1.25 for each postcard stamp to send expedited to Peter’s parents, his grandfather and to the Ferrell boys. Mary had picked up a guide to the walking tour in Berlin and we made our way to the Brandenburg Gate. This 18th century gate is located on the site of the older city gate constructed around 1670 following the Thirty Years War.

Potsdamer Platz

Because of the many tall buildings in Berlin, Mary’s cell signal was very weak making navigation difficult. After several navigation errors we decided to purchase tickets on the “Hop-on, Hop-off” bus. The price for an unlimited two day pass was $118 euros including a night tour through Berlin at a day of our choosing. We laughed because the young man selling the passes said that he wanted to try to conserve paper but the receipt with all of our passes was about 12 feet long. After printing, he realized that he had failed to give us the 25% discount from the travel agent so he refunded our payment, printed a refund receipt then another 12 feet of receipt. We were issued earbuds that we could plug into jacks providing narration in any of fifteen languages. We took the bus by several locations but didn’t get off until we were at Potsdamer Platz where we decided to explore on our own.

From Potsdamer Platz, we followed the path of the Berlin Wall using cobblestone markers along the streets. When we came to the “Topography of Terror Center” we followed a remaining section of the Berlin Wall taking some snapshots and reading about the history of the wall beginning in 1961 and continuing to the fall in 1989. An interesting exhibit at the center dealt with what Germans knew about the Holocaust and the Nazi propaganda that was passed to German citizens in the 1930s and 40s. Since we were starting to get hungry, we walked back to Potsdamer Platz for dinner.

Peter at the Berlin Wall

The square got its name because it sits at the location where the road to the city of Potsdam passed through the city wall around Berlin. The open square was used for military drills and parades. Potsdamer Platz was completely destroyed during Allied bombing in World War II then was later divided by the Berlin Wall in 1961. The area experienced extensive redevelopment following German in reunification in the 1990s. The first traffic light in Europe was in Potsdamer Platz in 1924. The 100-year-old traffic light remains on display in Potsdamer Platz.

Peter with a currywurst

There were a lot of food stands at Potsdamer Platz offering sausages, beer, pastries and other choices. Mary found a place with crepes while Peter and I went to a stand with sausages and Frikadelle which are like a patty of meatloaf on a roll like a hamburger. All of the meats were cooking on a wood-fired grill and smelled delicious. Peter had currywurst with pommes (fries) which he liked a lot. I was really surprised that he liked the curry ketchup. He was also able to pump regular ketchup on his fries. I started to have one of the foot-long bratwursts on a brotchen (bun) but I opted for the Frikadelle which was really good. We ate at an outdoor table by the Warsteiner tap. I had a weißbier, Mary and Peter had lemonade.

Peter at Checkpoint Charlie

After we had eaten, we walked the short distance to Checkpoint Charlie, a major crossing point between East and West Berlin during the Cold War. It was called Checkpoint Charlie because it was the third checkpoint opened by the Allies and used the NATO alphabet (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie) for the checkpoints. The checkpoint was the only border crossing officially authorized for use by military personnel and diplomats. The structure at Checkpoint Charlie has been used in many movies including “The Spy Who Came in from the Cold”, “Octopussy”, and “Bridge of Spies”. We took several photos then went into a gift shop so Peter could purchase a snowglobe and a small piece of the Berlin Wall.

We caught a subway from Checkpoint Charlie to Invalidenpark near the Adina Hotel. We believe that Invalidenstrasse and the park were named because of the number of hospitals and other healthcare facilities in the area. We relaxed a bit in the room before deciding on our Saturday outing to the concentration camp at Sachsenhausen near Oranienburg, about 45 minutes from Berlin by light rail. We turned in with Peter on the roomy sofa bed and us in the separate bedroom. We all went to sleep quickly and slept well.

Deutsches Museum & Allianz Arena

We were awakened around 4 am by Peter talking in his sleep. Most of it was mumbling, but it sounded like he was dreaming about a field day, perhaps with school. The only parts that we understood were something about someone named “Robinson” or “Robertson” and something about a camera. We told Peter about the talking, but he had no memory of it or what he was dreaming. Everyone was amused by his talking in his sleep.

Isartor

Breakfast at the Eden Hotel Wolff was excellent with the breads, cheeses, meats, eggs and fruit. We ate enough that we wouldn’t need much, if any, lunch. We had planned to visit the concentration camp at Dachau ,but the rail line to Dachau was under construction so we would need to take a bus. This change would add an additional hour to the two-hour trip. It would also make the afternoon trip to Allianz Arena longer.

We had Peter look though a brochure on attractions in Munich and he decided on the Deutsches Museum on an island in the Isar River. The U Bahn ride from the Munich Hauptbahnhof to Marienplatz was short and we walked around a little before we headed to the museum.  Along the way, we spotted the Isartor, a gate dating to the early 1300s when Munich was a walled city.  The 40 meter high gate tower and gate were commissioned by Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV and was restored in 1833 with the frescos added showing the victorious return of Louis IV after the Battle of Muhldorf in 1322.

Peter with VR body

After looking at the ancient gate the walk to the museum didn’t take long. Entrance to the museum was only 27 Euros for the three of us. The museum is large and has separate rooms for multiple aspects of Germany’s technology. We found the robotics room to be very interesting with many exhibits that were highly interactive for children and adults. Peter enjoyed a VR activity that had a user stand in an area and the computer produced a skeleton image that moved as the user moved. Peter waved his arms and legs, tried to pick up an imaginary box and other movements to see if the virtual skeleton of him could mimic his movements. The music room has many antique music technologies from harpsichords and glockenspiels all the way to digital technologies. Mary and I were especially interested in the theremin, symphonium, and a player piano. The room on flight was huge with aircraft going back to a Messerschmitt from the 1920s and an “Iron Annie” from the 1920s and 30s. There were cutaway engines from aircraft boxer engines, 12-cylinder airplane engines and modern jet engines. We stayed at the museum from the 9 am opening until just after noon.

The museum has several flight simulators and Peter enjoyed sitting at the controls of a jet. 

After leaving the museum we walked back to Marienplatz and looked for a lunch spot for Peter. Mary and I weren’t hungry after our large breakfast. It seemed the easiest spot was a McDonald’s Restaurant on the square. As we entered, an employee gave us a Gutschein (voucher) for a free sundae, Peter got two hamburgers and small bag of fries but wasn’t interested in the sundae so I took one for the team and ate the caramel sundae that was actually very good.

Peter and Oma at Allianz Arena

From Marienplatz, we took a light rail to Olympiazentrum, adjacent to Allianz Arena, the home field of FC Bayern München soccer team. After exiting the train, we had a 20 minute walk through a natural area to get to the stadium. We were a bit concerned that we were arriving about the same time as a group of 50 or so elementary school soccer players from Finland, Fortunately, they were not on our tour.

Peter in Allianz Arena

Since we arrived early for our arena tour and had some time, we went to the FC Bayern Museum for the soccer team. The German National team was also featured at the museum. There were trophies from European and FIFA championships, biographies of current and former players and coaches and life sized cutouts for photos. We didn’t spend a lot of time in the museum, so we went to the gift shop for FC Bayern. Peter picked out a home jersey and had the name and number of his favorite player, Luis Diaz, printed on the back. He also got an FC Bayern T-shirt and some team gummy bears. By then, it was time to meet for the tour of Allianz Stadium. Our guide was English speaking with an Australian accent as well as a German accent. We guessed that he was German but had learned English from an Aussie. The guide told us about the dome being made of two layers of a fire-resistant foil that is filled with air. Hundreds of thousands of LED lights allow the stadium to be programmed to show any color or pattern desired. 

Peter at Luis Diaz' locker

Inside the stadium, we saw the various classes of seating and the strategies for placing supporters of the guest team, reporters, dignitaries and others. We learned that the turf is replaced each season and the techniques for assuring the field is at the best for each home game. The guide took us to the locker room where we were able to take photos with the players’ lockers. We ended our 45-minute tour by walking out of the tunnel that psychs players as they enter the field before each game.

As we were leaving, Peter agreed to get another team jersey with his name on the back and a number of his choosing. He also got the Bundesliga patch on the arm of both shirts. This shirt would be a gift from his other grandfather. We exited the stadium, took a few photos of statues of notable players and made our way to the rail station near Olympiazentrum. The train was full but the ride back to Marienplatz was short.

It was 5 pm when we arrived at Marienplatz so we got to hear the chimes and glockenspiel again as we walked to Hofbrauhaus for dinner. This Hofbrauhaus was founded on September 27, 1589 by Bavarian Duk Wilhelm V to supply beer to the Bavarian court. Reinheitsgebot (German beer purity law) has assured high quality beer since the first days. Peter was in the mood for goulash since he liked Mary’s dinner at the Alpenstunden in Hohenschwangau.The main room at Hofbrauhaus was so loud that we looked for seating outside, but there was so much smoke from diners that we didn’t want to eat there. We sat at a table in a courtyard area with three young people who were from the US. We were disappointed that the kitchen was out of goulash so Peter considered Weinerschnitzel. However, the schnitzels come with potato salad and not French fries. 

Hofbrauhaus in Munich

In Germany, it is unacceptable to ask to have a side dish changed. The only meal that came from fries was the curry wurst. To resolve, I ordered the curry wurst and Peter ordered the Schnitzel and we swapped sides, so he got my fries and I got his potato salad, Mary ordered the German meatloaf that came with potato salad. Peter had orange juice, Mary had Apfelchorle and I had a weißbier. We all enjoyed our meals and made our way back to the Marienplatz train station and up to our room at the Eden Hotel Wolf. We played a few games of Farkel then went to bed. Peter seemed to sleep soundly and only mumbled in his sleep a few times.

Everyone had a great day. It was a joy seeing Peter having such a good time. He loved exploring the exhibits in the Deutsches Museum and going to the FC Bayern locker room and field were exciting for him.

Linderhof Palace and Neuschwanstein Castle

Once again, the breakfast at Eden Hotel Wolff was outstanding. The breads, cheeses, breakfast meats, cereals and juices have been excellent, and the dining experience was elegant. We chatted briefly with two ladies visiting Germany for the first time from Virginia. They were very pleasant and interested in our experiences here.

At Linderhof Palace

We left the hotel early to meet the bus to Hohenschwangau at 9 am. We caught the rail at the Hbf which is across the street from our hotel and took a train to Marienplatz in Munich’s Altstadt. We walked the short distance to the bus and checked in with the tour leader. The bus was nearly full with visitors from the UK, Australia, US, Japan and within Germany. The tour was in English, but headphones were available for those needing another language. The tour guide, Gerta, gave us a lot of information on the area as well as about Ludwig II and his family. The two-hour bus ride from Munich to Linderhof went quickly. We drove the small village of Oberammergau that has performed a passion play every ten years since 1633. When the black plague threatened to wipe out the small village, the people there prayed promising to always perform a passion play every 10 years if the village were spared from the plague. To play a role in the play, actors must have been born in the village or lived there for a minimum of 20 years.

Linderhof Palace from the rear

There was rain off and on as we approached Linderhof Palace. However, the previous times we had visited here were all in very deep snow. Some snow lingered at the higher elevations in the surrounding mountains but nothing like when we were here in the past. After putting on raincoats, we took a few snapshots of the beautifully landscaped grounds around Linderhof Palace as we waited for our entry time.

Our guide through the palace was very knowledgeable and shared information about King Ludwig II and his eccentricities. His English was not perfect but was understandable. The king lived in the palace for several years before and during his reign. Linderhof is not as large as homes of many monarchs, but the interior is exquisite. Rooms have intricate wood carvings, most of which are covered with gold. Custom porcelain figurines are throughout the palace and weaving depicting events from folk tales, Wagner operas or historical events hang on the walls. One of the most interesting pieces was the dining table. King Ludwig II was so peculiar that he didn’t want anyone to see him eating. To solve the problem, a table was built that could be lowered to the servant's area to have the meals placed then raised for the king's dinner. Perhaps the only negative to our visit is that photographs are not permitted inside the palace. However, we took many pictures outside. Peter was very interested in the palace as well as "Mad" King Ludwig II and wished that he could have photographed more inside the palace.  As we left the palace, we purchased a small informational book for Peter at the gift shop that includes photos and descriptions of the inside of the palace as well as the grounds.

Peter's Schnitzel und Pommes

We boarded our bus again and drove the 40 minutes to Hohenschwangau where we would tour Castle Neuschwanstein. By then it was after 1 pm and we were getting hungry, so we went to Alpenstuben for lunch. This restaurant was recommended by Gerta for large portions of well-prepared food at fair prices. I had a local lager, Peter had orange juice and Mary had Apfelchorle which is a mix of apple juice and sparkling mineral water. For our meals, Peter had a Wiener Schnitzel with fries, Mary had goulash made with venison from red deer and I had Kasespatzle with cheese made in the Bavarian Alps. We all enjoyed our meals and shared bites of each other’s lunch, but Mary’s goulash was the favorite of everyone. The venison was very tender and flavorful. Peter was especially fond of the goulash and was interested in trying everything.  

Castle Neuschwanstein

After lunch, we stopped by some of the gift shops in the village of Hohenschwangau to look for souvenirs for Peter. Since he lost his water bottle in one of the museums we visited earlier in the week, he found a bottle with the FC Bayern logo which pleased him. He also got two snow globes for himself and Nicholas with Castle Neuschwanstein. He all got some postcards to send to family back home. Peter was especially happy to find a lenticular postcard showing a goldfish jumping in and out of a bowl that he thought Nicholas might enjoy.  We thought that it was very thoughtful of him to want to get appropriate gifts for his brother on the trip.

Peter and Oma at Castle Neuschwanstein

There are three primary options for getting up the mountain from the village of Hohenschwangau to Castle Neuschwanstein. The only way that we have ever taken up the mountain in previous trips is to walk up the mountain which takes about 40 minutes. Of course, there was heavy snow on the ground in all of our previous visits. A second option is the horse drawn carriage that takes about 20 minutes but only goes about 2/3 of the way to the castle. The third option is a bus that goes to Marienbrucke (Mary’s Bridge) a short distance from the castle. We had never been to the bridge, so we decided on that option.

The bridge was very crowded and looked over a very deep gorge. We walked out on the bridge and took a few snapshots, but neither Mary nor Peter are especially fond of heights on shaky platforms. We walked over to the castle taking a few photos as we walked and stood on the road just outside the castle chatting with other visitors from our bus. I especially enjoyed talking with a gentleman from Costa Rica who now lives in New Jersey working as a chemist for Colgate-Palmolive. Since our tickets were for a 4:10 pm tour we didn’t go through the gate until nearly 4 pm. A board posted the tour times that were boarding with groups leaving every five minutes.

Village of Hohenschwangau

Our guide at the castle was very good, although the group was large. Her English was quite good and she communicated the information and stories of the castle and King Ludwig II very well. As with Linderhof Palace, photographs are not permitted in Castle Neuschwanstein. The interior of the castle is not as lavish as Linderhof, but was certainly lavish. Ludwig wanted the castle to appear as a Medieval castle even though it was not built until 1886. In fact, King Ludwig II died young under mysterious circumstances before the castle was completed and never lived in the castle. Two weeks after the death of the King, the castle was purchased by the Bavarian Bundestag and used as a tourist attraction. Additions, improvements and renovations have been made to the structure in the 160 years since the death of the king.

Horse drawn carriage in the village

After the tour, we walked down the mountain then revisited the gift shops in the small village where Peter pressed an image of Castle Neuschwanstein into a 5-cent coin. We made our way onto the bus in Hohenschwangau and began the two-hour drive back to Marienplatz in Munich. Peter was hungry when we arrived at the Munich Hof so we went to one of the food vendors in the train station and bought a bratwurst and brotchen (roll) for him. The wurst was over a foot long and stuck out well beyond the roll on both ends. Much to our surprise, he really liked it. The vendor provided two small ketchup packets that were traditional tomato ketchup rather than the curry ketchup that has become so common in Germany.

Before turning in we played a few games of Farkle with Peter then turned in and slept well.