European travel

Rudesheim was next on our Rhine River Valley tour. Rudesheim is a little town on the Rhine River that is rather overrun with tourists, but still quite cute with its very German looking buildings and the vineyards and castles surrounding it.


The busy alleys of Rudesheim.


Rudesheim, sans tourist hordes.


The local castle.

We took a ferry across the Rhine and drove alongside it on our way to the castle where we intended to eat dinner – the Schoenberg Castle in Oberwesel. There seemed to be castles positioned at every bend in the Rhine, now surrounded by forests and vineyards. We arrived at the Schoenberg Castle just before dark.


The view of the Rhine from the Schoenberg Castle.


The Schoenberg Castle (I borrowed this from their website, as ours didn't turn out - too dark.)

The castle was very nicely decorated inside and was actually cozy and warm. There were lots of little doorways and passages, and dinner itself was quite good.


Claudia sittin' pretty in the castle.


Pat relaxes in his castle home.


Val is a dork. Alexander knows this to be true.

Back in Frankfurt that night, we met up with friends of Alexander and Claudia's for drinks first at the apartment and then at a wine bar. We definitely had our fare share of wine today. Pat also discovered his appreciation for pernod, a French spirit made from anise. Claudia is a big fan of pernod and had some on hand for us to try (Claudia and Alexander totally spoiled us on this trip).

The next morning we explored Frankfurt a bit on our own. Everything seemed to be closed because it was Sunday, but it was nice to be outside in the mild weather and enjoy the changing colors. Frankfurt also has a few cool sites to visit, so we made the rounds.


An artistic entry to the Frankfurt subway.


The Old Opera House.

The soccer game between Frankfurt and Nurnberg was one of the highlights of our trip. Decked out like true Frankfurt fans (wearing jerseys courtesy of Alexander), we all piled into the stadium-bound bus with crowds of other fans. The stadium was huge and very well-designed; we were sitting in the last row but still had a great view of the entire field. Through the glass wall right behind our seats, we could see the Frankfurt skyline. The stadium was packed with fans (I think it was sold out) and everyone was up and cheering or singing the entire time. It wasn’t a great game (the play was a bit sloppy), but the whole game was high energy and a lot of fun. Last but not least, the stadium food was great and not overpriced; Pat and I both had beers and bratwursts.







Our trip to Hamburg and Frankfurt seemed to come to an end so quickly; early the next morning we were on a train bound for Budapest. Despite our protests, Alexander and Claudia woke up early and drove us to the train station; Alexander sent us home with the Frankfurt jerseys we had worn to the game. We had a great time in Germany, in large part due to the endless hospitality and great company provided by Claudia and Alexander. I’m hoping they come visit us in Budapest or in San Francisco so we can return the favor.


Frankfurt central train station.

The 10-hour train ride back sucked because we studied for our Comparative Freedom of Speech final the entire way (except for an hour when our train caught on fire – we were a bit too distracted until the fire was out and we were safely on our way again). However, studying on a train is much nicer than studying in a library – at least you get to enjoy the passing scenery every time you lift your eyes from the book. In addition, we spent only 10-hours of finals week actually studying, the rest of the time we were gallivanting around Germany. Study abroad rocks!