Thursday, 31 May 2012 – Kufstein and Munich
Got up and had the usual breakfast from the corner bakery. Packed up all our stuff and paid for our apartment. Then we piled into the car and headed to Kufstein to the Reidel glass factory. The drive was pretty and sunny after the rain that came last night. We arrive in Kufstein without incident.
The store at the factory was in two section – retail and outlet. We walked through both and I faded quickly, so Lisa and I went over to watch the glassblowers at work. It was quite fascinating to see how they worked as a carefully choreographed team to make each piece and perform each process. The glass was blown by hand into a mold to form the bowl of the glass, and then a hot dab of glass gets applied to the bottom to form the stem. Then another dab gets added to form the base. Then it goes to another room to have the top of the glass cut free from the sprue and for the rim to be ground smooth. Very interesting. It was a wonder those fellows didn’t burn one another!
By then Lynn had finished the browsing and was into the serious shopping. She already had set a few things aside and I helped pick out some gifts for family and friends. We paid for our loot and Brian and I took everything out to the car (Cindy bought some stuff too) and managed to wedge it all in. It was definitely cramped back in Cindy’s nest, but still cozy.
Once all were back in the car, we set off fro Munich where we would have lunch. The drive felt rapid and we found our a place to park in the Hofbrauhaus garage. we walked around the corner to the Hofbrauhaus and found a nice table in the courtyard. Cindy had soup and salad, Lynn had a roasted chicken dish, Lisa had roast pork in gravy and Brian had a similar dish with sauerkraut and au gratin potatoes. I had a tasty leek soup and roast lamb cutlet with au gratin potatoes. Good stuff all!
Then we split up again. Lynn and Cindy went shopping while Brian, Lisa and I went to the Deutsches Museum – Transportation Center, where I wanted to see the German Protos car that completed the 1908 New York to Paris Race. It took a little longer to get there because I was not so careful with the GPS and got the wrong street address entered. Finally we got to the museum and all was well again.
We walked around for about 2 hours, looking at all kinds of old cars, trains, bicycles and motorcycles. It was a nice museum. I finally saw the Protos and crossed it off my list of stuff I have to see. It was disappointed on the last trip to Germany when I missed seeing this interesting car, so was delighted to have found it this time. I know the only thing about it that was original was the frame and engine, but it was still interesting to see.
We left the museum and took a much more direct route back to the vicinity of Hofbrauhaus to pick up Lynn and Cindy. No problems, other than the GPS directing us to a planned U-turn and a sudden right across three lanes of traffic. Then picked up the girls and started on our way back to Kirchheim.
We arrived home in about two hours and unpacked the car. After our stop in Kufstein we really had a lot of stuff in there. We took all the bags and cargo in and sorted things out and then just relaxed and unwound for a couple of hours. It was sad to see the end of the trip arrive.
Took a walk into town for dinner and ended up at the same döner place we ate at the night we arrived in Kirchheim from the States. We all enjoyed our döners, and Lynn and Brian had yufka döners, which are essentially döners made as wraps instead of in pocket bread.
Walked back to the house and relaxed for a while, talking and catching up on the TV news. Finally called it a night and repacked our bags for the trip home. Decided to get up at 0600 and leave for the airport as soon as we were ready, since we had a 0930 flight. then off to bed.
Friday, 1 June 2012 – Return home
Got up and got ready to go to the airport. Packed up the car, since Brian was returning it to the airport rental place too. Once at the airport, Brian helped us unload and we said our thanks and goodbyes. Sad to see our adventure end.
Check-in for the flight was easy and everything was on time. I got pulled out for some extra screening for my camera bag, but other than that, quite normal. Once on the plane, there were empty seats and we had plenty of room during the flight. We arrived in Newark a bit early, so had plenty of time for something to eat. Check-in through customs and immigration went smoothly too. Lisa’s flight back was in a different terminal from ours, so after a brief discussion about trying to fly earlier to Chicago by going standby, we said our goodbyes there. It was a lot of fun seeing her again and traveling with her.
Lynn and I caught the train shuttle to the other terminal and found a burger for lunch and waited for the flight. There was some severe weather in Virginia, so we were a bit worried we might be delayed. Not to worry; our pilot found a route to avoid the weather and we go to Norfolk on time. Robbie was there waiting for us at the baggage terminal. We had a bit of a wait for our bags, but then were on our way.
We went back to Brian & Robbie’s place and saw the kids very briefly, and then got in our car and headed home. We stopped by Chik-fil-A for a sandwich and got home at last. We unloaded the car and picked up the mail from the Witherows. We tried to stay awake for a while to readjust to the time, but were in bed by 2100. We slept well, and when we awoke, found an email from Lisa – she had got on some standby flights and got home before 2300 – much earlier than planned.
So ends our great 2012 European adventure. It was a wonderful trip. We can’t wait for the next!