[vb-saan]

Day 11:

Rothenburg ob der Tauber, and back to Frankfurt

Woke up early the next day, just to get a feel of the town before it start getting crowded

The Plönlein in the morning...




Walked around a bit, before heading back to the hotel for breakfast














Breakfast with a view




After breakfast, spent a bit more time walking down to the valley.














Got back to the hotel, and around 11 am we checked out and started the drive back to Frankfurt

On the way, stopped at Wertheim Village, a tastefully done open-air designer outlet shopping area. Spent a couple of hours there, and with a substantially lighter wallet, checked into our Frankfurt hotel at around 5 pm.






In the evening, walked around Frankfurt Altstadt and the old bridge (Alte Brücke), got some Turkish dinner and closed off the day.

[vb-saan]

Day 12:

The last morning in Frankfurt (and Germany)! The flight to Singapore (via Abu Dhabi) was at 11:30 am, and by 8:00 am we checked out and headed to the airport. Though the airport was packed with holiday travelers, check-in procedures, tax refunds for the shopping, etc. were relatively smooth, and we got to the departure gate well in time.

The morning view from the hotel




Packed and ready to go...




Bags loaded, and ready for the final sprint to the airport



Short drive to the airport and soon we were at the car rental drop-off area. The official did a quick glance through and that was it – time to say goodbye to the wonderful companion for the past 10 days, and 1795 km of pure joy, or sheer driving pleasure. The M340i really made the special holiday even more special!




Germany wowed us in many ways – the changing landscapes from the Black Forest to the Bavarian Alps, villages and towns that retain the old world charm, the energy of Munich, and above all the people – be it our friends Julia and Klaus, the friendly staff at the Sixt counter, or the talks and laughter with lovely people we met in various restaurants and cafés, or this guy who we asked for direction at Oberammergau – he walked back some 100 meters, just to let us know that the initial direction he gave was slightly longer and he remembered of an alternate route, the girl who passed on her parking slip at Königssee, the list goes on… The energy that the people and a place can impart is immense, and we had that in abundance during the whole trip.

Until next time…!

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[ajayc123]

Originally Posted by vb-san

Once upon a time in Bavaria – South Germany, and a bit of Austria!

For me travel is where you identify your different identities – understand the unknown facets of yourself, expand your views, immerse into the culture, and food from those places you visit, create memories with your travel companions that can last for a lifetime.

Wow, that's a very well articulated statement. And no better way to achieve this on car shoes (road) and the human shoes.

So lucky you were. Thank you for trying hard with your grin.

“I have a special offer for you! I can give you a BMW M340i Touring xDrive with a minor upgrade fee (around EUR 27 per day). You get 200+ HP more for just 200+ Euros!". And she said we can keep the liability cost and other add-ons the same as the original booking. I tried my best to resist the grin, silently thanked the customer who picked the last available regular 3, collected the key, and started the long walk to the parking lot on the floor above.

Very nicely done pictures. Sometimes I wonder if it's the place, or the camera device or the human behind the camera that leads to such wonderful outcomes. Each one must play their bit for such an outome.

Thank you for taking out time for composing such a captivating travelog.

[kiku007]

Great pictures. Thanks for sharing.

Europe is so beautiful and a feast for the eyes.

Originally Posted by vb-san

The meaning of travel is different for different people. Some travel for sightseeing – packing as many places as possible, some for fun, for some it’s educational, for others it may be an escape from their routine, or it could be for that Instagram moment, a social media post, or even for a stamp on the passport. For me travel is where you identify your different identities – understand the unknown facets of yourself, expand your views, immerse into the culture, and food from those places you visit, create memories with your travel companions that can last for a lifetime.

At times travel could change the direction your life takes. One such trip in 2014 with my family to France, Switzerland and Germany changed my life forever.

Originally Posted by vb-san

Our first stop of the day was this beautiful lakeside city called Konstanz, on the banks of Lake Constance (Bodensee). The Lake is spread across three countries, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, and the place almost had a seaside resort town feel to it.

I always like to keep small surprises for the family during the trip. While walking around the neighborhood in Konstanz I said we can stop for a coffee and only when I showed the Swiss flag did the girls realize that we actually walked into a café in Switzerland! Then they noticed the small barricades (for vehicle traffic) across the street which we just walked in

Good one.

People have to experience this in person to realize how seamlessly connected Europe/Schengen Area is.

P.S: You mentioned coffee several times and I was wondering which one you liked the most and if there were any region specific quirks. Like for example I've noticed that the coffee was accompanied by a complementary dark chocolate, wafer biscuit or caramel biscuit (Biscoff).

[agambhandari]

Fantastic log and impressive pictures. Seems like we were in the same region at the same time! Infact I stayed at the Moxy itself in Frankfurt city center and even managed to visit Garmisch-Partenkirchen and the McDonald's there in the M3 on the drive from Munich!
The views you've captured are picture perfect indeed.

[vaibhavyagnik]

Such a beautifully documented travelogue! How tough would it be for a vegetarian like me to find places to eat in germany?

[JacksonStorm]

Nice Travelogue and photos! Thanks for sharing!
After seeing your photos in Munich and Salzburg trip photos. It remembers my trip to Salzburg and Munich in 2014!!
1. Salt Mine - hallein salt mine - https://www.austria.info/en/things-t...-mines-hallein
2. Ice Cave - eisriesenwelt - Largest Ice cave in the World - https://www.eisriesenwelt.at/en/

The above 2 places in Salzburg are not part of your plan during your visit. It is worth visiting those places.

Here is the opportunity to share some photos from my 2014 Trip.

Eagle Nest:









Königssee:









Salzburg Ice Cave:

[Vijay T]

Beautiful well articulated travelogue.

Europe mesmerises in any season. Summers are more picture perfect though. This was evident in all your snaps.

Wonder whether it was DSLR or Mobile.

Wish you all the best for swimming adventure in future in one of those beautiful rivers 🙂

[sukhbirST]

Must thank you for such lovely countryside photos and detailed trip. It takes time to watch all the pictures and also motivates readers to plan such trips. Can you please give details of cost and how you booked with tips ?

[OffRoadFun]

Very nice travelogue! Seems like a lot of fun.

The castles in foothills especially are amazing, not to say others are not!

[SanSabh]

Beautiful photography! Especially the architecture. As an architect, I can tell you that you've got the correct angles every time, and the details have come across very well
Great travelogue!

[UD17]

Thanks a lot for a well written, articulated and informative travelogue.

Its amazing to see how seriously the European takes the tourism and required allied services around that. No doubt these efforts pay huge in terms of local employments, rentals, restaurant revenues and so forth.

On a sad note, we have so much potential in India to implement lot of such things. Last week i visited the independence point/plus valley in Tamhini section of Pune. The landscapes were breath taking yet there were no infrastructure to handle the huge influx of tourists. A mesmerizing place spoiled by rampant parking, lettering, unsafe acts and uncontrolled partying.

[Potenza]

Superb travelogue! Loved the pictures and your narration. I’ve always felt that Germany is extremely underrated as a travel destination. Looking at your pictures has tempted us to do our long pending Bavarian road trip soon.

One question that I had was which month did you do this trip in? You’ve mentioned peak summer and the pictures clearly show summer season but your 340i is wearing winter tyres which is quite surprising considering they’re quite particular about these things in Germany (the tread can be seen in the picture after the McDonald’s one).

[digitalnirvana]

Hi vb san, arigato for this travelogue - your pictures tell a thousand stories. Incredible eye for details and quality. It's the person behind the camera who elevates the good to something great. And you have.

If you're ever back in this part of the world, across the border from Konstanz give me a holler. Would love to host you or go on a roadtrip.