Germany Road Trip

Long ago, before we had children, i.e. 2002, we went on a road trip through Germany. This was before we lived in Germany. At some point we realized that our kids had not seen all the nice places that we had seen although they had lived in Germany for 9 years. So this Easter (2019) we took off to repeat our trip. This time it was a bit shorter and we didn"t hit as many places, but of those we did see we saw them in more detail.

Armed with a Lonely Planet and plenty of maps making our way through Germany in 2002

And although I would love for you to visit the Lonely planets top ranking place for 2019 I do understand that you might find it a bit scary to visit Sri Lanka. (To me Sri Lanka is home and it's never been bad enough that I would not go home.) So do come and visit second in line, Germany. Buy yourself a lonely planet and head out on a road trip to remember.

No. of days: 9 

Starting point: 

Dusseldorf or Frankfurt or anywhere in the west of Germany

Budget: Approx. 1,500 EUR

This includes hotels, food, petrol and admissions. Add on extra for getting there and away and for getting around. We spent as little as possible. Lunch consisted of self-made sandwiches and some dinners were instant noodles made in our hotel room (I took a kettle with me). If you can't self cater, but want to cut down costs, pick up a belegtes Brötchen, kind of like a mini sub, from a local bakery. They are delicious. For dinner go to a local Turkish fast food eatery. If you are a meat eater there are an abundance of options. If not, there are almost always falafel sandwiches. Some  places also make pizza and pasta. We rarely visited cafe's for a tea or coffee break. This really cuts down the costs. Snacks and munchies we bought from discount supermarkets.

Here is the route we took on google maps. Marked are points of interest, parking lots and our hotels.

Day 1: 

We drove southwards to Loreley. A lovely spot on the river Rhein that is famous for the myth of the Loreley who sings on the rocks to distract sailors and bring them to their deaths. Also the valley, which you will drive along, is a UNESCO world heritage site.

The Rhein as seen from Loreley look out point; Loreley statue; Burg Maus

We rode the Sommerrodelbahn "Loreley Bob" here. You basically sit in a little cart and are pulled up to the top of the hill and then are let go to sail back down the hill at high speeds. It's a very German thing that I've always wanted to do but never got around to doing. Worth every penny!

There are plenty of places for a picnic lunch plus a restaurant.

Driving further South along the Rhein we landed in Heidelberg and walked along the Philosophers Way, which is a good way to stretch your legs after a day in the car, and to get wonderful views of the Rhein and Heidelberg Castle. Head down the "Schlangenweg" (winding path) to the old Heidelberg bridge and walk back along the river.

Heidelberg Castle in the setting sun from the banks of the river Neckar 

Day 2: 

We spent the day in Heidelberg. Getting early to the castle to beat the crowds is a good idea! You can't buy tickets for the castle or the tour on line. Tickets for the castle grounds include the large beer barrel and the pharmacy museum. Both well worth the price, which also includes a ride up (and down if you want!) the hill on the Funicular train (which is really anticlimactic). Buy general tickets at the foot of the hill at the Funicular station "Kornmarkt". If you want to go on a tour of the castle (photography not allowed inside the buildings) tickets can be bought at the visitors center on the castle grounds. These two tickets are handled separately. You can enter the castle grounds for free if you are on a tight budget and just want to look around.

A gate to nowhere in particular other than a fantastic view point

Most of the castle is in ruin. It's kept this way to preserve the romanticism 

The view from the above mentioned view point

One of the buildings in the inner courtyard. Accessible only with a ticket.

Inside the pharmacy museum. I'd love to have a kitchen like this!

View of the town from the castle

 As for timing we got to the castle just before 10. Booked our tour, viewed the inner courtyard and pharmacy museum, took the tour, had a picnic lunch, went to see the beer barrel and further ogled at the ruins, walked through the gardens and headed down to the town at 3 pm.

The castle from below

The old town of Heidelberg has a lovely atmosphere! We walked past the Kornmarkt to the main square (Avoid the ice cream parlor on the main church square. The ice cream was not great and the portions were tiny) and then down to the old bridge, were we saw the famous Heidelberg Bridge Monkey. You don't need to cross the bridge to see the monkey. He's actually not even on the bridge. Before you go under the bridge tower look for him on the left hand side on the parapet. The bridge tower was covered in scaffolding so I don't have any photos.

Kornmarkt

A quaint street heading towards the main square. If you like your streets a bit quieter just try some parallel streets. The tourists drop off very quickly

Day 3: 

Drive down to Freiburg. We checked into our hotel first (B&b Frieburg Nord). Plenty of free parking however, the buses past there don't run on Sundays and holidays. We ended up having to drive into town. Here is a walking tour around the town. It takes 2.5 hours and takes you past all the interesting sites. If you have more time you could visit more of the museums, but don't miss the Augustiner Museum. It's small but well laid out and you can see the original stained glass, gargoyles and statues from the cathedral up close. A fantastic exhibit.
Look out for the "Bächle" that are all over the old town.

Inside the Freiburger Münster

Historisches Kaufhaus on the square

Gargoyles and statues in the Augustiner Museum

Germany's first inn

Schwabentor

The Gewerbe Canal

Martinstor (McDonalds Tor)

Old Synagogue Square - the pool is a memorial to the synagogue that once stood here

One of the town halls - Rathaus

Day 4: 

takes us into the Black Forest. No longer a dark forest as you might expect thanks to the many years of logging that kept the winter industries running.

A good place to stop is at Höllsteig 74, 79874 Breitnau. There are a variety of shops which showcase German products including cuckoo clocks, watches, blown glass (workshop on site) and some more modern products. There is a huge price range so there is something for everyone. They have good toilets and a cafeteria style restaurant. There is also a hotel at this location. If you are like us, and not into shopping and eating, take a hike passing underneath the Ravana Viaduct and along the Ravana Gorge. Take a moment to photograph the St Oswald chapel and visit the customs house (keys for both places can be picked up at the Hofgut Sternen). Finish up ogling at the crafts people blowing glass.

Along the Ravana Gorge

St Oswalds Chapel

Continue on to Triberg (very touristy) where you can visit Germany's highest waterfall. It would have been a wonderful atmosphere if not for all the annoying people trying to take their perfect Instagram photos. Block out the photographing maniacs and enjoy the falls and the nature.

Part of the waterfall

We next went to see the worlds largest cuckoo clock. It was also anti climatic, but it's so close to the town that it's not worth missing! A bit annoying that they charge 50 cents for the toilets and that they didn't have a nice cafe. The shop was really well stocked and I didn't get the feeling that I was in a tourist trap.

The world's largest cuckoo clock!

We drove on to our next place of rest Tuttlingen. Now there may not be much in Tuttlingen, but there is a fantastic hotel called Charlys Place. They have fantastically priced rooms that sleep 4 people. In very comfortable bunk beds, not your hostel type bunks but proper bunks. Plus wonderful hang out areas one which included a billiards table, board games and a kicker (fußball) table for free! Try Diyar Kebap for a quick and delicious meal. The best falafel sandwhich I've had in Germany yet!

Day 5: 

Although we thought that it might be worth spending the day in Tuttlingen we voted to travel to Konstanz instead. Other options were to go hiking, visit a spa, or go and visit the famous Tittisee. This and many more day trip options can be found on my google map.

We first drove to Reichenau island and walked around half of the island. At the campsite on the far end of the island you can rent bikes and bike around, or rent a row boat and row around, but we were too cheap and just walked. Stop off first at the tourist information to get the lay of the land. Then drop into the fantastic churches and take in the scenery. Drop into the little bakery behind the tourist information (Inselbäckerei Peter) to pick up some cheap goodies for lunch.

St. Maria and St. Markus - just north of the tourist information center

There are pretty fields everywhere!

Yachthafen Herrenbrücke - North of the St. Maria and St Markus church

St. Peter and Paul - north-west corner

St. Peter and Paul - interior

After spending half a day there we drove of to Konstanz proper. I personally didn't see much because I was not feeling well. But here are some pictures of the things that the rest of the bunch saw.

Interior of the church in Constance. Absolutely beautiful. Too many pictures to post!

The alps across lake Constance

Day 6: 

Neuschwanstein from a different perspective

This was the big day. We went to visit Neuschwanstein! I seriously advise you to book your tour well in advance and find a place close to the castle to spend the night at. Tuttlingen is about 3 hours drive away and since our friends had to leave at 12 noon we booked one of the earlier tours. Booking here is a bit old fashioned. You have to go to their website and then send them a request for which tour you want. They will then hold your ticket which you have to pick up at the ticket counter one and a half hours before the tour starts. If you book a combination ticket they will schedule Neuschwanstein first and Hohenschwangau second. We requested that they give us tours the other way around and they did this without any problem. Although there are certain disadvantages to doing it "backwards" (the tours are set up assuming the other way around although they are independent and you don't need to have done one to get the other), the advantages outweigh them by far.

From the inner courtyard

When we got to the ticket counter at around 8 am it was full and the lines were long (although they moved pretty quickly) and this is just to pick up the reserved tickets. On the sales person's advice we walked up to Neuschwanstein. There were other people on the road but it was quite quiet. My daughter, who hates crowds, complained that it was way to crowded! However, we were able to get plenty of pictures without other people being in them :)

I had read that the tour of Neuschwanstein was horrible and it lived up to its expectation. The guide refused to answer any questions until the very end and then when asked at the end could not give any useful answers. But the inside of the castle was well worth seeing and the tour is the only way to get in AND it's not horribly expensive.

View from the balcony at Neuschwanstein

When we came out of the castle the place was packed. I don't know where the people materialized from but within an hour or so everything had become busy. It was not much fun navigating around people to go and see the Marienbrücke. In fact we just put our feet on it, peeked at the castle and then fled. There were way too many people on the tiny bridge all trying to take their perfect Instagram pictures.

Looking down from the Marienbrücke

The castle as seen from the Marienbrücke

My daughter was in shock until we got down the hill. Just way too many people for her. It also totally spoiled the atmosphere. One should definitely get up there early.

Hohenschwangau was not as busy owing to the fact that it is not as famous. But my the tour was excellent. The tour guide was a riot (although my husband knew all the answers to his questions since they were the same ones asked 17 years ago!) and we had enormous fun. We took the English tour and because some of the kids didn't understand English he even translated things that children would find interesting into German. Lovely castle with wonderful history.

View from a window in Hohenschwangau. Notice the alps in the background.

Keep in mind that everything around here is over priced although not exorbitant. We had a picnic out of the back of our car in the parking lot!

We drove on to Augsburg from here. Although Augsburg is beautiful, I suggest that you go to Munich instead. We've been to Munich and my sister-in-law lives in Augsburg so we went to visit her (free board and lodging!).

In Munich spend the afternoon at the English Garden and visiting the Chinese Tower. Watch out for the river surfers at Eisbachwelle (southern tip of the park).

Day 7: 

Take in the old town and visit some of the museums. The Glockenspiel on the Mareienplatz is a must see. It goes off at 11 am and noon. We saw it from up the tower of St. Peters! If you have time visit Nymphenburg Palace (Schloss Nymphenburg). We really enjoyed our visit here. There is a large garden, the palace is not too large, the palm house is cool. We did it in half a day with little kids. Leave in the late afternoon for Weimar (4 hour drive).

Day 8: 

There is so much to see in Weimar because it's the home to Goethe, Schiller and Bauhaus. Buy a Weimar card to make your life easy ;). Our morning was filled with visiting Goethe's house and museum. We heard that it was very popular and one could only get timed tickets so we went there first. We were early enough that we could get in straight away. Almost all the places in Weimar have timed tickets and audio guides so if you want to see a particular place you have to get there early and book your tour. It's a bit of a pain in the you know what, but that is life. The visit was well worth it. After having lunch on the square outside Goethe's house we moseyed on off to the Park on the Ilm and visited the Römisches Haus and Goethes Gartenhaus. Then we headed to Schiller's house. It's much smaller and less tasteful than Goethe's house (and at times the audio is a bit boring) but an extremely interesting contrast given that they lived at the same time. And that was all that we had time for on one day. Don't forget that the town is very cute and just walking from one place to another there are plenty of other buildings, fountains, churches and squares to see.

Inside Goethe's house

Plaster of paris... Goethe had lots of these!

Goethe's garden house. His first home.

Goethe's garden house

Schiller's kitchen

Schiller's house

Day 9: 

We got up early to get in the line for the newly opened Bauhaus Museum. Bauhaus celebrates their 100th anniversary this year. There were no tickets on-line and the only option was to stand in line and get a timed ticket. We were able to get in after a one hour wait. I'm thinking that this line will get shorter as time goes on. The museum had not been open for more than a month when we went.

We were disappointed by the museum. We left still not knowing what exactly Bauhaus was. The audio tour was the only way to get any information. For that you HAD to have a cell phone. We were four and the kids had left theirs in the car so we had to share. It was a disaster. And what do you do if you don't have a phone? Just wander around?? Also the only reason we knew there was an app to download is because we was asked one of the security guys how we could get information about the exhibits! He had to help us figure it all out. There was way too much information in the audio tour and it was not clear which exhibit they were talking about. You'll not need more than 2 hours for this museum.
Across the road there are a couple of museums that are included in your Weimar Card. If you still have any energy you can pop in to see them or go for a walk in the park behind the Bauhaus Museum.

Staircase - A highlight for me in the Bauhaus Museum!

Across the road from the Bauhaus Museum

One of the other museums that I had no energy to see!!

Here our road trip came to an end and we headed home. However, if you are here from abroad tag on a few days in Berlin at the end and fly back home from there. It's a 3-4 hour drive from Weimar.

R2D2 3-D cake tutorial

I was stupid enough to agree to making a 3-D R2D2 cake for my daughters 12th birthday party. It was after refusing to make a 3-D C3PO so at that point I thought that I was up on the deal. It was so hard to figure out exactly how to make it that I thought I might as well just post all the details here so that other people don't have to go looking for everything and go through the timely process of making stencils. Of course for those artistic people or perfectionists this is not the place! This for those of us who can make a decent cake and know how to lay down fondant but apart from that are dependent on others helping us!
Beware, this is not an exact replica but it will pass as R2D2 if people don't look to carefully. Of course you can add as many details as you like to make it more life like!

What you will need:

For the legs (these are not cake)

• Thick cardboard
• Sharp scissors or a box cutter
• Leg stencil
• Strong glue
• Very thin cardboard
• 2 bamboo skewers (or something similar)

For the cake

• 2 6" round baking forms
• 1 6" spherical baking form
• 2 6" round cake card
• 4 bamboo skewers or dowel rods
• 1 6" very sturdy cake card or the bottom of your 6" round baking spring form
• 6" cakes (see below)
• Butter cream (see below)

For the decoration

(Sorry I don't remember the exact values of the fondant, these are an over estimate)

• 1 kg White roll fondant 
• 500 g Grey fondant
• 100 g Blue fondant
• Small piece Black fondant
• Even smaller piece Red fondant
• Silver dust
• 1 tbsp Vodka
• Paint brush
• Edible glue
• 4" tall jam jar or other glass container with a stable base.

The components:

For the legs:

These you can make well in advance since there are no edible parts! The stencil is for a 6" cake and for an R2D2 who is about 14" tall. The leg needs to be 1 inch thick. If you can find cardboard of this thickness it will reduce your work by one step, but it may not be worth it if it is too difficult to cut. I used the box that our freezer came in. It was very sturdy and since it's not coming in contact with the actual cake I didn't see a problem with using it. If your cardboard is not 1 inch thick cut out 4 legs, if it is 1 inch you only need 2 and can skip some steps. Make sure that at least one side has no print on it. Print might show through your fondant ruining the whole project.

Noticing that the stencil is not symmetrical use some strong glue to stick a square of cardboard between two cardboard legs to make the outside edges approximately 1 inch apart. Do this to the other pair of legs too and let the glue dry.

Once it is dry cut a strip of the thin cardboard, I used some thin card that was inside a tube of IKEA wrapping paper. The strip should  be as wide as the leg is because we will wrap it around the leg so that it can then be covered with fondant. If you don't do this your fondant will sink into the hole in the cardboard and have an unwanted texture.

Stick this strip onto the leg. Trim the strip with a box cutter to make sure that the edges are even. To reduce work I made sure one side matched up exactly and then trimmed the only the other side. You can also make sure that the side you are trimming is also in the back of R2D2, that way if you mess up it will not be noticed.

Set the legs aside to dry. Somewhere in the middle of the top section, on the inside (i.e. the worst looking side) poke a hole in the leg with a bamboo skewer. Make sure the skewer goes in far enough so that it is stable. This is what will hold the leg to the cake. You can have two such holes in each leg, although I found that one was enough to hold things together. Cut 2 - 4 skewers to 2 - 2.5 inches and set aside.

Roll out some white fondant and cover the legs. Use a single piece to cover each leg. Make the joint in the middle of the inside of the leg, i.e. where you put the holes for the skewers. If your fondant does not stick to the cardboard try dampening it with a bit of water. If that doesn't work you'll have to use edible glue. Allow the legs to dry. You can also do this step well in advance.

The ganache:

1 kg dark cooking chocolate
500 ml whipping cream

This needs to be made at least one day before you plan on making the cake. It's super easy. Cut up the chocolate into small pieces. Bring the whipping cream to a boil, remove from the heat and then add the chocolate pieces. Allow the chocolate to melt for about 5 minutes and then stir until all the chocolate is melted and well combined. Don't forget not to get any water anywhere close to the chocolate otherwise it will seize and you can't use it for your cake. I once tried flavoring it, but the flavoring seized it. I believe you can put alcohol in it, but you should check first. Let the ganache rest over night. Do not put it in the fridge! Once it is completely cooled you can cover it to keep any water getting in.

The cake:

Pick a light cake so as to keep the weight down, but one that keeps it's shape and can support the fondant. I used a chocolate mayonnaise cake. I made three batches, but that is because I messed up :( I think two would be enough. Unless you have four 6" round baking trays I would recommend that you mix one batch first and then when it is almost done baking you mix the second. Make four 6" cakes and one half sphere. To figure out if this is enough... the 6" round cakes should stack to 7.5" with the filling.

I filled mine with a simple chocolate butter cream (1 part butter to 2 parts icing sugar with a dash of cream and cocoa powder), but you can use any recipe you like as long as it hardens and can be left out for a few days without growing things. I probably made 375 g butter and 750 g icing sugar and 1/4 cup cocoa powder.

The fondant:

Get some good quality fondant that can be rolled. You might also consider getting some sugar paste to make the little nuts that stick out on R2D2's head especially if your fondant is very soft.
You should model any 3-D details in advance so that they get hard. There are only two important nuts. Both on R2D2's head.

Putting it all together:

Build up R2D2's body first. Place the first 6" cardboard round on your turn table fixing it with a bit of icing. Place your first layer onto this. I cut each of my 6" cakes in half to make it sweeter! Build up the cake to about 3.75" (halfway. I used 3 layers). Now stick in a bamboo skewer and mark the maximum height of the cake. Take it out and cut 3 - 4 pieces of bamboo all to the same height. Stick them in the cake at the corners of a triangle or square. If one of the bamboo sticks is too short you should take all of them out and re-cut.  Then place another 6" cardboard round on top of the skewers. The skewers will bear the weight of the cake that is to come decreasing the risk of the top part smashing the bottom part. Then put a blob of icing on the cardboard and stick the next piece of cake on top of it. Continue until you have a height of 7.5". End with butter cream.

Next put your cake in the fridge for an hour or so to get the butter cream to harden. This will make your whole structure a bit more stable.

Next ganache the side of your tube! https://vinitasfamilyblog.blogspot.de/2017/02/covering-cake-with-fondant.html . Let it dry a bit.

If you watch most of the tutorials with really elaborate fancy models you will see that they do the head separately. I just put the semi-sphere on top sticking it down with butter cream and then put the ganach on it.

Smooth the chocolate as best as you can. The smoother it is the better your end result. Any bumps will show through. Let everything harden. This should not take long.
The next thing I did was to place the cake on a glass jar. I did this so that I did not have to build a structure to support the cake. There are quite a few tutorials on how to build a structure. I didn't have the time for it and didn't think it necessary. I had to try out quite a few jars until I found the perfect height, which was a 4" tall German honey jar. The jar needs to have a large flat base.




The next part was covering R2D2 with fondant. I used shop bought fondant and did the bottom, white part first. Make sure that the fondant wraps a bit around underneath the body.

Next colour some fondant grey and cover the top. Use a very sharp knife to cut the grey fondant so that the joint is as clean as possible.


Mix your silver dust with just enough vodka to produce a paint. It should be thick enough to not drip but thin enough to spread evenly. Paint R2D2's head so it is silver.
I have no template for the accessories on R2D2's head. I just used this image for the front and this for the back. and cut them out free hand. You can see that my R2D2 is not exactly the same as the picture. (Image credit: Google cannot find the front image anymore. I believe it was a toy. If it's your image please get in touch with me and I will credit you or better still link your image to this blog. The back image is, I believe, a Lego mini-figure which also no longer exists.)

The next thing to do is to cut out all the bits and pieces and stick them on. Roll out your fondant and use this pdf as a pattern. I just printed it, cut out the pieces of paper, arranged them on the fondant and cut them out. Attach to R2D2's body with edible glue. If you use water the pieces may slip. You might have to hold individual pieces to the body until it's a bit dry if it slips.
Notice the grid on the front and how the background is dark? I achieved this by sticking the grid on an extremely thin piece of black fondant before putting it on the blue fondant.

I only cut out the pieces which were coloured. The white details I decided to score directly onto the fondant. I used the non-serrated side of a butter knife. The cake of course is not exactly the same size as the template and you can't help this because when you ice it it might come out a bit bigger or a bit smaller. Adjust the squares accordingly and don't worry kids are not going to look too carefully at the details.

Transport the body and legs separately and put them together on site.

ENJOY!