John Collings

Augustiner Braustubl – Salzburg, Austria

I spend a lot of time on this blog talking about the different sights that can be seen from my travels, or talking about the people and cultures I get to experience, but I do not spend enough time talking about an important aspect of traveling, the dining experiences. This can sometimes be a very stressful part of travel because you get hungry and you need to eat, but the various restaurants can be very intimidating. Each country has their own customs about how to order, and pay for your food, and if you do it wrong, you are afraid that people will look at you strange. But once you get it, the way a culture handles the dining experience can be more efficient and more pleasant than what you are used to. I would say that South Korea has the down the best, but there is a place in Salzburg that might compete for that title, Augustiner Braustubl Beer Hall.

If you do go to this place, do not expect to have much choice in beer. They only have one available, a pretty good lager, and it comes in two different sizes, a liter or a half liter. You should also not expect a server to come to your table to take your order. What you do instead is you walk up to the shelves that hold rows and rows of the mugs. You grab the size that you want, and then go wash it at the marble fountain in the middle of the entrance. You then pay for your beer. They give you a slip saying that you have paid for it, you take your mug and ticket up to the keg master who fills them for you. Then you join the party.

It is quite the party too. They have at least five different halls that I could find, but that does not mean that they have more hidden some place. In each hall, they have long tables and you just find a couple of seats, and sit down with your new best friends because let’s be honest, how can you not make friends with the person sitting across from you when you are both drinking a liter of beer. The place is noisy and when I was there, it was filled with mainly locals, but I can see that during the summer months, this will change to a group of tourists.

They serve food as well, but once again it is not like you are used to. One of the hallways in-between the beer halls, they have set up various vendors selling anything from roasted pork, to fish and chips, to breads and pretzels. You can find something for everybody there except if you are vegetarian. I am sorry, but I have not found many places in all of Germany and Austria that cater to this cuisine choice. If you like meat though, the choices are excellent. You just go up to the counter that you wish to have food from and order directly from that vender. You then bring it back to your seat and enjoy it.

It easy to enjoy a complete evening at this beer hall, and I am glad that it closes at 11:00 or I would still be there. It became one of those dining experiences that made me feel completely comfortable with its system, and I did not get stressed out by the customs I had to adhere to. I am glad that I read up a little bit about it before I went to dinner here, and it is what made the experience great. I can’t wait until the next place where I get to enjoy a new experience such as this.

A Stroll through Altstadt – Salzburg, Austria

The view of Salzburg from the Mozartsteg

Salzburg, Austria was one of the more important cities in Europe not only because it sat at a crossroads of trade, but also because it became the place where the precious salt was shipped through before it was distributed to the rest of the European cities. It was this important commodity that gave the city its name, Salzburg, and it eventually grew to be know as the Rome of the north.

The view of Fortress Hohensalzburg from the edge of altstadt

It is an impressive city that still has a hold over people as tourists come here to see its sights, shop among it many shops, and enjoy the beautiful nature that surrounds the city. It is one of Europe’s biggest tourist attractions and it all starts at the heart of the city, the altstadt.

A skating rink set up during the Christmas markets in Mozartplatz

The old part of town is basically a huge series of squares that are surrounded by various Catholic churches. I have never seen so many churches collected in one single place. It seemed that every corner I turned there was another church that I could explore. I was curious how such a small population of people could support that many churches.

The greatest of these churches is the Salzburg Dom or the Salzburg Cathedral. It is different from many of the other cathedrals found in Europe because it was built in only fourteen short years, and is designed in Baroque style. When they were creating it, they made sure not to supply it with stained glass windows because they wanted natural light to illuminate the altar instead. Its main focus was on the music that would be performed during the service and Sunday mass still draws in many people to experience it. There are four pip organs that surround the crossing of the asp allowing the music to come at the people in surround sound.

The Baroque architecture inside the Salzburg Cathedral

Of course, this was the place where one of the world’s most famous musicians, Mozart, got his start. Salzburg was his birthplace, and he got his start playing music in this cathedral before he went off to write his own symphonies, and operas.

His childhood home is actually on one of Salzburg’s more famous streets, Getreidgasse. This street used to be the main economic center of Salzburg with various shops lining the street, and not much has changed over the years. People still come here to do their shopping but they now can find modern shops among the coffee shops and long established restaurants. The old signs still hang above the new ones allowing you to see what it was like back before the chains moved in.

The biggest attraction looms over the city though, the Fortress Hohensalzburg. This was built to show military might, but was never actually used in this fashion. Just by having it above the city prevented anybody from trying to take it over with force. It was eventually opened to the public and has become the number one sight for anybody that is visiting the city.

Another Catholic church in the graveyard of Salzburg

There are many other treasures that can be found while strolling through the many walking streets of Salzburg’s older portion of the city. It is a great way of introducing yourself to the city before you dive further into what the place has to offer.

Mad King Ludwig – Fussen, Germany

Imagine this is your childhood home. It sits prominently over the city of some of your father’s most loyal subjects, and this town is the gateway to the rest of the country that he rules over. A lot of the minor inconveniences of life are taken care for you. There is a large kitchen where your food is prepared. Painter adorn your walls with the beautiful artwork of your favorite childhood stories. And when it gets cold, people inside the walls will supply more wood to the stoves that keeps each room warm. You don’t even need to know that they are there because they have their own special way of moving about the castle.

The view of the lake from Hohenschwangau Castle

This is even your view from your bedroom window. It overlooks a huge lake, and during the summer months, the sun shines begging you to take a dip in its cool waters. During the winter, it turns into a magical snowy landscape that hints at the fairy tales that you have grown up on. Life is pretty easy. Yes, you have to sit for the occasional portrait, and you are destined for a life of signing papers, and managing a country, but for now, you can search for more intellectual pursuits to enrich your life any way that you can think of. It seems like the life that came at the end of a fairy tale. What could possibly ruin this perfect existence?

The valley between Hohenschwangau Castle and Nueschwanstein Caslte

This was the life of King Ludwig II of Bavaria. He took over the throne at the age of 19, and two years later engaged in a war with Austria. It lasted only a couple of weeks, and Bavaria lost. His country was finally included into Germany a couple of years later and he was only a king in name afterwards. It was the kind of event that affected a person deeply, and he never wanted to experience that kind of loss again, so he needed to find another way to spend his time.

He still had a lot of money, and he decided to spend it fulfilling his wildest fantasies, mainly building more castles in some of the most idyllic locations he could find in what was once his country. The most famous of these was build right across the valley from his childhood home. He could watch the construction of it from his bedroom window. It would be the perfect retreat where he could add modern conveniences such as electricity and running water, and he could go there to live alone in his misery. This is when he earned the name Mad Kind Ludwig and was clinically diagnosed with depression during this time. This did not stop him from building his fairy tale castle on the hill, and he would have finished if it wasn’t for a couple of things. First, he ran out of money, and he could not pay the workers to finish what he had started. Secondly, he drowned mysteriously at the age of forty. Nobody discovered what had happened, whether is was an accident, suicide, or murder. Either way, the castle was left to be opened to the public, and people could now gawk at the luxury that this mad king had created for himself.

Horse carriages available in-between the two castles

The castle made the small town of Fussen, Germany a tourist destination spot, and many people came there to view that castle, but it did not become the bid tourist destination it is now until a particular man came to view it. He had grown up with the same stories that King Ludwig II had, and had grown in his desire to share these stories with the rest of the world. He had made progress in this arena by animating a couple of movies that enthralled his your audience, but he was looking for a way to bring it even more to life. When he saw this castle, he was inspired in a way that could let the kids not only see these stories, but to become a part of them as well. He too would create a castle just like this one in the United States, and surround it with his Magic Kingdom. It took him a few tries before it took off like the way he wanted, but he was still able to solidify not only in America, but the rest of the world as people now flock to Disneyland and enjoy his version of this castle.

A path through the woods between the two castles

It is strange how inspiration comes from the strangest of places, and creates the legends that we live with today. A losing war, a childhood vision, and a random trip to Germany have made the Nueshwanstein Castle one of the most famous buildings in the world. It all cam about because people came across something and wondered what could possibly become of it. Some call them mad for thinking that way, but sometimes it is this madness that could lead to genius. Disney had to file for bankruptcy once to retain his movie studio, but he was still able to build something great out of it. Even Mad King Ludwig failed at the one of the shortest wars ever, but he was able to leave behind a masterpiece because of the rejection he felt from that failure.

You might not have been born in a fairy tale castle, but that does not mean that your path might not lead you to greatness. What will the next turn bring to you, and how will it inspire you?

The Perfect Home Base – Bad Windsheim, Germany

The type of houses that can be found in Bad Windsheim

When we were looking at visiting this part of Germany, we originally thought of staying in Rothenburg because it was the inspiration for coming out here in the first place. The last time we stayed there twelve years ago, the prices were reasonable, and we expected them to be the same this time around, but Christmas happens to be the big time of the year for Rothenburg and the prices jumped up quite considerably. So we started to look for other towns in the area that would be more affordable and came across the sleepy little town of Bad Windsheim. It is on the rail line, and only a forty minute train ride to Rothenburg, and an hour train ride to Nuremberg, so as long as the place was comfortable, it seemed like the perfect place to stay.

An impressive statue outside of a church on the main street through town

What we found was a hidden gem that many people outside of Germany do not know about. It has the same quaint houses that Rothenburg has, and the same cobblestone streets. It even has a Christmas market, just not as big as the other places, but they still sell mulled wine, and have people come to sing and play songs for the people who attend. It even has its own sites with some pretty impressive statues, fountains, and a living museum.

They even have a sense of humor that goes along with the traditions and heritage that comes from this part of the world. There were many references to Grimm’s Fairy Tales popping up all over the place, but my favorite had to be the Rapunzel hanging out the window of one of the stores on the main street. They even used Christmas lights to make her hair be seen for miles around at night.

The tree lines walking paths through the park on the northern end of town

On the northern part of town there was a huge walking park with a beautiful green landscape. It was the perfect place to take a walk with huge old trees that were kind of sad to look at in the winter, but I could imagine that it would be a spectacular display of color during the fall. It was even close to some natural baths that were encased in dome, but I never made it all the way over to that place.

A random statue made of wood found in one of the parks in the older part of town

There were a lot of hidden corners in this idyllic small town, and even though it did not boast a medieval well like Rothenburg or the huge Christmas market that Numerberg has, it was still a pleasant place to stay with enough to see to keep us entertained during our time there. Because it was a sleepy little town, most of the sights are restaurants had closed down on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, but I think that would be found no matter where you went in Europe on these days. The place we stayed had a nice small kitchen, so were still able to have a nice Christmas dinner even though we were still on the road.

I found it to be the perfect home base for this area. It was close to everything that I wanted to see, and it was not overrun with tourists. Granted, I was there in the winter which was probably a downtime for them, and they could easily see more people during the summer months. Still, it was great for the holiday season, and I am glad that we landed here at the start of our bigger vacation through this part of the world.

Merry Christmas from Germany

Remember, it is not about the presents you get from loved ones, but how you spend the time with loved ones in the present.

Merry Christmas, everyone. I hope you have a wonderful holiday.

One More Christmas Market – Nuremberg, Germany

As the holiday approaches, the markets in Germany get more packed as people go out to get that cheer that can only be found with mulled wine and sausage sandwiches. The sellers try to make their last sales, and the bigger acts are brought out to entertain the crowds. Last night was the last night for Germany’s biggest Christmas market, and I saved this one for last because all others would look tiny in comparison.

The city of Nuremberg seems to be designed to this specific event. Right across the street from the train station is a long walking mall that leads directly to the heart of the city, their city square. It is here where the city sets up rows of booths during the month of December, and sellers come from all over to sell ornaments, food, and of course, the biggest seller, mulled wine.

It is hard not to be distracted by all of the stalls and the wonderful smells that are coming from them, but looking beyond that, there is some of the best architecture ever collected in a European city. The cathedrals are sometimes overshadowed by the art nouveau facades that overlook the modern shops and restaurants. The place would be great if Christmas had not exploded all over the place.

Nuremberg also wants to hold on to the feeling of the original markets by making sure that the stuff that is offered is of traditional design. This includes the food and decorations even though I did see a couple of incense burners that were heavy metal in design. This only applies to the stalls that are in the main square too. There is a smaller part of the market that has stalls from all over the world that sells their favorite foods along with the traditional mulled wine, but they make sure to regulate this to another side of the cathedrals. My favorite was the stall from Atlanta that sold the traditional Christmas Pop Tarts. There were other stalls that lined the walking mall to the market, and they were not part of the same regulations and could sell whatever they wished. Either that or gimbap, the traditional Korean snack, has always been a part of the German holiday season.

It has been fun to put all of the regular tourist stuff behind to enjoy the sights, smells and feeling of the holiday season in Germany, and the Christmas markets have been a great part of this. The Nuremberg one was probably my favorite because it was the best organized and had some of the best food offered at any of them. And this was followed by the one in Rothenberg because of the feeling of the medieval city, but I am sure that there is no way for me to know what all of the markets in this country would be like. It seems like every city, and small little town puts on their own market, and it would take a month to be able to understand and judged them all, and I don’t know if I could drink that much mulled wine.

It has been a fun way to build up to the final big day on Thursday, and I am glad that I have been able to experience Christmas in this way. I wish all of you the same type of joy that I have been able to experience during your holidays, and that it holds surprises and new experience just as mine has.

Happy Holidays!

Inspiration – Rothenburg, Germany

Way back in 2007, a very broke couple decided to take a fifty backpacking trip throughout Europe. They went to eleven different countries, had many strange and eventful adventures, and saw many amazing sights along the way. At every stop they would ask themselves if they could live in each of the spots they stopped at. It became the seed that eventually led to them seeking jobs as teachers overseas, and transplanting in Asia. But there was one town that they came to that captured their hearts. It was a medieval city preserved over the ages, and ever since the couple of nights that they has spent there, they always want to go back.

Why would anybody who saw this place, not want to come back? The people were cheerful, the food was amazing, and the atmosphere transported them back into time. There was a wall surrounding the city that overlooked a moat that was originally used to keep invaders out. Though people still lived in these walls, they had retained the original buildings and the markets still had that medieval feel of large tables and fireplaces to keep them warm.

There was one store that really captured the heart of this city though. It was so popular that it had three different locations within the small confines of the wall, Kathe Wohlfahrt. It specialized in Christmas. It sold ornaments, cuckoo clocks, and various forms of decorations. Even though it was the middle of summer, the couple could feel the warmth of the holiday season just by being in this store, and they knew that one day they would have to return to this place when the weather was cold and snowy so they could experience it as it was meant to be, a holiday wonderland.

This was the seed that was planted in my mind twelve years ago, and ever since then I always wanted to return to Germany for Christmas. When we got the jobs in Thailand, it seemed like the perfect place to go to get away from the heat and really get to feel what it should feel like to experience Christmas. More specifically, I wanted to return back to this specific medieval town, Rothenburg, and see how they celebrated this holiday. I knew that they held one of the more popular of the Christmas markets, but I had no idea what that meant. This town packs to bursting with the people coming here to drink mulled wine, eat German sausage and spaetzle.

I was not disappointed either. It was exactly the way I envisioned it. Children were running all over the place as there parents gathered around tables to talk about the events of the season as they sipped their hot spicy drinks. The only thing that was missing was the snow. I found out later that this was not really a part of how the market has ever worked. This part of Germany is more inclined to have misty rain this time of the year rather than snow. It does come from time to time, but those moments are very rare.

It did not stop me from coming out and to enjoy this little corner of the world. The place was even more magical than it was when we were out here twelve years ago. The smells of roasted nuts, and fresh chocolate just added to the excitement of the day. I do have to say that a lot of the Christmas items were way overpriced, but that is due to the fact that it is only a couple of days until Christmas, and people travel from all over the world to spend there money here. But as long as you resist the temptation to buy any of these trinkets, the food and the drink is reasonably priced, and it just adds to the flavor of the day.

And when the lights came on, it made the picture complete. I was transported to those small little ceramic towns that people put up during this time of the year, and Rothenburg had to be the inspiration behind them.

I am glad that I have been able to come back here during this time of the year after that trip so long ago. It should be the goal of every Christmas enthusiast out there because they will get to experience Christmas the way they see it as they decorate their house. And if you are one of those enthusiasts, I hope that this post has inspired you to one day try to make it out here one cold wintery day in the future.

Waking Up to Christmas – Frankfurt, Germany

I am sure everybody has a person who is a teacher on their friend list on whatever social media site they follow, and it probably angers them a lot when they start getting those posts of those teacher friends showing pictures of the start of their vacation. If you are getting those, you at least see all of the memes they put up about how tired they are, and pictures of teachers running for the parking lots and bars as soon as that final bell rings. It is part of the reason that some people think that teachers don’t really work, but trust me when I say that the exhaustion level of teachers right before winter break is high, and it takes a good couple of days before they can even come to realize that they don’t need to sleep for twelve hours a night just to catch up on the sleep they have lost during the last month.

This is how I felt on Friday. The first semester at my new school in Thailand was fun, but I was also ready for a break. I needed time away from essays, and lesson plans. I also needed time away from the constant hot weather that I find in Bangkok. I longed for a cold, chilly Christmas environment, so I boarded a red-eye flight and went to the most Christmasy place that I could think of Germany.

First off, to demonstrate how tired I was, I actually fell asleep on the plane. I am one of those people that have a hard time sleeping on a flight because I have to squeeze into the seat first of all, and then it is always just a little too cool, and the jiggling that happens from the other passengers, flight attendants, and the plane itself keeps waking me up. But I was so exhausted that I slept most of the twelve hours that I was on that flight, and woke up early in the morning the plane gently touching down in Frankfurt, Germany.

It was not my final destination for the day, but I wasn’t able to check into that place until the afternoon, and it was too early in the morning to sit around and do nothing. So I did what any other traveler would do, I found a locker to ditch my bags, got really caffeinated, and went out to see what the town had to offer. And considering that it was Christmas time, I wasn’t going to go look for statues, cathedrals, and museums that most people look for while in Europe. I was going to look for the markets that I knew were out there, and I knew that Frankfurt has one.

I’ll be honest. I did not know what to expect with these markets; I just knew that they were a big draw around this time of year. What I found was even greater than I thought possible. Basically, there are these small mobile stall that they install on the sides of their walking sections of town. They are all decked out in Christmas lights, and they sell various Christmas paraphernalia. There are simple rides like merry-go-rounds, and if you ever get hungry, there are numerous stalls that sell German cuisine. The smells are just as good. If the simmering meats don’t bring you to the stalls, the smell of mulled wine will get your stomach growling. It is everything, I had seen on those cartoons as a kid as to what Christmas was supposed to be about. It had that warm feeling that kept out the cool, brisk air of Germany, and it was a one-hundred and eighty degree turn from where I was twelve hours earlier.

I loved the way that the Thai people built up their enthusiasm for Christmas, but it never felt quite right. It is hard to get into the season spirit when it is tropical weather outside, and you have to wear shorts just to feel comfortable. It doesn’t help when I have to dig through a stack of final essays before I can relax either because it does not give me enough time to unwind around a Christmas tree or prepare for the holiday. It was nice to put all of that behind and fly across the world to get that feeling once again. It makes me excited for December 24th for the first time in a long time. I guess it all comes down to going back to the source of Christmas to find that anticipation once again.

I hope that all of you can capture that feeling as well and I hope that you can find the time to unwind during this holiday season. Merry Christmas for Germany!

Mid-Life Crisis

What does it mean to get one year older
And reflect back on the time that was spent?
Did I take my life and live it bolder,
Or do I ponder on where my time went?
Did I hold the moments worth savoring,
And pack them away to define my life?
Instead, did I linger on harboring
On harder times that brought nothing but strife?
There’s a lesson learned as I continue
To stroll down the path I laid before me,
That as a younger man, I never knew,
Is the way to make life worthy to see.
Life is a collection of memories,
And it’s better to pick the ones that please.