Our Trip To Germany-Poland

The Boss and I got home from our little trip to Germany and Poland yesterday, and are still fighting the effects of air travel and the 6 hour time difference. Thankfully the trip improved with time, as we were delayed leaving by 5 hours due to mechanical problems on the plane. We sat in the Cincinnati airport 5 hours before starting the 9 hour flight to Frankfurt Germany.

We were 2 days in Donaushidgen where I spent both days in business meetings. Then drove to Freiburg for 1 day and 2 nights. We left the rental car in Freiburg and traveled by rail to a little village in the edge of the Black Forest where we ‘chilled’ for a couple of days. Then again by rail to pick up another rental car and see a rather impressive castle and back to the village. The next day we drove back to Frankfurt and caught a plane to Warsaw, and then switched planes to Krakow Poland. We stayed in an apartment in Krakow near the ‘old Jewish quarter’. We were there 3 days and 4 nights. Each day we were on a tour of the old city section, Auschwitz (concentration/death camps), then the salt mines respectively. It was then 2 planes back to Frankfurt, spend the night, and home again.

We were on 6 planes in 12 days. I hate airplanes.

A few general thoughts about the trip.

Germany was a lot like the US in a lot of ways. Initially it was hard to tell the difference except for all the German cars and not being able to read signs or converse with a lot of people. The highway (autobahn) was better maintained, cleaner and lacking all the big advertisements that we see here. Even the older parts of the cities were well maintained and the people friendly and helpful when we got lost or asked for directions, which was frequently.

Poland on the other hand was dirty and not well maintained, even the newer sections of the city (Krakow). I always felt like I was walking through a ghetto, but the interiors of shops and restaurants were spotless and well maintained. I was impressed by the contrast.

If you’re sensitive to the heat, don’t go there during the heat of the summer. We stayed in 3 hotels, 1 guest house and 1 apartment, none had air-conditioning.

Oh, and the Volkswagen Passat we rented had no problem at all cruising at 180 Km/Hr (about 115 MPH) on the Autobahn.