Earlier this year I was given the opportunity to speak abroad about Social Media. Even though I grew up an airline baby, I’ve never traveled across the ocean. I’ve been to Mexico, Canada, Hawaii, and the Bahamas…but GERMANY? Definitely a great opportunity. I convinced a few friends to join me on the excursion and turn a work trip into a tour of the German countryside.
One of my travel buddies, Ashley P, bought Rick Steves’ book all about Germany. She read it cover to cover and pinpointed exactly what our route should be. We scheduled a few “working lunches” to plan out the itinerary. We knew that we had limited time in Germany, and we wanted to see EVERYTHING. Here’s how the itinerary shaped up, feel free to copy:
Day ONE: Depart DFW, arrive 15 hours later in Frankfurt. Train it for 5 hours via ICE train south to the very southern tip of Germany…Fussen (you can also fly into Munich, and it’s only a 2 hour train ride). Fussen might be the cutest, most scenic Bavarian town ever. I honestly had no idea what to expect, but this tiny town really set the tone for our trip. The town itself is very small, but it gives you great access to nearby Neuschwanstein Castle. We checked into Hotel Schlosskrone, which we found after tedious TripAdvisor searches. We were super happy with the hotel, it was perfect.
DAY 2: We hop on the city bus to take the 15 minute ride up to the nearby castles. We visited during the “off-season” but it was still hoppin’ with tourists. We purchased tickets to tour both castles (they had an airline employee discount…sweet!) and spent the whole day exploring. The castles were beautiful and it was time well spent. The German countryside is scenic, green, and breathtaking. Definitely great photo opportunities. All the restaurants close kinda early in the tiny town of Fussen, and there are NO BARS that stay open late! Kinda shocking. We took the advice of locals and checked out Gerry’s Big Apple Discotheque. 10 Euros to get in, and that includes 2 drinks, fair deal if you ask me. The dancing and music was great, and it was a fun way to end our tour of Fussen.
DAY 3: Rise and shine, and off we go to Rothenburg. Ashley thought we would love this town because of it’s medieval charm and of course the Christmas market! It took us about 5 hours to get up north to Rothenburg. We checked into our hotel, and wasted no time getting out to tour the city. Lots of day-trippers were out and about visiting the various markets, shoppes, and city tours. The town is surrounded by a wall, and the history is incredible. We spent our evening with the Night Watchman on his tour. The tour cost 6 euros (on the honor system), and he walks you through the town at 9pm sharing the great history. Needless to say, after a full day of traveling, shopping, eating, and touring we were pooped. We went to bed early.
Day 4: One of the Ashleys leaves to head back to DFW. The other Ashley and I continue our journey through Germany. We hop on a train back to Frankfurt. Once in Frankfurt, we catch a 1pm Air Berlin flight to Berlin. My work obligation awaits us in Berlin! We arrive around 3pm, check into our hotel, and then grab the Rick Steve’s book to begin exploring Berlin. Berlin amazed me. We happened to arrive on Unity Day, so the city was alive with energy and folks celebrating. It blew my mind that the big festival in the middle of the city was FREE to get in, and once in…beers were only 3 euros! No coupons or craziness like in America. Just good, cheap fun. We turned in early to get ready for work the next day.
Day 5: Ready for work! We head over to the Routes Worldwide Conference, the world’s largest gathering of airlines and airports. It was an amazing conference. I did a presentation on how we use Social Media at Southwest. I had the opportunity to visit with folks that do my job at airlines and airports around the world, simply fascinating!
Day 6: Early flight back home : ( We flew Lufthansa to Frankfurt, the Lufthansa non-stop to DFW. The flight was awesome, but I was sad to leave Germany.
A few notes: German engineering is no joke. Everything over there is designed so well, with the user in mind. The escalators, their use of cash vs. credit, and airport security all impressed me. Germans were so hospitable and nice. Almost everyone we met spoke English and thanked us for visiting their country. The Germans also care about our environment. Only in Germany can you get $.25 for turning in a used water bottle…pretty cool.
I now have the travel bug! Where to next? Here are a few photos of the trip:
