Regarding the train fiasco; Jim made reservations to get to Paris from Mannheim, but didn't think to get reservations back, believing that we could make them once in Paris. Wrong.
As reservations are compulsory for trains in France, we were pretty much out of luck; all the trains were full. Our best bet was to hop on the next ICE to Mannheim. The ICE trains are run by the German Railways, as opposed to the French ones, so we thought that we would have an easier time. We ended up lucking out and not getting our ticket checked until we had crossed into Germany, meaning that we no longer needed reservations. Even though we lost a day in Paris, not having to pay for reservations, and avoiding getting fined more than made up for this.
Due to our lack of time, Jim and I didn't really go into many sights, but we did get to see the outside of a lot of them. Plus the rainy weather made it pretty miserable to get out from under the protective cover of the bus, so we did the armchair tour.
This actually made Jim audibly gasp, as he had my back turned the lights came on, and he turned around to see the tower lit up. The little strobe lights go off for five minutes at the top of every hour.
Sadly, my best picture of L'Arc de Triomphe.
I really like Cologne, if only because the first thing that I saw when I got out of the train station was this:
Unfortunately, the cathedral was so big that I couldn't fit it into one picture. It has been one of my favorites so far; it seems to be built like a bulldog. Tough, low and squat. It just looks like a powerful building. Plus the dark soot and such on the outside of it seems to give it a nice antique look. I don't think it would seem as awesome if it were all white and shiny.
I also went to the Lindt Chocolate Museum. The coolest part was being able to chocolate bars made right there in the museum.
They also had a station where you could custom order a chocolate bar, and they would make it right there in front of you, with whatever you want in it. Anything from gummi bears to cayenne pepper.
Mannheim is where I am going to school, but it is a bit of an industrial city, so there isn't much to see besides the old city watchtower, and the museum which has some eyeballs in the windows. It's hard to see, but when you are able to see it with your own eyes, it's pretty cool.
Rothenburg ob der Tauber
The best way I could think to describe this was like Esslingen, but with its town walls still intact. Plus, it snowed, so my camera shutter-finger went crazy.
I also spent way too much on souvenirs, but I think that I might be done with those for a long while.
We stayed at an awesome little bed and breakfast called Haus Karin. If anyone is on their way to Rothenburg, we highly recommend staying there!
The first snowfall in Germany
I'll add some tidbits about the other cities in a another post....
