Our Germany Adventure, Day 2: A Lieser'ly stroll along the Mosel

The best way to manage jet lag? Don't take a nap on your arrival morning/day! Just stay up, and go to bed at your normal bedtime for that time zone. After a long travel day getting to Schloss Lieser, dinner and drinks (and a hot shower), we slept in. No alarms. We slept until we naturally woke up. 

Which was almost 9 am. 

No worries! We had a wine tasting set up for 4 pm, and dinner reservations at the hotel at 7 pm, but other than that, our schedule was open. With all the research we did prior to the trip, we knew there was a local bakery just a short walk away. Perfect for breakfast! We'd grab a bite to eat, then take a stroll into Bernkastel-Kues, about 4 km away.

As a reminder, any links in blue will open in a new window. You won't lose your place here. Clicking on a photo will display a larger version of it. 

Bernkastel-Kues

But first, breakfast. A two-minute walk brought us to Bäckerei Ostermann, a charming little bakery that had tons of offerings. Be aware, though: they accept cash only. We knew this ahead of time, so we made sure to have plenty of small denomination Euros with us. Top priority for me: warm brötchen! Crusty outside, fluffy inside, a smear of butter....

The German equivalent of heating a fresh flour tortilla over a gas stove and adding a little butter. 

Brötchen

I chose one "regular" brötchen and one with tomato and cheese, almost like a caprese. A cup of black coffee and I was a happy camper. Cindy and I took our time, savoring our first full day in Germany. The morning was cool, and mist hung along the tops of the hills. What a sight!

Ready to make that walk into Bernkastel-Kues? Let's go!

Onward to B-K

"Consideration widens the path."

We saw many bicycle riders using this path, both approaching us from B-K and overtaking us from Lieser. Both of us always made sure to stay along the edge of the path and give a smile and wave. I was happy to see the smile and wave returned from the vast majority of the riders, with the occasional "Hallo" or "Guten Morgen" tossed in.

While walking along the path, we saw several barges and even a river cruise vessel glide by. I was surprised that the Mosel was navigable by these vessels. Wow! It just never occurred to me, I guess. At least two different cruise lines passed by. There may have been others, but I didn't notice them.

Riviera Travel cruise line

I've never been in any true "wine country" before this trip, so the miles and miles of vineyards everywhere I looked were a constant source of amazement. I just couldn't wrap my head around where I was yet. I've seen smaller vineyards, but nothing even remotely close to this scale. And it was amazing. Every time I looked.

Endless vineyards

Closeup

Quick show of hands from my devoted readers: If y'all know me, what is probably going through my head? Yep, that's right! A very specific song insisted it be heard, and I'm sure you'll see why. What song was it? 

Miles and Miles of Texas

"I saw miles and miles of Texas
All the stars up in the sky
I saw miles and miles of Texas
Gonna live here 'til I die"

Now here's the best part, at least to me. I can already see some of y'all nodding, knowing what's coming next. Yes, I modified the lyrics to fit the scene. If you haven't heard the traditional song yet, click here for one version. At least you'll have the melody as a guide.

Miles and Miles of Vineyards

I saw miles and miles of vineyards

Allll those bright green vines

I saw miles and miles of vineyards

Makinnn' my Mosel wine

Hey, I never said I was a songwriter. My brain just conjures these out of nowhere and plants them firmly in my head. On an endless loop. Maybe Weird Al Yankovic would be proud of these. 

Our walk from Lieser to B-K took about 42 minutes from start to finish, with several stops along the way for photos. We weren't in any particular hurry, so why not take the time to soak it all in? This whole area is beautiful! As we learned when researching our itinerary, Bernkastel-Kues is two towns: Bernkastel and Kues. Our route from Lieser brought us to Kues first. 

Welcome to Kues

photo by Cindy Newman

Map of B-K

During our time in Germany, we seemed to find either a church or castle on the highest hilltop in each little village or town. Some of these weren't obvious, like those hidden object games. It wasn't obvious until it was. And then it was like "How could we not have seen this earlier?" You'll need to click on the picture below to get your best look.

Do you see the church?

There it is!

This was on the Bernkastel side of the Mosel, by the way. From our research, Bernkastel had more shops and points of interest, so we crossed the Mosel and began our exploration there. The bridge from Kues to Bernkastel is about 35 to 40 feet above the river. You'll see why this is important shortly, although I'm sure several of y'all are already figuring it out.

Bernkastel from the bridge

See the castle?

Nice! Cool, damp weather. Perfect for sightseeing as far as we're concerned. Wayyy better than the hot and humid that we left at home. Both of us had small backpacks with a light jacket and water bottle. One of our traditions when traveling is to find a Christmas ornament and/or a coffee cup from the local area. Bernkastel is packed with shops of every kind, so I was confident we'd find at least one of the two. 

What else do we do when traveling? Yes, you in the back, with your hand raised....

That's right! We try to find at least one geocache in every new country, port or interesting place. On this trip, our goal was at least one cache in Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg. While Cindy researched the train system, I scouted for suitable geocaches in each place we planned to be. Just before we left, I downloaded several caches from each area into our GPS. 

Our first German cache

photo by Cindy Newman

Without revealing any spoilers, there's a virtual cache nearby. With so many people around, we prefer finding virtual caches to avoid compromising traditional caches. 

As we did in Madeira, we would walk around for a bit and stop for refreshments. Nothing overly large, usually just a beer and maybe a snack. We weren't ready for lunch just yet, but a local beer would be just fine. We ordered a local beer, a Bitburger Pilsner. Tasty!

Prost!

Bitburger Pils

Remember when I mentioned the height of the bridge over the Mosel? As we explored the streets of Bernkastel, we saw many buildings with flood marks by the door. I'm used to seeing these where we live, being so close to the Gulf Coast. But here? This building was right across the narrow street from where we were enjoying our beer.

Flood marks

And check out those dates! Look at the date partially covered by the leaves. It's from the 1600s! Wow. Several of these flood marks (or "high water marks") were above my head. I'm not tall by any stretch, no pun intended, but still....

Our morning started out cool and mostly cloudy, and as the day progressed, it got cloudier and cooler. Cindy decided to put on her jacket, while warm-natured me was perfectly fine without my jacket....so far.

Getting cooler

photo by Cindy Newman

Cindy discovered a house with an interesting history. Apparently, houses were taxed by the square footage of the first floor, not the whole building. This house brilliantly circumvented the tax scheme by having a small first floor, then magically expanding the upper floors.

Not an optical illusion

Local legend states that Bernkastel is connected to the German word for bear. Clicking that link will take you to Wikipedia's page on Bernkastel, and even has a good picture of the bridge we crossed from Kues. 

Bear statue

We did a little more shopping and our cool, cloudy day turned into a light drizzle. The crowded streets became less crowded as everyone sought shelter from the rain. Yep, us too! Restaurant Ratskeller was close by, so we ducked into it to get out of the rain and, why not, have a snack. How about a classic German treat? Apple strudel and hot chocolate. Yes, please!

Apple strudel

Hot chocolate

That was "real" whipped cream with both the strudel and in the hot chocolate, not that artificial, fake whipped cream so prevalent here. And yes, that's vanilla bean ice cream with the strudel. Those little black specks in the ice cream are from actual vanilla beans. With our dinner at Puricelli's this evening, I didn't want to fill up, and this was perfect.

Our wine tasting at Dr. Pauly Bergweiler was set for 4 pm, just a short time after our snack. Time for a little more sightseeing and shopping and then a short walk to the winery. As we entered the building, our host was surprised to see us. "Oh, I thought your tasting was at 5, not 4." She directed us to a small room and promised to start our tasting on time. A German couple joined us in this small room and we had a great conversation with them.

Tasting flight

Notice that this flight progressed from driest to sweetest. Even though I'm generally not a fan of dry white wines, the whole point of being where we were, and doing these tastings, was to explore the Mosel wines. The driest wine was definitely astringent, at least to me. The other couple in our tasting were doing what we were doing: visiting Bernkastel specifically to enjoy the local wines. Being aware that most Germans didn't enjoy "small talk" with strangers, I asked them if our conversation bothered them. "Wine and small talk were made for each other." Great! We had a blast with them.

Our tasting ended about 5:30, and rather than risk being late for dinner, we got a cab back to the hotel. We wanted a little time to freshen up before dinner and this would keep us from having to rush. Once we got back to our room, I described our day in our travel journal and relaxed while Cindy got ready for dinner. 

Puricelli is a Michelin-starred restaurant located within Schloss Lieser. I made reservations for Puricelli before we even left home. Given that this was a fine-dining restaurant, I also wanted to know if there was a specific dress code so we could pack the appropriate clothing. The hotel's reply was "We have no specific dress code. We only ask that our guests dress neatly." Well, that helps, a little. They knew we were flying to Germany and would be living out of a suitcase, and their suggestion not to pack "anything special" was the helpful part. Let's head downstairs and see what's cooking.

Amuse bouche

"Beet tar tar" Yes, beets.

Wild tomatoes

Wild tomatoes in cream sauce, paired with Weinguts Stettler Auslese. That cream sauce was rich and savory, with just a hint of sweetness. Delicious!

Variation of Char

Sesame-crusted char with cucumber and herbs, paired with Weingut Ludger Veit Sauvignon Blanc. I've never had char before and it reminded me of salmon.

Filet of Beef

Beef filet with potato and vegetables, paired with Weingut Ludger Veit 1986 GG. This was a red wine, 2022 vintage. 

A red Mosel wine? Yes!

Dessert

Creme brulee with blood orange sorbet and a pineapple ragout. Paired with another locally-produced Auslese.

Wow! An incredible feast! Cindy and I were both stuffed, and the wine pairing made our meal even more exceptional. As we finished our dessert, our waiter brought us a final glass of Auslese. "This is with our compliments. You have been enthusiastic guests and we have enjoyed pairing wines with your meal." 

Tomorrow would be a long day, with an early start. We had a day trip to Köln (Cologne) planned and we would have to be up by 7 am to make it to our train. Time to call it a day.

Minimum steps: 10155

4.38 miles

Coming up next, our day in Köln, including another culinary first for me.

The previous installments can be found by clicking the links below:

1st entry: Our Germany Adventure: 45 Years in the Making

2nd entry: Our Germany Adventure, Day 1: Arrival

Until next time....

carpe cerevisi

Our Germany Adventure, Day 1: Arrival

"Previously on.....Survivor."

That sounds so much cooler than "Picking up where I left off on my previous blog....."

But that's what I'm doing. I ended the previous installment with us clearing passport control in AMS and trekking through Schiphol's terminals to our next segment, AMS to FRA. We had plenty of time for a cup of coffee and a little browsing in the various shops in each terminal to see if we could find something we just can't live without. No point in getting to the gate too early and earning the nickname "gate lice." Cindy and I have flown enough to just sit back, relax, and wait for our boarding zone to be called before approaching the gate. 

As a reminder, any links in blue will open in a new window. You won't lose your place here. Clicking on a photo will display a larger version of it.

Our segment from AMS to FRA would be with KLM Cityhopper. We first flew with Cityhopper in 2024 during our Italy trip from AMS to VCE, so they were a known quantity to us. Having our bags checked through to FRA was a big help, too, as it eliminated a tedious step of baggage claim, rechecking, and clearing security. 

Our ride from AMS to FRA

AMS - FRA

KL1817

PH-EXT (Embraer E175 STD)

dep AMS rwy 09, arv FRA rwy 25L

"OBS"

After our "obligatory boarding selfie," we got settled for the short 40-minute flight to FRA. I glanced out our window and spotted Air France's regional airline Hop! This is an Embraer ERJ-190, similar to what we'll fly from FRA to CDG on our return trip, but that's still 9 days away. 

Hello, Hop!

I had to keep reminding myself that getting to FRA was still only part of our journey. We had trains and a taxi ride yet. Once we got to the hotel, then we could fully relax. Not that we had any anxiety, but more of not letting jet lag hit us square in the face. Remember, it was still morning and we had several hours of travel left.

Departing AMS

With this being such a short flight, we only had time for a bottle of water and a stroopwafel as a snack. Ideally, I'd have a cup of black coffee to place my stroopwafel on, but it was still a nice treat. If you've never had one, it's soooo much better when placed on top of a hot coffee cup. The heat softens both the "cookie" part and the filling.

This flight took us to Frankfurt's newly opened Terminal 3. We claimed our bags and boarded the SkyLine train to Terminal 1 to catch the long-distance ICE train to Koblenz. From Koblenz, we'd take a regional train to Wittlich, the closest train station to our hotel. That left another 2 1/2 hours of traveling. Hey, it's daylight, we're excited about our vacation and nothing was going to keep us down. Sleepy? Sure. That's OK, though. It'll make our transition to Central European Time that much easier after a good night's sleep.

For several months before this trip, Cindy studied the German rail system in great depth. We knew that most of our transportation would be by train, given both the distances we'd be traveling and the time. A rental car just wasn't feasible for us on this trip. We considered buying a Eurail pass (now called Interrail), but ultimately decided on the Deutschland Ticket and an accompanying DB Card 25, which gave us a 25% discount on many routes. The Deutschland Ticket is app-based and offers travel on all regional trains. Think of it as a "Hop On, Hop Off" kind of thing like many city buses offer. With this type of ticket, you'd select a destination and off you'd go. The app had a QR code that the DB Ticket Inspectors would scan to validate your journey. It was very efficient for us to use this, and allowed for a ton of flexibility.

The ICE train is different, though, so we had to purchase that part of our trip from Frankfurt to Koblenz. We had a little confusion initially, as some seats were reserved. We found two empty seats, and after a couple of stops, one of the other passengers pointed out to us that our seats were reserved by someone else and pointed to a small display above the seats. By that time, we found two other empty seats and avoided any awkward moments. 

Our transfer in Koblenz went smoothly, and soon we were on a regional train to Wittlich. It was very obvious that we were entering wine country as vineyards started appearing along the slopes of the hills. According to our GPS, that river we were following was.....the Mosel River! 

Mosel River

Not the best photo, but with it being sunny, the glare on the window prevented a better photo. No worries, right? There will be plenty of time for better photos.  As the Ticket Inspectors came by, I had difficulty finding the QR code they needed. I'm sure we weren't the first people who had this issue, as they were quite friendly and helpful. They pointed out where to find the QR code, scanned it, and were on their way. Next stop, Wittlich!

Once in Wittlich, we found a taxi and learned it would be close to €50 for a ride to Schloss Lieser. Fifty Euros? Dayum! This is gonna get expensive really quick. Well, we didn't have much of a choice, so we got in and took a 15-minute ride to our hotel. We'd figure out the best way around this later. We had wine to drink.

I practiced my German with Babbel for several months before our trip. I feel it's important to at least try speaking the local language. It made a big difference in Italy, and I was sure it would make a difference here, too. As we entered the reception area, I took a moment to gather myself and mentally rehearse what I was going to say: 

"Guten Tag. Mein Name ist Newman und wir haben eine Reservierung."

Rapid-fire response in German

Me, with a "deer in the headlights" expression......

"Entschuldigen Sie mich, bitte. Mein Deutsch ist nicht gut."

Ahhh, English would be better?

"Ja, bitte."

Well, at least I tried. The reception staff was courteous and actually complimented my German. OK, not bad, we should be just fine. 

Our hotel offered several room selections, and we pre-booked a "vineyard view room." With our arrival in early Fall, we figured the view would be spectacular. 

And it was.

View from our room

We had a 4th-floor room to get this view, so the room itself wasn't overly large. No worries, as we didn't intend to spend much time in our room. We'd be exploring!

Room 401

Where does this go?

I've never seen a spiral staircase in a hotel room before. Then again, I've never stayed in a 19th-century castle, either. Ahhhh, I know! I bet the staircase leads to an observation deck for the vineyards!

It didn't.

It led to.....our bathroom. 

Yes, you read that correctly. That spiral staircase led to our bathroom. That was....different. Granted, it was a private bathroom, just for us, but still. Midnight bathroom break? Climb the stairs. Need to wash your hands or rinse off? Climb the stairs. 

But....

We're here! We're in the Mosel Valley, the heart of German wine country. A place I've waited decades to visit. And we're here! Time to freshen up a bit, then walk to that restaurant we passed on the way to the hotel. 

Oh, right, the staircase.

(sigh)

There were several good prospects we saw as the taxi brought us to Schloss Lieser. We weren't looking for dinner just yet, as it wasn't even 5 pm. Just some of what we came for: wine. 

And maybe a snack.

Ahhh, this looks like the perfect spot: Weingut Hugo Hower

Prost!

photo by Cindy Newman

I hope those of y'all reading this won't get tired of repetition, but it's gonna happen. Trust me on this. After so many hours traveling today, we were ready to finally relax and enjoy the moment. We ordered the Auslese, of course. And this is what you'll see over and over: The "A-Word." What can I say? It's a delicious wine. Throughout our trip, all the wines we drank were locally produced. Yes, locally.produced. Terroir, with a capital T.

"Would you like that in a glass or by the bottle?"

Ahhhhh, bless her little hearrrrt. 

"The bottle, bitte." We'll start from there and decide as we go.

2024 Bernstein Auslese

Now for something to go with the wine....

Ooohhhhh, how about the Winzerteller? That sounds good. Thinly-sliced, air-dried ham with crusty bread, mustard, butter, and jam. Oh, hell yeah!

Winzerteller (Winemaker's Platter)

As we were enjoying this plate, I remarked to Cindy how the smoked ham paired perfectly with the wine. Our server overheard our conversation. "Sir, the ham isn't smoked, just air-dried."

Oh......could've fooled me. 

The sun was starting to set, and cast these beautiful rays across the table. I tried to capture this sight, but the photo does it absolutely no justice.

Sunshine on my wine

After savoring our bottle, we looked for somewhere close by and inexpensive for dinner. A quick search on Google Maps revealed an Italian restaurant just a short walk away. Prices seemed reasonable, so off we went. My father always seemed to find a good Italian restaurant everywhere he went, from Singapore to Seoul. The operative word here being "good." 

This restaurant was....ok. Neither of us expected five-star cuisine and to that end, we weren't disappointed. It was filling and reasonably tasty, but that's about it. We didn't come here to eat Italian food anyway. This is the land of schnitzel and bratwurst, not "spaghetti arrabbiata."

Our hotel has a terrace with a fantastic view. It was still a bit early for bed, so we ordered some more Auslese (See? That danged A-Word strikes again!). We had a wonderful conversation with our bartender and told him why we were there. "We have reservations tomorrow night at Puricelli (the hotel's Michelin-starred restaurant)."

"Ahh, good choice! May I suggest you do this as a wine-pairing dinner? We will pair each course with the best wine. Be prepared for a three-hour experience."

Wine pairing, with local wines? How could we not do it? Done!

I still can't believe we're actually here!

What a view!

Sunset on the Mosel

Life is good

A pleasant coolness settled in as the sun went down. It felt so good just sitting outside, near the Mosel River, sipping wine and taking it all in. After a couple of glasses each, we decided to call it a day. 

I had a hot date with a hot shower....upstairs.

Like I did with my Madeira series, I recorded the step count we did each day. I call it "minimum steps" because I sometimes carried something in my left hand, limiting the watch's movement. 

Minimum steps: 7106 

3.05 miles

For a travel day with lots of sitting, that was more steps than I thought we'd have. I'm sure most of those were at Schiphol.

Coming up next, our first full day in Germany.

Ready for more? The next installment can be found here.

The first installment can be found here.

Until next time....

carpe cerevisi

 

Our Germany Adventure: 45 Years in the Making

Welcome to the first installment of another series on our travel adventures. We began planning for this trip before we even spent our first day in Italy in 2024. You can find the first installment of our adventures in Italy by clicking here. We typically plan our trips this way. Once one trip is finalized, we'll start pre-planning the next adventure. Not only does this give us something to look forward to, it allows us maximum flexibility to choose what we want to do, how we want to do it and when we want to do it. 

Schloss Lieser

As I mentioned earlier, we had pretty much finished planning our Italy trip when we decided upon our next destination. Both Cindy and I enjoy the sweet white wines of Germany, specifically the Mosel Rieslings. My absolute favorite is an Auslese. For many years, decades even, I've wanted to visit the Mosel Valley to see where the grapes are grown and the wines are made. We decided this would be our next adventure: Visiting the Mosel Valley and experiencing everything in the heart of the German wine country.

As a reminder, any links in blue will open in a new window. You won't lose your place here. Clicking on a photo will display a larger version of it.

When it comes to travel, we use only one travel agent: William Luke. I first met Will when he was a Personal Vacation Planner for Carnival Cruise Line. Once he left Carnival to open his own travel planning business, Cindy and I naturally started using him for all of our travel needs. He provides concierge-level service and seems to always be available. When I'm on the phone with him, he makes me feel like we're his only client, and will stay on the line until all of our questions are answered. There is no rush on his part to just conclude the business at hand and move on to the next client.

Just how dedicated is Will to helping us out? We sent him an email late on a Sunday evening to begin very preliminary planning for Germany. We expressed that we wanted to stay in the heart of the Mosel Valley, but we were NOT making any solid plans just yet. "This is just for our information only. Please take your time with this, as we won't make any decisions any time soon." The very next morning, we had a huge list of detailed information on several hotels where we wanted to stay. See what I mean about concierge-level service? We made it clear we were just "info gathering" and Will sent us plenty of information to look at. Thank you, Will! 

Fast forward to 2025, and we are now planning our trip in earnest. With Will's help, we selected Schloss Lieser as our first hotel to begin our trip. We specifically booked a "vineyard view" room and they delivered in spades. More on that it a bit, though.

Our original plan was to fly into Frankfurt, then take a commuter flight to Salzburg, Austria to experience a night of Mozart's music and explore Salzburg. After a hard look, though, we realized this would take two days of travel out of our time there, so we scratched that idea and decided to head straight into the Mosel Valley for the first few days. Looking at the map, we discovered just how close to Luxembourg and Belgium we were. 

The lightbulb came on in my head and now Bastogne was a destination to explore. Cindy studied the train system extensively, and we realized that this would be our primary mode of transportation in Germany. We finalized our itinerary, had Will book our hotels, and searched for the best flights. 

Itinerary

Day 1: Arrival into Frankfurt, then train to Lieser

Day 2 (our first full day): Wine tasting, exploring Bernkastel-Kues

Day 3: Day trip to Cologne

Day 4: Wine tasting and exploring Bernkastel-Kues

Day 5: Depart Lieser for Bastogne via train and bus

Day 6: Explore Bastogne and depart for Luxembourg

Day 7: Depart Luxembourg for Traben-Trarbach

Day 8: Depart Traben-Trarbach for Frankfurt

Day 9: Day trip to Fulda/Point Alpha

Day 10: Depart Frankfurt for home

On the surface, it looks like a full speed ahead itinerary, but we did build in some slack time as well, as you'll read later. As with any plans, we hit a few snags along the way, but managed to adapt, improvise and overcome. Besides, those "snags" usually make for good memories later. 

Cindy and I try to use points for travel when we can, instead of paying cash. This might limit some of our options, but overall it does save a lot of money and we still have many options to choose from. Optimally, we wanted a direct flight from Houston to Frankfurt, but based on our actual travel dates, we ended up booking KLM from Houston (IAH) to Amsterdam (AMS) then onto Frankfurt (FRA) with KLM's regional carrier Cityhopper. We flew with Cityhopper from AMS to Venice (VCE) on our Italy trip in 2024, so we were already familiar with them.

Our travel day finally arrived after more than a year of detailed planning and we were ready to go. A co-worker drove us to IAH from our house so we wouldn't have to pay for parking. He'd also pick us up on our return. 

IAH - AMS

KL662

PH-BQM (777-206ER)

dep IAH rwy 15L, arv AMS rwy 18R

Of all the trips we've flown internationally, this was the first time flying on a B-777 for either of us. Fun fact: the GE-90 engines on a B-777 are about the same diameter as the fuselage of a B-737. Wow!

A quick general note about our air travel preferences. To avoid confusion, I call the seats we select "business lite." Different airlines call these seats by different names, such as Premium Select, Premium Economy, Premium, etc. Rather than using the specific marketing term for each segment, we just call it "business lite." The seats are a little wider than standard economy and usually follow a 2-4-2 configuration, or something similar. There's a bit more legroom and most of these seats have an extendable footrest. While not quite the luxury of Business Class, it works just fine for us. We pick the window and adjoining seat, which means it's just Cindy and me. Perfect! Most of the time, Business Lite also gives us priority check-in and better meals, too.

We planned to get to IAH a few hours early to allow time for international check-in, baggage drop, and the never-ending threat of bad Houston traffic. With TSA Pre-check through Global Entry, we breezed through baggage drop and security with minimal waiting....about 25 minutes total from drop off to walking into the lounge. Thankfully, we had access to the KLM Crown Lounge through one of our cards, so we were able to relax, keep our phones fully charged, and enjoy complimentary food and drinks before our flight. In all, we spent about two hours in the lounge before making our way to the gate. 

I love to take photos of our aircraft from the gate, but due to the way it was oriented, I couldn't get a clear shot of it. No worries, there will be plenty of other photo ops. 

Boarding was fast and efficient, and we got settled quickly. As is our custom, we purchased some Lindt and Dove chocolates as a thank-you for our cabin crew. We like to do this with each international flight we take. Flight Attendants have a tough job, so if this gesture makes even a little difference (it did!), then our goal was accomplished. 

View from our seats

Obligatory boarding selfie (OBS)

Yep, this is a Newman tradition: We have to take an "OBS" because....

Well, because!

We're traveling and having fun. We need to capture these fun times for memories.

With no scale, it's hard to appreciate just how massive the 777 is. It's huge! We pushed back right on time and taxied to 15L for departure. The acceleration was both rapid and smooth. The one minor downside to this aircraft was the lack of overhead gasper vents. These are those swiveling, adjustable air vents found on most passenger aircraft. Throughout the flight, this made the cabin feel stuffy, at least to me. 

Climbing out of IAH

Our route took us northeast out of Houston then a more easterly course as we approached the New England area. Our amenity kits included the standard sleeping mask, ear plugs and a toothbrush, as well as a menu for our meal selections. 

Dinner

Drinks

For the vast majority of my international flights, most of them tended to depart in the early evening or even at night. Our flight to AMS, though, left just after 3 pm. I mention this only to illustrate that when trying to get some sleep on the flight to mitigate the jet lag, leaving in the early afternoon made it difficult for me to take a long nap. Well, it wasn't just the earlier departure. It was also the cabin temperature. I'm warm-natured in general, and with the lack of an appreciable airflow, the whole flight felt unduly warm to me.

Let's try the Negroni

It was....different. Not necessarily bad, but.....different. I offered Cindy a sip and the look on her face told me everything I needed to know. "Ugh, this tastes like cough syrup!" That's exactly how I describe Southern Comfort. Would I have another? Probably not. Was I happy to have tried it? Definitely. I've discovered some tasty cocktails by just....trying it.

Not long after our drinks were served, our meals arrived. Both of us selected the chicken in adobo. I debated back and forth between that and the beef, but ultimately the chicken won. 

Time to eat

Real silverware with a cloth napkin made this feel like more of a restaurant meal than an inflight meal. Those peppers were tender and sweet, and the chicken wasn't dry as it tends to be with these types of meals. Overall, I'd order it again.

The sun cast a big glare through our window, so Cindy asked me to close the shade. No worries. I had a nice IFE (inflight entertainment) screen to occupy my attention. I started re-watching The Hail Mary Project, but eventually picked a suitable audiotrack to listen to while alternating the different map displays.

Are we there yet?

This was about the time I tried, I really tried, to take a nap. No joy, though. Between the warm cabin and it being just too early by my biological clock, I managed only a short, light nap. Better than nothing, I guess. 

I mentioned earlier that the FAs seemed to appreciate our chocolate gift. At least six different Flight Attendants, including the Purser, dropped by our seats to thank us for the candy. Both Cindy and I were happy that they enjoyed a small treat.

About an hour out of AMS, our breakfast arrived. A cup of black coffee and this breakfast would help get us through the next several hours.

Breakfast menu

Those that know me know that I detest bananas. As in really, really despise them. Even as a baby I didn't like bananas. So, I gave Cindy my banana serving and she gave me her French Toast serving. Win-win all the way around.

One more meal

With breakfast done, and landing just a short time away, we got ready for the next part of the trip, a short flight to FRA then trains to Wittlich and a taxi ride to Schloss Lieser. It was, literally, "planes, trains and automobiles." 

We arrived on 18R, just before sunrise. From previous experience, we weren't going to waste any time, other than a bathroom break, before passing through passport control. The last time we did that was our trip to Italy in 2024, and the lines there were enormous. We made the mistake last time of fooling around in the terminal before going through passport control and were stressed about missing our connecting flight. We did make it, but neither of us wanted to experience that stress again. Our bags were checked through to FRA, so we didn't have that extra hassle of baggage claim and re-clearing security.

With the new European Entry/Exit System (EES), everything is automated. That's great, when it works. We heard horror stories of chaos when the system crashed, so we planned for the worst and hoped for the best. 

Turns out, it went pretty smoothly, at least for me. The hardest part was figuring out the proper orientation of my passport in the reader. Once that was done, it scanned my right four fingers and my initial processing into the Schengen was done. It sent me to "Route 2," which is one side of the room, yet Cindy was directed to "Route 1." I stood in line for maybe five minutes, scanned my passport and had my photo taken and that was it. Done!

It took Cindy about 25 minutes due to some technical issue or other, but it was still much faster than what we experienced in 2024. For those who want to collect passport stamps, this new system doesn't do that. Sorry folks, but those days are gone until something else comes along.

With passport control out of the way, we stopped for coffee and walked to our next terminal. Schiphol is huge, but this walk allowed us to stretch our legs and helped us wake up. 

My next installment will cover the flight from AMS to FRA, the train ride to Wittlich, and the rest of our arrival day. 

Have any of y'all experienced the new EES yet? What did you think about it? I'd love to see your thoughts in the comment section below. 

Until next time.....

carpe cerevisi