Day -3: Poppin’ Pillies

Pilsener Urquell Brewery

America is known for being a melting pot of cultures: so many of us can trace our ancestry back to far away lands, so many of us dream of one day visiting these ancestral homelands. Today one of us finally got to accomplish that goal. Today, Stevie got to see her homeland: Pilsen. We left Salzburg early to drive the four-ish hours to Pilsen, Czechia (<-apparently that’s what we are supposed to call Czech Republic now) to see the town that gave us the mighty Skoda as well as some type of beer called a Pilsner or something like that.

While our trusty stead was basking in the glow of Skodas of years past, the rest of us went to explore Pilsner Urquell, the brewery that invented the Pilsner. The informative tour took us through the brewery’s museum, where we could see the exact equipment used to make the very first pilsner, and culminated with us being able to try the beer straight from the barrels in the cellar vaults underneath the city.

After the tour, we explored the city center, tried some more of Czechia’s beer and cuisine, and really really enjoyed the fact that we are now finally off the Euro for practically the duration of the trip. Cheap country after cheap country after cheap country from here on out (with the minor exception of Slovakia which we hopefully will be able to drive straight through).

St. Bart’s Cathedral in the city square

Tomorrow we head to Prague, where we will finally meet up with Dan, our fourth teammate. There we will also finally be united with the other 700 or so ralliers from all corners of the globe which should make for quite a night on the town in Prague. The pre-rally has been great allowing us to get used to Stevie’s transmission and nuances and allowing us to see some pretty amazing places. Thanks as always for not only supporting us, but more importantly supporting the Ramp Less Traveled. As we approach the kick off, we just want to say how much we have appreciated all of the interest and the support. It means a lot. Until next time - FWY

Milk

Day - 4: Königssee and Salzburg

Thursday started in Königssee but ended in Salzburg. 

Mike was excited to catch uninterrupted views of the lake from a “secret” waterfall hike above Königssee, so Thursday started well before 7 AM. Fueled by Nestle Taster’s Choice, Mike and Joe set off on the hike. The hike itself tracked up the northeastern part of the lake. The large extent of the hike was shaded by the tall, alpine trees except for two scenic lake lookouts. We were the only two on the trail which allowed for us to make incredible pace and take in undisturbed views of the lake as the morning sun rose above the Alps behind us. Reaching the second viewpoint, we then followed an unofficial route to the waterfall. The trail was made out and trampled underfoot, but still a bit slick from the previous evening’s rain. We took it slow in spots to ensure safety and made it to the waterfall with no problem apart from muddy shoes and hands. The lake was glass and the sun was shining on the western rock wall. We took in the stunning views and relaxed in the cool but humid morning air. Mike took a plunge in one of the freezing waterfall pools - no real reason, but why not? You just gotta. 

Lake at sunrise

Salzburg

After packing up the campsite, we headed to Salzburg. Only a short drive away, we made it there by lunchtime. We grabbed lunch, paid for parking only to find out it was free that day, and unpacked into our Airbnb. Then, we explored Salzburg. If you’ve visited before, I’m sure you’re well aware of how beautiful the city is with it’s charming Alstadt and spectacular fortress that rises above the city against the backdrop of the Alps. However, if you haven’t visited, you’d be soon to find out Salzburg is very proud that 1) Mozart lived here and that 2) Sound of Music was set here. We visited the Mozart house, Mirabell Palace and gardens, the Alstadt (or “Old Town”), and the magnificent cathedral. In the early evening, we took a tour of the Hohensalzburg, the towering fortress that dominated the surrounding area. The tour was actually very informative and offered amazing views of the surrounding Alps. It was cool to learn about how the fortress transformed over the hundreds of years as European conflicts and wars erupted around it. The gang concluded their night in the Salt City with traditional Austrian dinner at Die Weisse before downing liters at the Augustiner beer garden in the hot night. It’s a shame that we only get one night here in Salzburg and can’t explore more of the mountains and hikes the area has to offer. It’s sad to go, but the show must go on; to borrow a catchy lyric from Salzburg’s von Trapp gang, “auf Wiedersehen”. - FWY

View of surrounding Alps from fortress

Day -5: Schönau am Königssee

Can’t pronounce that? Yeah, us either. Schönau am Königssee is a picturesque resort town tucked in most southern part of the German alps. Austria is just on the other side of the mountains. On Tuesday night, the team arrived in the early evening before making camp. We were expecting nice weather on Wednesday, so we wanted to get an early start on the day to explore two of Koniggssee’s sights - the Eagle’s Nest (Kehlsteinhaus) and Berchtesgaden National Park. 

Wednesday started around 7 AM with the usual - Nestle Taster’s Choice instant coffee. It’s served scalding hot and it doesn’t taste exactly like coffee; but I think we can all agree caffeine helps us bear each other’s presence more graciously on early mornings. Joe was driving and we had quite the incline to reach the Eagle’s Nest parking lot which meant a lot of first and second gear driving. While the gear shifting was far from smooth, we reached Obersalzburg, the alpine town that used to be basecamp for Hitler’s restricted area where many Nazi war plans were devised by high ranking party officials in seclusion of the German Alps. To get to the actual Eagle’s Nest, you can either hike up or take a shuttle bus. We elected to take the bus to allow for maximum time hiking in Berchtesgaden in the afternoon. The bus smoothly navigated up the shear face of the mountain in 20 minutes. Luckily no cars are allowed up because it would have taken Stevie an hour. At the top, we walked down a 100 yard damp, stone tunnel, before taking a gold plated elevator up 124 meters to the Eagle’s Nest. The Eagles Nest itself was built as a retreat and relaxation getaway for Hitler and high ranking Nazis. Eva Braun was known for visiting the house commonly in the summers. Hitler, on the other hand, hated the place and only visited 14 times. Luckily for us, the weather was perfect and we took in panoramic views in all directions. The building now is converted to a restaurant, which is kind of a bummer, so we of course had ourselves  a 9:30 AM Hefeweizen as we admired the scenery and toasted the US 101st Airborne for their capture of the place 74 years ago. 

The Eagle’s Nest. It’s a shame that this is a restaurant and not a museum

Prost Cpr. Winters

We headed to Berchtesgaden in the afternoon. Berchtesgaden is the only national park in the alps and it features a beautiful blueish-green alpine lake, Königssee, in the middle of it. Shear mountain faces fall into the water on each side of the lake, and it opens up to green open pastures on the south side. It was like an inland fjord in the middle of the mountains. Although I’ve never seen Sound of Music, this place reminded me of it. We took the hour-long, park licensed ferry to the south side of the lake where we completed the Obersee and Röthbach Falls hike. It was a beautiful hike that tracked the coast line of the Obersee alpine lake before running into shear mountain walls where a 450+ m falls cascaded down the rockface. We hiked up to the base of the falls, well Joe and Mike did, to see some incredible views of the valley and two lakes, Obersee and Königsee, off in the distance. We have some pictures but nothing will do it justice. We were planning to stay another night here but tomorrow we are thinking of heading to Salzburg early after one last early morning hike (and perhaps swim) in Berchtesgaden. -FWY

Ferrying across the lake

View from base of Röthbach falls with the two lakes in the distance

FWY

Day -6: Ponder Time in the Mountains

Miles Driven: 317

Time in Car: 6 hours 

Borders Crossed: 1

At six hours, today was our longest drive yet, but our daily average once the rally officially starts will be closer to eight. While today was easy and seemed to fly by, it’s a good reminder that we have some truly grueling days ahead of us. Luckily we have three able drivers, and hopefully a fourth on the way (practice Dan!), to share the burden. As we drove from Baden Baden and the Black Forest into the Alps, we really tested Stevie’s abilities, and well, let’s just say we won’t be doing much passing while headed up hill. Our trusty steed made it though, leaving us feeling more confident in her abilities. 

Today also marked our first pivot from our planned itinerary. Yesterday we blogged that we were onto Freiburg; that was a fake announcement. While Freiburg im Breisgau would have been awesome, we decided to skip it and we chose to power through directly to Schönau im Königssee as we think that we would enjoy the extra day in the Alps. In addition to the infamous Eagles Nest, we are looking forward to the various hikes and views the area has to offer. Not sure how great of phone service we will have as we explore the first of the four major mountain ranges on our journey.

Last but not least, we were pulled over for the first time by police this afternoon in an unmarked BMW. It was just a random check but I bet the 100 stickers plastering our car may have tipped them off. All they wanted was to check our documents and ask if we were carrying any drugs, the latter of which we responded to with a “no”. After a few minutes, they asked where we were heading and upon hearing Mongolia, they let out a chuckle. More laughs came when they learned our Skoda was only 2wd. This type of reaction is par for the course although usually we get a few more WTF’s to go along with head shaking in disbelief. As we drove off, we laughed about the pullover knowing that it was likely the most painless cop run-in we will have all trip. From Turkey eastward there won’t be laughing, friendly cops; only incomprehensible demands for money which hopefully we can avoid by feigning dumb or handing them a box of Marlboro Reds. Until next time. - FWY

View from our campground for the next few days.

Don’t Be Rackless

We would like to take a break from our scheduled programming to give a shout out to our friends over at Rack Attack. Skoda Fabias, for those of you who have never seen one in person (which I’m guessing is just about everyone of you), are not exactly known for their luxurious trunk space. Between our camping gear and our spare car parts, we have a fair amount to crap to store. Without a roof rack, we would have to make some serious supply cuts, and I’m fairly certain that my opulent three pairs of boxers would not have received as high as priority as our spare gas cans. Thankfully though, Rack Attack was generous enough to donate a Yakima Offgrid (with the extension!) to make our journey possible. The roof rack allows us to keep our gas cans, spare tire, camping equipment and car supplies out of the Skoda, leaving room in Stevie for ourselves, our clothes, and hopefully Dan (pack light!).

Seriously though, we can not recommend Roof Rack enough. The customer service is fantastic (shoutout to Will in the Skokie location!). After explaining our journey as well as giving them the make and model of our car, they were able to recommend and donate a roof rack that would allow us to maximize our roof space. If you’re looking into installing a roof rack, definitely check them out. It would be rackless not to. Don’t be rackless. Check our more about our sponsor at Rackattack.com

Day -7: Baden-Baden

Miles Driven: 174 

Time in Car: 3 hours 

Borders Crossed: 0

7 days out from our official Rally start in Prague and today we drove south from Marburg to Baden-Baden. It was a quick drive passing by Frankfurt as we soon arrived in the small, ritzy resort town. The town itself is on the foothills of the Black Forest and it is world famous for its upper-echelon spa resorts and exclusive casino. It’s been a getaway destination for historical European dignitaries like Napoleon III, Queen Victoria, and Victor Hugo. We arrived in the afternoon and walked the Gönneranlage, a pristine rose garden split by a bubbling stream that runs its way into town. Following the waterway into town, we found cobbled streets, fancy restaurants, and designer shops. The only motorized vehicles permitted in the town center were the black Mercedes taxis. It reminded me of a Vail village type town. We walked the streets, strolled the forest park, grabbed a doner kebab, and popped into the casino. The casino is regarded as one of the best in the world - it’s said to the be the inspiration for Dostoyevsky’s The Gambler. Dress jackets were required so with our backpacks, jeans and t-shirts, all we could was try to catch a glimpse of the blackjacks tables inside. Baden-Baden showcases luxury and pleasure in the highest degree; while it was a nice town to visit, we knew this will be far from the norm as we move into the later phases of our rally.

Baden-Baden rose garden

We chose to skip the baths in the city and head up into the mountains to our campsite. We drove up into the hills of the Black Forest to a beautiful campground where chef Corsaro whipped up tacos while Tanner and Mike stickered up the car (post coming on that later). While the sun set behind the tall trees, we enjoyed stunning views of the rural German hill country over some pilsners. Tomorrow we drive to Freiburg and the heart of the Black Forest. - FWY

The town from the forest park

Day -8: Tanner the Tour Guide

Miles Driven: 255

Time in Car: 4 hours

Borders Crossed: 2

The drive out of Brussels started early and we bid farewell to the EU Capitol. Our sights were on Germany, specifically Marburg - the picturesque, cobblestoned college town known for its regional German dishes, towering Castle in the city center, and being the inspiration setting to many of Brothers Grimm folktales, like Rapunzel.

About an hour and a half into our drive out of Brussels, we met our first surprise of the day: The Netherlands. There would have been no way of knowing we even passed through the country if it weren’t for the fact that we needed gas. Stopping at a highway Shell station, we stupidly tried to read the Dutch fuel pump instructions before the station attendant walked outside and showed us what to do. After topping off, we were out of Netherlands in about 30 seconds. In total, we were in out of Holland in under a half hour. See ya next time, I guess.

Out of Netherlands, we met the perfectly paved, speed limit free highway - the Autobahn. Tanner had Stevie’s tiny engine purring and spinning on all cylinders. We were clocking out at 85 mph in some stretches. Of course we drove in the right lane to make way for Audi’s and Porsche’s whizzing by at triple figure speeds, but it was nice to let all of Stevie’s 1.2 L engine grip it and rip it down the German speedway. After passing by Cologne and making quick work of the Western German autobahn, we eventually caught sight of a far-off a castle on the hill rising above the green surrounding forests - Marburg.

Marburger Schloss

Marburg is a college town surrounding a towering castle upon a hill that is lined with cobblestone alleyways, dimly-lit bars, and a wonderful city square. Luckily for Joe and Mike, Tanner studied in Marburg in 2013 and knew enough German to not look like a fool when someone asked what beer they wanted. Tanner assumed the role of tour guide and rudimentary translator and he played it well. Tanner showed us all the main spots - the Marburger Schloss, the botanical gardens, and Oberstadt (“Old Town”). While his in-depth knowledge of Marburg’s town history proved his worth as a tour guide, his direction on where to eat earned his keep. We lunched on classic schnitzel dishes but the real winner was dinner and the auflauf. Calorically dense, this meal served as a great recovery meal after walking the hills of Marburg all afternoon. Before the night was done, Tanner showed Mike and Tanner all the go-to bars that he frequented as a college student. Most were darkly lit, some beneath ground. One had foosball - turns out Joe, in all of his athletic splendor, is ridiculously good at foosball. Tomorrow we head to Baden-Baden, or “Bath-Bath”, a small resort spa town on the foot of the Black Forest.

Oh, and in car news, we finally figured out how to remove our Skoda factory radio. Turns out, a hammer and enough applied force does the job just as good as any key. Until next time - FWY

When in doubt use a hammer