Wednesday, September 07, 2005
30 September BACK IN GERMANY
Guten tag!
From fishing villages back to forests and rivers. My journey from Gozo Island, Malta to Frankfurt was a taxi to ferry, ferry crossing to Malta mainland, taxi to airport, plane to Frankfurt, taxi to my hotel. All in a day.
FRANKFURT I enjoyed my Free day here, visited 3 churches and attended an organ recital in one of them, even stayed for the tea & chat afterwards. Wandered around the old and the new town. They have trams and lots of bridges along the Main River. I shopped and then stopped for lunch in the City Beer Garden, complete with 2 man band. Ate Kassler ripperl, sauerkraut and beer. A Bosnian woman approached me, and in German began telling me about my past, very true and specific stuff. Then she began telling me my future, and it was all good news. Hope she is right.
My room was on the 5th flr overlooking nothing but the tops of trees in the State Forest, a wonderful sight. Beds have been so comfortable throughout Germany with eiderdown dooners just like mum always had. For dinner all the Globus tour passengers met and this time, all but one couple are AMERICAN, plus one token Aussie couple and me. Tour guide is Barbara from Munich. She is good and very knowledgable.
Next day began with a 2 hour cruise on the Rhine which began near Rudesheim and ended at the Lorelei Cliff. Lorelei means "luring rock" by the way. However the locals tell the tale that the seamen always crashed boats and drowned here after seeing the beautiful rock which looked like a woman with long hair. The effect of sailors having been away too long at sea.
Drove past Bonn and then Remagen where the ruins of the tower where American troops breached Hitlers west wall. Next stop COLOGNE overnight. Bought 4711 perfume, a must when in Koln. Went to the cathedral where the new Pope stood only a few weeks ago to address 100,000 young people from all countries. Some greeted him by walking into the water because he came by boat along the Rhine. This motel was the best, leather chairs, gorgeous cushions and huge bed. Dinner was along the same lines as the room, very good. Schnitzel & red cabbage. I slept like a baby.
Election time is on in Germany, posters in every town. First time ever a woman is leading in the polls. The current Chancellor has been married 4 times which is why they say he drives an Audi, 4 rings, get it?
PIED PIPER territory. Visited Hamelin, the Ratcatchers House and alley where the story took place. A really cute town.
Past Prince Carolines husbands castle Prince Ernst, near Hildesheim. Very small town but nice country. We passed lots of forest and saw deer. Past the first Checkpoint watchtowers, now no longer in use since the reunification of East and West Germany.
BERLIN Statistics pop. 3-4 million (Germany has 80 million all up), 120,000 uni students, 16% unemployment. 7 Nobel prize winners from these universities. So much history here and a lively city. A city tour covered Charlottenburg, the 1st of many palaces and the Pergamon Museum. Our motel was wonderful and included free use of the internet. However I was too busy. Normally the motels charge 10 Euros, approx $20 Aust. I finally met my cousin Uwe here for the 1st time ever. He is very handsome. He and his lovely family (wife Andreas and delightful 9 yr old daughter Louisa) picked me up from the hotel at 3 pm. We had hot chocolate in a very special chocolate shop and then drove to Potsdam where the famous Sanc Souci Palace and gardens are. They have an italian feel about them which is the look the royals were after. We strolled in the gardens and around lakes all afternoon and chatted and generally caught up with each other. Swapping the occasional stories about our fathers who were brothers. Louisa was so sweet I just wanted to take her back to Australia with me. Then Uwe found a nice restaurant by the water where we could sit outside and continue this magic day with dinner. I had a typical Berlin meal of Liver and onions, it was really good. We all got on really well and I will treasure these memories forever. Thank you Uwe, Andreas and Louisa for showing me some of your beautiful city.
Breakfast buffets have been to die for. Erdbeer quark, herring, camenbert, smoked salmon and Leberkas etc. Left Berlin and saw nothing but Grunwald (forest). Many SMART cars around (invented by Swiss swatch watch guy but Mercedes now manufacture them). Also TRABANT, little 2 stroke cars.
We stopped at places which Barbara calls technical stops or change of fluid stops along the highway. We have to pay 50 cents for the toilets and often the men have to queue as well. Finally no discrimination in the toilet department. Tourists can find WC signs anywhere, we are getting really good at spotting them. At these petrol stations, they sell marinated gherkins, lots of varieties from Spreewald (local forest). The Americans loved them. Some with garlic, herbs, mustard, pepper or horseradish etc. Huge gherkins. We listened to Bach music along the way and it is quite cosy on the coach.
LEIPZIG lunch stop and visited churches with magnificent stained glass windows, even had Bachs head on one of them, Thomaskirche. This church has a 63 degree angle sloping roof. This town is also the home of Mendelsohn. Next we saw windmills for electricity, huge ones and hundreds along the freeway. Then it began to get hilly as we crossed into Bavarian territory.
Passed a town called BAYREUTH pop. 20,000 (I will be visiting on 15 Sept with my aunt). Wagner fell in love with this place so King Ludwig II built him an opera here and the Wagner festival is held here every year, tickets sold for $1000 Euro.
NURNBERG Huge soccer ball in main square advertising 2006 World Soccer Cup. You could go inside the ball and play a virtual game of soccer, kicking etc. This cute old town complete with towers, moat and a wall around it, was fun for shopping. Known for Lebkuchen (gingerbread without the ginger), christmas decorations sold, german dolls and in particular the Hummel dolls. On to the Hilton Nurnberg overnight. Wurstl & sauerkraut for dinner and then I decided what better place for a girl to pamper herself. Evening was spent with a long bath using every foam and cream the motel provided. Then all clean and cosy I pranced around my room wearing my Hilton slippers. Good stay at home night.
ROTHENBERG Everyone just loved this town and agreed that 3 hours was just not enough. It was charming and shoppers paradise. More dolls and beautifully decorated shop windows and christmas shops. It is a magical place for young and old.
ROMANTIC ROAD passing cute little towns. Mainly hilly but did pass a huge flat area where meteorite struck many years ago.
MUNICH and the Sheraton hotel, 7th floor, corner room with views both sides. Great dinner again, pepper steak everyone enjoyed it just for a change and Bavarian Bom for desert. Huge slabs of 3 flavoured ice cream like a bomb alaska. 8 pm off to the Hofbrauhaus to drink one litre of beer and sing and watch the entertainment on stage, band with traditional dancing (Schuhplatten) & yodelling. Even played one song with cowbells. We linked arms and sang along with "trink, trink, bruderlein trink....." and "eins, zwei, gsufer".
City tour next morning. King Maximillian & Ludwigs Nymphenburg Palace. Mercedes showroom with all cars in silver, every type. There are 51 museums and 70 theatres. A very lively city pop 2 million. approx. Skyscrapers are forbidden here, so as not to spoil the view of the Alps. What a top idea! Olympic Stadium, Roentgens private residence. Cafes, restaurants and we had 3 hours free to wander around. Watched Glockenspiel at 12 noon in Marienplatz and then posted my 2nd parcel home, this one weighing in at 4.8 kg. Pinakotek Museum to see art from 1600s, amazing, Durers, Rembrandts, Battistes. The Victoria Markets were a dream for food lovers. Berries of every variety, Johannesberren, Himmberren etc. I found a great seafood spot and ate a delicious crusty roll with Matjes Herring and loads of raw onion. Feet were sore again that night.
Left Munich at 4 pm, once again feeling that more days here would have been wonderful but then again, I shall be returning. We joined the Freeway and many of the Americans giggled every time we passed signs saying AUSFAHRT, which was quite often, because it means EXIT. We crossed the Donau River which is the Danube, and by the way, it isnt blue. More forests as we headed south to GARMISCH. Mountains began appearing in the background, including the famous ZUGSPITZE. Landscape breathtaking, real fairytale stuff. Appropriately King Ludwigs LINDERHOF CASTLE is in this region and I was in heaven here. It was his hunting lodge. We did a guided tour quite late and it was fully furnished. I loved every room, the gold, the 3 dimensional paintings on ceilings and walls with cupids etc. His bed had curtains of ermine (white with black spots), he had to have the best fur a royal could have. Gardens were equally beautiful but my favourite of all was the GROTTO. We had to climb further up the hill for 10 mins to get to it. Coloured lights on stalagtites and mites as you entered the cave and a beautiful large swimming pond inside with a spectacular swan shaped boat and cupid on it. He was a dreamer, like me, and he loved this spot. I wish I had a grotto in my house. Reminded me a bit of Hugh Hefners.
Trivia - did you know that he was gay (not that there is anything wrong with that), but apparently he was madly in love with Wagner and spent lots of money on him. Also withdrew after Wagner married a woman. We played Wagner CDs on the coach.
GARMISCH staying at Hotel Obermuhle. This is a fabulous skiing resort and very nice chalet style hotel. Mountains as a backdrop when out on my balcony. Edelweiss and Heidi country. The big old white farm houses with the wooden stable attached and carved dark brown wooden balconies with love hearts carved in them and full of colourful geraniums in window boxes. Postcard material. Shops sell local wood carved items and cuckoo clocks. Fresh mountain air to start the next morning for a drive across the Austrian border (Tirol) for a short while and then back into Germany to visit Ludwigs other Castle, Neuschwanstein. It means New Swan Stone and features many swans in statues and paintings. It was huge and Walt Disney like. We had top weather and we had to do a lot of climbing, some couldnt even come along so they stayed in town to shop. Many steps and a lot of downhill steep bushwalking. Some of the Germans brought stocks (walking sticks) with them and they walked cross country down steep slopes whereas we stuck to the main path. I loved it all. A top day! We had lunch in a beergarden overlooking the castle on the hill. I had liver dumplings and beer. We played lively Bavarian "oompah" music to sing along to on our way to Oberammergau (the Passion play village) for more shopping of wooden carvings, hummel dolls, beer steins etc. I didnt purchase anything, but enjoyed seeing all these things that I grew up with in my parents home.
So in case some of you have been waiting for this next update, hopefully you can appreciate from the above that I have been extremely busy, and when I have had time off, I needed it. So thanks again for your emails, I enjoy the contact and am happy that you are able to come along on this journey with me. Day 66 of 90.
We are so lucky with the weather. It is really quite hot and only 2 weeks ago you couldnt come here, it was all flooded.
love Gisela xxx
From fishing villages back to forests and rivers. My journey from Gozo Island, Malta to Frankfurt was a taxi to ferry, ferry crossing to Malta mainland, taxi to airport, plane to Frankfurt, taxi to my hotel. All in a day.
FRANKFURT I enjoyed my Free day here, visited 3 churches and attended an organ recital in one of them, even stayed for the tea & chat afterwards. Wandered around the old and the new town. They have trams and lots of bridges along the Main River. I shopped and then stopped for lunch in the City Beer Garden, complete with 2 man band. Ate Kassler ripperl, sauerkraut and beer. A Bosnian woman approached me, and in German began telling me about my past, very true and specific stuff. Then she began telling me my future, and it was all good news. Hope she is right.
My room was on the 5th flr overlooking nothing but the tops of trees in the State Forest, a wonderful sight. Beds have been so comfortable throughout Germany with eiderdown dooners just like mum always had. For dinner all the Globus tour passengers met and this time, all but one couple are AMERICAN, plus one token Aussie couple and me. Tour guide is Barbara from Munich. She is good and very knowledgable.
Next day began with a 2 hour cruise on the Rhine which began near Rudesheim and ended at the Lorelei Cliff. Lorelei means "luring rock" by the way. However the locals tell the tale that the seamen always crashed boats and drowned here after seeing the beautiful rock which looked like a woman with long hair. The effect of sailors having been away too long at sea.
Drove past Bonn and then Remagen where the ruins of the tower where American troops breached Hitlers west wall. Next stop COLOGNE overnight. Bought 4711 perfume, a must when in Koln. Went to the cathedral where the new Pope stood only a few weeks ago to address 100,000 young people from all countries. Some greeted him by walking into the water because he came by boat along the Rhine. This motel was the best, leather chairs, gorgeous cushions and huge bed. Dinner was along the same lines as the room, very good. Schnitzel & red cabbage. I slept like a baby.
Election time is on in Germany, posters in every town. First time ever a woman is leading in the polls. The current Chancellor has been married 4 times which is why they say he drives an Audi, 4 rings, get it?
PIED PIPER territory. Visited Hamelin, the Ratcatchers House and alley where the story took place. A really cute town.
Past Prince Carolines husbands castle Prince Ernst, near Hildesheim. Very small town but nice country. We passed lots of forest and saw deer. Past the first Checkpoint watchtowers, now no longer in use since the reunification of East and West Germany.
BERLIN Statistics pop. 3-4 million (Germany has 80 million all up), 120,000 uni students, 16% unemployment. 7 Nobel prize winners from these universities. So much history here and a lively city. A city tour covered Charlottenburg, the 1st of many palaces and the Pergamon Museum. Our motel was wonderful and included free use of the internet. However I was too busy. Normally the motels charge 10 Euros, approx $20 Aust. I finally met my cousin Uwe here for the 1st time ever. He is very handsome. He and his lovely family (wife Andreas and delightful 9 yr old daughter Louisa) picked me up from the hotel at 3 pm. We had hot chocolate in a very special chocolate shop and then drove to Potsdam where the famous Sanc Souci Palace and gardens are. They have an italian feel about them which is the look the royals were after. We strolled in the gardens and around lakes all afternoon and chatted and generally caught up with each other. Swapping the occasional stories about our fathers who were brothers. Louisa was so sweet I just wanted to take her back to Australia with me. Then Uwe found a nice restaurant by the water where we could sit outside and continue this magic day with dinner. I had a typical Berlin meal of Liver and onions, it was really good. We all got on really well and I will treasure these memories forever. Thank you Uwe, Andreas and Louisa for showing me some of your beautiful city.
Breakfast buffets have been to die for. Erdbeer quark, herring, camenbert, smoked salmon and Leberkas etc. Left Berlin and saw nothing but Grunwald (forest). Many SMART cars around (invented by Swiss swatch watch guy but Mercedes now manufacture them). Also TRABANT, little 2 stroke cars.
We stopped at places which Barbara calls technical stops or change of fluid stops along the highway. We have to pay 50 cents for the toilets and often the men have to queue as well. Finally no discrimination in the toilet department. Tourists can find WC signs anywhere, we are getting really good at spotting them. At these petrol stations, they sell marinated gherkins, lots of varieties from Spreewald (local forest). The Americans loved them. Some with garlic, herbs, mustard, pepper or horseradish etc. Huge gherkins. We listened to Bach music along the way and it is quite cosy on the coach.
LEIPZIG lunch stop and visited churches with magnificent stained glass windows, even had Bachs head on one of them, Thomaskirche. This church has a 63 degree angle sloping roof. This town is also the home of Mendelsohn. Next we saw windmills for electricity, huge ones and hundreds along the freeway. Then it began to get hilly as we crossed into Bavarian territory.
Passed a town called BAYREUTH pop. 20,000 (I will be visiting on 15 Sept with my aunt). Wagner fell in love with this place so King Ludwig II built him an opera here and the Wagner festival is held here every year, tickets sold for $1000 Euro.
NURNBERG Huge soccer ball in main square advertising 2006 World Soccer Cup. You could go inside the ball and play a virtual game of soccer, kicking etc. This cute old town complete with towers, moat and a wall around it, was fun for shopping. Known for Lebkuchen (gingerbread without the ginger), christmas decorations sold, german dolls and in particular the Hummel dolls. On to the Hilton Nurnberg overnight. Wurstl & sauerkraut for dinner and then I decided what better place for a girl to pamper herself. Evening was spent with a long bath using every foam and cream the motel provided. Then all clean and cosy I pranced around my room wearing my Hilton slippers. Good stay at home night.
ROTHENBERG Everyone just loved this town and agreed that 3 hours was just not enough. It was charming and shoppers paradise. More dolls and beautifully decorated shop windows and christmas shops. It is a magical place for young and old.
ROMANTIC ROAD passing cute little towns. Mainly hilly but did pass a huge flat area where meteorite struck many years ago.
MUNICH and the Sheraton hotel, 7th floor, corner room with views both sides. Great dinner again, pepper steak everyone enjoyed it just for a change and Bavarian Bom for desert. Huge slabs of 3 flavoured ice cream like a bomb alaska. 8 pm off to the Hofbrauhaus to drink one litre of beer and sing and watch the entertainment on stage, band with traditional dancing (Schuhplatten) & yodelling. Even played one song with cowbells. We linked arms and sang along with "trink, trink, bruderlein trink....." and "eins, zwei, gsufer".
City tour next morning. King Maximillian & Ludwigs Nymphenburg Palace. Mercedes showroom with all cars in silver, every type. There are 51 museums and 70 theatres. A very lively city pop 2 million. approx. Skyscrapers are forbidden here, so as not to spoil the view of the Alps. What a top idea! Olympic Stadium, Roentgens private residence. Cafes, restaurants and we had 3 hours free to wander around. Watched Glockenspiel at 12 noon in Marienplatz and then posted my 2nd parcel home, this one weighing in at 4.8 kg. Pinakotek Museum to see art from 1600s, amazing, Durers, Rembrandts, Battistes. The Victoria Markets were a dream for food lovers. Berries of every variety, Johannesberren, Himmberren etc. I found a great seafood spot and ate a delicious crusty roll with Matjes Herring and loads of raw onion. Feet were sore again that night.
Left Munich at 4 pm, once again feeling that more days here would have been wonderful but then again, I shall be returning. We joined the Freeway and many of the Americans giggled every time we passed signs saying AUSFAHRT, which was quite often, because it means EXIT. We crossed the Donau River which is the Danube, and by the way, it isnt blue. More forests as we headed south to GARMISCH. Mountains began appearing in the background, including the famous ZUGSPITZE. Landscape breathtaking, real fairytale stuff. Appropriately King Ludwigs LINDERHOF CASTLE is in this region and I was in heaven here. It was his hunting lodge. We did a guided tour quite late and it was fully furnished. I loved every room, the gold, the 3 dimensional paintings on ceilings and walls with cupids etc. His bed had curtains of ermine (white with black spots), he had to have the best fur a royal could have. Gardens were equally beautiful but my favourite of all was the GROTTO. We had to climb further up the hill for 10 mins to get to it. Coloured lights on stalagtites and mites as you entered the cave and a beautiful large swimming pond inside with a spectacular swan shaped boat and cupid on it. He was a dreamer, like me, and he loved this spot. I wish I had a grotto in my house. Reminded me a bit of Hugh Hefners.
Trivia - did you know that he was gay (not that there is anything wrong with that), but apparently he was madly in love with Wagner and spent lots of money on him. Also withdrew after Wagner married a woman. We played Wagner CDs on the coach.
GARMISCH staying at Hotel Obermuhle. This is a fabulous skiing resort and very nice chalet style hotel. Mountains as a backdrop when out on my balcony. Edelweiss and Heidi country. The big old white farm houses with the wooden stable attached and carved dark brown wooden balconies with love hearts carved in them and full of colourful geraniums in window boxes. Postcard material. Shops sell local wood carved items and cuckoo clocks. Fresh mountain air to start the next morning for a drive across the Austrian border (Tirol) for a short while and then back into Germany to visit Ludwigs other Castle, Neuschwanstein. It means New Swan Stone and features many swans in statues and paintings. It was huge and Walt Disney like. We had top weather and we had to do a lot of climbing, some couldnt even come along so they stayed in town to shop. Many steps and a lot of downhill steep bushwalking. Some of the Germans brought stocks (walking sticks) with them and they walked cross country down steep slopes whereas we stuck to the main path. I loved it all. A top day! We had lunch in a beergarden overlooking the castle on the hill. I had liver dumplings and beer. We played lively Bavarian "oompah" music to sing along to on our way to Oberammergau (the Passion play village) for more shopping of wooden carvings, hummel dolls, beer steins etc. I didnt purchase anything, but enjoyed seeing all these things that I grew up with in my parents home.
So in case some of you have been waiting for this next update, hopefully you can appreciate from the above that I have been extremely busy, and when I have had time off, I needed it. So thanks again for your emails, I enjoy the contact and am happy that you are able to come along on this journey with me. Day 66 of 90.
We are so lucky with the weather. It is really quite hot and only 2 weeks ago you couldnt come here, it was all flooded.
love Gisela xxx
# posted by Gisela @ 7:45 AM 
