Tag: Germany

Cologne & Lustheide, April 2023

May 2, 2023 /

27 April – Frankfurt to Cologne – It’s relocation day, off to Cologne. To be accurate, our destination is Lustheide, an outer suburb of Cologne. The host of our AirBnB seems very communicative and sent what appeared to be very clear instructions. We took the train into Frankfurt Central, spent some time having a coffee and bun before going to the bus station to await our Flixbus. Flixbus is our favourite in Europe, their bright green buses being comfortable and generally on-time, barring road events beyond their control. Since we were here last, the number of routes and cities serviced has increased greatly. The best part, is that a luxury seat with toilet access, charging and wifi is often only a third of the cost of a second class rail ticket. We considered a proper lunch but neither of us was too hungry (rare for us) and we took advantage of the fact that the busport was spanking new, and therefore clean, something most busports are not.

The Flixbus arrived dead on time and we found our pre-booked seats. We had booked the very front seats on the top deck, giving a wonderful panoramic view. You get to see a lot more from the bus than the train, the rail lines often being through industrial areas or the view obscured by thickets of scrub. The trip was set for a little over 2 hours to Cologne Airport and things were going really well until we caught up with the long line of almost stationary traffic following a major truck smash on the autobahn. It took more than an hour to clear the snarl and so by the time we had negotiated a train from the airport to Cologne Messe Deutz station to change to an underground, it was peak hour, and the U Bahn was packed. It is always fun with luggage squeezing onto a packed train.

We alighted at Lustheide and thought we had followed the instructions to walk the 450m walk to our lodgings, but after 600m or so, a helpful local confirmed that we were walking in the wrong direction altogether. We retraced our steps, disobeyed the first instruction we had and set off on the right track. Our apartment is the attic floor on the third level of a lovely house, set in a pretty street. Our host greeted us and showed us the ropes. He told us that he had once worked for TNT in Australia, which explained his excellent English. The apartment is quite charming, especially after the basic austerity of the one in Offenbach. The hosts have gone out of their way to provide comforts, a couple of cold local beers in the fridge, two types of coffee machines with plenty of coffee, a full range of bath products and lots of tourist information. This is the BnB part that so many AirBnB hosts ignore. Fortunately, there is a Lidl supermarket just across the road so we didn’t have to go far to pick up some supplies for dinner. We spent the evening watching the World Snooker Semi Final which was being live broadcast from somewhere local. It was quite fascinating and the only show we could find where the German didn’t matter.

View from our attic

28 April – Lustheide – The day started dark, wet and gloomy, with a forecast max of around 14º. It did not look like improving until the late afternoon and the forecast proved accurate. We chose to spend the day in, relaxing, reading and researching future travel options. Around 3 o’clock, the weather had improved so we did spend an hour or so walking around the neighbourhood, admiring the houses and gardens before the horizon turned black once more and we headed for home. We will have to become less precious about going out in the rain if we are going to travel for months in northern Europe but for now we are happy to hide inside in the dry warmth.

29 April – Cologne – The day opened to more rain but it was forecast as short lived and we got organized to head off to Cologne. We were temporarily stumped by the lack of ticket machines at the station but a local told us we could buy them on the train. The light rail train (which is more like a tram) took us to Cologne Mess Deutz, which is on the eastern bank of the Rhine and we walked a kilometre or so to cross the Rhine River via the Hohenzollernbruecke Bridge, a 409m long rail bridge built in the early 1900s. Despite daily bombing raids during the war that damaged 75% of the city, the bridge remained largely intact, until the retreating Germans blew it up in March 1945. By May, the Americans had it operational again.

 

The Hohenzollernbruecke Bridge

After the war

Behind the bridge, the towering spires of the Cologne Cathedral formed a wonderful backdrop as we crossed the river. This was our first encounter with the Rhine River. The width and powerful flow needs to be seen to be appreciated. I can appreciate the skills of the pre-motorized boatsmen who were somehow able to navigate such waters against a very powerful current. The passing parade of river boats and barges either painstakingly pushed their way upstream or raced their way downstream. We saw some kayakers making hard work of paddling upstream, even though they were using the backwaters and eddies along the bank. The guard rails of the bridge were covered in “lover’s padlocks”, many inscribed with the names of the couple. The concentration of them was heaviest in the middle sections but they were thick everywhere, probably more so than on the famed bridge over the Seine in Paris where authorities eventually removed them all due to concerns about the added weight. Here the number was estimated to be more than 500,000 back in 2015 but the estimated weight of more than 12 tonne was not seen to be an issue.

Love Locks, only some of the 1/2 million

Exploring the alleyways of the old town

Once over the bridge, we located the departure point for our booked 1 hour cruise on the river and spent another hour exploring the beautiful narrow winding alleyways of the old town. The majority of the medieval building seem to be pubs and restaurants, a thing that was greatly appreciated by the large numbers of people sporting team colours in preparation for the Football match between FC Cologne and Freilburg, later in the day. There was a lot of “pre-soaking” occurring among the throngs and some cheerful banter between the groups.

We boarded the boat, a multi decked river boat and took an outside table on the top near the bow. I was a bit surprised at just how bearable it was given that it was still only 10º. Most people seemed to arm themselves with a beer, despite the cold, so we thought it was only polite to follow local custom. Locals are very protective of the Cologne beer (Kölch) and it is said that trying to order any other form of beer will get you thrown out of some pubs. It is only served in tall narrow glasses. The important thing is, it tastes good, even in icy cold weather.

A great place to live

The scenery was excellent and the commentary informative. The boat struggled upstream for a half hour or so then turned to sail downstream. Unfortunately, this was also into the wind and the added wind chill factor sent us packing inside and down a deck before bits started to freeze and fall off. We thoroughly enjoyed the cruise and it was a terrific way of seeing a lot of the city.

Once off the boat, we headed for one of the many harbourside restaurants and opted for some lunch. Despite the weather, we sat outside, although we cheated by sitting underneath a heater and placing one of the provided blankets across our laps. We both settled on a burger because they sounded good and we hadn’t had one for ages. They came out looking like the promotional pictures of a Hungry Jack’s Whopper, but never really resemble in reality. These were delicious, with an excellent real beef burger. The side of sweet potato chips and truffle mayonnaise went down well too. I knew there was a reason we were doing so much walking.

After lunch, we set out again to follow the crowds up towards the cathedral. The crowds had now swollen enormously, not just soccer fans, but large groups of locals who seem to come to the city on a Saturday and walk or buy lunch. Near the Central Station and cathedral, the crowd became almost difficult to move through. There were hens party groups in tutus, bucks party groups downing copious beers, tour groups from the many river cruise ships and family groups out and about, all heavily rugged up of course.

Words fail me trying to describe the Cologne Cathedral. We have seen many wonderful such buildings, the Duomo in Milan, Notre Dame in Paris and Duomo di Firenze in Florence amongst them but this one takes the cake. The towering turrets once formed the World’s tallest man-made structure and the intricacy of the stonework is staggering. The building dominates the skyline across most of Cologne. Fortunately, the wartime damage was minimalized because of a deliberate policy by the US forces to avoid bombing it. Photographs dotted around the building show the damage done and some of the early restoration efforts.

 

Cologne Cathedral on a better day than we experienced

We followed the crowds through town to the Neumarkt area before catching a tram back to our lodgings, tired but well content with our day exploring this beautiful city. Cologne is a must-visit city.

30 April – Cologne – The day began with clear skies, almost a first for the trip. The forecast promised a very respectable 19º so we decided to get some washing out of the way in the morning and then head back into Cologne for the afternoon. There is a cable car running from the zoo across the Rhine to a park and thermal spa on the eastern bank so we figured that would be a great way to get some different views of the city.

Many other people also thought it was a lovely day to be out and about and the trams and walk ways were crowded. So too was the queue to get onto the cable car, but we persisted and took a wonderful ride across the river. The argument crops up regularly about a cable car connecting Perth with Kings Park and having ridden a few, I can’t have anything but positive thoughts on the subject. It would be a hit with tourists and locals alike if they managed to keep the cost down. This one was $8, which seems very reasonable.

Once on the other side, we ambled slowly through a large and pretty parkland, filled with family groups picnicking or just walking. We stopped at a beer garden that was filled with people and waited an age for a beer each, mostly because the couple running the bar were horribly inefficient and seemed to think that only one of them needed to work at a time.

We continued the walk to Cologne Deutz Mess Station and caught the tram home, well content with a lovely day in the sunshine. With an early start planned for the next day’s move to the Netherlands, we started the process of packing. Cologne has been well worth the visit.

Frankfurt, Offenbach & Wiesbaden, Germany April 2023

April 27, 2023 /

20 April – Well, we have arrived, at long last, after a four year hiatus from overseas travel. As I write, we are settled in to a small but comfortable apartment in Offenbach, an outlying suburb of Frankfurt, Germany. As we grapple with the aftermath of an 18 hour flight from Perth and the attendant jet lag/disassociation that trips like that carry, we pinch ourselves that we are here again, starting out on what is to be a three month sojourn across seven countries.

The flight was bearable, which is pretty complimentary for a Perth to somewhere in Europe flight. We chose to fly Singapore Airlines, Economy Class to Singapore and Premium Economy Singapore to Frankfurt. The Economy class only served to prime us up to totally fall in love with Premium Economy. The cramped seats and 3-3-3 seat layout gave way to 2 secluded seats with loads of leg room, wide seats and enough lay-back and leg raise to allow an actual real sleep experience. I would still far rather teleport direct, but the Premium Economy is a worthwhile investment without breaking the bank.

Our last entry into Europe via Frankfurt was back in 2017 and went smoothly. This time, it was not so smooth. It was fine until getting through immigration and customs. It was trying to negotiate the train into the city that was an issue. Our preplanning suggested we needed to catch an S-Bahn to Ledermuseum (Leather Museum) , travelling through the Central Frankfurt station on the S9. OK, we found the S9 after a couple of aborted attempts. The ticket machine made no sense at all so we tried a friendly man at the ticket office. He looked at our written requirements, nodded, and sold us two tickets. We were pleased when the Commonwealth Bank travel card was accepted as payment, found the right platform, boarded the right train and set off. The train travelled through Frankfurt  Central and continued towards Ledermuseum. The digital readout kept putting up a screen saying something in German at regular intervals and I began to fear that it was telling us that there was an issue with the journey forwards. My lack of German proved to be no barrier. I was right. The line was closed and we would not reach out destination. I was on the point of losing it. The same thing happened to us in Melbourne for the Australian Open, which makes two AirBnBs in a row where we have chosen them for the convenient rail links only to find the rail is busted.

On advice from some of the other passengers, we disembarked at the next stop and returned on another train to Frankfurt Central. Here we sought the assistance of two assistants sitting at a DB Help desk. “Can you help us in English?” They nodded an affirmative, the man grinning as he handed us over to the girl next to him, I suspect because he knew she would be out of her depth. She fluffed around with an app on her phone and pretty much failed before he came to the rescue and sorted us out. We were off again to find Platform 4 and a RE (Regional Express) to Offenbach and a 650m walk to our apartment. Platform 4 had an ICE (Intercity Express) train waiting, which threw us, but a young lady who was waiting said it would probably (hopefully, maybe?) be replaced by an RE train and to follow her lead, as she was wanting the same train as us. The ICE did indeed depart and the RE slide in. We found a seat. When it got to around ten minutes past the departure time, a lot of people got up and left, leading us to have doubts that things were going well. Asking around, it seems that there were issues with the automatic doors failing to operate and the train would be delayed for an indeterminate amount of time. Some had elected to leave and seek another train. We stuck it out, mainly because we didn’t know how to seek another train. Suddenly, the doors closed, remained closed, and we were off to Offenbach.

Offenbach station looked like something out of “A Clockwork Orange”, graffiti layering over more graffiti and corridors occupied with homeless. We had managed to get our travel SIMs working at long last in our phones so Google Maps directed us on the easy walk through the graffiti lined streets to our apartment. After mis-interpreting the entry directions three or four times, we hauled our bags up the one flight of steel stairs to a snug, quirky but reasonably comfortable apartment that would be home for the next week. The central heating worked (essential given that the max for most days was around 12 degrees) and there were enough comforts to keep us going.  After dumping our gear, we set out to find a super market. We headed down a street with the amusing name of “Frankfurter Street” and asked a pair of young women if they spoke English and for directions to a supermarket, as luck for have it, one was an English teacher. They gave us the location of the local “Penny Mart”, which stocked a wide range of goods at surprisingly low prices. A basic shop of supplies for breakfast, lunch and dinner and a couple of wines set us back €30 ($A50), a great start to the tight budget. The centre of Offenbach looked exciting to explore, with numerous cafes, restaurants and interesting shops, many set in a walking precinct. Well content, we had a quick bite to eat and crashed to try to reset the biological clocks.

Our apartment is one level up on the left.

Offenbach – 21 April – We spent our first full day doing very little, needing to fully recover from the long flight. We both woke very early, around 5am, with dawn coming at just after 6. With breakfast down, we went out for a stroll around the Offenbach CBD. There are a number of walking only streets and promises of Friday market stalls. These didn’t really materialize, other than a few fruit and veg stalls along with some flower sellers. The fact that it was 5 degrees may have had something to do with it, with very few people out and about early. Otherwise, the range of shops is interesting, with lots of small variety stores side by side with some very upmarket fashion boutiques and swank jewelers. After a long walk around we dropped into the Penny Mart and grabbed a few more supplies. It is a challenge to find goods in small packages, because we have limited room to lug groceries between cities. Sometimes, we just have to accept that we will keep half a packet of something and leave the rest for the next guests in our apartment.

After lunch and watching a dismal performance by the Dockers against the Bulldogs (we have Kayo), we headed off for another walk the opposite way down Frankfurter Strasse to check out the tram terminus. A tram line that services Frankfurt Central terminates about a kilometre down the road and represents a much nicer and cheaper way to get around than the RE train. The walk took us through what was obviously once the elite part of Offenbach. Beautiful old houses set in spacious gardens adorned both sides of the road. Most were now apartments, some were professional suites and the odd one looked as though it was still a house of some grandeur. Opposite the tram stop was a park, Spielplatz Parkstraße, which was full of magnificent trees, now sporting the emerging spring leave coverage. We correctly identified a couple of English Oaks and a Holly bush before being stumped by some towering fir like trees. Christine has an app on the phone that identifies plants and we were surprised to find they were Giant Sequoias, or Californian Redwoods. It was a peaceful and lovely walk and we managed to soak up the charm of a beautiful part of this German City.

Frankfurter Strasse in Offenbach

Palmengarten – 22 April – It was an early rise (5:30) to watch the Eagles get beaten soundly by Port Adelaide. I have no idea why we thought this was a good idea but there it was. Later in the morning, we set off to the tram terminal to catch the No16 tram into Frankfurt, a trip of around 25 minutes. The tram ride was beautiful, winding its way through some truly lovely streets. When in Frankfurt before, we had stayed in the central part of the city where very few old buildings had survived the bombings of WWII. The only old buildings were reconstructions of gothic structures. On the south side of the river between Offenbach and Frankfurt, many of the streets were lined with stately 18th and 19th Century buildings, now turned into apartments. Green parks dotted the area, many still sporting flowering fruit trees and tulip and daffodil gardens were common.  It being a Saturday, the sidewalk cafes were busy, made more so because it was the first day over 15 degrees for some time, the maximum predicted to reach 21 later in the day.

It was noticeable on the tram, and elsewhere, just how reserved and polite the people are. People stand back and let others alight before boarding, pass greetings and apologies if they get in someone’s way. We were surprised by the sight of several people boarding the tram with dogs on leads. A noticeable feature is how multicultural the population is, Germany having absorbed large numbers of migrants and refugees over the last two decades. In fact, more than half the population of Frankfurt has a migrant background and nearly a quarter are foreign nationals. Frankfurt is one of the World’s wealthiest cities and has the sixth highest number of ultra-wealthy individuals.

Frankfurt has an excellent tram system

We got off the tram at Frankfurt Central Station, Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof, thinking we would have to find another tram or underground to our destination, Palmengarten (Palm Garden Botanical Gardens). I looked at the maps and found that the No16 tram kept going right past Palmengarten. Before getting back on, we walked around and checked on the location of the Flixbus Terminal in preparation for our move to Cologne and the location of The Alder Hotel, where we would stay for one night in July before flying home. As is often the case, the area immediately surrounding central railway stations is a magnet to the homeless and some of the sidewalks were somewhat on the nose. The homeless are very much in evidence, mostly North African or Middle Eastern and one can only feel a sense of sadness that our World has enough resources to help everyone if only we can even up the distribution somehow. To its credit, Germany has done quite a lot to help, but the sight of so many people in difficulty is a tough one when we live in comparative luxury.

The Palmengarten proved to be a wonderful experience. The grounds are full of exotic trees and plants, although many are still to regain their foliage after winter and the rose garden had been pruned back completely. What carried the experience was the numerous enclosed climate controlled enclosures that featured palm collections, an amazing cactus garden, tropical rainforest plants from around the World and a fascinating butterfly enclosure, with a wonderful collection of free flying brightly coloured butterflies feeding on a variety of flowering plants in a moist tropical environment. The grounds are large enough that by the time we emerged from the butterfly enclosure, we decided the legs had done their work for the day and we made our way back to the tram, to ride all the way back to Offenbach, leaving further exploration for another day.

The Palmengarten

By the time we got back near the apartment, it was around 2pm so we decided to splash out on lunch at a seafood restaurant around the corner from our lodgings. It rates highly on Trip Advisor, and rightly so, because the food was sensational. It is a bit sad that here in an inland city far from the ocean one can get a better and cheaper feed of top quality fish, prawns and calamari than back home. The fish was Sea Bass fillets, perfectly grilled. The prawns and pieces of squid were also grilled, with a side of chilli sambal. It was fresh, crisp and really tasty. The meal was served with an excellent salad and a modest serving of small potato rounds fried. It was a far cry from the battered deep-fry-up that is the norm back home. All up, the meal, with two beers, was €34 ($A50).

Then it was home to crash out, perhaps too much so, as our sleeping clocks are still not synched yet.

Old Frankfurt – 23 April – We took the tram into Frankfurt again today to walk around the old city area and Romer. It being a Sunday, there were a lot of people out and about in the tourist plaza of the Romer and the nearby old streets of the reconstructed gothic city area. We have spent quite a bit of time in the area on a previous visit but this time the artificial appearance seemed accentuated and overly touristy. It makes for good photography but not much more. The area is filled with churches and they all seemed to peal their bells at once. It was quite jarring and discordant, with a lack of a good musical director. We stopped at a bakery and brought a couple of pretzels, which also proved to be a bit underwhelming. Abandoning the tourist area, we strolled down the roads to find a shopping precinct to look for some warm loungewear only to discover that most businesses close on Sunday, including the large shopping centres. This practice is at odds with some of our politicians back home who insist that the rest of the world is open 24/7 and Western Australia needs to catch up. Later, we found the “Closed on Sundays” rule extends to many restaurants and take-aways. The supermarkets in Offenbach, the Lidl and Penny, were both closed as well, leaving us with few food options later in the evening. Overall, it was a lack-lustre day but still far better than not being here at all.

Old Frankfurt

Offenbach – 24 April – We had a lazy day in. The manager of the apartment block came around to unblock the shower drain, otherwise, not a lot happened. We did go out a couple of times to walk the area and discover more shops and sights but it was a quiet day, and the body appreciated it. The temperature has dropped too, and the magic weekend weather has given way to a 14 degree max with grey skies and light rain. Tomorrow looks worse.

Offenbach – 25 April – We rugged up and headed out to the Oppenbach Markt, a local produce market operating on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday. It was interesting to see the variety of different fruit and vegetables. Most were labelled with the country of origin. There were some very strange turban shaped cabbage things from Portugal. White asparagus is very common and cheaper than the green variety. The fish and meat vans had pork, lamb and beef, although the beef is extremely expensive. All meat is pricey, with chicken being at least affordable and turkey even cheaper. Fish is more expensive than it is at home and there is far less choice. The flower stalls were outstanding, with beautiful arrangements available for around $A15. There were huge bunches of tulips and amazing bunches of bud roses.

The Offenbach Markt

We were excited to see a wurst stall, selling a variety of sausages with bread and a sauce. These are common further south, in Bavaria and especially in Austria but we had not seen many in the Rhineland. We chose a Bratwurst with a curry sauce and bread roll. It was delicious. We chose to share one serve and we both hoped the other would instantly take ill so we could eat it all.

What has surprised us is the lack of English amongst the general population. Granted, Offenbach is not a tourist area in any sense but Frankfurt is one of Europe’s biggest transport hubs and economic centres. Our feeling is that there is less English in this part of Germany than in Croatia or Italy. This extends to signage and menus, most of which are German only. Google Translate gets a good work out.

Wiesbaden – 26 April – We awoke to a temperature of -1ºC so before we headed out, we rugged up with the full thermals and jackets. We took a train to the nearby city of Wiesbaden, a journey of around 50km. We opted to buy an all day ticket, which proved useful because it is a slight saving on the return trip and it also gave us access to the bus system in Wiesbaden, the whole region falling under the RNV transport system. The trip took us through Mainz, another city on the junction of the Main and Rhine rivers. Although smaller than Frankfurt, Wiesbaden is the capital of Hesse, and Mainz is the capital of Rhineland-Palatinate. Wiesbaden has 15 thermal springs dotted around the city so it has been important since Roman times as a spa city. It enjoyed an almost cult status amongst the wealthy during the 19th Century and many fine houses can be seen throughout the city. Even today, the city has one of Europe’s highest number of ultra-wealthy people and very high overall average wealth.

As soon as we emerged from the central train station, the beauty of the city was obvious. Wide tree-lined streets lead away to the old town square, with numerous pretty parks, fountains and gardens, sporting a glorious array of tulips and the cherry trees in full bloom. Many of the stately homes are now either apartments or professional offices but the grandeur of life near the late 19th century was easy to picture. The city sustained very little damage during WWII and so there are fewer of the austere 1950s plain blocks of offices and apartments that characterise many other German cities. The town square was dominated by a majestic town hall and the towering triple spires of the Markikirche, an enormous protestant cathedral built entirely of brick. A fresh food market was in full swing, along with a wonderful array of food trucks, so we helped out the local economy by indulging in yet another “Curry Wurst und Brot”. It must be the cold weather because these things are getting addictive.

Around Wiesbaden

After getting some advice at the Tourist Centre, we caught the No1 bus out of town to the Nerobergbahn, a quirky little funicular railway that climbs 83m along a 400m track to the top of a hill overlooking the city. Built in 1888, this railway is famous because it uses an amazing system of water ballast. Two cars operate, one going up and the other down. When at the top, one car is filled with 7,000L of water, making it around 7 tonne heavier than the one at the bottom. As it descends, it hauls the other one up to the top. Once at the bottom, the railcar dumps all its water, which is pumped to the top of the hill again to fill the other car. The views from the top are sweeping, allowing us to take in the whole city. The hill is also home to a Russian Orthodox Church and a war memorial to the fallen in the Great War, which, seen the day after Anzac day, was a reminder that the tragedy of WW1 was not a one sided affair.

The Neobergbahn

Back down the hill, we caught the bus back into the city, alighting to inspect one of the thermal springs, a 66ºC fountain with multicoloured deposits creating a low dome in a small plaza.

A thermal spring

From there, we made our way back through picturesque streets to the town square, stopping along the way to have a lunch of salad rolls and coffee in a bakery. The Germans certainly do bakeries well, with an amazing variety of delicious goods at affordable prices.

We had considered stopped off in Mainz on the way home but we had already walked around 7km so decided enough was enough. Wiesbaden had delivered the goods. A beautiful city well worth the visit.

Tomorrow, we leave Offenbach to journey north to Cologne (Köln) via Flixbus. We are very happy with our choice of staying out of Frankfurt in Offenbach because it has given us the chance to really appreciate this interesting and comfortable city. It is not on the tourist lists, but we can recommend it.

 

 

 

 

Danube Cruise and Cycle – May 2017

May 10, 2017 /

Danube Bike Cruise  30 April-7 May 2017

We boarded our cruise ship (river barge?) in Passau on schedule and were soon settled into a small but very well equipped cabin. The ship is beautiful and has all the latest mod-cons, although as usual on cruise boats, money is the key. We saved ourselves a bit of money by buying and economy cabin that was cheaper because it was close to the engine room and suffered from noise during night time passages. It wasn’t nearly as loud as we had been led to believe and it didn’t worry us at all. However, we spent a little more by choosing a middle deck cabin rather than the lower deck, thereby scoring a full sized picture window well above the waterline.

Vessel Notes

  • MV Carissimar
  • Length  110m Width 11.4m
  • Draft   7m
  • Decks 3
  • Cabins 75
  • Passengers 150
  • Speed 21  km/h

Our route will take us from Passau in Germany, through Austria, Slovakia (stopping at Bratislava), Hungary (with a stop and a turn-around in Budapest), back into Austria (with a stop in Vienna) and back to Passau. The whole trip is eight days.

At the end of the cruise we had clocked up 172km on the bikes.

Life aboard the ship was very comfortable with some terrific company. We had two other Aussie couples, Sonja and Ray from Brisbane and Jenny and Darren from Melbourne. Dining seating was arranged by language spoken and we shared a table with a lovely English couple, Heather and Phillip, from Newark near Nottingham. There was also Barb and Bob from Alberta, Canada in our little group of English speakers. Most of the other passengers were German speaking although there was also a large contingent of Dutch. The meals were generally of a high standard with breakfast being a buffet and dinner four courses with some degree of choice. The wait staff, who mostly seemed to come from various Balkan countries, had a very strict set of rules, which included not changing seats. We delighted in breaking the rules and after a while the staff came to enjoy and share in our quirky sense of humour. I had a habit of ordering the chicken when presented with a choice of meals, even when it was sweets or there was no chicken offered and eventually they responded by doing a chicken dance for us.

Like all organised tours, there were a lot of rules and timetables to comply with. We were issued with the “Yellow Document” that gave strict times that had to be adhered to at the risk of being left behind. Daily announcements seemed to run to a somewhat different schedule to the “yellow Document”. We also received a daily “Cycling Briefing” where the complexities of the day’s cycle pathway were fully explained yet never fully understood. We never actually became lost but we had a couple of close calls and managed to rescue a few fellow cyclists at times.

The main guest manager was obsessed with hygiene, not an unreasonable obsession with 150 close packed guests on one ship, but obsessive all the same. Dispensers of hand sanitizer were positioned at every door way and instructions to “sanitize your hands please” were forthcoming on each and every boarding. I saw the logic and even agreed with it but it was hard to take at times.

Each day of cycling involved around 42km, mercifully mostly on the flat. We had paid the extra for an electric assist bike. We still had to pedal but at least we could kick in the help juice when the hills appeared. The bikes were of exceptional quality and brand new. However, unlike our e-bikes at home, there was no option to stop pedalling and simply apply the throttle. Our legs had to keep moving all the time so we still suffered the same degree of soreness and chaffing that the others copped. We were supplied with a pannier bag and handle-bar bag each, along with a spare tube and repair kit (luckily we didn’t need either).

Breakfast before a riding day was a fashion lovers nightmare. There was lots of lycra on show, complete with outlined rolls of flesh that should have been disguised under more voluminous clothing. Some people, like us, didn’t possess the full gamut of the real gear that true cyclist collect. We went out in thermal underwear, with shorts and T-shirts on the outer, raincoats to keep out the bitter wind and beanies instead of helmets. We wanted to wear helmets but there was simply not room to bring them in our luggage. The boat would sell us one for $A35 but that times two is a lot for five bike rides and there was no option to rent. Helmet use is not compulsory in Germany, Austria, Slovakia or Hungary unless you are under 15 so we went without.

The riding programs varied considerably from one day to the next. Out first day’s ride was through National Park alongside the Danube, almost all on cycle paths. Every so often we had to part with 2€ each to get on a ferry to cross to the other side of the river and sometimes the lure of a coffee stop or a lunch break would see us pull over and nurse our aching backsides. The scenery was spectacular, with magnificent forests covering the hills rising steeply above the fast flowing river. The river flow was being continually added to from streams entering along the valley, some creating lovely little waterfalls beside the road. It was quite charming and rather easy going. However, 43kms still works at the body even if the path is easy and the end was always a welcome sight.

Over the course of the week, we undertook four big rides, three of them 43km long and one 37km. We spent another afternoon riding in Vienna. Of the total distance, the vast majority was on well formed bike paths with the occasional stretch of road riding. This was mostly safe and secure except for one rather nasty 5km bit in Hungary where we had cars passing us at high speed on a fairly narrow country road. Most days we had to use a ferry at some point to cross the river, involving small ramp on vessels that charged around a couple of Euros to cross. One ferry in Hungary charged a whopping three Euros and only ran once per hour. We made it in good time but as we pulled out we could see others pedalling furiously along the river bank trying in vain to make the ferry.

There were a variety of little towns and villages dotted along the course of the ride with many cafes and small restaurants. Most were not open, with May being a little early in the tourist season. However, we did enjoy stopping for coffee and some form of delicious cake. Every form of cake or strudel is available in large quantities throughout Bavaria, Austria and Hungary and it is always cheap. Beer is also cheap but having a beer half way through a long ride is not recommended. We carried a packed lunch supplied by the boat and groups of riders would usually choose a pretty spot by the side of the river to stop for a break.

The cruise visited a number of major cities and some smaller cities or larger towns along the way. Sometimes we would stop overnight but usually the ship would depart at a later point and we would awake tied up somewhere new.

Bratislava

Bratislava is the capital city of the Slovak Republic (Slovakia). We rode into Bratislava from further upstream, crossing the border from Austria. On the Austrian side of the river there was a museum devoted to the Iron Curtain which featured a concrete bunker, layers of barbed wire and a system of trenches. I guess in times past most countries would have maintained some form of naval presence on the Danube but now many of the countries along its flow have open borders. We had the afternoon to explore Bratislava. The main feature is a huge castle that overlooks the city and houses many priceless art works and the Slovakian Crown jewels. The walls of the castle run down the steep hillside to be incorporated into the old part of the city, full of very beautiful buildings, stately apartment blocks and several open walking streets with shady trees down the middle. The weather was cool but good for walking and, as in all new cities, we stopped to sample the local brew and watch the passing parade. The streets seemed crisper and cleaner than most other places and everything was well organised. Bratislava created a very good impression.

Bratislava, Slovak Republic

Budapest

Budapest in Hungary was our turn-around point and we spent a whole day and most of the night there, giving the passengers a chance to really explore. There was an optional 52km ride to a nearby town but the aching muscles ruled that out and we opted instead for a bit of walking. As previous visitors to the city, some of the others picked our brains for the best way to see the city in a short space of time and I was relieved when the advice I gave turned out to be accurate. Luckily, I could go back and read earlier writings in the blog to refresh my memory. It was funny to read that I had noted an experience with an incredibly rude waiter because a lot of our friends ended up reporting similar experiences, including a waiter who yelled at people for not ordering Hungarian food and a woman in a shop who demanded that visitors to Hungary must try to speak Hungarian.

While in Budapest, we noticed with concern that we had mucked up on some of our bookings for later in the trip, booking a week in Trogir, Croatia for May instead of June. We needed access to better Internet than the boat seemed to be supplying so we decided to head out and find a cafe with good internet and have a solid session on the emails and bookings to see if we could rectify things before we started losing deposits. To do this, we needed a few Forints, the Hungarian currency but we had little other need of any, with lunch being available on the boat. I went ashore to an ATM and withdrew F1000, the minimum amount then realised half way back to the boat that I had withdrawn a whole $A4.68,probably not even enough for two coffees. The ship was docked on the Buda shore of the Danube so we crossed the famous Chain Bridge to the Pest side and wandered down a beautiful walking street. Most establishments were not yet open but we finally found one that was starting to open up. We asked if they took Euros but they said no. We explained that we only had F1000 and it appeared that that would buy us two coffees with a little change so we settled in to use their Internet. On this occasion we were lucky to find some friendly and helpful Hungarians.

Beautiful Budapest

Budapest by night is the most beautiful city we have visited, surpassing even Paris. On the Pest bank, the incredible Parliament Building under flood lights is beyond belief while on the Buda side the imposing Buda Castle and inspiring Matthais Church with adjoin Fishermens Bastion look down over the river. The Chain Bridge joins the two banks in a wonderful show of 19th Century ironwork. To top all this off, we were entertained by a glorious display of forked lightning crackling down over the city and heralding a good dose of torrential rain. We were safely aboard the ship and dining at the time, although some of our new friends were experiencing the deluge first hand.

Vienna

Austria’s capital city was by-passed on our downstream leg but on the return journey we pulled in for an afternoon and evening, allowing passengers some time to explore or go to a concert in the evening. Once again, we had done most things on our previous visit to Vienna so were content to just take ourselves into the city on a tram and the Metro to walk for a while and visit our favourite Wurtzel Stall. This proved harder said than done and we spent nearly an hour of our time just getting away from the ship and onto the right tram, mostly due to poor directions from the briefing. A lot of us had difficulty following the Austrian guide, not so much because her English was bad but more that her way of explaining things might have worked well in German but failed to translate across.

A Wurtzell Stall in Vienna is one of our fondest memories from our last trip with tasty Bratwurst and Currywurst, wholesome German bread and good Austrian beer. I consulted a map and made my best judgement about its location, deciding that it was most likely located in Stephenplaza. After a few errors with the Metro and the trams we made our way to what we thought was the right station, emerged from the underground and there, right before us, was our Wurztle Stand. Despite that fact that we had just had a big lunch on the ship, we still managed to squeeze down the extra 1000 calories on offer at the Wurztel Stand and confirm our memory of this being so much better than anywhere else we have tried German sausage.

Vienna is a city whose history conjures up a lot of romance. Music and concerts are advertised everywhere and there is a lot of choice when it comes to performances, both classical and modern. The architecture reflects the history as the capital of one of Europe’s great empires and there are many grand buildings to be seen. However, the city is rather disjoint and has integrated the newer post war buildings rather poorly in my opinion. On the northern bank there is a cluster of new steel and glass high rise buildings which display an interesting variety of shapes and forms but on the older bank of the river the mix of old and new is not so appealing. The parks dotted throughout the city probably save it, because they provide some welcome relief to the endless stone walls and statues that adorn everything. The mix of parkland and architectural splendour comes to a head at the Hapsburg’s Imperial Palace, which remains a must see part of the city. On this trip, we did not do it justice at all, so we were very glad that we had done a good job on our first visit and could afford to have a fairly relaxed day. Tomorrow it is back on the bike.

Vác and Esztergom, Hungary

We rode the 43kms between a couple of smaller Hungarian towns, passing through a number of tiny hamlets along the river. Before setting off, we explored the main centre of Vác and discovered a delightful town square surrounded by charming buildings, all very nice but then we have now seen too many beautiful towns to count. The cycle trip was rather different however, with the small Hungarian hamlets displaying a somewhat different character to those in Austria. The houses had very steeply pitched roofs, with many being and actual A-frame structure. Blocks were larger, with gardens in front and a vegetable plot at back. It looked very comfortable. Along the river bank were numerous tiny huts, presumably for fishing camps. Each one had a fine net suspended out the front on a high tripod. We wondered at the purpose, possibly a net for gathering bait or maybe there are shrimps of some kind in the river.

As we approached the end of the ride at Esztergom we began to see the enormous dome of the Basillica of Esztergom, an enormous structure perched high on a prominent cliff alongside a fortress of considerable size. The closer we got the more the structure seemed to dominate the view. With plenty of time before the boat docked, we decided to ride up through the town to inspect the basilica and catch the view. Fortunately for us, putting the e-bikes in 1st gear and full power makes light work of the very steep climb to the top. The heavily cobbled streets don’t help either and at one point, going up through a narrow lane to a draw bridge into the castle, it was more like serious mountain biking. The view was worth the effort and even the ride itself through the picturesque streets was thoroughly enchanting. Esztergom is a town worthy of a visit.

Esztergom, Hungary

Krems, Dürnstein and Melk

Our final ride was in Austria, after a day in Vienna, when we cycled the 37km from the town of Krems to Melk. We were looking forward to a ride 6kms shorter than the usual 43km but as it turned out, we nearly did the extra distance just getting out of Krems. Krems is a pretty enough little town with the usual scattering of old churches, the odd bit of fortification and numerous 19th Century apartment blocks. However, the ride briefing failed to give us really clear instructions for getting through Krems and onto the Danube cycle path so we spent nearly an hour wandering around looking for signs. We weren’t alone, with lots of cyclists buzzing about calling out instructions to others or calling for help. Somehow, we all made it out of town and onto the path. The day’s ride was easily the most picturesque of the cruise, taking us through the Wachau Valley, a wine growing region of some renown. Every village we passed through was gorgeous, made more by the numerous outlets offering wine tasting. Given the early hour and the fact that wine and cycling don’t mix we resisted the temptation.

The path took us through the village of Dürnstein, first mentioned in 1192 when, in the castle above the town, King Richard I of England was held captive by Leopold V, Duke of Austria after a dispute during the Third Crusade. The castle, which was damaged beyond repair by a Swedish army in the 17th Century, is an imposing sight on the hill over the village but it is the village itself, nestled amongst the ruins of the castle’s old fortifications, that gives the true charm to the place. We actually found Dürnstein to be the most charming village we have yet encountered, a big call given the number of beautiful little hamlets we have been through so far. Unfortunately, the rest of the World shared our opinion and the narrow streets were filled with tour groups. We had been warned of this and had not attempted to ride our bikes through the village. The good thing about the tour groups was that there were lots of tour guides operating in English so we could listen in for free. There was ambience everywhere, little cottages, cute little shops, smart pensions, arched bridges etc, the place had the works. A lot of shops were selling a local version of fire water made from apricots, fermented and distilled into a 40% alcohol brew that we definitely resisted trying. Later, we were presented with a miniature bottle of the stuff by Heather and Phillip, fellow cyclists from Britain. We will be forced to try it some time.

Durnstein Castle

Summary

This cruise was one of the best experiences we have had and will remain a highlight of our lives for many years to come. Not only did we make some wonderful new friends (thank you to Phillip and Heather, Sonia and Ray, Jenni and Darren, Barb and Bob) but we proved that there was still a little bit of puff in these two old farts and managed to clock up 172kms of cycling along the Danube River. We loved the cruising lifestyle, survived the excesses of food and beverage and added enormously to our developing understanding of the heritage of European life that it so fundamental to, yet so poorly understood by Australians.

In hindsight, we were incredibly lucky with the weather given the time of year. The only rain we had was on rest days in the cities and no ride was ruined with bad weather. At times it was a bit on the chilly side but cycling in the cold is much better than the hot weather.

There were also a number of people on board who did not cycle. I confess that I would find such a cruise rather boring if I had to spend most of the time on the boat. The shore going past is interesting enough but not for eight days. Indeed, some of the cruises go right through from the Black Sea along the Danube, through the new connecting canal, into the Rhine and on to Amsterdam, taking around 20 days. I would go mad. The cycling was the key to this cruise.

We booked our tour with Rad+Reisen, an Austrian company that runs cycling tours in many parts of the World. The bikes were first class and the organisation excellent, although some of the actual daily briefings fell short of the mark. As an experience, I can only recommend it. https://en.radreisen.at/

 

Milan, Munich and Passau, Germany 2017

May 8, 2017 /

Milan   23 – 25 April 2017

We left Trisobbio today, with more than a few regrets. Life here has been wonderful and we will miss our gorgeous little village on the hill with its castle and church but it is time to move on and give the Piscicellis back their apartment. Rob and Yvette drove us to Ovada to catch the train to Genoa and we took a local train on the 1 hour 50 minute trip to Milan. Along the way, I watched the seeding operations in the wheat fields. Compared to back home in Dowerin, the process was simple, with small tractors pulling tiny seeding units across fields not much bigger than a football field. However, the land looked very productive and there were lots of them so there must be a decent yield.

The train delivered us to Milano Centrale, one of Europe’s biggest rail stations with more than 20 platforms. It took quite a bit of walking to get out of the place but we found the taxi rank with little difficulty. This was the first taxi we have used on this trip in Italy. We normally get away without them but our hotel location made it difficult to use public transport with heavy backpacks.

The taxi driver bundled us in, took the address then started driving out of the rail station into the traffic. I noticed that he was playing “Candy Crush” on his smartphone while driving so I growled something about “playing games” and he threw the phone onto the passenger seat alongside him. However, it was soon back in his hand but hidden from my view, forcing him to change gears with the wrong hand and no hands on the wheel. Christine typed out a clear instruction to cease on Google Translate and showed it to him. “No,” he said, “I need GPS.” Then he showed us the phone on Google Maps. After that, he did use two hands to drive but drove a lot faster just to show us he was still the boss of the taxi. We gave him the exact change.

Milan is one of Italy’s great cities and has numerous buildings that make you stop and stare in amazement. Overall, it lacks the grand scale open piazzas and sweeping vistas that so impressed us in Turin but the buildings are grander and more impressive. It houses many great art treasures, including da Vinci’s “Last Supper”. Getting a viewing is a long process so we skipped that, along with Michelangelo’s last unfinished sculpture but we go the idea and settled with copies.

The Duomo Cathedral is at the heart of Milan, on the site of the ancient Roman Forum. Roads radiate from here and ring roads circle it, following the lines of the various old town walls, expanded outwards as the city grew. The Duomo was the site of a church as long ago as 355AD and parts of that still remain beneath the current cathedral. Its modern form was commenced in 1386 and built in stages over the years until its final completion was commenced under Napoleon’s rule in 1805 so that Napoleon could be crowned King of Italy within the walls of the church. Work goes on well into modern times and incomplete bits are always in evidence. The effect of the many rising spires and countless sculptures clinging to the walls and battlements is simply stunning. The white stone of the facade gleams in the sunlight. No wonder the square in front is always packed with people.

Milan. The Duomo is at the bottom and Sforza Castle at top left.

The piazza of the Duomo is also home to a pigeon population to rival Venice. People purchase small packs of grain so they can be photographed covered in pigeons. However, covered in pigeons means covered in crap so it was not for me. Neither was sitting eating my lunch, as hundreds of people were doing while pigeons flew around overhead. We counted ourselves lucky to get away unscathed.

The dominant building in Milan is the Sforza Castle, the main structure of which dates from the 15th Century. It was severely modified under Napoleon’s rule, who seemed to delight in tearing down the work of previous rulers, but restored towards the end of the 19th Century and again after damage from bombing in WWII. Today it’s huge courtyards are open to the public and forms the focus of long walkways from the Duomo through to rambling open parklands. Many of the important museums and galleries are housed within the walls of the castle. Unlike most of the other castles we have visited so far, the Sforza Castle is built on flat land, a blessing seeing as our legs are feeling rather sore from all the walking. Indeed, all of Milan is built on flat land and used to have a huge system of canals, partly designed by Leonardo da Vinci, but only a couple remain today.

We were puzzled by the sight of very long lines of people queuing to gain entry to a small bakery in an alley near the Duomo. People also covered most of the nearby steps and walls as they sat and ate what looked like slices of a rather doughy pizza-like substance. The long lines put us off testing the food but it had to be something good, although how one store can sell pizza so much better than anyone else’s in the land of pizzas is hard to understand. A bit of research showed that this was the famous Luini Bakery, established in 1949 when Giuseppina Luini came from Puglia and began baking a type of panzerotta popular in Puglia. It is a pocket stuffed pastry filled with mozzarella cheese and tomato. No wonder it was so popular. We had sampled one at a small stall near Sforza Castle earlier without knowing what it was. Not a pizza at all but very yummy.

Milan has a lot of public transport, with an extensive Metro Underground, trams and trolley busses. Our hotel was around 5km from central Milan so we used the Metro to cross the city and trams to move within the central area. An all day pass costs 4.50€ so it was excellent value. Our hotel was on the Yellow M3 line, the latest Metro line that featured driverless trains. Sitting at the very front afforded a great view of the tunnel and approaching passing trains. Even weirder was a seat at the very rear to watch the tracks melt away into the darkness. However, in a country with youth unemployment running at in excess of 25% I think that driverless trains is something they can do without.

Our trip into the city centre on 25th April was really relaxed and easy because it is a public holiday, not for ANZAC Day of course, but for Independence Day, representing the day that the Milan and Piedmont rebels overthrew Mussolini and the Nazis. The streets were quiet, despite the fact that most shops were open and at least half the restaurants were also closed.

Nearby our hotel was a large modern shopping mall, similar in layout to most the world over. It was really handy because it had a large supermarket that supplied all our needs. The top floor had a food hall of sorts with a range of different offerings, including a Spanish themed place that offered such a great range of tapas that we were wishing we had time to work our way through the entire menu.

The weather in Milan has been excellent, with maximums in the high teens, great for walking. From here we head over the Alps through Switzerland to Munich, where we can expect snow and temperatures only a little above zero. The bus will be warm but we have to get out at stops so it is drag out the beanie and scarf time.

Is Milan recommended? Absolutely!

Bus Trip Milan to Munich  – 26 April 2017

We caught a Flixbus to Munich. The original plan was to use the Metro to cross town to Lampugnano Bus Station but fate intervened with a terrible back pain, not Christine this time, but me. I have no idea what did it but it was the same old issue, with the legs barely working and the muscles threatening to go into spasm. We know now that pain control is the only real solution and that it is a 48 hour issue if treated properly. So we caught another taxi.

The taxi driver was named Franco and was a riot, quite unlike the guy we had on arrival. He told us he knew all the ways to get around the traffic jams that the rain had created and gave a running commentary as he used back streets, changed direction and shot down bus lanes. The whole trip was very entertaining. Incredibly, it was like he jumped ahead of us to meet us in Munich, because the next guy was just the same, except for the German accent. He described in detail the upcoming important soccer match between Munich and someone that was bringing the city to a halt and ruining his night’s takings. This guy knew all about Australia because he had seen Crocodile Dundee. Both were friendly, spoke good English and were very entertaining.

The bus trip proved to be a highlight of the trip so far. We had been across the same route heading south from Frankfurt but it was at night. This time we crossed the Alps in daylight. What a drive. The early part of the drive took us through Como with its beautiful lakeside scenery. Once into Switzerland and climbing, the snow commenced and it was covering the pine trees, creating a forest of perfect Christmas trees. The snow fall was heavy enough to make everything white and fresh but didn’t create dangerous conditions on the roads. Below the snow line was a glorious carpet of green fields, quaint villages and fast flowing rivers. Scores of long waterfalls plummeted down from the towering cliffs. Higher up there were huge mountains, fairy tale snow covered hamlets and deep valleys traversed by high bridges. It was amazing and even the two Austrian women in front of us were busy with their cameras.

Crossing the Alps with Flixbus

I confess to being a little nervous about an alpine crossing in snowy conditions but the driver was very careful and at no time did I feel insecure. We reached Munich in the early evening, just in time for the peak hour rush and crawled our way into the bus station.

Munich   26-27 April 2017

Our accommodation in Munich proved a real winner. Rather than a hotel or AirBnB, we opted for a “Pension” or boarding house. This one (Mona Lisa Pension) had seven rooms in total, each with en-suite, and was attached to an Indian Restaurant called the Sitar. It was perfect, with our own secure entrance to the building, a lift facility rather than endless flights of stairs, great central heating and a wonderful location in the heart of the old part of Munich. The only thing lacking was any form of self catering, but we found a fantastic bakery with take-away coffee and piles of delicious offerings just around the corner. We also sampled the Indian fare and found it well priced and tasty.

My back improved steadily and we were able to explore the inner parts of Munich without doing our usual long haul of around 10kms a day. The Metro system helped us move a bit further afield to check out some of the history of this famous Bavarian city. One beautiful area was around the Isartor, one of the surviving medieval gates to the old walled city. Behind the restored walls is a market area that would have been an absolute feast of food if the weather had been better. The cold and steady rain put a lot of people off and the streets were quiet and more than half the stalls closed. There was little incentive to sample the beers stalls either because the thought of drinking beer outside in 5 degrees was too much. Later, at the central station, a wurztel stall did tempt us with a delicious plate of Curry Wurztel, which we would normally wash down with an ale but even the warmth inside the station didn’t tempt us. Wurztel stalls sell various types of sausage, along with a variety of sauces and a healthy serve of good German beer, usually from a small kiosk in a town square. A few standing height tables provide a space to consume the goodies and watch the passing parade while indulging in the ultimate gluttony.

Munich on a fine spring day would be wonderful. It is a shame that we have been here in such cold weather but then we have been lucky so far with an unseasonably warm spell. Furthermore, the local farmers were starting to fret, as they were in northern Italy, because even in Europe they can experience water shortages later in the summer.

Around Munich. Note the snow on the cars and the scene from the train.

We woke on our second and last morning in Munich to light snow. The cars lining the street where covered and the nearby trees had a charming white dusting. It took ages to get fully dressed to head out and around the corner to buy a coffee and a couple of rolls for breakfast but the scene along the street was delightful. As the morning wore on, the snow turned to sleet then rain. Fortunately, we did not have far to walk to enter a Metro station and get to the Central Railway Station for our train to Passau. My back had improved to the point where the backpack was not too bad and we got to the train without issue.

The train trip was only a couple of hours. The scenery just outside Munich was gorgeous with a heavier fall of snow covering the whole countryside. I am not sure how the farmers cope with snow so late in the season because there was a lot of wheat already growing and most of the canola was flowering. Hopefully, the effect of a light snow cover is not the same as a frost back in Australia. As the trip wore on, my back decided it had had enough sitting for one day and started to really hurt so I was very glad to get out at Passau, even though it meant loading the pack again and trudging through steady rain in very cold conditions.

Passau  28-29 April 2017

The rain destroyed our plans to walk to our accommodation, a trip of only about 1km, and we took a taxi. The driver dropped us at the entrance to Passau University and indicated that our address was somewhere within. After a bit of searching and help from students, we located our lodgings, a room in an apartment through AirBnB. This part of the University was once a monastery and we were lodging with the director of the student accommodation. We had a small room on the fourth floor (no lift) and the use of bathroom and kitchen. It was not ideal but it was cheap and central, two things that all other accommodation wasn’t. The worst thing was the smell. We couldn’t really identify it but it was definitely a stale food type smell, maybe the result of cooking in a closed environment over the cold season. It wasn’t the smell from “Jerry” the cat that seemed to revel in scratching all guests’ baggage and legs but I could have happily turned Jerry into stale food given the choice. He seemed to be the true owner of the property and was one of those repulsive cats.

Despite the rain, we spent a couple of hours wandering the charming streets of Passau. The city is located on the junction of the Danube, Ilz and Inn Rivers. It has a population of around 50,000, of which students comprise a significant proportion at 12,000. Passau has a rich history dating back into medieval times and was an important part of the Holy Roman Empire and the Austrian Empire. The streets are lined with beautiful buildings and shops full of charm and character. A couple of modern shopping malls take up the centre of the city but don’t detract. In the cold and wet weather, they provided us with a safe haven to dry off and seek some food for lunch.

Our second day in Passau was beautiful. For a start, the other occupiers of our accommodation were away in Prague for the day. Almost as good was the weather, with a cessation to the endless rain and a rise in temperature from a very chilly 5 to a bearable 12 degrees. We still set forth in long-uns and full length thermal underwear but at least the coats came off at times during the day. The worst part was entering a shopping centre, where they insisted on maintaining a steady 25 degrees. We were doing the full strip tease when only metres inside the doors.

Our final day in Passau was largely one of waiting for the cruise boat. In the morning, we found it at Dock 13 as expected and probably the most convenient location for our lodgings. Walking across town with our backpacks would not be difficult. However, we were not able to leave our luggage until 2pm and were unable to board until 4pm. Fortunately, Andreas our accommodation host allowed us to leave our luggage with him while we did other things.

Around Passau

The city was hosting a huge festival which was organised around a massive street parade featuring groups from the surrounding areas in traditional dress. We bagged ourselves a great vantage point and watched for an hour as group after group of marching bands, village groups and other organisations filed past, interspersed with magnificent horse team pulling carts loaded with people. Most of the men seemed to be drinking copious amounts of beer. There was much clapping and cheering and the whole spectacle was both entertaining and quite moving.

Any way you look at it, Passau is a very beautiful city, small enough to walk around the central old part and soak up the ambience and yet big enough to have  a lot of features. Once the rain cleared and we were able to have a decent look at the city, its true beauty became apparent. Rows of quaint 18th Century houses interspersed with 16th and even 15th Century remnants of fortifications and larger buildings create a wonderfully “toy town” atmosphere. It really is a delightful place to walk around. It is easy to get lost for a short while, given the random pattern of the streets and alleyways, but then it doesn’t take long to get ones bearings because a few minutes walking will bring you into contact with either the Danube or the Inn Rivers and a chance to re-establish a location.

With the weather taking a very optimistic turn for the better, we look forward to our time on the forthcoming Danube River cruise. Ours is the first cycling cruise of the year and so we knew we were taking a risk with the weather but it looks as though we may have made a good decision. Time will tell.

Frankfurt, Germany – March 2017

April 3, 2017 /

Moscow, Russia 27 March 2017

All in all, we had a bad day. It started off OK with a taxi out to Saigon Airport without the usual fight over the fare. We found the check-in for Aeroflot to Moscow only to find the line stretched halfway to Hanoi. Christine had to restrain me after I blocked access to a Russian family running up the line. “We are with our friends,” they claimed, pointing to a couple who had actually reached the line to the counter. “I growled but got the recall from the wife and just stood around looking like an angry Aussie in a sea of Russians.

The flight itself went well, taking off on schedule. The plane was comfortable and we were well catered for in the food department, with two full three course meals and an icecream over the 10 hour flight. Aeroflot plays it safe with alcohol, serving a wine with a meal only and not dishing out loads of free vodka, in fact no spirits at all either free or paying. Perhaps experience has dictated this policy. We watched three new release movies each, more than we usually watch in ten years. A regular check of the flight map suggested that we were taking  a zig-zag route to avoid some of the higher mountains to avoid turbulence, a wise move because every time we did get close the turbulence started to cut in. However, as the flight wore on, the deviations started to count and we arrived in Moscow 45 minutes behind schedule.

 

Exiting the plane gave us around 5 minutes to get to the Frankfurt flight, although I figured it would be unlikely that our luggage would follow. We hit the transfer desk in a state of panic to be told that our flight would go tomorrow. We looked down at our T Shirt and shorts, and across to the windows and the outside world of zero degrees and piles of snow. “It’s OK,” we were assured. “We give you hotel in airport and meals.”

Armed with vouchers for accommodation and meals, we sat down for a while to regroup and log on to the airport Internet so we could inform the Ibis Hotel in Frankfurt that we were no-shows. While we were getting organised, we heard “Last Call for Frankfurt” announced. We hot footed it to Gate 6 and explained the situation. Sure enough, our plane was waiting. However, on checking the documents, it appeared that the deed was done and our luggage had been withdrawn for tomorrow’s flight.

While walking past all the duty free shops in the airport, we figured we would make up for the lack of access to wine in Vietnam over the past two weeks and buy a bottle of duty free Italian wine to drink in the hotel. We didn’t have any Roubles but we managed to use Euros so the deal was done.  The room wasn’t available until 10pm so we decided to sit and have a beer in a bar to kill the time and relax. As I took my backpack off, the bottle of wine somehow released itself and crashed to the floor, leaving a large puddle of blood coloured issue to run between the chairs and tables. I’m not sure who was more pissed off, me or the cleaning lady.

As we booked into the hotel, we met another couple who had the same experience as us , being rescheduled for a flight they could have made, except theirs was from Romania and going on to England. We also saw a large group of angry Norway bound passengers who were having to accept that not everyone would even get home tomorrow. I think this will be our one and only Aeroflot experience.

We woke to a spectacular sight. The airport was carpeted with more snow and a light fall continued. In truth, this is the first actual snow fall we have ever seen, our previous encounters with snow being after the event rather than during. The sight of all the ice covered planes was sobering, recalling all those “airtime disaster” docos we have seen that involve ice on the wings. There was no need for worry as the plane visited the de-icing team before take-off and we hit the skies shiny clean and covered in anti-freeze solution.

Snow and ice at Moscow Airport

Frankfurt, Germany 28 March 2017

The arrival into Frankfurt was amazing. The airport is one of the World’s biggest and there were planes, terminals and runway everywhere. Landing on one of the four runways is a bit surreal because one looks out the window at the neighbouring runway flashing by, producing the feeling that the plane is about to miss its landing. Just controlling the taxiing aircraft would be a major job in itself, let alone the take-offs and landings. We taxied around for ages before finally finding our spot to park.

Processing through immigration was very slow, mostly because almost everyone bar us on the plane was Russian and the immigration police spent quite a long time interviewing each person. It was quite fascinating watching them engage people in seemingly casual conversation yet continue to probe about the nature of the visit to the EU. When we finally got to the front, the process was quick with a question about where we were visiting then a cheerful “Have a nice visit.”

We picked up our bags, relieved to see them after the missed flight debacle in Moscow and headed for customs. An ATM just before customs gave us the chance to stock up on Euros, so we took advantage then marched through into Germany, out the front door and straight on to the Terminal 1 transfer bus. Easy! Oh Oh! Christine found she had left a backpack at the ATM, on the other side of the Customs Barrier. I ran through to the door but it could not be accessed in reverse. Images of the bomb squad surrounding the bag ran through our heads before we managed to locate a very nice woman who had the power to take Christine behind the scenes. She emerged victorious, although the fact that the bag was still sitting unattended did upset the helpful woman a tad. It seems it should have been detected by the three customs guys we saw chatting together about 15 metres away.

With all bags in our possession, we re-boarded the shuttle bus, found Terminal 1, found the S-Bahn train to Frankfurt Central then navigated the 700m out of the station and down the road to the Ibis Hotel. The room afforded excellent views across the city and the Main River and the Ibis is very well located to explore the delights of this very pretty city. All around us is an amazing blend of 19th Century German grandeur and post war utilitarian box architecture. Trams glide across the nearby bridge and people move around with ease on the relatively empty pavements. The city is open enough to provide many excellent vistas, especially further along the river in the main shopping areas where numerous medieval buildings and some glorious churches add character. Most of the medieval buildings are either recreations or reconstructions of the originals, the city being largely destroyed during WWII. These provide a welcome relief from the bland structures of post war development. The more modern sky-scrapers are generally spectacular, and spaced far enough apart to be able to be fully appreciated, with some amazing glass and steel creations. Frankfurt is Germany’s only true high rise city, housing 14 or the 15 sky scrapers in the country.

Frankfurt views. The railway station is one Europe’s largest. The views of the River are from our hotel room.

The weather was perfect, with daytime temperatures in the low 20s, which actually represented unseasonable heat with the daily average maximum for March being around 11°C and the record at 24.7°C. The local population obviously believed in the average because we were the only ones walking in shorts and T-shirt. The rest had jackets, scarves and even beanies. We covered more than 10km of walking each day and just soaked up the visual delights of Frankfurt, as well as the food and drink (goes without saying). Along the way we booked a bus to Genoa, not because we love bus travel, but because the trip was 62€ as against 270€ for the train and over 300€ for a flight.

Imperial Cathedral of Saint Bartholomew

Christine found a Birkenstock shop and showed signs of lapsing into a shopping panic before settling down and buying only one pair. We bought some classy thongs from a Croc store and shopped for nibbles in Aldi, which proved to be a bit of a disappointment with fewer choices and lower stock levels than back home in Australia. The clear skies also allowed for a fantastic ever-changing mural in the sky produced by the endless jet-trails as the continual parade of aircraft from all parts of the globe flew far overhead. There are at least eight flights visible at any one time and another two or three local aircraft taking off or landing at Frankfurt Airport.

Note the ever present criss-crossing jet trails.

Frankfurt is very cosmopolitan, with 25% of residents being foreign nationals and 40% from a migrant background. These statistics are certainly reflected in the food on offer, with every type of cuisine being readily available in restaurants and street stalls. Besides the obligatory frankfurt sausage and beer lunch, we ate a few Turkish meals, including a pizza that had decidedly eastern flavours, and sushi. Korean restaurants were also common, with Frankfurt being home to Europe’s largest Korean community.

No stay in Frankfurt would be complete without a frankfurt.

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay in Frankfurt, a delightful and restful city. From here it is a bus trip south to Italy.

Bussing South – 31 March 2017

A Eurolines coach took us from Frankfurt to Munich, via Nuremburg and along seemingly endless motorways. The Germans definitely know how to build these things and how to drive fast on them. The route took us through a large area of forested hills, interspersed with farm lands, light industry, tiny hamlets and the occasional larger town. The villages looked like Lego towns, with quaint little churches and steeply pitched roof lines on the houses. Spring is only just showing itself and most trees are still bare of leaves, giving the forests a stark appearance, except where the pines dominated. The pasture fields were lush and a gorgeous shade of green while preparations are underway for seeding of various crops. Strangely, there was a complete lack of livestock in the areas we drove through.

Travelling to Frankfurt Genoa with views of Nuremburg.

The bus was modern and very comfortable, with a toilet, wifi connection, 240v power outlets and lots of leg room. We were happy about that because the total length of the journey would involve some 17 hours.

The bus left the motorway for a stop in Nuremburg and picked its way through very heavy traffic to the bus station. Nuremburg looks very interesting, with a large walled city forming the core of the central city, still very much intact. It could be worth a visit.

We reached Munich just before 7pm, giving us a three and a half hour wait for the connecting bus to Genoa. One option was to check the bags into a locker and explore the city centre but night was falling so we just opted for dinner at a bus station kebab shop. We tried to buy a couple of beers but were told that we could not buy them if dining in, only with take-aways. It seems that street drinking is the only acceptable way to go. Instead, we were forced to pay 2 euros for a small bottle of mineral water.

Our experience so far suggests that bus ports in Europe are a poor cousin to the train stations, lacking in facilities such as seats and displaying large amounts of rubbish, ugly puddles of various body fluids and groups of very strange looking people. It was like we had already left Germany, with most people speaking a language of Balkan origin. We seemed to be the only people on the bus or at the bus port that weren’t smoking and a pall of cigarette smoke hung over the place. As people prepared to board a bus, they furiously chain smoked to stock up, usually in company with the driver.

The night drive from Munich to Milan was better than we thought it would be and we both managed to get quite a lot of sleep. For some strange reason, we only had one driver so he stopped every hour and a half for a nap, which was a good thing, but added to the length of the trip. It would have been better to have done this part of the trip in daylight because it took us over the Alps, through Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein and into Italy. At times the view out the window showed the lights of a town far below us, sometimes almost straight below us, suggesting a sheer drop on one side. Perhaps it was better that we couldn’t see. Sometimes, the bus stopped at a roadhouse, a good chance to stretch the legs. Unfortunately, hitting the cold air turned our thoughts to the toilet and all the places seemed to charge exorbitant fees for toilets. They ranged from .50€ to 1€ (75c to 1.25) and over the course of the trip we racked up a bill of around 6€ just for going to the toilet. This was crazy seeing as there was a toilet on the bus but somehow the urge never took us while actually moving.

Once in Milan, and facing the final couple of hours, the driver suddenly singled us out as going to Genoa, rather than the final destination of Nice and made us swap to another bus. This one was full to overflowing and we had to squeeze our way to the back seat. The route took us across the Po River floodplain, with beautiful views to the snow covered Alps in the distance, before winding up and over the Ligurian Appenines to Genoa. When we bought our ticket we were offered two drop off points in Genoa and we opted for Via Fanti d’Italia because it was next to the main rail station. Instead, we were ejected, after much protesting, at the Piazza del Vittoria. So we loaded up our packs and walked the streets before finding someone whole direct us to Brignole Station. Fortunately, it was not as far as we had feared and we made it in one piece, purchased tickets for Ovada and got ourselves an Italian Vodaphone SIM card. Then it was onto the train for the last hour and a bit of our long journey.

As promised, Rob and Yvette were at the station to greet us and introduce us to Trisobbio, our home for the next three weeks or so. After so much preparation and high expectations, it was wonderful to finally join the Piscicellis and commence the Italian part of our trip.

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