Marlene in Germany

Beginnings and Endings

2008-07-01T11:56:00.006+02:00

Hi everyone

I left you with a cliff-hanger about what was happening when we trying to get back to Germany, but first I have BIG NEWS!!!!!

Last night (Monday night), Norbert took me out to a really posh restaurant here in Frankfurt supposedly to celebrate the end of our wonderful trip.....but he produced a ring and asked me to marry him!!!!!!!!!! [wide eyes] Oh, and I said YES, of course. [grin] Here is a photo of the special night, and the ring. A funny twist is that apparently I brought the ring with me! He had been planning this all along but in the mad panic to leave Adelaide, forgot to pack the ring. Eeek! But in his usual "I'll work it out" way, he asked me to bring over a small package of shell casings which apparently were unique to Australia and he said he wanted to show them to his new mates at the shooting club in Fulda. Of course I didn't think anything of that as it is just the sort of thing he would do, and I happily brought them with me. Well, apparently the ring was taped to the bottom of the box!. [laugh] Very conniving, isn't he! ...Heh, heh...

And then he was planning the 'big event' for a night on the ship, under the midnight sun. Well the clouds prevented a clear night and then of course he got sick....so he planned it for our final night. I'm so excited!!!! [spins in a circle] No definite date for a wedding yet but plenty of time to think about it when we get home.

And speaking of coming home...today is the day! [big grin] (When I left you last, a small drama was evolving with the weight of our suitcases, and it got even funnier as the day went on.

Sunday, 29/6 - Getting to Frankfurt
Well, we had FINALLY gotten to the right airport...luckily with time to spare thanks to finding out early enough....and then we check in to find we are STILL more than 2kg over on each suitcase and Ryan Air don't have any tolerance levels....we got charged for the extra weight which added up to more than than another full-fare ticket! Grrrr....... Anyway, the flight was uneventful and we arrived safely in Frankfurt....at Hahn airport which is an hour and 45mins away from Frankfurt! [sigh] Lugged the suitcases and various bits of hand-luggage onto the shuttle bus and sat in the bus for longer than the flight to Germany. [grin]

And does the saga stop there? Hmmm....no....wait for it..... Arrived at the main train station in Frankfurt (which was the final stop for the bus), and the hotel was about a kilometre away. So we dragged the suitcases up stairs, across cobbled streets and over roads with high kerbs for about a kilometre, until we realised that the street we were looking for didn't seem to be where we thought it might be. So...picture this....we are standing on a corner of a street with 2 big suitcases and a multitude of handluggage strewn around, and the laptop open and balanced on top of one of the suitcases. Norbert had saved a map onto the laptop (in retrospect would have been more convenient on the PDA) but it revealed the ugly truth. We were going in the wrong direction! [pained laugh] So....turn around and walk the other direction until we finally found the hotel. Whew!

But does it stop there? Not quite. We checked in and were directed to a building out the back for our room....and discovered that the building has no lift! So Norbert had to lug the suitcases up a twisting flight of stairs. Thank goodness we weren't on the top floor! [laugh] But all's well that ends well, and after a late tea of take-away Thai, we tried out the comfy beds and slept solidly until morning.

Monday, 30/6 - Final day in Germany
One day to take in Frankfurt so we wandered around the old part of the city first and then headed for the river to indulge in one of my favourite ways of getting acquainted with a city....from a boat. Spent a relaxing couple of hours cruising up and down the River Main, getting slowly sunburnt and relaxed. No energy for much when we got back so sat at a little cafe in the main square and enjoyed icecream before walking back to the hotel. The weather here is lovely and warm....about 29-30degrees at a guess.....and I'm soaking it all up in preparation for the cold Adelaide winter to come.

The evening I have already described so I won't go into that again except to say that it was a magic night in the balmy evening air. We sat out on the balcony of the restaurant and drank champagne and toasted our future life together.

Tuesday, 1/7 - Home, James....and don't spare the horses
Final words on this blog before we head to the airport, and thanks to everyone who has valiantly hung in there and coped with my inability to write short blog postings. [grin] I've got an avalanche of clothing and other stuff which I have to get into my suitcase so I must go.

See you in Australia!

Yet another airport story

2008-06-29T14:13:00.002+02:00

Hi everyone....bet you didn't expect to hear from me again so soon, but I must tell you about our latest 'airport story'. All travellers have them but this is one we'll probably use at dinner parties in the future. [laugh]

This morning in the hotel in Oslo, we were madly packing our stuff to turn 20kg suitcases into 15kg suitcases, because we had bookings on Ryan Air which has this restriction. This meant we left a bit behind in the hotel room but mainly we filled our jacket pockets with heavy stuff...I crammed my 'handbag' with heavier items like shoes and trackpants....and Norbert put so much into his backpack that he may have a lifetime back injury!

Anyway, we wandered down to the Reception and COMPLETELY ACCIDENTALLY ran into Klaars...our Globus Tour Guide. When talking to him about our baggage weight issues he questioned the airport that we were leaving from as he found it confusing that we were catching a Ryan Air flight from the main Oslo airport.

Quick check of the paperwork and we found that he was right!!!!!!!!! Eeeek!!!! We were actually leaving from an airport more than an hour and a half away!!!!!! Thank God for tour guides because he had all the info on the top of his head regarding how to get there and where we needed to go, and so our 'few hours of leisure' quickly dissolved into getting to the bus station and buying a bus ticket for Torp airport.

Whew! We made it but imagine what would have happened if we hadn't accidentally run into Klaars! We would now be sitting in the wrong airport with no time to get to the right one, and we would have lost our flight. Oh well....this is the stuff that travel is all about. [grin]

But we made it, and we're now sitting in the CORRECT airport waiting for the plane to Frankfurt.

BUT....drama number 2 is evolving as Norbert just came back from weighing out suitcases...and they are both overweight. [sigh] (Mental note to self.....the cheap flights might seem worth the saving from the money point of view, but I'm having serious doubts about the value from the broader perspective.) :-/

The Scandinavian tour rolls to a close...

2008-06-28T22:40:00.017+02:00

Hi again everyone!

Back to 'normal' Scandinavian internet again....free, fast and wireless. [dreamy look] Lovely to hear from you Allison, and it must have taken more than a couple of glasses of beer to wade through all of the Scandinavian posts! [grin]

Our tour is almost at an end and tomorrow we fly back to Germany for a couple of days in Frankfurt before the long-haul flight home. We arrive back in Adelaide on Thursday, 3rd July....and will then probably SLEEP for the next 48 hours or more. :-D But to fill you in on what we've been doing since leaving the Hurtigruten Cruise.....

Thursday 26/6 - Back to dry land at Trondheim
Had to set the alarm again....not an easy thing to cope with after 4 days of being on 'boat time'. But we still had places to go so had an early breakfast (Norbert managed a cracker and some diluted apple juice) and then left the ship for the last time to be reunited with our bus...and Arne, our bus driver who had valiantly driven the bus all the way down to meet us.

Not sure what to write for the rest of the day as it was very much a 'bus day', as we had to get to Lillehammer before evening. It's ridiculous how one can get completely blase about amazing scenery if you see it day after day, but we all agreed that we were already saying "Ho hum...high mountains topped with glistening snow. (yawn) Cascading waterfalls of melting snow, rushing down high cliffs encrusted with dark fir trees. Hmmm...yet another green valley dotted with colourful little wooden houses." [laugh] I'm kidding of course, however ...[frowns]... do you know what I mean? Your brain just 'gets tired' of processing all the beauty and wonder around, and as each corner brings yet another beautiful view, each one dulls just a little more. A pity really, but I guess the only way around it would be to holiday for a couple of days, then take a break and go back to work for a week. [grin] Not really practical from far away Australia.

Norbert was picking up slowly during the day and by lunchtime was starting to eat more and laugh with the others. What do you think of his 'new girlfriend'? A little more 'well-endowed' than me, although I think the beer in each hand is the main attraction. [guffaw]

A couple we are getting on well with told this hilarious story I must share because I relate to it so much! [chuckles] HE was a snorer and suffered apnoeia and used to stop breathing in the night. SHE was always worried and used to nudge him to get him breathing again. Until one night when she was so tired that when she woke up and he was lying silently next to her, she said, "Oh well...dead is dead....nothing I can do until tomorrow anyway." And she turned over and went back to sleep! [laughs loudly] Of course he has never let her forget this! ROFL

When we arrived in Lillehammer (the place of the '94 winter olympics) we had a photo stop of the ski jumps. (Seen a lot of ski jumps on this tour!) But the best excursion was to the Maihaugen Museum....another one of those open air museums similar to the one we visited in the Black Forest, but this time showing Norwegian houses over the centuries. I took a photo of inside one of the farm-houses....can you see Norbert sitting in the back row? Really interesting museum but we could have spent the whole day there...and of course this is not possible on a guided tour so we unfortunately had to leave before we wanted to. We had arrived late anyway and the museum was closing. Oh well...put it on the list of 'things to see next time we're here'. [philosophical look]

Tea was a Norwegian buffet, and we got to try all sorts of interesting food. Admittedly a lot of it was fish which one would expect, but the desserts were all spectacular too! Reeeeeally need to get onto that diet as soon as we get home!

Friday 27/6 - From sunshine to rain.....and on to Oslo, our final destination
The day started out with blue sky and sunshine, and many of our group fronted up to the bus wearing shorts, thongs and T'shirts. Unfortunately this didn't last and a hundred kilometres down the road, one of the group asked (jokingly....I think) if the driver could pull over and wait for him to put his long pants on. [giggles] By the time we got to Oslo it was raining....and this didn't let up for the rest of the day. [sigh] Oh well...welcome to a Scandinavian summer!

Oslo is the last place we stop, and is a fairly large city. The tour guide confided that although he loves the place, the people are a little 'strange'...for example, they have a (very serious) morning paper that all the business people get. Except that it is called the 'Evening Post'. [laugh] They called an electric tram 'Trikk'...short for electric, of course! And a car is called a 'Bil'....short for automobile, naturally. [grin]

The afternoon was spent doing a city tour with another vivacious tour guide called Ann-Marie, who shared lots of interesting information including the fact that Oslo is currently hosting a homosexual convention. (We have spent the last day or so playing 'spot the gay' ...all in the best of taste and good fun, of course). Anyway...back to the tour.....she took us to the City Hall first which might sound a bit boring but was actually quite impressive as it is filled with the most e-n-o-r-m-o-u-s wall murals. Apparently the people of Oslo have taken a while to get used to them because they are quite modern, but as Ann-Marie said, it is important to not only preserve history, but to create NEW history. And I agree. I thought it looked great!

Then we went to a park called Frogner Park which is filled with the most amazing sculptures, all done by one man! Took him a lifetime and broke up his own relationship, but I guess the people of Oslo have the final benefit as it is really beautiful. Would have been more beautiful with blue skies and sunshine but by now the rain was coming down steadily so we saw it in the rain. One of the cutest statues was a little boy chucking a tantrum and Ann-Marie said that it is a favourite for all parents. What do you think? LOL

Dinner was an optional excursion, but the majority of us sauntered out to the bus at 6:30pm, dressed in all our finery. Mind you, a fair bit of the finery was a little creased from being crushed in the bottom of suitcases for so long, but we all had the same problem so nobody cared. I had my 'wedding outfit from the Berlin wedding still with me, so I wore this (see photo below). The restaurant was up in the mountains overlooking the city, so first our driver took us for a little tour of the 'Gin & Jag' suburbs, so we could see how the rich people lived. One thing I found interesting.....sod (grass) roofs were all the poor people could afford, but now it is something the rich people want! So you get these million dollar homes sitting high on the hill surrounded by generous gardens and with amazing views....and on the roof is grass and weeds!!! Give me a nice iron roof anyday, so I can hear the rain! [smile]

The dinner was a bit of a disappointment and in fact I thought the dinners on the cruise and at the hotels were generally better. But I did get to try Elk. (You know, that animal which is bigger than a deer.) Hmmm...nothing to write home about but it was OK. Which reminds me...there has been an ongoing 'debate' happening during this tour, originating from a Canadian on board who insists that it is called Moose. Back and forth the debate has been going until Norbert finally settled it by going onto the internet one night, and finding out that in fact they are the same animal, just called different names in different countries! So there....one learns something new every day!

Saturday 28/6 - Just looking around Oslo
Started the day with an optional tour....a trip to 3 different museums to see relics of Norway's glorious seafaring past including genuine Viking ships. Actually it was all quite interesting, but my favourite place was where they have the original, 100 year old ship which they sailed into the ice of the Arctic, and just allowed it to 'grab them' and move with the ice for years.....to prove that there is an ice-flow over the North Pole. You could even go on board the ship and down into the galleys and kitchen etc. Trust me Skye...even you would have found it fascinating. [grin]

Had the afternoon free to do what we wanted, so first we wandered over to the railway station to research how we were going to get to the airport tomorrow (its 35km away!) After deciding that the Express Train was the way to go, we checked out the new Opera House which has only been open a couple of months. Amazing structure! All white...like a snow-covered mountain....and all slopes and levels so you can actually walk right up to the roof for a lovely view out over the city. Not sure if I would say it is nicer than the Sydney Opera House, but it is very modern and different. Next on the agenda was the National Gallery, where I discovered another painter who I really admire...Johann Christian Dahl....as I just loved his paintings of Norwegian landscapes. Wish I could have one...but the travel budget is getting a bit low now. :-)

We thought we might blow the last of the Norwegian kroner with a bottle of wine, but were amazed to see that the ONE place you can buy alcohol here, closes at 3pm on a Saturday! And doesn't open at all on a Sunday! Its government run and you can't buy a bottle of wine absolutely anywhere else. [sigh] Boy...I miss the cheap Schnapps in Germany, available from every corner store. Don't get me wrong,...I'm no alcoholic but to be in a country where the government has complete control of the alcohol and decides on the pricing (its reeeeeally expensive) is not something I'm used to.

While some of us will see each other at breakfast tomorrow, the tour officially ended tonight with a farewell dinner at the hotel. There was lots of card-swapping, speeches and talks of 'who is doing what' tomorrow. And that's it!

Tomorrow we amuse ourselves in the morning and then get ourselves to the airport for our 4:30pm flight back to Germany. Not sure when the next blog posting will be as Norbert keeps referring to Germany as the 'black hole of the internet' so it will definitely be the end of the free and easy internet access. We might be able to buy some though.

Bye all!

PS: Heather, you asked about whether I've seen a polar bear....will this photo do? :-)

Over the top and back down the west side of Norway

2008-06-25T20:08:00.013+02:00

Back again everyone!
I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the internet connection again as it failed a few times last time and prevented me putting up a couple of the photos I wanted you to see. Oh well. When one is sending a blog from a moving ship at sea, one must be grateful for what one can get! I'm not complaining as I've had worse connections from some TAFE campuses. [cheeky grin] Do you like this photo I took yesterday?
Tuesday 24/6 - Stories of Midnight Music and Sea Eagles
But first let me tell you about last night. The afternoon 'Nanna Nap' helped because when the bus picked us up from the wharf just after midnight, I was bright, wide awake and ready to party! [laugh] Its a pity that the blue sky was so short-lived as I still don't have a picture of the midnight sun as such...however here is a photo of what the sky looked like at midnight, just before we left. And it didn't look a lot different when we got back just before 2am.

The midnight concert was just lovely. Only 3 people performing so it was more of a recital than a concert, but it was in the Arctic Cathedral which is a majestic church with white, sloping walls that soar high above and mimic the snow covered mountain peaks. The acoustics were amazing and no amplification was needed at all as the sounds of the instruments (piano, trumpet, organ) and voice (baritone) rang out clear and pure. The performance was of Norwegian folk songs, hymns and other traditional songs so we couldn't understand the language but it was quite ethereal and beautiful, made more so by the time, place and setting. I had one of those 'moments' one sometimes gets whenI thought to myself..."I am sitting in the Arctic Cathedral in a little town in Norway, listening to beautiful music at 1am...and it is daylight outside. Wow." Sometimes 'real life' seems so far away and I guess this is what makes a 'real holiday'. [smile]

Got up late the next morning but still in time for breakfast. We had booked a 'Sea Eagle Tour' for the afternoon so just before 4pm the Cruise Captain called all participants down to the hold where a door was opened in the side, and a small boat was attempting to match our pace and dock alongside the ship. Tentatively we stepped over to the little boat and took off for the Troll Fijord, leaving the Vesteralen to follow laboriously on behind. If anyone has cruised Milford Sound on the South Island of New Zealand you will have an idea of what the Troll Fijord is like....soaring cliffs, waterfalls cascading down the side and breathtaking scenery. The Troll Fijord is too hard to describe, and its definitely one of those 'you just have to go and see it for yourself' kind of places.

But we were there to see Sea Eagles too! A couple of crew hands began by throwing bread to the gulls as I think the activity attracts the Eagles. Now these aren't the same as your local sea-gulls although they come from the same family. They are larger, have dark-coloured backs, a hump on the top of their bills...and they fly silently. No silly screeching. This was a good sight in itself as the gulls kept up with boat, swooping and playing on the air currents as they expertly caught bread in the air or swooped down to take some themselves.

But then, everyone was pointing high into the air as the boat stopped and everyone watched a Sea Eagle gracefully circle around. The crew hands (two young girls) quickly swapped the bread for a fish and threw it out into the water. The Sea Eagle dropped out of the sky and swooped down to grab the fish before turning the manouvre into a vertical climb, back to the high cliffs above.

All together we saw 6 Sea Eagles but after a couple of hours were getting very wet and cold so headed to a small town where we were once again, reunited with the Vesteralen.....and hot coffee and dry clothes. [grin]

Wednesday 25/6 - More beautiful views but Norbert is only seeing the inside of his eyelids
Unfortunately, Norbert became ill during the night and has spent the day in bed today and missed seeing some of the lovely sights slipping by us as we continue to make our way southward, down the west coast of Norway. We have crossed the Arctic Circle again...marked this side of the country by a pillar of stone topped with a globe (on a small island), so although the sky is still cloudy and the wind is cold, we are slowly making our way back down to the lower latitudes again.

Norbert got up for breakfast but only made it for 20 minutes before retreating back to the cabin...and he has been there since. Not sure what it is but I'm crossing every finger and toe that it isn't contagious!!! Some kind of gastric bug I think...hopefully the 24 hour kind. At least he picked a good day because we had no specific activities booked for today and apart from the fact that he is missing the lovely scenery passing by the windows of the ship, he has the time to lie in bed and get well again. I'm spending my time enjoying the scenery for both of us, writing this blog and drinking tea. [grin]

I'm getting really used to the 'rythm' of this ship, so it will be a bit hard to leave it tomorrow morning. The day revolves around meals, meeting for coffee in one of the lounges, staring out at the amazing scenery that just passes by and enjoying walks ashore during the frequent port calls. The bumps and groans of loading and unloading are starting to become just normal background happenings, and one ceases to notice the feeling of movement underfoot. Mind you, its pretty calm as we sail between islands so even somebody prone to sea-sickness (like me) would have no problem.

Here's a photo of me sitting in the Panorama Lounge, just relaxing and looking out at one of the cute little villages. Are you jealous? [laugh]

Anyway, I'll try to hit 'Post' and pray that this connection doesn't crash again. I have to go and sort out accounts, get washing 0ut of the dryer and pack for both of us so I have a busy night ahead of me! We leave the Hurtigruten Cruise at 8am tomorrow and then its 'back on the bus' for the last leg of our trip....down to Oslo. Bye all!

In the land of the midnight sun

2008-06-23T22:22:00.009+02:00

G'day again,
We're over the Arctic Circle and rounding the top of Scandinavia! I'm going to try and send this blog posting from a ship so although I have some photos ready, I may not be able to put them in as apparently the connection is very slow. But I'll do my best.

Thanks for your comment Heather, and no...only statues of polar bears so far. But we've seen heaps of reindeer so do they count? :-)

Anyway, to catch you up......

Saturday 21/6 - Visiting a reindeer farm and Santa's Workshop
Woke early and threw back the block-out curtains to find it was broad daylight....still......again...always. But more than that, it was pouring with rain. Not your light drizzle or occasional downpour, but the kind of steady, pounding rain that you just know will go on for hours and hours and hours and which makes one long for cosy log fires and hot chocolate. But today was the day we were visiting a real reindeer farm...by boat!

No problem. Two essential things to pack for any holiday are both a sense of adventure and a sense of humour, so we all walked down to the uninviting, grey river, donned absolutely silly looking ponchos, struggled into life-jackets then tentatively stepped into the waiting long boat. What a hoot! Before long we were absolutely saturated despite the ponchos...in fact water collected in a pool in our laps, and everytime you turned your head to look at something you were rewarded with a rivulet of cold water dripping down your neck. But we laughed and laughed! It all seemed so funny! The husky Finnish guy at the helm didn't seem at all perturbed however I guess he was quite used to it.

After what seemed like hours out on the grey water (but was probably about 20 minutes) the boat pulled up to a small landing and we were being shouted at by a Finnish guy dressed in national costume, talking ten to the dozen in his strange language. Soon after arrival he grabbed me and lifted me up, and he sort of mimed that he was taking me as his princess. He had a knife and waved it around at this point. (Pssst....actually, he was really cute so I was more than happy to play along [cheeky grin]) But then he indicated that we should follow him along some narrow boards which traversed the wet tundra.....we were such a wet, bedraggled looking mob! [laugh] Finally we arrived at a traditional home which looks a bit like an Indian tee-pee but oh, wonderful.....it had a blazing log fire in the middle of it! Won't go into detail about what went on inside the tee-pee but it involved reindeer milk, virility and preparation for the after-life. Trust me...you don't need to know the details but it was a lot of fun. [roars with laughter]

I got to pat a reindeer which was a highlight, and found out all sorts of interesting stuff about these lovely animals. Do you know there are no wild reindeer, even though they wander around freely? They are actually like cows and although there are thousands and thousands of them, every one is owned by somebody.....and they all have their own ear marking on their animals so they know whose is whose. Similar to the big cattle stations in Australia, they regularly do a round-up to tend to their herd.

Oh, what a relief to peel off wet jackets and climb into the warm, waiting bus to set off for our next destination - the Santa Claus workshop which is right on the line of the Arctic Circle. (Note: Actually, the Arctic Circle moves a little each year but lets not get too technical about this stuff [grin]) This is the 'official' Santa post-office too, and is the place where all those letters your children wrote to Santa get sent. It makes you wonder how some of them make it as the addresses aren't too clear, but make it they do! It is actually a real post-office so there was the opportunity to write a post-card and have it postmarked and sent from this very place, but I'm more into blogs than postcards, and I don't think Santa can deal with this yet. [laugh] Had a brief chat to a lady in one of the shops who asked where we came from - turned out she was not only Australian but used to live on Glen Osmond Road in Adelaide! Small world. It was all a great experience that I wouldn't have missed for the world, but unfortunately Santa's Workshop is more about souvenir shops than toy factories. A pity...but that's life. [sigh]

The rest of the afternoon we just drove, continually northward. The trees are getting thinner and smaller and there are increasing amounts of soggy tundra with less and less evidence of population. One still sees the occasional red house amongst the trees but as the day wore on, these got less and less. The Americans in the bus were marvelling on the fact that it might take an hour to 'go to the store'...[laugh]....didn't want to tell them that in areas of Australia it can take days to 'go to the store'! The scenery definitely had a sameness about it though, so we passed the time by playing 'spot the reindeer', and saw quite a few either grazing on the tundra, walking along or even lazing around in groups right next to the road!

Spent the night in Ivalo which is one of the most northern towns in Finland

Sunday 22/6 - All aboard for a Hurtigruten Adventure!
This morning we crossed over from Finland to Norway which was very much a non-event considering Norway isn't in the EU and therefore requires passport control. Klaars (Tour Guide) said it was very relaxed these days though and I would say this was evident by the fact that when we whizzed through the border, there was a guy lying on the bench out the front in the sun....and he just raised his head enough to see it was a bus, and waved to us!!! I'd say that was pretty relaxed, wouldn't you? [laugh]

Arrived at Kirkenes mid-morning, all excited and ready to embark our ship (the Vesteralen) for the Hurtigruten Cruise. This was a highlight for us and one of the main reasons we had booked this tour as the Hurtigruten trip is very highly recommended and is supposed to be an entirely different experience than 'your average cruise'. Basically, it began back in 1891 as a postal and delivery service to all the tiny, isolated villages along the north and west of the wild and amazingly beautiful coastline of Norway. It still is....except now they take passengers as well. The Vesteralen is a lovely little ship that only takes about 200 passengers (compared to over 2,000 on the last ship we were on) and has an 'olde worlde' feel and a sense of intimacy that isn't possible on the huge liners. There's no pool...no beauty salons...no line of restaurants...no helicopter pad. But one can sit in the 'Panorama Room' on the top deck and gaze out of the huge glass windows or glass ceiling, and stare in wonder as snow-covered mountains and barren, craggy cliffs tower high overhead. Breathtaking!

The first part of the voyage was a little rough and it was difficult to walk around without falling into the furniture. I took a Kwells just to be on the safe side but I haven't had a problem with sea-sickness so this is good as I was concerned it might spoil the trip for me. But since we started heading between the islands its quite calm and nobody seems to be suffering at all.

Because these Hurtigruten ships stop at so many little villages, there is the opportunity to go ashore to walk around and check out the cute little Norwegian shops, churches and other local sights. A short walk from the boat at Vardo brought us to an original old fort which is partly a museum but is still manned. Not sure what those guns were pointing too but I loved the old buildings with grass roofs. Imagine getting the lawn-mower up on the roof when the grass is getting too long! [laugh] Only kidding!!! ROFL

The 'land of the midnight sun' is a fantastic novelty, but you have no idea what you miss when you don't have it anymore. And we miss NIGHT! Everyone on our tour is saying they are waking a lot in the night to check the clock because it is always daytime here and our body-clocks are really thrown out. Its OK for the Norwegians as they are used to it buty for us visitors, its a bit difficult to cope with. So last night, my ingenious Norbert made it night for us. [chuckle] He never travels without basic essentials (like duct tape) so he taped a couple of black fabric shopping bags over the glass window in our cabin, then drew the curtains over it. And hey presto! We had instant night! Even had to turn the lights on to pull the beds out.

Monday 23/6 - Enjoying the Norwegian Fijords
Of course our 'fake night' meant we slept in till 8am, but gee, we were refreshed after a better night's sleep. [grin] After a leisurely breakfast (food is good) we took our second cup of coffee back up to the Panorama Room and watched the eerie scenery as fog swirled in and around the snow peaks and rolled down into the valleys. Just beautiful...but cold! We keep thinking...if this is mid-summer, what must it be like in mid-winter for the people who live here! And some of the tiny villages are nothing more than 2 or 3 houses with no access except by boat. When it is 50degrees below zero, and dark for 6 months of the year, it would take a different kind of person to cope with that level of isolation.

Just before lunch the ship docked at Hammerfest which is reputed to be the world's most northernmost town, and it reminded me of those TV ads you see for canned fish. You know the ones...husky looking Norwegian fisherman, screeching sound of sea-gulls, colourful houses like matchboxes, all in rows, with a backdrop of dark mountains patched with snow. Cute as a postcard! We went for a walk to get some exercise, and used the 'zag-zag path' to get to the top of the hills behind the town and admire the amazing view down into the fijord. Checked out the local Lutheran church which has a beautiful stained glass window, then back to the ship in time for lunch.

In the afternoon I had a 'Nanna Nap'. Actually, Norbert did too and this wasn't about being lazy.....it was a strategy to be able to stay up late tonight as we are going on one of the ship's excursions to a midnight concert in a church, at a small town where we are docking. Amazingly, when we woke up the fog had all cleared and it has turned out to be the most beautiful day with blue skies and sunshine. The plan tonight is to go to the concert at midnight then photograph and enjoy the midnight sun which will still be up when we get back to the boat at about 2am. How romantic! [silly grin] I'll let you know about it when I can get back to the internet again....hopefully soon.

Bye for now!

And on into Lapland and the land of Elk and Reindeer

2008-06-20T18:01:00.015+02:00

Greetings from Rovaniemi in Finland!

Did I just hear you say "where the hell is Rovaniemi ?" [laugh] I didn't know either until today, but it is a reasonably sized town just south of the Arctic Circle. Did you know that Finland has 188,889 lakes? No...I didn't either until yesterday. And did you know that there are 5 1/2 million people in Finland, and 1 million saunas? Gee travel is incredibly educational, isn't it! [big grin]

Thanks for your comments, Cheryl and Amber... wonderful to hear from you!

Thursday, 19/6 - Heading North through the Lakes District
Not much to tell you about yesterday as it was another day in the bus, but we drove through some very beautiful country. What a pity I didn't see much of it! Let me explain.....first of all I didn't sleep that well the previous night as I'm finding it hard to get back to sleep when I wake in the night, as it is light all the time. I wish Finland would discover those amazing shutters they have in Germany but they depend on curtains just like in Australia....except we actually get a time of day when it is dark, and at this time of the year in Finland, it is just varying degrees of light. Also, we got off the main roads to meander through the winding roads and I got a bit of motion sickness as I couldn't see out the front of the bus. Oh well...I'm OK, but it meant that I spent quite a bit of the trip with my eyes closed. Can you hear those violins playing yet? [cheeky grin]

Anyway, enough of my whinging as I'm fine now and I need to tell you about Finland. If you have ever been to the Bay of Islands on the north island of New Zealand, you will be able to picture exactly what it looks like here. Water everywhere and thousands of little islands covered in trees and vegetation. Its just so green and fresh looking! And forget what I said about a lack of flowers as today we went past swathes of pink and purple Lupins that were lining the roads.....yep, just like in New Zealand.

Mid-morning we stopped at an international ski resort called Lahti and saw 3 absolutely enormous ski jumps! OK...there was no snow on them but the height that they towered above us...well...it scared me just imagining what it would be like standing at the top, just before throwing oneself down the precipitous slope at a dangerous speed. I took a photo of Norbert demonstrating how to do it, but during my last attempt at skiing I had decided that as a slope of 2 degrees scared me to death, that perhaps ski jumping at the next winter Olympics might not be for me. [laugh]

Heard another interesting fact today about the roads in this area. When it is winter, most of the lakes freeze over so they actually have 'winter roads' and cars can just take a short-cut straight across the lakes, across the ice. The local authorities first determine how thick the ice is and whether it is safe enough for cars (and sometimes trucks)....and then they just make new roads straight across! When the ice thaws they all go back to the original roads. Imagine having different roads for summer and winter! I bet it would confuse the GPS! [grin]

We spent the night in a nice town called Kuopio...check out the view from our window! Aren't you absolutely jealous!! [cheeky grin]

Friday, 20/6 - the Arctic Circle...almost there!

Another day in the bus as we made our way ever northward, bypassing towns with strange Finnish names such as 'Yli-ii' and Päättyy'. No idea how one would pronounce them!

W had a mid-morning break in a little servo which started to remind me of the ones back home. Up till now they have been the big, European 'truck stops' with their own McDonalds. But this was a tiny one on the side of the road with cheap coffee and a friendly face behind the counter. Just like home! As we forge further and further north I can see other changes too. The trees in the forests are getting smaller as it is harder to survive in the harsh climate, and some of the people in the bus saw a couple of elks (or moose) in the greenery next to the road. The little farmhouses are quaint though, and most of them are painted this brick-red colour. Apparently it was because originally the paint was made from a by-product of the copper industry and so it was really cheap, but now the colour is still used because it has become traditional. You can imagine these red and white wooded houses nestled in amongst silver birch trees....lovely!

Had lunch in a traditional market in a town along the way (Oulu, I think) and Norbert noticed that the beer he was drinking was labelled gluten-free! No kidding! Its made from corn apparently.

Can't complain about the gluten-free thing here at all...in fact I have been given gluten-free bread the last 2 nights for dinner. Tonight it was warm flat-bread which had been freshly made! It seems to be well understood in this part of the world.

While I was at the market I checked out the elk there. OK...he wasn't quite 'all there' but probably much easier to pat than the ones on the sides of the road.

Quick excursion when we arrived in Rovaniemi - to the Arktikum, or the Arctic Museum. Funny moment when we arrived because our bus driver passed by a sign that said 'No entry for cars' and squeezed the bus down this narrow road which was literally a walkway, and parked right in front of the front door! Klaars, our tour guide, was freaking out a bit and said that we all have to walk in limping so that he has an excuse. [laugh]

The museum was really interesting as it had lots of excellent displays and information of how people have lived in the Arctic over the years since the stone-age. Anyone who has been to Christchurch in New Zealand will know there is an Antarctic Museum there, but this one is more about the scientific exploration. Sorry, but can't show you any pictures as we weren't allowed to take photos. :-( Of special interest was info about the Northern Lights...unfortunately a winter phenomenon so we won't get to see it for real. Oh well.

Today we entered Lapland, and tomorrow morning we pass over the Arctic Circle. Apparently we get to meet Rudolph! Hang in there and I will tell you about it as soon as I can.

Stockholm to Helsinki...and the days are getting longer

2008-06-18T16:56:00.028+02:00

Hei (hello in Finnish) from Helsinki!
It's been an amazing couple of days and I can't wait to tell you about it! But first, a special 'Hei' to Uwe and Skye...thanks for your comments. Its great when I get back to the internet and the blog, and see that somebody has dropped by....makes it all worthwhile! [grin]

Tuesday 17/6 - Stockholm to the middle of the Baltic Sea

The photo above is us in Stockholm where I last left you. ...as you can see by the sunnies, we had some sunshine after our rainy bus trip to get there so walking around and taking in Stockholm was a really pleasant experience. (Don't worry Skye...I always enjoy travel no matter what the weather is...but sunshine is extra nice.) [smile]

Started our day with a tour of Stockholm including getting to see inside some of the lovely buildings, and walking around the old city. Had a really good local guide again (Katerina) which always makes it fun. Even Klaars (our Globus guide) said quietly "I think she's started her day with at least 4 coffees." [laugh] She was incredibly bubbly and energetic and waved around this amazing 'Darth Vader' green plastic tube so that we would see her in the crowds. She kept threatening to use it to beat off other tour guides who were 'moving in on her space'. [giggle]

At one point when we were standing in a city square, Katerina mentioned that the King's son was currently at home. Because there was a flag flying above the building? Nup...because his car was parked out the front! The royal families in this part of the world are a lot more 'reachable' than the royal family in England. Katerina had us all in stitches when describing them because she said that "...the Queen is very smart but the King...well...the lift doesn't quite go to the top of him." [roars with laughter]

In the afternoon we joined an optional excursion to the WASA Ship Museum. Now...stop yawning everyone! This was definitely another one of those 'take your breath away' sights!!!!! This ship was built in 1628...and on her maiden vogage, she sank. In total, she stayed afloat for all of TWENTY MINUTES! But what is really amazing is that she sank in the Baltic Sea which has very little salt and no woodworm, so when they raised her in 1961 she was 95% intact. Unbelievable! And the ship is huuuuuuge!!!!! The exhibition is amazing and fascinating....and everything is translated into English.

Speaking of language, everyone here speaks English. Not like in Germany where the kids learn it in school and then forget most of it. I mean...EVERYONE we've come across speaks absolutely fluent English in Scandanavia. And I've found out the reason. In Germany, the TV programs are dubbed into German....and there is nothing funnier than watching an American sitcom like 'My Wife & Kids' with everyone talking in German! But here in Scandinavia, they aren't. Every English program is screened in English with written sub-titles in the local language. So.... you know how kids and teenagers love to watch TV....well to watch Sex and the City or something similar, they can only get it in English! And gee, it makes a huuuuuge difference!

And they are up to date with special diets too...had gluten-free bread in a basket served on the breakfast table. Norbert is absolutely amazing with supporting me with this diet...he spends ages scouring a city looking for gluten-free bread for me - and usually finds some! We finally found some in the basement of a shop in Stockholm. :-)

Here's a question for you. See the photo to the left? (You can click on it to see it bigger) What do you think it is? Perhaps the inside of a shopping mall....or maybe looking out from an upper floor of a large hotel? If you thought that, you are way out! [self-satisfied grin] It is where we spent Tuesday night - and it is the inside of a ferry! Not exactly the ferry at Cadell, is it...not even the SeaLink to Kangaroo Island! It was 12 floors of restaurants, shopping, gym, lounge bars...and of course, cabins. Here is a photo of Norbert inside ours - the second bed is on the left and it just folds down from the wall making 2 comfy single beds. There was an ensuite-bathroom and best of all, a changing view outside of the window.
Here is a photo of what it looked like sailing serenely between the islands on our overnight journey to Helsinki. First we entertained ourselves with a couple of drinks on the top deck, then went down to the 7th floor Promenade for dinner in a seafood restaurant. [sighs] Aaaahhh.....this is the life. Its going to be hard to go back to rushing home from work and throwing left-overs into the microwave. :-)

Tuesday, 18/6 - Short nights and exploring Helsinki

Woke up in the night to go to the loo..... (message to young people - this is something old people do a lot [grin]) ...except I first thought it was morning because it was quite light outside and I could see a ship passing by on the horizon as I climbed back into bed. Then I thought to check the clock....to find it was only 3:30am! We had watched the sun set just before midnight and gone to bed, but apparently night was finished by about 2:30am and it had started to get light again. Weird...but amazingly fantastic to experience!

By 10:30am we were back on the bus, ready for a tour of Helsinki. My impression? Hmmm....a modern city but the buildings tend to the functional rather than the elegant. Streets are small...but not quaint.

I took a photo of one strange thing I noticed...all the cafes line up their tables and chairs, and when people sit down on them to eat, they don't move them - rather, they sit side by side. [grin]

Our local tour guide (Christina this time) showed us around Helsinki, and one of the most fascinating places was the Lutheran Church. They held a competition years ago for architects to submit suggested plans for a site which was a rocky outcrop on top of a hill. The one that won was the only plan which suggested that the church be built INSIDE the hill...and so it was. There was already a cave there which was originally carved out as a bomb shelter, so they basically enlarged that.

When you go in it is very simple with little ornamentation because the impact is the rocky walls. When it is raining or damp, water trickles down inside the walls and is quite beautiful. While I was there I lit a candle for Rebecca, my niece who died not long ago. Rebecca was a vivacious girl who loved travel and standing in that church in Helsinki, Finland on the other side of the world from Australia, I felt sure that if she could have, she would have wanted to see it. So I left a lighted candle there for her.

We had free time in the arvo so Norbert and I just wandered the streets and local markets to 'soak up' the sights, sounds, smells and culture of this faraway place.

I took a photo of Norbert buying from a little stall....see the deer antlers? No...he wasn't buying any. [grin] And have a look at the photo below - what do you think I look like in this furry hat? I wonder about the reaction if I wore this in Tea Tree Plaza? [howls with laughter]

Anyway, must be off now as we have another early start tomorrow. So far, internet has been easy to get as WIFI is available (for free) at every hotel...lets hope that lasts!

Until next time....hei hei! (That means goodbye in Finnish)

Another day, another country....Sweden this time.

2008-06-16T21:18:00.008+02:00

Hi from Stockholm!
Just got here so the photo below of 'me in Stockholm' is about as 'hot off the press' as you can get! :-)

Monday 16/6 - Just a day of travelling in the rain

If you're gonna have a rainy day while you're on holidays, its ideal if you can plan it so that you aren't doing much except sitting in a bus. So we did well as it rained off and on most of the day today as we travelled from Denmark across to Sweden.

We left Copenhagen at 8:30am and by 9:00am we were on the ferry which took us across the water to Sweden. In quiet moments I've thought it might be fun to be a Tour Guide as I like to think I'm a fairly organised person, and also a 'people person' however the few tours I have done have made me change my mind. Just to get 25 people, all the luggage and a huge bus onto a ferry...on time....is stress which I probably don't need. And a conversation with any of them about stuff that has gone wrong leaves one in stitches! [laughs loudly]

Our Tour Guide is called Klaars, and he told us today that once he was taking a tour around Russia, and he and the driver were arrested and taken off to the Police Station....the bus with 35 travellers who don't speak Russian were just left on the side of the road. When he finally got back to them after about 3 hours, he said they had gotten through all their stored food and candy bars and were starting to get worried. ROFL For the ferry, he had made it VERY clear that whatever we were doing at the time the ferry was docking, that it was NOT more important than getting onto the bus. He told the story about a previous trip when a lady decided this was a good time to go to the loo and when she got out, she found that she was on her way back to where they had come from! Took a day to get her back again! So....noooo....I don't think I need that kind of stress at all.

Took a photo out of the bus window of the scenery on the way across the peninsula to Stockholm (see above)....and as you can see, very green and quite flat. There are massive forests of pine, silver birch, elms etc however one thing I've noticed is that unlike Germany, there are very few flowers. No wildflowers, no windowboxes etc. We did see some wild deer though.

Not much to say about a day spent on a bus. There is a guy sitting opposite us who is definitely not going to remember much of the trip. He has read a book the whole way so far and has his head down the whole time. Doesn't look out of the window and doesn't listen to the information from the tour director. Makes one wonder...why? [confused look]

Finally arrived in Stockholm right on rush-hour....to the most amazing traffic problems! Apparently there are roadworks happening and a bridge is out of commission (Stockholm is built on 14 islands) however even in the middle of Rome I did not see such traffic jams. In fact, the German word 'Stau' actually describes it better as it was a total tangle and there were times that intersections were entirely blocked! Mind you, some of the problem might have been a 10metre bus trying to turn left in front of the traffic.... [cheeky grin] Still, we ended up getting out of the bus before the hotel, and walking the short way there as it was a lot quicker. The porters had to walk down the street with their trolleys to retrieve our luggage! :-)

Anyway, we are here now, and all settled in. Took a lovely stroll through the old part of town and had a quick tea then looked through all the lovely shops containing beautiful glass and crystal, and other things that I can't afford. [sigh] Oh well....doesn't cost anything to look!

Tomorrow we are on the ferry in an overnight cabin, so while I keep saying that I'm not sure of internet it has been pretty good up till now. But expecting a ferry to provide WIFI internet access might be a bit much...even for Sweden.

So....I'll be back when I can!

Still in Copenhagen

2008-06-15T17:45:00.016+02:00

Hi again,
We are leaving Copenhagen tomorrow so I thought I'd finish off my post about Copenhagen...that and the fact that once again, I'm not sure when internet will be available. Gotta take opportunities as they come!

Fantastic to hear from you Cheryl, and glad to hear you are enjoying travelling with me. I hope you enjoyed Neuschwanstein, especially as you must have found climbing the mountain easier than I did. [grin]

But this is one of those 'It's Tuesday, so it must be Copenhagen' type of tour so from now on we will be really racing around.

Sunday 15/6 - Soaking up Copenhagen
Started the day with a bus tour of the city of Copenhagen. We had a local tour guide called Monika, and she was really good. Not only did she know her stuff but she had a wicked sense of humour and I commented to Norbert that she would be really fun with a couple of Schnapps under her belt. [cheeky grin] Also, she spoke English really well and this seems to be the case here as although neither Norbert or I speak a word of Danish, we are having no problems with language at all.

So...this is what Copenhagen looks like (see photo). It reminds me a lot of Amsterdam in Holland and I guess as they are both ports from similar times, it makes sense. But isn't it pretty!

Lots of water, boats and canals.....and lots of old buildings painted in bright colours. But Copenhagen is also a very modern city and I can back up some of my first impressions. Its rather 'arty' with lots of beautiful old statues green with age, such as the statue of Hans Christian Anderson and many of the past Kings. But there is also lots of modern art. I took a photo of something....but still not sure if you could call it 'art'. [laugh]

We actually got to go into the Palace! This is not something that your average individual tourist can go on as unlike most palaces, this one is not a museum....its actually in use and in fact the Queen was currently in residence. Not only that, Mary was in residence too although she didn't pop down to see us. Maybe nobody told her that there were Australians downstairs! [grin] You know what's weird though....the locals here say that she is from Tasmania...not Australia. And the bartender last night actually thought that Tasmania was part of New Zealand! :-D

We did have to wear these funny bootees though! Here is a photo of Norbert's feet. Aren't they cute! :-) Something to do with the parquet floors, I think.

One of the 'must do' photo opportunities in Copenhagen is 'The Little Mermaid' and the tour guide told us that although the Disney version of this story has a happy ending, the real legend has a very sad ending with the little mermaid not getting her man, and being turned into sea foam. Sad. What's even sadder is that she has lost her head 2 times...the statue, that is. No kidding! It has had to be replaced twice and the last time they filled her neck with concrete so that any future idiot doesn't have such an easy task.

There was an optional afternoon tour but Norbert and I decided to do our own thing and just walk around the city and 'soak it in' seeing as we only have one day here. The main thing one notices is that there are bikes everywhere! Copenhagen (like Amsterdam) is very flat so it is very practical but there are special bike lanes and even little traffic lights for them, so it makes it quite easy. The only problem is that they move very fast and in fact I almost got run down by a bike! We were walking along the road coming up to an intersection and Norbert said "Let's cross here"....and I took him literally and stepped off the kerb. Bad mistake..... but no injuries suffered. [grin]

The rest of the afternoon we wandered around just enjoying the shops, people and scenery. Amber, here is a photo for you.

Tonight we visited the Tivoli which is a lovely, genteel city garden filled with water, restaurants, theatres, live bands......and several scary theme park rides! If one ignores the screams from the kids on the roller coaster, one can imagine 19th century ladies with their fans, enjoying the sunshine and admiring the swans. We had some tea and wandered around, but weren't interested in the rides (sorry Skye) so we ended up coming back to the hotel. It was getting quite cool anyway.

Gotta have an early night tonight as we have an early morning call and the bus leaves at 8:00am to take us to the Ferry.....which is then a short hop to Sweden. I'm looking forward to this country as I have visions of lots of tall, muscly blonde guys called Sven. [cheesy grin] I'll let you know....

Seeya from both of us!

Arrived in Denmark....Mary says hello [grin]

2008-06-14T19:49:00.002+02:00

Hi to all,
We're in Denmark! Arrived less than an hour ago and as I have found an unsecured wireless network I thought I'd give you a quick update. Just checked the Comments from my previous posting so my thanks to Allison, Mum... and Amber (for the effort). :-)
Allison, I'll keep trying to make the postings more interesting than business reports. Shouldn't be hard. [grin]
Mum, Great to hear you are enjoying reading my blog...but you know this just encourages me, don't you?.
Amber, losing data has happened to me too even though I try to remember to keep saving to the clipboard...just in case. Please try again.

Well, here's the quick update...sorry, no photos this time and I'll explain why later....

Last couple of days in Berlin
What can I say....Hartmut and Marina probably broke open a bottle of wine to celebrate our leaving again, especially as this time we pretty much took over their whole house with all our stuff, used their washing machine, put racks of drying washing everywhere, stacked boxes in their 'winter garden' and generally made a real nuisance of ourselves! Can't wait until they come to Australia so we can make it all up to them and treat them like absolute royalty! [grateful look]

A highlight on Friday was meeting another internet friend...Andreas, and his partner Dagmar. Unfortunately it was pouring with rain and although we had made a previous arrangement to meet at a specific monument, we ended up messing this up and were waiting at the wrong monument! :-S Nevertheless, finally got together and enjoyed a lovely afternoon sipping coffees and walking around a damp but still lovely Berlin.

Another highlight started with a definite downer - my camera broke. Can you believe it! [rolls her eyes] A day before I'm about to start a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Scandinavia, it stops working! But what a fantastic excuse to find technology shops and browse electronic gizmos and other fun things! [cheeky grin] I ended up getting a new Sony but its now on charge so this is why I don't have any photos ready for you yet.

Today (Saturday) all we did was pack. And sort. And chuck out. And re-pack. But finally we ended up with only 2 suitcases and some hand luggage and 3 big cardboxes destined for Australia. I'm wondering if we will beat them back?

Start of the Scandinavian Tour
Not much to report yet. Got to the airport on time (despite lots of ribbing from Norbert, Hartmut and Marina who were laughing at the fact that I kept checking my watch [grin]) and checked in. And of course the plane ended up being late anyway. [sigh] We flew out of Germany an hour and a half late however it was a short flight (about 50mins) so it wasn't long before we landed in Copenhagen although we have missed the 'Welcome Drink' for the beginning of the tour. Oh well....

First impressions? The taxi driver was Hungarian and spoke fluent English and German (and Danish I'm sure). Lots of English subtitles everywhere....on the taxi ride from the airport I noticed that very few shops have no English at all somewhere on the signage. The roads are wide and the weather is cooler, but still nice. When I look out of the double-glazed window I see a street filled with cafes and bikes. The hotel is lovely. So...all is good so far!

Anyway, must stop 'borrowing' this internet connection now as I'm feeling the guilt. [chuckle] We have a tour of Copenhagen starting at 8:30am tomorrow and I'm wondering if Mary will mind if we just pop by and say 'G'day'? [grin]

Exploring East Germany…Past & Present

2008-06-12T21:25:00.017+02:00

G’day everyone!
Just back from travelling around East Germany and now I finally feel that I can say I have a broad experience and perspective on Germany, both its history and the vibrant and interesting country that it is now. So much negative stuff in the past but with the European Soccer Cup on now, there are German flags flying from car windows and decorating streets. We have been told by many people that this public display of patriotism is very new.,.only a couple of years old….and is a healthy sign that the Germans themselves are lifting their heads up proudly and looking forward to the future. Good on’em!

Wonderful to hear from you Heather. Not yet in Scandinavia but almost there! Can’t wait when YOU are travelling overseas and I get to read YOUR blog! :-)

But now, here’s a brief [supressed giggle] account of our last few days…..

Saturday, 7/6 - Packing up a new life
OK...maybe my 5 weeks in Fulda can't really be classified as a 'new life' but it has felt different than a holiday. Sending Norbert off to work in the mornings and then doing everyday tasks like cooking and shopping has meant that it has felt more like 'living' to me, rather than 'holidaying'. And of course for Norbert this definitely has been a new life as he has lived and worked here for over 5 months and has really settled in.

But Saturday was our final day in Fulda, so while Norbert raced around doing errands (ie returning a borrowed bike, closing his bank account etc), I stayed home and tried to sort everything into lists, bags and boxes....what has to be sent back to Adelaide...what we will throw out....what we need for the next few weeks etc. Aaargh!!! Its amazing how one accumulates stuff in such a short time! In the afternoon, Norbert chuffed off to Frankfurt to see an Aussie Rules football game and brought the new tennant back with him. Theo is a young EDAG employee from Cameroon in Africa, and he was absolutely thrilled to bits to be taking over the apartment. It meant getting out of the teeny room he'd been living in AND the end of his regular 4 hour commute to Fulda each day.

By 7pm the car was packed, and with final best wishes to Theo and a glance back at what had been our 'home', we pointed the car toward the horizon for our journey to Steinau which was our planned stop for the night.....about a 6 minute drive away. [laugh] Actually, we thought it was smart thinking to pack up and leave the apartment but not go too far on the first night as we were both tired, and there was really no hurry. When Norbert first came to this area he stayed at the Rhönblick Gasthaus in Steinau for 3 weeks before he found the apartment, and it was here that we decided to stay for our very last night. Sort of a nice circle...don't you think? :-) It was also a chance to see Stefan (the owner) one more time as he and Norbert had become friends. It was lovely to have a relaxing tea although another thunderstorm came through again and we finished the day watching the night sky being lit up with jagged forks, followed by the inevitable deep rolling of thunder overhead.

Sunday, 8/6 - Checking out Luther's past... and really skinny houses
I woke in what was total pitch-blackness, and almost fell over the suitcase moving my hands along the wall to find the door to the bathroom. Found my way back to bed looking forward to at least another couple of hours sleep and glanced at the clock to check the time. It was 8:20am!!!!!!!!!!!! Most buildings here have either shutters or outside blinds, and this Gasthaus had the reeeeeally efficient type of outside blind which turns a room into a level of darkness you can liken only to midnight in a coal mine. Luckily it was Sunday so breakfast was being served late and we made it in time for the usual Gasthaus spread and wonderful hot coffee served with 'kaffeesahne'....which is really creamy milk. Yummmmm... [grin]

We were late getting onto the road but it didn't matter as we were only planning on going as far as Eisenach....a bit more than 6 minutes away [grin] but nevertheless, not too far away. Eisenach is a large-ish town in what was East Germany, and while the ravages of history aren't as obvious in regional areas, the deterioration is much more evident in the roads and buildings of the larger towns, although much is being done to assist. As a child I grew up in a Lutheran community, so I was keen to see the 'Luther House' where Martin Luther lived during his later school years before he went off to University at Erfurt. Quite interesting, but not enough English again so although Norbert wrote 'mehr Englische' on the feedback book, it didn't help me at the time and I had to content myself with asking him for translations. Checked out Luther’s statue while we were there. (see photo).

Random question for you....how big is a house? Of course this is a silly question (like how long is a piece of string), but what if I asked...how THIN can a house be? Eisenach has a house which is only 6' 8" (220cm) wide at its widest point, and goes back 34' (10m) deep between 2 taller buildings getting narrower as it reaches back. Where would you fit the 3 piece lounge suite? Come to think of it, where would you fit the BED??? Norbert took a photo of me in front of it and its not much wider than my outstretched hands. Apparently it is a normal home though with people living in it. [shakes her head in amazement].

The day was still young-ish (like us [grin]) but we had to postpone our planned trip to Wartburg Castle (pronounced Vart-borg), as apparently it closes early so off we went on our usual 'Zimmer Frei hunt'. The first stop proved unfruitful as there were no rooms available but the woman recommended another house down the road and we found this easily and settled in for a quiet evening.

Monday, 9/6 – Travel, Train and Toilet troubles
Enjoyed a lovely breakfast in our host’s dining room (complete with lighted candle!) while listening to the German speaking budgie in the kitchen. I’m not kidding! He seemed to have a vocabulary which far exceeded mine! [grin]

We had hung around Eisenach because we were particularly keen to see Wartburg Castle…but here is where I would like to bring something to your attention. There are heaps of fantastic castles right across Germany and they are well worth seeing if you are visiting here. But…(and a big BUT)….what you need to keep in mind is that the whole reason they were built at the time, was to watch over the town below in order to warn of approaching enemies. Which means one thing. ALL German castles are UP !!!!! One can’t get around this small fact! [laugh] This particular one only needed a half dozen rest stops to climb all the steps so I must be getting fitter, but be warned anyone who is planning a trip like this and saying “…sometime in the future…when I retire…when I’ve paid off the house…when my kids are off my hands…etc etc.” I’d suggest not waiting too long. There are often little buses to help the elderly and incapacitated up the hills, but is this what you truly want? [disbelieving look] Wouldn’t you rather experience the feeling of climbing thousand year old steps through forests of tall trees? [grin] OK..OK…maybe the little bus idea sounds good to you, but be warned that not every castle has these anyway…especially the more inaccessible ones.

Anyway, Wartburg Castle was where Luther holed up for 10 months translating the New Testament into the modern German of the time so that the people could read it for themselves….before that it was only in Latin. We even saw the room where Luther was staying during his time there and where he did his writing (see photo). When I was a kid, one of my father’s favourite hymns was ‘A Mighty Fortress is our God…” and I was quite interested to know that apparently Luther wrote this because of his fondness for this castle and his time there. I really enjoyed this particular tour, especially because we had a really good guide who spoke excellent English and made the history come alive…a rare talent among tour guides.

Norbert was particularly keen to go to Wernigerode where a mate of his from the Schützenhaus had recommended a train tour which was supposed to be quite lovely. The map told us it was 100km away as the crow flies, but the GPS insisted it was a 2.5 hour drive. What to believe?? Norbert spent much of the next 2.5 hours arguing with the GPS but she consistently ignored him and kept saying “In 500 metres, turn left.” In fact, she said ‘turn left’ so often that I seriously wondered if we were travelling in ever decreasing circles and would end up back where we started from! But we finally arrived in Wernigerode…unfortunately far too late for any train rides. [sigh] Oh well….it will have to be like our previous Neuschwanstein experience and we will put it on our ‘must do’ list for next time.

Oh….while I’m giving travel warnings, ALWAYS make sure you have 50c on you. Always! Imagine this……you are busting to go to the toilet but you have to wait for ages because small towns don’t have public WC’s. You finally arrive in a larger town and YES….there is a public loo next to a park. You grab your purse (because you know it always costs money to go to a public loo in Europe) and race across the road. Finally…finally…almost there! [concerned look on face] You notice that it is an automated door which means the door won’t open unless you put 50c in a slot. So with legs crossed, you rummage around in your purse and come up with 2 x 20c and 1 x 10c. Almost there…almost there… [very worried look] And it is THEN that you notice that the automated door ONLY accepts an actual 50c coin. And you don’t have one. Am I getting some empathy out there???? Stop laughing everyone…it wasn’t funny!!!!! [stifles a chuckle]

With nothing left to do in Wernigerode and an appointment in Leipzig the following day, we had tea at a pavement café and set the GPS for Leipzig. It was already 8:30pm though and I was beginning to feel a bit seedy (Skye…empathising with your ‘holiday troubles’ lately) so we stopped at Nachterstedt to find somewhere for the night. But by now we were heading deeper into the east part of Germany, and perhaps a brief pause here to offer my impressions of the states previously dominated by Communism. One can still see the marks. The roads are being worked on but they are still much more run-down. There are many more run-down buildings and what I found a little disturbing is that so many buildings that I thought were old sheds, actually had lace curtains in the windows. There are rectangular apartment buildings put up by the Communist regime and still in use, however attempts have been made to renovate them with the addition of external features and colour to make them more attractive. Everything looks a little shabby, because for so many years the people had to ‘make do’ with what they had. They couldn’t work harder to improve their living conditions and besides, the goods were not available to buy anyway. But please don’t think that I’m describing a place that looks like Communist Russia or something because it doesn’t. The countryside is still beautiful with rolling green pastures and forests.

But it does explain that for Monday night, we ended up staying in an apartment in Nachterstedt which was quite expensive, breakfast cost extra, and the furnishings where somewhat run-down. Quite comfortable though and I’m not complaining….just noting the differences.

Tuesday, 10/6 - Leipzig….and gaining a new awareness of East Germany.
A truly memorable day, and new friends made. Started with breakfast outside as the weather was so nice, then crammed everything into the back of the car again (which was a complete shemozzle by this time) and set off for Leipzig…our final destination before Berlin.

First priority was finding a place to stay, and I was a bit concerned that it would be expensive if we stayed in the city area. Nevertheless, Norbert checked our GPS which gave us several hotel options and we hit success at the second one. It looked a bit fancy as we walked in the door and I balked at the 4-star sign however Norbert said it was still worth asking the question. So he did. [shocked look] Apparently the rate for a room was 290 euros!!!!! We looked at each other and Norbert informed the receptionist straight out that this was far too expensive. I resigned myself to more searching around to get a roof over our head for the night but in the meantime there was much fast conversation in German which I was finding hard to follow…but it ended with the girl handing over a key! Huh? [confused look] Did he really agree to pay 290 euros for one room for one night!!! But no….apparently Norbert told her that he could use the internet to find a cheaper hotel so the girl said she would check their internet rate…..and it was 81 euros. Quite a reduction! So….deal done, we threw our stuff on the bed, parked the car in the garage below the hotel, and walked to the main road to the tram line, bought a day ticket from the ticket-machine and went into town.

Visiting Leipzig was a priority for me, so let me explain……during the first part of 2008 I have been learning German in preparation for travelling in this country, and during this time I came across a website where one could make contact with native speakers…the idea being to help each other learn one’s own language. I made contact with a lady called Brigitte who lived in Leipzig and who wanted to improve her English, and at the time we talked over the internet using Skype. I was very keen to meet her in person and this was the day. We were sitting in a café and it was exciting to hear a German voice saying (in English)…"May I join you?" [pleased grin] We spent a wonderful couple of hours being personally escorted around the centre of Leipzig and having many buildings and places explained, and when her husband (Wolfgang) finished work he joined us and we had a delightful dinner at an outside café, finding lots to talk about. It is always fantastic to actually meet someone whom you have only previously spoken to on the internet….you feel comfortable with them straight away.

I really don’t want to bore anyone but I’ve mentioned before that I am extremely interested in the history of this country, especially the recent history. Brigitte has been the first person I have met who has directly experienced the time of Communism, the GDR and being behind the wire fences in East Germany, and she told us the most disturbing yet fascinating stories of growing up in an environment where one was watched and controlled. For example, she told us that her parents had some very good family friends whom they trusted….but they later found out that these people were informing on them. Imagine finding out that your very best friend that you have always trusted, is, in fact, your worst enemy! She told us that she had a pen-pal in Japan but later learned that the letters arrived with black texta covering anything which was considered slightly inflammatory….she wondered at the time why her pen-pal didn’t respond to her comments. She described how her mother got her to line up for hours to get a kilo of bananas the very first time they were available. Her stories were all about being watched…being scared….and most importantly, NOT being free.

But what enthralled me most was her direct involvement in ‘the Wall’ coming down. She took us to a church (St. Nikolai Kirche) where on 9th October 1989, the evening service was followed by a peaceful demonstration for freedom and the end of the GDR…everyone walked the city circle with banners. (Remember..this was a Communist country at the time so it was a very dangerous thing to do!!!) The demonstrations grew and grew as an ‘every Monday’ event and eventually there were 500,000 people walking around the city! Before long, similar peaceful demonstrations were happening in other places. It was televised on West German TV and this overwhelming ‘people power’ directly led to the breakdown of the Communist Regime and the breaking down of the wall. To mark the place where this all began there is a plaque on the ground outside St. Nikolai Kirche (see photo) It’s one thing to read history in a book, but another to sit at a café and have somebody talk about what it was actually like because they were there. At the time, Brigitte was married and had 2 small children. She went to the church on 9th October, 1989 although colleagues at work warned her that it was dangerous and she could be arrested or even shot. Her husband stayed home with the children becase they didn’t want their children to be orphans! Over the next weeks, she went on one Monday, and he went on the next….only ever one at a time ‘in case something happened’. Unbelievable!!! [shakes her head in amazement]. Can you imagine being that desparate just for the basic human right to be free? And she told us about the evening she first heard that the wall had been broken through in Berlin, and how it seemed like a dream. Two weeks later they packed their 2 kids and their luggage into their Trabant (an east German car which they’d waited 7 years to get) and set off for Bavaria….it must have been like going to a different country! She laughingly described how the Bavarian farmers stared and stared at them as a family of East Germans in a ‘Trebbie’ was an unusual sight! [grin]

The day was such a good experience and I have been left with an impression of Leipzig which is quite different than if I’d just come in as any other tourist and walked around by myself. I feel I understand some of the ‘whys’ as well as the ‘whats’. Right now there is construction happening across the city and it is as if there is a desperation to ‘catch up’. So much of Leipzig was destroyed in the wars and the Communist regime was not interested in rebuilding it as it was. During the Cold War everything went even further downhill as there was no money for rebuilding or for construction of any kind other than the strictly practical…..but thanks to massive injections of money which have been coming in from West Germany it is finally changing and becoming beautiful again. I felt a very real sympathy for the people of Leipzig as they have put up with so much horror and yet there is a feeling of new hope. Brigitte told me that although she once said that she did not want to die in this city, she now feels differently as it has changed so much and in such a positive way.

I could write so much about what Brigitte and Wolfgang told us, but this blog is long enough and anyway, the memories and impressions I will carry with me all my life. I am so grateful to both of them for sharing their lives with us so generously and I know that we will keep in contact in the future.

Wednesday 11/6 – Goodbye Leipyig and hello Berlin again!
Our last day of being ‘foot loose and fancy free’….no job, no home and no agenda. Lovin’ it!!!! [huge grin] Left the car in the ‘teifgarage’ at the hotel and grabbed a tram into town again. Brigitte had filled us with enthusiasm about other places to see so we began at the ‘Runde Ecke’ Musuem….the site of the original Stasi Headquarters (secret police). This place filled me with an overwhelming sense of amazement and horror as to the lengths that the Stasi went to in order to ‘keep an eye on’ ordinary citizens, as the exhibition included bugs & other phone surveillance systems, devices for opening letters, disguises, and even jars of ‘smells’….suspects would have to put small bits of cloth under their arms and then were made to run until they perspired. These cloths were then stored in jars so that police dogs could track and find the people in the future. There are still cupboards and cupboards of letters and packages there which were never delivered. The one negative to the visit was that, once again, it was all in German.

Really getting into the history thing again so we walked a short way until we found the ‘Geschichteerleben’ Musuem which is a modern museum with a more general view of German history. It could have been really interesting but despite checking with the girl on the front desk who assured us that there was much in English, there wasn’t. Nothing at all. Norbert wandered around reading but I found it extremely frustrating to not be able to understand when I really wanted to find out more. So I did a dummy spit! I was standing by the door by myself and an attendant came over and asked me (in German) to move away and stand somewhere else. This was the final straw for me so I said “Ich spreche kein Deutsch”…even though I did understand her….and then said “Ich verstehe NICHT! Gibt’s KEIN Englishe!!!” This is probably very bad German but she seemed to get the idea and went off and found me a folder with the main signs translated into English. Mind you…apparently it is necessary to ask. Anyway, I calmed down a little and went back into the museum to wander around again with the folder. It was better than nothing and gave me a general idea. Don’t get me wrong….I realise that it is my responsibility to know the language and I’m really trying to learn, but the type of language which is in museums is difficult for even Norbert to understand…..the people in charge really need to give us a hand if they want to encourage more tourism.

[deep breath] Anyway…I’ll stop whinging and whining now! [grin] Back onto the tram and a few stops took us to the ‘Völkerschlachtdenkmal’…a huge memorial to the battle that led to Napolean’s defeat in 1815. It might sound boring but it is actually one of those ‘take your breath away’ places! You walk into this amazing structure that stands 91m tall, to be confronted with statues which tower over one’s head, and even they are dwarfed by the massive domed roof which soars high above. Its one of the those places you just have to see and despite the fact that our Fodor’s book was not very complimentary, it was a great experience. Best of all…they had an audio tour in English, for only 1 euro! It was excellent and gave more background than even being able to read everything would have given me. Mind you, all the major signs were translated into English too so there was even lots to read. Well done to the people in charge of that place….very professional.

We had meant to leave Leipzig mid-arvo but it was 5:30pm before we were on our way. Luckily it was an easy run on the Autobahn and we were in Berlin having drinks with Hartmut and Marina by 7:30pm.

So what’s next?
We are spending a couple of days in Berlin to get organised and then we will be on a plane to Copenhagen on Saturday afternoon to begin our Scandinavian tour. First thing Saturday night we meet our fellow sheep…ummmm….tour passengers [grin] and then we have 16 days of ‘everybody on the bus’ and ‘everybody off the bus’ as we get herded around Finland, Denmark, Norway and Sweden. [laugh] I’m being facetious of course….there is nothing wrong with an organised tour, its just that after being ‘footloose and fancy free’, the restrictions and time limits may irk a little. And I just know that at one stage I will be very embarrassed when Norbert will be standing in a line going “Baa…baa..”. He’s like that. [laughs loudly] No matter, the advantage is that finding accommodation and the location of things to see is somebody else’s problem and we can just sit back and relax.

I hope to find internet cafes around Scandanavia but its all an unknown at the moment, however please leave a comment anyway as I will do my best to get online somehow and somewhere.

Cheers all!

Lakes, Alps...and the 'Romantic Road'

2008-06-06T19:08:00.018+02:00

We're back!!! Hi everyone!
My last posting was just as we were getting ready to leave for the Bodensee area, which is right on the border of Switzerland and Austria....south of Fulda. Thanks for your comments Amber, Bruce/Liz, Skye and Allison. I'm a little concerned that a couple of people have said they tried to put up a comment but it 'disappeared'. Hmmmm....my apologies to you if your attempts have not been acknowledged but please try again as its so lovely to hear from everyone. If you continue to have a problem, just email me your comments (manto@adam.com.au).

Amber, great to hear that you finally have some leave! It will be a great break for you and a chance to relax. Not to mention you and Grandma can keep each other company...she might even make you a sponge cake if you ask her nicely. [grin]
Bruce & Liz, thanks for popping by every now to check what I'm up to. While I was sipping a cold drink on the banks of the Bodensee (see below) I was thinking of you guys in cold, wintery Bendigo. [cheeky grin]
Skye, I've just sent you a text so I'm hoping we can catch up today - last chance as I'm packing to leave Fulda for good. But yes...definite appointment to catch up back in Adelaide!!!
Allison, thanks for hanging in there with the 'Marlene in Germany' saga! We're off to Scandanavia next week so definitely further afield soon.

Apologies to all who were looking for an 'executive summary' but I have such limited time on the internet now that I just can't use any extra time to do this. You will have to just scan the headings below and perhaps look at the pictures. {grin]

I am reminded of a travel forum that I was reading through back at the beginning of this year, where people were talking about their holidays and giving recommendations (and warnings). I came across an American guy who wrote "just skip Germany as there is nothing to see there." [rolls her eyes] I don't know what he was looking for but this comment astounds me as there is so much to see that I am almost overwhelmed with the diversity of landscape, culture, history and people. He must be extremely hard to please!

So....let me paint you a mental picture of the Bodensee, and what we saw and experienced, and then YOU make up you mind whether this is 'nothing to see'. [grin]

Saturday 31st May - Getting there
We had errands to do in town but after lunch we hit the Autobahn once again for the 4 hour trip to the Bodensee. Where do you end up if you drive 4 hours out of Adelaide.... Port Pirie? [laugh] The Autobahn is fast and efficient but a little tedious, so just for fun I suggested we play a game we used to play when driving with bored kids....choosing a car colour then counting them to see who gets the most. Norbert said he would choose black and I had 'everything else BUT black'. We gave up in 5 minutes because Norbert was obviously going to win by a huge margin! [laugh]

Had to drive through a big storm band (heavy rain with thunder, lightening etc...combined with fast traffic and huge trucks on the Autobahn) but we arrived safe and sound in Liggeringen and found a nice little Zimmer Frei by spotting a sign on the side of the road - this one even came with a mini-kitchen! But we hadn't come prepared with groceries so we wandered around the corner to find something to eat - nice place....tables under the trees in a quiet setting. But we walked out! Yep...sat there for 20 minutes and the staff didn't even come to clear the table let alone ask us if we wanted a drink! The people next to us were obviously annoyed too however Germans don't seem to expect service and just accept what they get. But Aussies vote with their feet so we found another Gasthaus down the road and within 5 minutes had a drink in front of us and our food order taken by an extremely friendly woman.

Sunday 1st June - a quick trip to Sweden... on a tropical island!
The sun was shining as we shared a 'basket breakfast' at the outdoor table setting outside our room. We were discussing what we would do for the day when Norbert said "I though we'd start the day in Sweden." Huh???? He explained that according to the Fodors book we are using as a guide (albeit 10 years old) apparently a local island is still owned by Sweden...so we thought we'd go there. Its called Insel Mainau (Mainau Island) and can be reached by bridge as it is in the middle of the Bodensee. (**Note: In Germany, a 'See' is a lake....and the Bodensee is the largest lake in the German speaking world)

Well, all I can say is....Wow!!! Sit back...relax...and imagine a huge expanse of clear, blue/green water, scattered with the pristine white sails of a myriad yachts. All around are sub-tropical plants and palm trees, and multi-hued butterflies dance over vibrantly coloured flowers. Close to the water, sun-drenched streets are lined with cafes protected from the glaring sun by flamboyant umbrellas. So.....do you think you might be in the Greek Islands or perhaps Cairns???? Now, ADD to this mental picture......a backdrop of the Swiss Alps - jagged, snow-covered mountains dotted with ancient castles....and a Zeppelin hanging low over the landscape! This

describes Insel Mainau. Because of the expanse of water it is actually a micro-climate and plants grow there that would not survive anywhere else in the area. I saw Bougeanvillea, vineyards and even orchards of stone fruit! Quite amazing! Look at this photo Norbert took, and you will get an idea of just how bright and colourful it is!

After wandering through the gardens and just soaking up the sunshine and the tropical environment, we boarded a boat called the 'Stuttgart' which took us across the lake to the village of Meersburg where we had lunch in a lakeside cafe overlooking the water and yachts. Amber, I was thinking of you when we were sitting there as I know you love the Greek Islands and I'm positive you would love this area too.

One little anecdote which once again characterises the German acceptance of rules and need for authority that I have mentioned in previous postings. On the way back to Insel Mainau we were sitting on the deck of the ship when a steward came past and sternly told the person sitting next to us to take his foot off the (aluminium) seat. Some loutish teenager? No....a man who would have been in his 70's and was obviously propping up his leg, maybe due to arthritis pains. What was even more confusing for me was that his wife sitting next to him didn't like it however he kept saying "Das ist richtig"....that it is right that he be told this. [shakes her head] I don't get it. Germans are mostly lovely people but when it comes to rules and keeping order, perhaps they need to learn about the Aussie term, "to cut some slack". [grin] (For my German readers, that means to be a little more flexible, and take the initiative to adjust the rules according to the situation.)

And here's another 'GPS story'. This little gadget is invaluable however we were reminded again to ensure that the settings were right. We left the island and decided to visit the city of Konstanz so Norbert set the GPS and off we went. But just around the corner he said "That doesn't seem right"....and pulled in to check. According to the GPS, it would take 1 hour and 20 minutes to get there. So he changed the setting to allow main roads....and the time cut down to EIGHT MINUTES. [laugh] Talk about the long way around! Anyway, after a look around the Altstadt (the old part of the town) we drove back to Liggeringen and our comfortable 'Zimmer', a little sunburnt but happy and relaxed.

Decided to go to the same Gasthaus for tea again and as we (coincidentally) sat ourselves down at the same table as we had the previous night, the same friendly woman bustled out exclaiming happily "Aaahhh...d'Australians!" And then she proceeded to rattle off the same order for drinks as we had asked for the previous evening. She remembered us well! Talk about feeling welcomed and part of the local community! It was wonderful!! [beaming grin]

Monday 2nd June - Beginning in the Stone Age and ending in the Alps
Set the GPS to wind around the small villages in an easterly direction, skirting the north shores of the Bordensee until we came to Uberlingen. Fodor's book calls this town the 'Nice of Germany'....as in the 'south of France' Nice. And I can see why. We parked the car and headed for the water then joined others strolling along the Promenade, finally stopping to enjoy a cappuccino while gazing out across the water. Aaahhhh.... this is the life. [euphoric look] Am I making you jealous yet? [cheeky grin]

Anyway, enough of the lazing around. After that it was time for some serious cultural edification and learning [stern, teacher face] so we checked out the Pfahlbauten Museum where we learnt how people lived on the lakes and other European water areas during the Stone Age and Bronze Age. I know what you are imagining....shelves full of dusty relics and peering to read yellowed labels. But no....this was another one of those 'outdoor museums' where replicas of huts and buildings have been actually built out over the water, and one has to walk over wooden platforms to get from one to another. Sort of like the Schwartzwald village I have explained about earlier...but several thousand years earlier. Really interesting....except for the fact that just about everything was in German. [sigh] Still, it was quite fascinating to drop back 5,000 years or more to see the way people lived their surprisingly complex and progressive lives. The photo will give you an idea of what it was like...and Robby, note that I am wearing a T'shirt! [grin]

By then we were getting into the educational theme so decided to find the Zeppelin Museum to learn more about these out-of-the-ordinary flying machines. I must admit, I harboured desires to see if we could get on board for a flight....[sigh].....but it was not to be. Drove all the way to Friedrichshafen, found a park, walked to the Museum to find a sign on the door which said "Montag Ruhetag"...which means 'Mondays Closed'. "So ein Mist!" (and no, I'm not translating that for you. [laugh])

The luck continued as I was hot when I got back to the car so sat in the front seat and opened up the bottle of mineral water which had been lying on the back seat. Water sprayed everywhere!!!! Didn't help at all that Norbert was falling about laughing as I was trying to get the spewing bottle out of the car as quickly as possible before me (and the inside of the car) were completely drenched!! ROFL Oh well....at least it was cool sitting in wet clothes for a while! [chuckle]

Wandered around Insel Lindau for a while (and yes, that's another island. You're learning German too!! [grin]) but towering thunderheads were appearing in the sky and the ominous sound of rolling thunder sent us back to the car to try and keep ahead of the storm. Wasn't to be though. We were travelling through the Alps at this time and dropped down into Austria as the storm gained momentum making it somewhat challenging manouvreing on the steep roads. I'm completely confident in Norbert's driving now but it was getting a bit scary with the lightening illuminating a sky that was getting blacker by the minute...so we pulled into a Zimmer Frei with a view across a lush green valley, and decided to call it a night.

(I'll finish off this day with a short note...the room was on the top storey of a half-timbered house and the mystery of the internal floors that I have posed in a previous posting may have been solved. I swear that if one dropped a box of Jaffas next to the bed, they would all end up in the bathroom! [laugh])

Tuesday 3rd June - Finally....Neuschwanstein Castle and the 'Romantic Road'
Today was the 'big day' and one of the reasons we had come down to this area of Germany. I'll fill you in......

Our 2006 European tour did not go to Neuschwanstein Castle, so at the time we decided to make our own way there. This was right on Christmas though so despite booking a seat on a small tour at the time, the bus trip was cancelled. It apparently wasn't meant to be! So THIS time we were determined to get there and it was with high expectations we pulled into the car park.....to be confronted with buses of tourists again [sigh]. Oh well, we were expecting this and it wasn't too bad as this was a weekday and not during European school holidays. The big advantage was that we could get an English-speaking tour!

It was funny when Norbert booked it.....I heard him talking (in German) to the guy behind the counter asking for 2 tickets, however when the guy made the assumption that we were booking in for the German tour, Norbert quickly corrected him and said that we would like the English tour instead. The dumb-founded look on the guy's face prompted Norbert to say (in English)..."Trust me, my English is better than my German!" [laugh]

First we walked up a small hill to see Hohenschwangau Castle, which is interesting in itself and the closest one. But then despite the availability of a romantic ride up via a horse-drawn carriage, Norbert literally dragged me up the side of a mountain on what felt like several kilometres of track on which only a mountain goat would feel at home. He kept saying "Its levelling out soon". Yeah....sure!! [grin]

I was about to pike out on the final leg of the climb to Marienbrüke (a bridge between 2 mountains) but a man resting on a nearby bench heard me objecting so pulled out his camera and showed me the photo he'd just taken. OK....I was convinced. [grin] And yes....I'm glad I made the effort as it was absolutely breathtaking!! One is literally hanging above a ravine with a view of Neuschwanstein right in front. Of course it did cross my mind that this was a hundred-and-something year old bridge and I wasn't confident that it was constructed with busloads of Japanese tourists in mind. :-) Nevertheless, well worth the climb.

After a fascinating tour of the Neuschwanstein castle (which I won't bore you with as you can Google it if you are interested) we made our way out of the busy place and stopped by Märchenwald for a late lunch. Now Norbert is still teasing me about this as it sounded good in the Fodor's book, but would probably have been better when I was about....umm... five years old perhaps? [laugh] Märchenwald means 'Fairytale Forest' and while it was cute, it was a bit weak.

We were following what is known as the 'Romantic Road' which is described as "...a wondrous and fanciful journey" and is 420km in length. Oh...just want to mention that the roads are lined with wild-flowers in all colours, including brilliant red wild poppies. Extremely picturesque!

On to Mittenwald as the last leg for the day and we followed the usual routine of looking for a Zimmer Frei. Usually we don't check them out first but when the first one we visited said that it would cost 60 euros, I thought this was exceptionally expensive and asked to see it as I would have assumed it would have a wonderful view at the very least for this sort of price. Well, instead of taking us upstairs the lady took us around the back where they had made a guest room out of the back shed! OK, it was still very clean and neat but the view of the rubbish outside the window meant it was definitely not worth anything close to what she was asking! So we said 'thanks...but no thanks' and continued looking. Goes to show that it is worth checking if you are at all unsure!

What we ended up with though was a delightful Gasthaus with a lovely room with its own balcony. I've put up a photo of it....can you see me on the balcony? Later that night I was feeling like I'd gone to heaven as we sat out on this balcony and enjoyed a round (or two [grin]) of Schnaps while craning our necks upward to see jacked mountain peaks still covered with snow high above us, and the sound of goat bells as the herds were rounded up for the night. Straight out of the Heidi story! (Skye...we were only about 40k or so from Grainau so you would remember the scenery in this area).

Wednesday 4th June - end of the Romantic Road, and end of the trip.
Woke with sore muscles in my...ummm...shall we say, gluteus maximus? [laugh] That's what you get for climbing mountains at my age! :-D The weather was still cloudy and threatening rain so despite deliberating over breakfast about several possible destinations, we decided to head straight up the Romantic Road for Rothenburg-ob-der-Tauber as this was on our way home and a place recommended by Andreas, a social contact from Berlin.

Unfortunately the rain didn't stop but we still enjoyed the visit as this place is quite unique...thanks for the tip Andreas! I believe it is the only remaining walled city left in existence after various wars and useless bombings...,.in fact Rothenburg-ob-der-Tauber was also bombed right at the end of the war (heaven knows why!!!) but managed to escape major damage. In other towns one finds the last remains of city walls, usually crumbling and covered in ivy however in Rothenburg we walked almost all the way around the old centre of the town...several metres above the ground and thankfully out of the rain! Its all intact thanks to many donations and lots of hard work and gives a fascinating understanding of what it would have been like to have to defend one's life and family from marauding enemies with arrows and spears. Of course it doesn't help against more advanced weapons though and so many of these walls were dismantled and/or fell into disrepair.

Finished off the day standing under damp umbrellas and with soggy jeans hems....so decided to head for home. Once again it was a bit of a contest to face against the big trucks in blinding rain on the Autobahns, however I think we are getting used to it now and it isn't so stressful. I took a photo out of my window this time so you get some idea of how close they whizz by.

Some of the big Autobahns don't have a speed limit and cars fly past on the left hand side at unbelievable speeds, even in the rain....and 80% of these are generally Audi's, usually black ones. Where the Autobahns meet there is often very complicated clover-cleaf intersections and we were continuously grateful for the GPS to help navigate these. There are some speed limits in places though and these are usually 120kph. Norbert has gone through a couple of cameras and when he owned up to the rental car firm they didn't seem at all concerned...just said "Oh, that will be the Police's problem, especially when they find out you've gone to Australia." Now, I'm not sure if that is the right attitude but as the fine here is only about 22 euros, we were assured it is highly unlikely they will chase him. [grin]

We rolled in to our car park at exactly 7pm.....and after dragging everything upstairs, toasted a successful trip with some Schnaps. Natürlich! [grin]

Saying goodbye to everyone
We leave Fulda on Saturday and as Norbert (and now I as well) have made many friends here, everyone is very keen to say goodbye. I commented yesterday that we don't ever have this many invitations for social occasions, even at Christmastime!

On Thursday we were invited to lunch in Simmershausen with Lothar and Agnes, and also to see their newly renovated home. A wonderful lunch and we got to see the result of all their hard work on this old building. This was followed by a long walk in the surrounding countryside finishing off with coffee at a local coffee house. We even passed through what would have been the border as it was only a kilometre from the house. Nothing much there now but the lack of forestation on what would have been 'no man's land' was very obvious and reminded me once again of this precarious history.

We said our final goodbyes and they have promised to visit us in Australia....and then it was on to a 'grill' (grill = BBQ) at Marcus's house. A fun evening with lots of debate and conversation but I was still really tired after our trip so we said our final goodbyes and came home to get some sleep.

Tonight (Friday) we have been invited out for dinner with Jürgen and his family, and is the reason that I am rushing to finish off this blog as they are picking us up in less than an hour. And I still have all our clothes flapping on the washline out on the balcony! Must go! [grin]

As of tomorrow we make our way to Berlin again, and on 14th June we are off on our 'Nordic Adventure' up to Finland and Denmark, so I'm sure while this blog will become shorter and more rushed, it will be filled with stories of grey seas, amazing fiords and Scandinavian culture.

Tschüss!
Marlene

Fun nights and electric storms

2008-05-31T10:30:00.004+02:00

Neblig Grüße aus Fulda! (Greetings from foggy Fulda)

Got up this morning to find the world reduced to a couple of streets around the apartment, and the rest a white, misty shroud. Quite a change from yesterday when it was about 30degrees and humid...Darwin weather....leading to a wild electric storm in the evening dumping sheets of water and even hail! But today (Saturday) it is cool and calm as we make final arrangements to head off to Bodensee..on the border between Switzerland and Germany.

Norbert is literally standing next to me waiting to whip the modem out of the laptop and take it into Fulda to finalise the internet, but I'm holding him off just 15 more minutes so that I can write a short update. [frowns] Did I just hear somebody mutter something like... I don't know the meaning of the word 'short'??? [laugh] Fair enough, but I'll do my best.

However, first my thanks to Uwe, Allison, Heather & Robby for your comments on my previous posting....
Uwe, not sure about the photos from now on but I will do my best!
Allison, I agree....I would have missed heaps and I'm so glad you encouraged me to just make the decision to go. :-)
Heather, lots of Black Forest cake around...but none of it gluten-free. :-( Don't let the boss get you too stressed...just keep thinking, "Will anyone DIE if this or that is not done?" [grin]
Robby, great to hear from you both! It is warm here, but I feel every teeny breeze so it takes a day like yesterday to get me to uncover. Still, I'm getting a tan here as the sun is not so strong.

Its been a quiet week and the highlight for me was spending another day in town practicing German by talking with locals. I spent an hour or so getting my nails done which was interesting as my little German dictionary didn't have the words I needed (like Acrylic Refills), but lots of laughs and miming meant we managed OK. I even managed to find a hairdresser and make an appointment for next week, so I was feeling quite good about my ability to cope with the language. Norbert has been suffering with hay fever which has been difficult for him. The term 'Spring is in the air' is quite literal here, as one can SEE the pollen and other stuff literally floating in the air. A hay fever sufferers idea of hell. Oh well...he's dosing himself on drugs so this is helping a little.

Yesterday was Norbert's last day at work so he had organised dinner out at a local Thai restaurant for a few close colleages and friends. Heather, we even decorated the table with your German/Aussie flags but we needed a Slovakian flag too...oh well. :-) Lots of fun and laughs, especially when the rain came down...everyone rushed up the stairs (the restauring is in the cellar) to watch the unexpected show of lightening and hail. Marcus commented that he had come on his scooter which would make going home fun for him! [grin]

We exchanged details as everyone wanted to keep in touch. Miro & Lubicia gave us a lovely book all about Fulda with some gorgeous photos - a good thing as I think it will be some time before I am able to read it. [grin] Jürgen and Bettina brought their daughter, Madeline who had her first tentative try of Thai food. The night finished off with a complimentary round of Schnaps from the owner of the restaurant who personally came out to see us all off at the end of the night (it had stopped raining by then). And so ended a lovely evening!

I must go as I'm getting 'the look' [cheeky grin]. We're off on another little adventure now and plan to see Neuschwanstein Castle as well as other sights in the Bodensee area. I'll tell you all about it...somehow [frowns]....when we get back.

Seeya!

A weekend in the Black Forest

2008-05-26T20:45:00.020+02:00

G'day from Deutschland!

I've been quiet lately, I know, but I've been away for 4 days (AND away from the internet) so I've got lots of catching up to do! [grin] First of all though, great to hear from you Allison, Skye and Amber.

Allison, to answer your questions...it gets dark here sometime after 9:30pm. Schnaps are served chilled or room temperature, depending on what it is. Don't really have a favourite but I prefer something under 40% alcohol or I fall over too quickly. Induction Workshop? What are they again?? [frowns] ROFL
Amber, your decision re your job is yours, of course, but try not to be too impulsive as sometimes things work themselves out if you give them a chance.
Skye, I hope you have a wonderful time in the Canary Islands...we will definitely try to catch up online before I head off to Scandanavia. Talk about ships in the night! [laugh]

But now, back to what's been happening. And YOU have a decision to make! You will either have to go and get something to keep up your strength while you read the lengthy saga following... [cheeky grin], or perhaps just scan over the Executive Summary for the overview. Basically though, Norbert and I packed the car on Thursday morning and headed off toward the Schwarzwald area...the Black Forest. Land of mountains, fir trees, cuckoo clocks and Black Forest cake (Kirschtorte). Sound fun? Let me take you there....why not skip the Summary and read on for the whole experience. :-)

Executive Summary

OK....you only have 5 minutes so here are 4 days squeezed into 4 paragraphs. [grin] First, Thursday. We didn't want to fly past all the interesting scenery, so Norbert set the GPS to avoid main roads. What we didn't know was that it would consider that everything apart from a one-lane goat track is a main road!! [laughs loudly] At lunchtime though, Norbert started to get a migraine so he went back to the car to sleep it off (which is the only thing that really helps) and I set off by myself to explore the little town. We set off again after Norbert felt better and arrived in Heidelberg at around 6:30pm.

On Friday we enjoyed a cruise down the Neckar river, looking up at the lovely sight of buildings 'climbing up' the slopes, and castles perched on rocky outcrops. Just gorgeous! In the afternoon we went to see the famous Heidelberg Castle. One needs to climb about 375 steps to get up the hill but we made it. We then drove on to Pforzheim but had made the decision not to stay in cities (which it is), so we kept going as we were driving through a little village called Unterreichenbach, Norbert saw a 'Zimmer Frei' sign, and quickly chucked a lefty! Note that 'Zimmer Frei' means 'Room Free' and it is a sign usually displayed on a Gasthof or Gasthaus...which is an inn in the old meaning of the word. This particular one was lovely, comfortable, and cheap!

After setting off again on Saturday morning we came across Bad Liebenzell. An incredibly pretty place. We took off through the forest and before long were listening to the sounds of birds and the gentle rustling of leaves...and of course our own huffing and puffing. [grin] As it was Saturday it seemed that every town had a Saturday market in their Marktplatz. Picture cobbled streets with displays of colourful flowers, fruit, vegetables and other wares laid out for sale. In the afternoon it started to rain though, so as it was no longer the weather to wander around looking at scenery, we booked into another 'Zimmer Frei' at a farmhouse which was lovely and incredible value.

On Sunday we went to the Schwarzwald's version of Sovereign Hill - a small 'town' of historical buildings from various Black Forest regions and from the past 400 years. All the buildings are either replicas or were actually authentic and had been dismantled and re-built on this site...incredible, and extremely interesting! We then stopped in Triberg as they have the highest waterfall in Germany there, and followed that up with a visit to Titisee to see a beautiful (but icy cold) mountain lake. Home via Autobahn and it was no problem this time as trucks aren't allowed on them until midnight. So an easy run and the end of a really lovely weekend!

_______________________________________________________________________

The Full Story

Anyway, on to the 'real' story in all its wonderful detail! [laughs] When we got back last night, I asked Norbert for his impressions of the Schwarzwald area, and he said "green and mountainous". He's a man of few words though so I'm sure I can expand on that. [grin] Read on....

Thursday - checking out every goat-track on the way to Heidelberg!

We had both agreed that after spending most of our previous tour whizzing down Autobahns and gazing at what looked like wonderful scenery from a distance we wanted to enjoy a closer look at the country this time, so Norbert set the GPS to avoid main roads. What we didn't take into account was that it was a computer (and you know how smart they are), and it would consider that everything apart from a one-lane goat track is a main road!! [giggle] We certainly saw some amazing scenery though, as Norbert expertly eased the car around tight curves with towering cliffs on one side, and a breath-holding drop to a deep valley on the other. Through tiny villages which probably saw few strangers, and through darkened archways of incredibly tall trees with branches touching high above us.

By mid-morning we were hanging out for coffee so pulled into a place with tables and umbrellas, and a lady out the front putting up balloons. We asked if we could have some coffee and she bustled off inside to get it while we sat and relaxed in the sunshine. As we left, she mentioned that she wasn't actually open until 5pm and was just setting up for the evening! Such is the hospitality of these folks. [grin]

Have I mentioned that there are about a zillion bikes on the roads every weekend? Both the push kind AND the motor kind. I reckon they get such a short burst of warmth and sunshine that they try to make up for a whole 12 months in just a few weeks.....but that might be just my interpretation. :-) Anyway, we continued meandering through the incredibly green and hilly countryside, coming across little villages every 3-5 kilometres with interesting names like Döllbach, Jossa and Bad Brüchenau until we reached Tauberbischofsheim where we stopped for lunch at a cafe run by a guy called Christopher O'Sullivan....yep, Irish, not German. One can tell. [nods knowingly]

Unfortunately, during lunch Norbert started to get a migraine which happens occasionally, so I sent him back to the car to sleep it off (which is the only thing that really helps) and set off myself to explore this little place. Isn't it funny how sometimes unexpected events can provide unforseen pleasures too, as I found a 'hidden garden' surrounded by ancient walls and flowing water. Just beautiful, and so peaceful! We set off again after Norbert felt better and arrived in Heidelberg at around 6:30pm.

Now I need to explain that Heidelberg was a place that I reeeeally wanted to get back to after seeing it 'oh so briefly' on our last tour of Europe. That time, we arrived when it was almost dark, walked across the old bridge, looked up at the castle....and were bustled back onto the bus. At the time I thought it was amazing and really wanted to see more. But now I realise that what we saw was the best part anyway, as the picturesque part of Heidelberg soon gives way to a big city and ordinary-looking suburbs spread out flatly and lacking in any real character. It was getting late and we had no accommodation booked so guessing that it would be hugely expensive in the 'pretty' part of Heidelberg, we drove on to an outlying place (probably more like a suburb really) called Mannheim and enquired at a hotel. Yep...they had a room but it wasn't cheap and it certainly wasn't big! Just enough room for the bed actually...but quite comfy for the night.

Friday - cruising by ancient castles, and fighting tourists to see them!

The teensy room was made up for by the huuuge breakfast spread, so we ate enough to ensure we wouldn't need lunch. [grin] Go on, admit it....I bet you've done that too when you've been away, haven't you! [points her finger] ROFL

Anyway, we checked out then headed back to 'pretty' Heidelberg'...see the photo below - isn't it just gorgeous!!! Like stepping into a land of fairies, castles and wicked witches in dark forests.

Anyway, as luck would have it, as soon as we got to the riverbank there was a cruise boat about to leave in 2 minutes! What luck! Jumped on board just as they pulled the ropes in, and proceeded upstairs to the deck where we could enjoy the sun and watch the glorious scenery roll past. What luxury...and how relaxing! The cruise went through 2 locks, lifting us a total of about 6 or 7 metres, and as we were travelling through the Neckar Valley we were surrounded on both sides by buildings 'climbing up' the slopes, and castles perched on rocky outcrops. Just gorgeous!

The cruise took an hour and dropped us in the little river-side village of Neckarsteinau where we had a cappuccino in a little coffee shop overlooking the river. Oh, and I watched a woman dust her front fence, and sweep the street in front of her house. Not just the footpath...the street itself! Everything here is soooo neat and clean and tidy, and I guess this must be one of the reasons - the residents seem to have such a strong desire for tidiness and order, and a work ethic to support it. Hey Mum? [winks]

In the afternoon we went to see the famous Heidelberg Castle....or Schloss, as they are called in German. One needs to climb about 375 steps to get up the hill but we made it....and hopefully wore off some of the breakfast! :-D The castle was old, beautiful and interesting with breathtaking views across the Neckar Valley and beyond. BUT, it was the first time since getting here that we came face to face with 'tourism' again.....large bunches of American and Japanese tourists being herded around by slightly weary looking tour guides, and myriads of shops selling T'shirts saying "My friend (mum, brother etc) went to Heidelberg and all I got was this lousy T'shirt." You know the kind. [sigh] But we did see the 'Apotheca Museum'...which is the history of the pharmaceutical industry from the dark ages until now. It might sound boring (I can see you rolling your eyes Skye) but it was all laid out in authentic 'sets' and very well done....even English explanations.

We drove on to Pforzheim...and found it was yet another big city so basically just skirted it and escaped out the other side. Don't get me wrong...we don't have anything particular against cities but we saw most of the 'major' tourist attractions in the cities last time we were here, and this time we were here to see some of rural Germany and more of the hidden and out-of-the-way places. Anyway, we'd made the decision not to stay in cities so as we were driving through a little village called Unterreichenbach, Norbert saw a 'Zimmer Frei' sign, and quickly chucked a lefty!

Note: A momentary break here to explain 'Zimmer Frei'. It means 'Room Free' and is a sign one sees a lot as you travel through Germany. They are usually displayed on a Gasthof or Gasthaus...which is an inn in the old meaning of the word.....a place for travellers to have a bed for the night, breakfast, and then go on their way. They are often very small and are usually run by a family. They are cheaper than hotels and you get the advantage of a homely feel and being welcomed by friendly hosts who are generally very pleased to see you as your stay helps with their income. Same sort of thing as a 'Pensione' in France and the traditional B&Bs in England. They usually include breakfast in the price.

Anyway, we were welcomed warmly and shown to a lovely room with a gorgeous view....at a price 30 Euros less than the hotel in Heidelberg.

Saturday - strolling through sunny village markets enjoying Currywurst und Eis.

We are using a borrowed 'Fodor's Germany' travel book to give us clues as to interesting places to see and travel routes to follow. Admittedly it is dated 1998 however we figure that a castle that has been standing for 800 years isn't likely to fall down, and a waterfall isn't likely to change its route in 10 years. So far its been pretty good except it recommended a place where you can see original garden gnomes being made traditionally, and apparently that is a thing of the past since the cheap Chinese imports. Oh well.... [sighs]

Anyway, we followed Fodors recommendations through many little towns and were pleased to come across Bad Liebenzell. Incredibly pretty place. We set off through the forest and before long were listening to the sounds of birds and the gentle rustling of leaves...and of course our own huffing and puffing. [grin] If you love the silence of a bush setting then you will appreciate this feeling, its just that here the trees rise absurdly straight and tall above the leafy forest floor and the views are of tiny villages with red roofs that have stood in place for hundreds of years. Its different, in a timeless sort of way, but just as quiet and tranquil. And then you walk 20 metres in a different direction and find yourself on a street, as the little houses climb right up the mountainside! Watched an elderly woman pushing a wheeled walking frame up one of the streets....now that would keep you fit!! [laugh]

It was Saturday of course, and it seemed that every town had a Saturday market in their Marktplatz, usually in the old part of the town. Picture cobbled streets dotted with flamboyant umbrellas, and displays of colourful flowers, fruit, vegetables and other wares laid out for sale. There was local honey from the forest, and little stalls to buy wurst and other delicacies. We had coffee in Calw just watching all the activity go by, and lunch was a Currywurst on a paper plate, sitting under a tree in the market place and watching hausfrau buy colourful flowers for their window boxes.

By the way, its not just the houses....window boxes adorn every part of the little towns including along the railings of bridges and overways. We saw a council guy come and water them. It makes everything so pretty though!!! [spins in a circle with her arms spread wide]

In a little place called Zavelstein we followed a Fodor's recommendation and wandered down a street to see a tumbledown castle. We weren't expecting much but we really enjoyed it as one could go down into the cellar and climb the tower...AND there were only another couple of tourists there so it was peaceful and we had many areas to ourselves. Just one of those 'finds' which are unexpected but provide great pleasure and many memories.

The 'market mood' continued through the afternoon, and at Freudenstadt we bought some glazed pumpkin seeds to try (yumm!!!!) and then decided to sit at a pavement cafe to have 'ein Eis' (icecream). But the sky was getting grey and before long, drops of rain began to fall so we made our way back to the car. Unfortunately it didn't stop. Can't complain as we had enjoyed beautiful weather up till then, however the rain made driving on the mountainous roads even more challenging and we couldn't really stop to look at things.

We did try to go to Glaswaldsee which is a mountain lake however by then the rain had really set in and despite standing momentarily in front of the sign pointing to the lake with umbrellas over our heads, we decided against it and thought we'd call it a day and look for a 'Zimmer Frei'. Which we found just down the road....a gorgeous farmhouse just ouside of Gutach, set against the mountain! Once again we were welcomed warmly and the lady seemed surprised but pleased that we were happy to take the room sight unseen (its quite OK to ask to see the room first). She said it was 38 Euro for the night including breakfast for both of us, so I was expecting it to be very basic .....but wow!! A beautiful and spacious room with stunning views, balcony and a private en-suite! What a bargain!!!! Here's a photo (above) ...what do you think?

Sunday - delighting in the Schwarzwald's version of Sovereign Hill.

Enjoyed a farmhouse breakfast which was laid out for us when we went downstairs, including boiled eggs and little pots of jam and what must have been home-made cream (we could hear the cows outside). OK...they didn't have a toaster but the lady tried her best and heated my gluten-free bread in the oven. Norbert thought the price was too cheap for what we got so when we left he gave them 50 Euro and refused to take the change and they waved goodbye happily as we drove down the long driveway to the main road.

We discovered that the place we really wanted to see was only a few minutes away so this was a good time-saver. Which was great as we spent quite a bit of time at Vogtsbauernhof. Picture something like Sovereign Hill in Ballarat....have you been there? No? [grin] OK...its a small 'town' of historical buildings from various Black Forest regions and from the past 400 years, all fully furnished and with some live displays such as broom-making, embroidery, felting etc. Its sort of like walking through a living history. You come up to an amazing old 3-storey house and you can actually walk inside and sit at the dark, aged wooden table. There are real cows munching hay in the barn and old tools and farm implements on the walls, looking like they were just put there yesterday when the farmer finished using them. Some of the buildings are replicas but many were actually completely authentic and had been dismantled and re-built on this site....an amazing feat in itself! Like to go on a virtual tour? I found one here for you, if you're interested. The photo above is of a comparatively tiny house which was often built on the main property for the 'old folks' to retire...so the photo is of me saying "Mum, welcome to your retirement home!" [big grin]

But this visit really fulfilled a major objective for our weekend. [sudden intake of breath] Good grief!! I sound just like some sort of project manager! [hits her forehead with the palm of her hand] Bad enough having an executive summary but next thing I'll be talking about strategic plans and measurable outcomes! Obviously I need to stay away from work a little longer. [laugh] Nevertheless, the weekend did fulfill a major objective as we had such a brief taste of the Black Forest on our last tour, we were determined to literally 'soak ourselves in it' this time...and the outdoor museum did this extremely well.

In fact, we were talking about a place that the bus stopped last time where there was a huge cuckoo clock....and lo and behold, we ended up driving right by it about 5 minutes later! What's the chances!!!! We then stopped in Triberg as they have the highest waterfall in Germany there....and while we didn't make it to the top, we enjoyed a special time listening to the sound of a man playing a traditional Alpine Horn to the backdrop of rushing water. The rest of the town was a bit 'touristy' though, so we moved on to Titisee where there is a beautiful mountain lake. Incredibly picturesque....but cold!!!

We decided our last stop would be Freiburg which is getting close to the French border on the west....but we needn't have bothered. Once again it was just another city. In fact it was a 'university city' like Heidelberg and it made me wonder whether this is the reason for the plethora of McDonald's and Burger King outlets and cheap blocks of flats in these types of places.

But, it was nearly 6pm and we wanted to get home by nightfall.....and we were still about 380km away from Fulda. No problem! Straight onto the major Autobahns which, we found out, don't allow trucks on Sundays!!! Bonus! Mind you...we saw hundreds of them lined up in truckstops and parking areas, looming in a predatory way and ready to roll out and take over the Autobahns again on the stroke of midnight. But it was a dream run for us! Zoomed along averaging about 140kph with our GPS giving us plenty of warning when we had to take an exit....and pulled up outside the apartment right on 9:30pm when the sky was just turning pink and growing dark.

And so ends another successful side-trip! Norbert still has to work for the rest of this week but then I'm not sure what we will be doing. He has somebody lined up to take over the apartment but the agent hasn't gotten back yet (service is apalling over here) so things may be in somewhat of a disarray in the next couple of weeks. What will definitely change will be these blogs. Norbert is handing over the internet at the end of this week and the luxury I have now to spend unlimited time on writing blogs and uploading photos will be over. I'm going into cold sweats thinking about having to spend rushed minutes at a public internet cafe, but I'm sure most of you will be thrilled to bits that you aren't faced with 'War and Peace' just to catch up on what we're doing. Hey Heather? [cheeky grin]

I've been watching the weather in Adelaide and it seems its getting colder. Hope you are all rugged up and enjoying lots of hot chocolate and warm, winter food. I will be coming back a few kilos heavier so I want to fit in. [laugh]

Bis bald!
Marlene (and Norbert)

Crooked houses....and nightmare traffic!

2008-05-21T12:07:00.011+02:00

There was a crooked man, and he walked a crooked mile.
He found a crooked sixpence upon a crooked stile.
He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse,
and they all lived together in a crooked little house.

Guten Tag!

Decided on a mid-week jaunt (after Norbert got home from work) to a nearby village called Alsfeld as it is known for its 'crooked houses'....half-timbered houses which escaped wars and are still standing, some built as early as the late 1400's! But boy are they crooked! I took the photo on the right but as it was dusk the light wasn't the best for taking good photos so I have 'borrowed' the one below from another Flickr photographer, as it is an excellent photo which shows clearly the completely 'out-of-square' lines of many of these old buildings.

Makes you wonder if the floors are sloping inside, how they manage to put square windows and doors into the frames....and whether they are safe to live in! [shakes her head in wonderment] But as Norbert pointed out, if they are still standing after more than 500 years then they probably are not going to suddenly fall down. :-) But just to be safe, I stood clear of the ones which seemed to be leaning out at a precarious angle. [laugh]

Anyway, we had a thoroughly enjoyable tea in a little restaurant called the 'Kartoffelsack' (potato sack) and then decided to head home. And you would think that would be the end of a nice little story.....but NO!!!!!!!

It was going to be a simple, 58k trip on the Autobahn....but nobody told us about the trucks!!!! (Question for our German friends....is this normal???) We were travelling along nicely and then turned a corner...and Norbert had to break quite quickly as ahead were loooooong lines of what seemed like thousands of big trucks, in a complete traffic jam (ein Stau)! Many were queued up, trying to get into truckstops, but on the Autobahn the lines of big trucks snaked waaaay into the distance! There were roadworks which made everything much worse, and the cars were jammed into a side 'lane' which wasn't really a lane at all. Basically, there would have been very little room for 2 cars to be next to each other, but there we were, trying to move along this narrow space with the massive big wheels of big trucks a hair's-breadth away from the right-hand mirror of the car. And can I just add that this is the side of the car that I am sitting on!!!! [terrified look]

I've borrowed the photo of traffic on the Autobahn from here , just to give you the idea (I was too terrified to keep my eyes open, let alone take photos!), but take into account that it was night...and with the roadworks, that gap you see between the line of cars and the line of trucks was virtually non-existent as there were road-work barriers on the left-hand side, several metres in from where you see the edge of this road. Norbert did an absolutely amazing job of driving under those conditions...trying to keep the car centred between these barriers and the moving wheels of the trucks just centimetres away from us.

I know he did an amazing job because we got home safely. [big sigh of relief] I had my eyes closed most of the time with sheer terror!!!! My fingernails were digging into the palms of my hands. I was positive that at any moment we would go under the wheels of a truck, or hit a barrier....or somebody would crush us in the small gap. It was sooooo scary!! [shudders with the memory] I think we should stay off the Autobahns at night if this is normal traffic....maybe the trucks do all their transportation at night or something?

Anyway, I had to have THREE glasses of Schnapps when I got home, just to stop shaking. [grin]

So....what is the most exciting thing that has happened to you this week?

Love to all,
Marlene

PS: Thanks Allison and Amber for your previous comments.

Allison, you asked to see the drawings I have in Adelaide? Unfortunately I don't have much. Drawing is a 'free-time' thing for me and I don't usually get much of that...which is why I promised myself I would try to make time while I was away from work.
Amber, congratulations on being offered some free-lancing work for a magazine! Well done! :-)

Pretty Towns & Scary Military History

2008-05-19T19:29:00.023+02:00

G'day to all my patient readers [grin], and a special thanks to Heather for hanging in there and being my one and only commenter this time. What...has everyone given up already? [laughs]

Heather, you and Mum must be having lots of fun with the furniture shopping - everything here is 'IKEA type' and designed to be put together on the spot, then chucked away after a time.

Anyway, I have a weekend to catch up on but I know some of you are curious about whether or not I have gotten around to doing some drawing like I said I would...well I have done some playing around and at left is a drawing I did last Friday night while Norbert was out...its the back of the apartment block where we are living. The landscapes are inspiring me...especially the half-timbered houses which are soooo quaint. :-) But more about them in a minute...

Executive Summary

Here is the 'quickie version' of what we did over the weekend. On Saturday we drove to Bad Sooden-Allendorf to meet up with Hartmut (Norbert's cousin) who has been at a 'Kur' for 3 weeks...a rehabilitiation clinic. Bad Sooden-Allendorf is an absolute sea of half-timbered houses and narrow cobbled streets which we would have missed entirely if we hadn't come to visit Hartmut. What luck! Wandered the pretty streets, drank coffee, climbed the tower to look out over the town, had lunch at the Rathaus....and still got home by 9pm to enjoy Schnapps before bed. :-)

On Sunday we stepped back into history again and visited Point Alpha, a key strategic point during the Cold War, right on the border of what was East and West Germany. This place was fully operational right up until about 20 years ago, and it was quite strange walking past the barbed wire fences and out into no-man's land right on the border, and realising that one would have been shot on sight such a short time ago. But now it is quite safe and a standing reminder that it should never go back to this again.

On the way back we visited the Fulda Animal Park and then had a lovely night out with a colleague of Norbert's and his wife, at a local Thai restaurant.

But read on for the full stories.....

The Break-Out...into a Sea of Half-Timbered Houses

Last posting I teased you with mention of getting Hartmut (Norbert's cousin) out on parole. No, he's not in jail. [cheeky grin] The explanation is that he has been having a lot of problems with his neck and spine since a bad fall last November, and has been sent to what is known in Germany as a 'Kur' for 3 weeks...in fact its a rehabilitiation clinic for intensive therapy, exercise, treatments, doctor examinations, physio etc etc. But last Saturday we drove to Bad Sooden-Allendorf to meet up with him and join him in an 'escape' for the day.

There were heaps of roadworks on the Autobahn and even a road-diversion which took us out of our way for quite a while, but we arrived in the morning only a little bit late...and our trusty GPS took us straight to the clinic. Bad Sooden-Allendorf is a 'twin town' (think Albury-Wodonga) and we would never have thought to go there if it wasn't for this visit, but boy am I glad we did!!! [spins in a circle] It is soooooo pretty!!!! An absolute sea of half-timbered houses and narrow cobbled streets.

Now, you know I hate to bore you with travelogue-type stuff, but this is really interesting so listen up [puts on her 'teacher face']. This town is built on a salt-spring, and like Rotorua in NZ it has a history of being a place where one goes to 'seek the waters' and get healthy. In the middle of the place is this...ummm....structure. Now, how can I describe it. [scratches her head] It must be about 300m long and about 20m high, and it is a wood structure which is packed really thickly with small branches. The briny water is pumped from the top and it slowly trickles down through the branches, some of it evaporating and thereby increasing its salinity. Above is a photo of me touching the salt-encrusted branch ends (and getting wet in the process). Norbert explained that it works like the pads in an evaporative air conditioner. People walk around it on a platform and breathe in the salt-laden air and the salt-laden water is used in the health spas. Fascinating stuff!!

We even visited the Salt Museum...yep, there's actually a salt museum which enlightens one all about the value of salt in the area, and how it has been part of their history. That's definitely one to add to the list of 'things to do before you die', don't you think?? [chuckles]

We did lots of stuff like climbing the tower to look over the town (see photo) and also had lunch in the Rathaus Keller ...which is a restaurant in the basement of the Town Hall. Every town has its 'Rathaus'....and no, it's not a 'Rat House' although when I tell you that it is usually full of government officials, politicians etc you may disagree with me! [grin] The restaurant was a 'theatre-type' restaurant and we were greeted by a smiling, costumed fellow who read us the 'rules' such as not sticking knives into tables, and that forks were a devil's implement and therefore not provided. To ensure we washed our hands before handling the food, he came out with a bowl of water and towel and washed our hands for us! It was such fun!! :-D

We finished the day with very delicious (but not very slimming) icecream sundaes under the umbrellas in a cobble-stoned town square. Just lovely!

On the Border

Sunday was cool and threatened rain, but now that we have a car it doesn't really make that much difference so we pointed the black Fiat toward the border of the state of Hessen (where we are), and headed for Point Alpha. Click on the link if you would like to know more about it but basically it was a key strategic point during the Cold War, right on the border of what was East and West Germany. The Americans were stationed at Point Alpha which is on a hill overlooking East Germany with the border only metres away. It would have been a very tense time!

Ever since I visited Berlin back in 2006 I have been absolutely fascinated by German history. Not sure why but it might be because it is comparatively recent and therefore I can relate to it more than some of the European history of 400 years or more ago. Or maybe its because I am of German heritage and therefore feel an 'affinity'. Whatever....I really enjoyed the visit although it was a pity it was soooo cold on the top of this hill! I especially enjoyed the hot 'Wurst und Pommes' that I had for lunch in the cafeteria. [grin]

After lunch we walked to Border House which is built on the vehicle tracks of the actual border, stopping to say hello to a guard dog on duty. OK...it was a fake dog and not a real guard dog, or I would probably have been torn apart!! You can see the American watch tower in the background and I was on what would have been 'no mans land' between East and West, and therefore in a VERY dangerous position! Definitely not smiling like I am in this photo! And this was only 20 or so years ago!

One comment...I reeeally enjoyed the Point Alpha displays as it was an American installation and therefore all the information had English translations. A short walk to Border House which is the East German part.....and everything's only in German again. [frowns] I'm not sure whether it is just a naive assumption of the German government that everyone can understand their language, but they are probably missing out on a lot of international tourism because of this issue. I'm lucky I have Norbert with me for some translating, but anyone else wouldn't understand a thing.

On the way back we visited Fulda Animal Park....and unfortunately it was not the most positive experience. It is an 'old-type' zoo with animals kept in less than ideal conditions in cages and behind wire fences, and they looked so sad. [sigh] I felt sorry for the grey wallabies in the Australian exhibit (wrongly labelled as Känguru).

Had a wonderful night out at a local Thai Restaurant though! Met up with Lothar (who Norbert works with) and his wife Agnes. Lothar has spent 2 years in Australia and is very obviously a fan of all things Aussie and speaks fairly good English. We had heaps of laughs over spicy Thai food and a couple of bottles of good wine, and invited them to stay with us when they next visit Australia.....which hopefully will be soon! :-)

This coming weekend is a 4 day long weekend here (and they say Australia is the Land of the Long Weekend!!) so we are poring over the internet and maps and a Fodor's book to decide where to go. At this stage it looks like we might pack a suitcase and go further afield, perhaps starting in Heidelberg. So stay tuned!!

Love to all,

Marlene

A weekday story

2008-05-15T12:53:00.003+02:00

G'day all!
This post won't need an Executive Summary...its mid-week and therefore most of what I do is pretty ordinary...you know, cooking, doing dishes etc. But somehow even this usually boring work is different when one is on holidays, don't you think? Not the same as when its just part of everyday drudgery and you're trying to fit it in during a working week. [grin]

Great to hear from you Allison, Skye & Amber!
Allison, you've now told the world that your ideal life would be to stay home and send your kids out for beer. Your professional reputation might be in tatters!!! ROFL
Amber, really great news about the rental assistance - you can afford to think about overseas holidays again.
Skye...what diet?? My last posting admitted that I have already gained weight [resigned look]. And how to order pizza in German? Easy..."Ich möchte eine kleine Pizza mit Tomate, Salami und Käse bitte." So...how did I do? :-)

A Fun Wednesday

Anyway, just wanted to tell you that I had a fun day yesterday. It was sunny again so I thought I would take myself to town for the afternoon. Put essentials into the backpack (camera, German dictionary, money, map etc) then walked into Fulda along the bike track. Its a lovely walk..past lots of little Lauben which are small gardens. Most people live in apartments here in Germany and don't have gardens like we do in Australia, so areas of land are set aside and people buy or rent these small plots to grow vegetables, fruit trees etc. They don't live there permanently but spend many sunny days there, tending their gardens. Its not just here...there are heaps in capital cities like Berlin too.

Found my way into town and wandered around looking for new jeans and a T'shirt, as I'm running out all the time due to the warmer than expected weather. Lots of language fun including needing to ask where the change rooms were, that I didn't need a bag and figuring out money etc but I think I managed well. Its getting easier. I even went into the Subway shop and ordered myself a chicken salad for lunch...but forgot how to say 'no onion' in German so did lots of pointing and vigourously shaking my head. The young 'sandwich artist' got the idea. [laugh]

I definitely must look like a local as I got asked directions again, and this time I took it all in my stride including working out that the lady couldn't see the map I offered as she had broken her glasses and left them home...so I lent her mine. We said goodbye with lots of smiles. [beaming grin] BTW I've stopped saying I speak NO German, and have started to just apologise that my German is 'sehr schlecht'...or very bad. I guess its a good sign. :-D

I got my jeans and t'shirt at a shop called Galleria...think Myer. What do you think? Pretty ordinary but I was going for cheap rather than trendy. I also found this lovely shawl which will come in real handy as its a lightweight scarf for around my neck. I brought a woollen one over for the Scandinavian tour but that is overkill here right now...I just need something to wrap around my neck when the sun goes down.

Like last night when we went to the Schützenhaus again for tea and drinks. I'd only been there once before (last Wednesday night) but when we came in I got such a warm welcome! They are such nice people. The lady looking after the bar even remembered what I liked to drink.! [grin] And unfortunately I did a bit much of that as apart from some wine with tea, we HAD to do some toasting as it was one guy's birthday....and then they had another round of Schnapps when they wanted to toast somebody who is fighting cancer at the moment. EVERYTHING calls for a round of Schnapps here....and who am I to break this age-old tradition? [indignant look]

Oh, but I woke with a headache this morning, and took a bit longer to get into the day. Self-inflicted, I know, so I'll get no sympathy from anyone. [grin]

Next posting will probably be a long one again as I will need to tell you what we got up to this weekend. Only Saturday is planned so far....we are going to try and break Hartmut (Norbert's cousin) out on parole from a 'health clinic' for a few hours. Want to know what this is all about? [secretive look] Well, you'll have to read the next post!! [laugh]

Tschüs!

Of fairytales, castles, mountains & quaint villages

2008-05-13T17:11:00.029+02:00

Guten Tag....Wie geht's? :-)

Warning....we've just had a long weekend and done heaps, so I'm afraid this posting will be a long one. [feigned apologetic look] You have a couple of choices...just read the Executive Summary below or go and get yourself a coffee/beer/wine/caffeine tablet etc to help you get through it. [mischievous grin]

But first of all, sincere thanks to my dedicated followers who have left a comment, Allison, Jamie, Ingrid, Amber & Heather:
Allison, you asked about local beers...we have Schwarzer Hahn and Hochstift Pils...about 5% alcohol content. There are 1,300 breweries here...about 40% of the world's total. Good place to be. [grin]

Ingrid, Vielen Dank für Ihr Schreiben! The word 'arvo' is Australian slang and is short for afternoon..or Nachmittag.

Jamie, yep...my last holiday blog should have given you the clue that I have a tendency to write prolifically. :-) Its actually for my own records but if you would like to keep up, by all means just scan the Exec. Summary. Fabulous to hear from you though!

Amber, can't wait to hear about the Media-Watch interviews! :-D

Heather, yes I did pass the test [grin], and read on for what we did on the Pentecost holiday!

So....[takes a deep breath].....let's get on with it, and bring you all up to date! But first, [frowns]...I've discovered I've gained a kilo since getting here. Do you think its the different air? Or something to do with the photo above? [grin]

Executive Summary

We have picked up our hire car...a black Fiat Bravo, and Norbert is doing really well with driving over here. I haven't yet worked up the courage. :-) On Saturday, we went for a drive to Steinau an der Straβe which is where the Grimm Brothers lived for quite a while and where the fairytales that we know and love originated.

On Sunday we had Mother's Day on the Wasserkuppe...the highest point in the Rhöne area, close to where we are. The Wasserkuppe is the mecca of flying and there were gliders everywhere, taking off...landing...circling above and swooping low. There is also a couple of large areas set out for model planes. The views from the top of the Wasserkuppe are amazing!!! You can see for miles and miles in all directions!!!

Yesterday it was a religious holiday here, so we thought we'd get into the religous thing and visit a monastery just over the border in Bavaria....which is exceptionally famous for its beer brewery! [big grin] There was still daylight left to go somewhere else, so we decided to check out Aschach to see the castle there....it used to be a private home and we spent a lovely hour wandering through history.

Driving in Germany

On Saturday morning we picked up our hire car...a black Fiat Bravo, about the size of a Holden Astra. I did organise an International Drivers License before I left Australia, however I'm not quite ready to leap into a left-hand drive car right yet, and drive on the wrong..umm, I mean the right side of the road. So Norbert is the brave one and he's taken it all in his stride.

There are 2 aspects which make it challenging. First of all, you are sitting in the 'passengers' seat and changing gears with your right hand. Norbert managed this easily though and has only tried changing gears with the door handle a few times. [laugh] I think I would find this a bit difficult though as its not just a case of using a different hand...third gear is away from you, for example, and you don't gear shift toward you. All back to front.

Secondly, there is the whole thing about one's 'space on the road', and undoing decades of subconscious awareness....and this applies to the passenger as much as the driver. Norbert has taken a bit longer to get used to this but he's slowly undoing 35 years of driving experience to learn the 'feel' of a new position on the road. I'm taking longer. [rolls her eyes] I've only seriously thought I would die a couple of times (just kidding!! :-D) when the right hand wheels went off the side of the road.....but I'm starting to get used to the white posts flitting past my window at what seems like 1cm away. Well...at least I've managed to stop flinching on every corner although I still close my eyes on some of the really tight turns. [grin]

The Autobahns are fantastic...last night we were doing nearly 160k! But we've been preferring to drive on the country roads and just use the Autobahn to get home quickly. The trouble is, don't think of country roads like Australian country roads. These are not much more than the width of the car with virtually no verge...in fact there is usually a ditch or drop or cliff and its impossible to pull over. So you keep going....and then another car (or a tractor!) comes the other way, and you both slow down to walking pace and eeease around each other, ever so carefully. This is similar in the little villages except there you find cars parked on BOTH sides of the road, with cyclists everywhere and people walking! And the villages are between 1-7km apart, with an average of 3km. One can't be in a hurry! [chuckle]

Fairytales and Castles

Fulda lies on what is called the 'Fairytale Road' here in Germany as it it is the area where the Grimm Brothers compiled all the fairytales that you and I grew up with. So on Saturday, we went for a drive to Steinau an der Straβe which is where the Grimm Brothers lived for quite a while and where the fairytales originated.

I won't bore you with a travelogue as anyone interested can look up this area on Google, however Steinau an der Straβe is one of the gorgeous little villages I keep raving about, full of narrow cobbled streets and half-timbered houses. I know..I know...I can hear you yawning already so I'll stop now! [grin]

We did the 'museum thing' then just wandered the streets getting a feel for the place. The castle is amazing and I could almost imagine Rapunzel in the top tower, or Sleeping Beauty behind one of the huge doors. Its also a very green and wooded area and its easy to see how the stories of Hansel & Gretel came about, and of witches and wolves.

Thanks to Norbert's GPS (she speaks with a British accent), we found our way safely home again and went out for tea at the Rhönblick....a local hotel and guest house where Norbert first stayed when he arrived here, and is therefore on a first name basis with the owners. :-)

Mother's Day on the Wasserkuppe

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day! It was Mütter Tag here also, with lots of cards and flowers in the shops. We set off before lunch, bound for the Wasserkuppe which is the highest point in the Rhöne area, close to where we are.
Now...see this photo of me standing in a flowery field? This is where we stopped for lunch along the way, just outside of a teeny little town called Kleinsassen. That's all very irrelevant but I'd packed cheese and Vegemite sandwiches (I'd brought the Vegemite from home, of course), and as we sat in the sun amidst the flowers, gazing out at the high-pitched red roofs of the nearby village and munching on our sandwiches, Norbert commented that we were probably the ONLY people eating Vegemite for Mother's Day lunch.... in Germany, anyway. Do you think? [chortle]

Anybody who is interested in flying would absolutely LOVE the Wasserkuppe, as its the mecca of flying. Last Sunday they had gliders everywhere, taking off...landing...circling above and swooping low. There are also a couple of large areas set out for model planes. AND there is an amazing museum! Now I'm not that terribly interested in flying for its own sake (except to get into a plane to go on holidays [chuckle]) however the museum was modern and really very interesting. We spent quite a while wandering around the vast interiors of the buildings.

Keep walking uphill and you get to a huuuge radar dome, the remaining one of the 5 originally part of a US installation to keep an eye on East Germany. This one is decommissioned and is still surrounded by barbed wire, but there was a big sign on it to say that it was being turned into a tourist viewing platform and restaurant as the views from the top of the Wasserkuppe are amazing!!!

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You can see for miles and miles in all directions!!! I felt like breaking into song....."The hiiiiills are alive...with the Sound of Muuuusic...." OK, OK...officially shutting up now. [cheesy grin]

Penticost Holiday - Religion...and Kitsch

Monday, and it was a public holiday here. We thought we'd get into the religous thing and visit a monastery just over the border in Bavaria. (Random fact: Did you know that in Bavaria, any beer under 5% alcohol is considered a grocery item and anyone can buy it, even kids???!!! True!!!)

Bear with me for just one paragraph of travel stuff...or skip to the next paragraph if you must. [grin] The Kreuzberg, at 927 meters, is the second highest mountain in the Rhön (the Wasserkuppe is the highest). Franciscan monks founded a monastery here in the seventh century, and a brewery was built in 1731. Atop the mountain is a pilgrimage site, and a huge antenna...but the main attraction on the Kreuzberg is the brewery! Heh, heh

The monks brew what is considered by some to be one of the best beers in the world. Here's a photo of Norbert lining up. Oh, what a pity that beer isn't gluten-free [wrings her hands in dismay]

I found a webcam of the place but if you click on the link from Australia, you would have to do so either in the early morning or late at night....otherwise it will be dark on the mountain! :-)

Anyway, we decided to have lunch and because it was busy, Norbert asked a lady at a bench whether we could share...and then he went off to find some lunch for us. Well, she was a very friendly lady and tried to start up a conversation...but spoke no English. I did the very best I could but I ran out of German in about 5 minutes flat. Then we just smiled a lot at each other. [laugh] The one thing that spoiled this place for me were the stalls and stalls of plastic rubbish and 'kitsche' stuff...very touristy and it takes away from the feeling and culture of the place. Oh well, sign of the times I guess.

Apparently its a big thing to cycle to the top of this mountain and there were bikes everywhere!!!! Bruce B, you really must make this one of your future challenges. I watched one guy arrive and his legs were shaking so much that he almost keeled over trying to dismount the bike! Personally this doesn't seem like a fun activity to me, but I've been assured that it is. [doubtful look]

We walked up to the antennae which was used to beam western 'stuff' into Eastern Germany when they were cut off. But then as there was still quite a bit of daylight left, decided to leave the Kreuzberg and drive on to Aschach to see the castle there. And glad we did! This used to be a private home but all the rooms are laid out like they would have been hundreds of years ago, and one can wander around and look at everything. Really interesting... feels like you are walking in history.

One little story.....everyone is fascinated about us being from Australia, probably because the tourists mainly go to the major cities. What also makes it interesting
is that Norbert speaks German so they want to find out a lot ie about Australia, why we are here etc. Anyway, a couple of staff members engaged him in conversation as per usual and I heard the woman ask (in German) whether or not I speak German. Without thinking I shook my head and she laughed as obviously I knew enough to understand the conversation! [pleased grin] So I said "ein bisschen"...which means, a little. :-)

So...that brings us up to date! As usual the weekdays won't generate too much news as they are pretty much routine now, however rest assured I'll let you know if
there is anything to report. You know you can trust me on that, don't you. ;-)[chuckles]

Let me know what is happening in your world!

Bye for now!

Learning the language

2008-05-09T16:16:00.008+02:00

G'day everyone!

Today is Friday and I can't believe I have been here for nearly 2 weeks!!! Why does time fly when you are on holidays, but go soooo slow when you are just wading through the everyday routines at home? I know...I know... a rhetorical question. [nods & grins]

Wonderful to hear from you Heather, Allison & Amber.

Heather - rest assured that you are not the only one who thinks I use up far too many words to say something which could be said in 5 sentences or less. Its been mentioned to me before....numerous times. [laughs loudly] So I'll keep doing an 'executive summary' for those who prefer me to 'cut to the chase'. :-)

Allison - Can't wait to hear about the Sydney conference...what a great guest speaker!

Amber - I've added you to Skype and sent you an invitation. And [confused look]...there's been a 'war thing' with Russia you think?? ROFL I'd do some history research on Google if I were you. [chuckle]

So...this posting is about how I'm going with the German language.

Executive Summary: I'm working hard on it, and I'm progressing slowly, but getting braver. :-)

Practicing German

The above photo shows the street I live in, and one of the first things I had to do was learn how to pronounce it properly in case I got lost and had to take a taxi home. [grin] The problem with me is that when I make up my mind to do something, I don't have the patience to take things one step at a time, and I want it all to happen immediately. My family, and colleagues at work will attest to this fact. :-)

I started to learn German in February and even though I have received feedback to say that I'm making good progress, I really want to be speaking it fluently....NOW! As I'm typing this I have the radio on in the background so that I can immerse myself in the language as much as I can. But I think I'm doing OK and when I look back at what I was working on in February, I can see how far I've come. But while being here is helping to accelerate my learning, its also showing me how far I have to go [frustrated look]. But let me give you a couple of examples:

Yesterday I took myself for another long walk...this time without shopping to carry! I won't go on about the walk except to say it was warm and sunny and really lovely...except for the inevitable hills. Anyway, I must look like a local because people often stop me to ask directions. So yesterday I threw myself in the deep end. A car pulled up alongside me and a young guy leaned over and said "Ibiy zfgdte cvdbghji jkli slahfiii?" Well, to a person who struggles with a language, that's what its like!!!!

I won't write the following in German because only my German friends will understand it, but rest assured that the whole conversation was definitely in German...albeit my side of it was pretty basic. ;-) I first said that I didn't speak German but did he speak English? He got this helpless look on his face and said his English was "sehr schlecht"...or very bad. So I reached into my bag and said that I had a map (ein karte)...which brightened him up considerably as I think he'd been driving around for some time. Then he asked me where we were on the map, and I was able to explain it to him. He found where he needed to go and handed back the map. I asked him if everything was OK now and he said it was and thanked me profusely. And then he said "Ihr Deutsch ist besser als mein Englisch"...or something like that. Which I took to mean that my German was better than his English! [beaming grin]

And this morning I was woken by the doorbell. (and we won't discuss what time this was) [grin] First of all you need to understand that this is a secure apartment, and anyone wanting a resident needs to ring their bell on the front door...which rings inside the individual apartment, where you answer it. Well, I picked up the handset to hear a fast spiel of German unpronounceable words again. It makes one feel a bit helpless, I'll tell you! [nods her head knowingly] So after establishing that he didn't speak English either (nobody here seems to speak much English, except for what they learn at school) and as I knew Norbert was expecting a parcel, I said "Post? Ein karton?" These being the only 2 German words I know to do with the postal service. And the voice said "Ja, ja" so I said "ein moment bitte" (because I didn't know how to say I was coming down), and raced down the stairs to open the door and sign for the parcel. So......I'm managing!!!! [pleased grin]

Last night, Norbert and I had a couple of games of Yahtzee and tried out another couple of brands of Schnapps. Oh, you would love it here Allison.....the beer and alcohol is cheaper than the juice and softdrinks! Easy to justify and I'm getting reeeeally used to this tradition of Schnapps after tea. [cheeky grin}

Anyway, back to the point...I'm waffling again. [grin] Norbert said that to help me practice, while in the apartment, we would only speak German. So we spoke German to each other for the rest of the night. Now....this is just wonderful of him to help me learn the language faster, but today I got to thinking. [frowns a little] Normally I chat a lot, but last night I would have said only 35-50 words in total, all night. Do you think its possible that he might have an ulterior motive????? ROFL

Must go - we are going out for tea tonight and then around to somebody's place for drinks afterwards.

Seeya!!!

Checking out the Schützenhaus

2008-05-08T10:44:00.007+02:00

Hi all!
Just a short blog post today to tell you about my outing last night to the Schützenhaus.
But first, thanks to those who put a comment on my last post:

Allison - How are those project teams behaving themselves? :-)
Skye - I'm writing more posts than you simply because I have more time...and its all so new and different. Great to hear that you have a definite date for the homecoming!
Robby - Wonderful to hear from you! And yes....I have brought some paper/pencils with me and am looking forward to getting into some drawing. :-)

But on with the latest story.

Wednesday - checking out the Schützenhaus
Norbert has been a member of a shooting club in Adelaide for...oh....decades now. So when he was here alone and bored out of his brain on the cold winter nights, he checked out the local shooting club to enquire if he could do some practice and give him something to do. Well, they welcomed him with open arms and made him feel very welcome, so he's been going to the club twice a week. I wanted to know more about it and meet the members so last night we walked to the Schützenhaus, which translates directly as 'shooting house'. (And yes.... the Schützenfest that we know in Adelaide is, of course, shooting festival!) :-)

First of all, everyone I met was extremely welcoming....I wondered what they thought about having a 'hausfrau' in their midst intruding on their 'boys night out', [grin] but there are quite a few female club members as there are in Adelaide and everyone seemed really pleased that I had come to meet them.

Here's a photo of me standing at the bar....a natural position for me lately. [laugh] Nobody spoke much English though so it got quite overwhelming with all the German conversations happening around me, especially when they had had a couple of beers and started to argue about world issues and the like, stabbing their fingers in the air and raising their voices. [rolls her eyes] But it was all good natured.

The amazing thing about this club though is how long it has been going on. Here is a photo of the club logo which is up on the wall outside.....check out the date at the bottom which is when it began!!!

In Australia we celebrate something going for...oh...25 years, or even 50 years. The concept of a club going for well over 400 years is just too mind-boggling to consider! There's another couple of photos in the photo stream opposite showing more of the inside plus the guys chatting outside.

So....until I have anything more interesting to tell you about I'll log off now and do the dishes. Or maybe I'll just sit and read in the sunshine. [grin]

Tschüs! (means Seeya!)

Marlene

More supermarket adventures

2008-05-07T11:37:00.003+02:00

Greetings all!

Things have settled into the beginnings of a routine and I'm getting lots of sleep. Here's a photo of me right now, writing this blog posting in the apartment. Do I look rested? [grin] Note the funny sloping walls....we are on the top floor of the building and the whole side of the apartment is like this as it follows the roofline. The windows are built into the roof. It certainly adds character to the place and it isn't just the usual square box one often gets in Australia.

Thanks for your comments:
Amber, don't worry about the new editor until it all happens...you never know, he/she might be better than the one you have at present!
Bruce, great to hear from you again and I just know you would have had a ball in Darwin...they're a great mob up there. :-)

Not a lot to write about, but I'll bring you up to date.

Monday & Tuesday....lots of walking
The weather is just gorgeous here at the moment, although this has only been since I got here. Spring has definitely sprung and everything is soooo green and pretty. Its just lovely to get out into it. Norbert and I went for a walk after tea on Monday night so I could see a bit more of the area, then we came home and had a glass of Schnapps. Its a tradition here but it was 40% alcohol! Boy, did I go straight to sleep!!! [laugh]

Tuesday was an exceptionally slow start...I blame the Schnapps. ROFL It was so sunny again that I decided to meander to another Supermarket which Norbert had said wasn't that far away, but was bigger and had more variety than the local. So off I set to find it. First of all you have to realise that NOTHING is flat in this area, and for every downhill street there is a corresponding trudge up the next hill.

Anyway, I got lost. [laugh] Took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up somewhere in the middle of Petersberg which is a neighbouring village. At this stage I wasn't concerned as although I was already tired with all the hill-climbing, it was a lovely area and very picturesque. Ended up turning back and retracing my steps until I came to what I thought was the right turn-off, and although I know now that it wasn't, it did eventually get me to the supermarket, albeit the long way around.

By now I'd walked several kilometres up hill and down dale and was quite tired but I got excited by all the stuff in the supermarket and ended up buying quite a bit. Vegetables are hard to get here and there is definitely no variety or quality...so I took the opportunity to buy up on what wasn't available at the local supermarket. Oh, and I had to get a 6-pack of beer for Norbert...oh, and some Schnapps for me with less alcohol. [cheeky grin] I did very well at the checkout with my miniscule German, and then quickly packed the bags.

And then....Yeeks!!!! No car outside to just lob everything into the boot!!! Luckily I had brought an extra couple of cloth bags with me (green-bag type from home) because I ended up filling my backpack AND both these bags! And I still had to find my way home AND carry all this weight!!!!

I had about 50 rest stops on the way home but with shoulders aching and my arms feeling like they were being pulled out of their sockets, I finally made it back home.....to be faced with 2 flights of stairs up to the apartment! [look of sheer exhaustion] But I made it!! We are picking up a hire-car on Saturday, so hopefully I won't have to do this 'pack-horse' thing again! [grin]

As if that wasn't enough walking, when Norbert got home from work he said he had to go into Fulda to organise the hire-car, so we took a bus into town but then walked around - remember I haven't seen much of Fulda proper, and then mostly at night. Took a lovely walk through the old part of the town which is absolutely lovely with all the timbered houses and quaint cobbled streets.

Here's a photo of me outside a line of half-timbered buildings in one of the streets....although I think the photo is too small and you can't see me. Oh well...you can see the buildings. :-) Really quite lovely and very picturesque, and all very original as I think they escaped the war. I am looking forward to going into town myself sometime and spending some time wandering around all these streets. The nice weather is bringing everyone out too and there are a multitude of outside cafes with umbrellas up, and people having a meal together after work. We are at a high latitude here so the twighlight is long....the sun was still up at 9:15pm last night!

Anyway, that's enough raving on now. [smile] I hope I've given you a mental picture of the area though, and that you are feeling like you are here in the middle of Germany. I'd love for you all to see it as I'm sure you'd love it as much as I do.

Love to everyone,
Marlene

Weddings, Berlin & Germans in general

2008-05-05T12:31:00.024+02:00

Hi everyone!
So sorry its been a while since my last posting, but this is the first chance I have had to get online again. I promise to make it up to you. :-) Thank you so much for all your comments - what a thrill to hear from you all!

Cheryl: You will definitely get your wish for a loooong posting this time.
Heather & Bill: I'll put in an 'executive summary' for you [grin]. Hope you are enjoying sunny Queensland!
Skye: I promise I will buy you a Farmers Union Iced Coffee the second you walk off the plane in Adelaide.
Bruce & Liz: More green grass than you can imagine here...with poppies and daisies in the fields. Gorgeous!
Stefan: I will write LOTS more about my time here in Germany...in English. Aber...deine English ist sehr gut!
Allison: Lots more 'language adventures'...but I'm getting braver.
Amber: Good luck with the defacto stuff...I presume they 'found' your papers?
Elena: Oh yes....I'm definitely happy. [big grin]

Executive Summary

For those of you who say "get to the point woman...stop waffling on..." [grin] here is an 'executive summary' of the last few days. We caught the ICE train (fast one) to Berlin last Tuesday evening, and were picked up at the Ost-Bahnhof by Tobias (the bride-groom's brother). Went to Strausberg the next morning where the wedding was being held and checked in to the hotel, then went to join the guests for champagne outside in the gardens. The wedding was beautiful and I'll explain in more detail further on in the posting, however while it was very similar to Australian weddings, there were marked differences...many quite amusing! :-)

Back to Berlin the next day and the combination of jet lag, travel and all the excitement was beginning to catch up on me so we had a fairly quiet afternoon just chatting to our hosts...Hartmut and Marina....and 'kaffeetrinken' in the sunshine outside. On Friday we had to go into the city as Norbert needed to have something for work notarised by the Australian Embassy. On Saturday we took a scenic boat trip around the many canals of Berlin (more than in Venice) to see the sights, and on Sunday we spent a lovely afternoon strolling through some gardens looking at amazing displays of multi-coloured tulips.

And then we caught the ICE again back to Fulda, which brings me back to today! And nothing much happening today except I have the washing machine on and I have yet to do the breakfast dishes. [laugh] That's about it!

But for those of you wanting to know more of the details, read on. I will also upload the photos I took while in Berlin so click on the link 'more of Marlene's photos' on the right and it will take you where you can see them all. Just click 'next' at the bottom of the screen to go to the next page.

Tuesday - We travel to Berlin

I spent the morning getting ready to go....ironing and trying to fit everything for 2 people into one suitcase. Sort of did it...but the fact that I had an extra couple of plastic bags for 'my stuff' doesn't really count, does it. [grin] The joys of train travel though, as one doesn't have weight issues and you can take as many bags as you can carry!

Took the local bus to the Fulda train station then had a 10minute wait and it was straight onto the ICE. The ICE trains are the really fast ones, and we don't have anything like it in Australia. They look like a bullet and although we were flying along at 250kph, apparently they can go even faster than that when the lines are really good. Here is a photo of me on the train, drinking wine and checking out the view. What a life, hey??!!

We travelled through to the Ost-Bahnhof which is in old East Berlin...its a bit further on than we needed to go but apparently parking is easier there than in the Haupt Bahnhof....the central one. Which was a good thing because as soon as we got there I saw a familiar face coming up the platform - it was Tobias, coming to collect us. Tobias is Norbert's cousin's younger son and a few years ago he came to Australia for a month-long trip where we climbed Uluru etc.....so I got to know him well. [smile]

He took us back to his parent's place (Hartmut & Marina) where we settled into the spare room and got an early night.

Wednesday - the Wedding!

I was really looking forward to this day and it was one of the reasons I came to Germany earlier than I had planned. What a wonderful opportunity to celebrate with the family AND experience a typical German wedding! The wedding was in a little place called Strausberg which is about an hour out of Berlin....in what would have been East Germany. We were driving with Rolf (Hartmut's father) however Tobias was in front of us and supposedly leading the way...except he missed a turn off the Autobahn and we got hopelessly lost!!! [laugh] Luckily we had left ourselves plenty of time so with the help of a few passers-by, we were finally on the right track again after meandering through several small villages. Great opportunity to admire the local scenery though!

Finally arrived and checked into the hotel. The wedding was being held in the gardens of the hotel and many of the guests were staying for the night as German weddings finish quite late. It was a 12 noon wedding so I had thought it might be all over by early evening. Heaven forbid....not a chance! ROFL

For all the ladies out there for whom this is important, the colours of the wedding were apricot and ivory, and the bride wore a strapless gown covered in crystal embroidery, and with a short train. There were no attendants however their son Lucas (about 9 months old) 'carried' the ring with the help of his Uncle Tobias. Here is a photo of the bride and groom....Sebastian & Jessica.

Now....you don't want to hear about the whole wedding because so much of it is similar to eddings in Australia - you know, lots of photos...champagne...eating...laughing...dancing etc. So I will just tell you about the aspects which were surprising and interesting.

First of all, there is no such thing as a 'church wedding'. You can have a wedding in a church but you must have a civil ceremony as well because the church one isn't legal, and a minister is not legally allowed to marry anyone.

The first ceremonial aspect is where the bride and groom share bread with water...and I think salt or something. I guess it has a similar meaning to our sharing of bread and wine. Then they have a large sheet put in front of them with 2 hearts drawn on it. The bride has to use scissors to cut out the hearts and then they step through the hole in the middle.

After that comes the sawing of a tree trunk. No kidding!!!! The bride and groom have to grab each side of a saw and cut through a large-ish tree trunk. Talk about not being dressed for
this type of work!

But it gets worse. They celebrated a particular tradition called 'Polter Hochzeit' which sort of translates as 'noisy wedding'. And you throw crockery against a wall. Hey....would I joke about stuff like this??? [looks aghast] Here is a photo of me in full-flight, throwing a plate against the stone wall. All the guests brought their own crockery - we brought our plates all the way from Fulda. After there is a huge mess on the ground, the bride and groom are given a shovel and broom and they have to clean it up. Sort of signifies working together I think. That was bad enough but the young German guys here are just as mischievous as Aussie guys, so when the bride & groom had finished they upended the bin and the poor couple had to start all over again! [laugh]

The eating and drinking pretty much continued throughout the day although the actual 'wedding feast' began in the evening with lots of extra guests arriving for the eating and dancing...which went on until the wee small hours of the morning, I lasted out until midnight but then just had to get horizontal or I would have fallen down. :-)

Thursday - back to Berlin

The night was too short but we had to be up and checked out of our room in the morning, so went downstairs for a wonderful German Früstück....or breakfast, and then packed up again. Just one more little thing for the 'lucky' couple to deal with first....the young'uns had wrapped their car in glad wrap. Completely. And Norbert had tied cans under the car - he likes to join in the fun! [grin]

Anyway, we drove back to Berlin with Hartmut and Marina...to find that we were locked out of the house. Now this involved getting a locksmith on a public holiday so not exactly an easy or cheap exercise to get back in, but finally we were sitting out the back enjoying coffee, cake and sunshine.

That night we walked to a local Italian restaurant which was interesting. I speak just a teeny bit of Italian and first of all it was strange to hear these Italians speaking fluent German. But I addressed them in Italian and then found that I was getting my German, English and Italian all mixed up!!! [chuckle]

I think I'm doing OK with the 'Deutsch' though, as I'm hearing it all around me now. When I first started learning, my goal was simply to be able to understand enough to keep up with the topics of people conversing around me...and I find that I am able to do that. Framing sentences myself is still very difficult but I at least know what everyone is talking about and can add a phrase or two. Its all good! [beaming smile]

Friday - Into the city via U-Bahn

The U-Bahn is the underground here - Skye you would know that it is very similar to the London Underground except the stations all have unpronounceable names. :-D Norbert has been trying to get an ABN for some time now so he took his passport, Medicare card, Aussie drivers' license etc into the Australian Embassy to get copies signed and notarised to send back to the Australian Tax Office. Its really hard doing stuff like this from a distance! Anyway, you could really tell the Aussies who work in there, from the local people. I mean no disrespect whatsoever as the German people I've come to know are friendly and hospitable and absolutely lovely people. However there's this 'thing' which is hard to explain, but Norbert has been telling me for some time.....and now I've experienced it myself. They are different when it comes to authority. They seem to just accept it and also like to have it...together with all the accoutrements and privileges. People in positions of authority are very formal, referred to my last names ONLY, never smile, never make allowances or show flexibility, and seem to wear a uniform with extreme pride. Nobody questions this, and nobody ever 'bucks the system' or asks WHY something is done a certain way. I noticed it in the Embassy where the way we were met at the door was markedly different from the Aussie guy behind the counter. And I'll explain further on in this post where we had a run-in with another 'official'.

Anyway, we just hopped off and off the U-Bahn for the afternoon, exploring the city a bit and having lunch, then back home again. I don't have photos of the day because I forgot my camera. Norbert showed a deep regret when I told him I'd left it behind. [rolls her eyes] :-D

Saturday - Boat trip on the Canals

A lovely day! Last time I was in Germany we went for a short boat trip, but it was winter and the scenery was grey. But I enjoyed it so much that I wanted to do it again so the 4 of us hopped on one of the canal boats and set off on a 4 hour tour. There are more bridges in Berlin than in Venice although a lot of people don't know this....one can travel a long way by water, and its a wonderful view of all the buildings and interesting architecture. The difference between what was East and West Berlin becomes obvious, and many of the new buildings are amazing! It started out sunny and warm although there was a rainshower or two...,but we didn't let it worry us.

Sunday - Flowers, flowers everywhere!

The last day of our stay in Berlin and our wonderful hosts took us to a gorgeous park! I couldn't get over the swathes of brightly-coloured tulips everywhere!! It was sooooo pretty and so relaxing. At one stage we were sitting on rocks by the lake, enjoying coffee and listening to jazz music being played. Can you picture it? Wish you were here? [heh, heh]

But then it was off to the Haupt Bahnhof where we had to catch the 6:30pm ICE bound for Fulda. We said goodbye to Hartmut and Marina but we hope to catch up with them again while we are here - AND I think we may have talked them into coming to Australia next year!!! Woohoo!!! [jumps up and down with excitement]

The end of the day should have been uneventful except it was spoiled by one of those previously described 'German official types'...a female train conductor.... who decided that the ticket Norbert had bought for me was incorrect and that he would have to pay a fine. She just kept on an on!!!! Wouldn't listen to reason and didn't seem to care that we were visitors from Australia....just that we were 'breaking the rules', according to her. I wondered what she would have done if I had been alone because at least Norbert could understand her ranting and raving...I would have been distraught! Luckily Norbert sorted something out, but its a pity as it marred what would have been a perfect day.

Monday - and back to routine

I went back to sleep after Norbert left for work...what a life!!! [big grin] But then I put on a load of washing and made some lunch. This will be the longest blog post by far for a while as the weekdays will all be pretty routine from now on, although we plan to do some sight-seeing on the weekends so I will definitely take photos and let you know all about that.

In the meantime, take care everyone and I hope to hear from you soon,
Cheers,

Marlene (and Norbert) :-)

Guten Tag!

2008-04-28T19:56:00.010+02:00

From the time I walked out of my front door in Adelaide...until the time I walked in the front door of Norbert's apartment...it was a total of 36 hours of travelling using car, plane, bus and train. But I'm finally here!!! [does a little dance on the spot]

The start of the journey
As soon as I checked in at Adelaide Airport I bought myself a Farmers Union iced coffee, knowing that it would be a long time before I could have one of these local treats again. [grin] After spending much of my worklife travelling back and forth around the country, the first leg to Melbourne felt almost routine and it wasn't until I picked up my bag and headed off to the International Departures that it started to feel like I was really going somewhere special.

There were the usual delays with checking in for an International flight including having to wait for the 'right time' before they would take any bags. [sigh] While I was waiting I saw a youngish couple with 2 kids and a baby trying to check in with SEVEN suitcases! They certainly had the Emirates staff in a tizz! Once I'd gotten rid of my big suitcase I thought I'd grab some tea at the PJ O'Briens Irish Pub and while I was enjoying some delicious Nachos (there goes the diet already) I struck up a conversation with the woman next to me. Turns out we both have daughters named Skye, and we both grew up in the mid-North. Small world!

Melbourne to Dubai
As I took my seat, I noted that I was sitting next to 2 little children. Now don't get me wrong....as the mother of 4 kids I obviously don't have anything against small children....but on a 14 hour flight???? [wry grin] Actually, they were pretty good but as little kids do, they wriggled and squirmed. A lot. :-) I tried to sleep but kept getting knocked and nudged awake each time, especially when they decided to play ball with the soft toy given to them by the flight attendant. Finally took a sleeping tablet and put in earplugs and eventually dozed off for a while.

The minute I walked in to Dubai Airport I headed for the Dubai International Hotel which is bang slap in the middle of the place. And no...I wasn't staying...but they have a health/fitness centre there and for $AU15 you can get a lovely hot shower! Sounds expensive for a shower, I know, but after a long flight its worth its weight in gold...and I'm not talking about sharing a damp line of cubicles with several sweaty people. I'm talking about being shown to your own huuuuge, private bathroom and shower with hairdryer, little sachets of moisturiser, thick bathrobe etc. After that I felt completely refreshed so went downstairs to find a large coffee and relax. A bit too relaxing as before long I heard my flight being called....and it was a final call! Eeeek!!!! Got to the gates on time but it was at a run! [big grin]

Dubai to Frankfurt
My seat for this leg of the journey was the second from the back, but I had a vacant seat next to me. "You beaut!" I thought for a while...until the flight was delayed for 15 minutes while they had to find the absentee's luggage in the hold and get it off the plane. Oh well. Then there was the usual "Good morning, I am Hussein and I will be flying you to Frankfurt today. Next to me I have Instructor Gamil....." Instructor???? Has this guy flown a plane before????? ROFL But we got there safely although I think he hit every pothole on the way as it was a very bumpy flight. The food was good though and my special request for Gluten-Free meals wasn't a problem and the food quite delicious.

The plane finally touched down at Frankfurt Airport...and I was so excited! But of course there were the inevitable delays of Passport Control and Customs however before long I was through and the first face I saw as I came through the door of the Arrivals area was Norbert's. [huge grin] And he immediately called out that I should pose for the camera! Here's me looking happy but somewhat travel-worn. :-)

Frankfurt to Fulda
Almost there....are you still with me? After the inevitable greetings and hugs and "how was the flight" etc etc, we left the airport to catch the shuttle bus to the Bahnhof...or train station. I'm so glad I wasn't dealing with this bit alone as for the first time there were no English subtitles and my German is awfully basic still. And after 36 hours of travel, the brain wasn't working that well anyway. Had time for a juice (and lunch for Norbert) at the Bahnhof and then we boarded the train bound for Fulda. This final leg was about an hour and 20 minutes so there was time to just sit back, chat, and look out the large windows as the scenery changed from suburbs to rolling green pastures dotted with little German villages nestled into the hillsides. But finally we arrived and the easiest way to get out to Lehnerz with all the luggage (which is where we are now, about 3k out of Fulda) was to catch a taxi. Less than 10minutes later I was walking up 2 flights of stairs....with Norbert trailing behind, lugging my suitcase.....until we finally reached my home for the next few weeks.

First night
The next few hours felt strange, to say the least. You have to take into account that Norbert and I have been talking to each other on Skype for weeks now AND he's sent video and lots of photos, so as I first walked into the room it was deja vu. I have never been here, yet it felt so familiar. I walked over to the window to see the 'oh so familiar' view that I have seen in rain, sunshine and snow....but have never actually seen. We went for a short walk so I could get my bearings, and after almost memorising the area via Google Earth, it felt odd to be seeing it at street level. And finally we turned a corner to see a church on a hill with houses climbing up the slopes to meet it, and Norbert said "Remember this view?" And I had the strangest lurch as it was the scene that has been on my computer's Desktop for ages now. Norbert had taken the photo a while ago when it was snowing, but now I was standing in the same spot and seeing it in the sunshine. The internet and Web 2.0 tools have the capacity to turn one's world inside out! But in a good way. [grin]

We opened a bottle of bubbly and toasted the fun weeks to come.

First day of my new (albeit temporary) life
So far the jetlag hasn't been too bad, and although I woke at 3:10am and couldn't get back to sleep for a while, I still woke again at a 'normal' time for breakfast....which I got served to me in bed! Norbert had to dash off to work straight away so I got up and made a second cup of coffee...then promptly fell back asleep again until 10:30am! What a lazy life! My work ethic is still trying to keep a stranglehold on me though, so even though I could have lazed away the day, I got up, showered, unpacked and did the dishes. It was an unusually sunny, warm day so I opened up the big door to let the fresh air inside (and so I could admire a view I would never have at home).

Had my first 'language adventure' this arvo, when I decided that although it was all comfy and safe in the apartment, I needed to take on my 'new world'....so I walked to the local supermarket. German people are sooooo friendly!! I was doing my best to lay low and just observe....but they persisted in greeting me and trying to talk to me! Eeeek!!!! How many times did I have to finally say "Ich sprechen kein Deutsch."? (I don't speak German) Luckily I memorised that useful little phrase. [rolls her eyes] Had a great 'conversation' with the lady on the checkout who, despite using my 'little phrase' on her, continued to try and find out where I was from, what I was doing here, the fact that she had been to Sydney, and where was Adelaide etc. Yeeks!!! I dragged out a few words I actually knew and strung them together with English words, and somehow we seemed to understand what each other was talking about. We smiled a lot anyway. Running an online conference is nothing compared to the stress involved in trying to communicate in a strange language!!! I know, I know...exaggerating again. ;-) But after several people had said " 'Tag" and tried to engage me in conversation while walking along the footpath, I beat it back home for a mental break. ROFL

The walk was truly lovely though as spring has sprung over here and there are blossoms and tulips everywhere...and GREEN, everywhere you look! Remember 'green'???? LOL

Anyway, my momentary rest time is almost over already as tomorrow arvo we are off to Berlin for the wedding - Norbert's cousin's son is getting married. It's all going to be somewhat hectic and I'm not sure whether I will have internet access in Berlin but I will make an effort to get on at least once to keep you up to date. We are back again on Sunday as Norbert needs to go back to work on Monday. And after that...well, a few weeks of reading, drawing, walking etc. My blog postings during this time should be absolutely rivetting!!!! [laugh]

By the way, thanks Uwe, Carol, Bruce and Amber for your Comments on previous posts. Its great to hear from everyone.

Auf Wiedersehen!

One more sleep!

2008-04-25T14:01:00.009+02:00

Packing first...
I believe the Royal family never pack a suitcase....its all done for them by 'people'. I wonder whether or not you can hire one of these 'people'? [grin] They'd be handy.

It took me a short time to get as far as having everything I thought I would take, laid out on my bed...and then the rest of the day deciding which items really needed to be left behind as they wouldn't all fit in the suitcase! ROFL

But, it's all done and my suitcase is packed and I'm ready to go!

...then a farewell tea.
My sister Heather invited my Mum and I to their house for a farewell tea tonight, and after a day of washing, ironing, packing and ticking off lists it was a welcome invitation. In her own inimitable creative style, Heather had decorated the table with a German theme....flag centrepiece, napkin holders...the works! We did discuss whether or not it was appropriate to be spending this time on ANZAC Day with a table full of German paraphernalia but we decided that as long as it wasn't the swastika then it was OK. [laugh]

Tomorrow is D-Day! (D for Departure)
Tomorrow I'm off to Germany!! I will probably be exhausted when I get there as it will be about 8:30pm Adelaide time on Sunday night (and I don't sleep on planes), however I'll do my best to put up even a short post just to reportthat I have arrived safely.

I'll definitely be exhausted as I'm so excited that I may not sleep a wink tonight!!!! [dances around in a circle] :-)

Thanks so much to Ingrid, Cheryl, Amber, Andreas, Allison & Skye for your comments and best wishes...very much appreciated.

Setting the Scene

2008-04-20T10:34:00.007+02:00

You get your good years...and you get your less than wonderful years, and so far, 2008 has been shaping up to be one of the latter. But the downhill slider has done a sudden turnaround, and now I'm off overseas. In SIX DAYS!!!! [spins around excitedly]

What's happened?
I'll set the scene briefly. :-) Norbert was offered a contract position in Germany, just before Christmas last year...and he accepted and promptly left on 3rd January. My original plan was to go to Germany after he had finished the contract (beginning of June), and then we would have a brief holiday and come home. But various circumstances (I won't bore you with the details) have led me to a change of plans and I'M GOING EARLY!!! Woohoo!!! I'll be away for 9 1/2 weeks!

The general itinerary
I leave next Saturday, 26th April and and fly to Frankfurt, then catch a train to a little place called Fulda which is about an hour away. Fulda is where Norbert has been working and this map shows where it is....sort of in the middle.

I've got 2 days to get over jet-lag and then we are off to Berlin where we have a family wedding to attend....but then back to Fulda where Norbert will have to complete his contract. And what will I do? Well, I thought I would shop, sightsee, sleep, read, draw and continue to learn German. Sound like a plan? [big grin]

On 1st June Norbert will have finished work so we will spend a couple of weeks sightseeing a bit further afield, and then we are off on an amazing tour called the 'Hurtigruten & Arctic Circle' tour.

Here's a brief blurb which will explain it better than I could:
"Visit Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen and travel to Stockholm, Sweden. Then take the overnight ferry to Helsinki in Finland and continue north towards Lapland. Visit the interesting Arctic Center before you cross the Arctic Circle. Stop at the Santa Claus workshop, then continue through the Finnish Lapland to Kirkenes in Norway where you board your ship for the world's most beautiful sea voyage: the Hurtigruten Cruise. Land in Saint Olaf's town Trondheim and continue to Lillehammer before arriving in Oslo."

Can you see why I'm excited?? [huge grin]

The next few days....
...won't go fast enough, but the huuuuge To Do list...work stuff and 'getting ready to go' list will make the next few days fly, I'm sure.

My next blog posting will be the night before I leave, and then...well, I'll post as often as I can so you can enjoy the trip with me. Please put a comment on as often as you can too, because I know from experience that its so wonderful to have contact with 'back home'. Tell me what you're doing, or just how the weather is! And wonderful too, to hear from new friends.

And now, off to try and turn a 32kg suitcase into a 20kg suitcase. [grin]