Journeys and destinations

I didn’t know what to expect from Prague and the old town was such a pleasant surprise. It is beautiful and every build competing for the prize. All the different styles and colours and detail just got oohs and ahs from me. We were very blessed to have booked an airbnb in the old town a few min walk from everything, I didn’t realise at the time of booking how well situated it was. When we arrived in Prague we decided to hail a taxi at the station after a full day of travel, mostly by bus. They see all the tourists coming !! But it still was only $20, and worth it! On leaving Prague we ordered an Uber and it was only $6 same route! And in a BMW in style.. The most tiring thing was walking on cobblestones most of the day, my feet were burning and sore from the past week’s city walking and sight seeing!

The food in Prague is very cheap so we decided to eat out. What a feast! Ernest had the pork knuckle, Ryan a pork chop, Amelia pork ribs and I a hamburger because I don’t like pork. Unfortunately all the rich foods upset Amelia’s stomach and she felt sick through the night and we had to catch the train next morning early. The Pharmacy gave her activated charcoal and it worked very quickly! I also always travel with probiotics. She’s feeling better and also having space in the very cheap business class compartment that we booked months ago- what a blessing.

Beautiful coloured Macaroons, but we are waiting till Paris to try because we already sampled the gingerbread as well as some other pastries today. Oh dear I can tell you I am not loosing weight on this trip!! Despite the double amount of exercise we are getting every day.

When I did research on where we were going to go, I came across a blog of this flower ice cream – I told myself no matter what the cost I’m gonna have one! Yay! Found a shop by accident in Prague, called Amorino just on the other side of the Charles bridge. I can’t believe I had to eat such a beautiful ice cream!! Wasn’t too expensive same as special ice-cream in Perth-about $4,50. The ice-cream was delicious too.

These sweet, cinnamon pie-dough cones filled with cream or ice cream was way too rich for us and Amelia won’t try it again soon! You know why.

Munich is described as one of the most livable cities in the world. We enjoyed walking in the city, the old town is beautiful with all the historical buildings. There are just crowds of people! If you go there make the effort to read Rick Steves’ information on Munich, it is very interesting.

Good dog, bad dog, on one of the buildings in the Marienplatz.

The men were super blown away by all the amazing super cars they saw in the street where all the high end shops are.

We had to do the Hofbrau house thing, but waited very long to get our food. The music was a good experience for the kids and Ernest enjoyed the beer. They serve thousands of litres of beer a day!

We went to a free organ and trumpet concert in one of the smaller churches and loved it. One of the most amazing buildings in Munich is The Residence. It was the former palace for the Wittelbach Monarchs of Bavaria. It was also free for both kids! Yeah

When we went home after our long day of sight seeing there was DRAMA in the Underground- a dog got into the tunnels and unto the tracks. About 5 or more security officers were running up and down trying to catch it and the trains were delayed for about 15 min. That was an exiting end to Munich.

This was one of the towns that I really wanted to see and I’m so glad we made the effort to go there even for just 1 night- we should have made it 2. It is a bit out of the way and took a few connecting trains. It’s about 3 hours from Munich by train. It is such a beautiful place. One of the few very well preserved medieval towns of Germany/Bavaria.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber means red town next to the Tauber river. Nowadays it is a tourist haven and according to one source has 2 mil visitors a year. It has wonderful Christmas shops and many other gift shops, food, meats, breads, sweet foods and cafes/restaurants in these amazing old houses. Naturally I bought a few Christmas decorations but only a few as it is very expensive!

These are called snowballs, it is strips of dough squashed together, baked and with chocolate in between and a variety of other flavours.

We were there on a Sunday and there was a big group of young musicians from America giving a wonderful concert. We also went to another free concert of choral and organ in one of the churches- heavenly with the acoustics of the church.

Sad to leave the Alps but we have to keep moving on and so we arrived in Lucerne, a beautiful train ride from Lauterbrunnen.

The colour of the lakes on the way there are just incredible.

And now I’m in heaven again with this stunning natural pool at our Lucerne Airbnb. If you know me well you will know that I have wanted one for a long time. I’m allergic to chlorine and immediately get a rash all over my body. I love swimming but can only swim in the sea. How beautiful is this!

Every city we explore has it’s own charm and we always come home sore- footed. Lucerne’s old town is lovely. The lake and river with the Mount Pilatus in the back- ground makes for a beautiful picture. We took the old city self-guided walk that is suggested in the tourist brochure.

The Chapel bridge is one of the iconic sights of Lucerne as well as the Lowendenkmal Lion sculpture. This sculpture moved me very much and is described by Mark Twain as one of the saddest and most moving piece of rock in the world. It is a memorial to all the Swiss soldiers who died while trying to protect the Tulleries palace in 1792 during the French revolution

The men once again saw a lot of nice cars like Porche and Maserati driving past and also this rare Wiesmann.

At the beginning of planning our tour we asked Ryan where he wanted to have his birthday- he wanted to be high up in the Swiss Alps. So we planned our route according to this destination. What an awesome sight, pictures cannot do it justice. We are in love and will come back here. We arrived in Gimmelwald after a full day of travel from Triberg in the Black forest. The train went past the Rhine falls and it was beautiful. In Zurich we put our suitcases in a locker at the train station and had a quick 2 hours to explore the city, mostly walking along the river and going to a car spotters spot so Ryan can see some super cars- The men enjoyed it very much. Then on to Interlaken then Lauterbrunnen and at Stechelberg up the mountain with a Gondola to Gimmelwald. We were in awe of the beauty of the mountains, the snow covered tops and the clear blue water in the rivers. Needles to say Ryan had the best of birthdays. He also got a Swiss army knife and very expensive Sprungli chocolates.(Which he had to share) We went up the Schilthorn which is one of the highest peaks in the area we stayed in. The bond movie “On her Majesty’s secret service” was shot there on location.

We bought some of the locally made dried sausage so Ryan could cut some for us on our hike in the mountains- our legs nearly didn’t make it and I was most of the time out of breath! But it was worth it. We played under a trickle waterfall and it was very refreshing. The sunset was magical. We had fantastic sunny weather.

Yes where else than in the Black forest, staying in Triberg, home of the authentic Cuckoo clock and Black forest cake. We took a train from Stuttgart to Karlsruhe and then got on to the train that goes through the Black forest, we got off at Triberg. The trip was for the beginning part mostly country side with farms and little towns and lots of corn and wheat fields, but from Gengenbach you started to feel like you are in the forest and the trees were stunning. Another interesting thing we saw in Germany was all the little vegetable gardens called Klein Garten at the beginning and end of a town- it started in the 1860’s but during WW2 played an imported role as a lot of people stayed there in a little garden shed and had veg and fruit to stay alive- nowadays it is a place to play, relax and grow food.

We stayed in a house high up on the mountain with an amazing view. The next day early we walked down the mountain to the village of Triberg-it took us a half an hour and we loved the nature and farm houses. Friendly farm cats came to greet us. The grass meadows did cause us hay-fever especially since the farmers are busy cutting it.

Once in the town of Triberg, we had morning tea with Black forest cake! We then visited the waterfalls which was nice but an extreme uphill climb! At the end of the waterfall road we decided not to go back but to go off the road to the left onto a rough looking forest path- great decision! We loved the dense forest and ferns and Amelia took the opportunity to take more ballet photos. I loved it.

This bird is called a Nutcracker- it usually cracks open the pinecones and hazel nuts and eat the nuts, it also loved the peanuts that is supposed to be fed to the squirrels. They also store excess nuts for the winter

We were completely exhausted after all the walking but I still had to see the town’s curio shops and cuckoo clocks. The buildings are beautiful and I love all the wood carvings that is all over the place. The flower boxes everywhere is a treat!! We didn’t have enough time in Triberg as I still wanted to see the museum and a few other things. But everything started to close and we could not walk any more!! We got a taxi to take us back up the mountain and had an early night to bed.

I love when I find hearts in nature- this one reminded me of the verse in the bible: Ezekiel 36:26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

We were especially exhausted getting to Stuttgart- we took a train from Kamp- Bornhoven to Frankfurt, and change to another train to Stuttgart, luckily the platforms were easy to get to because we only had 15 min for the change. It is very stressful to do a change over if you don’t know the station and the full ticket was booked and payed for..these intercity trains are extremely expensive.. thats why we decided to book it months ago to help the budget along. It is sometimes half the price when you get the cheap tickets when booking opens 2 to 3 months before your trip. We saved hundreds of dollars by booking our inter-city and inter-country train tickets early. The full trip was about 4 hours in total

So we arrived in Stuttgart main station(Hauptbahnhof) and it is HUGE- we managed to get to the lockers easy enough put all 4 suitcases in one and then asked the tourist info how to get to the Porsche museum. It’s always a good idea to ask for help! We got there easy by train and enjoyed the museum very much- the staff were nice and friendly and the cars great. Ernest’s bucket list ticked. By then our feet already complained but then the crazy hunt for the right underground train started. It took us so long, going back and forth with 4 clacking suitcases in tow and reconsulting the phone app- we eventually got on the right train and the station where we had to collect the key at a cafe and still we had to walk more…to get to the flat- we could go no further after the 4 flights of stairs we climbed with our suitcases! So glad be booked a bigger and more expensive place in Stuttgart! It is a lovely flat!

On the Sunday we went to Doxa Deo-Stuttgart. We were welcomed in German but the pastor can speak English! So we felt right at home! We could sing along in German as we knew the songs in English and could make some sense of the sermon. What a wonderful experience. We love you Doxa Deo, you are doing an awesome job.

We also went to the Mercedes Benz Museum and found it very informative. It is a huge museum but they start you off at the top and then you walk down the different levels to the bottom, that is very clever. Our feet and bodies could not handle anymore and we decided to stay at home the next day to watch a movie and rest up and catch up on social media and mails. We don’t always have great internet and when we travel we don’t and then we are out of the house for a big part of the day sight seeing. So you need a day of staying in every now and then.

I am soo happy with how we all packed- our bags are light and small so it is easy to get on busses, trains and planes and the 4 wheels really made a difference in the airports and other places where there are a tight squeeze so you don’t have to drag them but just push them along on all 4’rs. They also all fit in one big locker at the train stations so you save money there as well.

We had a good mix of warm and cool clothes to layer and our fleece jackets was a life saver so far as well as the thermal vests.

One of the big challenges for a traveller is to wash and get your clothes dry in a short amount of time. Most airbnb’s that we booked has a washer but not a dryer- especially in Ireland and Wales you want one. So what we do is as soon as we check in, we wash a bundle and then hang them on hangers on the iron board and pegs and door handles etc. if there is not a clothes drying rack. We managed to get all dry in the 2 or 3 days we stayed at a place. The lighter the clothes the quicker it dries! So pack light clothes. One place had a super nice drier and it was dry in 15 min. So we washed the denims as well.

My shoes are invaluable, they stayed dry, never slipped! and are comfy to the extreme- no sore anything. Except for the times we walked 17 000 steps exploring the cities!! Then my feet and ankles were sore and you are generally exhausted (but not from the shoes) I am not the fittest of persons…Everyone is happy with their choice of shoes and clothes.

Here we are sitting in the most beautiful place, the Hotel Castle Liebenstein in Camp- Bornhoven on the Rhein river. It is a small family run medieval castle and lovely decorated. Hotel Castle Liebenstein The steak we had for dinner was excellent and super soft. Ernest once again tasted the local beer with pork… The sun came out! Yeah, so it looks magical with the setting sun – we got the room with a view over the river. We booked this accomodation almost 9 months ago.

Breakfast was a treat- they put out an array of breads, cold meat, spreads, cheese, yogurt and tea/coffee and hot chock all on beautiful pink porcelain.

We took a Rhein river cruise with Koln-Dusseldorfer boat cruises and booked it a couple of months ago and printed out the ticket at home before we left. We found that it works very well to print the bookings and tickets at home, we mostly just get on/go in or they scan the code on the ticket. We started the cruise in Koblenz and would have loved to travel further down the river, but also wanted to sleep in the castle so we got off earlier at Kamp-Bornhoven, they arranged a taxi to take us to the castle. We had a light lunch on the boat and enjoyed their sausages and potatoes very much. There were many castles along the Rhein river.

We landed in Cologne in Germany to make our way down the river Rhein to Stuttgart.

We love Cologne or Köln. We are staying in a small flat in the new part of city and it is a bit noisy after our nature escapes! We took the train to the main station (Hauptbahnhof) and went for a walk in the old town. We bought a train ticket for up to 5 people for the day, like the family dayrider in Perth Australia. The station is next to the biggest attraction in the city: the Cologne Cathedral- I was gaping at it. Another wow! Construction started in 1248 and finished in 1880. After WW2 bombing most of the city was flattened and there was heavy damage to the cathedral, but now it’s restored and with on-going renovations.

We found a wonderful place on our way to the fragrance house 4711(which is next door.) It is called the doll museum- with a lot of toys and figurines like the whole Smurf collection and TinTin, Dolls houses, old tin toys, but we were not allowed to take photos. They show- case, restore and sell antique dolls and some toys also old wooden hand puppets/ marionettes. It was a wonderful accidental find!

After that we went into the 4711 shop and smelled some of their modern perfumes, we didn’t do the tour. But the smell lingers I was soo tempted! We also found the bridge over the river with all the love locks on it. And then of cause, coffee and Berliners / pastries(not even too expensive, compared to Perth)

After a long day walking what better than a beer. We saw many people walking through the city after work with a beer in the hand. The city is very organised with their traffic and bicycle regulation- There are bike lanes and they cycle fast! You have to stay out of their way.