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Well here we are in Germany, about a week away from summer, and it's absolutely freezing! I think I wouldn't be this cold if I was back in Canberra, where it's going into winter and supposed to be cold! It has also rained every day we've been here, but it does make for beautiful green countryside and parks!
First stop in Germany was Heidelberg. We were so lucky to meet a lovely German couple, Sandra and Michael, in the airport train station as we were trying in vain to read the German signs and work out how to get to Heidelberg. Luckily, Sandra and Michael live in Heidelberg, and 2 trains and 1 bus later, they had taken us there. No way we would have made it without them!!
Heidelberg was just gorgeous. Had a fantastic old town with cobblestone streets, old buildings, and a beautiful half ruined castle. We spent so many hours just wandering the old streets and taking it all in. The castle was beautiful, half ruined but still totally stunning. And inside there was a huge wine barrel with a capacity of 220017 litres - give me a week with that one! We also walked up a mega-mountain path called philosopher's way, which had a fantastic view of the old town and castle. Apparently Heildelberg's old philosophers used to walk and talk here, but I have no idea how they did - I was so bloody puffed walking up the vertical incline I couldn't say or think a word! But the view was fantastic!
After a few nights in Heidelberg we caught up with Sandra and Michael for dinner and drinks. It was so great to have someone be able to interpret the menu for us, and we learnt some very important words like bier von fass (beer on tap). After dinner it was out to the industrial area of Heidelberg to an abandoned warehouse for some live German music. It was great! The first band was pretty heavy metal music, but the second was an instrumental band who was fantastic. Reminded us a bit of Australia's Decoder Ring. And in between the bands, they even played Wolfmother over the sound system - very exciting for the only two non-Germans in the place to hear a band from home!!
We were also very lucky to have Sandra and Michael cook us a traditional German meal in their home one night. It was by far the best meal I have had in Germany to date. It was called Kasespatzle, which was homemade egg noodles that were quite thick and short, baked with cheese and then topped with fried onion and bacon. It was absolutely delicious! We spent a fantastic evening eating and listening to German hip hop and passing on heaps of Aussie music.
From Heidelberg we took a day trip to a tiny old town called Bad Wimpfen. It was like a story book there - I think we took photos of every single street and building in the town! There was an old castle tower and huge cathedral and rickety old wooden buildings. It was like being in a fairytale for a day!
We were also supposed to take another day trip to a palace near Heidelberg, but poor planning meant we didn't get there. Being a Sunday there was no transport, and whilst sitting alone at the train station while Dan was trying to find out bus times, a drunk homeless man thought he'd try to get into my backpack that I was wearing. Lucky I caught him before he got too far, and then just wanted to get out of there! Sandra has since taught me multiple swear words in German to use in any future situation like that.
After Heidelberg we spent a day in Frankfurt. We walked the city for about 7 hours, which was about enough to see if all. Some cute old buildings and a beautiful catherdral, all neatly tucked in between high-rise buildings.
And now we're in Wurzburg, a little town east of Frankfurt. It's a cute town with miserable weather. It hasn't stopped pouring since we've been here and is absolutely freezing. We spent the afternoon exploring the Wurzburg Residenz (Palace) which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Finally, I've found my new home!! It was absolutely massive and so opulent inside. Fresco paintings, stucco decorations, chandeliers and gold and silver everywhere. One room alone had 2.5kg of gold leaf plating! It was all stunning, and we even managed to take some sneaky photos (cameras were banned), only getting caught twice in the whole afternoon! Am hoping tomorrow the rain will ease up to make exploring the Wurzburg castle and surrounding vineyard a bit more pleasant.
All in all, Germany is fantasic. So beautiful, cheap beer, delicious bratwurst bagettes, which I eat nearly everyday and our German is improving everyday. Now all we need is for it to stop raining!!
Tschuss! (Bye)
- comments
Kevin You will get fat drinking cheap beer and eating Bratwurst all the time
sharon Won't get fat with all that walking and hiking and pretending that they're moutain goats!!!! keep em coming....loving reading about your adventures!!
Cathi Hey Alli, I've just had 2 days in Canberra and it was beautiful so I do think it's colder there!!! About that big wine barrel - a week!!!! I'm sure you could do it much quicker!!!!!
Cathi Hi Alli, just saw Dan's photos and we recognised the tower at Bad Wimpfen and we have the same photos so we have been to your fairytale land!!! Did we ever tell you that the Brothers Grimm who wrote fairy tales are your ancestors??? They came from Germany too. We probably didn't tell you as you know what bad parents you have!!!
Alli We won't get fat even with beer and bratwurst. In 2 weeks we've walked so far we have both worn big holes in the inner thigh of our jeans and had to buy new ones!! Yep ma I did know brothers Grimm were our relatives
Billy Oh Al that all sounds amazing!!!!! If it wasnt for my three gorgeous children I would be flying over to join you I think!!!! Fortunately for the kids they are cute :o) Keep us up to date!!! XXX
Lara Ali, sounds like a great time :-) I am enjoying keeping up with your travel adventures....or should I say drinking stories!! !hehe Where to next?
oliver gotta love the travel diet...beer provides the carbs for sustenance and walking around, and the rest of the time there is so much to see you forget to eat