Category: Germany

CHRISTMAS MARKETS IN GERMANY

We flew out to Germany on our next holiday on 16 December after staying the night at a hotel at Heathrow. It made more sense to stay the night than trying to battle the traffic in the morning and maybe miss our flight. It turned out to be slightly delayed anyway due to fog which happens a bit during the winter months. We flew into Munich. I had been told that the Christmas markets in Germany were amongst the best which is why we chose to go there. After arriving in Munich we took the train to the city centre where we had a hotel booked not far from Marienplatz which is the centre square of the city. We had a great room – but it is strange in Europe because they have 2 single doonahs on double beds so that you have one each – no sharing the one doonah. We went out that night to check out the markets. Our first stop was where the ice skating rink was set up and they had a huge Gluhwein bar – hot mulled wine for those who haven’t heard of this before. You paid for your mug and then paid to have it filled up each time you wanted a drink. There were many many stalls where you could buy a refill. There were also a few different types of mugs to buy with the year etc on it. We didn’t want to end up with many so we bought one to start and shared the wine.

We had German sausages in a bun with sauerkraut for tea. The Christmas Markets were essentially made up of many stalls with thousands of different types of Christmas ornaments. All very pretty and sparkly. I would loved to have filled my suitcase with them. There were also gingerbread stalls and a few other miscellaneous stalls, like lollies and a few toys.

The next day we took the train to Nuremburg which we had heard were the most famous of the markets, but I think there are now other smaller towns that may beat this one. I was surprised how small Nuremburg was as I was expecting quite a large city. The train we got was immaculate – as I had expected to see in Germany. I think they are people who keep all things pretty much in order. Even the train tracks surprised us with little to no rubbish along them and in an immaculate condition. We couldn’t help commenting on them. It was a Sunday in Nuremburg so all normal shops were closed, but we still found a great café for our morning coffee and local sweet treat. There were an abundance of Gluhwein staffs and a multitude more market stalls than Munich had. As the day wore on, there were more and more people there and it got harder and harder to make your way through the crowds. They had music playing and mid afternoon it started to snow – which we were quite thrilled about (even if it made it colder). We had a walk around the town after the markets and it is a lovely place. The buildings and their architecture is quite stunning and very intricately designed, they really did build beautiful structures back then unlike some we see today. It did enter our heads that if anyone decided to do anything horrible in the midst of all the people there, there would be a lot of casualties. It is difficult not to think that in this day and age when you get crowds together. You do feel quite vulnerable – I guess the fear had crept under our skin to a point, but not enough to deter us from doing this. We really enjoyed our time here, but we were getting really tired toward the end of the day and I wished I had booked an earlier train back, but we couldn’t change the time. It was only the next day when we heard that the Berlin Christmas markets had been driven into by a truck with several dead and many wounded. Very sad sequence of events, but I doubt it will deter anyone where we are.

The next day we had all day to wander around Munich again and all the shops were open. We had a wander around and by accident we happened upon the famous Hofbrauhaus that Scot had wanted to visit. We had to go in and experience it with a drink and maybe some food. It was difficult to find a piece of bench to sit on as it was so full. We did find one sitting with a couple of youngsters from Brazil. We ordered drinks and eventually got chatting to them. We were joined a little later by some dutch fellas and German ladies. It was a fun afternoon and I had more mulled wine than I had meant to drink and Scot had a few steins of beer, but we had to leave and see what else was to see as tomorrow we were to fly out. We had another wander around the markets and ended up having something to eat in another beer hall in Munich but this one didn’t have the atmosphere of the other one. We loved our stay here – it’s one off the bucket list that’s for sure. In the morning we had a short walk around before we took the train back to the airport and flew off up to Norway for the next part of this journey.

 

BAVARIA, LIECHTENSTEIN, SWITZERLAND

In the morning where we are staying is a camper repair place too and they give us the address of a fellow who repairs fridges who is 30mins away and we need our gas part fixed.  We head off into the countryside  to look for this fellow.  We are out in the middle of nowhere and we come across a little German village – so small it only has one shop, a bakery.  We find the guys house and he is away for half an hour so we head back to the bakery for a coffee and a biscuit.  The guy comes back and has fixed our fridge in half an hour with a new gas burner and jet.  It was just old and corroded like most other things have been in the van – lack of maintenance.  It works amazingly now and we can see it wouldn’t have been as efficient as it should have been in the past.  We are all set and back on the road.  This area of Germany is part of Bavaria and has beautiful green rolling hills with cows everywhere.  We can’t figure out how people can live so close to the cow barns as the stench you get when you just drive past is so dreadful and really strong and a lot of houses are built over the barns.

We head back part of the way we have come and are back on our path to Switzerland, but we decide before we head over the border we have one last night in Austria so we can work out where we can stop for the night on Saturday night so we can watch the All Blacks play South Africa.  We are also tired as it has been a long day and I want to get a sim when we cross the border as Switzerland has an average camping ground price of somewhere like 40-50 euro a night (almost aud100) so we do not want to stop at any campsites if we can help it and will do our best to do cheap or free camperstops.  This campsite is right on the border so we get to see the Swiss alps which look amazing like the many mountains in Austria.

In the morning we pack up and head down across the border firstly into Liechtenstein.  This country is the 6th smallest country in the world and is only 6kms wide by 25kms long.  We drive down the only main road through the country and there are some cute villages.  We decide we want to at least stop in Vaduz for a coffee so we can say we have been there.  They use the swiss franc for currency so we need to get some before we buy a coffee.  We find a carpark that the van will fit into and walk up into the small village centre that Vaduz has which is really no more than a couple of dozen shops and cafes.  The prices here are dreadful – being about aud8-9 for a coffee and not even a great one at that, but we decide that is what we must pay to have something here in this country so be it.  We head away and over into Switzerland.  Switzerland is our 20th country and we have been in 3 in the one day today.

There is a gorgeous little village we travel through just over the border which is ancient with really narrow streets.  It would be such a cool place to stay but we need to keep going.  The next town Bad Ragaz we go into is amazing and obviously a very popular tourist destination and they have art works all around the town.  We want to stop here, but we know that we must get over to Fribourg by tomorrow so there is no stopping unfortunately.  We stop at Mels where I know there is a phone place we can get a data sim for the tablet.  They have the same bizarre security over their sims as Slovakia and I have to provide passport and sign etc to get one.  They are very expensive but I know we will save a lot by being able to find the camper stops here.  We get a very small amount of data 600mb for aud40 – quite insane really – but as I said it will save us a fortune.  We get back on the road and head towards Lucerne.

I find a campground that is closed and they are often great for stopping outside as they are usually in safe locations. We stop here at Zug and it is closed for the winter. We bypass the camping area where there are a few campers and park in the car park backed up against the bush near another van camper (a Possl which we like as they are unobtrusive) and cosy in for the night. The trains run past every 10 minutes or so but are very quiet and not a worry. What a great transport system they have where they can practically run 24 hours. We are up early in the morning as we are mindful that we are not in the camping area but even the council guy who comes to clean the public toilet doesn’t even give us a look. A few older guys turn up early for their Saturday fishing on the large lake, no more than 50 metres away.  We were on our way quite early as there were no chores to do and we want to get to a place called Fribourg which has an Irish bar with a car park to watch the All Blacks v Springboks semi-final. I have found it on the net and it is difficult to accurately gauge if it all will be ok. As we have a good amount of time to get there we travel the ‘yellow’ roads not the highway which are quicker but you don’t get to see the sights. We are through Interlaken as well as other towns on the lakes and it is a beautiful drive. We had stopped at a service station to get a vignette which is required mainly for the highways but find out we can only get a year one for 40chf($60.00aud) which is a huge cost but reflects Switzerland compared to other countries were we have got these for 10 days for $10.00aud. As these are mainly for highways we decide to risk the small amount of highway driving we will do ($180aud fine if caught) and will stick to the lesser roads. This turns out a great idea as we get to see the real country and not traffic.

The drive around the lakes was great and more than once on this adventure I yearn to be on a motorbike even a bloody Vespa would be ok! We drive into Fribourg which is a lot bigger than I imagined with an old battlement and castle surrounding the old town and river which looks inviting to explore but we are really here only for the rugby so with the magic of technology we find our way to Paddy’s Irish Bar and find a park in the coach car park behind a French gentleman’s camper who is going to the cinema. In our usual hand signals and both our limited language find out what to do with tickets and a note on the dashboard explaining to any powers that be that we are not camping overnight but just watching the footy. The pub doesn’t open till 4 and we are a bit early so kick back and find a place to stay after the game as the car park seems a bit dodgy in the middle of the city and lots of youth cruising around.  We are made welcome by the pub owner and settle in to watch a nail biting win to the AB’s with 3 Swiss people with All Black jerseys on a few others with a couple of SA supporters. I am driving so one Guinness lasts me the game (that’s a first right there) but it is not cheap anyway so not hard to abstain. After the game we thank the pub owner as this makes it easier for future kiwis when you are thankful for their hospitality and thank the locals for their kiwi support.

It is dark when we travel the 30 minutes to Romont which looks really quaint as we drive in with lights highlighting the castle, turrets and battlements towering over the town on a high hill. We have found on Camperstop.com that there is 2 parks for campers only with power, water and toilet drop for free (just pay $3.00aud tourist tax).  However we have to climb the hill to get to it as it is right at the top 1st & 2nd gear right below the castle walls with views over the countryside. Unfortunatly both parks are taken so, after not finding the other 3 non electric parks down the road we park near the others and rely on our battery which fortunately is new. We can’t quite get the van level and spend the night a bit downhill so the blood goes to your head which isn’t the best.

We get a sleep in in the morning as there is no need to rush as we are going to stay the day as Vicki is not that well and we don’t feel like driving and it is free camping. One of the vans move so we quickly jump in and take there spot hook up the electrics and scout the town getting some fresh French baguettes from the bakery and walk the length of the town finding somewhere to watch the wallabies V Argentina semi final. After a few enquiries we end up at the Terminus Hotel near the train station, Vicki has a cappuccino and I have a beer as we try and we play language games to see if we can watch the footy. The owner who doesn’t speak English gets a lady on the phone who speaks our language and who we find out later works there. We think it will be on Euro sport so tell them we will be back at 5pm. We wander back to the van ( there is a steep hill going up that reminds us of the steepest hill in the world which is Baldwin St in Dunedin and have a baguette for lunch I have a couple of beers in the sun then we wander the castle walls for an hour and back to the pub. However there is confusion as there is tennis on live so find another channel where they are discussing the rugby then find out that Europe and GB have just changed all their clocks so we are an hour early( better than an hour late!). So we watch the valiant Argies lose to the aussies and look forward to next week’s first ever Pacific final.

 

INNSBRUCK, SCHWANGAU

Tuesday 20 October

We have a look at where this camper place is and realise it is near Wels where we were 3 days ago (about 2 hours drive away) and it isn’t 30 minutes up the road where they used to be.  Oh well, Scot phones and we decide we really need to have the battery replaced so hit the road heading back where we have already been.  It really turns out to be the best decision as Carolina speaks perfect English at the camper place and can translate for us so there isn’t any misunderstanding about what we need and a lovely man comes and takes our battery out – which when we see it, has a hole in the corner, shaved off by it jumping around in the back as it’s not properly secured. We can’t figure out how it could even still be holding a charge.  In hindsight we were silly not to have had it checked in England but you live and learn what is necessary and we are fast becoming experts at what is required in a van when buying one.  So the battery is replaced with a new one and even though it seems expensive for a battery (which it isn’t really), the leisure batteries are much hardier and work differently from an ordinary car battery so it really doesn’t matter the price because without it we cannot live in the van.  So the battery is in and is properly secured now and we also have a new floor light which replaces one that nearly set the van alight and burnt a hole in Scot’s shirt.  Plus it’s an LED one so it will never get hot and burn anyone or anything.  Two problems solved and we are very grateful to them for being able to help us at a moment’s notice.

We head out, it is mid afternoon so we will not likely get to Innsbruck today but we will head towards there.  We have to go through Salzburg and into Germany to get to Innsbruck as the land in Austria between  Salzburg and Innsbruck is so mountainous that we cannot drive these roads in the van.  So we head around Salzburg and onto the border but as we cross into Germany the traffic stops and we can see it is lined up for miles in front of us.  We cannot get off anywhere and the right lane is chokka with trucks and we are in the left lane with the cars.  We creep along a bit at a time and eventually we reach where the traffic is held up – by police searching cars and trucks for refugees.  We aren’t a target so we get let through and are on our way on the highway.  About 10 minutes later we see this van driving on our left hand side and Scot says ‘It’s the Trakka’ and I look and our Kiwi camper friends are driving alongside us holding up a little kiwi.  How bizzare, in the whole of Europe and here we are on the same highway heading the same way.  This is the second time we have run into them since we met in Riga.  Rob pulls over down the road and we discuss where we are each going so we end up following them down the road to a free camperstop outside a guest house.  There was no way we would have gotten anywhere near Innsbruck and it is getting late.  It is lovely to have someone we have gotten to know to have a chat to for the evening.  We go inside the guest house and have a drink at the bar and a catchup.

Rob and Sue tell us they are going to the Neuschwanstein castle which is on the border of Germany and Austria and is similar to the Disney castle.  So we change our plans and decide we will go there as well but we both take different paths.  We head away and decide we will travel via Innsbruck and then over the border into Germany.  It is a beautiful day as we leave the guest house and head back towards Austria and down to Innsbruck.  Innsbruck is a city that is surrounded by mountains and they are amazing and a lot are covered by snow.  We head off the main path and stop in Innsbruck for a quick look at the surrounding scenery.  It’s funny that you seem to see more amazing scenery every time we travel to another place.  It is all amazing in Austria.  We head out of Innsbruck and begin to travel on the road going north from here and into Germany.  I realise that we are about to head over a fairly large mountain and the roads are quite steep but we know the van can take it.  The scenery in this part is simply to die for with snow on the mountains and deep green lakes and of course the autumn colours which are spectacular to say the least.  No photo will do this justice and as we stop at the summit where there is a restaurant and many other tourists you can see the look of sheer wonder on everyone’s faces at the surroundings.

We sat and ate our sandwiches in the sun taking in our spectacular scenery.  The pass we are going over is the Fernpasse.  I worry about coming down the other side and our brakes overheating but we seem to manage it without a problem.  We reach the castle about mid afternoon and see Rob and Sues van and park up beside it.  We leave them a message in case we don’t see them here and then  look for the place that sells the tickets as they don’t sell them up the road at the castle.  Actually there are two castles, the major one right up on top of the hill which is a hell climb and one at the bottom that King Ludwig II built for his parents.  We only want to see the large one at the top but find they are all sold out of tour tickets for the day as it is a major tourist destination and there are hundreds of people milling around down the bottom.  We can still look around the outside and part of the inside so we climb the hill to have a look.  My body is not responding to the climb today and I feel unwell as we reach the top so have to stop for a rest at which time I spot Rob and Sue coming down.  We say our hellos and goodbyes as they are now on their way to Bern and then off to France and Spain so I doubt our paths will cross again for a while.  We look around the castle and Scot offers to take a photo for another couple as you do as you never seem to have any of both of you when on holiday.  So they reciprocate and we get talking.  The lady is German from Munich and the guy is half Greek so we learn a bit about Greece from him and the lady imparts some interesting information about the castle and King Ludwig II and his life that we hadn’t heard before.

The castle is amazing and we wonder at how someone can wish to live in such a massive place such as this.  It took about 15 years to build as much as has been finished before he died.  They say he was crazy but I am not so sure they were right. Maybe he just had different ideas from others.

We head down and leave the castle area and find a camper stop place which we are finding more of and love them.  They cost from nothing to only a few euro to stop for the night and some have electricity plus toilets and showers and some have none of the above.  The cheaper the better and now that we have a new battery we don’t have to worry so much about electricity except when it is really cold.  We pull in and the gym across the road is the reception place, shame we don’t feel like a workout as it may be free.  There are a couple beside us and the lady is German and the man is Dutch.  Agnes is a lovely lady who loves a chat and she keeps us out chatting for an hour or so but it is getting cold and we haven’t set up so we say our good byes and set the van up.