Category Archives: Europe

Cities, Europe, Hiking, Outdoors

Germany, Austria and a bit of Italy

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Bregenz, Austria 3 – 5 September 2014, Germany 5 – 23 September 2014

Lake Como, Italy 11- 15 September 2014

Sadly bidding farewell to our German friends, from Horden, we hired another car and drove to Bregenz in Austria to visit Alex’s aunt and uncle. It was actually cheaper to hire a car, including petrol to drive from Karlsruhe, to Bregenz then Munich than it was for the two of us to catch the train. Trains are expensive in Germany, which seems strange to me as they are in most other ways such a green country.

It was lovely to see Elise and Eckhart, Alex hadn’t seen them in nearly 14 years. They took us on a boat ride around Bodensee, Lake Constance, and out for a delicious lunch.

We spent over two weeks with Alex’s sister Simone in Munich, which was a real treat. It was so special for us to be able to stay with Simone and catch up for lost time. We talked for hours and went for a short trip to Lake Como in Italy, which was truly lovely. We ate delicious gelato, pizza and pasta and went on boat rides around the lake. We had fun watching all the Europeans show off their bikes and cars.

We even made it to Oktoberfest for the opening day. It was quite funny as we hadn’t booked a table, and it was the opening day. We still managed to sneak in though (twice!) and made some friends…oh and drank too much beer…

Europe, Hiking

Hörden and a Wedding, Germany

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Horden, Gaggenau, Germany 15 August – 3 September 2014

10 hours’ drive later we finally made it to Baden-Baden in Germany, where we met our great friends Kai and Kat Komotzki. We dropped the car off and they drove us to their lovely village, Horden. We had such a warm welcome from our friends; they really spoiled us, they had filled our fridge and cooked us delicious German food.

Kai and Kat got married on 23 August 2014 in a beautiful ceremony in their hometown. (Apparently Brangelina copied them and got married on the same day!) Unfortunately the weather wasn’t the best, but of course they were prepared and they had a reception in a local restaurant that rocked on until 6am! As Kat’s family owns a very successful bakery, the cake table was out of this world.

Everyone was so lovely to us in Horden. Kat’s sister Kristina who is a ranger at Kaltenbronn in the Black Forest took us for a long walk through the forest – there was quite a group of us. Check out the enormous blueberry pancakes compete with blueberry wine! We were also invited to a few delicious dinners at friend’s houses, they really we so hospitable.

Our friends Rod and Michelle also met us in Horden and spent a few days with us, which was really lovely. I think they enjoyed the Horden hospitality too!

A BIG THANK YOU to Kai and Kat Komotzki for inviting us to your wedding and being such warm and hospitable hosts!!! Congratulations you love birds!

Adventures, Europe, Hiking

Berwang and Neuschwanstein

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Through Europe we had pre-booked most of our accommodation in Europe; we were there in August, so we were actually very glad that we did. We had great accommodation the whole time and didn’t have to worry about where we were going to stay the next night. However we had left the last two nights of our road trip unplanned. We decided to stay in Berwang, Austria as we were interested in checking out Neuchwenstein Castle, which was a 45 minute drive from Berwang. We booked an apartment through www.Booking.com. It was also good, and had a breathtaking view across the valley. It was quite cold up in the mountains, but very beautiful.

We tried to book a tour of Neuschwanstein Castle a few days previously, but it was fully booked. However, we weren’t too disappointed as we read on the internet that the interior of the castle was never actually finished and also that the tours are very rushed. So we decided to go to the castle anyway and see it from the outside. We were glad we did, it is in a beautiful setting, with nice walks through the forest and a great view back to the castle if you walk on to further to a bridge.

On our last morning in Berwang, we caught the ski lift up to the top of a mountain and walked up to the top of the next mountain (a quite strenuous but quick – 30 minute hike). The view was quite obscured by clouds, but it was still a very atmospheric and lung cleansing walk :-).

Europe

Pula, Istrian Mediterranean Coast

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Next stop was Pula in Croatia. We also had a great Airbnb apartment. It was a little bit pricey for our budget, but between two couples was definitely worth if for the comfort, $190 AUD per night https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1996037. After all of the cities, a relaxing time on the Mediterranean coast was just what we needed. Crystal blue waters, the sun shining, this was definitely a great place to spend a few days. It certainly was different from what we experience in Australia, as all of the beached were very crowded (it was August after all). Also, there is practically no sand in the Mediterranean, every beach was very pebbly or rocky, but the beautiful, refreshing water certainly made up for it. We visited the national park, Kamenjak Premantura, which was stunning, but quite hot and also very full of people. There is an awesome amphitheatre in Pula, which is well worth the visit, it is very well maintained and we saw a ‘Gladiator’ show there one evening, which was a bit cheesy, but did give you an impression of what the fights were like. There is a lot of Roman history in Pula, with underground tunnels and Roman ruins.

Cities, Europe

Budapest, Hungary

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Budapest is another excellent city. Another highly recommended Airbnb apartment hosted by Barbara https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1481796. Many beautiful old buildings, particularly Budavari Palota (Buda) castle overlooking the Danube river, which is a UNESCO world heritage site. Also great ‘ruin’ bars, which are rough and tumble old buildings that have been converted into bars. Budapest is a very interesting city as part of the Austrian-Hungarian empire. We visited the Terror Museum which was quite harrowing. It gave the impression that the Hungarian people suffered at least as much under Soviet rule as the Nazi occupation. Disappearances, mock trials, and even today many of the old people are very distrusting of their surroundings. We also visited a museum of an underground hospital, (hospital in the rock) used during the world wars http://visitbudapest.travel/arts-entertainment/budapest-museums/hospital-in-the-rock-museum/.

The Széchenyi baths were lovely to visit; two huge outdoor pools, many indoor pools with different temperatures http://www.budapestbaths.net/szechenyi-bath. There were also very hot saunas accompanied by very cold pools. It was so invigorating jumping into the cold pool after roasting in the sauna.

Cities, Europe

Prague and Brno, Czech Republic

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Prague and Brno Czech Republic 30 July – 4 August 2014

With four of us, we decided to hire a car for a road trip around central Europe. We were really glad we did. It gave us the freedom to go whenever we wanted, and (seemed) to be cheaper than catching trains, particularly as none of us were under 26 (Europe trains offer discounts for 18-25 year olds). We hired a car through SIXT.

Prague is another beautiful city, but also very touristy at that time of year. We enjoyed the architecture, beer and hearty food.

Brno was a pleasant surprise; the second largest city in Czech was actually quite small and quaint. The city centre was very sophisticated. There were a lot of interesting sites, such as the ossuary (where skeletal remains were interred) and many underground tunnels http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brno_Ossuary.

This was one city in Europe that we hadn’t previously booked accommodation for, and found a great apartment on Airbnb last minute, hosted by Jan Kabat, https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/2404001. Alex and I slept in the lounge room, but the sofa was ginormous and comfortable. The apartment was a 5-10 minute walk into the city centre. Jan was a great host, he waited for us for over an hour when we were stuck in traffic and provided lots of delicious food and even beer!