DAY TWENTY NINE
Well alas faithful blog followers, our last full day in Europe has finally arrived.
Today has been the quietest day of our trip so far. We were up at 8am with our only aim being to pack our belongings and clean Betsy. A task that might not sound all that difficult, but we’ve been living in the vehicle for a month. Also we’ve had to make sure we leave Betsy in good nick since the rental company imposes a 150 Euro fine if they have to clean the van internally. That said after a hearty cooked breakfast in the van we
set about packing our clothing and gifts. Fortunately Kurt’s purchase of extra hand luggage greatly helped with fitting in all the extra bits and pieces. Bags packed we spent some time sweeping and cleaning, returning Betsy’s interior to the condition we found her in.
Our afternoon included a walk to a pedestrian shopping area and a very filling lunch at another Nordsee restaurant. Fortunately we have free wireless in our hotel room which has helped with planning and emails. A quite evening lies ahead before we face our return flight tomorrow pm. We won’t be posting tomorrow since the day will include returning Betsy to her owners and taking a taxi to the airport where we hope to use the business lounge for a quite day of reading and rest.
In reflection I think a month away is the perfect length of time one needs away from normal life before beginning to feel the desire to return home. Both Kurt and I are eager to board our flight tomorrow and be on our way back to normality. It always seems strange to me to feel this way since I enjoy travelling so much, but home is where the heart is as the saying goes. We’ve covered 4700km in pretty bad weather conditions, visited eight countries, seen some really wonderful sights and tasted the flavor of some interesting European cultures. Originally we had planned to travel from Germany through Poland and then down into Italy, but give the cold weather conditions in the north we changed the direction, our route being refined over and over again as we progressed. A real blessing for both of us was spending time with respective close friends at different points on the trip.
The greatest challenge has been spending so much time with one person in such limited space conditions. A camper van isn’t a very big area to cohabit, and the cold winter weather has kept us indoors a good portion of the time when not exploring. Kurt recons we’ve spent about 700 hours in each others company over the last month which is a lot by anyone’s standards. Somehow though we’ve managed to get on quite well with only the occasional fall out here and there. We’ve certainly seen aspects to each other we hadn’t seen before in the seven years we’ve know each other.
My greatest disappointment of the trip was missing out on seeing the ‘Eagles Nest’, but we’ve been very blessed to have seen all the other sights we had hoped to see and a few others which we stumbled across on the way. As a time of reflection the trip has been a success for both of us, giving us the opportunity to consider the year ahead and what we’d like to achieve both personally and professionally.
From my side thanks to all of you for following the blog over the last month. It has been great sharing the experience with you.
Kurt’s Note: I have already said on my facebook profile that this trip has been a life changing experience and I have gotten all I desired out of the trip to Europe – and more. I really appreciate the comments and short notes from you avid followers and look forward to seeing some of you when I return on Friday.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Day Twenty Eight
DAY TWENTY EIGHT
We woke at 5.45am this morning and planned to leave between 7 and 7.30am for Frankfurt. Michael left us this morning for work in a town not too far from Salzburg. We have had a super time with him and enjoyed his many jokes and strange photographic poses and will miss his company en route to Germany. We have been so busy in Salzburg that I had forgotten to load Lorraine with the route to our final venue in Frankfurt. I tried to connect Lorraine to the laptop but I think due to the cold weather and the fact that Betsy’s heating was off last night, Lorraine just wasn’t prepared to acknowledge the laptop. The nett result being that the laptop ran out of battery power and we were forced to check into the hotel again to connect to AC Power and then managed to get Lorraine up at around 7.45am. What a way to start our final voyage in our epic journey.
The blessings of the lord were on us again today since the entire route was without rain or snow and although it was cold outside, the trip was uneventful. We stopped for a coffee and breakfast at around 10.00am and then pressed onto Frankfurt. We arrived at the hotel were we are to stay for the next 2 days at 1.45pm and are nicely settled in our room. The shortage of campsites during the past week have been quite frustrating but the hotel room we are now occupying is nicely appointed and has wireless – FREE internet. There are 30 TV channels – 1 in English – CNN.
We have the day free tomorrow to clean the van – inside that is – or to do whatever we fancy. You may be asking, Betsy is a rental, why clean the inside, well if we don’t they will charge us 155 Euros. We have experienced first hand just how expensive it is to travel in Europe. That said and done, its going to be great to have the time tomorrow to pack our luggage and to give Betsy a nice clean out.
I plan to make a dinner of Ravioli and meat balls with tomato sauce – the last dinner in Betsy, followed perhaps by a movie.
We woke at 5.45am this morning and planned to leave between 7 and 7.30am for Frankfurt. Michael left us this morning for work in a town not too far from Salzburg. We have had a super time with him and enjoyed his many jokes and strange photographic poses and will miss his company en route to Germany. We have been so busy in Salzburg that I had forgotten to load Lorraine with the route to our final venue in Frankfurt. I tried to connect Lorraine to the laptop but I think due to the cold weather and the fact that Betsy’s heating was off last night, Lorraine just wasn’t prepared to acknowledge the laptop. The nett result being that the laptop ran out of battery power and we were forced to check into the hotel again to connect to AC Power and then managed to get Lorraine up at around 7.45am. What a way to start our final voyage in our epic journey.
The blessings of the lord were on us again today since the entire route was without rain or snow and although it was cold outside, the trip was uneventful. We stopped for a coffee and breakfast at around 10.00am and then pressed onto Frankfurt. We arrived at the hotel were we are to stay for the next 2 days at 1.45pm and are nicely settled in our room. The shortage of campsites during the past week have been quite frustrating but the hotel room we are now occupying is nicely appointed and has wireless – FREE internet. There are 30 TV channels – 1 in English – CNN.
We have the day free tomorrow to clean the van – inside that is – or to do whatever we fancy. You may be asking, Betsy is a rental, why clean the inside, well if we don’t they will charge us 155 Euros. We have experienced first hand just how expensive it is to travel in Europe. That said and done, its going to be great to have the time tomorrow to pack our luggage and to give Betsy a nice clean out.
I plan to make a dinner of Ravioli and meat balls with tomato sauce – the last dinner in Betsy, followed perhaps by a movie.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Day Twenty Seven
DAY TWENTY SEVEN
Well hello there. Don’t panic this is not Kurt or Glenn writing todays blog… Seems they are both too tired after a very long and exciting day in Salzburg. So let me introduce myself … taraaa … my name is Michael and for those who don’t know, I have known Kurt for over 30 years ;-)
Waking up after a long night, after watching the 3 hours of “The Sound of Music” movie yesterday, Kurt made his way to Betsy and whipped up a top breakfast that included Frankfurters, Mushrooms and different spreads. Thereafter we made our way to the Europark shopping center located about 10 minutes from the hotel where Kurt and Glenn “raided” Saturn (a common electronics store here in Austria, I believe the equivalent is Incredible Connection back in SA) and bought a couple of things they needed. Having had a big breakfast we decided to skip lunch and continue straight to the “Sound of Music” meeting point in town at 13:50.
After walking around a bit we finally found the bus stop and took the “Linie 2” bus to town. The driver was very unfriendly and let us out too early, so we had to chase to get to the meeting point in time, which we however did. There were three other people in the bus. One lady from Australia, one lady from Canada and a gentleman from Texas. The tour guide was a very talkative and very musical British lady. We started from the Mirabellplatz and made our way in the afternoon traffic to the first site Leopold’s Crown Palace (which now hosts the Max Reinhardt Seminar) where most of the porch scenes and the capsizing boat were shot. Apparently the youngest von Trap actor could not swim - Gretal. The Gazebo in which the song “You are 16 going on 17…” was shot, stood next to the Palace was moved to Hellbrunn Palace due to overeager tourists wanting to be Liesl or Rolf…
After that we made it to the lake district (Salzkammergut) and took the scenic route via Lake Fuschel (we drove past the headquarters of Red Bull), Lake Wolfgang (Mozart was named after the lake and not the other way around), Lake Topilitz (Where allegedly some of the 3rd Reich’s treasures were thrown into at the end of World War 2) and Lake Mondsee. On the drive our tour guide, who was very musical, made us sing most of the songs from the film, and I must say that Kurt knew the lyrics to all the songs ;-). In the little village of Mondsee we had time to explore the church where Maria and Captain von Trapp were married at the end of the movie. We used the spare free time to visit a local bakery and had a good Austrian coffee with Apfelstrudel – Apple Strudle.
On the way back to Salzburg Kurt again whole heartedly sang further songs that our tour guide made us sing. The last site we visited was the Mirabell palace where the von Trapp family sang the “Do-Re-Mi…” song on the steps to the Pegasus fountain. After the tour we decided to stroll over the river Salzach, where we took stunning night pictures of the cathedral and the fortress. We were all glad to get into the bus again which took us to the starting point of today’s journey.
The Sound of Music tour revealed that the actual true story of the Von Trapp family on which the Sound of Music musical is based, differed in several aspects from the Hollywood version. In particular, the distances that the family were meant to have travelled on foot at the end of the movie to escape from Salzburg to Switzerland would have been around 300 kms and therefore quite impossible. The family Von Trapp did in fact escape the day before the borders were closed by train to Italy.
Feeling a bit hungry we had quite a ball trying to find the running sushi place which was advertised in one building, but they had obviously moved to another building grmph!*#*! We were however rewarded with a delicious variety of sushi, beef, vegetables, chicken that moved past us on a running conveyer belt. I am glad no one was wearing a tie…
Editors Note: I have never seen Glenn eat so much in the trip to Europe thus far. He so enjoyed grabbing the delicacies that passed before our eyes. I myself am so done with hoofing it everywhere and am looking forward to being reunited with Jessica Jeep and the lux way of life in Durban.
Well hello there. Don’t panic this is not Kurt or Glenn writing todays blog… Seems they are both too tired after a very long and exciting day in Salzburg. So let me introduce myself … taraaa … my name is Michael and for those who don’t know, I have known Kurt for over 30 years ;-)
Waking up after a long night, after watching the 3 hours of “The Sound of Music” movie yesterday, Kurt made his way to Betsy and whipped up a top breakfast that included Frankfurters, Mushrooms and different spreads. Thereafter we made our way to the Europark shopping center located about 10 minutes from the hotel where Kurt and Glenn “raided” Saturn (a common electronics store here in Austria, I believe the equivalent is Incredible Connection back in SA) and bought a couple of things they needed. Having had a big breakfast we decided to skip lunch and continue straight to the “Sound of Music” meeting point in town at 13:50.
After walking around a bit we finally found the bus stop and took the “Linie 2” bus to town. The driver was very unfriendly and let us out too early, so we had to chase to get to the meeting point in time, which we however did. There were three other people in the bus. One lady from Australia, one lady from Canada and a gentleman from Texas. The tour guide was a very talkative and very musical British lady. We started from the Mirabellplatz and made our way in the afternoon traffic to the first site Leopold’s Crown Palace (which now hosts the Max Reinhardt Seminar) where most of the porch scenes and the capsizing boat were shot. Apparently the youngest von Trap actor could not swim - Gretal. The Gazebo in which the song “You are 16 going on 17…” was shot, stood next to the Palace was moved to Hellbrunn Palace due to overeager tourists wanting to be Liesl or Rolf…
After that we made it to the lake district (Salzkammergut) and took the scenic route via Lake Fuschel (we drove past the headquarters of Red Bull), Lake Wolfgang (Mozart was named after the lake and not the other way around), Lake Topilitz (Where allegedly some of the 3rd Reich’s treasures were thrown into at the end of World War 2) and Lake Mondsee. On the drive our tour guide, who was very musical, made us sing most of the songs from the film, and I must say that Kurt knew the lyrics to all the songs ;-). In the little village of Mondsee we had time to explore the church where Maria and Captain von Trapp were married at the end of the movie. We used the spare free time to visit a local bakery and had a good Austrian coffee with Apfelstrudel – Apple Strudle.
On the way back to Salzburg Kurt again whole heartedly sang further songs that our tour guide made us sing. The last site we visited was the Mirabell palace where the von Trapp family sang the “Do-Re-Mi…” song on the steps to the Pegasus fountain. After the tour we decided to stroll over the river Salzach, where we took stunning night pictures of the cathedral and the fortress. We were all glad to get into the bus again which took us to the starting point of today’s journey.
The Sound of Music tour revealed that the actual true story of the Von Trapp family on which the Sound of Music musical is based, differed in several aspects from the Hollywood version. In particular, the distances that the family were meant to have travelled on foot at the end of the movie to escape from Salzburg to Switzerland would have been around 300 kms and therefore quite impossible. The family Von Trapp did in fact escape the day before the borders were closed by train to Italy.
Feeling a bit hungry we had quite a ball trying to find the running sushi place which was advertised in one building, but they had obviously moved to another building grmph!*#*! We were however rewarded with a delicious variety of sushi, beef, vegetables, chicken that moved past us on a running conveyer belt. I am glad no one was wearing a tie…
Editors Note: I have never seen Glenn eat so much in the trip to Europe thus far. He so enjoyed grabbing the delicacies that passed before our eyes. I myself am so done with hoofing it everywhere and am looking forward to being reunited with Jessica Jeep and the lux way of life in Durban.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Day Twenty Six
DAY TWENTY SIX
After watching two comedies last night Kurt and I started our day off in a some what better mood. The scenery surrounding our mountainous camp site also brightened things up somewhat. The Alps are without doubt one of the most beautiful natural features I’ve seen. Perhaps the only down side to such beauty is that it compels you to return again and see it in another season.
We made an early departure from our campsite following our 5minute showers and a quick breakfast. Driving out of the snow covered mountains that border the Bergtesgarden region we headed to the train station in Salzberg, a trip of about one hour. The roads in the city were mercifully quiet being Sunday and we were able to park near to the terminal. Michael arrived at 8:53am to join us for the day’s exploration.
We found a parking lot for Betsy near the old city (which cost R170 for half the day) and investigated the possibility of going on a tour tomorrow to see the sights from the movie ‘Sound of Music’. A visit to a coffee shop followed to enjoy Austrian cake and cappuccino before wondering towards the impressive fortress that dominates the city.
Salzberg Castle began as a Roman fort on the prominent hill above the river valley but grew into the fortress it is today over the medieval period where successive Cardinals (who ruled the city) added to the size and strength of the fortifications. It was never taken by force and only once surrendered to Napoleon. We took the funicular up the side of the hill to the castles lower fortifications. From here we explored the length and breadth of the structure over the next three hours, visiting the royal apartments and climbing up to the top of one of the towers to be rewarded with magnificent views over the city. Salzberg is without doubt the most impressive fortress I’ve seen in all my travels thus far.
Making our way down from the Castle we looked for a restaurant for our noon day feast. We decided on Nordsee, a fish food restaurant with some excellent dishes. Stomachs full we headed on to the Etap hotel where we’d booked to stay for two nights as all camp sites around Salzberg are closed in winter.
A quite afternoon has followed catching up on various odds and ends. Given we’ve booked our Sound of Music tour tomorrow, Michael decided the sensible thing to do was buy the movie (on sale at the castle for R320) and watch it tonight..
After watching two comedies last night Kurt and I started our day off in a some what better mood. The scenery surrounding our mountainous camp site also brightened things up somewhat. The Alps are without doubt one of the most beautiful natural features I’ve seen. Perhaps the only down side to such beauty is that it compels you to return again and see it in another season.
We made an early departure from our campsite following our 5minute showers and a quick breakfast. Driving out of the snow covered mountains that border the Bergtesgarden region we headed to the train station in Salzberg, a trip of about one hour. The roads in the city were mercifully quiet being Sunday and we were able to park near to the terminal. Michael arrived at 8:53am to join us for the day’s exploration.
We found a parking lot for Betsy near the old city (which cost R170 for half the day) and investigated the possibility of going on a tour tomorrow to see the sights from the movie ‘Sound of Music’. A visit to a coffee shop followed to enjoy Austrian cake and cappuccino before wondering towards the impressive fortress that dominates the city.
Salzberg Castle began as a Roman fort on the prominent hill above the river valley but grew into the fortress it is today over the medieval period where successive Cardinals (who ruled the city) added to the size and strength of the fortifications. It was never taken by force and only once surrendered to Napoleon. We took the funicular up the side of the hill to the castles lower fortifications. From here we explored the length and breadth of the structure over the next three hours, visiting the royal apartments and climbing up to the top of one of the towers to be rewarded with magnificent views over the city. Salzberg is without doubt the most impressive fortress I’ve seen in all my travels thus far.
Making our way down from the Castle we looked for a restaurant for our noon day feast. We decided on Nordsee, a fish food restaurant with some excellent dishes. Stomachs full we headed on to the Etap hotel where we’d booked to stay for two nights as all camp sites around Salzberg are closed in winter.
A quite afternoon has followed catching up on various odds and ends. Given we’ve booked our Sound of Music tour tomorrow, Michael decided the sensible thing to do was buy the movie (on sale at the castle for R320) and watch it tonight..
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Day Twenty Five
DAY TWENTY FIVE
We woke at around 7 and after a shower, checked out of the A & O hostel and made our way to Michaels house in the south of Vienna. Michael, Verena and Caroline went out of their way to make us the best breakfast yet. We had Breads, Eggs, Bacon, Ham, Cheese, Spreads, Yoghurt, Espresso etc. We had a super visit with the family and after breakfast and a chat, we left for Salzburg via Styria. The weather as per our usual road trip was snowing but the roads were clear of snow and the temperature was around +2 degrees. We drove for around 2 hours until we reached the town of Styria – reportedly the oldest town in Austria. We expected to see some Castles, Ruins …. Anything older than McDonalds. We received our first of several disappointing blows of the day. We couldn’t find a single old building to photograph, let alone visit. We continued on our way to Bergtesgarden and Hitler’s Lair – the Eagle’s Nest.
We arrived at the town of Bergtesgarden and Glenn went into the information centre to get all the details on our visit to this historic site. Glenn stumbled back to car with the devastating news that the road to the site was closed until May and doesn’t open in winter. This has to be without doubt the most distressing day of the entire trip. Glenn has with immediate effect started a “bucket list” with the first item now being that he has to return to the area in summer to see the Eagles Nest. We were both severely disgruntled and decided to grocery shopping to ease the wounds – how scary is that…. We did find a couple of postcards to take home that can show that we were within a few miles of the eagles nest but turned away by the bureaucrats’ that guard this historic site and to make matters worse, we couldn’t even see the mountains due to extremely low cloud conditions and the persistent rain. We bought the required commodities as well as some Chocolate to wipe away the tears of the tragedy. Now for those of you that feel that I am being somewhat melodramatic need to fully understand the circumstances.
Glenn and I had three must see sites planned for the trip – Castle Neuschwanstien, Auschwitz and the Eagles Nest. Now perhaps 2 out of 3 may sound good to the average Blog of the Year follower, but to an avid History Channel watcher – like Glenn and I are, it has been a day of severe disappointments. Michael is arriving at 9.00am tomorrow for a two night stay with us to explore Bergtesgarden (CROSS THIS OFF….) and to see Salzburg. Well that leaves Salzburg so I decided that instead of camping in Bergtesgarden we would go to the alternate site. It is located in a beautiful part of Austria which we cannot see amidst mountains but on arrival, we found the second most basic campsite yet after the parking lot where we slept for the first 2 nights. Glenn and I are allowed one shower each with a hot water token that will give us 5 minutes of hot water each. I have subsequently contacted Verena who is trying to find another site near Salzburg that doesn’t have prisoner of war camping standards in place so that we can enjoy the remaining 3 nights planned for the Salzburg region. We hope Verena will be successful in redeeming the tail end of our trip.
PS: Glenn would also point out that the Eagles’ Nest was going to be the final highlight of the trip. He is now so disgruntled he doesn’t me to cook dinner and has gone to bed early. I do plan however to insist we watch a comedy later tonight – courtesy of Q.b
We woke at around 7 and after a shower, checked out of the A & O hostel and made our way to Michaels house in the south of Vienna. Michael, Verena and Caroline went out of their way to make us the best breakfast yet. We had Breads, Eggs, Bacon, Ham, Cheese, Spreads, Yoghurt, Espresso etc. We had a super visit with the family and after breakfast and a chat, we left for Salzburg via Styria. The weather as per our usual road trip was snowing but the roads were clear of snow and the temperature was around +2 degrees. We drove for around 2 hours until we reached the town of Styria – reportedly the oldest town in Austria. We expected to see some Castles, Ruins …. Anything older than McDonalds. We received our first of several disappointing blows of the day. We couldn’t find a single old building to photograph, let alone visit. We continued on our way to Bergtesgarden and Hitler’s Lair – the Eagle’s Nest.
We arrived at the town of Bergtesgarden and Glenn went into the information centre to get all the details on our visit to this historic site. Glenn stumbled back to car with the devastating news that the road to the site was closed until May and doesn’t open in winter. This has to be without doubt the most distressing day of the entire trip. Glenn has with immediate effect started a “bucket list” with the first item now being that he has to return to the area in summer to see the Eagles Nest. We were both severely disgruntled and decided to grocery shopping to ease the wounds – how scary is that…. We did find a couple of postcards to take home that can show that we were within a few miles of the eagles nest but turned away by the bureaucrats’ that guard this historic site and to make matters worse, we couldn’t even see the mountains due to extremely low cloud conditions and the persistent rain. We bought the required commodities as well as some Chocolate to wipe away the tears of the tragedy. Now for those of you that feel that I am being somewhat melodramatic need to fully understand the circumstances.
Glenn and I had three must see sites planned for the trip – Castle Neuschwanstien, Auschwitz and the Eagles Nest. Now perhaps 2 out of 3 may sound good to the average Blog of the Year follower, but to an avid History Channel watcher – like Glenn and I are, it has been a day of severe disappointments. Michael is arriving at 9.00am tomorrow for a two night stay with us to explore Bergtesgarden (CROSS THIS OFF….) and to see Salzburg. Well that leaves Salzburg so I decided that instead of camping in Bergtesgarden we would go to the alternate site. It is located in a beautiful part of Austria which we cannot see amidst mountains but on arrival, we found the second most basic campsite yet after the parking lot where we slept for the first 2 nights. Glenn and I are allowed one shower each with a hot water token that will give us 5 minutes of hot water each. I have subsequently contacted Verena who is trying to find another site near Salzburg that doesn’t have prisoner of war camping standards in place so that we can enjoy the remaining 3 nights planned for the Salzburg region. We hope Verena will be successful in redeeming the tail end of our trip.
PS: Glenn would also point out that the Eagles’ Nest was going to be the final highlight of the trip. He is now so disgruntled he doesn’t me to cook dinner and has gone to bed early. I do plan however to insist we watch a comedy later tonight – courtesy of Q.b
Friday, February 5, 2010
Day Twenty Four
DAY TWENTY FOUR
The day started for us bright and early at 6:30am. Admittedly Kurt had been up from 5:30am with the excuse that he had to get our last load of washing for the trip underway. Given the lack of washing and or drying machines in most of the eastern European camp sites, we’d build up quite a back log of laundry. For both of us staying at the A&O Hostel has been a real treat with all the creature comforts available here. Beyond the laundry the private toilet and shower make life much more comfortable than usual.. it’s quite amazing how quickly one adjusts to deprivations in personal comfort levels – only to be surprised when you experience nearly normal living conditions again. There’s no doubt for both Kurt and I that besides driving our own vehicles again, our respective en suit bathrooms back home will be the most appreciated luxury we return to.
Our morning showers attended to we breakfasted on the hostels 4 Euro buffet before suiting up for our second day about the city. Yesterday we took in the big tourist sites in the centre of Vienna and were looking forward to what lay ahead of us with our very own local guide Michael. We met Michael on one of the main subway interchanges and made our way to Vienna’s open air market which runs down a pedestrian road for approximately one kilometer. It’s a bright and busy affair with road side stalls selling fish of every description (including octopus and shellfish), meat and poultry, cheeses, pastries, stuffed olives, sweet meats, fruit, vegetables, dried fruit and flowers, including tulips from Holland. We stopped at a sea food restaurant to sample fried prawns before buying more chocolate and some liqueur for home.
Back onto the subway we went to see the exterior of an impressive Roman styled church called the Kalskiche. From here we walked to the best known hotel in Vienna (and probably the most expensive) called the Hotel Sacher. It’s particularly famous for creating the Sacher Torte – a kind of cake that apparently tastes pretty good. We stopped at the hotel for a great tasting Melange, Vienna’s most popular type of coffee, essentially an espresso weakened with cream. At this point it’s worth mentioning that Vienna is especially well known for it’s coffee houses (and thus it’s wide variety of unique coffee servings) where artists, philosophers, politicians and the like have historically mingled and pondered life, the universe and everything. This may help explain why we had a double espresso with orange liqueur yesterday at the Lippizan palace.
Leaving the hotel we tubed through Vienna’s efficient underground system to the Palace of Schonbrunn. Set on a massive estate (probably 8 square km) it was the summer residence of the Hapsburg’s. Once set on the edge of Vienna it has now been enveloped by the city, but retains its 19th century country charm. We wondered around the outside of the palace into the gardens since we’d visited the main palace in the city centre yesterday. The back of the palace looks over acres of open land bordered by forest. A hill in the distance is crowned with a magnificent structure called the Gloriette where apparently tea parties were held in summer. At the base of the hill is a highly ornate water feature which when running in summer must be an incredible sight to behold. We walked up the hill and passed by what was once the private zoo of the royal family (now open to public) and on to the Gloriette, enjoying the wonderful view down over the palace in the distance and Vienna beyond.
From the opulence of the palace and its massive grounds we walked to the Tafelspitz restaurant but at 21 euro a meal we thought better of it and went for Sushi instead. I must admit I’m growing quite fond of sushi, never really having eaten all that much of it back home.
Tubing back through the busy underground we emerged near the famous Opera hall with its ever present touts in period costume trying their best to sell the nights performance. We briefly visited the ‘stables’ of the main city palace – the various Emperors kept up to 600 Lipizzan horses here to ride and pull carriages. The stables complex itself looks like a palace and stretches half a kilometer.
Kurt wanted to buy an additional suitcase for hand luggage (our gift collection – mainly chocolates - now looks decidedly in need of its own baggage space), so we went to Maria Hilfer street where as you’d expect we visited the best known shopping centre in the city.
Bag in hand we returned to the tubes and bid farewell to Michael. We would be seeing him again shortly since his wife and daughter were inbound on the evening train from Insbruck where they had been visiting family.
We had enough time to return to Betsy and collapse on our beds for an hour power nap. Michael is as fit as ever and needless to say he put both Kurt and I through our paces. We think we walked about 12 to 15km over the course of the day, definitely more than our usual exercise. With enough time for quick showers we were off to meet up with Michael, Verena and Caroline at the train station. Bags in hand we found a near by Coffee house for a bit of a chat and some refreshments before we went our separate ways again for the evening.
Tomorrow morning we head out of Vienna for Bergtesgarden via Michael’s house for breakfast.
The day started for us bright and early at 6:30am. Admittedly Kurt had been up from 5:30am with the excuse that he had to get our last load of washing for the trip underway. Given the lack of washing and or drying machines in most of the eastern European camp sites, we’d build up quite a back log of laundry. For both of us staying at the A&O Hostel has been a real treat with all the creature comforts available here. Beyond the laundry the private toilet and shower make life much more comfortable than usual.. it’s quite amazing how quickly one adjusts to deprivations in personal comfort levels – only to be surprised when you experience nearly normal living conditions again. There’s no doubt for both Kurt and I that besides driving our own vehicles again, our respective en suit bathrooms back home will be the most appreciated luxury we return to.
Our morning showers attended to we breakfasted on the hostels 4 Euro buffet before suiting up for our second day about the city. Yesterday we took in the big tourist sites in the centre of Vienna and were looking forward to what lay ahead of us with our very own local guide Michael. We met Michael on one of the main subway interchanges and made our way to Vienna’s open air market which runs down a pedestrian road for approximately one kilometer. It’s a bright and busy affair with road side stalls selling fish of every description (including octopus and shellfish), meat and poultry, cheeses, pastries, stuffed olives, sweet meats, fruit, vegetables, dried fruit and flowers, including tulips from Holland. We stopped at a sea food restaurant to sample fried prawns before buying more chocolate and some liqueur for home.
Back onto the subway we went to see the exterior of an impressive Roman styled church called the Kalskiche. From here we walked to the best known hotel in Vienna (and probably the most expensive) called the Hotel Sacher. It’s particularly famous for creating the Sacher Torte – a kind of cake that apparently tastes pretty good. We stopped at the hotel for a great tasting Melange, Vienna’s most popular type of coffee, essentially an espresso weakened with cream. At this point it’s worth mentioning that Vienna is especially well known for it’s coffee houses (and thus it’s wide variety of unique coffee servings) where artists, philosophers, politicians and the like have historically mingled and pondered life, the universe and everything. This may help explain why we had a double espresso with orange liqueur yesterday at the Lippizan palace.
Leaving the hotel we tubed through Vienna’s efficient underground system to the Palace of Schonbrunn. Set on a massive estate (probably 8 square km) it was the summer residence of the Hapsburg’s. Once set on the edge of Vienna it has now been enveloped by the city, but retains its 19th century country charm. We wondered around the outside of the palace into the gardens since we’d visited the main palace in the city centre yesterday. The back of the palace looks over acres of open land bordered by forest. A hill in the distance is crowned with a magnificent structure called the Gloriette where apparently tea parties were held in summer. At the base of the hill is a highly ornate water feature which when running in summer must be an incredible sight to behold. We walked up the hill and passed by what was once the private zoo of the royal family (now open to public) and on to the Gloriette, enjoying the wonderful view down over the palace in the distance and Vienna beyond.
From the opulence of the palace and its massive grounds we walked to the Tafelspitz restaurant but at 21 euro a meal we thought better of it and went for Sushi instead. I must admit I’m growing quite fond of sushi, never really having eaten all that much of it back home.
Tubing back through the busy underground we emerged near the famous Opera hall with its ever present touts in period costume trying their best to sell the nights performance. We briefly visited the ‘stables’ of the main city palace – the various Emperors kept up to 600 Lipizzan horses here to ride and pull carriages. The stables complex itself looks like a palace and stretches half a kilometer.
Kurt wanted to buy an additional suitcase for hand luggage (our gift collection – mainly chocolates - now looks decidedly in need of its own baggage space), so we went to Maria Hilfer street where as you’d expect we visited the best known shopping centre in the city.
Bag in hand we returned to the tubes and bid farewell to Michael. We would be seeing him again shortly since his wife and daughter were inbound on the evening train from Insbruck where they had been visiting family.
We had enough time to return to Betsy and collapse on our beds for an hour power nap. Michael is as fit as ever and needless to say he put both Kurt and I through our paces. We think we walked about 12 to 15km over the course of the day, definitely more than our usual exercise. With enough time for quick showers we were off to meet up with Michael, Verena and Caroline at the train station. Bags in hand we found a near by Coffee house for a bit of a chat and some refreshments before we went our separate ways again for the evening.
Tomorrow morning we head out of Vienna for Bergtesgarden via Michael’s house for breakfast.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Day Twenty Three
DAY TWENTY THREE
We woke early this morning to the continuous traffic noise in the middle of Vienna. Betsy is parked on one of the main city roads in Vienna and makes for an interesting cultural noise experience. Glenn could sleep through anything short of a nuclear explosion and I have my newly acquired IPod Earphones, so we both had a good night’s sleep. We had breakfast at the Hostel – an all you can eat Continental Buffet breakfast and then made our way by underground to St Stephens Cathedral.
The rain had stopped as predicted by “Q” and the weather was a warm 2 degrees – positive. This meant that Glenn only wore 4 layers of clothing this morning as compared to his usual 6 layers elsewhere in Europe. The trains in Austria are so easy to use and understand that in no time we were at the cathedral and admiring its beauty. The cathedral dates back some 700 years and is filled with numerous statues and artistic carvings that pay tribute to various saints.
We then planned to make our way on foot to the Hofburg Palace in Vienna but had to make a scheduled stop along the way.
Glenn had indicated his desire to visit the Lipizzans horses in Vienna and perhaps to watch a show. Now I know of at least three avid followers of this blog that love horses – Glenn’s Mom, Lee and My Pops. Well guys guess what; we went to see them exercise the horses in a palace listening to music by Mozart. I have to say that even though Glenn and I are not horse lovers, the experience was magical to say the least. We would have loved to have attended an official performance but they do not perform for the public during the winter months. The extent of training in these beautiful white horses is unbelievable and watching them trot sideways was incredible. Needless to say, Glenn felt so moved about the whole experience he has decided that he may well ask his Mom to teach him to ride when he gets back to SA. I have to say that throughout the entire spectacle we thought of you three horse lovers.
We stopped at the Café at the Spanish riding school where the horses are trained and had a Maria Theresa coffee – double espresso with Orange Liqueur and topped with fresh cream sprinkled with orange flavored sugar – Yum…
We left the church and proceeded by foot to the Palace district in Vienna. I use the word district because the Hofburg Palace complex in Vienna stretches some 240 000 square meters and has more than 2900 rooms. This was undoubtedly the most formidable and lavish palace complex we have seen yet.
We purchased tickets to view the Imperial Apartments’ of the Habsburg monarchy as well as the “SISI” museum – Elizabeth I as well as the Silver collection of the Habsburg monarchy. The Hofburg Palace was the residence of the Habsburg dynasty for over 600 years. The stately splendor under which the Austrian royalty lived was beyond belief and attested to the wealth and power of the Austrian rulers of their time. The bulk of the exhibition was dedicated to Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Elizabeth – also known as Sisi.
The Imperial Apartments’ were restored to their original splendor and gave one insight into the lives led by the Emperor and his wife Sisi. Franz Joseph was a simple man and chose to live his life with little luxuries whilst his Empress enjoyed the finer things in life such as a personal toilet with Flush mechanism not unlike those in use today as well as a bath tub with running water – hot and cold.
The Sisi museum was dedicated to Empress Elizabeth and gave insight into her personality, her rebellion against court ceremonial and the way in which she strove to remain beautiful and trim. In particular it showed her obsessive dieting, sporting manias and her romantic poetry and melancholic behavior. The empress travelled incessantly and had the most incredible travel cases filled with Bone China, travel tea sets and even a specially modified rail carriage. The story of Sisi may be remembered by those loyal followers who watched the 3 part trilogy of her life as portrayed in movies made in 1956. The silver collection showed a level of opulence that words could never aptly portray except to say that one had to surmise that the collection on show in the palace museum would be worth Billions of Euro at the least.
For those history buffs among you, it was the son of the Emperor – Franz Ferdinand II – that was assassinated in 1914 that gave rise to the start of the First World War.
We then made our way back to Betsy for an afternoon’s siesta and got ourselves up and ready for a Sushi Dinner with Michael. For those of you who don’t know Michael, he and I went to high school together – yes we did have schools back then as well. Michael has been my good and close friend for more than 30 years and seeing him again tonight in his Hugo Boss suit, I can see now the error of my ways in choosing to become a bean counter and not a computer wiz like Michael. We enjoyed a super dinner of Sushi – at long last – and a lot of laughs and jokes around the dinner table. Michael has taken time off work to join us in Vienna tomorrow and we will all be taking the sights in together and meeting up with his Wife Verena and daughter Caroline tomorrow evening.
We woke early this morning to the continuous traffic noise in the middle of Vienna. Betsy is parked on one of the main city roads in Vienna and makes for an interesting cultural noise experience. Glenn could sleep through anything short of a nuclear explosion and I have my newly acquired IPod Earphones, so we both had a good night’s sleep. We had breakfast at the Hostel – an all you can eat Continental Buffet breakfast and then made our way by underground to St Stephens Cathedral.
The rain had stopped as predicted by “Q” and the weather was a warm 2 degrees – positive. This meant that Glenn only wore 4 layers of clothing this morning as compared to his usual 6 layers elsewhere in Europe. The trains in Austria are so easy to use and understand that in no time we were at the cathedral and admiring its beauty. The cathedral dates back some 700 years and is filled with numerous statues and artistic carvings that pay tribute to various saints.
We then planned to make our way on foot to the Hofburg Palace in Vienna but had to make a scheduled stop along the way.
Glenn had indicated his desire to visit the Lipizzans horses in Vienna and perhaps to watch a show. Now I know of at least three avid followers of this blog that love horses – Glenn’s Mom, Lee and My Pops. Well guys guess what; we went to see them exercise the horses in a palace listening to music by Mozart. I have to say that even though Glenn and I are not horse lovers, the experience was magical to say the least. We would have loved to have attended an official performance but they do not perform for the public during the winter months. The extent of training in these beautiful white horses is unbelievable and watching them trot sideways was incredible. Needless to say, Glenn felt so moved about the whole experience he has decided that he may well ask his Mom to teach him to ride when he gets back to SA. I have to say that throughout the entire spectacle we thought of you three horse lovers.
We stopped at the Café at the Spanish riding school where the horses are trained and had a Maria Theresa coffee – double espresso with Orange Liqueur and topped with fresh cream sprinkled with orange flavored sugar – Yum…
We left the church and proceeded by foot to the Palace district in Vienna. I use the word district because the Hofburg Palace complex in Vienna stretches some 240 000 square meters and has more than 2900 rooms. This was undoubtedly the most formidable and lavish palace complex we have seen yet.
We purchased tickets to view the Imperial Apartments’ of the Habsburg monarchy as well as the “SISI” museum – Elizabeth I as well as the Silver collection of the Habsburg monarchy. The Hofburg Palace was the residence of the Habsburg dynasty for over 600 years. The stately splendor under which the Austrian royalty lived was beyond belief and attested to the wealth and power of the Austrian rulers of their time. The bulk of the exhibition was dedicated to Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Elizabeth – also known as Sisi.
The Imperial Apartments’ were restored to their original splendor and gave one insight into the lives led by the Emperor and his wife Sisi. Franz Joseph was a simple man and chose to live his life with little luxuries whilst his Empress enjoyed the finer things in life such as a personal toilet with Flush mechanism not unlike those in use today as well as a bath tub with running water – hot and cold.
The Sisi museum was dedicated to Empress Elizabeth and gave insight into her personality, her rebellion against court ceremonial and the way in which she strove to remain beautiful and trim. In particular it showed her obsessive dieting, sporting manias and her romantic poetry and melancholic behavior. The empress travelled incessantly and had the most incredible travel cases filled with Bone China, travel tea sets and even a specially modified rail carriage. The story of Sisi may be remembered by those loyal followers who watched the 3 part trilogy of her life as portrayed in movies made in 1956. The silver collection showed a level of opulence that words could never aptly portray except to say that one had to surmise that the collection on show in the palace museum would be worth Billions of Euro at the least.
For those history buffs among you, it was the son of the Emperor – Franz Ferdinand II – that was assassinated in 1914 that gave rise to the start of the First World War.
We then made our way back to Betsy for an afternoon’s siesta and got ourselves up and ready for a Sushi Dinner with Michael. For those of you who don’t know Michael, he and I went to high school together – yes we did have schools back then as well. Michael has been my good and close friend for more than 30 years and seeing him again tonight in his Hugo Boss suit, I can see now the error of my ways in choosing to become a bean counter and not a computer wiz like Michael. We enjoyed a super dinner of Sushi – at long last – and a lot of laughs and jokes around the dinner table. Michael has taken time off work to join us in Vienna tomorrow and we will all be taking the sights in together and meeting up with his Wife Verena and daughter Caroline tomorrow evening.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Day Twenty Two
DAY TWENTY-TWO
After getting to bed a bit late last night after my afternoon Turkish Coffee, this morning’s 6am wake-up was a bit rough – but nothing a good cup of coffee couldn’t sort out. Without a shower or a cooked breakfast we were on the road by 7am with a 468km drive ahead of us from Krakow Poland through Moravia in the Check Republic to Vienna in Austria.
At this point I must mention that Kurt and I have really had God’s providence with the weather thus far on the trip. Every single day we’ve gone exploring the sun has come out and the day has been clear for photographs – no small fact given the nature of winter weather in Europe. The inverse of this however has been that our travelling days have invariably had bad weather and today was no exception. No sooner had we left Krakow we drove into near gale force winds and a snow storm. As we headed south the snow abated but the winds buffeted Betsy the whole way to Vienna. Given that the drive took six hours this was a really hard stretch for Kurt but he managed to wrestle our three tone wind catcher into the yard at A&O Hostel by early afternoon. If you’re wondering why we’re camped in the front yard of a youth hostel, it’s because all of Vienna’s seven camping grounds are closed for winter.. another one of those mysteries. We’ve had to rent a two bed ‘dorm’ since there are no public ablutions, but given the soft foam mattresses on offer we’ve chosen to continue sleeping in Betsy during our planned three night stay in the capital.
What did I think of the Check Republic? Well it’s not really fair to comment given we only spent a few hours driving through but from the surface it looks very similar to Poland, just not quite as prosperous. The old Soviet buildings are all mostly repainted with bright colours, advertising is everywhere, new cars abound and new houses and factories are common. The road system is a bit disappointing after the new highways we’ve driven on in Slovenia through Poland, with some potholes and sections of concrete highway with really bad corrugations. I did enjoy driving through the abandoned border post – having read Brother Andrews ‘God’s smuggler’ it’s given me a great appreciation of the freedoms now available to Eastern Europeans after the fall of the iron curtain.
Back in Austria we tended to Betsy’s water needs, our long overdue washing and also the internet. We decided to look for sushi but found the nearest restaurant overcrowded and went for Schnitzel instead. For what ever reason non smoking laws don’t seem to have reached Europe, and it was really unpleasant having to eat in a crowd of smokers. The schnitzel at least was very good.
Editors Note: I have just returned from my shower in room 108 of the hostel. It must seem kindof strange to the staff at the hostel since we shower at the hostel and keep going back to the camper. We now at least have our own changing room with 15 German TV Channels and CNN.
After getting to bed a bit late last night after my afternoon Turkish Coffee, this morning’s 6am wake-up was a bit rough – but nothing a good cup of coffee couldn’t sort out. Without a shower or a cooked breakfast we were on the road by 7am with a 468km drive ahead of us from Krakow Poland through Moravia in the Check Republic to Vienna in Austria.
At this point I must mention that Kurt and I have really had God’s providence with the weather thus far on the trip. Every single day we’ve gone exploring the sun has come out and the day has been clear for photographs – no small fact given the nature of winter weather in Europe. The inverse of this however has been that our travelling days have invariably had bad weather and today was no exception. No sooner had we left Krakow we drove into near gale force winds and a snow storm. As we headed south the snow abated but the winds buffeted Betsy the whole way to Vienna. Given that the drive took six hours this was a really hard stretch for Kurt but he managed to wrestle our three tone wind catcher into the yard at A&O Hostel by early afternoon. If you’re wondering why we’re camped in the front yard of a youth hostel, it’s because all of Vienna’s seven camping grounds are closed for winter.. another one of those mysteries. We’ve had to rent a two bed ‘dorm’ since there are no public ablutions, but given the soft foam mattresses on offer we’ve chosen to continue sleeping in Betsy during our planned three night stay in the capital.
What did I think of the Check Republic? Well it’s not really fair to comment given we only spent a few hours driving through but from the surface it looks very similar to Poland, just not quite as prosperous. The old Soviet buildings are all mostly repainted with bright colours, advertising is everywhere, new cars abound and new houses and factories are common. The road system is a bit disappointing after the new highways we’ve driven on in Slovenia through Poland, with some potholes and sections of concrete highway with really bad corrugations. I did enjoy driving through the abandoned border post – having read Brother Andrews ‘God’s smuggler’ it’s given me a great appreciation of the freedoms now available to Eastern Europeans after the fall of the iron curtain.
Back in Austria we tended to Betsy’s water needs, our long overdue washing and also the internet. We decided to look for sushi but found the nearest restaurant overcrowded and went for Schnitzel instead. For what ever reason non smoking laws don’t seem to have reached Europe, and it was really unpleasant having to eat in a crowd of smokers. The schnitzel at least was very good.
Editors Note: I have just returned from my shower in room 108 of the hostel. It must seem kindof strange to the staff at the hostel since we shower at the hostel and keep going back to the camper. We now at least have our own changing room with 15 German TV Channels and CNN.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Day Twenty One
DAY TWENTY-ONE
Well the day of our visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau (AB) arrived at last. Last night Glenn and I spent some time reflecting on the day ahead and what we would feel in going to the Nazi war camp. We woke early at around 6.15am and after a quick breakfast we left for AB located around 67 Kms from our campsite in Krakow. It has to have been the quietest Glenn and I have ever been on a drive in Europe thus far. I somehow knew that the visit to the camp would be a life changing experience and having got back to our campsite and typing up today’s blog, Glenn and I both agree that it’s not possible to go to AB and not be changed in some way.
The drive to AB was largely through small villages and forested areas and one truly got the impression that the Nazis had planned to locate this site far away from prying eyes. The oppressive sense that you felt once we drew near to the camp was almost tangible and we were shocked to see houses located right across the street from Auschwitz I. The main museum is located at Auschwitz I which was built first and the second camp is located around 3kms away and called Auschwitz-Birkenau II. The tour started with a 20 minute movie largely comprising live footage filmed by the Russian forces that liberated the camp at Auschwitz. The scenes shown in the movie were no doubt meant to prepare us for a tour around the real camp. I am sure that most people who had read about or watched History channel on Auschwitz, would have seen some of the images in the film footage.
It was walking down the same road through the gate entitled “Arbeit Macht Frei” – or “work will set you free” that really brought the true cruelty of this place to mind. We were part of a tour of 14 English speaking people and were accompanied by a guide throughout the 4 hour visit to AB. The guide was quick to point out that with the hard labor experienced by the prisoners at AB – of which 90% were Jewish, it was most likely that people would die within 3-4 months and thereby gain their freedom from this place of hell. We were taken on a detailed tour around Auschwitz and shown articles of personal effects, torture chambers and other areas too indescribable to mention on the blog. The final stop at the tour of Auschwitz was the crematorium and this really brought the killing that took place at AB to life. I have to say that I was largely speechless throughout the entire tour with the exception of the occasional – Oh no, or that’s unbelievable.
A little historical background that Glenn and I learnt for the first time today was that the Nazi’s murdered around 6 million Jews during the duration of the Second World War. The total Jewish population of Europe at the start of WWII was 11 Million and Hitler therefore murdered almost ½ the Jews in Europe. The polish Jews however were the worst affected. Poland had around 3.5 million Jews at the start of WWII and approximately 3 million of them were murdered by Hitler. The total number of Jews that live in Poland today is around 12 500. He succeeded in totally annihilating the Jewish population in Poland which by the end of the war meant that ½ the Jews that were murdered were Polish. The camp at Auschwitz accounted for around 1 million deaths and the camp at the larger Auschwitz-Birkenau accounted for around 1.5 million deaths. The camp at AB II accounted for the extermination and disposal of 437 000 Hungarian Jews in 56 days near the end of WWII. The most horrific discovery was that 20% of the Jewish people murdered were children under the age of 16 years of age.
We left the first camp by coach for AB II. This camp was largely destroyed by the Nazis to hide the evidence of their evil work at the camp but one could see the size and extent of the crimes committed by the Nazis when one walked around the camp. The camp itself is the size of 16 football pitches. It housed 150 000 prisoners in late 1944 and the Nazis murdered and disposed of 8 000 people per day at this camp. We were taken to one of the wooden barns in which up to 1 000 people were housed and shown their living conditions as well as ablution and washing facilities. I cannot go into details in the blog but needless to say, one can only imagine the horror these poor souls had to go through during their incarceration at AB and ABII. We spent some time walking around the camp outside and although it was around -8 degrees, one almost felt it was just the thing to do in remembering these people and the incredible demonstration of the human spirit shown during the 5 years of WWII.
I cannot recall ever having been so moved by an experience in my life and I have to say that although it was a somber experience to say the least, it was without a doubt the most important time we have had thus far in Europe.
On a lighter note, we had lunch at a restaurant near Auschwitz and Glenn had some kind of beef steak with mash potatoes and read cabbage whilst I enjoyed a Check steak with potatoes and cabbage. Glenn decided that instead of his usual cappuccino, he would have a Turkish coffee. I sincerely hope he will be able to sleep tonight since we leave at 7.00am for a long drive through the Czech Republic onto Vienna for 3 nights.
Well the day of our visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau (AB) arrived at last. Last night Glenn and I spent some time reflecting on the day ahead and what we would feel in going to the Nazi war camp. We woke early at around 6.15am and after a quick breakfast we left for AB located around 67 Kms from our campsite in Krakow. It has to have been the quietest Glenn and I have ever been on a drive in Europe thus far. I somehow knew that the visit to the camp would be a life changing experience and having got back to our campsite and typing up today’s blog, Glenn and I both agree that it’s not possible to go to AB and not be changed in some way.
The drive to AB was largely through small villages and forested areas and one truly got the impression that the Nazis had planned to locate this site far away from prying eyes. The oppressive sense that you felt once we drew near to the camp was almost tangible and we were shocked to see houses located right across the street from Auschwitz I. The main museum is located at Auschwitz I which was built first and the second camp is located around 3kms away and called Auschwitz-Birkenau II. The tour started with a 20 minute movie largely comprising live footage filmed by the Russian forces that liberated the camp at Auschwitz. The scenes shown in the movie were no doubt meant to prepare us for a tour around the real camp. I am sure that most people who had read about or watched History channel on Auschwitz, would have seen some of the images in the film footage.
It was walking down the same road through the gate entitled “Arbeit Macht Frei” – or “work will set you free” that really brought the true cruelty of this place to mind. We were part of a tour of 14 English speaking people and were accompanied by a guide throughout the 4 hour visit to AB. The guide was quick to point out that with the hard labor experienced by the prisoners at AB – of which 90% were Jewish, it was most likely that people would die within 3-4 months and thereby gain their freedom from this place of hell. We were taken on a detailed tour around Auschwitz and shown articles of personal effects, torture chambers and other areas too indescribable to mention on the blog. The final stop at the tour of Auschwitz was the crematorium and this really brought the killing that took place at AB to life. I have to say that I was largely speechless throughout the entire tour with the exception of the occasional – Oh no, or that’s unbelievable.
A little historical background that Glenn and I learnt for the first time today was that the Nazi’s murdered around 6 million Jews during the duration of the Second World War. The total Jewish population of Europe at the start of WWII was 11 Million and Hitler therefore murdered almost ½ the Jews in Europe. The polish Jews however were the worst affected. Poland had around 3.5 million Jews at the start of WWII and approximately 3 million of them were murdered by Hitler. The total number of Jews that live in Poland today is around 12 500. He succeeded in totally annihilating the Jewish population in Poland which by the end of the war meant that ½ the Jews that were murdered were Polish. The camp at Auschwitz accounted for around 1 million deaths and the camp at the larger Auschwitz-Birkenau accounted for around 1.5 million deaths. The camp at AB II accounted for the extermination and disposal of 437 000 Hungarian Jews in 56 days near the end of WWII. The most horrific discovery was that 20% of the Jewish people murdered were children under the age of 16 years of age.
We left the first camp by coach for AB II. This camp was largely destroyed by the Nazis to hide the evidence of their evil work at the camp but one could see the size and extent of the crimes committed by the Nazis when one walked around the camp. The camp itself is the size of 16 football pitches. It housed 150 000 prisoners in late 1944 and the Nazis murdered and disposed of 8 000 people per day at this camp. We were taken to one of the wooden barns in which up to 1 000 people were housed and shown their living conditions as well as ablution and washing facilities. I cannot go into details in the blog but needless to say, one can only imagine the horror these poor souls had to go through during their incarceration at AB and ABII. We spent some time walking around the camp outside and although it was around -8 degrees, one almost felt it was just the thing to do in remembering these people and the incredible demonstration of the human spirit shown during the 5 years of WWII.
I cannot recall ever having been so moved by an experience in my life and I have to say that although it was a somber experience to say the least, it was without a doubt the most important time we have had thus far in Europe.
On a lighter note, we had lunch at a restaurant near Auschwitz and Glenn had some kind of beef steak with mash potatoes and read cabbage whilst I enjoyed a Check steak with potatoes and cabbage. Glenn decided that instead of his usual cappuccino, he would have a Turkish coffee. I sincerely hope he will be able to sleep tonight since we leave at 7.00am for a long drive through the Czech Republic onto Vienna for 3 nights.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Day Twenty
DAY TWENTY
It was another relaxed seven am start to the day with a great cooked breakfast. Outside temperatures started out at -9.8 degrees but fortunately warmed up to around 1 degree over the course of the day. We planned to take in the UNESCO protected Salt Mine outside of Krakow, a major tourist site 14km from our camp.
Naturally occurring salt deposits were discovered in the area 700 years ago and became a major export for Poland, making up a third of their economy during the Medieval period. Mining at the site continued up to 1996 by which time the shafts ran 9 levels deep to 350m below ground level with over 2000 chambers having been carved out.
Apparently profits from the mine were responsible for funding both Wawel castle and the university which is the third oldest in Europe. Interestingly Copernicus the famous astronomer was a Pole and an alumni of the university.
The mine is now a very slick tourist operation seeing a million tourists a year pass through its gates. We took the first English tour at 10am with a small group including an Australian Father and daughter and a Canadian couple whom we got to know a bit on the three hour tour.
The tour starts with a decent to 68m after walking down 380 steps, where the tunnels for the 1st level begin. Obviously the place has been done up really well with wooden staircases and reinforcing. As we walked along chambers of various sizes would open up with human mannequins reconstructing aspects of mining life and equipment. There were some ingenious systems of pulleys and ropes operated by men or by horses brought down as foals which could raise and lower large loads on counterbalances. Throughout men had carved little chapels out of the rock salt with the one exception being a massive chamber which three men spend 63 years carving into a church. It includes incredibly artistic rock salt carvings of the life of Christ and statues of various saints. Wooden chandeliers decorated with salt crystals finish the room off and the effect is really breathtaking. Apparently church services are still held there on Sundays and it’s obviously still used for weddings.
The tour ends at the only restaurant in the world 125m underground. Given that we were deep in conversation with our English speaking companions we missed our opportunity for an underground cappuccino.
Driving back to camp we passed the now rebuilt Jewish Ghetto area of Kazimierz which the Germans totally destroyed after the fierce resistance put up there by the Jews towards the end of the war. 65000 Jews were taken to Auschwitz from here and murdered during Nazi rule. We are heading out tomorrow to see the remains of the death camp.
Editors Note – Glenn forgot to mention the unbelievable Bacon Ravioli with Mince, Tomatoes and Onions that I cooked for a sumptuous lunch – washed down with a Becks Beer. He says there is no longer any need to mention the food since I always cook such good food but I say that since I love cooking so much and therefore feel all you faithful followers need to realize how much fun I am having in Betsy’s kitchen…..
It was another relaxed seven am start to the day with a great cooked breakfast. Outside temperatures started out at -9.8 degrees but fortunately warmed up to around 1 degree over the course of the day. We planned to take in the UNESCO protected Salt Mine outside of Krakow, a major tourist site 14km from our camp.
Naturally occurring salt deposits were discovered in the area 700 years ago and became a major export for Poland, making up a third of their economy during the Medieval period. Mining at the site continued up to 1996 by which time the shafts ran 9 levels deep to 350m below ground level with over 2000 chambers having been carved out.
Apparently profits from the mine were responsible for funding both Wawel castle and the university which is the third oldest in Europe. Interestingly Copernicus the famous astronomer was a Pole and an alumni of the university.
The mine is now a very slick tourist operation seeing a million tourists a year pass through its gates. We took the first English tour at 10am with a small group including an Australian Father and daughter and a Canadian couple whom we got to know a bit on the three hour tour.
The tour starts with a decent to 68m after walking down 380 steps, where the tunnels for the 1st level begin. Obviously the place has been done up really well with wooden staircases and reinforcing. As we walked along chambers of various sizes would open up with human mannequins reconstructing aspects of mining life and equipment. There were some ingenious systems of pulleys and ropes operated by men or by horses brought down as foals which could raise and lower large loads on counterbalances. Throughout men had carved little chapels out of the rock salt with the one exception being a massive chamber which three men spend 63 years carving into a church. It includes incredibly artistic rock salt carvings of the life of Christ and statues of various saints. Wooden chandeliers decorated with salt crystals finish the room off and the effect is really breathtaking. Apparently church services are still held there on Sundays and it’s obviously still used for weddings.
The tour ends at the only restaurant in the world 125m underground. Given that we were deep in conversation with our English speaking companions we missed our opportunity for an underground cappuccino.
Driving back to camp we passed the now rebuilt Jewish Ghetto area of Kazimierz which the Germans totally destroyed after the fierce resistance put up there by the Jews towards the end of the war. 65000 Jews were taken to Auschwitz from here and murdered during Nazi rule. We are heading out tomorrow to see the remains of the death camp.
Editors Note – Glenn forgot to mention the unbelievable Bacon Ravioli with Mince, Tomatoes and Onions that I cooked for a sumptuous lunch – washed down with a Becks Beer. He says there is no longer any need to mention the food since I always cook such good food but I say that since I love cooking so much and therefore feel all you faithful followers need to realize how much fun I am having in Betsy’s kitchen…..
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Day Nineteen
DAY NINETEEN
We stayed up late last night and watched the movie – The Rock – after debating at length our intended route from Krakow down south. We woke late – for me that is – at 7.20am and after breakfast in Betsy we proceeded to drive onto Poland and our camp for the night in Krakow. Thankfully it stopped snowing yesterday evening and so the driving conditions were a marked improvement from yesterday’s hazardous drive through Slovakia. We left at around 9.00am and drove through a beautiful setting again in the hills of the Tartra mountain range. Once we had crossed the now defunct border crossing into Poland, we were surprised yet again by the scenery that awaited us. Poland is a prosperous country with excellent roads and houses that leave little reminder of the communist regime that once ruled this beautiful country.
The houses are completely different in style and construction from anything we have encountered in Europe thus far. The vast majority of the homes are three or four stories high with sharply pitched A Frame roof lines. The homes are brightly painted and there is a great deal of construction going on around Poland in every little town that we drove through on the way to Krakow. The country is a pleasure to travel in and we thoroughly enjoyed our drive today. The one thing about the poles is that they love their Speed cameras and the speeds change so rapidly that you have to keep your eye firmly fixed on the speed limits as you drive through towns. We arrived at the campsite in Krakow at around 1.30pm and after a quick check in and look around, we decided to drive into Krakow for a scout trip to find out where we can park Betsy in the morning since we intend on going to visit the extensive Castle complex in the city centre in the morning.
The traffic in the city centre is hectic with Buses, Cars and Trams sharing the narrow streets of Krakow. Glenn came up with a brilliant idea in that since it is Sunday, it would be a good idea to visit the Castle this afternoon since the roads are most likely to be far more hectic on a Monday morning. We found a parking for Betsy right on the outskirts of the Castle walls and proceeded to explore the ancient fortifications’ of this once medieval city dating back to around 900AD. The City Square/Market is the largest in Europe and must be a hive of activity during the summer months and was surprisingly busy even for a weekend in winter. The castle and other 17th and 18th century buildings are spectacular in size and design and although it was extremely cold outside, we enjoyed wandering around the Castle grounds and the numerous churches that adorn the squares. We stopped at a restaurant for a Large Cappuccino and once again were impressed by the friendliness of the polish people that we encountered. Poland is a cheap country to visit with food and restaurants costing around the same as back in South Africa. This is a pleasant change from the costs we have endured through Western Europe.
We stopped in at KFC for a quick bite to eat before heading back to the campsite for the night.
We stayed up late last night and watched the movie – The Rock – after debating at length our intended route from Krakow down south. We woke late – for me that is – at 7.20am and after breakfast in Betsy we proceeded to drive onto Poland and our camp for the night in Krakow. Thankfully it stopped snowing yesterday evening and so the driving conditions were a marked improvement from yesterday’s hazardous drive through Slovakia. We left at around 9.00am and drove through a beautiful setting again in the hills of the Tartra mountain range. Once we had crossed the now defunct border crossing into Poland, we were surprised yet again by the scenery that awaited us. Poland is a prosperous country with excellent roads and houses that leave little reminder of the communist regime that once ruled this beautiful country.
The houses are completely different in style and construction from anything we have encountered in Europe thus far. The vast majority of the homes are three or four stories high with sharply pitched A Frame roof lines. The homes are brightly painted and there is a great deal of construction going on around Poland in every little town that we drove through on the way to Krakow. The country is a pleasure to travel in and we thoroughly enjoyed our drive today. The one thing about the poles is that they love their Speed cameras and the speeds change so rapidly that you have to keep your eye firmly fixed on the speed limits as you drive through towns. We arrived at the campsite in Krakow at around 1.30pm and after a quick check in and look around, we decided to drive into Krakow for a scout trip to find out where we can park Betsy in the morning since we intend on going to visit the extensive Castle complex in the city centre in the morning.
The traffic in the city centre is hectic with Buses, Cars and Trams sharing the narrow streets of Krakow. Glenn came up with a brilliant idea in that since it is Sunday, it would be a good idea to visit the Castle this afternoon since the roads are most likely to be far more hectic on a Monday morning. We found a parking for Betsy right on the outskirts of the Castle walls and proceeded to explore the ancient fortifications’ of this once medieval city dating back to around 900AD. The City Square/Market is the largest in Europe and must be a hive of activity during the summer months and was surprisingly busy even for a weekend in winter. The castle and other 17th and 18th century buildings are spectacular in size and design and although it was extremely cold outside, we enjoyed wandering around the Castle grounds and the numerous churches that adorn the squares. We stopped at a restaurant for a Large Cappuccino and once again were impressed by the friendliness of the polish people that we encountered. Poland is a cheap country to visit with food and restaurants costing around the same as back in South Africa. This is a pleasant change from the costs we have endured through Western Europe.
We stopped in at KFC for a quick bite to eat before heading back to the campsite for the night.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Day Eighteen
DAY EIGHTEEN
People in Hungary get up rather late in winter it seems, something that Kurt finds disagreeable but I must say suits me just fine. You might wonder why Hungarian sleeping habits would be an issue to us, but we were meant to get breakfast from the lodge which is difficult when the staff don’t seem to appear before 9am. And given we had to drive across the breadth of Slovakia today that just didn’t seem to be cricket. So after quick showers (I used the ablution across the perilous ‘skating rink of death’ and again given the lack of hot water Kurt used the onboard option) we departed the camp by 9am.
Unfortunately the weather was atrocious from the start – a snow storm had moved in overnight and stuck around right through the drive into northern Slovakia. It blanketed the roads with several inches of powder, causing icing and obscuring our view through the drivers window. We were forced to make the trip averaging 50km per hour, stopping every thirty minutes to free our windscreen wipers from ice build-up. The weather caused havoc on the roads with several trucks stuck halfway up every steep section we came to. We had one particularly dicey moment when we almost lost forward momentum and traction on a steep hill due to other traffic slowing things down. We both sighed a breath of relief when our three tone Betsy cleared the top of the ridge.
Neither Kurt nor I had any idea what to expect of Slovakia having been so wrong in our previous preconceptions of Hungary and Slovenia. Again we passed an empty border post and drove on through open agricultural land and small villages. We were both struck by the run down look of the out lying areas, most of the buildings being unrenovated soviet era constructions. As we neared our first city the investment into infrastructure and buildings became more obvious. Newer more expensive vehicles abound and interesting new malls and houses mingle with brightly painted communist era housing. Like Hungary and Slovenia change is evident everywhere. I can only assume that the EU offers massive loans to its new member countries as an incentive for joining. We travelled briefly on a newly constructed highway before turning off towards the Tatra mountains. Our route took us over the scenic small Tatra’s where to our surprise an extensive, plush looking ski resort has been built at the top of the pass. It seems to cater to Austrians given the proximity to Vienna and the use of the German language throughout. Making our way down into the valley between the small and large Tatra’s we eventually crawled into our camp site situated next to a frozen lake and in sight of the Tatra’s towering white peaks.
Our journey today only covered a relatively short distance of 270km, but given the conditions we covered it in 5.5hrs. We’re glad to report however that the Slovakians like (most) of the other Eastern Europeans we’ve met so far are very friendly and the resort is top class. We had an excellent late lunch in the restaurant here and are aiming to enjoy a relaxing evening after the days tough drive. PS they had a squirrel in a cage at the office as well as two baby rabbits which could be petted. Interesting.
People in Hungary get up rather late in winter it seems, something that Kurt finds disagreeable but I must say suits me just fine. You might wonder why Hungarian sleeping habits would be an issue to us, but we were meant to get breakfast from the lodge which is difficult when the staff don’t seem to appear before 9am. And given we had to drive across the breadth of Slovakia today that just didn’t seem to be cricket. So after quick showers (I used the ablution across the perilous ‘skating rink of death’ and again given the lack of hot water Kurt used the onboard option) we departed the camp by 9am.
Unfortunately the weather was atrocious from the start – a snow storm had moved in overnight and stuck around right through the drive into northern Slovakia. It blanketed the roads with several inches of powder, causing icing and obscuring our view through the drivers window. We were forced to make the trip averaging 50km per hour, stopping every thirty minutes to free our windscreen wipers from ice build-up. The weather caused havoc on the roads with several trucks stuck halfway up every steep section we came to. We had one particularly dicey moment when we almost lost forward momentum and traction on a steep hill due to other traffic slowing things down. We both sighed a breath of relief when our three tone Betsy cleared the top of the ridge.
Neither Kurt nor I had any idea what to expect of Slovakia having been so wrong in our previous preconceptions of Hungary and Slovenia. Again we passed an empty border post and drove on through open agricultural land and small villages. We were both struck by the run down look of the out lying areas, most of the buildings being unrenovated soviet era constructions. As we neared our first city the investment into infrastructure and buildings became more obvious. Newer more expensive vehicles abound and interesting new malls and houses mingle with brightly painted communist era housing. Like Hungary and Slovenia change is evident everywhere. I can only assume that the EU offers massive loans to its new member countries as an incentive for joining. We travelled briefly on a newly constructed highway before turning off towards the Tatra mountains. Our route took us over the scenic small Tatra’s where to our surprise an extensive, plush looking ski resort has been built at the top of the pass. It seems to cater to Austrians given the proximity to Vienna and the use of the German language throughout. Making our way down into the valley between the small and large Tatra’s we eventually crawled into our camp site situated next to a frozen lake and in sight of the Tatra’s towering white peaks.
Our journey today only covered a relatively short distance of 270km, but given the conditions we covered it in 5.5hrs. We’re glad to report however that the Slovakians like (most) of the other Eastern Europeans we’ve met so far are very friendly and the resort is top class. We had an excellent late lunch in the restaurant here and are aiming to enjoy a relaxing evening after the days tough drive. PS they had a squirrel in a cage at the office as well as two baby rabbits which could be petted. Interesting.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Day Seventeen
DAY SEVENTEEN
Captains Log – Supplemental to Day Sixteen – We came back to the camper to enjoy part two of the Bourne Trilogy. During the wee hours of the morning, the captain – with the weaker bladder needed to use the WC, and being the good camper – sometimes, he decided to make the trek back to the building where the toilet is located to use the facilities, only to discover that it was locked. He returned unsuccessfully back to “Betsy” and went back to bed after having warmed up. Later this morning, we woke at around 7.30am and Glenn immediately got up and after grabbing his shower gear, decided to make the precarious ice skate across the skating rink in his slippers to go for a shower. He too like the skipper returned begrudgingly to Betsy since the door to the ice rink was still locked. Glenn and I pondered this for some time as to how it was possible that people so quick to serve and take care of our every need could have left us without facilities. We have come to the conclusion that this new “Cultural” experience has to be without doubt the strangest one we have encountered yet. The Hungarians it would seem don’t consider WC and Douche (shower) important facilities at all. Well its now 8.15am and I watched with anticipation as Glenn skated to the showers in his slippers and am waiting for his triumphant return from the showers….
Well alas Glenn returned informing me that he had around 2 minutes of warm water. Now those of you who know Glenn know he likes to spend at least 15 minutes standing under the warmth of the water and so I decided to have a splash in the Shower of Betsy. We went into the “lodge” to enjoy a hearty breakfast consisting of Bread, Cheese, Ham, Pancakes and a large mug of sweet lemon tea. We left the campsite after some further directions from our host and proceeded to catch our first Bus of the trip in Europe. The language in Hungary is totally different from that which we are used to and as a result navigating at first became quite a challenge. By the end of the day, Glenn and I unanimously agreed that we had become true professionals of the Budapest Bus and Tram network and actually enjoyed changing buses and trams all day.
Our first stop in Budapest was the Grand Market. The market is one of the largest I have ever seen and contains shops selling goods to locals and tourists alike. The shops offer meat, vegetables, breads and pastries as well as novelty gifts, souvenirs’ etc. The layout of the centre is in a beautifully renovated warehouse that has lots of natural lighting and is spotlessly clean. It was great to wander around the stores taking in the smells and sounds of the location. The food here in Hungary appeared to cost about the same as back home in South Africa and it is a treat to be able to order food and know that you are not paying an arm and a leg for goods. We bought some Gluwein and some locally made Strudel for the road and after having bought some gifts for you wonderful followers back home, we proceeded onto the Buda Castle.
The Castle complex is simply huge and contains numerous Museums and buildings for viewing and it was a pleasure to be able to wander around the Castle grounds without having to pay and also being able to take in the most wonderful viewing sites of Budapest. The Sun came out for a portion of the morning and made for the best possible photo opportunities. We then decided to take a tour of the Labyrinth underneath the Buda Castle. The labyrinth stretches for a total of 1.4 kms and is a maze of passages and tunnels under the Castle. It was great to experience such an awesome spectacle and we subsequently found out that its one of the 7 Underground natural wonders of UNESCO. The tunnels were created by the warm thermal vents that prevail all around Budapest.
We then decided it was time for our daily cappuccino and dropped in at a quaint little restaurant located in the Castle Grounds. We had traditional Goulash soup and bread for lunch/dinner and thereafter made our way back by bus to the campsite. The temperature outside has started to fall and is currently -1 degrees and we are planning to go into the “lodge” to do the Blog update and some face-booking.
Captains Log – Supplemental to Day Sixteen – We came back to the camper to enjoy part two of the Bourne Trilogy. During the wee hours of the morning, the captain – with the weaker bladder needed to use the WC, and being the good camper – sometimes, he decided to make the trek back to the building where the toilet is located to use the facilities, only to discover that it was locked. He returned unsuccessfully back to “Betsy” and went back to bed after having warmed up. Later this morning, we woke at around 7.30am and Glenn immediately got up and after grabbing his shower gear, decided to make the precarious ice skate across the skating rink in his slippers to go for a shower. He too like the skipper returned begrudgingly to Betsy since the door to the ice rink was still locked. Glenn and I pondered this for some time as to how it was possible that people so quick to serve and take care of our every need could have left us without facilities. We have come to the conclusion that this new “Cultural” experience has to be without doubt the strangest one we have encountered yet. The Hungarians it would seem don’t consider WC and Douche (shower) important facilities at all. Well its now 8.15am and I watched with anticipation as Glenn skated to the showers in his slippers and am waiting for his triumphant return from the showers….
Well alas Glenn returned informing me that he had around 2 minutes of warm water. Now those of you who know Glenn know he likes to spend at least 15 minutes standing under the warmth of the water and so I decided to have a splash in the Shower of Betsy. We went into the “lodge” to enjoy a hearty breakfast consisting of Bread, Cheese, Ham, Pancakes and a large mug of sweet lemon tea. We left the campsite after some further directions from our host and proceeded to catch our first Bus of the trip in Europe. The language in Hungary is totally different from that which we are used to and as a result navigating at first became quite a challenge. By the end of the day, Glenn and I unanimously agreed that we had become true professionals of the Budapest Bus and Tram network and actually enjoyed changing buses and trams all day.
Our first stop in Budapest was the Grand Market. The market is one of the largest I have ever seen and contains shops selling goods to locals and tourists alike. The shops offer meat, vegetables, breads and pastries as well as novelty gifts, souvenirs’ etc. The layout of the centre is in a beautifully renovated warehouse that has lots of natural lighting and is spotlessly clean. It was great to wander around the stores taking in the smells and sounds of the location. The food here in Hungary appeared to cost about the same as back home in South Africa and it is a treat to be able to order food and know that you are not paying an arm and a leg for goods. We bought some Gluwein and some locally made Strudel for the road and after having bought some gifts for you wonderful followers back home, we proceeded onto the Buda Castle.
The Castle complex is simply huge and contains numerous Museums and buildings for viewing and it was a pleasure to be able to wander around the Castle grounds without having to pay and also being able to take in the most wonderful viewing sites of Budapest. The Sun came out for a portion of the morning and made for the best possible photo opportunities. We then decided to take a tour of the Labyrinth underneath the Buda Castle. The labyrinth stretches for a total of 1.4 kms and is a maze of passages and tunnels under the Castle. It was great to experience such an awesome spectacle and we subsequently found out that its one of the 7 Underground natural wonders of UNESCO. The tunnels were created by the warm thermal vents that prevail all around Budapest.
We then decided it was time for our daily cappuccino and dropped in at a quaint little restaurant located in the Castle Grounds. We had traditional Goulash soup and bread for lunch/dinner and thereafter made our way back by bus to the campsite. The temperature outside has started to fall and is currently -1 degrees and we are planning to go into the “lodge” to do the Blog update and some face-booking.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Day Sixteen
DAY SIXTEEN
The day started out on a fairly relaxed note with us up and about after 7am. Kurt cooked up a tasty breakfast and after all our morning routines were taken care of we were out on the road by 9am. Our campsite was 15 minutes from the Hungarian border so we only had a short time to contemplate whether we’d have to go through our first border post or not. Kurt had to go through border controls in 2002 during his last trip to the country so it was with some surprise that we found the border open. Not only that but the new highway system in Slovenia stretched welcomingly on towards Budapest 290 km to the north. Most of the road stretches had been built in 2005/2006 – a great improvement on the roads Kurt previously travelled on. Like most of the other countries we had to buy a vignette, a tax for using their road system. To do this we stopped of at a hotel and enjoyed a cappuccino at the same time.
The weather was pretty foul the whole day with snow falling intermittently throughout. The new highway although in excellent condition had only two out of three lanes working due to serious icing of the far lane. This was unusual given that all the other northern countries permanently keep their highways clear of ice. Most of our trip passed snow covered agricultural land with the odd town and city. The signs of a recent communist past are obvious in the endlessly similar houses one sees on the way. Unlike Slovenia all are the same colour and mostly the same design. Eighties cars also aren’t that uncommon on the roads, although there are plenty of newer models around too.
We had some trouble finding an open campsite around Budapest, having to travel to three closed camps before finally finding this one. While this took about two hours it did give us an opportunity to get a good look at the city. Ultra modern construction competes everywhere with bland dilapidated communist era buildings. While the government is clearly trying hard to modernize the country for entry to the EU, the nation’s size is clearly a huge drawback to progress.
The camp site we eventually found is nestled into a small valley in the hills above Budapest, once having been a small tram station in the years passed. It turns out to be the most expensive camp site yet, the only real benefit being the ‘free’ internet they provide here. One curiosity is that the shower building is located on the other side of a small ice skating rink – apart from wading through three feet of snow we’ll have to risk the crossing if we’re going to get a wash. Now I understand that Europeans generally only bath once a week in winter, but to make your guests walk across an ice rink? Crazy..
We’ve just enjoyed a Hungarian soup and a Beef goulash for dinner which were VERY filling. A movie is to follow and tomorrow we’re planning to take in the castle and probably a museum. Interestingly the ‘heroes park’ has now been renamed ‘Memento park – a reminder of the previous communist dictatorship’. No fond memories here. Apparently in 1953 there was an attempted rebellion against the Soviets but it was ruthlessly put down.
The day started out on a fairly relaxed note with us up and about after 7am. Kurt cooked up a tasty breakfast and after all our morning routines were taken care of we were out on the road by 9am. Our campsite was 15 minutes from the Hungarian border so we only had a short time to contemplate whether we’d have to go through our first border post or not. Kurt had to go through border controls in 2002 during his last trip to the country so it was with some surprise that we found the border open. Not only that but the new highway system in Slovenia stretched welcomingly on towards Budapest 290 km to the north. Most of the road stretches had been built in 2005/2006 – a great improvement on the roads Kurt previously travelled on. Like most of the other countries we had to buy a vignette, a tax for using their road system. To do this we stopped of at a hotel and enjoyed a cappuccino at the same time.
The weather was pretty foul the whole day with snow falling intermittently throughout. The new highway although in excellent condition had only two out of three lanes working due to serious icing of the far lane. This was unusual given that all the other northern countries permanently keep their highways clear of ice. Most of our trip passed snow covered agricultural land with the odd town and city. The signs of a recent communist past are obvious in the endlessly similar houses one sees on the way. Unlike Slovenia all are the same colour and mostly the same design. Eighties cars also aren’t that uncommon on the roads, although there are plenty of newer models around too.
We had some trouble finding an open campsite around Budapest, having to travel to three closed camps before finally finding this one. While this took about two hours it did give us an opportunity to get a good look at the city. Ultra modern construction competes everywhere with bland dilapidated communist era buildings. While the government is clearly trying hard to modernize the country for entry to the EU, the nation’s size is clearly a huge drawback to progress.
The camp site we eventually found is nestled into a small valley in the hills above Budapest, once having been a small tram station in the years passed. It turns out to be the most expensive camp site yet, the only real benefit being the ‘free’ internet they provide here. One curiosity is that the shower building is located on the other side of a small ice skating rink – apart from wading through three feet of snow we’ll have to risk the crossing if we’re going to get a wash. Now I understand that Europeans generally only bath once a week in winter, but to make your guests walk across an ice rink? Crazy..
We’ve just enjoyed a Hungarian soup and a Beef goulash for dinner which were VERY filling. A movie is to follow and tomorrow we’re planning to take in the castle and probably a museum. Interestingly the ‘heroes park’ has now been renamed ‘Memento park – a reminder of the previous communist dictatorship’. No fond memories here. Apparently in 1953 there was an attempted rebellion against the Soviets but it was ruthlessly put down.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Day Fifteen
DAY FIFTEEN
We woke to the coldest morning yet. It was -12.4 degrees when we woke at 6.30am. The weather had started to clear and we were then able to see the mountains that surrounded us quite clearly. I had bought some bacon – costing R 70 for a small packet of streaky bacon and decided to make it for breakfast with some Fried banana and mushrooms. The bacon shriveled up almost immediately upon being put in the frying pan and the nett result was that we each had about 4 thin strips of bacon about 5cm in length. Needless to say, we won’t be having bacon again and I have decided its sausages for breakfast from now on. We left the campsite outside Bled at around 8.30am for our trip straight across the length of Slovenia to our proposed campsite near the border with Hungary.
The roads were very busy along the way and just like Germany and Austria, the roads are full of long haul trucks travelling from countries such as Italy, Croatia, Czech republic and Poland as well as Austria and others. The one thing that struck us along the road today was the huge investment that has gone into infrastructure and buildings in Slovenia. The country is clearly prospering greatly from its joining the European Union. We could hardly see a street the entire way that didn’t have at least one building recently completed or in the final stages of construction. The road users of Slovenia are by far the friendliest and most courteous I have come across thus far. We have now clocked a total of 2 300 kms since we started our adventure in Frankfurt and we have an expected 2 250 still to go. The country is so developed that I would say that you could very easily be mistaken in thinking that you were driving in Austria instead. The mountains of Slovenia are spectacular even though they are the last portion of the Alps as it makes its way to the ocean.
We decided to plot our route passing through the town of Ptuj. The town is the oldest in Slovenia and dates back to around 1 000 AD. The town boasts a quaint city centre as well as a castle and lots of charm. We drove through the town several times and thoroughly explored the alleys and byways to get a complete feeling for the place. Okay, the real reason for the detours around Ptuj was that Lorraine has started to suffer from Amnesia that has resulted in her getting somewhat confused as to where she is from time to time. This started to get a little out of hand around the town of Ptuj that I feared that she may have developed a permanent case of Alzheimer’s and may need to be replaced. I feel the threats to replace Lorraine may have paid off since she has seemed to have recovered nicely and has us back on route.
We then proceeded from Ptuj after a morning’s cappuccino – a definite must – to the springs in Moravci. This was recommended to us by the lady at the previous campsite and Glenn was desperate to experience a hot mineral spring. We arrived at the mineral springs only to find it partially closed for renovations and decided to give it a miss. We then proceeded en route to the planned camp site for the evening at Terme Banovci. The drive to the camp took us through the most stunning wine route I have seen outside of Stellenbosch. I wouldn’t have believed that a vineyard could survive in a country with such severe winters but the photos prove otherwise.
We have never failed to be surprised on a daily basis by the scenery that has surrounded us on our trip through Europe. The homes in Slovenia are mostly painted in beautiful bright colors. It would seem this is a Slovenia tradition and gives the impression that life in Slovenia is both a happy as well as prosperous one. I would say that our experience of the people who live in Slovenia lead us to believe that they are positive and have a good outlook on the future of their country.
We are still trying to learn the local language and therefore didn’t realize that the evening campsite was planned at a hot spring resort – IE: Terme (Hot Springs). We soon realized this once we noticed that we passed at least three springs in the area of about 10km surrounding our campsite. We arrived at the campsite at around 1.35pm and it didn’t take long for Glenn and I to make our way to the Hot Springs.
It was completely surreal having a swim in an outside pool where the temperature is barely above zero in the afternoon and the water in the pool a warm 39 degrees. We lazed around in the beautiful warm water and pondered the meaning of life, the universe and everything until I had decided that if I stayed much longer my skin would wrinkle permanently and since I plan on finding a wife some day soon, the younger I look, the better chance I may have of getting married. I returned to the Van and cooked us our first home cooked dinner of Gnocchi with tomato and bacon sauce. Glenn had never eaten Gnocchi before and it was a great hit. It is now 5.10pm and the temperature outside has fallen to -6.7 degrees and we expect it to be a really cold night at the spa.
We woke to the coldest morning yet. It was -12.4 degrees when we woke at 6.30am. The weather had started to clear and we were then able to see the mountains that surrounded us quite clearly. I had bought some bacon – costing R 70 for a small packet of streaky bacon and decided to make it for breakfast with some Fried banana and mushrooms. The bacon shriveled up almost immediately upon being put in the frying pan and the nett result was that we each had about 4 thin strips of bacon about 5cm in length. Needless to say, we won’t be having bacon again and I have decided its sausages for breakfast from now on. We left the campsite outside Bled at around 8.30am for our trip straight across the length of Slovenia to our proposed campsite near the border with Hungary.
The roads were very busy along the way and just like Germany and Austria, the roads are full of long haul trucks travelling from countries such as Italy, Croatia, Czech republic and Poland as well as Austria and others. The one thing that struck us along the road today was the huge investment that has gone into infrastructure and buildings in Slovenia. The country is clearly prospering greatly from its joining the European Union. We could hardly see a street the entire way that didn’t have at least one building recently completed or in the final stages of construction. The road users of Slovenia are by far the friendliest and most courteous I have come across thus far. We have now clocked a total of 2 300 kms since we started our adventure in Frankfurt and we have an expected 2 250 still to go. The country is so developed that I would say that you could very easily be mistaken in thinking that you were driving in Austria instead. The mountains of Slovenia are spectacular even though they are the last portion of the Alps as it makes its way to the ocean.
We decided to plot our route passing through the town of Ptuj. The town is the oldest in Slovenia and dates back to around 1 000 AD. The town boasts a quaint city centre as well as a castle and lots of charm. We drove through the town several times and thoroughly explored the alleys and byways to get a complete feeling for the place. Okay, the real reason for the detours around Ptuj was that Lorraine has started to suffer from Amnesia that has resulted in her getting somewhat confused as to where she is from time to time. This started to get a little out of hand around the town of Ptuj that I feared that she may have developed a permanent case of Alzheimer’s and may need to be replaced. I feel the threats to replace Lorraine may have paid off since she has seemed to have recovered nicely and has us back on route.
We then proceeded from Ptuj after a morning’s cappuccino – a definite must – to the springs in Moravci. This was recommended to us by the lady at the previous campsite and Glenn was desperate to experience a hot mineral spring. We arrived at the mineral springs only to find it partially closed for renovations and decided to give it a miss. We then proceeded en route to the planned camp site for the evening at Terme Banovci. The drive to the camp took us through the most stunning wine route I have seen outside of Stellenbosch. I wouldn’t have believed that a vineyard could survive in a country with such severe winters but the photos prove otherwise.
We have never failed to be surprised on a daily basis by the scenery that has surrounded us on our trip through Europe. The homes in Slovenia are mostly painted in beautiful bright colors. It would seem this is a Slovenia tradition and gives the impression that life in Slovenia is both a happy as well as prosperous one. I would say that our experience of the people who live in Slovenia lead us to believe that they are positive and have a good outlook on the future of their country.
We are still trying to learn the local language and therefore didn’t realize that the evening campsite was planned at a hot spring resort – IE: Terme (Hot Springs). We soon realized this once we noticed that we passed at least three springs in the area of about 10km surrounding our campsite. We arrived at the campsite at around 1.35pm and it didn’t take long for Glenn and I to make our way to the Hot Springs.
It was completely surreal having a swim in an outside pool where the temperature is barely above zero in the afternoon and the water in the pool a warm 39 degrees. We lazed around in the beautiful warm water and pondered the meaning of life, the universe and everything until I had decided that if I stayed much longer my skin would wrinkle permanently and since I plan on finding a wife some day soon, the younger I look, the better chance I may have of getting married. I returned to the Van and cooked us our first home cooked dinner of Gnocchi with tomato and bacon sauce. Glenn had never eaten Gnocchi before and it was a great hit. It is now 5.10pm and the temperature outside has fallen to -6.7 degrees and we expect it to be a really cold night at the spa.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Day Fourteen
DAY FOURTEEN
The intrepid campers and their guest were up before dawn (6am – sunrise is approx 7:30am) to get ready for the busy day ahead. John-Mark had the 8am ferry to catch for Venice where his train was waiting to take him back to Switzerland, and we had a four hour drive to Bled in Slovenia ahead of us. We had really enjoyed our stay near Venice, the old island city is a captivating place with its endless alley ways, canals and piazzas.
Having John-Mark’s company was also a welcome and refreshing change for us.
By 8am Kurt and I had refilled the water tank, locked the vehicle down for the road and were about to set out when much to our dismay we discovered that the car charger for the GPS had given up the ghost, assumably due to damage received when Loraine (the GPS) went flying out the door the other day. Given that the laptop doesn’t draw power from the battery we couldn’t charge the GPS in transit meaning its usability would be limited to half an hour at most. Not a great prospect when about to venture into Eastern Europe for the next two weeks. Fortunately the charger broke when it did as the chap on duty at the caravan park gave us directions to an electric store 5 minutes away, where in due course we managed to find a replacement charger. Kurt decided to buy two just in case which has turned out to be a wise call given that the second charger decided to start falling apart this afternoon which we find quite mystifying.
At any rate by 9:30am we were on the road for Slovenia. Both Kurt and I were looking forward to seeing the ex communist state, neither of us sure of what to expect. Kurt’s previous experience in the Eastern block involves trips to Budapest in Hungary for work and mine a trip to Russia with my family some years ago. My trip in particular left memories of soviet era buildings, wooden peasant houses, eighties cars and AK47 wielding guards in my head.
Our first surprise was finding ourselves face to face with the Julian Alps which separate Italy and Slovenia in the North East. Both Kurt and I had expected to have a flat passage into Slovenia, but it was nothing of the kind. Once through Italy’s bland agricultural areas, tunnel after tunnel took us through towering, snow capped peaks towards the borders of Austria and Slovenia. The second surprise was arriving at the now abandoned border post. Desolate buildings stand as a silent reminder to the fall of communism and the iron curtain. Where the AK47 wielding guards once stopped Westerners to scrutinize their papers and vehicles, I snapped a few pictures and took a moment to reflect before we headed on into the rapidly modernizing EU state.
A modern Austrian style ski resort welcomed us as we drove on from the border, clearly the result of recent investment into the country since the borders opened. Twenty minutes on we found our modern campsite bordering a nature reserve with the Alps as a backdrop. We pushed on to Bled, recommended to us – by Kurt’s friend Warwick - for its beautiful lake and imposing castle perched on a rocky outcrop dominating the town below. It’s really is an impressive scene, and I can imagine in summer it must be a real tourist mecca. We drove around the town and along the lake shore before heading back to the camp with a stop at a Chinese restaurant for a welcome and tasty lunch (and cheap compared to Italy).
A few things struck us during our short time in the country so far; joining the EU has been an immense boost to the countries economy. Apart from the occasional soviet era tower, the houses are modern, the cars are new and there is construction going on all over the place. The people are incredibly friendly and go out of their way to be helpful. You really get the feeling that the country is a modern first world place – there’s no doubt that the government is striving to catch up with its western neighbors.
Editors Note – we are back in the snow and our balmy sub tropical break in 5 degrees weather is now a thing of the past and it is a cool – 7 degrees.
The intrepid campers and their guest were up before dawn (6am – sunrise is approx 7:30am) to get ready for the busy day ahead. John-Mark had the 8am ferry to catch for Venice where his train was waiting to take him back to Switzerland, and we had a four hour drive to Bled in Slovenia ahead of us. We had really enjoyed our stay near Venice, the old island city is a captivating place with its endless alley ways, canals and piazzas.
Having John-Mark’s company was also a welcome and refreshing change for us.
By 8am Kurt and I had refilled the water tank, locked the vehicle down for the road and were about to set out when much to our dismay we discovered that the car charger for the GPS had given up the ghost, assumably due to damage received when Loraine (the GPS) went flying out the door the other day. Given that the laptop doesn’t draw power from the battery we couldn’t charge the GPS in transit meaning its usability would be limited to half an hour at most. Not a great prospect when about to venture into Eastern Europe for the next two weeks. Fortunately the charger broke when it did as the chap on duty at the caravan park gave us directions to an electric store 5 minutes away, where in due course we managed to find a replacement charger. Kurt decided to buy two just in case which has turned out to be a wise call given that the second charger decided to start falling apart this afternoon which we find quite mystifying.
At any rate by 9:30am we were on the road for Slovenia. Both Kurt and I were looking forward to seeing the ex communist state, neither of us sure of what to expect. Kurt’s previous experience in the Eastern block involves trips to Budapest in Hungary for work and mine a trip to Russia with my family some years ago. My trip in particular left memories of soviet era buildings, wooden peasant houses, eighties cars and AK47 wielding guards in my head.
Our first surprise was finding ourselves face to face with the Julian Alps which separate Italy and Slovenia in the North East. Both Kurt and I had expected to have a flat passage into Slovenia, but it was nothing of the kind. Once through Italy’s bland agricultural areas, tunnel after tunnel took us through towering, snow capped peaks towards the borders of Austria and Slovenia. The second surprise was arriving at the now abandoned border post. Desolate buildings stand as a silent reminder to the fall of communism and the iron curtain. Where the AK47 wielding guards once stopped Westerners to scrutinize their papers and vehicles, I snapped a few pictures and took a moment to reflect before we headed on into the rapidly modernizing EU state.
A modern Austrian style ski resort welcomed us as we drove on from the border, clearly the result of recent investment into the country since the borders opened. Twenty minutes on we found our modern campsite bordering a nature reserve with the Alps as a backdrop. We pushed on to Bled, recommended to us – by Kurt’s friend Warwick - for its beautiful lake and imposing castle perched on a rocky outcrop dominating the town below. It’s really is an impressive scene, and I can imagine in summer it must be a real tourist mecca. We drove around the town and along the lake shore before heading back to the camp with a stop at a Chinese restaurant for a welcome and tasty lunch (and cheap compared to Italy).
A few things struck us during our short time in the country so far; joining the EU has been an immense boost to the countries economy. Apart from the occasional soviet era tower, the houses are modern, the cars are new and there is construction going on all over the place. The people are incredibly friendly and go out of their way to be helpful. You really get the feeling that the country is a modern first world place – there’s no doubt that the government is striving to catch up with its western neighbors.
Editors Note – we are back in the snow and our balmy sub tropical break in 5 degrees weather is now a thing of the past and it is a cool – 7 degrees.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Day Thirteen
DAY THIRTEEN
We woke at around 7.20am for our final day in Venice. I have to say the time spent here has been refreshing and an amazing period for “soul time”. After a breakfast of Sausage, Mushrooms, Tomato and Brinjal – Michelin Style as per usual, we got ready to leave for the ferry to Venice at 10.00am. John-Mark discovered first hand Betsy’s amazing way to leave one’s back feeling particularly tight and stiff throughout. The day started with some promise as the sun started to shine through on route to the island. We had our first real strange event of the trip to Europe as once we had left the dock on the ferry, we were forced to back up and out of the way for a huge Barge carrying immense concrete foundations bound for Venice. The strange part was that we sat waiting for around 10 minutes while the Barge plodded along at a snails pace and then proceeded to move aside so that we could speed past at high speed to recover some lost time on route to Venice The really fun part was that we flew across the top of the waves this morning and the ride was a lot of fun.
Our first stop in Venice was at the Grande Church in the main Piazzo – San Marco. The Church was first built in the year around 800AD and subsequently restored after a fire in 1457. The church is without doubt the most ostentatious Church I have ever seen. The gold leaf and marble used in its expansive construction was a sight to behold. The effects of the sinking city can be seen throughout the church though as the floor as subsided throughout. The building is quite a somber reminder of how much the Church in Europe has played a significant role in the rule of nations throughout time. The cost of the construction of this church as ordered by the “Doje” of the time must have been huge. The “Doje” was the appointed ruler at the time. The Doje is appointed by the Cardinal under the guidance of the Catholic Church and is required to rule until death. The Doje is also not permitted to leave his Palace – which we subsequently visited – and only on specific occasions and with permission is the Doje allowed to travel outside of Venice during his rule. The Doje’s ruled right until the late 18th Century and after our visit to the palace next door to the Church, we learnt the extreme powers afforded to the regime of the time and the strict manner in which they ruled the people of the time.
The palace was strangely enough no where near as fancy as we expected. The quarters of the Doje were large but not as spectacular as one would have thought. The meeting rooms where senate was held and numerous other smaller chambers where groups of senior members met were on the other hand quite unbelievable. The Splendor of the halls and meeting rooms showed the extent again of the power and rule during the time of Venice’s position as a world leader in Trade and banking etc. We also got a chance to explore the Prisons of the Doje since they link directly to the Palace of the Doje. We also got to walk across the Bridge of Sighs that links the Courts where a prisoner’s fate is decided and he then takes his final walk across the Bridge of Sighs to the prison on the other side of the Canal. The name came from the Sighs of the prisoners on their final look at freedom before going to prison.
We finished at the palace and prison at around 2 pm and decided to find the Chinese restaurant that Glenn and I visited two days ago and have a bite to eat. The Lunch at the restaurant was great and after the meal we went for out last shopping trip around Venice. The shopping trip was very busy and all three of us managed to get quite a few pressies and had great fun in shopping around for good deals. We decided that having come all the way to Venice we couldn’t go back home without taking a romantic ride on a Gondola. Glenn and I have already agreed that if there were three of us on the Gondola and not just him and me, they may agree not to give us the whole romantic deal. We took the Gondola ride to the Rialto Bridge and enjoyed the experience and the different perspective it gave to our view of the City.
The prices always seemed to get better the further away we got from the main tourist trap areas and after walking around 10 kms for the day, we made our way to the ferry for our return trip back to the campsite. We arrived back to the campsite for a Hot Chocolate and biscotti’s. Glenn and I are decidedly bushed from the day’s walk whilst the ever fit John-Mark is fighting fit. I hope that I will be able to keep the young men up later tonight since they are already eying their bed. I am afraid to say that this more distinguished man appears to have the staying power. I really am working on building up Glenn’s ability to stay up but who knows what the outcome will be over the next 2 weeks of our trip to Eastern Europe. John-Mark leaves us in the morning back to Interlaken and we leave at 8.00am for Bled in Slovenia.
We woke at around 7.20am for our final day in Venice. I have to say the time spent here has been refreshing and an amazing period for “soul time”. After a breakfast of Sausage, Mushrooms, Tomato and Brinjal – Michelin Style as per usual, we got ready to leave for the ferry to Venice at 10.00am. John-Mark discovered first hand Betsy’s amazing way to leave one’s back feeling particularly tight and stiff throughout. The day started with some promise as the sun started to shine through on route to the island. We had our first real strange event of the trip to Europe as once we had left the dock on the ferry, we were forced to back up and out of the way for a huge Barge carrying immense concrete foundations bound for Venice. The strange part was that we sat waiting for around 10 minutes while the Barge plodded along at a snails pace and then proceeded to move aside so that we could speed past at high speed to recover some lost time on route to Venice The really fun part was that we flew across the top of the waves this morning and the ride was a lot of fun.
Our first stop in Venice was at the Grande Church in the main Piazzo – San Marco. The Church was first built in the year around 800AD and subsequently restored after a fire in 1457. The church is without doubt the most ostentatious Church I have ever seen. The gold leaf and marble used in its expansive construction was a sight to behold. The effects of the sinking city can be seen throughout the church though as the floor as subsided throughout. The building is quite a somber reminder of how much the Church in Europe has played a significant role in the rule of nations throughout time. The cost of the construction of this church as ordered by the “Doje” of the time must have been huge. The “Doje” was the appointed ruler at the time. The Doje is appointed by the Cardinal under the guidance of the Catholic Church and is required to rule until death. The Doje is also not permitted to leave his Palace – which we subsequently visited – and only on specific occasions and with permission is the Doje allowed to travel outside of Venice during his rule. The Doje’s ruled right until the late 18th Century and after our visit to the palace next door to the Church, we learnt the extreme powers afforded to the regime of the time and the strict manner in which they ruled the people of the time.
The palace was strangely enough no where near as fancy as we expected. The quarters of the Doje were large but not as spectacular as one would have thought. The meeting rooms where senate was held and numerous other smaller chambers where groups of senior members met were on the other hand quite unbelievable. The Splendor of the halls and meeting rooms showed the extent again of the power and rule during the time of Venice’s position as a world leader in Trade and banking etc. We also got a chance to explore the Prisons of the Doje since they link directly to the Palace of the Doje. We also got to walk across the Bridge of Sighs that links the Courts where a prisoner’s fate is decided and he then takes his final walk across the Bridge of Sighs to the prison on the other side of the Canal. The name came from the Sighs of the prisoners on their final look at freedom before going to prison.
We finished at the palace and prison at around 2 pm and decided to find the Chinese restaurant that Glenn and I visited two days ago and have a bite to eat. The Lunch at the restaurant was great and after the meal we went for out last shopping trip around Venice. The shopping trip was very busy and all three of us managed to get quite a few pressies and had great fun in shopping around for good deals. We decided that having come all the way to Venice we couldn’t go back home without taking a romantic ride on a Gondola. Glenn and I have already agreed that if there were three of us on the Gondola and not just him and me, they may agree not to give us the whole romantic deal. We took the Gondola ride to the Rialto Bridge and enjoyed the experience and the different perspective it gave to our view of the City.
The prices always seemed to get better the further away we got from the main tourist trap areas and after walking around 10 kms for the day, we made our way to the ferry for our return trip back to the campsite. We arrived back to the campsite for a Hot Chocolate and biscotti’s. Glenn and I are decidedly bushed from the day’s walk whilst the ever fit John-Mark is fighting fit. I hope that I will be able to keep the young men up later tonight since they are already eying their bed. I am afraid to say that this more distinguished man appears to have the staying power. I really am working on building up Glenn’s ability to stay up but who knows what the outcome will be over the next 2 weeks of our trip to Eastern Europe. John-Mark leaves us in the morning back to Interlaken and we leave at 8.00am for Bled in Slovenia.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Day Twelve
DAY TWELVE
ALL BOLD TYPING IS ME FILLING IN WHERE GLENN MADE A PITHY ATTEMPT AT THE BLOG. HE IS REALLY GETTING OLD. IT IS 7.38PM AND HE IS SLEEPING ALREADY.
Another lazy day on the shores of Venice’s estuary – we were up by 7:30am and had attended to breakfast – GLENN SAID IT WAS A VERY NICE BREAKFAST, shower and another load of washing - THIS TIME WITHOUT ANY BROKEN TUMBLE DRIERS….by late morning. More chilling in Betsy followed until we felt ready to venture back over the waters to the ‘Queen of the Adriatic’ by 1pm. My friend John-Mark was arriving for a two day stay at 2:40pm so we ambled through the winding streets admiring the wares on sale in the plethora of small shops. Kurt bought some colorful pasta and we snacked on Italian fritters which were rather tasty as is in keeping with the other Italian food we’ve eaten.
The interior of the 50’s era soviet style train station did little to excite the imagination but we did find the cheapest cappuccinos thus far on the trip. John-Marks train arrived on time with usual Swiss efficiency, and the three of us made our way through the winding streets and over canals to the Piazza of San Marco. We found our nearby Chinese food shop closed so wondered back in the direction of the ferry, stopping at a busy café for pizza and Irish coffee (the outside temperature being 4 degrees).
The 5:30pm ferry carried us back to Betsy and a quiet evening indoors. NOW THIS IS WHERE HE GOES OFF TO BED…
EDITOR CONTINUES:
The weather was cool and overcast. We arrived at our usual ferry point and took a different route to the Grand Station of Venice. Venice has three railway stations on the main island and the station that John Mark arrived at was the main station. The station as mentioned by Glenn was less than appealing. The walk to the station took us through a residential area of Venice. This being a Sunday, the streets of Venice were devoid of any activity and the bulk of the photos Glenn took on the way to the station had no people in the pictures. The streets on the way to the Rialto Bridge and the San Marco Piazzo were teeming with people by the time we got there. Glenn is really trying to get me fit. This I have to say is putting me under huge pressure. He is adamant that I do need to get fit. He walked me all day and I ended up doing 7,7 kms around Venice. I am beginning to feel pain in places I didn’t know had muscles. Yes, I know its just walking but Venice is up and downhill over bridges.
Well, now that I have at least informed the loyal readers of our Blog with a decent appraisal of our day’s activities, I will go to my bed and watch a movie. I kind-of fancy – Lord of the rings – return of the King.
Glenn has just woken up and commented that he saw John Mark in Bed and started to feel jealous and this is the reason that he too has gone to bed at 7.30pm. – These young people are quite scary.
ALL BOLD TYPING IS ME FILLING IN WHERE GLENN MADE A PITHY ATTEMPT AT THE BLOG. HE IS REALLY GETTING OLD. IT IS 7.38PM AND HE IS SLEEPING ALREADY.
Another lazy day on the shores of Venice’s estuary – we were up by 7:30am and had attended to breakfast – GLENN SAID IT WAS A VERY NICE BREAKFAST, shower and another load of washing - THIS TIME WITHOUT ANY BROKEN TUMBLE DRIERS….by late morning. More chilling in Betsy followed until we felt ready to venture back over the waters to the ‘Queen of the Adriatic’ by 1pm. My friend John-Mark was arriving for a two day stay at 2:40pm so we ambled through the winding streets admiring the wares on sale in the plethora of small shops. Kurt bought some colorful pasta and we snacked on Italian fritters which were rather tasty as is in keeping with the other Italian food we’ve eaten.
The interior of the 50’s era soviet style train station did little to excite the imagination but we did find the cheapest cappuccinos thus far on the trip. John-Marks train arrived on time with usual Swiss efficiency, and the three of us made our way through the winding streets and over canals to the Piazza of San Marco. We found our nearby Chinese food shop closed so wondered back in the direction of the ferry, stopping at a busy café for pizza and Irish coffee (the outside temperature being 4 degrees).
The 5:30pm ferry carried us back to Betsy and a quiet evening indoors. NOW THIS IS WHERE HE GOES OFF TO BED…
EDITOR CONTINUES:
The weather was cool and overcast. We arrived at our usual ferry point and took a different route to the Grand Station of Venice. Venice has three railway stations on the main island and the station that John Mark arrived at was the main station. The station as mentioned by Glenn was less than appealing. The walk to the station took us through a residential area of Venice. This being a Sunday, the streets of Venice were devoid of any activity and the bulk of the photos Glenn took on the way to the station had no people in the pictures. The streets on the way to the Rialto Bridge and the San Marco Piazzo were teeming with people by the time we got there. Glenn is really trying to get me fit. This I have to say is putting me under huge pressure. He is adamant that I do need to get fit. He walked me all day and I ended up doing 7,7 kms around Venice. I am beginning to feel pain in places I didn’t know had muscles. Yes, I know its just walking but Venice is up and downhill over bridges.
Well, now that I have at least informed the loyal readers of our Blog with a decent appraisal of our day’s activities, I will go to my bed and watch a movie. I kind-of fancy – Lord of the rings – return of the King.
Glenn has just woken up and commented that he saw John Mark in Bed and started to feel jealous and this is the reason that he too has gone to bed at 7.30pm. – These young people are quite scary.
Day Eleven
DAY ELEVEN
We slept in this morning and after breakfast we went to reception to make use of my laptop to go onto the internet. The campsite does have internet access but only within 20 meters of the building. Since there is no where to sit and they don’t have computers for you to use, you have to use your own. That would be fine except for the small issue of battery power. They don’t have a plug point for you to plug your laptop into and so we drove there in Betsy and proceeded to use the internet to load the blog and attend to quick facebook needs until the battery ran out. We caught the 10.00am ferry to Venice and for the first time in Italy we had a beautiful sunny day to walk and explore Venice. The weather was around 3 degrees when we left the campsite.
We started our day’s exploration in Venice with a trip to the Leonardo Da Vinci exhibition. Up until now, we had both been a little confused as to why there are so many churches on the island and with the exhibition being held in a church building, we now see the significance. The exhibition included around 40 reproductions of items that Leonardo designed himself but never had a chance to make. The exhibition showed inventions such as – Gears, the Differential used on a car today, Hang Glider, Ball Bearings, Pulleys, Machine gun and perhaps the first Bicycle. The sketch of the Bicycle designed by Leonardo was only discovered by accident in 1974 during a review of drawings and papers left behind by Leonardo. The best part of the exhibition was that you could actually try out the reconstructed machines and see how they work.
We then walked onto the Main Piazzo in Venice and decided to have a coffee in the sun in one of the well appointed outside café’s. Now I think its best that I explain about the cost of things in Venice. The late lunch we had yesterday that Glenn wrote about, has to have been the most expensive Spaghetti and Meatballs I have ever had in my life. The two plates of food and coffee cost a little over R 500. The real curtain raiser however was the two Lattes that Glenn and I ordered in the Piazzo. The cost included 2 glasses of “manky” Venice water to wash them down. The price for this unforgettable experience was R 210. Glenn currently has this fixation with Sweets and Chocolates for presents for his loved ones back home and everywhere we are near a shop, he has to buy some more chocolate. He bought some hand made sweets in Venice and didn’t ask the price before placing the order. He came away with paying over R 80 for a sweet.
We left the Piazzo and proceeded to try and find the Navy Military museum that Glenn had been going on about for two days. We walked and walked for some time and then after several detours in and out of the streets of Venice we found the Museum only to discover that the Museum had closed. We did however get to see a Man driven torpedo that would have been controlled by the marine until it neared the target and the Torpedo would have then been let go. It was around 8 meters long.
We went into another church to see an exhibit on the history of the Violin and other stringed instruments. There were Violins, Chellos and Mandolins dating back as far as 700 AD. I have never seen such a large and extensive exhibit of these beautiful instruments dating back that far.
We then decided to head back into the city for a Lunch. Now let me first explain that although we did find a Burger King in Venice, my standards just wouldn’t let me stoop to eating a take away Burger for Lunch. Just for the record for those of you who think I am completely mad, due to finance restrictions, we only have 2 meals per day – The Michelin style breakfast cooked by me every morning, and a meal in the city we are visiting. My ever vigilant discount nose led us down a rather interesting passage where we found an authentic Chinese restaurant. Glenn had duck with Sweet and Sour sauce and I had Duck with Chinese sauce for main course. We both had Wanton soup for a starter and they followed the meal off with Saki – on the house.
I forgot to pay attention to the time of the day and before we knew it, it was 2.10pm and the next ferry departed at 2.30pm. Despite our best efforts to race back to the ferry point, we were 100 meters away when we heard the final whistle blow only to see the Ferry depart for Fusina – where Betsy lives. We had another hour to wait for the next ferry and therefore had to kill time by having yet another coffee at a streetside café. We did the same thing yesterday at the same café and so the waiter now seems to know us quite well. We got back to Betsy at 4.00pm and after a somewhat protracted discussion with the staff at reception, found the general direction of a “shopping centre” where we could acquire provisions. Glenn’s friend John-Mark – who lives and works in Interlaken – Switzerland is coming down to Venice by train today - Sunday and will be here later this afternoon. We are right down on provisions and with the new guest arriving, it was necessary to go down to the supermarket and stock up for the next two days. We are staying in Venice until Tuesday morning, where we will depart for Slovenia en route to Poland and beyond….
Last Note – we arrived back to the campsite yesterday evening to find that “Fat Betsy” had once again managed to attract other mobile camper vans. There are now 5 vans parked in the immediate vicinity and just like what happened in Rothenburg, Betsy attracted the campers and well now we have some company.
We slept in this morning and after breakfast we went to reception to make use of my laptop to go onto the internet. The campsite does have internet access but only within 20 meters of the building. Since there is no where to sit and they don’t have computers for you to use, you have to use your own. That would be fine except for the small issue of battery power. They don’t have a plug point for you to plug your laptop into and so we drove there in Betsy and proceeded to use the internet to load the blog and attend to quick facebook needs until the battery ran out. We caught the 10.00am ferry to Venice and for the first time in Italy we had a beautiful sunny day to walk and explore Venice. The weather was around 3 degrees when we left the campsite.
We started our day’s exploration in Venice with a trip to the Leonardo Da Vinci exhibition. Up until now, we had both been a little confused as to why there are so many churches on the island and with the exhibition being held in a church building, we now see the significance. The exhibition included around 40 reproductions of items that Leonardo designed himself but never had a chance to make. The exhibition showed inventions such as – Gears, the Differential used on a car today, Hang Glider, Ball Bearings, Pulleys, Machine gun and perhaps the first Bicycle. The sketch of the Bicycle designed by Leonardo was only discovered by accident in 1974 during a review of drawings and papers left behind by Leonardo. The best part of the exhibition was that you could actually try out the reconstructed machines and see how they work.
We then walked onto the Main Piazzo in Venice and decided to have a coffee in the sun in one of the well appointed outside café’s. Now I think its best that I explain about the cost of things in Venice. The late lunch we had yesterday that Glenn wrote about, has to have been the most expensive Spaghetti and Meatballs I have ever had in my life. The two plates of food and coffee cost a little over R 500. The real curtain raiser however was the two Lattes that Glenn and I ordered in the Piazzo. The cost included 2 glasses of “manky” Venice water to wash them down. The price for this unforgettable experience was R 210. Glenn currently has this fixation with Sweets and Chocolates for presents for his loved ones back home and everywhere we are near a shop, he has to buy some more chocolate. He bought some hand made sweets in Venice and didn’t ask the price before placing the order. He came away with paying over R 80 for a sweet.
We left the Piazzo and proceeded to try and find the Navy Military museum that Glenn had been going on about for two days. We walked and walked for some time and then after several detours in and out of the streets of Venice we found the Museum only to discover that the Museum had closed. We did however get to see a Man driven torpedo that would have been controlled by the marine until it neared the target and the Torpedo would have then been let go. It was around 8 meters long.
We went into another church to see an exhibit on the history of the Violin and other stringed instruments. There were Violins, Chellos and Mandolins dating back as far as 700 AD. I have never seen such a large and extensive exhibit of these beautiful instruments dating back that far.
We then decided to head back into the city for a Lunch. Now let me first explain that although we did find a Burger King in Venice, my standards just wouldn’t let me stoop to eating a take away Burger for Lunch. Just for the record for those of you who think I am completely mad, due to finance restrictions, we only have 2 meals per day – The Michelin style breakfast cooked by me every morning, and a meal in the city we are visiting. My ever vigilant discount nose led us down a rather interesting passage where we found an authentic Chinese restaurant. Glenn had duck with Sweet and Sour sauce and I had Duck with Chinese sauce for main course. We both had Wanton soup for a starter and they followed the meal off with Saki – on the house.
I forgot to pay attention to the time of the day and before we knew it, it was 2.10pm and the next ferry departed at 2.30pm. Despite our best efforts to race back to the ferry point, we were 100 meters away when we heard the final whistle blow only to see the Ferry depart for Fusina – where Betsy lives. We had another hour to wait for the next ferry and therefore had to kill time by having yet another coffee at a streetside café. We did the same thing yesterday at the same café and so the waiter now seems to know us quite well. We got back to Betsy at 4.00pm and after a somewhat protracted discussion with the staff at reception, found the general direction of a “shopping centre” where we could acquire provisions. Glenn’s friend John-Mark – who lives and works in Interlaken – Switzerland is coming down to Venice by train today - Sunday and will be here later this afternoon. We are right down on provisions and with the new guest arriving, it was necessary to go down to the supermarket and stock up for the next two days. We are staying in Venice until Tuesday morning, where we will depart for Slovenia en route to Poland and beyond….
Last Note – we arrived back to the campsite yesterday evening to find that “Fat Betsy” had once again managed to attract other mobile camper vans. There are now 5 vans parked in the immediate vicinity and just like what happened in Rothenburg, Betsy attracted the campers and well now we have some company.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Day Ten
DAY TEN
Today started out with a sleep in (for me at least) which was much appreciated given the stress of trying to find a restaurant last night in the crazy streets and roads of an Italian city in a camper van. The spectacular scenery that is the mountains of northern Italy had me quite hopeful for the lowlands in the south. As it turned out and much to my surprise, a massive industrial and commercial area surrounds Venice’s estuary. The architecture of the city is nondescript and the skyline is broken with smoke stacks and industrial structures. Our consolation has been to find a camp site right next to the ferry terminal for Venice - we’re parked about ten meters from the shore and can see Venice’s lights across the waters.
The morning passed in a fairly relaxed manner as we attended to our emails and washing.
By 1pm we decided to head out for a walk around Venice. After buying a three day pass we boarded the ferry for the 20 minute crossing. Venice was built in the middle ages on several islands in the estuary, but subsequently a causeway with road and railway and a railway station have been added onto the city using land reclaimed by dredging. The new buildings look like something out of the soviet era - totally bland and functional – which is very strange given both the historic nature of Venice and it being a massive tourist center. Approaching beyond these dull buildings, rows of run down flats line the cities shores before the view opens up to the expected Venetian panorama of church steeples and renaissance style architecture.
Disembarking on the shores of Venice, one can immediately see why it is know as a city of romance. Couples stroll down cobbled canal lined streets and crowds throng through small passageways filled with little shops selling food, ice-cream, local glass products, electronica and clothing.. The passageways link larger open spaces or Piazza’s all of which invariably have a colorful café and massive ornate church. Venice is a very pretty city - It’s renaissance and gothic architecture is a delight to the eye and given the gondolas, cafes and shops it is a must see for anyone interested in taking in the sights of Europe.
But that being said it does also have its downsides - the buildings are in a dilapidated state with most buildings having large portions of plaster missing with brick exposed, the paint work is nearly always stained or peeled off completely. Graffiti is fairly common and the canals and streets are fairly dirty, though not cluttered with litter. The canals can also stink from the sewage that is released into them, but fortunately for us being winter we only had odors here and there on our walk. In the end we covered 6.7km on foot, taking in most of the key buildings and bridges. After my first day in the city I must say that my overall impression is positive and I’m glad to have more time to explore its charms over the next few days.
As a side note I’ve been impressed with Italian cooking – last nights hand made pizza was an experience and Kurt and I tried out spaghetti and meat balls as a late lunch which was very tasty. I also had some ice-cream which was by far the best I’ve tasted in a long time.
Today started out with a sleep in (for me at least) which was much appreciated given the stress of trying to find a restaurant last night in the crazy streets and roads of an Italian city in a camper van. The spectacular scenery that is the mountains of northern Italy had me quite hopeful for the lowlands in the south. As it turned out and much to my surprise, a massive industrial and commercial area surrounds Venice’s estuary. The architecture of the city is nondescript and the skyline is broken with smoke stacks and industrial structures. Our consolation has been to find a camp site right next to the ferry terminal for Venice - we’re parked about ten meters from the shore and can see Venice’s lights across the waters.
The morning passed in a fairly relaxed manner as we attended to our emails and washing.
By 1pm we decided to head out for a walk around Venice. After buying a three day pass we boarded the ferry for the 20 minute crossing. Venice was built in the middle ages on several islands in the estuary, but subsequently a causeway with road and railway and a railway station have been added onto the city using land reclaimed by dredging. The new buildings look like something out of the soviet era - totally bland and functional – which is very strange given both the historic nature of Venice and it being a massive tourist center. Approaching beyond these dull buildings, rows of run down flats line the cities shores before the view opens up to the expected Venetian panorama of church steeples and renaissance style architecture.
Disembarking on the shores of Venice, one can immediately see why it is know as a city of romance. Couples stroll down cobbled canal lined streets and crowds throng through small passageways filled with little shops selling food, ice-cream, local glass products, electronica and clothing.. The passageways link larger open spaces or Piazza’s all of which invariably have a colorful café and massive ornate church. Venice is a very pretty city - It’s renaissance and gothic architecture is a delight to the eye and given the gondolas, cafes and shops it is a must see for anyone interested in taking in the sights of Europe.
But that being said it does also have its downsides - the buildings are in a dilapidated state with most buildings having large portions of plaster missing with brick exposed, the paint work is nearly always stained or peeled off completely. Graffiti is fairly common and the canals and streets are fairly dirty, though not cluttered with litter. The canals can also stink from the sewage that is released into them, but fortunately for us being winter we only had odors here and there on our walk. In the end we covered 6.7km on foot, taking in most of the key buildings and bridges. After my first day in the city I must say that my overall impression is positive and I’m glad to have more time to explore its charms over the next few days.
As a side note I’ve been impressed with Italian cooking – last nights hand made pizza was an experience and Kurt and I tried out spaghetti and meat balls as a late lunch which was very tasty. I also had some ice-cream which was by far the best I’ve tasted in a long time.
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