Day 6 - Innsbruck to VenicejawaproMon 26/01/2009 07:48 AM
Today started early. We had to get moving pretty quickly in order to make the boat to Venice.
The drive kept going through the beautiful Alps - and into Italy for the first ‘service’. A ‘service’ stop is basically a road house - where you can buy food and stuff before driving for the next few hours. European regulations say that a bus driver needs 45min off every three hours.
Because we were so early for lunch, only the sandwiches were available. In Italy, you have to queue up for the sandwich area to decide which sort you want, then you queue up for the payment counter to pay for it - and get a ticket. Then you queue up at the sandwich place and give them the ticket, which they will then make for you. Sound confusing - well, it is Italy after all.
I chose a sandwich called "BIG" just because I could actually say it.
After lunch we caught a boat to Venice (on the water) and from there we caught some Gondola’s for a ride.
It was something you just have to do in Venice - and was worth doing, but it wasn’t as brilliant as people say. The river doesn’t smell pleasant (think like a septic tank) and the boat feels like a floating coffin (in construction, not saying it wasn’t safe).
It is a good way to see Venice though.
Our driver didn’t speak much English, and we spoke less Italian - but he was still a lot of fun.
After the Gondola ride - we went to a glass blowing session to see a master glass blower at work. In front of our eyes he created a fancy vase (pictured) and a very awesome little cat.
Sadly - we couldn’t find a cat like this for sale anywhere.
Venice is home to Morano Glass - which is apparently quite famous, and in all the souvenir shops.
I mean ALL the shops.
We also took a look at the last Lace School in Venice. Lots of stuff to get the ladies excited.
Venice is a very female-focused city. The glass, lace, and gondolas - what is there for guys? Not much really.
Venice is also famous for it’s masks and carnivals. Here is Emma trying on a cat mask (which she didn’t buy).
I didn’t think I could pull off a mask - so I got a Jester hat instead.
Stay tuned!
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Day 5 - Munich to InnsbruckjawaproMon 26/01/2009 07:47 AM
Today was scheduled to be little more than a drive from Munich to Innsbruck - with most of the day spent in Innsbruck. Thankfully - out tour guide decided to do a couple of stops along the way.
The first was at the BMW Welt. Not sure what a Welt actually is - but it was besides the BMW museum (which sadly we didn’t have time for) and was full of BMW cars and information about their eco stats etc. Quite a well presented exhibition.
Of course - we were here for the cars - and spend 20 minutes looking around and posing with the machines.
A few of the tour managed to convince the security guard to let them stand on his Segway. They had to do it in this corner, because it had to be out of view of the security cameras, so the guard’s boss wouldn’t see and get him in trouble. Nice friendly German chap.
The next addition to the tour was even better. Lots of people had commented that they were sad they were in Germany but weren’t going to get to see any Concentration Camps. Well - Cindy (the tour guide) had been listening, and had organized it. It wasn’t Altzswitch (wrong side of the country) - it was Dachau.
Dachau was the first concentration camp - and the rest were based on it.
It was incredibly moving, and even the rowdy Contiki travelers managed to be subdued as they looked around.
So much misery and death. To say we enjoyed walking around it is not the right word - but we were all very glad we’d had the chance to go.
It was unbelievable.
A much quieter bus left Dachau, and kept going until we reached the Alps. They sort of come out of nowhere. The ground is relatively flat until you reach them.
We crossed the border into Austria.
Our stop for the night was in Innsbruck. A nice little town. First stop was the Swarovksi shop.
I’d never heard of them before - but they are apparently quite famous, and make lots of very expensive Crystal stuff.
Sorry - Crystal doesn’t photograph very well.
Emma was very excited - but it wasn’t all that interesting.
We did some souvenir shopping - and I was very taken by this shirt. I wonder if people often make that mistake?
We tried some Mozart’s Balls (little chocolate things) and some Shnaps (alcoholic stuff). Both were ok - but nothing to get excited about.
And that evening - we had our first European snowfall. It was the first time I’ve actually seen snow fall - so it was pretty exciting.
Tomorrow is an early start to go to Venice - so I’d better finish this up and get some sleep. More tomorrow!
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Day 4 – St Goar to MunichjawaproMon 26/01/2009 07:46 AM
Today started very early on the banks of the Rhine.
The Village shops opened early to let us sample the local produce.
The Village of St Goars (more to the point, the area of Germany) are famous for a few things. Among them, Cookoo Clocks.
Teddy Bears. The original ‘teddy’ bear came from Germany.
And Beersteins!
These beer mugs traditionally are pottery and have pewter lids. They are very cool – and still regularly used by the locals.
Unfourtuantly we weren’t allowed to take photos inside the shop (this one was outside). They were extremely cool – especially a special limited edition that has a piece of rubble from the Berlin Wall on the top – but at over 150 Euro – I couldn’t quite bring myself to get one.
A large Beerstein on the side of the shop.
St Goars is a beautiful spot, but we had to get moving, so we loaded back into the bus and headed out.
For the first half an hour or so, we followed the fantastic Rhine Valley – and saw a castle every 5 minutes on the top of the hills. Sadly – photos from a moving bus can’t do it justice.
We then headed away from the Valley, and the fog crept in. It was 10 in the morning, but we couldn’t see anything except the closest trees thanks to the fog. The ground still had a bit of frost, and some of the small rivers and ponds were frozen as we drove through.
By the time we arrived at the lunch stop – we’d seen smallish piles of snow on the side of the road. For lunch we had Snitzels – which are a German dish (as well as being one of my main sources of food while living on my own).
As we kept going – we came across more and more snow. This is the most snow I can remember seeing except on the top of mountains. Finally – I get to see a proper European Winter! Cold – but still quite comfortable in my jacket. A lot of the others were complaining though.
Classically German photo! Probably the best I managed from the bus today.
Next stop was Munich – the Capital of Beer!
We got to admire the Glokenspiel (large cookoo clock thing). It only runs twice a day, and we were too late to see it in action – but apparently it’s rather a let-down.
We checked out St Peters church.
Ate a Pretzel (no offence to Mr_Pretzel_Head if he is reading this), another German speciallity.
We did some shopping for souvenirs, and I bought myself a pair of decent headphones (my stupid little ear-plug style ones are driving me insane). Germany is known for precision stuff, but I ended up buying Sony’s which were made in Taiwan. Ah well…
For dinner tonight, we headed to the HofBrauHaus. This is one of the big and famous beer halls in Munich.
Here, beer doesn’t come in a range of sizes. You get it in a 1 litre mug – and that’s it. If you don’t want a litre, tough luck.
I don’t drink much beer, so wasn’t sure I’d manage a litre, so I got a ‘Radler’ which is beer mixed with lemonade. Still – a litre of that is probably more beer than I’ve drunk in a sitting before. Yes, I know I’m tame – but who cares.
The glass was so huge I felt like the Hobbits when they get their first even pint.
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Dinner was a ‘pork knuckle’. Pork is very common in Germany – and it was delicious, as well as being massive. Might not look that huge in the photo – but remember, those mugs hold a litre!
Emma has a sausage meal (another German thing) and a much smaller glass of wine.
A photo of our table.
Anyway – that’s it for today. Stay tuned…
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New PostsjawaproThu 22/01/2009 06:57 AM
Finally - some new posts. Scroll down and read them in reverse so they make sense.
PS - why has z and y changed places on this kezboard? Germaz for zou.
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Day 3 - Amsterdam to Rhine ValleyjawaproThu 22/01/2009 06:54 AM
Unlike yesterday, we actually got a chance to do something today. We were dropped off in the centre of Amsterdam and left to fend for ourselves for the morning. Amsterdam is a very interesting city, full of canals, trams, and bikes. Millions of bikes.
Including some unusual ones.
The Canals are quite pretty, lined with the typical Amsterdam houses.
Including this one (number 7) which is apparently the smallest house in the world.
Other people live on the water. Check out this guys floating back yard!
More canals.
More bikes.
We went to the library (called a Bibliotheek) to use the net, but weren’t able to use our USB drive, so we couldn’t post any pictures or our pre-written posts.
We took a stroll through the Tulip Market (another thing Holland/Netherlands is famous for). By the way, Holland is a region inside the Netherlands. I didn’t know that before!
We had little Dutch pancakes for lunch. Unfortunately, over half the tour had the same idea, and the lady running the shop was in a real panic with so many people trying to get pancakes before the bus arrived.
After this, we left Amsterdam, and drove out of the country, and into Germany! Sadly, all my attempts at taking photos from the bus failed miserably.
Once in Germany, the countryside appeared to get greener, and the road got bumpier. For a while the bus was really buzzing with the constant corrugations - but it improved as we went on.
On our pitstop we were able to photograph a ‘Barry’ in his natural environment.
It was actually not very cold here at all. I didn’t need a jumper or anything. So much for Europe being freezing. We did pass some partially frozen rivers (only broken sheets of ice) later though, so either it was colder there, or I’ve just gotten used to it and don’t feel like. I love the cold - but I hate the heat.
The first part of Germany was like the rest of the countries we’d driven though, and dead flat. At dusk, we started going through some much more interesting countryside, with rivers, hills, and valleys. The road went over lots of bridges over valleys, and we could often see villages in the valleys, but it was too dark for my camera to be able to take a photo on the move.
We eventually arrived in the little village of St Goars. We’re staying in a rather nice old local hotel here. It’s apparently not far from the Black Forest, so we had Black Forest cake for tea. In the morning we’re doing some local shopping, and then heading on to Munich.
Stay tuned...
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