Stuggled a bit getting up and so missed getting on the earliest cruise on the Rhine. I was planning on getting the earliest one, getting off at St Goar to check out the Rheinfels castle, then getting on a later one to continue onto Koblenz. So I jumped on a train to St Goar, which luckily for me was also packed with bloody Year 2 or 3 schoolkids. Grrrrr. Off at St Goar, no lockers at the station but the nice ladies at the tourist info will let you stash your stuff there. Walked around the little town a bit then [View Full Entry]

---

---

Train to Frankfurt required several changes but I finally got there. Handy that the ticket terminals at the station let you print out the train timetable. Found my hostel was in the middle of the red light district, got hassled by spruikers at 3pm lol. But there was two reasons I stopped at Frankfurt. One was to catch the boat the next morning foir a cruise up the Rhine to Koblenz, but the main one was to go and try one of those famous, oversized schnitzels and oversized beers at Waldgeist restaurant, at Hofheim on the outskirts of Frankfurt. Took the [View Full Entry]

---

---

Just like the photos, the place is really nice. Under attack from tourists and American students during the day, but worth it. Did a self guided walking tour off the tourist office map, took a million pics, and had NO RAIN!!! A nice change. Stayed in a B&B that was pretty nice too and not very expensive either. [View Full Entry]

---

---

Caught the train up from Regensburg, checked into the hostel and went out to the old Nazi party parade grounds. The museum there was pretty good, detailed how important the whole yearly rally was to the party and turning Hitler into a kind of demi-god. The grounds were a different story. There had been a rock festival there over the weekend (Metallica, Rage Against the Machine, amongst many others) so there was rubbish everywhere... tents, food, bottles, cans, bongs, BBQs, marquees, mattresses, condoms, pots and pans.... and homeless looking people all searching through it like Christmas ha [View Full Entry]

---

---

Not a bad town, copped a lot less damage than other towns in WW2. Went out to Walhalla as well, and had dinner at a beer garden with a local couch surfer and some of his friends watching Germany in the soccer. Didnt care about the soccer but the food and beer were good [View Full Entry]

---

---

So far the best €6 I have spent was today on the tour at BMW. Went through their production facilties, seeing how things on 3 series cars progress from the start when steel is delivered as rolls, through different stages, finishing with testing the car on the dyno. Took a couple of hours and the guide was pretty funny, with a dry sense of humour and Austrian accent. Well worth the money. Checked out the Olympic sie was I was out there, pretty ordinary stadium by today's standards, didnt bother with the tower as it was a bit cloudy and the [View Full Entry]

---

---

Arrived here in Munich 2 days ago and its all good so far. First night had a few at a beer hall after arriving late, then yesterday did a walking tour and spent the afernoon wandering around until going to my couchsurfing host's place. Going to do a Third Reich tour this morning then go to Dachau this afternoon, cach an early train tomorrow and go out to Neuschwanstein and surrounding area for the day. Then the BMW museum and a few other things in Munich. Tried to have a Bavarian brekkie at a few place this morning but they werent [View Full Entry]

---

---

Spent a great 3 nights couchsurfing with Vero in Avignon Will add more details later when I have more time, but Avignon was a great town, nice atmosphere, old stuff to see. Went on a day trip to Nimes to see the old Roman stuff there and the Pont du Gard aquaduct on the way back. Pretty damn impressive [View Full Entry]

---

---

Left Avignon early and had stopovers in Geneva (meh) and Bern (liked it) on the way to Gimmelwald. Sensational, the pictures dont do it justice. Hiked with some Canadians up into the clouds until the snow was too much to keep going, weather no good for the Jungfrau train or Schilthorn gondola. I was wetter inside my poncho from sweating than I was on the outide from the snow and rain. After getting back to the hostel had a relax in the hottub looking at the mountains. Weather was better the following day (just looked out the window from bed and [View Full Entry]

---

---

Cant say too many good things about Nice, I just didnt like the place. Was there quickly to drop off stuff before going to the Grand Prix in Monaco so didnt really see much except for the few hundred metres between the hostel and train station. There just doesnt seem to be anything to the place... the "old town" is nothing special really, the "beach" is an absolute joke with no surf and no sand, just a very small shorebreak onto pebbles. Hell, England has better beaches!! I had the "local specialty" called "socca" which is similar to a thin crispy [View Full Entry]

---

---