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Published: March 27th 2008
Good bye Prague, hello Nuremberg
Well the day finally came where we had to say goodbye to Prague and head off for some new adventures. Tuesday morning was spent getting the bags packed up and getting organised to head to the train station. It was a pretty cold, wet and miserable morning so if we had to pick a day to leave this incredibly beautiful city, this was a good one to do it. Our very friendly hotel staff advised us to buy some food before we got on the train as it was suggested that prices and the environment of the railway station were to be avoided if possible. Like most central train stations, it has its fair share of street people and pickpockets but evidently the Romanian gypsies can be a problem at times.
Debs and the girls headed up to the local bakery and bought the essential food items, iced tea and sweet cakes, and we headed off to the station. It started to snow as we left and from reading the weather reports we were expecting more snow in Germany and we were not to be disappointed.
Getting to the train station was very
easy and knowing that we had reserved seats was reassuring as it was going to be about a five hour journey. We got to the train without a hitch and then found two locals sitting in our seats who absolutely reeked of booze and the worst body odour I have ever encountered. Expecting a bit of a &*^% fight, I spoke to them in my best Czech and explained we had reserved seats and straight away they were up and gone!! The obviously thought that someone who spoke Czech this bad was going to be a problem. After they left, we had to open the windows to air out the carriage and that was the last we saw (and smelt) of them.
The train, whilst pretty old and pretty basic was great. We had window seats and heaps of space and it was nice sitting back and taking in the view. Some of the country side was very scenic and other areas were very industrialised and downright ugly. Layni found the experience of going to the toilet on a moving and rattling dunny seat was quite unusual to say the least.
So many times we have moments that
bring back great memories of previous travels and catching the train was one of them. Many years ago, Debs and I had the occasional indulgence of catching a train instead of slugging away on our bikes through the pouring rain and it was such a great feeling to be tucked up on a nice warm train watching the kilometres pass by instead of pushing into a headwind and icy rain. Yesterday was no exception, sitting in the nice warm and comfortable carriage watching the snow fall down as we chugged across the country.
The kids passed the time reading and doing some journal work and watching a very old movie that I had bought for them called Mel Brooks, History of the World Part 1. I hadn’t seen it for years and the kids have obviously inherited my warped sense of humour and were cacking themselves at Mel Brooks and his bunch of lunatic actors taking the p^%$ out of everyone and everything.
It never ceases to amaze me that although European countries have no physical borders, the architecture seems to change like an invisible wall has been built to separate them. We crossed the Czech - German
First morning in Nuremberg
The view from Gisela and Martins home to the fresh morning snowboarder and instantly the houses, buildings and yards changed, and changed quite dramatically. The further we headed into Germany, the more snow we saw and the more we enjoyed the feeling of being in the nice warm and dry carriage!
We were heading for Nuremberg which is in a German state called Bavaria, famous for beer and drinking lots of it. We had met a German couple, Gisela and Martin, many years ago through Blacky and Jules. Gisela and Martin have been to Australia many times and they still come to Australia often. We have been fortunate to have seen them quite a few times over the years and they have stayed with us in Coffs and we have stayed with them on the Sunshine Coast where they holiday regularly and they also stayed with us for a few days when we were in France in 2003. They are a fantastic couple and have total thirst for life and all the good things that go with it and we love their company very much.
They have been at us for years to come and stay with them and this was the perfect opportunity to be able to do
that, especially since we could catch a train direct from Prague to their home city. Gisela and Martin were there to greet us at the station and it is just the best feeling being met by old friends, especially in a new city with new experiences to be had.
We spent the night eating, drinking fine German beer and catching up. They make a very fine type of beer here that translates to wheat beer and Debs has always taken a bit of a fancy to it and Martin loves to go through the routine of rinsing the glass in a special way and pouring the beer for her. Martin and Gisela live in a beautiful home that is designed around the climate and land availability. It has a basement and three levels and is just so beautiful and comfortable and we are very lucky to be able to stay with such great friends and to me, that is one of the great pleasures of being able to travel, being able to share lives with friends from other parts of the world.
Martin and Gisela told us that we should expect some snow over night and boy that
was an understatement. We woke up, and to use Layni’s words, to a winter wonderland! There was snow everywhere. Martin and Gisela had arranged to take us on a bit of a hike through the forest and fortunately they had enough boots to fit the girls and we rugged up and headed off to a little village called Furnried which is about 40 kilometres from their home. On the way we stopped and bought some local Bavarian specialities which were a white sausage and pretzels which we were going to have for lunch, washed down with a couple of beers.
We got to Furnried which is country village with a few houses and not much more. There are lots of walking / hiking trails that lead from the restaurant / bar in the village square and walking / hiking is a very, very popular pastime, especially in the warmer months.
As you can see from the photos, it was a bit like it was the middle of winter with snow literally everywhere. I assumed, very wrongly, we would be walking along snow free paths but very soon realised we would be making our way through virgin powder snow
and through some absolutely beautiful forests and small villages. One of the little villages was called Wurmrausch which translates to drunken worm?? Go figure.
The walk that normally takes Martin and Gisela about and hour and 15 minutes took us a tad longer. We got to the halfway mark after about an hour and 30 minutes. Obviously it was slower with having to make our way through the snow but the girls were also having an absolute ball playing in the snow, trying to belt each other with snow balls and shaking the branches and watching the snow tumble down from the trees. Must say it was pretty hard going at times and the efforts the girls made would have made Ian and Sue from the Fit Factory a tad proud I think.
For us and the girls it was really a fantastic experience and one that we loved immensely. Fortunately we had the clothes and boots to deal with all the snow (except for our jeans which were pretty well saturated by the time we got back - although strangely enough we really didn’t get cold. Perhaps all that energetic hiking helped a lot!!!) We ended up
walking for about three hours before we finished our walk and the girls got to make their snow angels and we got back to the cars.
We went back to Martin and Gisela’s for our very traditional Bavarian lunch of white sausage, pretzels, sweet mustard and Bavarian beer. I am not sure what is in the white sausage but I am told it contains veal so that is all I needed to know. I assumed, I guess like any Aussie, that the only way to cook a snag was on the barbecue but no, these Bavarian bangers went straight into the pot and were warmed through in hot water, a bit like a saveloy. The combination of all four was great and after such an arduous walk, our appetite was well and truly in working order and we made short work of our lunch.
Some of the house guests, with the exception of Nikki, Layni and I, managed to get in a little nana nap before we had to get ready and, yep, you guessed it, head out for more food. We were joined by a friend of Martin and Gisela’s, a lady by the name of Birgit
and we drove to a nearby village to a restaurant that adjoins a small brewery (sounds a bit like heaven doesn’t it!) Martin and Gisela go to this restaurant regularly for the very traditional Bavarian food they serve and the incredibly fresh wheat beer on tap. We were not disappointed in either and had another brilliant night. Roast shoulder of boar with potato dumplings, washed down with beer from the brewery across the road, pear schnapps and coffee made for a pretty memorable meal. Deb was very intrigued by the waitress, a lady also by the name of Birgit, who spoke English with the broadest of Scottish accents!!!!
Layni was a bit shattered by the end of the night, especially after the very big adventure walk we had been on and it was time to take her home to bed. We then spent a few hours having a few German champagnes and talking to Birgit and Martin and Gisela. Nikki stayed up with us and it was great just to spend some time talking to them about the lives they have lived and continue to live. It is Birgit’s birthday today, the 27th but it is considered very bad
luck to congratulate someone on their birthday before the actual day so whilst we could talk about birthdays, we were not allowed to wish Birgit a happy birthday before she left. Considering my little farewell, I hope I am exempt from German folklore otherwise I am in serious poo.
Must say, we went to bed feeling very tired but incredibly happy. Will write more about Nuremberg soon….
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Janne
non-member comment
Gawjus!!
Come on guys, we don't think you're fitting enough into each day!! Looks absolutely beautiful. Love The Hursties