Blogs from Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, Europe

My first date in Europe is on 28th March 2012. I took Qantas airplane from Singapore and the plane landed on Flughafen Frankfurt am Main (Frankfurt Airport) in the morning. Frankfurt Airport, known as the busiest airport by passengers traffice in Germany, has its way to claim the status with his enormous size and strategic location. After passing through the immigration checks, my friends and I took Bahn (German national railway) from Frankfurt am Main station to Kaiserslautern Hauphtbahnhof. In Germany, "Hauphtbahnhof" is refered to as the "central station". My University, University of Kaisersalutern is located in small town. The downtown in Kaiserslautern is quiet and the shops do not open on Sundays. But one of the advantages of the small place is that every place is only a stone throw distance away from each other, ... read more

Tegen alle verwachtingen in, hadden we een schitterend dagje klimmen in Kottenheim. Weersverwachtingen van 20 tot 80% kans op regen, naargelang welk weerbericht. Maar buiten een verdwaald druppeltje bleef het droog. Dus naar wie moet je luisteren...? Kobe had er ook zin in! Onderweg pikten we hem op. En na een lekker koffietje in ons vaste plekje, trokken we naar de rotsen. We vonden weer enkele prachtige juweeltjes, zelfs enkele die nog gloednieuw waren. Zelfs online nog niet vermeld. Maar wat doet het ertoe. Onze startroute heette 'Seniorengymnastiek'. Een gepaste start vonden we allemaal. Klein en leuk, compleet op friends. De tweede route 'Kleine kostbarheit' ligt er juist naast, was ook prachtig. Enkele echte boulderpasjes! En zo liepen we elke keer een hoekje verder en vonden nieuwe juweeltjes. Zelfs Kobe genoot met volle teugen. Het vertrouwen ... read more

Hi to anyone who wants to listen! We boarded our ship the Amerverde in Amsterdam last Friday. The boat was commissioned last year and everything is first class. The food is unbelievable with no shortage. Wine and beer unlimited at dinner time so consequently I can't report much about the nights as I don't remember them! We travel either during the day or at night but theyalways have organized tours with exceptional guidesevery day. There is absolutely nothing we can complain about with APT who we booked this with. We left Amsterdam on Saturday and it was cold and wet. Sailed down into the Rhine Valley and the temperature shot up to mid 20's and beautiful sunshine. Been to so many towns it has just been great. The Germans certainly like their beer so my forecast ... read more

This morning (March 20) I woke up in Burg Stahlek, can you imagine that? I got to sleep in a real castle… twice! (and for only 20 euros a night including awesome breakfast!!) At that awesome breakfast I had a roll with nutella, then another with jelly, cereal, salami and cheese roll-ups, a kiwi, and “mallow” tea (I’m not sure what it was other than pink tea…weird). The night before Hiro and I had gained another roommate named John. John is from Scotland and is a really nice elderly gentleman who loves to travel and uses his 10-day holidays to go hostelling all over the world, but more about John later. So Hiro and I had decided to go see Rheifenstein Castle in St. Goar yesterday, and we caught the 9:21 train to do exactly that ... read more

This morning I woke up without having anything planned for the day. I had to add an extra day to the trip before eschwege because of a mix-up of arrival days and I added it here. I threw some clothes on and went to breakfast (which was really impressive for being included in the price of hostel, all you can eat, meat, cheese, rolls, joghurt, cereal, and made-to order coffee). I went to sit down and noticed the only other person in the room. I had a split second decision to make: should I just say good morning and sit at my own table… or should I sit with him? I decided to sit down and talk and it changed my whole day! I found out his name was Hiro and he was a Japanese student ... read more

We decided as we had liked Germany so much on the way out, during our trip to Bavaria, that we would return on our way back. We had seen a lot of cities and were keen to see the autumn colours in the countryside. So, after a brief stop near Dresden, and an amazing spa (sorry no pics as we were nude!), we headed for the Harz Mountains. The weather has changed significantly, its very cold most nights although we’ve been very lucky to avoid too much rain. The trip took a new turn looking for camp sites that could help us keep warm, and we found we have a liking for sauna and indoor pools! Luckily many campsites in Germany are open all year and cater for the cold weather. The Harz mountains, are covered ... read more

I left the hotel and headed towards Koblenz and parked up. What a beautiful city with lovely little squares everytime I turned a corner. As It was saturday there were things going on all over the place. Stages with music and in one a fantastic medievil market where all the stall holders were dressed up, a punch and judy show and a juggler. A wonderful sight. I really did'nt so much sight seeing as it's a bit of a pain with a back pack and leathers on, I'm starting to think that I'll need a few days for somewhere like this. I headed off on mz waz to Aschaffensburg - well, as the theme is starting to emerge, I didn't make it!!!! LOL I stopped for some dinner in a lovely little place in the middle ... read more

Ok, I was supposed to be heading to Munich, or at least in the general direction today but............ I saw a sign post for Koblenz, and had been told that it was well worth a visit so before I knew it I was heading there. :) What a brilliant spur of the moment decision that was!!! Well, did I not happen to see a sign post for Nurburgring!!! an opportunity that I could not pass up. As you will see (when I get my pictures up). Seriously, I don't know who said it first but I'd love to hug the person who said 'whats for you wont go by you'. As I decided not to take the first sign for Koblez but the second one!!! This was the most amazing fun I've had in a long ... read more