Blogs from Germany, Europe
Germany 1 - Mad King Ludwigs Castle
Published: May 26th 2012Europe » Germany » Bavaria » Neuschwanstein
May 26th 2012
Ever onwards we travelled through Germany from Rothenburg towards Neuschwanstein where we planned to visit Mad King Ludvig and his fairy tale castle. Neuschwanstein castle is a 19th century Romanesque Revival palace built on a rugged hill above the village of Hohenschwangau which is near to Fussen in the south west of Bavaria. It was commissioned by Ludwig II of Bavavia as a personal retreat and as homage to Richard Wagner. The roads were busy compared to yesterday and there were lines and lines of lorries like plagues of locusts making their way across Germany. What a difference a day makes. How I wish all lorries were banned from using the roads at weekends at home – what a difference that would make to travelling in our small country. The weather had improved slightly although it ... read more
May 25th 2012
Today we set out to wander through the old city,taking in the Ferdinandeum museum ( which had several floors of paintings and sculptures) and then walking through the gardens near the Hofburg palace. We spotted some cute ducklings hiding by a large pond and noted several horses and carriages designed to ferry we tourists around the olde worlde streets in style. Finding the station for the funicular railway, we took a brief but extremely steep trip up the mountain to the last stop that opens at this time of the year. It still afforded spectacular views of Innsbruck and the dramatic mountains that dominate the landscape. These are still dusted with snow and make for a wondeful sight in the bright sunshine. We needed lunch so bought a couple of rustic salads that incuded boiled eggs ... read more
May 25th 2012
Just a quick blog..... Had a good stay in Cologne. We walked out of the railway station and the first thing we saw was a magnificent 13th century Gothic church. It was finished in the 19th century and had a crane sitting on top of it for 400 years! It was an amazing building, we haven't seen anything like it. We decided to climb up to the belfry this morning.....533 spiral steps. Well worth the effort, great views. Good train trip, only 4 hours, the train was going 200kms hr most of the time. Nice afternoon in Berlin, went for a walk and found the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag. We are going on a 3.5 hour walking tour tomorrow. We are looking forward to hearing all about the history of Berlin.... read more
May 23rd 2012
Hey everyone! I write to you via the ICE train from Rotterdam to Berlin, which is about a 6 hour journey. Unfortunately, there is no wi-fi onboard this train so I’m writing this entry on Word and will post it once I can access some internet. The flight over here was mediocre, the on-demand movies were mildly entertaining, but I felt hungry throughout most of the flight. Apparently, United Airlines feels that a croissant and some fruit alone is suffice for breakfast, so that was a bit of a letdown. Once we landed in Amsterdam we were greeted by Ruud, Arnaud, and Bert. It was great seeing Ruud and Arnaud after 6 months, and in the case of Bert it had been 18 months. Aside from the fact that we weren’t in Austin, it felt like ... read more
May 23rd 2012
After our hotel supplied breakfast of healthy bread rolls, yoghurt and coffee, we headed for the main tourist attraction and outstanding feature of Heidelberg; the Schloss or castle. It is a magnificent, crumbling ruin that rambles over a large area, encompassing gardens, courtyards, parklands and even a pharmaceutical museum. We were over-awed by the magnificent scenery as each turn presented a new photo opportunity. After wandering through the gardens (where a red squirrel entertained we tourists), we paused for coffee on a sunlit courtyard. Having bought a bag of soft centre truffles and another punnett of the delicious local strawberries, we dined in style. After that it was off to do some hard work trawling through the pharmaceutical museum, noting that atropine, cocaine, opium and morphine featured from early times as medical essentials. To ensure we ... read more
May 22nd 2012
Last night we walked around the old city of Heidelberg, taking in the beautiful narrow streets crowded with outdoor eating areas, dark and mysterious pubs, with mountains in the background topped off with a maginiifcent crumbling schloss (castle) overlooking the whole vista. There is even a student jail where the naughty university students were punished for their wild ways. We stopped at an old stone bridge that crosses the local river, taking photographs against the picturesque horizon. All this activity took place in the evening, we had sunshine until around 9pm..... Dan found an old pub that met his exacting standards (not too touristy and offering authentic german food), we had the usual huge tankard of local brew with our meals. I had a local pasta and pork dish which was so good I cleaned up ... read more
May 22nd 2012
This afternoon we walked over a very steep mountain that overlooks Heidelberg. It started with the Philosophers walk, which is a very old, stony, winding pathway that is edged with stone walls on both sides- said to be good for academics with a condundrum to solve. We then ventured along several footpaths and tracks across the mountain, the lush greenery of the trees was lovely to see in the brught afternoon sunlight. There was even a native squirrel racing up a tree trunk. The walk took longer thsn expected, so it was with relief that we came back to the old town to have our daily dose of beer, this time with Spargel ( white asparagus) and schnitzel.... read more
May 22nd 2012
We have some fun stories to share about our immigration experience, as you can imagine :) You saw in an earlier post that we purchased a Mattress from Mataratzen-Concord. They delievered it, told us that we should no problem getting our financing approved, and we thought everything was peachy. QUITE THE OPPOSITE... to build the backstory, we have been working diligently to get our permanent residence and work permits (for two years, and then they are renewed automatically by my work)... however this process takes many months once you arrive in Germany and we still have temporary permits that must be renewed every three months. Of course, this should be fine right, you have the permit and nothing goes wrong? Well, truth be told - when you are a foreigner in Germany you need to have ... read more
May 21st 2012
I have been checking the Canadian Embassy's website in like a crazy person - double checking how many work and travel visas they have left to issue for 2012. The count stands at 144. 144 from 5, 530. That's a really small chance that I'm going to be issued one. Still, I am keeping my fingers crossed and continuing to work, save and plan for my trip. I also received an email from the Emabassy last week, informing me that a decision will be made in the next two weeks. I have another ten days to wait. I really hate waiting for things!... read more
