Blogs from Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, Europe - page 48

Guten Morgen! Last we talked, I think that we were in Delft about to go to the Royal Delft factory. It was amazing. They have enormous mosaics of tiles with Rembrandt reproduction paintings on them and vases that are 12,000 euros! Everything there was very expensive because of all the hand painting but we did find a few knock-offs to buy! We stopped in The Hague for a stroll through the town on the way back to Gouda. The Hague was very busy and there is definitely a lot of money in that town! Yesterday, we left Gouda for Germany. We were sad to leave the Netherlands but Germany has been great so far! It took us four trains and getting a little lost in the giant train station at Utrecht to get into town but ... read more

It has been awhile since we sent an update. Last message was from Freiburg, one of our favorite spots. Liked it so well we stayed an extra day - 5 total. Bike about 33 km around the valley the last day and went to an organ concert that evening in the cathedral. Very pretty cathedral with pinkish/mauve sandstone walls. Different from the others we had seen. We left Freiburg and headed east across southern Germany to Fussen and Lake Foggensee - a beautiful lake with rolling hills to the north and steep mountains to the south. Spent one day bicycling by the lake and I also swam in the lake. Spent the second day taking the cable car up the mountain, doing some hiking and watching the hang gliders. City and country really merge in Germany. ... read more

After our sidetrip to Sweden, we took the train overnight back to Berlin. To recap Sweden, we spent the last day wondering around shopping in H&M, and some other stores in a mall. I loved the Bjorn Borg brand mens underwear so I had to get some. Super cush. I think we paid the equivalant of $12 CDN for two Whopper Jr.'s and a drink at a Burger King (ouch!). Also, Lordi is awesome. That about wraps it up. We spent the night in the train with a family from Sweden who wanted to ask all kinds of questions about Canada and Croatia. When we got back to Berlin the train station was much...different...than when we last left it. It was about 6:00 AM and there were crowds of people sleeping all over the floor. There ... read more

Mountain waterfall and river cruise in a day Whosoever heads for Black Forest of Germany, generally visits Triberg to see Germany’s tallest and easily accessible waterfall and buy a cuckoo clock. I am proud to declare that we could withstand the temptation and did not buy a cuckoo clock. We were not always immune to Temptation. Once upon a time, long ago, we HAD succumbed and bought two cuckoo clocks, but what they say is true : The best way to conquer Temptation is to succumb to it. So, this time we won. Triberg has a lot of facilities for outdoor activities. Right opposite the train station, there is a rock-climbing facility. However, I will rather leave rock climbing to more energetic persons and to monitor lizards. Triberg is the cuckoo clock capital of the world. ... read more

We’re traveling again. For those of you who aren’t familiar with our travel-styles: I like to have everything planned way in advance, David makes it up as he goes along. Our trip to France was extremely under-scheduled because I had been ill, and up until Wednesday we were still debating whether or not to go. For a couple of days I was unable to stand or walk. On my worst day I couldn’t even hold a drink up to my mouth, but the doctors gave me some super strong antibiotics to fight my infection and now I’m doing better. Even though I wasn’t able to plan every detail of our vacation, I did manage to do enough research to feel “prepared.” I checked the weather, reserved a rental car, and printed out directions from the ... read more