Blogs from Germany, Europe - page 947

After an arduous hike last night through Mainz to the Stefanskirche, which seemed to me to be in a rather unsavory neighborhood, I decided it would not be practical to attend Mass in the morning before my action-packed day of travel. This may have been a poor choice, because after weeks of hot and blindingly sunny weather, for my Sunday morning Rhine cruise I got thick cloud cover and haze. Ugly cruising weather, ugly photography weather. Nevertheless, I did cruise the most scenic part of the Rhine between Bingen and Koblenz, where there really is a castle (or ruin) at every one of the many bends in the river, and every quaint half-timbered little town has at least one huge, majestic cathedral towering over it. Amusingly, our little ship, which originates in Rüdesheim, was packed from ... read more

After the Swiss mishap, we had to take a few more trains than usual in order to get to Berlin, where we are now. We arrived after 15 hours on the train (6pm - 9 am). Yesterday me and Jen walked around Mitte and ended up at Berlins Sony Center, the epicenter of Berlins reconstruction project. There we saw Batman Begins. Ill have to see the first one again, but I think this is by far the best Batman movie. ... read more

did go to neuschwanstein. it was very beautiful. unfortunately we couldn't spend very long there coz the trains are very infrequent. ended up taking about 2.5 hrs to get there but then we only stayed about 40 mins. i got lots of photos though. the town area is very nice so would've been good to explore a bit more but oh well. yesterday i went back to the english gardens and pretty much stayed there all day. it was a gorgeous day and nice to be by the river. i'll probably be doing the same again today as i'm not in a shopping or sight seeing mood!!!! i leave munich tomorrow and go to st johann - the extreme sports area in austria, in the mountains. should be nice.... read more

After being held up in Prague waiting for my laundry to be done, which should have been done on time, I grabbed the 1530 train to Berlin. The laundry cost me a €1 for wash and dry, but I don't deem waiting until that late for it to be done as a worthwhile use of my time. But anyway.... I arrived in Berlin around 2100 and headed for the undergound to grab the subway to get over to my hostel. The Berlin underground system is huge, ridiculously huge, and confusing too. Somehow I managed not to get lost and quickly got a ticket and found my way to the U2 line. Within 30 minutes of getting off the train, I was relaxing in my hostel, which after the Prague arrival, was very welcome. Day one in ... read more

arrived here yesterday afternoon and went for a wander down to the city - marienplatz. it's really hot here now. 30ish. sooo sunny and nice. went on a beer garden crawl last night. was lots of fun with lots of people. went on a free walking tour of the city this morning. it was brilliant. probably the best tour i've been on - and the guy only worked only for tips - so you can give as much or as little as you like. it's so good. he was irish and very funny and knowledgable about the city, so the tour was really entertaining as well as educational. that lasted for about 4 hours as we stopped for lunch at a beer garden in the middle of a market. beer gardens are everywhere. it's a strange ... read more