Blogs from Europe - page 14475

Day 15 - Sunday 26th February As we should have arrived in Florence by now, we only have a short time to look around Pisa. It is a beautiful city and fortunately we are already in the centre by the Leaning Tower. The Cathedral is especially stunning and inside you cannot help but be inspired by its paintings, its ceiling and the wood carvings. We ate our lunch by the very picturesque River Arno and then at noon decided to start our hitching. Pisa looked very special and clearly we did not do justice to its charm (must add to list of cities to visit later in life). The first lift in a Fiat drove us to the autostrade. Good fortune followed as the next lift was going all the way to Florence - not such ... read more

Day 13 - Thursday 24th February Unfortunately the Youth Hostel did not have a cafeteria and so Heather and I had to find someway local to eat - no problem though only the language. We started hitching at 10am and the first lift drove us 16 miles to Roverto and after a two hour wait, the next lift drove us 7Km further down the road but left us away from the town. Only one car stopped but it was too small to cope with our rucksacks. Eventually a lift to Verona and it was 3pm - 5 hours for 60 miles was not what you call very good progress. Unfortunately we were left on the wrong side of Verona and all of the cars which stopped were going to either Milan or Brescia - west of ... read more

Day 10 - Tuesday 22nd February Augsburg is about 50 miles North West of Munich so hopefully the journey will be quick. I walked to the Autobahn and success, the first lift was direct to Munich and in fact, the driver dropped me outside of Jochen's hospital at noon. Jochen had a broken jaw and so was not very communicative. The orderly kindly provided me with some lunch and I head off to register at the Youth Hostel. Time for some sightseeing and the Deutsche Museum was recommended - meet Michael and Heather. Very impressive especially the mining exhibition plus bridges, rivers and transport - alas the astronomy section was closed. Next stop Post Restante for any mail. We meet some English and Norwegians who are working in Munich and we go back to their accommodation ... read more

Day 8 - Sunday February 20th It is nice to have a day without worrying about packing one's rucksack and hitchhiking. Enjoyed a long lie-in and had breakfast at 11am and then played table tennis in the garden. Lunch was brilliant - steak cooked with fruit, asparagus, rice and beans - excellent especially the sauce. In the afternoon we were taken 9 pin bowling and then in the evening we went sightseeing in Stuttgart. We were driven to two different hills so that we could look down on the layout of Stuttgart and then went for a walk in the centre. Clearly this region of Germany was very affluent as further confirmed by the smart shops. Places visited - central park, the opera house (a performance had just finished and so we could look inside), the ... read more

Day 6 - 18th February 1972 Hedwig provided us with an excellent German breakfast - cheese, meat, bread and coffee - and then we went for a walk in the local park joining in a game of football. Our next student friend's home is south of Stuttgart and as she (Syvlia) will not finish at University for another day, we decide to head for Fruedenstadt - a town in the Black Forest. Hedwig gave us a nice packed lunch and kindly paid for a taxi to take us to a decent hitching point on the correct side of Rastatt. After 3 lifts to Gargennau, Forbach and then Fruedenstadt, I arrived in the town centre and only five minutes after Michael and Heather. This section of the journey was brilliant with beautiful scenery, winding roads high above ... read more