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Published: December 10th 2006
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It's Sunday morning here in Ulm, Germany. Today we have to sort all our stuff and pack our bags and tonight we'll be flying from one side of the globe to the other - from Europe to the land down under, Australia! Hard to believe that the past 2 months of travelling are now over, that our 18 months of living in Tokyo are over and we are on our way back to Australia to begin our lives again there.
The past 10 or so days here in Ulm, Germany have been fantastic. After soooooooooo much travelling and seeing so many people and places Cam and I were really starting to feel exhausted, so it's been just lovely to relax and refresh over the past week or so. I think over the past 2 months, since we've been in Europe we've slept in about 18 different beds and showered in about 18 different showers!!
Ok, so what have we been up to over the past week or so???
Well, on the 28th November we made it back to Ulm on the train from Essen, only to jump on the train again on the 29th to
go to visit some friends in Karlsruhe for a couple of nights. Our friend Uwe, back in Australia is German and his family comes from Karlsruhe. We stayed with his very lovely sister Nadja and her husband (a fabulous Chef!!) Wolfgang. We didn't actually see the beatiful city of Karlsruhe, as the weather wasn't that great and we were more than happy to just chill out and relax at home with Nadja and Wolfgang - talking heaps, drinking Senseo coffe, eating Haribo lollies and watching the fabulous Chef Wolfgang cook us an incredible Thai curry. Our second evening we got together with Uwe (and Nadja's) parents and their brother, his wife and 2 year old Adrian. We had such a lovely and relaxing stay with them - thanks guys!!
This past week we've been in Ulm. There's a saying in German about Ulm that goes.........
"In Ulm, um Ulm und um Ulm herum!" - In Ulm, around Ulm and all around Ulm - and I think we managed to achieve that over the past week.
It is such a beautiful city and area. It does have a tendancy to be covered in fog but we did
have some beautiful, clear days. We enjoyed walking around the Christmas markets at the base of the beautiful Ulm Cathedral and enjoyed some Gluehwein, Wurst, Feuerzangenbowle and some delicious Waffles!!! If anyone is thinking of coming to Europe in winter you MUST go to the Christmas Markets in Germany. They are just wonderful!!!!!
Our first week in Ulm in October we didn't feel fit enough to climb the Ulm Cathedral but after walking quite a bit over the past 8 weeks we thought we'd give it a go! Over 760 steps and about half an hour later we were standing at the top of the tallest spier in the world and were looking out over Ulm and in the distance we could see the Alps. It was an incredible view and definitely worth the climb!!!!!!
On Thursday (7th), we took advantage of the great weather and the fact that Warren didn't start work until the evening and went for a drive down to Lake Constance. Just beautiful! It was also clear enough to have an awesome view of the mountains from part of the lake at Immenstaat, where we stopped to have a look and a
yummy lunch on the water!!
Friday, another gorgeous day with clear, blue skies, we drove down into the mountains - the Alps. Warren took us to see Neuschwanstein Castle. It was strangely warm that day, so warm in fact that on the walk up the hill to the castle Warren was walking around in Jeans and T-Shirt! In December! In Winter! In Germany!! Unbelievable. The castle and the surrounding area were so beautiful.
Afterwards, Warren took us for drive around the Alps where we crossed over into Austria. We saw a beautiful lake called "Plansee", which was nestled in amongst the beautiful mountains. We drove through beutiful villages and valleys, still amazed that it was the start of December and warm enough to be driving around with windows open!!
That evening we drove to Oberstaufen (Christine's parents place) and had a delicious meal with Christine's family. We ate home-made Cheese Spaetsle and especially for Cam, apple strudel for desert!! Thank you Doris!!!!!
Yesterday, Saturday, we had planned to get up early and drive to the Glacier to go skiing, but instead we woke up to the most beautiful sight we could have
imagined for our last full day in Germany. SNOW!!!!!!! Everything was covered in a thick blanket of white snow. It was absolutely gorgeous. Needless to say, we didn't end up going skiing, but instead we got all rugged-up and went outside and enjoyed the snow in a field next to Christine's parent's house. We build an awesome snowman and had snowball fights. It was so much fun.
Couldn't help thinking how weird it is that on the other side of the world in Australia our friends and family were sweating in close to 30 degree heat and we were playing in about 10cm of snow!!! What a fantastic way to spend our last full day in Germany!!!!!!!!
So, now it's time to say goodbye to our travelblog. Hope you have all enjoyed following our travels over the past year and a bit. But don't worry, we're in the process of setting up another blog to keep the dream alive.
Farewell from the travelling Twines!!!
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anonymous
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who is the fat white guy in the middle in the last photo - cam you have lost weight