Europe continues

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After being a couch potato for a few days, Phillip and Nadine hosted a BBQ for me with her parents and friends Antije and Wilhelm and their new daughter Josephine. After the BBQ, Nadine’s parents drove me to my friends in Bremen, Aalfke and Wolfgang. It has been great to catch up and if you look at the previous European Blog (Christmas) you will see all the photos of Bremen and Aalfke. I was lucky enough to rent an apartment from Aalfke, and once we had met, it was like we were sisters as we both are very similar, and it has remained a great friendship. (Someone suggested she looks like me too! But she just calls me her little sister) She encourages my German and I help her with her English. They are coming to Australia next March and I will have the opportunity to show them our country. I have not taken any photos, or been to many places this time, just spending quality time with friends and family. Caught up with a friend from Australia, U3a German teacher Rosemary who is here doing a Uni course and had dinner with her and introduced her to Bremen. Today, however, the adventurous part of my journey begins.



I am on the ICE train from Hamburg to Munich via Hanover. I then change trains and head to Bregenz, which is on the shore of Lake Constance and looks quite beautiful from the pictures. Hopefully, the weather will be better than Bucholz and Hamburg today (raining and cold). The weather from the time I arrived in Germany has been beautiful, around the 20-24c and sunny, however, Wednesday it changed. It now feels like Autumn (or Herbst in German) is definitely here. Winter is just around the corner! The shops in Germany all have Oranges and reds in their windows from decoration to clothing. Here, they celebrate Halloween, and there are pumpkins and autumn leaves decorating everything.



Train travel is exciting; never know to whom you will next sit! An old lady (yep there are still people older than me!) and her big black dog – it is amazing here, you can take your dog anywhere, even the big department store or on a plane. I am told that the dog (if large) must have a children’s ticket. When I did the European river cruise with my sister Betty and her husband Michael, we travelled downriver and one place we stopped at was Wuerzburg (ue is when you cannot type an umlaut) which is a lovely city with white wine vineyards on the side of the hill – we are just passing through now and on to Nuernberg. It is a challenge to use German to buy food and drink, but I can definitely ask for it now in German, not that it is always understood!! I have taken a few countryside photos from the train, and coming into Austria, the sun was setting on Lake Constance and was a beautiful view.



In Bregenz in Austria day one, local bus is easy to get around on and took me down to Lake Constance. I took two photos, the first is the new Opera Lake stadium being built for the grand performance of Turandot in 2015 and the second is the surrounding area of the lake. I then booked a trip around the lake, took out my phone and the battery was flat! I enjoyed the trip and the views.



Now, a fully charged phone, and cloud cover is low over the town! Found a lovely presentation of poetry and history of Pablo Neruda the Chilean Poet who won the Nobel Prize for Literature with Cello music to accompany the narrators. All in German of course (apart from the music which is international) Lovely people, and enjoyed almost understanding the poetry. I did a walk around the town and found the old walled town and explored that before heading up for more adventure.



After this, travelled on the Pfaender (or cable car) up to the top of the mountain, then walked around the wildlife park at the top, I had forgotten how difficult it is to climb mountains! Watched Eagles being fed, and then had to climb up the steep paths to the top, would have been better to walk down the mountain. I also went on a bus tour – I toured on all the local buses, just taking each of the routes and seeing how the natives live.



Sitting in the hotel uploading the photos and preparing to leave for Zurich tomorrow morning

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Comments

[sue sturtevant]

Sounds great, you have been busy! Meant to say give my regards and hello to Phillip.

[aquariantravelbug]

Just beginning!
It was good to spend time with Phillip and Nadine and family/friends, I am looking forward to a week in a B&B in Siena, just relaxing by the pool before the working on the ship happens! Just arrived in Zurich and I am so unfit carting these suitcases up lots of stairs - Christine