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Venezuela (19)

Wurtzburg and Bamberg

November 20th, 2005

18 Nov – 20 Nov, 2005

Alex and Maren. No, not a couple, just a pair. We met them in Myanmar (Burma). If you think we got a lot of contacts from that trip, you’re right. In fact, this year we have seen almost everyone that we met and exchanged emails with from that trip.

Wurzburg

We were taken to our first Christmas market for 2005. In a nearby village. Avoiding the direct route, we drove up the other side of the river. Here, we had to take a quaint ferry over the river, with just room enough for the car and us, and then steered across using the river’s current.

Part of the market was dedicated to wine smelling. Yes, normally it is tasting, but the tastings were large and paid for (i.e. were glasses of wine). All around a large barrel were glasses of wine for smelling. Many fruit flavours, and other weird stuff that should never be mixed with the fermented grape juices.

Wine smelling…

And dinner in a Franconian winery. Fabulous local specialities, all served by an authentic grumpy Franconian vintner. Actually, we felt he contributed to the overall atmosphere of the night. Good wine, great food, excellent company, grumpy service, and a genuine monk with a glass of the establishment’s finest in his hand. A memorable dinner.

We spent a day in Bamberg, too. This is certainly one of Germany’s finest towns. A couple of glasses of the Bamberg speciality, smoked beer, accompanied our lunch.

Bamberg
Bamberg

Posted in Food, Friends, Germany, Travel | No Comments »

Tags: Croatia, Food, Friends, Germany, Germany, Travel

Bad Laasphe (quite good, really)

November 18th, 2005

16 Nov – 18 Nov, 2005

Bad Laasphe, guests of Tina’s mum and dad. Went with Tina to Kassel, looking out on the plains from the Herkules monument. We got our first snow for 2005, here. Only a light dusting, but still exciting.

$Tina\'s family$

Herkules monument, Kassel

Catching snowflakes
Trying to catch snowflakes

Tina’s mum invited us to visit her class of Grade 1 students. They had prepared a hard line of questioning about Australia. Was it far? What sort of houses did we live in? Did we have kangaroos? Did we have elephants? Monkeys? They all made appropriate squeals and groans when we told them that we had snakes. We finished by teaching them a song in English – Head, shoulders, knees, and toes.

$The Grade 1\'s$
So, where is Australia on this map?

Posted in Friends, Germany, Travel | No Comments »

Tags: Chile, Food, Friends, Germany, Travel

Frankfurt, (well, Friedrichsdorf, actually)

November 16th, 2005

12 Nov – 16 Nov, 2005

At the home of Dirk and Marlene. We caught an English church service, and caught some sun in the hills. Some apple wine, and a brewery or two. Even a great little Korean film (took some warming up, but ended really nicely).

Catching some sun with Dirk and Marlene

Posted in Friends, Germany, Travel | No Comments »

Tags: Friends, Germany, Travel

Mitfahring to Landau

November 12th, 2005

11 Nov – 12 Nov, 2005

Back with Sebb, the guy from the surprise party back near the start of the month. This time, in his home in a prison in Landau, near Karlsruhe. Well, not a current prison, but a former one converted in to apartments.

Landau - Disapproving faces
Disapproving faces keep an eye on the good citizens of Landau

We “mitfahred” to get here. This great way to save quite a few dollars – mitfahrgelegenheit (one of about four that we know of). A website where drivers covering long distances announce how much free space they have, and travellers can get in contact with them. Far (or should that be fahr) cheaper than the train, and still quite safe. It is safer than hitching, and at least you know when and where you have a lift in advance.

Problem is, you never know the quality of the driver in advance. We occasionally drove below 200 kph…

Posted in Architecture, Friends, Germany, Travel | No Comments »

Tags: Animals, Architecture, England, Friends, Germany, Travel, Travel

So, Piggy went to Zurich…

November 11th, 2005

10 Nov – 11 Nov, 2005

Like Ziggy, the Piggies went to Zurich.

Second fondue. Rene style. Although, he promised us fondue 6 years ago and then fled the country (actually fled the continent) when we threatened to turn up and take him up on his offer. There is no hiding! We always collect!

Fondue, again, Zurich

Great thing on the 11th, the start of something or other that I cannot remember but sort of covers the winter period (sort of “Carnaval” thing). Streets full of bands and costumes, food and beer.

Zurich

Posted in Food, Friends, Switzerland, Travel | No Comments »

Tags: Food, Friends, Switzerland, Travel, Zurich

Fondue has rules?!

November 10th, 2005

5 Nov – 10 Nov, 2005

Do you know that fondue has rules? They are very secret, and are only revealed to new fonduers as they break the rules. Penalties can be quite steep – dropping your bread in the cheese is a rather big social faux pas, and gee those metal shards embedded into the whip can really dig into your flesh quite deeply! There are preparation, stirring, and dipping rules, all designed to make the fondue experience as perfect as possible.

Our first real (home) fondue. Restaurant fondue, as we experienced ten years ago, is definitely not the same. Bettina and Luregn, met at Los Llanos, provided the home and the cheese; Martina, also from Los Llanos, was there, too. The only character missing was Carlito the anteater. (I think he may have competed with Jo and I for scraping all the last bits of cheese out!)

Fondue in Bern

Bern
The fate of naughty Swiss children

We had one day with a car, and visited Montreux on the shore of Lake Geneva. Lunched in Lutry, dropped in at Chateau Chillon, and stopped by to say “Hi!” to Freddie.

Chateau Chillon, on Lake Geneva

Freddie Mercury Monument, Montreux

New clothes, too! Martina ensured we left with tee shirts, both in very “Swiss red”.

Posted in Architecture, Food, Friends, Switzerland, Travel | No Comments »

Tags: Architecture, Bulgaria, Croatia, Food, Friends, Germany, Switzerland, Switzerland, Travel

If you are reading this, and you know where Gundelfingen is, then you must be Hermann or Andrea.

November 5th, 2005

1 Nov – 5 Nov, 2005

Our tri-annual reunion with the Ruchtis. 1996 in Ecuador. 1999 in Germany. 2002 in Croatia. 2005 in Germany. Time to plan for 2008…

Across the door of our room for the 4 nights, we found our first ever welcome sign. So beautiful. Pictures of trains, and so many beautiful colours. Thanks, kids (the sign was Stefan and Linda’s handywork!) It really is a pleasant thing to see hanging when you come to stay at someone’s house. Hint, hint, everybody 😉

From Gundelfingen, near Augsburg, we conducted day trips both near and far. Down to the Alps, and off to local towns full of historic buildings. Thursday night (well, Friday morning, actually), we headbanged to ACDC at a night club, and had one of our latest nights out all year.

Thanks, Ruchtis, for a fun five days. Three years seems much too long to wait!

Linda and Stefan - Donauworth
Linda and Stefan – Donauworth

Starzlach Klamm

The Alps

Augsburg
Goodbye Ruchtis! See you in 3 years.

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The best place was the wurst place…

November 1st, 2005

29 Oct – 1 Nov, 2005

Does the fog ever lift in Ingolstadt? Don’t think we saw the sun, here. Each day, though, we managed to travel with Falk and Regina, met in Myanmar, to places where the rays reached through. Kloster Weltenburg, Berching, Regensburg, Donauworth.

On the Donau

Berching

The best place was the wurst place. One of the oldest sausage houses in Germany, in Regensburg (apparently, a contentious and disputed claim, but we wont enter in to it). Cute tiny building near the waterfront (seating for about 15-20, on shared tables, with little elbow room). No menu. You get bread, sauerkraut, and the only two decisions are how many wursts, and what size beer.

Falk, Regina – We’ll have to return, guys, when we can see your home town not shrouded in mist. Thanks, and by the way, you win the “Biggest and Most Complicated Coffee Machine” award! (Coffee was super excellent!)

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“Would Richard and Joanne deMeester from Australia please come to the information desk”

October 29th, 2005

28 Oct – 29 Oct, 2005

“Would Richard and Joanne deMeester from Australia please come to the information desk”. How embarrassing. No, the Munich welcome committee was not wanting to present us with a welcome pack. Rather we had missed Christof on the platform, then muddled a meeting location, and had now spent over an hour hanging around at Munich Hauptbahnhof. What was worse, was coming to the information desk, and not finding Christof there. “There was an announcement asking me to come here”, I explained to the lady at the desk, hoping she would point out where our friend was waiting. “Yes”, she helpfully replied, and continued her work. “Is there someone waiting for us?”, I pressed. “Yes”, she again replied. Hmmm, think the best policy is to just hang here, as it turned out to be. One minute later he appeared.

And finally, we got to off-load that near-kilogram guide book about the Caribbean that we borrowed when in Venezuela. While happy to get his book back, he also expressed surprise that we still had it, expecting that we would have given it to someone else or dumped it by now. Of course not! It was our excuse to make sure we caught up with him when in Munich!

Actually, getting to Munich is one of my proudest moments in money saving. Given a rail price of 60€ each for Cesky Krumlov to Munich, we knew that some lateral thinking would be needed. Options were scanned and various itineries debated, routings off the internet, and timetables pored over. Cesky Krumlov to the German border – bus, train, bus. Border to Munich – 2 trains. Half hour quicker, and a grand total of 34€ for both of us. Total saving – 86€ (that’s over $140 Australian!)

On the Saturday, we joined the thousands of others who were taking advantage of the great Alpine weather to head south. Actually, we were only stuck in traffic for about 15 minutes, but it was looking a little grim for a while as to whether we would even get through! Apfel Strudel with Christof near Garmisch-Parten Kirchen at the Partnach Klamm, a picturesque and deep gorge.

Near Partnach Klamm

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Czech it out now

October 28th, 2005

27 Oct – 28 Oct, 2005

Another deja vu situation, as we took an identical photo to one that we have at home from 1995. A shot of Cesky Krumlov through an arched window in the castle.

Cesky Krumlov

This time, though, we spent the night in Cesky Krumlov, as last time I think we only spent a few hours. Had one of the bestest meals, too. Medieval vaulted cellar, decorated with armour and weapons, lit by candles, food roasted over hot coals (mixed grill for me, while Jo had the pork knuckle), and wine served in ceramic goblets.

Cesky Krumlov

Brunch by the river, and Jo bought another pair of bargain jeans. (No, not as cheap as her famous 85 cent Bolivian pair, but for Europe, an excellent price at 14 Euros. Go, bargain hunting Jo!)

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