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

Saturday, 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
Near Partnach Klamm

Czech, please!

Thursday, October 27th, 2005

24 Oct – 27 Oct, 2005

Sometimes you meet those people who you cannot but help go out of your way to see again. We only met Ludek very briefly in Venezuela, but his invitation could not be turned down. Back to Czech. And what we soon ascertained was that there were a lot of things we did not do ten years ago. Before this re-visit, I personally thought that Czech was one of those countries that was “complete”. Pretty much “done” (whatever that means). Now after 4 days in Pilzen and surrounds, we are wondering when we can come back for a third and detailed visit.

And a car. Thanks Ludek. Oooh, choosing to go where we want, when we want. Nebilovy, Rabi, Klatovy, Svihov, Horsovsky Tyn, Kladruby, Loket, and Karlovy Vary. If your Czech geography is as good as ours, then you wouldn’t know where they were (although some people may be able to place Karlovy Vary if referred to by its German name of Karlsbad). Each seemed to have some amazing castle, chateau, monastery, or similar.

Horsovsky Tyn
Horsovsky Tyn

Loket, near Karlovy Vary (Karlsbad)
Loket

Stebanka, Ludek’s girlfriend, who understands a lot more English than she admits, made us schnitzels to take as a picnic lunch. Yum!

Karlovy Vary is an incredibly beautiful city, with only one monstrous concrete blight. We were a tad disappointed in our “hot spring” experience, as it wasn’t particularly hot, or beautiful. Just a pretty uninspiring swimming pool. Lucky the view over the town was nice.

Wandering through town, we munched on our genuine Karlsbad spa wafers, carried our genuine and obligatory Karlsbad spa cup. We gathered with the sick people and the hypochondriacs at many of the fountains and joined them in guzzling the various hot spring waters. Bloody awful, if you ask me, but allegedly good for you. I gave up after only a few mouthfuls, but Jo persisted. Karlsbad also has a geyser, making us question how much of the information we read in Bulgaria is true, as they allege to have Europe’s only mainland geyser. (Czech is very much mainland, or as mainland as Bulgaria is, anyway).

Ludek

“SURPRISE!!!”

Monday, October 24th, 2005
21 Oct - 24 Oct, 2005 Walhalla With Tina and Sebb, Walhalla "SURPRISE!!!" Well, Tina and Sebb knew we were coming. But little did Sebb know about the conspiracy. Don't you love being "in the know" for ... [Continue reading this entry]

Back on the islands

Saturday, October 15th, 2005
12 Oct - 15 Oct, 2005 Pag island, famous for its cheese. Then through a series of islands with fishing villages made up of pastel houses overlooking incredibly tiny ports squashed full of boats. Cres, Veli Losinj, Mali Losinj. ... [Continue reading this entry]

Split, and it’s still raining :(

Saturday, October 8th, 2005
6 Oct - 8 Oct, 2005 It was only a half hour until we bumped into Deb and Trim. Seems like we are destined to spend the rest of this trip with them! Lucky they're nice. And once again, Split ... [Continue reading this entry]