Bodensee and Switzerland

Hi Guys, Sorry another quick brief note to try and keep up.  Bare in mind when reading this that I write as we go but post when I can. So some of the future events mentioned have now happened and I have more to come but won't post a huge blog you'll never manage to read.

Our next significant destination was Lindau on the Bodensee (Lake Constance).  There is an old town area there that is out on an island (walk over a bridge).  It was very pretty and scorching hot.  It has been extremes with the weather as after that nice day it rained most of the night.  We had an interesting encounter a young guy was walking down the road saw us in the van and came over to see what the score was which was nice, turned out he was Bavarian and was heading to Switzerland to do a lot of walking (it was just him and his backpack) and he would be away a few months.  I tell you about this positive encounter for balance as I'm going to get a bit negative and philosophical.

On our way to visit my friend Ines in Switzerland we had an encounter of a nature becoming all too familiar on out trip (one that left you despairing for the sanity/mentality of humanity).  Our first 6 weeks on the road have provided us plenty of time of people watching, interactions and such, several of which have given us pause for thought.  In fact so many that we may perhaps catalogue such if they continue with such frequency as an incite into the modern psyche.  Anyway you want the story. So we stopped for lunch in a small town in Austria it turned out we were next to the training fields for the local team (minor stadium next door maybe 2-3,000 capacity). There were several portable goals around and i spotted that, in one, a ball had been left behind. So I went and had a kick about for about 5 minutes, as i was returning the ball to the goal I noticed a bunch of teenagers a little down the cycle trail.  Well no sooner had i returned the ball and got back in the van did they ride up and steal the ball.

We spent the weekend with Ines and her boyfriend Marcel.  Ines was such a lovely host and put us up on an air mattress and had several things for us to do.  Ines now lives in the area she grew up which it turns out is Heidiland.  She was able to show us the house she grew up in and the land they used to farm.  We visited the Heidi house and Vaduz (Leichtenstein) where Ines works.  The weather was getting quite hot and we went higher up into the alps to a lake which was very pretty and took a stroll around (higher up and in the trees the temperature was just right).  Ines put on a special Swiss style indoor BBQ for dinner.  The next day the Tour de Suisse cycling final leg 9 was happening in the area.  They were doing a 26km time trial. Through Marcel we got entry to a little brunch drinks and nibbles which was a nice bonus.  Also to get up to the finish line we could go on a gondola free of charge which was cool.  It was really hot, so it was good that we were a bit higher up.  It was very hard for the cyclists and the times were a little slower than expected.  We saw the Kiwis Sam Bewley and Hayden Roulston.  While up there we also got to go and see a real proper Alp milking shed and cheese makers. We checked out the local castle ruins in the early evening, pretty funky with some great views.  Unfortunately we couldn't stay longer as I'm to see my brother next weekend when he has time off and we had a very long way to go.

Palace in Liechtenstein

Cycling finish line

Heidi House

Ines and I at the Cycling

 Hayden Roulston on the left

From Ines's we travelled through Austria including the Tirol region where we went over  an Alpine Pass to the head of the Lech River.  Again the heat was getting up there, when  we got to the top of the pass the views were great and the temperature ideal so we stayed for about 45 mins sitting out taking it in.  Down the other side we passed Austrian ski resort towns and beautiful countryside before we hiked up to an Austrian castle called Ehrenberg by Reutte (in the woodland by the castle we saw a red squirrel YAY).

Austrian Alps

 Ehrenberg Castle

So that gets you to about a fortnight ago. Oh and I'm posting this on the 30th my 31st Birthday, what an old man.

Bavarian Alps

Sorry for the long delay once again but we are having significant difficulty with getting on the internet and we've been very busy.  Firstly we hit our usual Sunday snag in Germany of everything being closed, leaving us little to do but wander the town of Garmish-Partenkirchen. Then we spent the afternoon relaxing and this is when the hailstorm I mentioned last time hit.

Hail looking like snow in Garmish

Monday seems to be our fix the van day, so for the 3rd Monday in a row we were seeking help. This time it was to do the front brake pads, as their time was up. So after a bit of trooping in the rain and several rejections, we're too busy, can't do high-top vans, only do lorries we were pointed in the direction of a garage that could do vans and perhaps concerningly could fit us in that day. Anyway after initial high hopes these were quickly dashed as our van seemed to be handed over to the lowly boy of the garage for inspection. Whom immediately managed to snap the drivers door handle off. I can only assume he figured it worked like many modern ones that you pull. There also seemed to be much derision about the age/condition/general state of the van between the mechanics which annoyed us. However we were not in much of a position to be choosy. Unfortunately we had to kill about 5 hours in a town we were already finished with really. We really felt a connection with our friends Emad and Erin that travelled last year as they had mechanical problems which laid them up several times. We felt very sorry for them and ourselves, Although substantially lighter on Euros after a little while driving with lovely new brakes we felt more positive and reassured again. However Nicky is getting somewhat fed up with our little maintenance diversions.

Oh it was cold and showery again so no surprises there then. Another problem has been that some of the rain has been so heavy and persistent that a couple of known and some new leaks have reared their heads, causing much annoyance and angst. So the next morning we made a slow start waiting for the weather to improve before heading into Schloss (Palace) Linderhof. We waited because it has a large area of parkland and we were rewarded by improving weather and a fairly dry visit. At Linderhof (one of Mad King Ludwig II castles, like the Neuschwanstein which is the 'Disney Castle') you have to go on a 20-25 minute guided tour on timed tickets. Even on a Tuesday the tours we fairly busy. The guide was rather robotic and dispassionate in her delivery, sort of like she was saying the say thing for the 1,000th time which was a shame. The interior was small but luxurious and a fine example of the Roccoco style, despite Ludwig II financial problems there is a large amount of original furnishings which was good. This seemed to be rare in England where so frequently the majority of original items had been sold historically and sites and usually furnished with suitable pieces from the period. However the grounds of Linderhof are free and in many ways are equally interesting, so when spent a few hours looking around. Of note, for me, we saw a wild deer and there was a small braided river bordering the park which was fun to see and photograph.

Schloss Linderhof

After Linderhof we started toward the main attraction Neuschwanstein. We took a route that took us back into Austria where we found the most beautiful lake called the Plansee. At Neuschwanstein you pay to go on a 30 minute tour inside, but to go up to and into the inner courtyard is free, so as the interior would largely be in the roccoco style as we saw in Linderhof and the cost is substantial we walked up, looked around, got the good view from Marienbrucke and came back down. Then we decided to check out a nearby lake, which turned out to be a masterstroke as it was beautiful and a great place to have lunch then walk and sit on the shore in the sun, yes the sun returned and with it the heat YAY. There were lots of horses in the field and some had foals. You get the picture it was all very nice and we never wanted to leave. Unfortunately, there is a little story that goes with this trip to the lake, we were using a little backroad just outside of Hohenschwangau. Essentially there is a road which as the houses end turns to gravel and then it is gravel for about maybe 1km before it gets back closer to civilisation and it is sealed again. There is a walking/cycling track adjacent but many people clearly were walking on this ROAD!!. A lady late 50's/early 60's was walking 3 dogs all loose, I was driving quite slowly and edged to side giving ample room but she showed no inclination to take the several feet of space provided rather she started much gesturing the I should be turning around and going back. Which we returned which much gesturing that we were going on and pointing at the satnav, we had already been down the ROAD once so knew full well where it went. It was one of those you had to be there moments. Unfortunately with the language barrier you don't really known what is in people's heads but at the time we were left a little dumbstruck by the audacity, gumption (if these words describe it correctly) she had to act in the manner she did. You'll all think well you must have been in the wrong place but I'm 100% that was a dead set road.

Neuschwanstein 

Okay so this is just part one of what's happened recently, I've split it up to make it manageable so more to come soon.

Bavaria and Salzburg (Flooding and Sun)

We drove to Bamburg in the pouring rain and on arrival it took some mustering of courage and some lunch to get us out into the rain as we had about a 2km walk to the centre city.  In the end we were pleased we made the effort Bamburg was indeed a very pretty city with lots of interesting things to see and for some of the time the rain even let up.

 Bamburg

Rain pretty much all through the night and the next day! We went to the Nazi Rally Grounds in Nuremburg, where they have a museum.  They were trying to build a very grand and elaborate complex for the sole purpose of holding their annual or biannual conference.  We tried to walk around a bit (the whole site is 11km2) but were rather driven back but the cold and rain.  This evening I had a currywurst which is a German sausage with hot tomato sauce and curry powder.

More rain followed as we moved on to Regensburg, we arrived to find significant activity to fight the flooding, which by now was getting fairly significant.  Again a fairly attractive town which I'm sure shows itself off better on a nice day, but we were rather driven around by the rain.  The old town is a world heritage site and we visited the UNESCO centre for this.  Our second stop of the day was the site of the Dachau Concentration Camp, which was the first one and was used as a model for others.  It was Monday and the museum was closed and as we arrived at 5pm the visitor centre also closed, but we read the panels and walked around.  Just can't describe how cold and wet it was though especially for summer.

Regensburg

The water boiler in the van has been playing up pretty much since we got the van and recently it has been worse which isn't helpful because we need it.  So I went to one place and they were too busy and they mentioned that Truma (the manufacturer) were just outside Munich and another said because Truma was near no-one came to them so they don't have parts.  So we drove the nearly 60kms and the Truma people found that we had a faulty electrical board which meant the ignition for the gas wasn't going.  So we are all patched up again and on our way to Salzburg.

The sun finally arrived, but the best of the day, after a promising start, was ruined in a traffic jam on the autobhan. It took us 2.5 hours to go a 25min drive.  We couldn't get off because it took 2 hours to get to the exit.  We were pleased for the change in weather and the area was nice but we moved on to Salzburg, which we have discovered has very expensive parking and not that much of it (if your a high-sided vehicle), they tend to have parking buildings.  This aside during another superb day of sun we visited the Red Bull Hanger at Salzburg Airport and then we went into town so Nicky could visit The Sound of Music sites.

Traffic Jam

Red Bull Hanger

We did a second day in Salzburg before heading out on the Deutsche Alpenstrasse, a scenic route through the Bavaria Alps.  The scenery has been great and the weather very good until about 10 mins ago when a thunder storm came in with the biggest heaviest hail I've ever seen.  We are currently stopped at the base of Germanys highest peak the Zugspitze nearly 3000m.  We will continue on this Alpenstrasse route for a few more days, coming up is Neuschwanstein Castle (Disney Castle).

Czech Republic

So were in Saxon Switzerland and then we wandered our way North back toward the motorway and found a caravan sales and accessories store in a tiny village and stocked up on toilet chemicals. Since it was the weekend and that meant i couldn't get an oil change in Poland until Monday we decided to go back into Dresden (we initially weren't going to but we ended up only 40mins away again).  So we went to a Deutsche Democratic Republic museum, unfortunately there was no English so we didn't understand but there was lots to look at so took us 2 hours, would have been an all day job if there was English.  This experience though has made us vow to never pay for something if there is no English because we both felt thoroughly unsatisfied.  Then we went into Dresden centre and made a quick walking circuit around some of the main sites (mainly grand Baroque buildings). Mind they have been rebuilt as they were destroyed in the war.

Went to Luban a town of 25,000 in Poland, with a view to checking out to options for getting work done on the van.  We had seen that the town centre was supposed to have a free wifi zone but despite the signage and antenna looking things no joy (very frustrated) also tourist info was closed, so we did a bit of shopping and looked at a few mechanics from the outside.  Very wide range from just a sign on the garage of a private house to fully equipped 3 bay workshop.  So in the morning right on opening we visited the big place and fortunately the first  guy I saw was the only guy in the whole place to speak any English.  Luban as a place was thoroughly uninspiring.  So by this stage I had decided to just try an oil and filter change, which was desperately required, to test the waters with the Polish before thinking about anything more significant.  It was an interesting experience, there must have been about 4 guys in the bay (2 that knew what they were doing and 2 that seemed perhaps minimally trained) with nothing but my oil change to do, it still took as long as 1 person.  I was able to watch everything that happened which was good for my piece of mine and as the oil filler cap can be a bit tricky I actually had to get it off for them. Anyway it was a success in that it was much cheaper than England. Oil done we made for the Czech border immediately.  On the way through Czech Republic towards Prague we decided to stop at a random tourist location on the satnav (GPS) turned out to be super cool http://www.mesto-frydlant.cz/dr-en/1048-zakupy-chateau.html since there was no English we had no idea what was going on but I saw open gates and made Nicky follow me in.  It looked like the building was closed for good but turns out if it was open (which it is the other 6 days a week) we could have seen something really special.  As it was we were still very happy as you can stroll the gardens and grounds for free and in the moat there was an enclosure with a Bear in it, really unexpected. It was rather sad though as it paced rather repetitively which made us concerned for it's psychological state.

The roads in Poland were the strangest thing, they seem to be getting a lot of new seal done recently. In some places you have a really good road but a strangely low speed limit which the locals seem to ignore. Unfortunately in between these good areas you have a lot of roads that are just a mass of patch ups it looks like they haven't been resealed in decades. Not back roads these are the main roads from town to town, they are on my large scale Europe touring atlas, there isn't another way to go.  Also I have seen a lot of aggressive driving throughout Ireland and Europe but in Poland I nearly saw a head on crash as a car just completed a pass on a blind corner before the car that had just passed me arrived, they were both travelling fast and would have been nasty, Nicky and I were both thankful nothing came of it.

We had a very successful day in Prague which must be one of the most beautiful and clean cities in a Europe.  I hope we haven't peaked but that will be a highlight.  We travelled in and out 17 mins on the tram 1 euro each way per person and despite going within 30 mins of peak hour each time there was plenty of room.  It was a lot like Amsterdam, schlepping around looking at what there is to see but for 8 hours instead of 2. The Tram dropped us right outside a grand beautiful theatre building, which turned out to actually be the second most grand and beautiful theatre in Prague (get where this is going).  We then headed for our first destination Prague Castle and stumbled across Wallstein Palace and Gardens the home of the Czech Senate. This is something I knew but had forgotten and was found by our new strategy of if you see an open door or gate you have to go and find out what is on the other side.  Then we completed our journey to the Castle which was pretty cool, we saw their guard changing ceremony they do each hour.  It was pretty simple, the best bit was that since it was bright out the new guards came out in regulation sunglasses which weren't dissimilar to aviators.

Wallstein Palace

Prague Castle Guards

This was followed by much more walking in the Mala Strana (embassy district), the USA had a bunch of guards and cars were being inspected down the street.  Then across Charles Bridge and on to the Nove Mesto (New Town).  We sort of put the map away and walked by instinct generally in the New Town which was nice.  We checked out a couple of bookshops that included English language travel but didn't find anything we really wanted.
Then off the the Old town and the town square, again all very beautiful but we were getting weary.  Our next stop was the convent of St Agnes which is now a medieval art gallery.  For a change Nicky was much slower than me reading everything  being a right art geek. Finished off be seeing the Old-New Synagogue, which we initially walked right by and then had to double back.
Interesting Czech factoid, Beer is much cheaper than soft drink here. you can get 0.5L beer for just over 1 EURO and 0.25L coke 1.5 EURO so 3 times more.  Unfortunately Czech have a 0 limit for drink driving which makes it impossible to indulge really.

Following on the Beer theme our next destination we Plzen the home of Pilsner.  The main thing to do here is go to a Brewery Museum and visit the current brewery of Pilsner Urquell.  In maybe the 16th Century I think all the householders in Plzen (within the city walls) were granted the right to brew beer, a special privilege usually. This resulted in 290 Brewhouses, over time the beers produced in Plzen reduced in quality as raw material quality and skill diminished such that in the 19th Century the city officials declared a large amount unfit for consumption.  This caused a large number of the brewing families to club together to create essentially a brewing company and between about 1842 and 1912 4 such companies were created.  After 1912 they gradually merged until there was only one company left.
At the brewery we went on a tour and saw the bottling machines, the raw ingredients, the brewhouse both old and new, saw a video and visited the old cellars (9kms of tunnels) where they still ferment a small amount in the traditional way.  Here we got to try some unpasteurised unfiltered beer.

From Plzen we have headed North West further into West Bohemia, in Plzen we bought a map which has significant buildings of West Bohemia on it, so we are trying to see lots of them.  Unfortunately the weather has really turned again and it has been cold and rainy (when will i be ever able to pack away my jacket!!!).  The new day dawned to even heavier persistent rain than yesterday :-(! We are just into Germany now in Bavaria, we were following a scenic route but since visibility has been so poor that was a bit useless.  Quick walk around a Bischofsgrun and then a stop at the Bayreuth Theatre and on to Bamburg (apparently the jewel of Franconia).

Various West Bohemia Sites