Castles, Beer & Chocolate

Reims

2008-08-13T11:39:00.002+02:00

After touring the fortress, Wolfgang, Rhea, and I set off for Reims - the heart of the Champagne district. We spent the afternoon taking an audio tour of the cathedral and Bishop's Palace, and then sat down to another delicious French meal. I really struggle with French menus, however I was determined to try something I'd never had before, and with Rhea's translational assistance, I settled on something to do with pig's trotters for entree, and duck for main course. It's a real shame that I don't like pate, because every restaurant offers their chef's unique fois gras as the specialty of the house. Anyway, the pigs trotter dish was interesting - I expected something like a pork knuckle, but instead it was more like a slice of terrene with lots of gelatinous cartilege, scattered with pine nuts and doused in oil. It was OK, but I won't be ordering it again.

After spending the night in a cosy little hotel in Reims with a manager who looked like a midget version of Aunty Jack and had what appeared to be prison tattoo initials down her arm, we went to the Martel champagnery next door to see how real champagne is made. Tours were offered in French or English, however Wolfgang spotted a German number plate in the employee carpark, and managed to get a somewhat reluctant German speaking tour guide - a German girl who had just started some sort of internship a few days earlier. Fortunately, the video presentation was quite informative - explaining the process of making champagne. The tour was interesting, particularly the bits where we all groped around in the dark trying to find lightswitches for the various rooms of the cellar. There was nothing particularly interesting about the bunker-like cellar containing steel tanks and pallets of unlabelled bottles, however there were a couple of rooms where the bottles are held in cage-like containers that automatically rotate on a couple of axes (not that you can actually see the rotation, it only happens periodically).

The tour ended back in the shop with a tasting of three Champagnes. (This was good - we were given three proper glasses of champagne each, not the little tasters you get at vineyards!) The Martel company produces several labels, including the Charles de Cazanove. The prices were all pretty reasonable - about what you'd pay in Australia for good local bubbly. I suspect the prices at Pommery, Veuve Cliquot and the other big name cellars may have been a bit higher.

In Belgium, just over the border from Aachen there is a restaurant called Cafe Frite that specialises in French Fries (Belgian style, which means crisp, chunky beer battered fries). However, this is no "chip shop" takeaway joint. It has a clever gimmick of offering a variety of Champagne and other fine wines along with it's chip-oriented dinner menu. And the chips are really good - Rhea and I stopped there for lunch on the way back to Tuebingen.

I don't actually have any pictures from Reims, but there are plenty of pictures on Google Maps - click here! I've also added little blue placemarkers to the maps for the hotel and cathedral.

View Larger Map

WWI Battlefields of Verdun

2008-08-13T11:00:00.004+02:00

View Larger Map with local photos

About an hour after we left Pont-a-Bar, we cycled into Sedan. Rhea's father was already at the hotel/fortress to meet us, and after a quick freshen-up, we locked away the bikes and set off to see the battlefields of Verdun.

Local attitudes to the wars of the past vary significantly around Europe. In Germany, the wars of the 20th century tend only to be mentioned very briefly and matter-of-factly in relevant museum exhibits. In France, and this region in particular, the First World War is still holds great significance, even 100 years later.

The forests outside Verdun have been preserved as a war memorial, and are scattered with war cemetaries - with a respectful distance between the separate German and French cemetaries. Old bunkers and gun emplacements are still intact, and the old trenchlines and craters are still feintly visible in the contours of the ground within the dense forests.

One of the most significant monuments in this is the Ossuary, which was built very soon after WWI, and holds the skeletal remains of thousands of unidentified soldiers from both sides. Outside, a vast lawn cemetary (French only) is segregated into Christian and Muslim graves, each decorated with a small rose bush. Many of the soldiers appear to have been from colonial forces, so there were many Muslims among the dead.

Another interesting monument is the Bayonet Trench - the preserved remains of a French trench that collapsed during battle, burying the soldiers and leaving only their bayonets protruding from the soil. A sandstone monument was built over the mound of soil with the protruding bayonets, and it has been preserved as a grave of unknown French soldiers. Rusty hilts of bayonets are still visible, with the blades broken off or rusted away, however it appears that there has been some restorative work since they are now protruding from clumps of concrete.

All in all, it's an interesting place to see, and the atmosphere tends to be one of reverence and quiet reflection, as opposed to the morbid and unsettling sense you get at places like the Cambodian Killing Fields.

Sedan

2008-08-13T10:54:00.004+02:00

After a long day of wandering around Verdun, Rhea, Wolfgang and I returned to the hotel/fortress at Sedan to meet Gabi and Karlheinz, who had arrived during the afternoon.
We enjoyed a delicious modern French meal in the restaurant at the hotel, accompanied by equally delicious champagne and bordeaux.

It was all very indulgent, although it had been a celebration of sorts, since Rhea hadn't seen her family for ages, and it was her birthday a couple of days earlier.
After checking out the next morning, we finally took the tour of the fortress. The photos you see here are all of the fortress. The hotel is in the modern-looking light-coloured building with lots of small windows. The interior of the hotel is tastefully decorated with modern furniture and fittings that blend really well with the historical architecture. It was a great place to stay, with friendly, professional staff who spoke French and English, it was well worth the 100 euro rate.

River Meuse at 5 knots - Part 8

2008-08-12T12:18:00.005+02:00

The final instalment of photos from the cruise. Rhea took most of these pics, and I've just borrowed them since they're better than mine!

The final photo shows the charter company's base at Pont-a-Bar on the Canal d'Ardennes.

We decided to get creative with our logistics for last couple of days. We had enough time to overshoot Pont-a-Bar and travel all the way up to Sedan for a day. We figured out that if we could somehow leave most of our luggage in Sedan, we could actually cycle from Pont-a-Bar to Sedan the next morning. So after a reconnaisance expedition to find the Chateau Fort and confirm that they would store our bags, we returned again in the afternoon with the suitcase and a crate full of surplus cooking supplies, leaving us with just a couple of small backpacks for the following day.

We then cruised back to the base at Pont-a-Bar, and enjoyed our final evening on the boat.

We settled the account the next morning, and Rhea made a great effort of negotiating in French to try and get them to cover the cost of the towels etc that were not on board. In the end, it worked out that the paperwork we had was from the booking agent, and was incorrect. We still need to chase the booking agent about that...

Anyway, it turned out that the fuel charge was less than stated on the booking agent's contract, so we ended up paying the amount we were trying to negotiate anyway!

And then we set off to Sedan, expecting to find a paved towpath along the river with no vehicular traffic. Unfortunately, the towpath for this particular section of the river is a grassy goat track, and not really suitable for a couple of heavily loaded road bikes. So we followed the main road into Sedan - about 9km from Pont-a-Bar - seriously hoping that we didn't wind up on a motorway with our bicycles!!!
View Larger Map

River Meuse at 5 knots - Part 7

2008-08-07T13:56:00.003+02:00

There is a diverse range of wildlife to observe along the river. We were often visited by cows, and the river seems to be full of fish despite the vast number of fishermen who spend their holidays camped at regular intervals along the riverbank with their 6m long fishing poles! At this time of year, most of the water fowl had downy young in tow - swan families (two adults and a cygnet) were a particular highlight, showing absolutely no fear of the boats coming towards them, and simply dodging the bows at the last minute. We were entertained by a duck family at one of the marinas - mother duck and a dozen ducklings who all took off in different directions to circumnavigate each new boat they discovered, despite the noisy quacking of the adult duck trying to regroup them.

(The bottom 3 photos are Rhea's)

Meuse River at 5 knots - Part 6

2008-08-07T13:23:00.004+02:00

There is a vast variety of boats on the river, and every day we seemed to discover another new and interesting vessel. Downstream from Givet there is a noticeable amount of commercial traffic, most likely associated with the slate and "blue metal" stone quarries of the region. Further upstream, most of the boats were privately owned, with a very small proportion of charter boats in the mix.
Most days we encountered Dutch and Belgian flagged private cruisers and barges, as well as a couple of German vessels, one or two British, and even one boat crewed by Kiwis. The boats themselves ranged from 100 year old converted steel river tugs, to old Dutch sailing barges, a dismasted 18 foot trailer sailer, and various European river cruisers. We even saw a couple of shallow draft blue-water yachts making their way through the river system with their masts on gallows on deck.
After getting back to Tuebingen, I decided to check out the cost of some of these old barges - it's ridiculous! A 30' to 40' steel barge roughly 100 years old, with running engine, but in need of total fit-out costs roughly 30,000 to 40,000 Euros! To get anything inhabitable costs more like 90,000 Euros. For anyone interested in spending more than a week or so on the rivers, the best option would be to purchase a shallow draft cruising yacht and dismast it!

Meuse River at 5 knots - Part 5

2008-08-03T13:21:00.003+02:00

A little further upstream from Givet is a town called Chooz. Chooz is interesting for two reasons:

The nuclear power plant lies in stark contrast to the rustic villages that surround it.
Boat traffic bypasses the meander of the river where the power plant sits via a canal running through a long, dark tunnel!

I had never before driven a boat through a tunnel. Locks on either side of the tunnel ensure that traffic can only move one way at a time, which is just as well since the tunnel is not much wider than the boat. So after a bit of tinkering to get the navigation lights working (thanks to a blown inline fuse for which we had no spare), we set off into the tunnel. It's a bit like one of those Disney canal boat rides, except you're under your own propulsion. On the river, it's common practice to leave fenders out all the time, since you need them for the locks, so nudging the sides isn't a serious concern, and narrow canals and tunnels also have timber rails just below the waterline to provide further protection.

Below is a "Google Map" showing the entire course we followed - all the way to Sedan and then back to Pont a Bar.

View Larger Map

Meuse River at 5 knots - Part 4

2008-08-02T11:20:00.007+02:00

Day-to-day life on the river is pretty laid back. We clocked a fairly constant top speed of 1 km every 7 minutes travelling upstream (the wiers reduce the river flow so that it is almost imperceptible), which works out at about 4.6 knots. At this speed, we needed to spend about 5 hours a day underway (including locking time) to make it to Pont a Bar in good time. This was pretty easy going, since we typically chose our evening moorings about 4 km downstream from the next town of interest.

After a leisurely breakfast, we'd typically pull out our stakes and make our way into the next down to stretch our legs ashore to find a boulangerie, an artisan patisserie, and once or twice a friterie for some authentic French Fries. Patisseries in France usually make miniature versions of their various tarts and cakes, which enabled us to sample a variety of these delicious treats without being overly gluttonous!

Most towns have either a public quay or marina where you can tie up for a few hours for free. Overnight stays often cost a few euros, but you can usually access the shore power, tapwater, and sometimes even showers and laundry facilities. Apart from topping up the freshwater tank every few days, we didn't really need the other facilities, as our boat had a gas-fired instant hot water service, and a reasonable handheld-shower arrangement.

Our first couple of stops were Hastiere and Givet, Givet being the most memorable and interesting due to the fortress and associated ruins that overlook the city.

Meuse River at 5 knots - Part 3

2008-08-01T16:22:00.006+02:00

Negotiating the locks was interesting. The first few locks in Belgium were geared towards commercial shipping, which allowed for half a dozen pleasure craft to lock through simultaneously, with a full time lockmaster managing the operations. Further upstream, the locks became much smaller and automated. We used what appeared to be a garage door remote control to signal our approach to the lock, and once inside used a push-rod behind the ladder to activate the process. The biggest challenge when going upstream is getting a mooring line onto the bollards - which might be on top of the lock wall 4-5 metres above the deck in some of the deeper locks! This usually requires the careful transfer of a crewmember to a slippery steel ladder with mooring line in hand.

We encountered a couple of automated locks that were out of service, but a lockmaster would typically appear within 20 minutes of pressing the intercom button, or calling the helpline.

We typically passed through about 5 locks each day, stopping off at various riverside towns along the way to buy fresh baguettes and sample the local patisserie specialties.

Meuse River at 5 knots - Part 2

2008-07-31T15:20:00.004+02:00

Mooring on the river is a little different from coastal anchorage. The boat came equipped with two steel spikes (half-meter lengths of re-bar with one end ground into a point), a hammer, and a gangplank. The idea is to find a nice patch of riverbank that isn't totally covered in blackberry bush and stinging nettle, gently nudge the boat into the bank, and deploy a crew member ashore with hammer and spikes to set up fore and aft moorings.

As a result it became quite common to wake up to the sound of cattle grazing alongside the boat, peering in through the galley window at us while we prepared breakfast. Fortunately for the rather tasty looking Belgian Blues who joined us for breakfast, the boat came with a very small fridge, and there was no way the two of us could get through so much beef in one week!

The downside of mooring to the banks is the amount of wildlife that comes aboard. Within hours of mooring, we'd find half a dozen spiders (just harmless little European spiders) busy spinning their webs on the handrails and windows. Combined with the mud that inevitably comes aboard from the cow paddocks during mooring procedures and shoreside excursions, we soon gave up trying to keep the decks looking clean.

Meuse River at 5 knots - Part 1

2008-07-31T14:21:00.007+02:00

I'm back in Tuebingen again after a couple of weeks exploring Belgium and France. We chartered a canal boat in Dinant (a little way outside Liege), and spent a week working our way upstream to Pont a Bar, a bridge in the middle of nowhere on the Canal d'Ardennes, just outside Sedan.

Dinant is a very beautiful old town, and a perfect starting point for a trip like this. Gabi and Karlheinz (Rhea's aunt and uncle) very generously drove us down to the Dinant from family's holiday home in Hauset. Gabi and Karlheinz were a tremendous help to us, particularly with Karlheinz interpreting the briefing by the Frenchman from the charter company who spoke only French, after which Karlheinz and Gabi made a last minute dash to the local supermarket to buy essential items like towels, soap, toilet paper, etc. which our information pack clearly indicated were part of the package, but were nowhere to be seen. Our questions about their whereabouts were met with a very frustrating French shrug....

After getting everything squared away, we said our "goodbyes" and nudged the good ship Cheval Bayart out of the marina in search of the first night's anchorage. (According to Gabi, Cheval Bayart is a reference to a legendary horse, however, I think it actually translates literally as "horses bathtub", which is exactly how this little boat handled).

It's Getting Cold

2007-10-24T17:54:00.000+02:00

It actually snowed here on Sunday morning. Here's a snap of Rhea's car taken from the balcony. Of course, it's not cold enough for the snow to last more than half an hour or so...

Schloss Lichtenstein

2007-10-14T19:01:00.000+02:00

Unbelievably, I only have two more weekends in Germany before I have to fly home. Our major excursion this weekend was to Schloss Lichtenstein - about 45 minutes from Tuebingen. This is an 18th century replica of a medieval castle. The original owner of this castle was inspired by the castle in a piece of fiction, and decided to build his own in the same style on the site of an older ruin.

Unfortunately they do now allow photography inside the castle, which is a real shame because its most striking feature is the murals and frescoes symbolising the owner's family tree and various pieces of prose and poetry.

Bodensee aka Lake Constance

2007-09-24T16:46:00.001+02:00

Meersburg
1.5 hours drive south from Tuebingen lies the Bodensee, known in English as Lake Constance. This stretch of water is shared between Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, and in fact the Swiss border bisects the city of Konstanz. The Bodensee is the largest lake in Europe, and the source of the Rhein River.

This is another beautiful part of Europe. The lake is busy with all kinds of boating activities, ranging from pedalboats and rowing dinghies up to keelboat cruising and racing, and passenger and vehicular ferries. Unfortunately, a local boating licence is required for any vessel bigger than a pedalboat, and boat rentals are not exactly cheap.

We left the car at Meersburg to check out the old castle there, which claims to be the oldest in Germany (although it appears a lot more modern as the outer parts of the building are only a couple of hundred years old). We then took the ferry across to Konstanz to go for a wander.

Meersburg was buzzing with a German Red Cross exercise. All the DRK units from the region were out in force with simulated fires (complete with the biggest smoke machine I've seen), car accidents, motorbike accidents, etc. They really do this well - the "victims" were made up with very realistic (latex and stage makeup) injuries, and they used wrecked cars and horribly realistic mutilated dummies to simulate accident scenes. In hindsight, I wish I had some photos to post, however it seemed to ghoulish at the time to photograph the dummy with its head squashed between the bumper of the car and pillar of a building, with blood and brains splattered liberally across the scene.

The DRK also had information stands, showcasing their equipment, and most interestingly, their sniffer dog training program. They train labradors to search for survivors at disaster sites (building collapses, aircraft wrecks, etc).

Konstanz
Konstanz is just another pretty little city on the border between Germany and Switzerland. I didn't find anything particularly unique or noteworthy about the local architecture, but the harbour entrance is quite pretty. With it's little lighthouse and rotating statue.

The statue is apparently quite controversial - she is thought to be exposing too much flesh.

The Organ Grinder
Organ grinders are a fairly common site throughout Europe, with their little animated dancing monkey (or in this case, conductor). This guy is apparently blind. The dog is a guide dog, and the woman on the steps is either an organ grinder groupie, or his wife - all I know is that she followed him home.

Of all the organ grinders I've seen so far, this is my favourite. It had a nice tone to it, and a little glockenspiel with wonderful clarity. Nevertheless, I don't think I'll be pursuing a career in this field...

Downtown Tuebingen

2007-09-24T16:34:00.000+02:00

I found the time to take a few more pictures of Tuebingen the other day. Just a couple though...

Tuebingen Town Hall (Rathaus) and plaza.

The Neckar River, with a glimpse of the Neckar Island on the left (a small island with a pedestrian bridge and park facilities), and the houses leading up to Hoelderlinturm.

Hoelderlinturm and Stockerkahn. Hoelderlinturm is the name of the turret on the left, which was home to the German poet Friedrich Hoelderlin. I don't know much about him, except that his work wasn't appreciated until after his death, and that he spent his life as a guest of his friend who owned this building while he struggled with some form of mental illness.

The Stockerkahn is a type of punt. The Neckar is very shallow (a couple of meters at most), and for a few Euros, a bloke will take you on a lap of the island in one of these punts.

What's In The Oven???

2007-09-17T17:46:00.000+02:00

My latest hobby revolves around Rhea's neat little hand-me-down combination grill/microwave/convection oven. At first glance, it doesn't look particularly exciting. The display is almost dead, leaving the user to guess what settings they have entered, and the oven doesn't quite fit on the shelf, so it's propped up with a couple of stainless steel egg cups... We have a manual, with instructions in several languages, but it seems to overlook a few things, such as what the buttons actually do, and what the hieroglyphs mean. Nevertheless, I've been turning out some pretty tasty meals in this little oven.

Flammkuchen

1 thin, crispy pizza base
sour cream
finely diced soft bacon ("Speck")
finely chopped onions

Spread a thin layer of sour cream over the pizza base, and scatter the onion and bacon over the top. Bake in a hot oven until the base is crisp, and the cream golden. Or better still, buy the ready-made product from the supermarket! This is a specialty from the Alsace region, and makes an excellent light meal.

For all German recipes, it's important to use the right type of bacon. German bacon comes in rashers, diced, or fillets. All cuts are available either smoked or raw. The main difference between German and Australian bacon seems to be that German bacon is softer and meatier than the dry equivalent in Australia. You can buy "speck" (German bacon) from some delicatessens in Sydney.

Rotisserie Grilled Pork Fillet with Smoky BBQ Marinade

1 large pork fillet
1 packet of smoky BBQ sauce
1 jam jar lid to improvise a replacement for the missing rotisserie bracket

Marinate the pork in the sauce for 24 hours. Thread the pork onto the rotisserie skewer and secure with the attached prongs. Place a baking dish half full of water under the skewer, and grill for 1 hour until the pork is cooked through. After 20 minutes, spread some more marinade on the pork. Do this every 10-15 minutes until the meat is ready. Serve with buttered baby potatoes and red capsicum lightly sauteed in olive oil.

Do not use the "Autocook" feature or microwave settings with the improvised rotisserie bracket - sparks will fly!!!

Asian Salad with rare "False Fillet" of Beef

1 false fillet of beef (looks like fillet, but is larger and has sinew through the middle...)
salad greens
finely sliced cucumber
1/4 of a red onion
3 tomatoes
a bunch of mint
a bunch of basil
a pinch of chopped lemon grass
1 fresh lime
chilli
sea salt (coarse)

Rub the beef in sea salt and stand for a few hours. Grill in the oven on the high shelf until the juices start to appear on top. Turn and grill for another 5-10 minutes. Remove from grill and rest for 5 minutes.

Mix the salad greens in a bowl with the tomato, cucumber, and herbs. Carve the beef into fine slices and place on top of the salad. Sprinkle the onions and chilli over the beef, and squeeze the lime over the beef and salad.

Grilled Argentinian Beef Steak with Seasoning

Grill the steaks on the high shelf of the oven, turning once when the juices show. Sprinkle with Argentinian steak seasoning prior to serving.

Sonntag Broetchen (Sunday Bread Rolls)

1 tin of vacuum packed bread dough

This is fun - pop open the tin and 6 little dough cylinders explode out of it onto your baking paper. Roll them into some semblance of balls, score the tops with a knife, and pop them into the oven (preheat to 180C). 12 minutes later, you find 6 delicious, fresh bread rolls in the oven!!!

Of course, I'm also cooking up lots of interesting things on the stove, but I really find this little oven more challenging and therefore more interesting to use!

Berlin

2007-09-15T12:49:00.000+02:00

Berlin is, not surprisingly, a very big city. Our first day in Berlin was slightly complicated by pouring rain. It bucketed down, prompting us to seek out museums and attractions close to subway stations. Berlin has an excellent commuter rail network, and this served us well.

We managed to visit the Brandenburg Gate and holocaust memorial before the downpour began. The holocaust memorial is a strange sculpture or piece of installation art - a massive forest of concrete obelisks, all the same width and breadth but of varying heights, geometrically aligned in a matrix over a shallow depression in the ground. The effect as you wander through it is quite strange, and the only obvious connection to the holocaust seems to be the fact that the holocaust museum is located underground beneath the monument. The queue at the museum was ridiculously long, so we wandered off towards the Bundesreich, hoping to watch the impending storm from the glass observation dome atop the building. Foiled again! Yet another ridiculously long queue extended outside the building, so we set off to the Pergamon Museum, which is when the rain really started....

Plan B: Museums next to subway stations...

Haus am Checkpoint Charlie is a fascinating museum in a building right next to the old checkpoint. The American guardhouse (or possibly a reconstruction thereof) sits in the
middle of the street, complete with some enterprising people dressed as soldiers for tourists to take photos at the checkpoint. This museum documents the history of the Berlin Wall, and many of the escape attempts that took place throughout its history. Apart from the museum, there is hardly any evidence that the city was once so radically divided, complete with tanks and armed soldiers to assert the division and terms of agreement.

Cultural Affairs

The Blue Man Group is currently playing in Berlin, and having enjoyed the show so much in Boston, we decided to check it out. We managed to get a couple of student tickets (I love my TAFE card - only one museum has rejected it so far!) about a third of the way across the very front row of the stalls. These seats come with rain ponchos to protect the audience from the paint and food debris that might escape the stage... The show has been modified quite a bit since I saw it last, and the voice-overs have of course been translated. It's still an awesome theatrical experience, with some amazing visual effects and the BMG trademark percussion performances.

Just down the road from the Blue Man Theater (the German word for "Theatre"...) is the Sony Centre - an enormous steel and glass plaza containing a big Sony shop, lots of upmarket restaurants and cafes, and a cinema. The menu at the Australian restaurant looked OK, but I'm not in Germany to eat Australian food...

The Pergamon Museum is quite interesting. This purpose-built museum houses an extensive collection of antiquities excavated by German archaeologists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including the enormous Pergamon altar and the city gate of Miletus. Wikipedia has a good write-up on the museum here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pergamon_Museum

We visited a few of Rhea's friends in Berlin, which took us to the outer suburbs and the to the shore of the Muggelsee. The Muggelsee is a large, sprawling lake which serves as an aquatic playground for the people of Berlin. Little marinas around the shores of the lake provide berths for small sports cruisers and even moderate sized keelboats (Bavarias seem particularly popular here).

The river tour of Berlin was the final hilight of this brief visit. The surprisingly long riverboats run regular cruises for tourists, passing many of the historical buildings in the city. It's interesting to see how many of the old stone buildings still show signs of bullet holes in the masonry. It's hardly surprising given the events of WWII, but it's still strange to see.

And that's about all you can cram into two days in Berlin, although neither of us was particularly disappointed about heading across to the holiday house in Belgium where we could relax in comfort and take a break from the daily routine of traipsing through crowded cities and museums!

Medieval Dresden

2007-09-15T12:48:00.000+02:00

As luck would have it, our visit to Dresden coincided with the Dresden Stadtfest, which involved turning the riverside promenade into a row of small beer gardens and a small stage where various folk singers entertained the drinkers. Of far more interest to us was the medieval market which occupied the plaza between numerous historical buildings.

Rustic stalls with appropriately costumed vendors were peddling all sorts of produce and craftwork, ranging from carved wooden ornaments and toys to fruit wines and fresh juices, mead, beer, bread, and hearty stews and roasts. I couldn't walk past the spit roasted pig without stopping to taste a few slices, accompanied by some sweet sauerkraut.

The most curious sight in this market had to be the "medieval merry-go-round". Strictly for small children, this ride was "father-powered" - the father of one of the riders could earn a free ride for his child by climbing into the "giant hamster wheel" and walking, causing a series of belts and pulleys to make the ride turn. Very clever.

A Scenic Tour of Italy - Venice to La Spezia

2007-09-09T18:50:00.000+02:00

The driving directions from Venice to La Spezia are pretty simple – jump on the motorway, drive to Ferarra, on to Bologne, through to Lucca, and then up to La Spezia. About 350km, which should take about 4 hours. However, to break the monotony of the motorways, see a bit more of the countryside, and save about 20 euros in motorway tolls, we decided to take a scenic route which I found in our European road atlas. It looked a bit more direct than the motorways, and promised some beautiful views of northern Italy.

What I didn’t count on was:

The road atlas doesn’t show all the minor roads, making navigation a little more challenging
The road atlas doesn’t show all the towns, so unless the local signs indicate a town that is on our map, choosing the right route becomes guesswork
Small Italian villages like to have festivals on weekends, and close off the route through the centre of town, since the locals can find their way around the roadblock using unmarked roads.
The slightly wavy line indicating a winding road on the road atlas is in reality a wonderfully windy, narrow road that motorcyclists love, but one that confines motorists to second gear and inevitably induces motion sickness in the navigator.

In spite of all the obstacles set before us, we made it all the way across Italy to the hotel on half a tank of fuel, in about 8 hours (non-stop), only to find that I’d made a mistake with the on-line booking. We were confirmed for 1/10/07, however we arrived on 1/9/07, and they were booked out. Fortunately, the friendly duty manager phoned around to find us a room somewhere in the district (many hotels are booked out due to the holiday season), and finally came up with one down the road for 80 euros – nearly twice what we had budgeted. Fortunately this setback was just for one night, and we’re now settled into the much nicer (although cat-scented) venue we’d originally hoped for – for about 50 euros per night.

Of course, as you can see from the photos, the drive was worth it! The variety of scenery, from mountains, to farmland, to marble quarries and sales yards lining the streets was all fascinating!

Our room overlooks a valley of vineyards and possibly olive trees. 5 minutes drive through the mountain gets us to some picturesque beach-side villages, with sandy beaches and clean water to swim in.

Venice

2007-09-09T18:29:00.000+02:00

Venice is a very special city. I had never realised that Venice really is just a few city blocks built right in the water on a handful of mostly submerged islands. Some of the footpaths along the grand canal seem to be permanently submerged, the rendering on many older buildings is badly damaged up to the first floor, and a few tall buildings canting towards each other above narrow alley ways or minor canals are all reminders of the fragility of this city. We spent the day getting lost in the labyrinth of passages and bridges, regaining our bearings by jumping on the nearest vaporetto (commuter ferry), and peering through shop windows. Venice is probably a wonderful place to shop if you have a princely budget and like extravagant clothing, ornaments and jewellery, in which case you would probably hire a gondola for a day (about 70 euro per hour!) and a personal guide to show you around. We settled for window shopping and jostling our way aboard the crowded vaporettos to extract exceptional value from our 13 euro 12 hour tickets!

“I don’t queue”

Rhea and I have adopted this motto, as neither of us have the patience to stand in line with a hundred other tourists just to go into a crowded museum, church, or whatever they’re waiting for. Unless it’s something we both definitely want to see, we admire the outside of the building, and move on to something that is not on the itinerary of the tour groups.

And so our tour of Venice was almost certainly unorthodox. We wandered from island to island through the places where real Venetians live, around their houses and schools, the produce market, watched the daily commercial routines of goods deliveries and postal service, and poked our heads into a couple of churches and cathedrals. Most German cathedrals are free to enter, but you can pay for guided tours, brochures, etc. Not so in Venice – it’s another 2.50 to enter each church just to marvel at the artwork. From the doorway, they really didn’t appear any more special than the cathedrals I’ve visited elsewhere in Europe, and last time I checked, the pope was doing pretty well financially, so we saved our money to visit one particular cathedral which Rhea wanted to see. To our surprise, Rhea’s cathedral was probably the only one in Venice with free admission!

Austria to Venice

2007-09-09T18:10:00.001+02:00

They say there are no kangaroos in Austria, but we wouldn’t know. Apart from a few hours wandering around Salzburg (during which it drizzled rain intermittently), we drove from Salzburg to Venice through torrential rain and some hail. The rain was so heavy at times that we couldn’t see the road ahead, which was so slick with water that we were frequently aquaplaning – quite a frightening scenario in a little car on a very fast motorway! The rain eased a little after we left Austria, and cleared to isolated storms as we approached the Italian coast.

First impressions of Italy:

· Lots of flat, green farmland
· Ramshackle farm buildings, that look 300 years old, almost completely ruined on one side, but apparently still inhabited...
· Expensive – it’s almost impossible to find accommodation for less than 25 euros per person per night in the places we’re going.

Dog Culture

2007-09-09T17:54:00.000+02:00

Europeans like to take their dogs to town, and on holidays, and anywhere else they choose to go. This phenomenon is so prevalent that most B&Bs indicate whether pets are welcome (most seem to be OK with small dogs, and some are happy to accommodate large dogs too), there is a surprising number of public drinking bowls for dogs, and dogs are allowed on public transport provided they are suitably restrained by their handler. Surprisingly, the footpaths seem to remain almost perfectly safe, which had me very puzzled in Venice where I didn’t see a single patch of grass – although plenty of signs advertised the penalties for unacceptable behaviour ranging from failing to clean up after your dog to going bare-chested in public...

The only things about this pet culture that seem to be a problem are the people who carry around half a dozen toy-sized dogs in baskets and handbags, and the fact that the corridor of the hotel I’m currently sitting in reeks of cats – although I’ve seen no sign of cats since we arrived.

Life’s Little Essentials – the European Way

2007-09-09T17:44:00.000+02:00

It seems that in Europe has its price – from parking spaces to public amenities. Unless you have a twelve hour bladder, always fill your pockets with spare change before you leave home. (And go before you leave to save a few extra euros!) The protocol varies from place to place. In most bars and restaurants, it is enough that you are paying for your meal drinks, and they very generously allow you to use their facilities free of charge! However, in some restaurants and most public places you will find a white-coated “attendant” next to a little plate on a table in the hallway to the rest rooms. The charge for admission is generally 50 cents (A$0.75), which you usually pay on the way out. If the facilities are not up to your expectations, you leave a little less.

The service centres along the autobahns have a much more equitable system. Every 30km or so you can usually find a service centre which is basically a rest area with a little restaurant or snack bar, and usually a petrol station. One of these franchises provides a great system whereby the entrance to the rest rooms is blocked by an automated turnstile. Put your 50c in the slot, take the coupon it spits out, and you now have access to your choice of clean and well-stocked gents’ or ladies’ facilities. When you’re done, you can present the coupon for a 50c rebate in the restaurant. Perfect!

The final point of interest on the topic of relief is the amazing variation between the porcelain ware across Europe. Of course, American and Australian varieties are essentially the same, with Australia maintaining a permanent low tide, and America staying high (I could never understand how dogs on TV could drink from the bowl until I went to the US). The Germans have their own special design. Instead of placing the drain at the back of the bowl, as with Australian and US models, the drain is at the very front, and kept at low tide. The back of the bowl contains a slightly concave plateau to capture one’s offering, thereby preventing any “splash-back”.

Italy presented yet another variation, which I’ll refer to as the “patented Italian arse bath”. It is like a toilet, only smaller. Half of the Italians I’ve seen so far couldn’t possibly have used it. At first glance it’s a kind of bidet. Then flip up the bowl insert, and you have hinged a ring-seat, with an interesting notch in the middle at the front. Maybe it’s a tool rest? Anyway, you probably have to stay at 80 euro a night hotels in the middle of rural Italy to find this little gem...

Impressions of Eastern Germany

2007-08-28T12:01:00.000+02:00

It has been almost 20 years since "die Wende" - the commencement of the reunification of the DDR (German Democratic (?) Republic - East Germany) and BRD (People's Republic of Germany - West Germany). As soon as the borders opened (high barbed wire fences with automatic anti-personnel devices - lethal directional fragmentation grenades staged with overlapping kill zones at multiple heights on the wire - dog runs, and armed guards with orders to shoot anyone attempting to cross from east to west), the former DDR immediately commenced redevelopment and "westernisation". The only remaining vestiges of its socialist past are the museum exhibits portraying life in the Soviet era, the unattractive, box-like concrete buildings erected after WWII, and perhaps the reluctance of its population to bathe daily and apply deodorant...

Germany's architectural beauty comes mainly from a blend of medieval castles and cathedrals, combined with the steep roofs of "half-timbered" houses, many of which are also hundreds of years old. It should come as no surprise that the landscape in the former DDR is almost identical, except for a few city blocks here and there with the aforementioned functional, Soviet style office or apartment buildings. The only other clues that this part of the country isn't quite the same are that the farms are enormous (farmers were forced into co-ops, combining their private lots into massive communal farms), and there are far more derelict houses and factories - most likely government-controlled manufacturing industry that collapsed in the competitive market.

The museums portray a disturbingly oppressive environment before 1989. The Stasi - the State Security apparatus - appears to have been a frighteningly paranoid and incredibly pervasive organisation. With the assistance of teachers, they recruited suitably patriotic children from schools to groom for lifelong careers as agents, and maintained incredibly comprehensive surveillance over the entire population. They even went so far as to maintain a collection of sealed glass jars containing scent samples of hundreds of people so that they could be tracked by dogs!

The purpose of the Stasi really appears to have been to ensure the security of the government by keeping tabs on those of its citizens who might have the courage to speak out against it. The penalty for opposing the government was equally disturbing. Numerous prisons - many of them former concentration camps - are scattered throughout the former Soviet territories. These were crowded with people, many of whom simply "disappeared" in the early period of Soviet occupation, or in later years were more formally arrested and incarcerated for persisting in their attempts to leave the DDR or oppose the regime.

The movie "The Lives of Others" presents an excellent portrayal of the operations of the Stasi. We watched it the other day (in German), and had I not seen the museums and exhibits beforehand, I doubt I would have believed it to be entirely plausible.

In Berlin, there is no sign of the wall which once divided the city. However, the museum at "Checkpoint Charlie" presents a fascinating history of the history of the wall and many of the attempts (both successful and foiled) to cross it. The museum opened while Berlin was still divided, and has collected some amazing artifacts, including modified cars and machinery used to smuggle people over the border, as well as ingenious home-made escape apparatus ranging from underwater scooters and SCUBA gear to hot air balloons and ultralights. Of course, the museum also relates the stories of those who failed to make it, or were so badly injured by either the gunfire from the guards or the anti-personnel measures that they died during the crossing.

Aside from learning so much about the "recent" history of Germany, we also enjoyed a variety of experiences ranging from the picturesque river valley of the Ulm where we stayed in a "private room" - a room in a private house rented out as a B&B, to the medieval festival in Dresden, to the forest trails and limestone mountain lookouts of Saxon Switzerland. More on these soon...

East German Odyssey

2007-08-16T17:48:00.000+02:00

Tomorrow we set out on a 2,000 km trip around Eastern Germany. You can see our proposed route here at Google Maps.

The plan is as follows:

17th - Wuerzburg and Bad Schandau (where we'll base ourselves until we go to Berlin)
18th - day trip to Dresden
19th - day trip to Prague
20th - day trip to Saxon Switzerland national park
21st - Berlin via Leipzig
22nd, 23rd - Berlin
24th - Rhea's house in Belgium, via Goettingen

Unlike our last trip, where Rhea played tour guide most of the way, this itinerary mostly covers places neither of us have visited before. Plus, since its oil change, Rhea reckons the Peugot is running like a Porsche...

Edible Europe

2007-08-15T13:16:00.000+02:00

The early European settlers arriving in Australia must have been pretty disappointed by the lack of edible vegetation. You can hardly walk five paces through a German forest or garden without stumbling over tasty morsels growing wild.

I've already found wild blueberries, red currants, blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries. The garden in Belgium also sports a couple of apple trees and hazlenuts.

The fresh berries for sale at the markets are delicious - especially the raspberries! They come in large punnets, filled to the brim with juicy berries, and cost about $2-$3 per punnet.

Dining in Deutschland

2007-08-13T14:35:00.000+02:00

Food and wine over here is a whole new experience. I'm gradually learning about European wines, starting with Germany. On the other hand, I'm learning very quickly about food!

Bread is a real staple in the German diet. I haven't seen mass-produced, pre-sliced loaves anywhere. Instead, every corner has a small bakery offering at least 20 different varieties of freshly baked bread, pastries, etc. We buy bread at least every other day - usually small crusty rolls (Broetchen), and sometimes mini loaves.

With the bread, we usually eat cold cuts. I have never before seen such a variety of pork products! We always have various types of finely shaved smoked or cooked ham or bacon, salami, and mettwurst. It's quite novel to eat so much uncooked meat. Mettwurst is basically salted raw pork mince with a touch of onion, and probably some other preservatives. Smeared on a buttered Broetchen, it's quite a tasty breakfast option.

And last, but by no means least, we have the cheese. There are approximately 12, 247, 003 varieties of cheese in the supermarket (by my last count). We usually have a medium-aged gouda, and a soft cheese like brie or camembert.

Between meals, cake is never far from view... although we've only bought one so far. There are hundreds of varieties of crumbles, flans, strudels, etc. loaded with sour cherries, apple, plums, apricots, marzipan, and who knows what else!

Strange Smells

2007-08-13T14:26:00.000+02:00

In the garden in Belgium the other day, Rhea asked "does it seem strange to walk through a forest that doesn't have a particular smell?" I guess we hardly notice the scent of eucalyptus, having become so accustomed to it. However the European forests really don't have a distinct scent.

On the other hand, German farmland has a very distinct odour! Last night, soon after we passed through the Mosel Valley, I noticed a distinct smell of onions. "Was riecht nach Zwiebel?" I asked. "Zwiebelfelder!" came Rhea's reply - onion fields.

I'm glad they don't grow onions in Tuebingen....

Simon's European Adventure Begins

2007-08-13T00:25:00.000+02:00

It's a long flight from Sydney to Stuttgart! You can imagine my excitement when the flight attendants stopped me as I tried to board the plane after the stopover in Hong Kong. I was starting to wonder if they were bumping me off the crowded flight, since I was flying on points - however instead, they upgraded me to business class since they'd overbooked the economy cabin. The moment that seatbelt sign went out, I was fully reclined and sleeping all the way to Heathrow.

Londoners are clearly paranoid about airport security. You must remove your shoes, jacket, laptop, and bag of fluids and queue with hundreds of other impatient passengers to get into the terminal. They proceeded to confiscate my small can of aerosol deodorant, since it was too big. This was pretty annoying, since I was counting on using that can in an attempt to cover up the foul stench of travel-weary clothes before meeting Rhea at Stuttgart. A quick tour of the airport terminal brought me to Boots, where I quickly purchased exactly the same size and brand of aerosol deodorant before heading to the BA first class lounge spa for a long, hot shower while waiting for the Stuttgart flight.

My arrival in Stuttgart was uneventful. It was great to see Rhea there, and the 30 minute drive home to Tuebingen went by in a jetlagged daze.

Road Trip to Belgium

2007-08-12T16:07:00.000+02:00

Since last Sunday, we have based ourselves at Rhea's holiday house in Belgium. It's in a little village called Hauset, about 10 minutes drive over the border from Aachen. Peta joined us in Aachen on Monday, and the three of us have spent the week making day trips around Belgium and Germany.

Autobahn!
German motorways are so cool! Excellent quality roads, wide lanes, and clever interconnections with other motorways and highways make it pretty easy to get around. I've been doing my share of the driving in Rhea's little Peugot 106, and I've really become accustomed to the idea of overtaking trucks at 160 km/h (the dial goes to 180, but I can't get it past 175), and having a Mercedes materialise in the rearview mirror, flashing its lights to pass at about 240. The little Peugot handles the Autobahns remarkablly well - even better since I inflated the tyres to spec and put some oil in the sump...

Sprechen Sie deutsch?
This week has provided a couple of key opportunities to practise my German speaking and comprehension skills. Rhea and I have been a bit lazy about this, particularly while Peta was around, but we have made a couple of social visits this week that put me to the test. Firstly, our neighbours in Belgium are friends of Rhea's family, and so we were all invited to dinner. They speak pretty good English, although the conversation tended to oscillate between English and German. They served up a delicious meal of roast pork fillet and vegetables - Belgians apparently take their food very seriously, and it shows from their kitchen! We also visited Rhea's father and his partner, who have just built a house near Aachen. Whilst Rhea's father speaks very good English, Uschi speaks none, but understands a fair bit. Again, we all enjoyed a delicious meal, and an interesting multi-lingual conversation. With a little more practice, and a few more beers, I'm confident I'll get the hang of this...

Aachen & Monschau
We visited the Dom (famous cathedral commissioned by Charlemagne), bough Printen (cardamon-flavoured gingerbread, a local specialy in Aachen), and finished the day with a trip to delightful little village of Monschau. Beatiful places to visit, but not so exciting to talk about. Take a look at the photos on my Facebook site!

Belgian Supermarkets
I've already been to my share of supermarkets in Germany, and apart from the enormous range of cheese and cold cuts, they're not that exciting. Not so in Belgium! While wandering the aisles looking for flour, I stumbled into the beer section!!! A whole aisle of the best Belgian Trappist beers, in crates, six-packs, long necks, and even mini-kegs, starting at less than 1 euro (A$1.60) a stubby! To think we pay in excess of A$7 for this stuff. Needless to say, I've bought a few six packs to take back to Tuebingen.

Rhea took us to her favourite praline shop in Eupen, just down the road in Belgium. The smallest quantity we could buy was 250g, but we opted for 1kg of assorted pralines. These are the smoothest, most delicious creations I've ever tasted. And although many things over here are a little more expensive than I'm used to, this was a remarkably well-priced investment - about 12 euros!

Chateau Bouillon
Unfortunately, the weather conspired against us in Belgium. It's been overcast and drizzly for most of the week. The morning we had planned to drive to Brugge for the day, it was raining hard, and none of us felt like driving 2 hours each way to wander around in the rain. Instead, we made the excellent decision to head south to Bouillon, just near the French border. Chateau Buillon is a superb medieval castle that is still pretty much "as it was", and the Belgians are quite happy to let tourists crawl all around the fortifications, dungeons, and grounds. The Chateau within the foritifications is off limits, but it is nevertheless an excellent place to visit. This also proved to be quite a cultural excursion, taking us away from the German-speaking provinces of Belgium into the French-speaking region of Belgian Luxembourg. Fortunately, Rhea's French is pretty good, and I could remember enough to order a steaming bowl of mussels with "pomme frites" on the side.

Duesseldorf
The last couple of days we've zipped across to Duesseldorf to meet up with some other Aussies. Matt Danckert lives in Duesseldorf with his German girlfriend, Christine. James Guy and Peete Wilkins flew in from Norway and the Netherlands to join us for the weekend, and Matt treated us all to a tour of Duesseldorf and a tasting of Altbier - stout which is the local speciality and favourite. We said farewell to Peta last night, and left her in Duessldorf to continue her travels. This afternoon, Rhea and I will head back to Tuebingen for a few days.

Tuebingen

2007-08-12T15:54:00.000+02:00

"Home" for the next few months is Rhea's flat in Tuebingen. Tuebingen is a picturesque little university town about 30 minutes from Stuttgart. Rhea's flat is less than 10 minutes walk from the Altstadt - literally "old city", which refers to the heritage part of town with cobbled alley ways, traditional buildings fronting the creek that flows through the town, and many little bakeries, cafes, bars, and shops. The focus of the Altstadt is a large stone church, known as the Stiftskirche, and a very pretty, traditional town hall (Rathaus). Perched defensively on the hill overlooking the Altstadt is the local Schloss (castle), complete with moat, battlements, and everything else one expects to find in a castle. Today, the Tuebingen Schloss houses one of the faculties of the university (archaeology, I think...), and the grounds are open to the public.

I'll take some photos of the town when I have a chance to spend some more time in Tuebingen. We've walked around the town quite a bit so far, but I haven't bothered taking the camera with me on these brief excursions.

For the few days we spent in Tuebingen before setting off to Belgium, we kept ourselves busy undertaking some improvements to Rhea's flat. A trip to Ikea and a hardware store equipped us with more bookshelves, storage gadgets, and the necessary hardware to hang mirrors and picture frames. As soon as we tidy it all up, I'll post a picture of the fruits of our labour.