Germany

We took the train from Prague to Munich where we were meet by my friend Andreas. I met him 50+ years ago at a youth camp bringing English and German youth together and we were pen pals for about five years before losing touch with one another. Six years ago when I went through Munich I decided to see if I could find him and was successful. Now, here we were at the Munich main station after so many years. It was a lovely reunion. We both recognised one another instantly.  We took another train to Andreas' home, a delightful little village about an hour away. He is now a retired orthopedic surgeon and lives here with his wife. His two children live elsewhere but his daughter and her two very small children came over to check us out.  

The whole family are absolutely delightful and they have a lovely home and garden. Andreas' wife could understand English but is reluctant to speak it. The conversations over two days switched between English and my rusty German which did start to improve.  I started a dreadful cold in Prague and Andreas immediately ran out to get me some prescription medicine.  On the first day he drove us around the small village showing us the local sights but most of the day was spent sitting on the sunny patio or at the dining table catching up on 50 years, reminiscing, exchanging political views and just laughing together. It was quite wonderful. The family bent over backwards to make us comfortable.  At one point I made a statement of opinion on something and Andreas' wife exclaimed that she couldn't believe how much he and I had in common.

On the second day they took us out to a local well known castle, a busy tourist place. Non of us had really been to touristy places for years so we were surprised at the absolute zoo these places have become.

Where once you could drive your car to the castle doors, you now have to stop half way up the hill and line up for tickets. This took 3/4 hour only to find out that the tickets didn't get us access for another four hours. We had to find something to do for that time and we certainly didn't want to spend it walking around souvenir stores teeming with tourists. This is where it helped to be with locals who knew where to go. Only a ten minute drive away was a delightful lake. The first picture of me was taken in a lovely restaurant at the Waters edge where we stopped for coffee and cake before boarding the little ferry that runs around the lake to various small towns.  We were close to the Swiss Alps and had seen high mountains on the drive up but those surrounding the lake were lower.

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It was ominously dark as we boarded the ferry that seemed to be full of locals taking their kids out for an afternoon.  Before too Long the thunder and lightening started in the mountains on one side while we remained dry and the sun continued to shine on the other side of the lake.  The light over the lake was amazing and we enjoyed every minute of it. Eventually we drove back to the castle ticket office from where we now had to take a bus up a very steep road to the castle entrance... Or we could have walked. The whole thing was a pretty disgusting money grab. Our tickets gave us access along with a group of others at a very specific time, down to the minute so we again waited at the top for our allotted time. On the way up in the bus it had been announced that the last bus down was 6.45 and our entry to the castle was for 5.35.   our group of tourists were provided with audio equipment but the talk was not under our control. We were herded from room to room and in each room the appropriate audio was made available. As soon as it was finished we were pushed on to the next room to make way for the next group.  The things in each room were n beautiful and interesting but often we could not see them because of the number of people and often we were not even in the room when the audio started. The whole tour lasted 35 minutes and as soon as it ended we had to walk the long trek back to where the last bus would pick us up. 

There were two castles on opposing hills. Here you see the step path from the bus to the castle entrance that first went down and then up again. We knew that to catch the last bus we'd have to hike first down and then up again to get to the bus stop so we didn't dare linger around the castle.

Andreas and his wife were so upset on the way home about the whole all aspects of this tourist attraction and the blatant money grab. Parking, the over booking of tickets, the bus up etc.  For us the whole day was an interesting experience and of course we loved the lake. We did our best to console our hosts but they would not be calmed.

On the morning of our departure we were told that Andreas' daughter, two kids, and husband were coming over for brunch with us.  It was really lovely. The daughter, a high school teacher in English and Spanish and her husband both spoke fluent English.  Andreas and his absolutely delightful wife had treated us royally and refused to let me open my purse even for a coffee.  It was very hard to leave them and because of Andreas' refusal to let me pay for anything I joked with him that he should save his money so that I could come again.

Prague and Terezin

Checked out of the very nice hotel in Karlovy Vary after one of their fantastic breakfasts and took the qStudent Agency bus back to Prague. My childhood friend Wally and his partner arrived a little after us and at six o'clock my friend and relative Carol and her partner picked us all up and we went out for dinner. Our hotel was in easy walking distance of many restaurants but we all wanted some good Czech food and were not disappointed with the goulash, schnitzel and mountains of Czech dumplings followed by apple strudel.  No dieting on this trip. The pictures below was taken through the bus window on the drive from KV to Prague. It was lovely rolling countryside.

The next morning we took a taxi to Carol's apartment to meet with the family history researcher.  Carol goes to the Czech  Republic a lot and had found a fabulous place that rents apartments. She had a lovely living room but the weather was so nice that we decided to sit out on her huge balcony to talk to Magda the researcher.  The view was absolutely wonderful and so was Magda. She'd sent me her findings of our family and I had studied her document on the plane over and was prepared with a bunch of questions. In the end it came down to a bit of speculation and some good guesses along with the factual findings. She'd done a lot of work for me and I was happy to pay her fee.  Wally was next up and she had a few surprises for him which delighted him.

At Carol's suggestion we decided on a trip up a local hill but first priority was coffee and cake. Below is the famous castle of Prague which we had all visited before.  We rode a funicular up the hill and walked down through the castle grounds.

The following day we had an air conditioned cab booked which picked us all up at our hotel for a trip to Terezin, formally called by the German name Theresienstadt.  Once a military fortress and town it was converted by the Nazis as a ghetto in which were housed all the Czech Jews as well as many others who were on their way to the extermination camps. Our interest here was the museum and the town as opposed to the military fortress and history prior to WWII which is why we didn't take the organised tour. With Carole as our guide it was a lot more pleasant and cheaper to go by taxi.

Some parts of the town are still in sad shape but much of it has now been restored and the town is now being inhabited again despite bars on many windows.  Although none of us had family who died in this place, we all had family who had passed through here and we thought it was a bit creepy that people were living here.

We visited two museums and thought the exhibits were very we'll done. Carole and I found the name of one of our relatives named on a list of doctors who administered to the inmates and Wally found a poster naming his grandfather who was the choir master for a period of time before he was shipped out. It was quite emotional for us and although we didn't have much time, it was quite enough for us to deal with.  We did try going for a snack but the smallest thing we could find was fried mushrooms or fried cauliflower which both came with large mountains of potatoe but were quite delicious.

On the way home I started to feel a bit ill and upon returning to the city we were all ready for the coffee and cake we'd missed at lunch time. The many potatoes had filled us up and we decided to forgo dinner.  Michelle and I had to go pack for an early start the next morning.  Sad to say goodbye to friends and family but we'd had a good couple of days.  Germany here we come.

Rainy Day

So tonight I asked Michelle to post some pictures showing the buildings in this town.  Where you see railings is where the river is running and at the lovely cream building with the orange decoration you see the stairs leading to one of the many Bridges. There are hotels and stores on each side and many places to cross back and forth.  The cream building with the green shutters and the red flower boxes is directly across the road from our hotel and the view from the dining area.

This morning we started at the museum which was excellent and provided a lot of information about the town since it's inception.  The second picture shows you a cross section of pipe and the  orange bit is the mineral build up.

It was pouring with rain when we entered the museum so we hoped for a better afternoon. The rain had stopped when we came out. It had been very hot and dry in the building so we had to go for a coffee and cake before moving on. We went to the restaurant below which has operated under this name since the days when my mum went to afternoon tea dances here as a teenager in around 1929 and her little brother Ernie was sent along as her chaperone.  We're on holiday so to hell with the diet.  I had trouble choosing but settled for the mandarins over a marscapone filling.  What could be bad?

As you can see from the photo below, it was a nasty looking sky but we decided to chance it and rode the funicular railway up to the top look-out. We've been through enough of the town now over two visits to recognize several buildings from on high.   The railway took us down again to the lower look-out.  We had considered riding up and walking down but thank goodness we changed our minds at the last minute due to the weather and the condition of our feet.  There seemed to be a lot of confusing trails and they were poorly sign posted.

The big building in the centre of the lower photo is the Imperial Hotel.  On our last visit here we rode a similar funicular up to it and had coffee there. The views are, of course, wonderful.  From the lower level today the houses look like dolls houses.

The photo below was taken by a machine called Cosmocard. It takes several pictures of you and you get to choose which one you like best. Then you pick which surround you want and then you select the wording you prefer. It puts it all together and you pay for the number of postcards you want. And that's not all. Then you provide your email address and they send you the digital version. Interesting that all the possible captions called the place Carlsbad which is the German name that was used before WWII.

We're saying goodbye to this place tomorrow and are taking the 11 o'clock bus to Prague where we'll be meeting with my relative and friend Carol as well as my lifelong friend Wally and their respective partners. The six of us will have dinner together so not sure if there will be time to blog tomorrow.

Karlovy Vary

We finally had a great night's sleep and at 9am we were ready for the first adventure of the day which was the free breakfast which comes with the price of the room.  The choices accommodate every nationality so  available in buffet format was everything from cornflakes to cheese and salami, yogurt and fruit, salad and cake.  Also a lady making eggs and omelette s while you wait in line. The food seemed to be spread around the enormous dining room and we had to tour around a couple of times before we even figured out our choices.

Michelle and I always rate restaurants by the coffee and the bathroom, and this breakfast would have rated poorly based on the coffee (very surprising) however the orange juice turned out to be a very yummy mango and OMG Steve, the bread was to die for!

After breakfast we headed out into the town for a stroll to the information centre. It was sunny and warm and we took our time and looked at all the posh stores selling designer clothing as well as the many jewelers selling gorgeous stuff at surprisingly reasonable rates. I'm very tempted and Roger doesn't know it yet but he may have to buy me a belated birthday gift.  Since our last trip six years ago, we noticed a couple of changes. The first is that the Asians have discovered this tourist destination and there were numerous groups of Chinese and Japanese. Even a couple of the vendor booths were Asian owned. Along with this fact, there are a lot of people who now speak English. Six years ago we had real difficulty here as people only spoke German or Russian along with their Czech.

The atmosphere here is so relaxing. People visiting to drink the spa waters are strolling the promenade along the river, their cups in hand. At intervals there are taps and you see them stopping to refill the speciality cups, a cross between a cup and a teapot.  The vessels are shaped like cups but have a spout which comes from the bottom of the cup.  This allows the person to drink through the spout while continually taking their exercise along the promenade. There are flowers everywhere, plenty of benches so you can stop to rest and the buildings are just gorgeous, renovated and painted.  Horses and buggies clip clop along the road adding an old world charm to the place.  It is delightful but for the times you get behind a smoker.  It seems a lot of Czechs still smoke. Have to say though the place is incredibly clean.

After enjoying our stroll we walked up the hill to a building that was once an old folks home.  It also happens to be the place where my mother got married. I wondered if perhaps they had some old records but it seems they were all lost during the war.  However, the lady there had the records of everyone buried in the old cemetery.  The list showed the location of each grave and so from there we took a cab to the cemetery and were able to locate several family graves including my great grandfather and mother.  We paid the cab driver $9 to wait half an hour for us as we had no means of getting back to town. We are using the hotel WiFi but otherwise are off line.  After the cemetery the cab took us to the famous Moser glass factory.  After all the previous activity we were more than ready for afternoon coffee which was so good , as was the European baked cheesecake with the chocolate swirl.

Although the many photos that we took came out better than expected it was really hard to do justice to these pieces of art.  This factory and the pieces produced here have found homes with Kings and queens of the world since the 1800s.  The first Moser started the business from scratch and found notoriety through his innovation of new techniques. To this day pieces are hand made and the artists who work here are still inventing new techniques for blowing and etching and decorating the glass.  Needless to say all purchases are way beyond our means but there were many pieces we would have loved to take home. When you see the real deal, you realise how much crap is out there today.

After a rest at home for an hour we headed out again later for a traditional Czech meal of roast pork, Czech dumplings and sauerkraut. We both had the same meal followed by apple strudel and ice cream and we shared a bottle of water. The bill came to $30 for all of it and you can't beat that!

Away We Go . . .

After our traditional pre-flight lunch at the Crow and Gate we headed for the airport with our new and matching suitcases. So glad we bought these. Not only do they just glide along but they stand out amongst the still many black suitcases. The flight to London was horribly cramped and certainly less space per person than the two Lufthansa flights we've taken since then.

Once in London we checked into the Sheraton Heathrow where we were less than impressed that they wanted 15 pounds,about$30 to get WiFi for 24 hours. At first we declined but later went back to sign up and complain fiercely but this time we got a delightful young lady who told us how to work around this rule and get it for free... As most other hotels.

Fortunately Michelle and I were both already awake at 5.15 am when the hotels alarm system went off followed by a speaker system telling everyone to go to the nearest exit and leave the building.  Most people took the time to throw on some clothes but there were about a hundred people in the parking lot when the one lonely little fire truck arrived. Thankfully it was light, reasonably warm and not raining as people in various stages of undress hung around for the all clear. Other than a faint smell of burnt toast in the air we are not sure of what happened.

As you can see we were non the worse for our early morning trauma as we started the next leg of the journey.  I have to say that there is a noticeable difference in the airports since we last visited these same places six years ago. London, Munich and Prague have gone through building renovations which have greatly improved them and the technology has all changed as my travelling friends will know. We were staggered by the sheer numbers of people at Heathrow at 7.00 am. And although we found it a pain to have to do everything for ourselves from boarding passes to luggage labeling and even getting your own trays to go through security, it is hard to imagine how airport staff would be able to handle the volumes if this hadn't happened. In some ways I find it sad to recognize the homogeneous nature of all these airports.  Gone are the cultural differences, replaced by the same duty free products, the same books and chocolate bars in every airport, the only difference being the exorbitantly priced soccer shirts depending on locality.

Tonight we have finally arrived in Karlovy Vary, my mum's home town. Wow, it is such a picturesque place and we'll post pictures over the next couple of days.