Wednesday September 29th
Today I was able to go back and visit New Milton Infant School that I taught at in 2007. To be able to do this though, Liz had to check out first that I would be able to actually go into the school. They were having an open day so that helped. Of course none of the children that I taught are at school any longer as this is an Infant school and they are now in Year 5 in the Junior School next door.
So I was signed in and given an identification tag to make my visit official and the locked doors were opened to allow me to pass through. It was great chatting to all the staff at morning tea time; it was like I had never been away. Several have now retired so there were some new faces. I did manage to have a look around the school and was gobsmacked by the improvements and new equipment that had been acquired in only 3 years. The place has had money thrown at it and I had forgotten just how well equipped they are. There is just so much of everything except for reading books.NZ beats them hand down on this one. There is no equivalent to Learning Media and no free school publications.
I was really keen to go next door to the Junior School to see the kids I had taught, so Sandra in the office phoned them up to see if it was possible. Amazingly, they said yes, but I had to wait until they were back in after play. There was no way they were having a “stranger” lurking in the playground at playtime. So I went over and signed in and was taken to one of the year 5 classes. The children all recognised me instantly and I was able to stay long enough to say hello to each one by name. I then went next door to the next class where one of my most memorable kids leapt in the air off his chair and yelled out “Mrs Dean” rather spontaneously. I then went to the third class and picked up on the others who were also surprised but happy to see me. As we had taught in groups across the year group most of the other kids had been taught by me at some stage and were quick to remind me of this. They all looked the same but a bit taller. It occurred to me as I left after only 10 minutes in total that teachers who have never exchanged have no concept of how magic an exchange year is for a teacher and the kids you teach in that year. It is not like a usual year for either the teacher or the children. It is written into your life in indelible ink forever.
I secretly planned to go back at 3.30 when the children were coming out of school so that I could see them informally with their parents but it was raining so heavily at that time, I had to give the idea away as wet days outside a school are messy. So it was a stroke of luck when Andy and Liz found me walking home in the rain and offered me a lift which I accepted.
That evening Liz’s Parents came over for dinner we had a very pleasant time. They had had been so good to us during our year in Barton. Of course we knew them better than Liz and Andy! It ws great catching up and chatting about what we had all been doing over the last three years.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Back to Barton on Sea via Bosham
Tuesday September 28th
This is a favourite part of the world and Mary decided she needed a nostalgic visit to Bosham. This was the place where their great family friend “Uncle Percy” had always talked about as his two sisters had lived here. It also has a very famous church dating back to the 11th century and is depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry. Bosham also features in one of the Gumdrop adventures; Gumdrop on the Brighton run. The houses are built right up to the tide line and twice a day the tide comes in almost up to the windows. The houses have doors that that have a high threshold you have to climb over. This is the place where King Canute commanded the tide to stop coming in with no effect. One of his daughters is buried in the churchyard and there is a cottage called Canute Cottage. It is one of the loveliest villages to visit and there were tourists arriving in droves as they left.
So after a morning coffee in the quaint little tea rooms which is part of a complex of about 20 art and craft shops, they came back to get me and drive me on in the direction of Langston to see friends at the Royal Oak Pub. They had last seen them in 2007. On arriving they asked to see Chris and they were told he had gone back to live in NZ for good. This is after having been there for over 20 years. So looks like they will have to look him up in Taihape where he owns a house.
So it was off in the direction of the New Forest, which is very old actually and was the hunting forest for William the conquer after 1066 . Apparently the old forest got chopped down when someone got permission from the king to chop down as much timber as he could in a day. He managed to amass such a large number of people to help that he stripped the forest of all useable timber. The new forest was already there but it was designated hunting forest for the king and it still stands today and regenerates naturally.
There was a slight deviation for lunch and looking at shops at Hedge End which is a shopping mecca around the Southampton area. Alan bought a paper and was happy to sit in me. He actually bought the newly released CD of the RAF Reach for the Skies as well. This is the CD recoded by Decca for the anniversary of the Battle of Britain. The band are photographed on the runway at Northolt with the planes flying over top and Hamish is easily seen in the front right. So Alan got a first listen to the CD.
There is a rather classy promotional video at Amazon that you can copy and paste into your browser and see here...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/mpd/permalink/m360GUFNFPZQUD
So with CD playing they headed out towards New Milton and Barton on Sea. There is a good camping shop in Lyndhurst so they picked up a new gas cylinder for my cooker there and looked at water pumps as they need to replace the one Mary snapped. A bit more research needed before they decide which one to buy as they have to make sure they can fit it to the leisure battery. Lyndhurst is another one of those villages that nostalgia demanded they get out and walk around. It was late in the day but there were still two tour buses of pensioners having 2 or 3 day breaks in the New Forest.
They got to Barton on Sea just before 5 and back to the house that had been their home for a year in 2007. Andy and Liz welcomed them and Mary assured them she could back me up their very narrow drive between the house and the fence. They had made a few a changes to the house including adding a conservatory, but it seemed just like being home.
In the evening one of the teachers Mary had taught with had organised a social get together of some of the staff from New Milton Infant School. It was a very pleasant evening. Several have now also retired and are looking great and it seems to be suiting them as well. They all seem to have grand travel plans and Mary is hoping they will travel down under at some stage.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
On the Road Again
Monday September 27th
Today was a travelling day again but Mary and Alan were confident that they did not need the Tom Tom in this part of England as they were really familiar with it. They were heading for Portsmouth so that Mary could go shopping at one of her favourite outlets Gun Wharf Quays. Of course it is not as easy to park me as it was when they had a car so they had to choose a spot carefully as I am too tall to go into the shopping centre car parks. They found one in a side street that was really handy. So they paid and put the ticket in my windscreen.
They had a really nice fish and chip lunch and then Mary went and had a trawl through the designer shops. Alan had a look around the book shops and bought a paper and came back and kept me company. I make a good sitting room and I always feel safer when I am not left alone for too long in strange places.
They checked out another shopping mall called Cascades further down the road and Mary found TK Maxx. On the way out of town they stopped for groceries and petrol before driving to a Caravan and Camping Club site for one night. It is between Portsmouth and Chichester and is up to usual standard of the club sites and also in a very accessible place in a village called Southbourne.
After dinner they tried to watch TV but Mary went to sleep as usual worn out by shopping I think as I saw her sneak a few more bags into my cupboards!
Today was a travelling day again but Mary and Alan were confident that they did not need the Tom Tom in this part of England as they were really familiar with it. They were heading for Portsmouth so that Mary could go shopping at one of her favourite outlets Gun Wharf Quays. Of course it is not as easy to park me as it was when they had a car so they had to choose a spot carefully as I am too tall to go into the shopping centre car parks. They found one in a side street that was really handy. So they paid and put the ticket in my windscreen.
They had a really nice fish and chip lunch and then Mary went and had a trawl through the designer shops. Alan had a look around the book shops and bought a paper and came back and kept me company. I make a good sitting room and I always feel safer when I am not left alone for too long in strange places.
They checked out another shopping mall called Cascades further down the road and Mary found TK Maxx. On the way out of town they stopped for groceries and petrol before driving to a Caravan and Camping Club site for one night. It is between Portsmouth and Chichester and is up to usual standard of the club sites and also in a very accessible place in a village called Southbourne.
After dinner they tried to watch TV but Mary went to sleep as usual worn out by shopping I think as I saw her sneak a few more bags into my cupboards!
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Fun with the Kids
Sunday September 26th
It is so cool for us guys living a real house with children. They like us and play with us and we have made lots of new friends. Ber Lin has met lots of other bears and played games with them and Adam really likes Pania and plays with her a lot. Ka Pai and Patariki are enjoying watching CBeebies TV.
There was a birthday party in the house today for the children’s granny and that meant candles and cake. The cake was a caterpillar! Lucy had learnt to play Happy Birthday on the piano especially for the occasion. After lunch both the children put on little shows for the adults and Pania go to feature in Adam’s little play.
Later in the afternoon the children rode their scooters to the local playground and lots of fun with all the other children who were there. It started to get quite cold so we had to get home have tea and then everyone had an early night. Mary and Alan are enjoying having a bit of a rest and not having to rush around and drive in mad traffic all the time.
It is so cool for us guys living a real house with children. They like us and play with us and we have made lots of new friends. Ber Lin has met lots of other bears and played games with them and Adam really likes Pania and plays with her a lot. Ka Pai and Patariki are enjoying watching CBeebies TV.
There was a birthday party in the house today for the children’s granny and that meant candles and cake. The cake was a caterpillar! Lucy had learnt to play Happy Birthday on the piano especially for the occasion. After lunch both the children put on little shows for the adults and Pania go to feature in Adam’s little play.
Later in the afternoon the children rode their scooters to the local playground and lots of fun with all the other children who were there. It started to get quite cold so we had to get home have tea and then everyone had an early night. Mary and Alan are enjoying having a bit of a rest and not having to rush around and drive in mad traffic all the time.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
A Walk on the South Downs
Saturday September 25th
During breakfast Marianne asked Mary if she knew the Marion Fowler from Wanganui and the name rang a bell. They had met a NZ woman in a campsite in Salzburg who was travelling around for 11 months in a campervan. They were going to back to NZ and February and would be travelling down to Wanganui to stay with the Fowlers. They could not believe it. Only 2 degrees of separation in NZ; If you don’t know someone it doesn’t take much to find a person you know who knows them.
It was a beautiful fine sunny morning and after breakfast they loaded me up again and set out to drive to Brighton. On the way they stopped by the village to take a photo of the Noah’s Ark Pub in daylight in the village of Lurgeshall.
The trip was on country roads rather than motorway and involved lots of roundabouts and narrow roads that were impossible to overtake on, so there were a few frustrated motorists caught behind me as I don’t do fast.
The Tom Tom did an excellent job of taking them into Brighton on a road that avoided a big traffic jam. They arrived at Jacquie and Pete Brett’s in time for lunch. After lunch they all set off of for quite a long walk over the South Downs. Once up on the top there was a wonderful view right over the whole area.
Back home Lucy and Adam wanted to see inside me and found the feathers and fur and immediately made friends with them and they are now making friends with all the toys ins the house so I can’t imagine what they are getting up to. Ber Lin is having a marvellous time meeting other bears, and the kiwis are having rides on cars and trucks all around the lounge.
Noah's Ark and Horse Guards
Friday September 24th
Well it was time to take me out on the road again. So the Tom Tom was set to take us to a village called Furnhurst near where our friends Warwick and Marianne Cox live. They had visited them on the same estate where they are living and working in 2007 and on that occasion Warwick had posted very detailed of notes of how to get there. For some obscure reason Mary had kept these and taken them back to NZ and Alan had filed them away. What was even more surprising was that he remembered to bring them back. And just as well because they needed the instructions to remind them that they were on a one way road with 18 blind humps and 15 blind corners that you needed to drive slowly with your lights on.
There was only one occasion where Mary had to back me up the lane a bit to let another car past and once on the road, they remembered the route.
It was drizzling lightly the whole time. The rain is back. They arrived in time for a leisurely lunch and then spent a quiet afternoon reading and resting. After work Marianne and Warwick took them to the local pub called the Noah’s Ark for a pre dinner drink. After this they drove onto another pub called Horse Guards where we had dinner. the photo is of Noah's Ark in Daylight.
The publican had lived in New Zealand for quite a time working in wineries and restaurants in the South Island and he picked the kiwi accents as being North Island. So we had a great chat to him, and suddenly another chap in the corner near us admitted that he was from Christchurch. So here we were in a little village called Tillington and there were 5 kiwis and a publican who had lived and worked for a considerable time in NZ.
Since they were last here Marianne and Warwick have moved into purpose built accommodation and there are some photos of it here. It is really lovely with beautiful views over the surrounding countryside.
Well it was time to take me out on the road again. So the Tom Tom was set to take us to a village called Furnhurst near where our friends Warwick and Marianne Cox live. They had visited them on the same estate where they are living and working in 2007 and on that occasion Warwick had posted very detailed of notes of how to get there. For some obscure reason Mary had kept these and taken them back to NZ and Alan had filed them away. What was even more surprising was that he remembered to bring them back. And just as well because they needed the instructions to remind them that they were on a one way road with 18 blind humps and 15 blind corners that you needed to drive slowly with your lights on.
There was only one occasion where Mary had to back me up the lane a bit to let another car past and once on the road, they remembered the route.
It was drizzling lightly the whole time. The rain is back. They arrived in time for a leisurely lunch and then spent a quiet afternoon reading and resting. After work Marianne and Warwick took them to the local pub called the Noah’s Ark for a pre dinner drink. After this they drove onto another pub called Horse Guards where we had dinner. the photo is of Noah's Ark in Daylight.
The publican had lived in New Zealand for quite a time working in wineries and restaurants in the South Island and he picked the kiwi accents as being North Island. So we had a great chat to him, and suddenly another chap in the corner near us admitted that he was from Christchurch. So here we were in a little village called Tillington and there were 5 kiwis and a publican who had lived and worked for a considerable time in NZ.
Since they were last here Marianne and Warwick have moved into purpose built accommodation and there are some photos of it here. It is really lovely with beautiful views over the surrounding countryside.
Friday, September 24, 2010
A Night in Gasoline Alley Hospital
Thursday September 23rd
Well I spent a night in Gasoline Alley in a strange village.(That really was the name.) It was quite strange really as Mary had taken all the little friends with her so I felt abandoned. Actually the kind man at the VW garage had sorted out my brake problem and had me all fixed, but they all took off up to London to go to Galleries and the Opera on Wednesday and got back far too late to pick me up.
Yesterday Sue had called into a garden centre and bought a pond that was never going to fit in her VW Touran. So Mary suggested that after they picked me up we could follow her to the garden centre and put the pond in my vast interior. So Sue took a longer lunch break than usual and they set off. Alan had got out cash to pay my hospital bill and it turned out to be very reasonable. I knew I would win that mechanic over in the end. Mary was so impressed she took him a bottle of French wine out of the travelling cellar and a little souvenir from NZ which he seemed pretty chuffed about.
The garden shop was actually miles in the other direction but we eventually got there and loaded the pond in. It certainly needed a vehicle of my size and stature to transport it back to Sevenoaks. Of course it had started to rain by now, the good weather was rather short lived. So when they got me safely backed into the drive and got the pond out they spend the rest of the afternoon sorting their stuff and repacking me ready for another adventure tomorrow.
Well I spent a night in Gasoline Alley in a strange village.(That really was the name.) It was quite strange really as Mary had taken all the little friends with her so I felt abandoned. Actually the kind man at the VW garage had sorted out my brake problem and had me all fixed, but they all took off up to London to go to Galleries and the Opera on Wednesday and got back far too late to pick me up.
Yesterday Sue had called into a garden centre and bought a pond that was never going to fit in her VW Touran. So Mary suggested that after they picked me up we could follow her to the garden centre and put the pond in my vast interior. So Sue took a longer lunch break than usual and they set off. Alan had got out cash to pay my hospital bill and it turned out to be very reasonable. I knew I would win that mechanic over in the end. Mary was so impressed she took him a bottle of French wine out of the travelling cellar and a little souvenir from NZ which he seemed pretty chuffed about.
The garden shop was actually miles in the other direction but we eventually got there and loaded the pond in. It certainly needed a vehicle of my size and stature to transport it back to Sevenoaks. Of course it had started to rain by now, the good weather was rather short lived. So when they got me safely backed into the drive and got the pond out they spend the rest of the afternoon sorting their stuff and repacking me ready for another adventure tomorrow.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Garages, Garden Centres, Art Galleries and Opera
Wednesday Spetember 22nd
This turned out to be a great day in so many ways. It was really bright and sunny when we all woke up and the temperature for the day predicted to get to 25 in London which is where they were heading. Sue had taken the day off work and around 9am phoned the garage who said to bring me over straight away. Well it was at least a half hour drive away, so about 9.30 they set out in convoy. Mary followed Sue driving me carefully through many narrow lanes and up a few hills, ARRGH, I hate hills first thing in the morning.
When we finally got there the very nice man was quite stunned at my appearance. Well I am a little shabby on the outside, but beautiful on the inside and isn’t that what counts! While waiting for the boat Alan had rummaged through my glove box and found a bunch of receipts for previous work carried out on me and had discovered that I had had a new engine at 96,000 miles and I am on 121,000 now. This made him feel a lot more confident about my overall wellbeing. The mechanic was gobsmacked when Mary told him where they had just returned from taking me. He was visibly shocked, albeit amused. He made a comment along the lines that only kiwis would be so bold. Mary said well, we are back, we are here, we’ve done it! Patch up the brakes and off we’ll go again. So they left me in the hospital for the night.
So Sue drove us back home and we then got organised to go on the train to London. She phoned a friend to see if she could park at their house so we could go to an outlying overland station and travel in by Oyster Card. Sue wanted to go to a garden centre on the way so we called in there. It was absolutely huge and sold everything! People take coach trips to it as an outing. We had cut our lunch which we ate on the train and headed straight for the Royal Academy to look at the Sargent Art Exhibition; From the Sea. This was a small changing exhibition in its last week which Sue had wanted to get to before it closed.
After leaving here we went our separate ways. I had to get back to the Oxford Street branch of the HSCB to pick up the elusive pin number for my debit card. We finally got there after having walked past all the stunning Jewllery shops in Bond Street. I had to give my name and get into a paper queue which they said could be up to 15 minutes as I would need to see someone. My turn finally came and I was told that because I hadn’t picked my pin number up within two weeks of it arriving at the branch it had been shredded. They only keep them two weeks and then destroy them. This was news to me. Had I known this I could have made a new request online two weeks ago. The last time I had been in I had ordered it online but it had not arrived even after 10 working days. There seems to be a small window of opportunity for these things. I said that I had requested that one be posted to me in NZ and they could verify that this was posted on July 27th. I could have one posted to an address in the UK which I don’t have, but even if I chose a friend’s address the chances of it getting to the right place at the right time were remote. It would also actually change my address in the system and class me as a resident for withholding tax purposes, so not a smart move. At this point I politely said. “Thanks, I give up. I guess I will be able to use my account in 2012!” and stepped out in to Oxford St and felt like yelling some unmentionable word. Add that to the fact that when Alan checked the balance in the account at the bank, the spending in the last 24 hours hadn’t caught up with the account and it tells you about banking in the UK.
We had arranged to meet Sue and Phil outside the National Portrait Gallery and we went to Bella Italia for an early meal before going to the opera at Covent Garden. Here we had a very amusing and entertaining Italian waiter who made the dining experience a pleasure. We made sure we gave ourselves plenty of time to walk to Covent Garden and have a look around and spend time looking around the Opera House before the performance started at 7pm. This was Cossi Fan Tutti set in 2010 in modern dress. Of course if had all the trappings of the 21st century, cell phones, tattoos, laptops etc. It was hilarious and easy to follow with the sur titles displayed above. It has to be one of the best operas we have ever seen. It was long but so enjoyable that the time flew by.
We finally got back to Sevenoaks around midnight and it was still quite a warm balmy evening. However the weather is set to change soon.
This turned out to be a great day in so many ways. It was really bright and sunny when we all woke up and the temperature for the day predicted to get to 25 in London which is where they were heading. Sue had taken the day off work and around 9am phoned the garage who said to bring me over straight away. Well it was at least a half hour drive away, so about 9.30 they set out in convoy. Mary followed Sue driving me carefully through many narrow lanes and up a few hills, ARRGH, I hate hills first thing in the morning.
When we finally got there the very nice man was quite stunned at my appearance. Well I am a little shabby on the outside, but beautiful on the inside and isn’t that what counts! While waiting for the boat Alan had rummaged through my glove box and found a bunch of receipts for previous work carried out on me and had discovered that I had had a new engine at 96,000 miles and I am on 121,000 now. This made him feel a lot more confident about my overall wellbeing. The mechanic was gobsmacked when Mary told him where they had just returned from taking me. He was visibly shocked, albeit amused. He made a comment along the lines that only kiwis would be so bold. Mary said well, we are back, we are here, we’ve done it! Patch up the brakes and off we’ll go again. So they left me in the hospital for the night.
So Sue drove us back home and we then got organised to go on the train to London. She phoned a friend to see if she could park at their house so we could go to an outlying overland station and travel in by Oyster Card. Sue wanted to go to a garden centre on the way so we called in there. It was absolutely huge and sold everything! People take coach trips to it as an outing. We had cut our lunch which we ate on the train and headed straight for the Royal Academy to look at the Sargent Art Exhibition; From the Sea. This was a small changing exhibition in its last week which Sue had wanted to get to before it closed.
After leaving here we went our separate ways. I had to get back to the Oxford Street branch of the HSCB to pick up the elusive pin number for my debit card. We finally got there after having walked past all the stunning Jewllery shops in Bond Street. I had to give my name and get into a paper queue which they said could be up to 15 minutes as I would need to see someone. My turn finally came and I was told that because I hadn’t picked my pin number up within two weeks of it arriving at the branch it had been shredded. They only keep them two weeks and then destroy them. This was news to me. Had I known this I could have made a new request online two weeks ago. The last time I had been in I had ordered it online but it had not arrived even after 10 working days. There seems to be a small window of opportunity for these things. I said that I had requested that one be posted to me in NZ and they could verify that this was posted on July 27th. I could have one posted to an address in the UK which I don’t have, but even if I chose a friend’s address the chances of it getting to the right place at the right time were remote. It would also actually change my address in the system and class me as a resident for withholding tax purposes, so not a smart move. At this point I politely said. “Thanks, I give up. I guess I will be able to use my account in 2012!” and stepped out in to Oxford St and felt like yelling some unmentionable word. Add that to the fact that when Alan checked the balance in the account at the bank, the spending in the last 24 hours hadn’t caught up with the account and it tells you about banking in the UK.
We had arranged to meet Sue and Phil outside the National Portrait Gallery and we went to Bella Italia for an early meal before going to the opera at Covent Garden. Here we had a very amusing and entertaining Italian waiter who made the dining experience a pleasure. We made sure we gave ourselves plenty of time to walk to Covent Garden and have a look around and spend time looking around the Opera House before the performance started at 7pm. This was Cossi Fan Tutti set in 2010 in modern dress. Of course if had all the trappings of the 21st century, cell phones, tattoos, laptops etc. It was hilarious and easy to follow with the sur titles displayed above. It has to be one of the best operas we have ever seen. It was long but so enjoyable that the time flew by.
We finally got back to Sevenoaks around midnight and it was still quite a warm balmy evening. However the weather is set to change soon.
The White Cliffs of Dover
Tuesday September 21st
There was no need to rush today as the boat sailed at midday and it was only a half hour drive to the car ferry terminal. So they had a bit of a sleep in and then got all sorted ready for the trip back to the UK. They arrived down at the terminal in plenty of time and got in the queue. There were not a lot of cars lined up. It turned out to be a very light sailing. Most people were returning home to UK after holiday abroad. Of course there were huge numbers of trucks taking goods across the channel as usual. It was surprisingly sunny and warm.
The boat left on time and Mary drove me up onto the deck and left a rather large space. Normally the man loading the boat would have got her to move me up closer to the car in front, but they were not packing them in as the boat was nowhere near full.
Mary had told the furs and feather brigade that they could all go up on the deck for this sailing which they were pretty excited about. Ber Lin was very excited about going to England but had to have Pania looking after him all the time. They went outside to look at the White Cliffs of Dover when they came into view but couldn’t spot any bluebirds at all. When they got back to the van and told me this I said they had to wait till tomorrow, just you wait and see, which confused the heck out of them all as they pointed out to me that they won’t be there tomorrow. Mary had to return to TKMaxx in Ashford to get the magnetic tag off the cardigan that the shop assistant had inadvertently left on it seven weeks ago. This was not a problem and she took the opportunity to have trawl and find a few more bargains. Upon reaching the check out, the sales girl asked if she would mind giving her postcode for statistical purposes. Mary replied that she lived a long way away and the computer wouldn’t know her postcode. She said she lived in NZ and the girl said, “Do you have a TKMaxx there?” “No,” said Mary. Well this is what it was all about, finding out where there weren’t any yet, so could she have the post code. She still seemed to want a postcode so Mary gave her 4501 and said it was for Wanganui in NZ and the girl stopped and waited for the rest. “That’s it,” said Mary just four digits. The girl looked puzzled and said it was not recognised. This was of course no surprise to Mary. However the poor girl looked perplexed and gave up. As they left, Mary commented to Alan, “She has no idea at all where New Zealand is!” She must have thought it was some obscure village in England! She is destined to work in a shop for ever, in Ashford with no world view. London would be a long way for her. She probably wouldn’t even know there were white cliffs at Dover.
So it was a nice easy ride back to Sue and Phil’s in Sevenoakes and when Mary had backed me down their narrow drive they both got out and said; “We made it you fantastic little van!” We have been around the block; albeit a rather big one and got back in one piece with only a few very minor dramas. There were over 3,000 extra miles on my clock.
On Saturday, while driving a little faster than usual on the Piage, Mary had detected a worrying noise of metal on metal when applying my brakes and had been driving me very gently and not too fast to get me back to England. It was pretty obvious that my brakes would need looking at before they could move on. So Sue swung into action really fast and made a few phone calls and found a garage that specialised in VW repairs .Mary will need to phone in the morning to see if they can squeeze me in and look at my brakes. So this called for a fairly major unpack and sort out which took a bit of time. The rest of the evening was spent chatting.
Nearly Back in Blighty
Monday September 20th
What a busy night. Those boats kept coming and going all through the night. Calais is a very busy port. When they finally woke up in the morning they had breakfast and went and paid the €7 for the privilege of parking up on the seafront for the night. Then it was off to Cite Europe to do some last minute shopping in France. This is the third time Mary has been here and there is a noticeable downturn due to the recession. Some shops have closed and it lacks the vibrancy it has had in the past. 0r perhaps a new and better commercial centre has opened up somewhere else in Calais and become flavour of the month. The Tesco supermarket is no more but Carrefour still has a wide range of goods in its huge hypermarket. Space was a bit lacking in my storage compartments so they had to settle for two dozen bottles of wine this time. It is always a daunting choice not knowing what you are really buying. Most will be taken to friends so they can pass the verdict on the lucky dip.
After lunch in my onboard cafe, Mary thought she would look at the clearance outlet over the road. It was a ghost town. Once again, a good idea at the time putting an outlet village near the port, but it had not taken off. There were more empty shops than occupied ones and most of the stuff which was labels, was still pretty pricey. So they made their way to Dunkirk to spend the night there in preparation for catching the ferry back to Dover.
Mary had found the address of a camp site on the internet but however hard they tried they could not locate it. Alan tried again from the list and found one, but then suddenly they spied signs to another camp so took them. Much to their surprise they found they were at the camp they had started out at in 2001. As soon as they reached the gate they recognised it. This was the campsite that started it all. On arriving in France in 2001 they intended staying at Youth Hostels. They had innocently driven off the boat at Calais and headed up the coast to Dunkirk only to find they couldn’t find any accommodation in a Youth Hostel, so they resorted to the emergency tent they had packed almost as an afterthought. It was such a wonderful experience they chose to camp whenever possible on that trip and have done so again on the last three trips. They knew they were near the sea so thought it would be great to go for a walk. Last time they were here you could walk straight onto the beach from the camp. Not anymore. A big fence has gone up right around the campsite and you are given a pin code to let yourself in and out a special gate.
It was a lovely evening and lots of people were walking along the promenade. They walked a long way down towards where the houses were. There was a great variety of architecture, most having been built since the war. It is a lovely long flat beach perfect for wind surfing buggies and the boys were having great fun up and down the beach. So after a good long walk up and back again they returned to use up a few leftovers for dinner and then settled down for the night.
What a busy night. Those boats kept coming and going all through the night. Calais is a very busy port. When they finally woke up in the morning they had breakfast and went and paid the €7 for the privilege of parking up on the seafront for the night. Then it was off to Cite Europe to do some last minute shopping in France. This is the third time Mary has been here and there is a noticeable downturn due to the recession. Some shops have closed and it lacks the vibrancy it has had in the past. 0r perhaps a new and better commercial centre has opened up somewhere else in Calais and become flavour of the month. The Tesco supermarket is no more but Carrefour still has a wide range of goods in its huge hypermarket. Space was a bit lacking in my storage compartments so they had to settle for two dozen bottles of wine this time. It is always a daunting choice not knowing what you are really buying. Most will be taken to friends so they can pass the verdict on the lucky dip.
After lunch in my onboard cafe, Mary thought she would look at the clearance outlet over the road. It was a ghost town. Once again, a good idea at the time putting an outlet village near the port, but it had not taken off. There were more empty shops than occupied ones and most of the stuff which was labels, was still pretty pricey. So they made their way to Dunkirk to spend the night there in preparation for catching the ferry back to Dover.
Mary had found the address of a camp site on the internet but however hard they tried they could not locate it. Alan tried again from the list and found one, but then suddenly they spied signs to another camp so took them. Much to their surprise they found they were at the camp they had started out at in 2001. As soon as they reached the gate they recognised it. This was the campsite that started it all. On arriving in France in 2001 they intended staying at Youth Hostels. They had innocently driven off the boat at Calais and headed up the coast to Dunkirk only to find they couldn’t find any accommodation in a Youth Hostel, so they resorted to the emergency tent they had packed almost as an afterthought. It was such a wonderful experience they chose to camp whenever possible on that trip and have done so again on the last three trips. They knew they were near the sea so thought it would be great to go for a walk. Last time they were here you could walk straight onto the beach from the camp. Not anymore. A big fence has gone up right around the campsite and you are given a pin code to let yourself in and out a special gate.
It was a lovely evening and lots of people were walking along the promenade. They walked a long way down towards where the houses were. There was a great variety of architecture, most having been built since the war. It is a lovely long flat beach perfect for wind surfing buggies and the boys were having great fun up and down the beach. So after a good long walk up and back again they returned to use up a few leftovers for dinner and then settled down for the night.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Down to Calais
Sunday September 19th
This morning it was cold, really cold. The thermometer inside said it was only 5° and that is cold. My awning had heavy dew underneath it and was dripping as if it were raining. So it was a good morning to have bit of a sleep in. By the time they were ready to leave I had had a chance to warm up and was ready for a long drive. It was once again a very straight forward trip on the piage and being Sunday devoid of trucks. They stopped to have lunch and also to buy me a drink of petrol.
The Tom Tom was programmed to take them to a camp site in Calais. The idea was to spend one night in Calais and do some shopping at Cite Europe on Monday and then go and spend Monday night over in Dunkirk ready for the ferry that leaves from there midday on Tuesday . But on arriving at the campsite at about 2.30pm they read a sign that said the office was only open between 8 and 12 on a Saturday and Sunday. There was absolutely no way you could get in without a gate code. Mary parked the van and went for a walk towards the sign that said camping cars while Alan looked for other campsites in the Tom Tom. She found that there were heaps of vans parked on the sea front where a place was put aside for campers at €7 for 24 hours, so they decided to drive me down there.
They got a great sunny seafront spot where they could watch the ferries coming and going into the port. They searched everywhere for a place to pay, with no luck and then found a sign which said to pay at the campsite around the corner. They realised that was not going to be a happening thing so they had a cup of tea and then thought they may as well walk into the main part of Calais and at least have a look at the centre.
Mary spied the Youth Hostel and suggested they go along there and ask if they could use their laundry as they still had the problem of not having done any washing for ages. They didn’t have a laundry but the woman there directed them to the one in town. They came back and collected all their washing and went off walking into town. It was not as easy to find as they thought so they ended up at the Information centre for additional directions. They finally found it and put two loads on to wash.
Mary suggested they go out walking while it washing and they walked to the local church which proved very interesting. Although there was no information in English it was obvious that the church has been severely damaged by bombing in the war. Over time they have rebuilt and repaired it. They have a set of very modern stain glass windows and have many of their ancient wooden sculptures are on display but not in the original fixed positions. Mary was annoyed they had left their cameras behind when they picked up the washing.
What was even more of a bonus was that a concert was about to take place. A young girl was giving a very longwinded explanation all in French about it. It turned out to be a concert of 17th and 18th century music on a harpsichord, viol and recorder with a vocalist and narrator. Apart from the narrator they were all female. They were all dressed in period costumes. M and A stayed and listened for as long as it took for the washing to finish, and it was a great way to pass the time and much better than sitting in a grotty laundromat.
Once the washing was dried they returned to me and organised dinner. Someone had been by to collect money for parking and had left a note to tell them to pay at the campsite around the corner between 8 and 12 in the morning. They watched the boats come and go until it was quite dark and then went to bed but it was quite hard to get to sleep as the boats were constant and it was very light because of all the lights at the port.
This morning it was cold, really cold. The thermometer inside said it was only 5° and that is cold. My awning had heavy dew underneath it and was dripping as if it were raining. So it was a good morning to have bit of a sleep in. By the time they were ready to leave I had had a chance to warm up and was ready for a long drive. It was once again a very straight forward trip on the piage and being Sunday devoid of trucks. They stopped to have lunch and also to buy me a drink of petrol.
The Tom Tom was programmed to take them to a camp site in Calais. The idea was to spend one night in Calais and do some shopping at Cite Europe on Monday and then go and spend Monday night over in Dunkirk ready for the ferry that leaves from there midday on Tuesday . But on arriving at the campsite at about 2.30pm they read a sign that said the office was only open between 8 and 12 on a Saturday and Sunday. There was absolutely no way you could get in without a gate code. Mary parked the van and went for a walk towards the sign that said camping cars while Alan looked for other campsites in the Tom Tom. She found that there were heaps of vans parked on the sea front where a place was put aside for campers at €7 for 24 hours, so they decided to drive me down there.
They got a great sunny seafront spot where they could watch the ferries coming and going into the port. They searched everywhere for a place to pay, with no luck and then found a sign which said to pay at the campsite around the corner. They realised that was not going to be a happening thing so they had a cup of tea and then thought they may as well walk into the main part of Calais and at least have a look at the centre.
Mary spied the Youth Hostel and suggested they go along there and ask if they could use their laundry as they still had the problem of not having done any washing for ages. They didn’t have a laundry but the woman there directed them to the one in town. They came back and collected all their washing and went off walking into town. It was not as easy to find as they thought so they ended up at the Information centre for additional directions. They finally found it and put two loads on to wash.
Mary suggested they go out walking while it washing and they walked to the local church which proved very interesting. Although there was no information in English it was obvious that the church has been severely damaged by bombing in the war. Over time they have rebuilt and repaired it. They have a set of very modern stain glass windows and have many of their ancient wooden sculptures are on display but not in the original fixed positions. Mary was annoyed they had left their cameras behind when they picked up the washing.
What was even more of a bonus was that a concert was about to take place. A young girl was giving a very longwinded explanation all in French about it. It turned out to be a concert of 17th and 18th century music on a harpsichord, viol and recorder with a vocalist and narrator. Apart from the narrator they were all female. They were all dressed in period costumes. M and A stayed and listened for as long as it took for the washing to finish, and it was a great way to pass the time and much better than sitting in a grotty laundromat.
Once the washing was dried they returned to me and organised dinner. Someone had been by to collect money for parking and had left a note to tell them to pay at the campsite around the corner between 8 and 12 in the morning. They watched the boats come and go until it was quite dark and then went to bed but it was quite hard to get to sleep as the boats were constant and it was very light because of all the lights at the port.
A Long Trip up Through France
Saturday September 18th
Today I got to take some of the best roads on the trip so far, but it didn’t come cheaply. In France you have the choice of the big motorways which are mostly all piage (pay roads) or you can negotiate your way around the houses and not pay. Well Mary was in no mood for that sort of trip on this occasion so they opted for the piage. It was effortless travelling most of time. There was one spot where there was a deviation near Metz because a section of the motorway was closed but it was all very well sign posted. They turned the Tom Tom off so as not to upset and confuse the Tom Tom lady. She doesn’t like it when they don’t do as she says.
Along the road, before we got to Rhiems there was a huge art installation for quite a number of kilometeres. It started with giant coloured spheres, followed by lots of flat circles on the banks. These were followed by pyramids then flat triangles and cubes and then flat squares. These shapes repeated and alternated all along the route. In some ways they could have been have been a bit of a distraction, but in other ways they provided interest and made the time go faster. It was like been in a giant modern art gallery. So the €42 toll charge for the trip could be regarded as entry to a very expensive modern art exhibition.
I was a bit thirsty on this trip as I was able to move along at a much faster speed than usual as there were not the hills to climb and there were not many trucks to get stuck behind. I was feeling really well with no coughs and splutters because it was such a warm sunny day. They stopped once to have lunch and then near the end to fill me up again for tomorrow.
The campsite they had found on the internet was another one that was in a village and in a most unlikely place. The tom tom took them to it even though it didn’t look promising to start with. However some camp signs suddenly appeared. When they arrived the big gates were shut and they wondered if it was closed. However a young lad came out and opened them and let them in. It turned out that there were several horses with young foals running wild in the campsite and they were containing them so they wouldn’t escape out onto the street and into the village.
After waiting for ages they were finally able to book in. It had said there was a washing machine when Mary had looked online but there is not one, so no washing will be done here. It is all pretty basic and typical France in that there is no separate ladies and men’s ablution block. There was only a male sign on the block and Mary looked for ages to find the ladies but then decided it must be all in one. A confused English woman was also hunting for the ladies and Alan told her it was all in one. Mary noticed that the male sign has now been covered over with a piece of paper and written in English is Ladies and Men.
They left me and the guys and went off walking in the village and came back with lots of goodies. They had found a French Patisserie so had nice treats. Seems they also found steak as they cooked up a good meal on my stove and then went to bed fairly early as it was cooling down.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Pania and Ber Lin Enjoy a Boat Ride in Strasbourg
Friday September 17th
After resting for a couple of days Mary asked who wanted to come out today. It had been wet and it is such a crush in the backpacks with the umbrellas and jackets and lunches that we had been staying home and keeping Hemi company.
But today it was really sunny so BerLin wanted to see a city in France especially one that used to be part of Germany. She also said they were going on a boat trip so we thought that would be fun.
The night before they bought 24 hour travel tickets. It seems they got the tickets all wrong herein Strasbourg. Yesterday when they had gone to the machine to buy the tickets for the next day they couldn’t find the option for the one they had that day. They thought they had bought a day ticket for Thursday and that is what they had used. The tickets system relies on you buying tickets in advance and then validating them on your first trip. You have to carry your validated ticket with you in case you are asked to show it. They probably would have been in trouble with the ones they had for Thursday as they were considerably cheaper. Anyway they were sure they had the correct ones for today and validated them as soon as they got onto the bus. A group of young people were questioned by the bus driver when they got on at the Youth Hostel bus stop and they produced 24 hour tickets left over from the night before. Most of the locals seem to have prepay Oyster type cards that they swipe as they get on the buses or trams.
Once in town they walked to where the boats left from, through some streets they had not previously been along. There are lots of lovely small streets with interesting little shops in Strasbourg. They got the 11.15 boat trip. There are 8 languages available on the headphones and the commentary was very good. By now, having done the audio guide walk, they knew their way around quite well and recognised where they were. The trip is at a very slow pace and allows you to see things really well. There are two locks to go through, one to raise you up a level and one to lower further along. The trip took them right up to the European Institutions. Strasbourg houses the European Parliament. It was chosen as the venue because of its history of political unrest and its ability to adapt in times of change. There are huge glass and steel buildings all set on the edge of the river and they look very dramatic when the sun is on them. The round trip took an hour and a quarter. 
After eating lunch in a pretty square they found a tram and went back out to the European District to take photos and visit the Orangie Gardens. This involved a change of tram onto the E line which had obviously been built to service this district. The gardens were all being set up for some event that is going to take place at the weekend. There were tents going up everywhere and high ropes being put up into the trees for abseiling. There were also some guys doing chainsaw sculptures and making quite a good job of them too.
The Orangie was originally built for Empress Josephine when she and Napoleon resided in Strasbourg, but apparently she never visited it. The formal gardens around it are the usual beautiful French gardens with lots of height and a great mixture of colours. They are very fond of mixing hot and cool colours in their gardens and it looks great. It was so pleasant to have a warm sunny day and for them to be able to walk around outside without several layers of clothing on. There was a little zoo as well, which was mainly birds, but there was a cage of cheeky monkeys up to their usual tricks. There were no kiwis and no bears. 
They walked back along the river to get another photo of one of the European buildings and then caught the tram back to town. There they had a browse around the shops and found the patisserie that had some delectable raspberry tarts and bought a couple of these for dessert. So this was the last the day of being tourists because tomorrow and Sunday will both be travelling days to get them back up through France to catch the ferry back to Dover.
At Last the Sun is Shining
Thursday September 16th
Today the weather looked a lot better so we got ourselves into town and went to the infocentre to hire the audio guide for the town walk. This walk is supposed to take 90 min but you are allowed to keep the audio for up to 3 hours. It certainly took us well over 2 hours to do it properly. There was a good walking map provided and an excellent commentary. Strasbourg had been a Roman settlement from 12BC. It was also part of the Holy Roman Empire until 1681 when it became part of France under Louis XIV. The Marseillaise was first sung in the rooms of the mayor of Strasborg as it was the battle song of the Rhine Army. Strasbourg was part of Germany from 1870 to 1918 when it again became part of France, only to be annexed by Germany in 1940. France finally got it back in 1944 and it had been part of France ever since. Because of this there is French and German influence in the buildings and the traditions.
The walk took us along the L’Ill which is a small river that flows through the town and into the Rhine. The most interesting part of the city is Petite France. This is built all alongside the river and there are a series of locks on it as they created levels on the river for the mills in the old days. There is also an ancient washhouse that was a platform that could be lowered and raised to do the laundry. The walk ended in Gutenburg Square where there is a statue of Gutenburg with his printing press. He spent about 10 years in Strasbourg and and it was at this time that he devloped his printing press so they have claimed him as their own.
After returning the audio guides and eating our lunch we used our free museum entry to Palais Rohan which included the decorative art museum. The woman at the desk directed us to go downstairs and leave our back packs in a locker which we were quite happy to do. However when we got there we didn’t have a €1 coin to put in so that we could get the key out. So I went up with €2 and asked her to change it, but she seemed to be saying we didn’t need a coin. After struggling with this locker we went up again and in the end I realised she was refusing to change the coin. She said she did not have a €1 which I found hard to believe as there was a shop selling things for €29, so if we had bought that she probably would have found one. So we refused to buy her expensive postcards and went back across the square and bought a cheap postcard and got the change and finally got the bags locked up so we could go into the museum.
This is the ancient residence of the princes-bishops of Strasborg and was built between 1732 and 1742. It houses the Rohan Cardinals’ luxurious suites. They certainly treated themselves to style, as in Munich. There is also a large decorative arts museum as part of it. Some of the original pieces of the astronomical clock that have now had to be replaced are housed here and they were able to be viewed close up. These included the original rooster that crows three times at midday and is the oldest mechanical working metal object known to be preserved. It was an interesting collection.
When we got back outside it was nice and sunny so Alan decided to retake some of his photos of the front of the cathedral. He had no sooner got where he wanted to be when a group of rowdy med students descended on the cathedral square and started some sort of hilarious demonstration which included songs, dancing and Mexican waves. It wasn’t a protest but some kind of organised fun. They had decorated their lab coats and theatre gear with illustrations and slogans. There is a huge medical school in Strasbourg and they have students from all over the world come to study at it.
We took a tram out towards the Botanical Gardens and had a walk around but they were not spectacular so we caught the tram back into town and had a look around some of the shops before heading back to camp for tea. We decided to have dinner before going to the cafe to get online as we were quite hungry. This campsite is surprisingly full with lots of coming and going. A bus hotel combination arrived as we were having tea. It is called Rotel Tours. Half of it is bus for touring and the other half seems to be sleeping accommodation albeit very small. I looked it up online. It is a German company and looks very interesting.
Today the weather looked a lot better so we got ourselves into town and went to the infocentre to hire the audio guide for the town walk. This walk is supposed to take 90 min but you are allowed to keep the audio for up to 3 hours. It certainly took us well over 2 hours to do it properly. There was a good walking map provided and an excellent commentary. Strasbourg had been a Roman settlement from 12BC. It was also part of the Holy Roman Empire until 1681 when it became part of France under Louis XIV. The Marseillaise was first sung in the rooms of the mayor of Strasborg as it was the battle song of the Rhine Army. Strasbourg was part of Germany from 1870 to 1918 when it again became part of France, only to be annexed by Germany in 1940. France finally got it back in 1944 and it had been part of France ever since. Because of this there is French and German influence in the buildings and the traditions.
The walk took us along the L’Ill which is a small river that flows through the town and into the Rhine. The most interesting part of the city is Petite France. This is built all alongside the river and there are a series of locks on it as they created levels on the river for the mills in the old days. There is also an ancient washhouse that was a platform that could be lowered and raised to do the laundry. The walk ended in Gutenburg Square where there is a statue of Gutenburg with his printing press. He spent about 10 years in Strasbourg and and it was at this time that he devloped his printing press so they have claimed him as their own.After returning the audio guides and eating our lunch we used our free museum entry to Palais Rohan which included the decorative art museum. The woman at the desk directed us to go downstairs and leave our back packs in a locker which we were quite happy to do. However when we got there we didn’t have a €1 coin to put in so that we could get the key out. So I went up with €2 and asked her to change it, but she seemed to be saying we didn’t need a coin. After struggling with this locker we went up again and in the end I realised she was refusing to change the coin. She said she did not have a €1 which I found hard to believe as there was a shop selling things for €29, so if we had bought that she probably would have found one. So we refused to buy her expensive postcards and went back across the square and bought a cheap postcard and got the change and finally got the bags locked up so we could go into the museum.
This is the ancient residence of the princes-bishops of Strasborg and was built between 1732 and 1742. It houses the Rohan Cardinals’ luxurious suites. They certainly treated themselves to style, as in Munich. There is also a large decorative arts museum as part of it. Some of the original pieces of the astronomical clock that have now had to be replaced are housed here and they were able to be viewed close up. These included the original rooster that crows three times at midday and is the oldest mechanical working metal object known to be preserved. It was an interesting collection.When we got back outside it was nice and sunny so Alan decided to retake some of his photos of the front of the cathedral. He had no sooner got where he wanted to be when a group of rowdy med students descended on the cathedral square and started some sort of hilarious demonstration which included songs, dancing and Mexican waves. It wasn’t a protest but some kind of organised fun. They had decorated their lab coats and theatre gear with illustrations and slogans. There is a huge medical school in Strasbourg and they have students from all over the world come to study at it.
We took a tram out towards the Botanical Gardens and had a walk around but they were not spectacular so we caught the tram back into town and had a look around some of the shops before heading back to camp for tea. We decided to have dinner before going to the cafe to get online as we were quite hungry. This campsite is surprisingly full with lots of coming and going. A bus hotel combination arrived as we were having tea. It is called Rotel Tours. Half of it is bus for touring and the other half seems to be sleeping accommodation albeit very small. I looked it up online. It is a German company and looks very interesting.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
A Wet But Interesting Day
Wednesday September 15th
Somehow we managed to come to Strasbourg with no information about the place at all so we had no idea what to expect when we got into town. We walked to the bus stop and managed to buy a ticket off the driver that would also be good for the tram. Alan was keen to try and buy a return ticket but we ended up with a one way one. We managed to get off by the tram and you simply get out of the bus and step onto the tram that takes you in to the city. The trams are all sleek, modern and fast. We got off at the right stop in the centre of town and walked to the information centre and spoke the woman in there who explained the Strasbourg card. It seemed really good value although did not include any transport. However there were free entries to a few places and discounts to others.
The first visit was the cathedral which was free but it closes at 11.15 to get everyone out and then you pay to go in at 12.00 to see the astronomical clock. There was a free voucher for this in the book so we lined up outside at 11.45 with all the other tourists. There was a very good movie for the first half hour explaining the clock and then at 12.30 it does it 12 o’clock thing. It is half an hour out for some obscure reason. It was quite spectacular and with the explanation I was able to video in the right places as I knew the sequence. It was quite like the clocks in Prague and Munich with its parade of characters, but as it is in the cathedral rather than on clock tower there is more to see and you can get a lot closer.
When we got outside the little train was pulling up so we bought tickets for the 1pm ride and ate lunch while we waited. This was a really good trip as it took us all over the old town and there was a good commentary through the headphones. We were able to find out where the places of interest were so we could walk back and photograph them. Unfortunately it was another wet day so the buildings didn’t look as good as they would on a sunny day. The whole of the old town is a UNESCO World Heritage site and it easy to see why. There are narrow cobbled streets of half timbered houses where the tanners, butchers and fishmongers originally had their trades.
After the train ride we went to the Alsace museum. The booklet gave us one free entry to museum of our choice so we chose this one. When we got there we were told it was free, so we still have a free visit to another tomorrow. It was all set up in a large old house built around a courtyard on four levels. It contained a lot of painted furniture typical of the Alsace region. It was very extensive and interesting and took a bit of viewing but it was a great wet day activity.
After we left here we walked some of the route that the train had taken us on and took photos and video. If it is fine tomorrow we may go back and get some sunny photos.
We eventually ended up at the main railway station. This is an old building that has had a huge glass atrium built over the front. At some stage they have added a tram line underneath and you access these by escalators from the atrium. We worked out how to buy tickets at the machine and managed to buy whole day tickets for tomorrow which will be useful and are far cheaper than single trips. We then worked how to navigate the tram and bus network back to the camp. It was still drizzling as it had been all day. However we spent some time in the cafe having a drink and surfing the internet.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Out of Germany and Back into France
Tuesday September 14th
Today I set out to take them back into France. It had been another of the very cold night and I don’t do cold, but I eventually warmed up once we were of the motorways. It seemed that we struck the most road works ever so far on this trip. For a start it was lawn mowing and clean up day on the edges motorways. Huge machines were trimming the banks and edges in several places and this took out a lane. So the traffic had to slow and merge from 3 to 2 of in some cases 2 to 1 lane. At least ,if not more of the traffic on the road is trucks, so it was interesting to say the least.
They are also renewing large sections of motorway and they take one side out completely for kilometres on end and put all the traffic through 2 realigned lanes on the remaining side. This is at a slower speed and really slows things up. All of this probably added an hour to our journey and we didn’t arrive until 3.30. However we were in traffic that was moving the whole time even if it was ever so slowly. On the other side we saw a huge tailback that was kilometres long. The trucks in the slow lane had turned off their motors and were in the biggest car park in Germany.
The little kiwis and Ber Lin were quite unperturbed by the slow trip and could be heard singing a little song they had made up.
Three little birds sittin' in the back seat
Huggin and a'kissin with Ted.
I said, why don't one of you come up and sit beside me
And this is what the three birds said
All together now, one, two, three
Keep you mind on your drivin'
Keep your hands on the wheel
Keep your snoopy eyes on the road ahead
We're havin' fun sittin' in the back seat
Kissin' and a'huggin with Ted.
Well at least they knew how to pass the time. Really where do they get these ideas from?
The Tom Tom got directed me to the campsite after a couple of replanned routes as there were road works all through the outer part of Strasbourg as well. This was quite frustrating but Mary hung in there and we finally found the campsite she had found on the internet. They decided to stay put and not attempt to make a journey into town. They did ask the girl at reception where the nearest supermarket was and it was only a 10 minute walk away so they went out and got some much needed supplies and then spent some time on the internet which is free here but you have to come up to the cafe. That was fine as there were tables and you could buy a drink as well.
Today I set out to take them back into France. It had been another of the very cold night and I don’t do cold, but I eventually warmed up once we were of the motorways. It seemed that we struck the most road works ever so far on this trip. For a start it was lawn mowing and clean up day on the edges motorways. Huge machines were trimming the banks and edges in several places and this took out a lane. So the traffic had to slow and merge from 3 to 2 of in some cases 2 to 1 lane. At least ,if not more of the traffic on the road is trucks, so it was interesting to say the least.
They are also renewing large sections of motorway and they take one side out completely for kilometres on end and put all the traffic through 2 realigned lanes on the remaining side. This is at a slower speed and really slows things up. All of this probably added an hour to our journey and we didn’t arrive until 3.30. However we were in traffic that was moving the whole time even if it was ever so slowly. On the other side we saw a huge tailback that was kilometres long. The trucks in the slow lane had turned off their motors and were in the biggest car park in Germany.
The little kiwis and Ber Lin were quite unperturbed by the slow trip and could be heard singing a little song they had made up.
Three little birds sittin' in the back seat
Huggin and a'kissin with Ted.
I said, why don't one of you come up and sit beside me
And this is what the three birds said
All together now, one, two, three
Keep you mind on your drivin'
Keep your hands on the wheel
Keep your snoopy eyes on the road ahead
We're havin' fun sittin' in the back seat
Kissin' and a'huggin with Ted.
Well at least they knew how to pass the time. Really where do they get these ideas from?
The Tom Tom got directed me to the campsite after a couple of replanned routes as there were road works all through the outer part of Strasbourg as well. This was quite frustrating but Mary hung in there and we finally found the campsite she had found on the internet. They decided to stay put and not attempt to make a journey into town. They did ask the girl at reception where the nearest supermarket was and it was only a 10 minute walk away so they went out and got some much needed supplies and then spent some time on the internet which is free here but you have to come up to the cafe. That was fine as there were tables and you could buy a drink as well.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
A Near Disaster Narrowly Averted
Monday September 13th
In the night Mary had heard rain on my roof and realised that the awning wasn’t tilted to take account of this so told Alan, who got up and tilted it. Because it was dark he didn’t realise that it had been raining a while already and there must have been a considerable amount of water already accumulated in the awning. When Mary got up she realised that they had created a water reservoir and the awning was almost collapsing because of the rain that had collected in it. It needed both of them to get it so that the water would pour off onto the ground creating a flood all around me.The photo is of thebus about tents. Guess they got really wet!
Mary goes off to have a shower, followed by Alan. Mary comes back and finds me locked. There must be a reason for this, she thinks. Perhaps Alan thinks there are just too many people around. They had got pretty slack about locking me when they were they were just going across to the ablutions block as it was so close. But it is raining and not particularly warm and Mary has wet hair that she wants to dry. She looks inside and her heart sinks. There on the bench are the keys to open me and every door is locked and her keys are in her backpack. Panic starts to set in. Not only is the hair drier in me, but everything else, food, money, phones, clothes and shelter. She is starting to think this will need a call out and probably take ages and cost heaps. She takes a walk around me and looks at all the possibilities. The feathers and fur brigade are completely oblivious and useless. There is a sliding window by the bench that she opens when she cooks. It locks shut, but by chance she has not pulled it completely shut. She pushes it and it opens! She can reach in and get the keys! Alan arrives back and she is sitting in me drying her hair as if nothing is unusual. You locked us out she says. Of course he can’t believe this as she is sitting there with my door open. Somehow the sliding door latch was set up to lock when he pulled it shut and this locked it automatically. Because they always use keys to lock me to stop this sort of thing happening, this really surprised Alan. So a major disaster was averted, and extra care will be needed to make sure it doesn’t happen again and that they don’t leave windows open so that others can get in just as easily.
It was a grotty day outside and Monday, when lots of places are closed. The little kiwis and Berlin opted to stay back with me today and let the big people go out in the wet and tell the story today.
Actually we were all museumed out, so decided to go into town and get Alan the haircut he has been needing for ages. On the tram ride yesterday I had seen a sign that said men’s haircuts for €11 which was the best price we had seen; some are €40. So we took note of how to get there. We had got off the underground train and got on a tram, when I looked across the road and saw a place with haircuts for €9. We quickly got out of the tram and went across. There was no waiting and Alan got a great cut for €9. I was reluctant to let them loose on my hair so it is getting longer.
A rainy day calls for a bit of retail therapy and I had an overwhelming desire to shop. Alan found a UK paper at the station for reading later in the day. We had brought lunch with us but it becomes a problem on a wet day; there is no where to sit and eat it. We had read up about the BMW Museum and it actually sounded great so we decided to take a train in the direction of Olympic park and go and spend the afternoon out there. You have to go through BMW Welt to get to it so we went to their luxurious toilets on the way through. There, downstairs in a lovely lobby were beautiful leather couches so we sat down and ate our lunch there in the dry. There I found a promotional booklet about the whole place and it said that 250 people a day come to pick up their new cars and that the public can watch this from a balcony. So we went and looked at the people getting their new cars. The cars are brought up a special lift and driven in place onto individual turntables. A saleperson meets the buyers and escorts them to their car where they have their photo taken. They spend about an hour going over the finer features and detail. They then shake hands and go over to a trolley by the car which is full of drawers and cupboards and they sign up the paper work. Finally the buyer gets to drive a grand circuit and then down a ramp out into the traffic and their brand new BMW. There were five deliveries taking place while we were there, all of them the SUV model. It was fascinating and there were quite a few spectators. the photo shows the BMw complex with the head office in the shape of a 4 cylinder engine and the Welt with it's massive roof in front.We carried on over to the Museum, only to find it too, was closed on a Monday. So we took ourselves back to town and into the San Francisco Coffee Company to get some coffee and internet. It was still raining steadily and not too warm so it was a nice place to be.
We made our way home a bit earlier than usual and spent the time sorting our diaries and having a giant throw away of useless accumulated pieces of paper. Tomorrow we travel to Strasbourg in France and this will be our last major stop before heading back across the channel to the Uk.
Monday, September 13, 2010
A Very Busy Day
Sunday September 12th
We awoke to another bright sunny day today and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast outside. Today we wanted to visit the Residenz. This was the palace complex of the Whittelsbach dynasty up till 1918 when the Monarchy ceased. The buildings date back to 1385. Although some of the original buildings exist in their original form, there was extensive damage to the whole complex in WW2 and a lot of it has been reconstructed in the original style. This is something that the Germans have done with their heritage buildings all over Germany. It is a credit to them. No expense has been spared and they have gone to great trouble to faithfully reconstruct their heritage. They also keep their buildings looking fresh and well painted and there is scaffolding everywhere as they always seem to working on maintenance.
A thorough exploration of this palace would take several days if not weeks, but we bought the triple ticket which included the Treasury, the State Apartments and the Baroque Theatre. The Treasury audio guide warned that if you listened to all the commentaries it would take 5 hours! So we had to be selective. One of the most beautiful pieces was the English crown taken to Germany by one of the daughters of Henry lV.
There was also an amazing figure of St George killing the dragon made in1597 and heavily encrusted with jewels. It was one of the best treasuries we had visited and took a while to view but not 5 hours.
The next tour was the Residenz Museum. This also had a very comprehensive audio guide and we had to be really selective here. There were over 90 rooms and if we had listened to it all we would have missed the boat back to England next week! There was room after room of mind blowing opulence. There are more rooms open in the afternoon than in the morning and by now it was the afternoon so we did the long tour. There were too many highlights to mention.
By the time we had finished going up and down stairs and along corridors it was 2.30 and we still hadn’t had lunch in fact we were over being hungry. We sat in one of the quiet courtyards and had our lunch and then went to the Cuvillies theatre. Destroyed in WW2 the theatre was rebuilt using as much of the surviving wood carvings as possible. It is described as Europe’s finest surviving Rococo theatre and was originally built around 1735.
A short walk away was the Theatinerkirche which is a must see and one of Munich’s finest buildings. It is pure Roman Baroque and the interior is all white stuccowork which is a change from the high baroque rococo style of many of the other churches.
It was time for coffee and internet and they spied a San Francisco Coffee Company right by the church so went in and found a comfortable couch. I caught up on Blog and email and the Wanganui news. Here I was surprised to read that St Georges School was closing at the end of the year. Alan finally got to read his expensive Guardian that he had bought to read the day before whole Mary was on the internet.
We had seen all we wanted to see but decided it was a bit early to go back to the camp so we took a walk around the Hofgarten and then took the Ubahn to Sendlinger Tor. Here we caught a tram just to have a nice long tram ride in another direction. It was through a completely different part of town and was a restful way to finish the day. We jumped off and caught one going back the other way and then headed back to camp. To our surprise a tent city had popped up during our absence.
We took a walk around the whole and realised how huge it is. We are in the part near the entrance so had no idea how big it all was. At least three big bus tours including Bus About and Contiki had arrived and pitched all their tents. The place is full of young people all speaking English. We have kiwis on both sides of us here. There is another young couple in a really small van and they have been on the road for 6 months but are getting sick of it and think they will try and get jobs in Germany after the Oktoberfest. Although it doesn’t officially start until Friday, it is already very festive in town and people are dressing up already in their festive clothes. We wonder if the bus tours are staying on through for the Oktoberfest.
We awoke to another bright sunny day today and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast outside. Today we wanted to visit the Residenz. This was the palace complex of the Whittelsbach dynasty up till 1918 when the Monarchy ceased. The buildings date back to 1385. Although some of the original buildings exist in their original form, there was extensive damage to the whole complex in WW2 and a lot of it has been reconstructed in the original style. This is something that the Germans have done with their heritage buildings all over Germany. It is a credit to them. No expense has been spared and they have gone to great trouble to faithfully reconstruct their heritage. They also keep their buildings looking fresh and well painted and there is scaffolding everywhere as they always seem to working on maintenance.
A thorough exploration of this palace would take several days if not weeks, but we bought the triple ticket which included the Treasury, the State Apartments and the Baroque Theatre. The Treasury audio guide warned that if you listened to all the commentaries it would take 5 hours! So we had to be selective. One of the most beautiful pieces was the English crown taken to Germany by one of the daughters of Henry lV. 
There was also an amazing figure of St George killing the dragon made in1597 and heavily encrusted with jewels. It was one of the best treasuries we had visited and took a while to view but not 5 hours. The next tour was the Residenz Museum. This also had a very comprehensive audio guide and we had to be really selective here. There were over 90 rooms and if we had listened to it all we would have missed the boat back to England next week! There was room after room of mind blowing opulence. There are more rooms open in the afternoon than in the morning and by now it was the afternoon so we did the long tour. There were too many highlights to mention.
By the time we had finished going up and down stairs and along corridors it was 2.30 and we still hadn’t had lunch in fact we were over being hungry. We sat in one of the quiet courtyards and had our lunch and then went to the Cuvillies theatre. Destroyed in WW2 the theatre was rebuilt using as much of the surviving wood carvings as possible. It is described as Europe’s finest surviving Rococo theatre and was originally built around 1735.A short walk away was the Theatinerkirche which is a must see and one of Munich’s finest buildings. It is pure Roman Baroque and the interior is all white stuccowork which is a change from the high baroque rococo style of many of the other churches.
It was time for coffee and internet and they spied a San Francisco Coffee Company right by the church so went in and found a comfortable couch. I caught up on Blog and email and the Wanganui news. Here I was surprised to read that St Georges School was closing at the end of the year. Alan finally got to read his expensive Guardian that he had bought to read the day before whole Mary was on the internet.
We had seen all we wanted to see but decided it was a bit early to go back to the camp so we took a walk around the Hofgarten and then took the Ubahn to Sendlinger Tor. Here we caught a tram just to have a nice long tram ride in another direction. It was through a completely different part of town and was a restful way to finish the day. We jumped off and caught one going back the other way and then headed back to camp. To our surprise a tent city had popped up during our absence.
We took a walk around the whole and realised how huge it is. We are in the part near the entrance so had no idea how big it all was. At least three big bus tours including Bus About and Contiki had arrived and pitched all their tents. The place is full of young people all speaking English. We have kiwis on both sides of us here. There is another young couple in a really small van and they have been on the road for 6 months but are getting sick of it and think they will try and get jobs in Germany after the Oktoberfest. Although it doesn’t officially start until Friday, it is already very festive in town and people are dressing up already in their festive clothes. We wonder if the bus tours are staying on through for the Oktoberfest.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Ber Lin and Pania Take a Look Around Munich
Saturday September 11th
It was bright and sunny when we all woke up today and Ber Lin was feeling really keen to have a look at Munich. He still needs help with the English so Pania went along with him. Mary and Alan were expecting it to be not quite as vibrant in town today after the entertainment last night. How wrong they were. A whole lot of tents had sprung up in Marienplatz and all the emergency and helping agencies were having a demonstration. There were fire engines, ambulances and associated organisations everywhere, and people!
The Viktualienmarkt is one of the must visit tourist places in Munich. There are over 140 stalls selling regional products from Bavaria and exotic delicacies from around the world. It is a very picturesque market and there were many places to eat and drink. The Bavarians love their beer and they were out drinking at 10am in the morning. Mind you it is getting very near Oktoberfest and this is a popular and famous beer garden. There were fantastic flower and florist stalls with a huge range of flowers available which you could buy individually or in bunches. Wreaths made out of fresh hops were for sale, obviously part of the Oktoberfest celebrations. It was all a very pretty and busy scene.
From here they went back to Marienplatz to see the world famous glockenspiel clock. Every day at 11am, 12am and 5pm the mechanical dancers in the tower of the Town Hall come to life when the clock chimes. The whole show goes on for five minutes and is really fascinating. There are even knights jousting on horseback and the second time around one knocked the other off and the crowd all cheered.
The next visit was to Frauenkirkirche which is not a cathedral but is the largest Gothic assembly building in Southern Germany. It was built between 1468 and 1488. It dominates the skyline with its twin onion domed towers. According to legend, the church builder made a wager with the devil that no window could be seen within. When you stand on the spot where the devil made his footprint only a wall of pillars can be seen.
A walk down to the old city gate, Karlstor, revealed a huge fountain playing that the night before had all been covered over with a huge stage. It looked completely different in daylight. The gate is one of the remaining parts of the old city wall that no longer exists. It got its name from Elector Karl Theodor who had the old town wall pulled down in order to allow the city to expand. The gate has been rebuilt several times.
A walk back in the other direction along a very expensive shopping street took them to the Asamkirke. This is quite a small church only 28 metres long and 8.8 metres wide, the size being dictated by the small piece of land available at the time it was being built. But every last part of it is richly decorated in High Baroque style. It is breathtaking when you first walk in. It was built between 1733 -46 and designed, funded and executed by the Asam brothers, the most famous builders and decorators of the time. It is a theatrical illusion of another world. The nave has really low key lighting and seems rather dark but is full of striking architectural details, rich stucco and masterpieces of fresco painting. Being so small it was difficult to photograph or video but they did their best.
From here they walked on through one of the other town gates still intact, Sendlinger Tor, although it has had to be modified to cope with the increasing amount of traffic that now passes through here. A quick ride on the UBahn took them to the English Garden which is huge. At 373ha it is one of the largest urban parks in the world so they walked around the lake area and back to another UBahn stop so that they could visit the Olympic Park.
Munich hosted the 1972 Olympics and developed an old airfield as the park. They created an artificial lake and built hills using rubble removed from the city after WW2. The roof construction is like a giant tent made of glass and has become a Munich landmark. There are lifts that take you up the 290m tower and the view from up there is amazing. It is 360° all over Munich.
Directly beneath the tower was another building that turned out to be part of the huge BMW complex. BMW Welt is the BMW adventure and delivery centre. Here they have al the current model BMWs on show and you are free to climb in them. It is a giant show room but much more. It has a restaurant, coffee bar, gift shop, hands on games of kids and adults. It is the complete BMW experience and is free to enter. It is a very modern and innovative building. Tours through the actual plant take place daily. There is also a BMW museum which they didn’t visit. What they did see was fascinating. There were plenty of staff on hand ready to take your order. There was even a special room where you could order your customised car and all the leather pelts were hanging up so that you could chose the colour for your upholstery. This was all located in the same area as the Olympic Park so the Ubahn was close. They took it back to the main station so that they could buy an English newspaper and read some news.
The idea had been that Alan would read the paper while Mary got on the internet. Seeing free interent at a cafe at the station they decided to try there instead of getting another train back to where they had been yesterday. Unfortunately it was another TMobile hotspot and you need to sign up and give credit card numbers so they can start robbing you at the rate of about €8 an hour once your free hour runs out . Also you need an address in Europe. So they gave up on the internet idea and after coffee caught the train back to camp. Tomorrow they will go back to The San Francisco Coffee Company which is no fuss straight on.
It was bright and sunny when we all woke up today and Ber Lin was feeling really keen to have a look at Munich. He still needs help with the English so Pania went along with him. Mary and Alan were expecting it to be not quite as vibrant in town today after the entertainment last night. How wrong they were. A whole lot of tents had sprung up in Marienplatz and all the emergency and helping agencies were having a demonstration. There were fire engines, ambulances and associated organisations everywhere, and people!
The Viktualienmarkt is one of the must visit tourist places in Munich. There are over 140 stalls selling regional products from Bavaria and exotic delicacies from around the world. It is a very picturesque market and there were many places to eat and drink. The Bavarians love their beer and they were out drinking at 10am in the morning. Mind you it is getting very near Oktoberfest and this is a popular and famous beer garden. There were fantastic flower and florist stalls with a huge range of flowers available which you could buy individually or in bunches. Wreaths made out of fresh hops were for sale, obviously part of the Oktoberfest celebrations. It was all a very pretty and busy scene.
From here they went back to Marienplatz to see the world famous glockenspiel clock. Every day at 11am, 12am and 5pm the mechanical dancers in the tower of the Town Hall come to life when the clock chimes. The whole show goes on for five minutes and is really fascinating. There are even knights jousting on horseback and the second time around one knocked the other off and the crowd all cheered.
The next visit was to Frauenkirkirche which is not a cathedral but is the largest Gothic assembly building in Southern Germany. It was built between 1468 and 1488. It dominates the skyline with its twin onion domed towers. According to legend, the church builder made a wager with the devil that no window could be seen within. When you stand on the spot where the devil made his footprint only a wall of pillars can be seen.A walk down to the old city gate, Karlstor, revealed a huge fountain playing that the night before had all been covered over with a huge stage. It looked completely different in daylight. The gate is one of the remaining parts of the old city wall that no longer exists. It got its name from Elector Karl Theodor who had the old town wall pulled down in order to allow the city to expand. The gate has been rebuilt several times.
A walk back in the other direction along a very expensive shopping street took them to the Asamkirke. This is quite a small church only 28 metres long and 8.8 metres wide, the size being dictated by the small piece of land available at the time it was being built. But every last part of it is richly decorated in High Baroque style. It is breathtaking when you first walk in. It was built between 1733 -46 and designed, funded and executed by the Asam brothers, the most famous builders and decorators of the time. It is a theatrical illusion of another world. The nave has really low key lighting and seems rather dark but is full of striking architectural details, rich stucco and masterpieces of fresco painting. Being so small it was difficult to photograph or video but they did their best.From here they walked on through one of the other town gates still intact, Sendlinger Tor, although it has had to be modified to cope with the increasing amount of traffic that now passes through here. A quick ride on the UBahn took them to the English Garden which is huge. At 373ha it is one of the largest urban parks in the world so they walked around the lake area and back to another UBahn stop so that they could visit the Olympic Park.
Munich hosted the 1972 Olympics and developed an old airfield as the park. They created an artificial lake and built hills using rubble removed from the city after WW2. The roof construction is like a giant tent made of glass and has become a Munich landmark. There are lifts that take you up the 290m tower and the view from up there is amazing. It is 360° all over Munich. Directly beneath the tower was another building that turned out to be part of the huge BMW complex. BMW Welt is the BMW adventure and delivery centre. Here they have al the current model BMWs on show and you are free to climb in them. It is a giant show room but much more. It has a restaurant, coffee bar, gift shop, hands on games of kids and adults. It is the complete BMW experience and is free to enter. It is a very modern and innovative building. Tours through the actual plant take place daily. There is also a BMW museum which they didn’t visit. What they did see was fascinating. There were plenty of staff on hand ready to take your order. There was even a special room where you could order your customised car and all the leather pelts were hanging up so that you could chose the colour for your upholstery. This was all located in the same area as the Olympic Park so the Ubahn was close. They took it back to the main station so that they could buy an English newspaper and read some news.
The idea had been that Alan would read the paper while Mary got on the internet. Seeing free interent at a cafe at the station they decided to try there instead of getting another train back to where they had been yesterday. Unfortunately it was another TMobile hotspot and you need to sign up and give credit card numbers so they can start robbing you at the rate of about €8 an hour once your free hour runs out . Also you need an address in Europe. So they gave up on the internet idea and after coffee caught the train back to camp. Tomorrow they will go back to The San Francisco Coffee Company which is no fuss straight on.
A Short But Slow Trip From Salzburg to Munich
Friday September 10th
Today I got to take them to Munich and it was a nice short drive but a tough one. There were some mighty hills and I don’t really do hills. It didn’t help that there was a travelling fun fair on the road going fairly slowly up the hills. What a difference travelling on a Friday. I have got so used to travelling on a Sunday. There were trucks and more trucks and lots of cars and campervans as well. But it was an uneventful trip. Alan had programmed the Tom Tom to take me right to the campsite and this it did without a hitch. I got them here in time for lunch and they were able to choose a prime spot and get the awning out. Some of the places would have been too small for that.
I hadn’t pulled up long when another campervan pulled in nearby and the fella said, oh you must be our near neighbours ,from Australia? And they said no, NZ, don’t you recognise your own flag? He said an unmentionable word and felt really stupid. He rushed into his van and put up his Silver Fern flag with New Zealand written on it. That was enough for Mary to put Ka Pai and Patariki in the front window. Ber Lin was too shy so Pania stayed on the back seat with him. He and his wife come from Auckland and they are nearing the end of a seven month campervan tour!
After lunch the big people decided to leave us all here and take a quick trip into town to see what it was like and find their way around so it would be easy tomorrow.
Another bus /underground combination to sort out but an easy one thank goodness. The bus stops at the camp gate and takes you three stops to the underground. Once there we had to work out which line and which way it was going and how much to pay. It was all very confusing but we finally got a family ticket sorted that was good for 2 -5 people for the day. The train line was obviously one they had developed when they had the Munich Olympics as it had the Olympic Park on the list of stops and it was of that era. When we emerged from the subway we were in the centre of town and we walked into the most vibrant and electric environment so far. To put it mildly, Munich Rocks! It was a special day in town. They were having a festival with musicians and dancers and other entertainers performing all over the large central city. Large stages had been erected and seating and bars set out. There were tourists and locals everywhere and it was definitely party time. We had a good wander through the main pedestrian area and decided to eat in town and not rush back to camp.
While I did a bit of shopping Alan explored the town and listened to some of the entertainment. The shops are great and the window displays are full of Oktoberfest costumes. There is a wonderful choice of traditional outfits ranging in price from reasonable to very expensive.
We had taken the laptop into town as there was no Wifi at the camp, only connections by Lan cable which I didn’t think i’d need so didn’t bring and it costs silly money as well. So we spent a bit of time trying to find a cafe that had Wifi. We finally went back to the Info centre and the woman there told us where there was coffee shop with a hot spot. It was worth the price of a coffee to get a good fast connection. I think we will be regular customers. Got all the blog up and email dealt with and had a quick look at Stuff. I checked my bank account and found the money I had just spent had been deducted already. These debit cards are really good and better than a credit card as the fees are lower. I have started to just hand it over and they think it is a credit card and you have to sign but it actually works the same as a cashflow card at home. Interestingly the debit card attached to our English bank account still takes several days for the money to come out. NZ must have one of the best banking systems in the world.
Then it was back into the street to enjoy more of the entertainment. We bought a few nibbles and a drink and listened to some very classy jazz and then slowly walked back to the underground. We were nearly there when we came across three girls singing with two guys on keyboard and drums. They were awesome and had a huge crowd around them. They were doing very good cover versions of Queen, Leonard Cohen , Rocky Horror, Sister Act etc. They had attracted a huge crowd so we listened to them until they finished and then caught the underground and the bus back to camp neither of which we had to wait any time for at all. Tomorrow we will start using our 3 day travel/tourist card and see the sights.
Friday, September 10, 2010
The Last Day in Salzburg
Thursday September 9th
The kiwis and Ber Lin wanted to spend a day at home with Hemi so Mary will write the blog today. It was the last day in Salzburg and the last day to use the card so there were things that had to be seen.
The first one was the Mozart Residence. This was near the Mirabell Palace so we caught a bus to this area and found it easily. It was here that the family moved in Salzburg when the previous house in the old town became too small. This was a spacious town apartment and the audio guide commentary was about the years when the Father, Leopold , was taking his two exceptionally talented children all over Europe by coach to perform concerts in the courts. The family actually had seven children but only two survived, Mozart and his sister Maria. She would have been considered outstanding to a much greater degree than she was had she not always been in the shadow of her prodigy younger brother Wolfgang. This visit filled in all the gaps as the house we visited in Vienna was the one where Mozart had lived as an adult for a short time once he was married.
From here we walked over the foot bridge back into the old town. The narrow streets were crowded with tourist in tour parties as usual. We had our lunch in one of the squares near the festival halls where they have regular concerts and of course the famous Salzburg festival. Along from here was a very interesting toy and musical instrument museum. The toys were arranged in groups. There were old tine toys, wooden toys, paper theatres, dolls houses etc. The most interesting was a dolls house in a huge cabinet from the 17th century. There was also a circus exhibition tracing the history of the circus over the years.
The other section was the musical instruments. There were over 400 of these from four centuries. They were well displayed but had no English explanations, but it was easy to work out what they were.
A little way on was an elevator that took you up through the hill to the museum of modern art. There were actually three elevators side by side and they were very modern, not like the Durie Hill elevator. At the top was a panorama terrace that gave a wonderful view of Salzburg. Once up there we decided to visit the Museum of Modern Art. There was an interesting exhibition called Pressart. All based around art in the press or using items of press to create a new work of art. Quite a few artists had used newspapers and magazines in really imaginative ways. The major exhibition was the work of Max Ernst one of the surrealist artists of the 20th century. He mainly illustrated the books he created about his artist friends.
From here we visited the Residenz. This is the former palace of Salzburg’s Prince Archbishops. We were taken through these 15 rooms of the state apartments with a comprehensive audio guide that described most of the objects on each room. It was a journey through two centuries of decorative style, renaissance, baroque and classical. There was a lot to see and the archbishops made sure they lived in style. Mozart had performed his first concerts in one of the rooms when he was only 6 and of course performed there many times over the years as he was growing up in Salzburg.
The last major sight was the Dom. We did not spend a lot of time in here. It has been rebuilt over the years and the present one dates from 1628. It is a model of Baroque architecture north of the Alps. When it was built it was designed to hold 10,000 people which was more than the entire population of Salzburg at the time. Today the population is 160,000 and there are 6 million visitors a year. Mozart played the great Baroque organ here.
Leaving the Cathedral area we walked down to the Mozart Bridge which is early 20th century and was used as a location in the Sound of music. This took us across the river and we caught a bus back to the railway station and then back to camp. It was not too late in the day so we both spent time on the diaries. I am making a scrap book but don’t get time to write much extra in it. Tomorrow we leave Salzburg and make a short trip to Munich. We packed as much as we could into four days and still missed a few things but we simply ran out of time and energy!
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