Prague...Now Vying for Favourite

Well I think Prague is now vying with Brussels for my favourite European city! Actually I think it is winning. After a 3 hour drive (complete with driving through a disused communist Czech border checkpoint) we drove right into the centre of Prague to our hotel. Before coming over, I wondered what sort of fanfare greets you as you depart one country and enter another. Actually there is none at all! There is lucky to even be a small sign alerting you to the fact you have crossed a border.

For those of you who have been to Prague this will be no surprise…it is a beautiful city! I think Charles Bridge and the stunning spires at either end was the highlight of the city for me, both day and night.

We also enjoyed views of the city from the top of the Old Town Hall yesterday but that was trumped this morning by the view from the South Tower at Prague Castle. Just as well - we climbed 287 stairs to get there! At least there was hardly anyone else on that viewing platform! Here we are looking down on the flying buttresses.

Once again it was fascinating to go through a very discreet museum (it's in Lonely Planet guides but not in any local tourist info) about their recent political history of being under communist rule and then liberation from it. Some compelling and confronting stories. 

The buildings in the Old Town are just stunning but when you get away from the tourist areas, especially on the outskirts of towns, there are some intriguing, old, abandoned and dilapidated buildings, which I love the character of. We pulled over so I could photograph this little beauty, but then it started to rain so we couldn't stop for others we saw.

I had several more photos to upload but I'm having major issues with either Blogger or the internet connection, so apologies for being light on today. I'll try to add a few more after my computer and I have had a sleep...reminds me of Cambodia!!!

Tomorrow is a rest day and the last at Bad Berneck. We leave on Thursday for Salzburg in Austria then into Italy and then homeward bound!

Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Well our run of fine weather has come to an end for the moment. And winter is on its way because the temps are going south along with the weather! So while you Sydney-siders are sweltering in 35+oC, we are rugged up in scarves and warm coats and enjoying single digit temps. Love it!

Rothenburg is about a 2 hr drive from Bad Berneck and is a stunning medieval walled city which dates back to the 10th century. It has retained many of its original buildings and wall (unlike so much of Germany) due to an American general who decided not to send in a second wave of bombers at the end of WWII. God bless him!

I'm sure we didn't see it in its best light but it was still lovely wandering around in the drizzle.

Naturally we stopping regularly for coffee. We at least tried the local delicacy, a Schneeball. If you think it just looks like a ball of the leftover pastry after your mother has cut out pastry cases you are absolutely right (although my kids won't know what that's like because their mother never cooked with pastry!) Strips of pastry rolled and cooked in a ball then dusted with icing sugar, cinnamon, dipped in chocolate or any number of fancy variations.

We had a cute little bird land on the railing of the wall in front of us as we were walking around…then it flew off. Check out the speed of his little wings in the second photo!

And I just love all the really long German words!

And just a cool 170km/hr on the autobahn on the way home!

We drive to Prague on Monday for two days. Its only 2 hours from Bad Berneck as we are in the very north-eastern corner of Bavaria. And then on Thursday we head off to Austria, Italy and then home. It has been the most amazing experience but I am looking forward to seeing our family (especially Levi and Aliyah!!!).

Rainy Day Challenge: Beautiful Balconies of Europe!

So we have just had our first rainy day in 4 weeks. It is surprisingly easy to sleep in, read and do nothing all day...who would have thought it possible! Today I've spent the day researching and booking our final weeks accommodation in Italy. It seems close now. 

And so I thought I'd look back on some of the beautiful balconies of Europe...from Barcelona, Pyrenees and Provence to Brussels, Berlin and Bamberg!

Lutherstadt-Wittenberg and Berlin

Our first stop yesterday was Lutherstadt-Wittenberg. Now for those of you who know anything or nothing about church history, this is the home of Martin Luther, the 16th century monk who stood up against the Roman Catholic Church's practise of taking indulgence money in return for "absolving" people of their sin (which of course can't happen I should add!) One man in a tiny German outpost that stood up for what he believed to be true, and did not waver. It was inspiring! We toured the Lutherhaus, his former monastery-turned-home after he was ex-communicated as a monk and married an ex-nun! We saw the door of the Castle Church (the original wooden one burnt down) where he nailed his 95 thesis. The bronze one is etched with his writings in Latin apparently. Unfortunately for us though many of the buildings were covered with scaffolding and fencing as they are doing major work to get these iconic places fully renovated for the 500 year anniversary in 2017. I did my best to nuzzle my lens between the wires though!

 

We then moved onto Berlin and wow, what a fascinating place! We are brushing up on Cold War history and especially the era of the Wall. It's unbelievable what pain and heartache this structure (and what it stood for) created for people during that time. We saw Checkpoint Charlie, the Brandenburg Gate, toured the Wall Museum and read stories of successful and unsuccessful escape attempts. There is a row of bricks, showing where the wall used to be and there are still remnants of the wall to be found, including a section made into a long contemporary art installation and a Berlin version of the Chewing Gum wall (especially for Ainz and Jamie!) 

There is a minimalist but very effective Holocaust Memorial, made up of over 2000 concrete slabs of varying heights with undulating ground that people wander through. Makes for a stunning photo if you can catch a section without heads popping up suddenly! Many of the buildings are incredibly drab, especially in the old East Berlin section and almost everywhere you look there is construction work going on. A handful are beautiful (see below with some lovely autumn trees) but they are rare due to 90% of Berlin being destroyed during WWII.

Despite that we really loved it here.

A Quiet Weekend in a Little German Village

Well its been a really lazy weekend! And we are very sorry to hear that Manly lost the grand final. Levi looked so adorable all decked out in his team gear! How could they let their newest little fan down!

Anyhow we have walked and driven around our little community here, seen bambi and enjoyed an authentic German town. This is Bad Berneck...

Here we are at our 'local' enjoying a coffee and strudel. You have to really time your caffeine cravings carefully as this is the only cafe/restaurant we have found in town and its open 11:30am - 2pm then 5:30pm till late. I miss my morning Whitehorse!

This morning Karl preached at a church in a town called Hof about 40km away. The couple who own the apartment we are staying in have a connection with the church pastors who live just a few doors away from us. It was an incredibly friendly, lovely Christian community. This is Erika translating into German sentence by sentence. For once in our lives, everyone spells our surname correctly, although they do put a bit more of a German pronunciation on it….ie Faaarrrsa. They had a real laugh about the fact that Karl Faase, who sounds like he's German, is Australian and can't speak a word of German!

We leave tomorrow for 3 days to visit Berlin and on the way call in to Lutherstadt Wittenberg where Martin Luther's home and church are. Both should be really fascinating and I'm now thinking I should have asked Marc Rader a bit more about that part of church history before leaving home!

Nuremberg - A City of Beauty and Tragedy

Yesterday we didn't even get in the car! It was a welcome change of pace to stay put for a day. It was also a public holiday here - German Unity Day (anniversary of the reunification of East and West Germany on 3rd October 1990, thank you Google!) and so it was even quieter in Bad Berneck than it usually is! We did go for a couple of walks into the forest just at the end of the village and manage to find a cafe open at 11:30 so we could get a coffee. Autumn colours are just starting - it's quite lovely when the sun is low and filtered through the leaves. I'll upload a photo when I have my camera at the right time.

The weather continues to be pretty well perfect. We have really not had any rain since we arrived. On the news last night much of Spain, France and Belgium is experiencing torrential rain, as are eastern areas of Europe. We are in the middle and have mostly clear blue skies. Today was cloudy though but that helped one photo of a fence that I wanted to silhouette against the white cloudy sky.

Today we visited Nuremberg, with a lovely Altstadt (old town) and of course lots of beautiful architecture. There are several churches around one of the main squares, one with stunning carved stone detail which fixated me…

…and another, St Sebald (who are these saints???) desecrated by Allied bombing at the end of WWII (along with 90% of the old town). Photos displayed around the church told the story of its rebuilding process and the commitment of the people to their church.  One of the signs said "But the people of the old town did not abandon their house of God. Desperate clearing up. Desperate hope beneath the open heaven." I cannot imagine the heartache of those years. 

And as it looks today...

Nuremberg also had a significant part to play in the history of Germany. It was here that Hilter had the Nazi Party Rally Grounds built and where those well known photos were taken of hundreds of thousands of marching soldiers and party faithful in the stadium saluting him. It is now a museum, which was fascinating, and a permanent reminder of "the city's obligation to analyse and discuss the darkest chapter of German history".

Here ends today's history lesson!

Arriving at Bad Berneck

Yesterday we arrived at our October home base in Bad Berneck via the German autobahns…that Karl had way too much fun on! Bad Berneck is a cute little town set in a valley with very steep sides which Karl is loving the challenge of riding up.

It was nice to settle into a home, knowing we won't be packing our bags again in two days time. We even did a few domestics…shopped (can't remember the last time we walked around a supermarket together pushing a trolley!) and I cooked dinner for the first time in 3 weeks. I must admit I'm loving eating out but its great to have some extra space for a while and make a cup of tea (with some German biscuits) when I want.

Today we drove an hour west to Bamberg - a UNESCO-listed town which is just stunning. One of the features is the Old Town Hall built in the middle of the river which runs through the town.

Don't you think that building just looks like a Wedgewood plate! The Rose Garden was also lovely, and of course I found the dead roses more photogenic than the perfect ones (beauty is in the eye of the beholder!)

We enjoyed wandering around, getting lost, photographing doors (its quite a challenge to get the symmetry right!) and knitting (for all you craft lovers!), and of course having a bratwurst roll for lunch.

Thankfully I bought a warmer jacket on Monday in Wetzlar as the temp this morning got down to -1oC. It was a balmy 14oC by mid afternoon.

I think tomorrow will be a home day. I have lots to catch up on and it gives us a break from sight-seeing and driving. We will start making plans to visit Prague and Berlin as well. Thanks for following on. I love ready your comments if you can work out how to make them!