Colmar

The first and last parts of our two week sojourn into France were spent in Colmar where Malcolm's parents lived for 5 years about 30 years ago.  We stayed in a beautiful house overlooking a lovely garden and canal.  It was a very pretty town to wander through and taste some great wine and food.  

We took a drive along the Route des Vins and visited some lovely towns with cobblestoned streets and medieval timber framed houses, enjoying a glass (or two) of Alsatian white wine.  Two weeks in France and I think I have turned half goat and half duck as I mainly wanted the goat's cheese and the amazingly cooked duck.  Each morning Malcolm would get fresh baguettes for breakfast/lunch. 

 

On the return visit to Colmar on the way back to Munich the owner of the house we were staying was home with her grandchild.  One of her sons has a canal boat business and took us out for wine and a cruise before we headed off for dinner.  Their hospitality was fantastic.

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The Black Forest

We set off with Malcolm's parents to Colmar, just over the French border (5 hours drive).  It is a lot closer to the Black Forest from there. This is one place I have wanted to go since we arrived a year ago and having read about the world's largest cuckoo clock was now even more determined.  We spent a day in Triberg which has two cuckoo clocks which claim the title of the World's Biggest Cuckoo Clock.  The town itself was full of wood carvings and cuckoo clocks.  

We also got to see Germany's largest waterfall which after different friends' recent blog entries (Hana - Canada, Ayelet - Croatia and Angela - NW Australia) on waterfalls was not too impressive but a pretty place to eat our cheese and baguette.

After lunch we headed to Cafe Schaefer for Black Forest Cake.  At this cafe the owner's father was the apprentice to the creator of this cake and has still the original handwritten recipe.  Although large this cake was exceptionally light and very tasty.

Neuschwanstein

Last Sunday night Malcolm's parents arrived and after a few casual days it was time for them to be full on tourists.  Early Wednesday morning we headed off to Fussen to see a couple of King Ludwig II's castles.  Ludwig was king of Bavaria in the 19th century and was very good at spending lots of money on his extravagant castles.  He was a great fan of Louis XIV and tried to replicate him and be even more over the top.  He was sending Bavaria broke and was declared mentally ill and the next day died under mysterious circumstances.  These castles which were sending Bavaria broke are now the biggest money spinners here.  We have been gradually working our way through any places connected to him and were glad to finally get to see his best known castle. 

As a child I had completed a jigsaw of Neuschwanstein over and over and didn't ever believe I would ever see such a remarkable place.  So it was with great delight when we drove towards Fussen to stay the night that I spotted it high up in the mountains.  Neuschwanstein is the castle that Disney's "Sleeping Beauty Castle" is based on and the castle featured in "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang".

Wednesday afternoon we first went to Hohenschwangau castle was one of the family's castles where Ludwig went as a child.  We had a guided tour through the castle to the tune of an appropriately "Wagnerian" thunderstorm outside. 

In the evening, we wandered around the old part of Fussen which in itself is an interesting town with its cobblestone paths, sculptures and its own castle. 

Thursday morning we headed to Neuschwanstein Castle.  It was never completed as when Ludwig died,  work stopped.  It was built for Ludwig's own personal use and as a monument to Wagner, thus decorated with many scenes from his operas.  Inside was extremely ornate and interesting.  Ludwig had installed hi-tech mod-cons such as warm running water and flushing toilet, heating system and a battery operated bell system for servants that could be rung from any room by Ludwig and they would be able to tell where he was.

We will return to see more of Fussen and to do the walks in the mountains around these castles in the not too distant future as it is a place you could return to again and again and again and ....

Picnic lunch on the way home at Amersee

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Malcolm's Mum and Dad

Sunday night Malcolm's parents arrived.  Tuesday we took them to our favourite German restaurant Zum Kreuzhof, where thankfully they could get a seniors portion and we could also sit in the biergarten.  Malcolm also took them to our local Schloss for a walk in the gardens.

Lake Bled and driving through Austria

We head off very early Friday morning towards Lake Bled in Slovenia.  In 2005 my niece, Monica, went there and ever since I have always wanted to go (her journal). 

We drove through Austria and the hills were definitely alive with the sound of music but Malcolm refused to sing along. To avoid a traffic jam we went down side roads and stopped off to take photos and saw that it was a 5 minute walk to a very pretty waterfall just off the road. We also stopped off at a bunker museum on the Austrian/Slovenian border. We arrived at Kranjska Gora for lunch before setting off to drive the Vrsic Pass through the Julian Alps.  The Vrsic Pass has 50 hairpin turns and was built by the Russian POWs during WWI.  The views during this drive were amazing.

In the early evening we arrived in Lake Bled and found our hotel.  We went for a walk into town and had dinner overlooking the lake and its famous island.  The next day we decided we had best walk around the lake.  I got to have a rest whilst Malcolm rowed us to the island to look around. 

We then drove to Lake Bohinj and went to see the waterfall, Slap Savica, and went up the gondola/cable car up Vogel mountain for more panoramic views.  We then went back to Bled and visited its castle from around 1000 years ago. 

The next morning it started to rain but we really wanted to walk the Vintgar gorge as we remembered it from Monica's journal.  Unfortunately when we got there the rain did not let up and as we waited it just got heavier so we decided to head home and would stop at one of the gorges in Austria. We stopped at Liechtensteinklamm which is supposed to be one of the deepest and longest ravines in the Alps.  The trail was great and at the end there was a 50m waterfall - so everyday of this trip we got to see a waterfall.

We then had lunch on the road to Kufstein where we stopped for ice cream and a walk along Romerhofgasse, a medieval lane.  Then home to meet Malcolm's parents who arrived later that night.

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Day Trips from Madrid

Although exciting and full of things to do we also wanted to see some of the places just outside Madrid.  

St Teresa's in Avila

 

On Day 3 we decided to do a guided tour to Avila and Segovia.  

Avila is a medieval walled city (12th century) where St Teresa is from and started the new Carmelite nuns in the 16th century.  Having gone through primary school being taught by the Carmelite nuns and remembering Mum walking us to church at St Teresa's it was very interesting to go there and here about and see where it all happened.  We first went to St Vincent's basilica and then walked through the town towards St Teresa's convent and church.  It was quite different to the scout hall converted to St Teresa's that we used to go to.  Avila was a very pretty town and we would like to have the chance to go back and explore it further.  

We then we to Segovia and found a place for lunch then met for the afternoon tour at the Roman aquaduct, 28m high and 894m long with no mortar and still in pristine condition.  

We enjoyed walking the streets and went to the Cathedral followed by the alcazar (castle) where Queen Isabel sometimes stayed and where she had received Christopher Columbus at times.

On Day 5 we took the fast train to Toledo. Toledo was overlooked in favour of Madrid to be the capital of Spain as it was too powerful in the 16th century.  We enjoyed walking around this city with its Muslim, Jewish and Christian influences.  The Cathedral was spectacular and housed works by El Greco, Rubens and many others.  We also went to the synagogue which was also a place not to be missed.  We looked for the last remaining mosque but were unable to find it.  

Toledo

On Day 7 we went to El Escorial on the recommendation of Susanne.  This was home to a monastery and palace combined with an amazing basilica.  

This was well worth going to with the highlight being the "Crypt of Kings".  Only monarchs are placed in the kings' side of the crypt. Spouses have their own section. Isabella II is the only queen residing on the kings' side.  The current King's parents are waiting in the "rotting room "before being placed in there.  It was quite incredible.

Photo source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Escorial

 Thankfully being in Madrid for 8 days meant we were able to do these day trips and would strongly recommend all of them to anyone going there. 

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Madrid

School finished June 30 so July 2 we headed to Madrid for a week.  This entry will be about the city and we'll do a separate one for the day trips. 

Madrid was excellent, it reminded me of Fremantle but a city version.  It was great to wander around the streets, seeing great architecture, sculpture, people, eating wonderful food and the warmth!  We were staying on Gran Via which is the main road through the old part of the city.  It was a great location, we could walk almost anywhere (and we did) and there was also a metro stop near the hotel for when I was just too tired/hot.  The hotel had a rooftop pool with views over the old part of the city and I loved to look out at the Palace Real.  

The lifestyle seems very relaxed and we were definitely in the holiday frame of mind, up late, lunch at 3, dinner at 10 as the sun is finally going down.  We walked many of the streets of Madrid and followed Lonely Planet's walking tour and eating guides.  We also met up with Susanne a couple of times, a friend from school who used to live in Madrid, who took us to a few tapas bars as well as suggest a few places.

Madrid is known as the gay capital of Europe but what we didn't realise was that we had arrived during the biggest European Gay Pride Festival.  There were people everywhere and stages set up all around the city.  We had mojitos and watched part of a drag show.

On the Saturday night we went for a walk around the Latina barrio and had dinner at a great place in a piazza whilst Spain played in the quarter final for the World Cup.  Lots of people glued to tvs and walking back to our hotel we noticed that the streets had been blocked off, we thought it was soccer celebrations but when we got near our hotel we got to see the Pride parade going down Gran Via.  Their was loud music and lots of dancing and a carnival atmosphere.  We watched for a while and unfortunately did not find out until the next day that at the end of the parade just down the road was a free Kylie Minogue concert!!

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