Strasbourg photos

A rainy day in France

This morning Mick woke and saw a market being set up on the cobbled street beyond the hotel. He insisted we get up and go out to investigate. I was very glad we did because by the time we met up with Claudia and Tamara for a late breakfast it had begun to rain. We had enjoyed a good hours stroll by then.  The market wasn't big. There was a street of food stalls; fruit and veg (a good variety of pumpkin like we get at home in Oz), meat, cheese and bread.

We had breakfast in the next door cafe..... croissants.... orange juice.... coffee. Then there was a couple of hours to window shop before our midday check out.  It's definitely not as pleasant in the rain. We walked the narrow side streets to avoid the worst it but we were still a bit soggy by the time we got in the car.

On the way back to Speyer we stopped at a French supermarket. Claudia likes to stock her freezer with goodies only available over the border. The goodies served us well for dinner tonight too.

Strasbourg

Mick and I had a good walk around Speyer today, stopping for coffee in a cafe.  I packed an overnight bag and sorted the rest of our belongings.  After Tamara finished school and we had lunch, we all piled in the car for a journey across the border to Strasbourg in France.  The border is a non-event these days with nobody at the old buildings where they used to stop cars before they crossed into France.

With many of the central streets of Strasbourg being pedestrian access only it was a bit difficult to find somewhere to park the car near the hotel. It was also difficult to ask for help! In the end we left Claudia and Tamara waiting in the car and Mick and I walked across the square past the cathedral to the hotel and they gave us directions to their allocated parking space.

We found the parking building ok but what a strange place it was. There was no lighting whatsoever and it was extremely narrow. When we reached the fifth floor the parking space itself was also really tiny. Claudia was stressed out about trying to squeeze her car into the space but the rest of us got out and offered guidance. It was very conveniently located so worth the fussing.

The hotel was in a fantastic position, just around the corner from the cathedral. We couldn't have chosen better.  It's a basic hotel but we only wanted somewhere clean to sleep.  Being valentines day there were red paper hearts strewn across the beds.  Mick is about as romantic as a brick so I knew his assurances that he had arranged them were nonsense.

Mick and I dumped our bags in our room and headed out for a walk before it got dark. Strasbourg is a very pretty city with canals through.  We checked out the cathedral which is a stunning building.  There were dozens of souvenir shops and plenty of chocolate shops and also some selling a huge array of tiny biscuits.  Very pricey.

We met Claudia and Tamara for dinner and strolled checking out menus. We ended up choosing the restaurant below our hotel. It was ok but nothing flash.  Mick was horrified at the cost of his pint of beer which cost 7 euros! Only one then.

After dinner we walked to the area called Petit France. It was lovely at night with the half timberd buildings lit by street lighting. On the walk back to the hotel Tamara couldn't resist a French crepe... her second for the day!

So tomorrow we have the markets to investigate and then a French supermarket on the way back to Speyer.

Germany photos

 

Schwetzingen

This morning we had a walk around the palace gardens at Schwetzingen. The forecast for today wasn't good but we were lucky to miss the rain until after our walk. I ducked into the quilt store in the street where we had parked the car and bought a piece of fabric for my quilt.

Claudia had to go to work for the afternoon so Mick got busy putting together a bookshelf and a bed that were in pieces in the basement. The rain continued on for the rest of the day. We walked to the supermarket in the pouring rain but it had stopped for a while when we walked back.

We couldn't let a visit go by without playing Tamara's favourite board game so after dinner we got it out. It's a bit comical trying to play a game that involves reading instructions in German. I think the whole thing was beyond Mick!

Heidelberg and the German job

Today Mick had a job to do. With his usual enthusiasm for work he was down in the basement before breakfast and making a racket drilling and hammering. I feared he would disturb the boarders!  Claudia's dad arrived a couple of hours later and I'm sure he was upset he had missed some of the action. He has had a stroke and although his spirit says he could have done this job himself, his body just isn't up to it.  How frustrating it must be to watch someone else having all the fun. He had to be content with supervising and there was a bit of sign language comedy in order for Mick to explain what tools he needed.

I walked into town in search of a new wheelie case. I had a folding bag that I'd borrowed from Claudia last visit and had intended to bring back to her in our suitcase. With the last minute discovery that we could only bring cabin baggage I had used the folding bag. I found one at a reasonable price so we are all set for our return trip to the boat.

The basement job was finished by the middle of the day so after a late lunch, a walk down to the Rhine and a wander around the cathedral we went to Heidelberg late afternoon. It's one of my favourite places and the one mile long pedestrian street of shops is an enjoyable stroll. No visit to Heidelberg is complete without a stop in the Christmas shop!

Bad Dürkheim and Freinsheim

We had a bit of discussion about what to see today.  In the end we decided on a visit to Bad Dürkheim where there is the ruin of an old castle.  We had a steep walk up the hill to the castle and an interesting wander around the ruins.  Mick spied a timber mill way down below and then wanted to sit in the carpark and wait for the show as a large truck had become well bogged at the end of the little carpark and the driver was waiting patiently for a crane to pull him out.

On the way out of the village we stopped to look at the newly rebuilt salt "graduation tower" .... a huge, long timber building with salt water dripping down panels along the length of a walkway.  It is apparently very good for you to walk along and inhale the salty spray.  We had a look around some roman ruins from the 4th cenury AD.  Nothing like that in Australia!

A last moment decision was made to detour to Freinsheim for a walk around the walled town.  It was extremely quiet on a weekday but what looked like a tiny little shop from the street was a bit of a tardis and we enjoyed the browse..... well, Claudia and I did anyway!

This morning Mick measured up to do a little job for Claudia.  One of her basement store rooms is to be turned into a guest room and she wants the pipework that runs along the ceiling on one side to be boxed in.  So this afternoon he went off with Adolf (Claudia`s dad) and Claudia as tanslater, to pick up the materials.  It seems they did ok. Tomorrow there will be an interesting working bee.

By train to Frankfurt

I was a bit concerned about how we would manage to carry all our belongings and the things we had bought over the weekend in Amsterdam but we managed to pack them all well.  So after a last breakfast in our hotel room we checked out and walked to the central station for our train to Frankfurt airport.

On Saturday they told us the train would be leaving from platform 2 so when it finally appeared on the screen showing platform 4 I decided to double check with the information desk,  over cautious perhaps but thank goodness I did! When I showed the fellow my ticket he said "oh, you need to take a train to Utrecht and get the high speed train from there". The train to Utrecht left at 10.22 and our high speed train was for 10.34. If I hadn't gone to ask him we would have missed the train! When I pointed out the electronic board was incorrect he yelled out urgently for someone to fix it. Phew.

We shared a carriage to Utrecht with a large group of 60 something Dutch women travelling together. There had been a comical moment when Mick held the door for the first one who was struggling through between carriages with her luggage. When he went to let the door go I told him to wait as there was another lady right behind.... and then another... and another.... and another 4 or 5 after that. The other passengers on the train were all grinning to themselves.  At Utrecht our train was still a while in coming. It turned out to be about half an hour late.

It was an excellent journey otherwise.  Mick was enthusiastically watching the train speed on the electronic board above the door. He kept nudging me to take a photo of 200km/hr, then 250 and then 290. I went for a walk down the carriage and he was horrified that we missed a photo of 302kms/hr but he assures me we reached that speed.

On reaching Frankfurt we had a short wait as Claudia was caught in traffic on her way to collect us.  We first visited Susanne, Claudia's friend. She and Tim are living in a new house since Mick was last in Germany so it was good for Mick to get to see it.  They have a fabulous backyard! We enjoyed coffee and cupcakes offered in lovely English by Kara Sina.  There was also a bit of excitement as the family are proud new owners of a pair of horses. Perhaps we will get to meet them later in the week.

We had a quiet evening catching up over dinner of venison and dumplings.