Day 3 - Innsbruck

Up early again one off by 7.30am.  We were going to Munich for lunch and then on to Innsbruck. We drove past the BMW headquarters. I had never thought about it but it stands for Bavarian Motor Works (the company made war planes and changed to cars after the war). They also mow make Mins which is why they are so much better and more expensive now. The building has four circular towers joined in the centre and is supposed to represent a four- cylinder engine.

Munich was a revelation. The old town looks wonderful but most of it has been rebuilt in the old style since the end of WWII. If you hadn't been told this you would not have noticed. 

There was a great market in the town square and every type of food was available. I thought the Sushi looked a little unusual but it seems to be taking over the world. I felt that I should have a sausage lunch, there is no point in being somewhere if you don't try the local foods. I'm not sure what sort of sausage (there were about 8 types of sausage so I just did the enie, meanie miney mo) It was very nice served on a roll with sweet mustard. 

There was a great flower stall, lots of different craft stalls, and a Schnaps stall where you could do a taste test, one taste was definitely enough.

The church in the main square was very beautiful.

The Onion Dome that you see on many Catholic Churches is only found on churches built after the defeat of the Turks in the 16th Century. It is visual reminder of the past history.

Once we left Munich and drove into Austria and Innsbruck, the country quickly changed and it was very obvious that we were in and alpine area.

Innsbruck is a very pretty smaller town. We visited the headquarters of Swarovski which is here and the factories are massive and just outside town. 

Day 2 - Heidelberg

Wake up call at 6am, a little better than 3.30am. Luckily I was organised and got down for breakfast at the Thon. The breakfast was really, really good and I was able to get some pastries and fruit for snack today. 

Fascinating drive so far, there are solar farms, and wind turbines all along the highway. Germany was going heavily into Nuclear Power until the Fuchashima disaster in Japan. Now, Angela Merkel has started a new energy program and solar farms and windmills can be seen all along the highway.

One of the few remaining coal fire stations. Solar farms and wind farms are seen all along the Autobahn.

Interesting fact 1. The Autobahns were developed by Hitler in the late 1930s to move his armies across Germany quickly. now they grow big forestry trees along the edges for noise abatement. 

Interesting fact 2. All transport trucks must stop at 12midday on Saturday and they cannot continue on their way until 12midnight Sunday. Everywhere along the way there are big layovers with many, many trucks parked until they can continue on their way. 

At our first toilet stop we had to pay 70cents to use very clean toilets. You get a ticket and then when you buy a coffee you get 50cents off. Yesterday at Bruges you had to pay 50cents, (no English money accepted) but there was a man cleaning each toilet as it was used. Very strange.

We joined the Rhine cruise ship at Dopard. It was a beautiful journey. We had lunch and I decided to have a beer as Oxtoberfest is just around the corner and this area is famous for its beer. It was good.

Following photos, our Rhine Cruise.

My lunch - Goulash soup and a beer (it was very nice).

After the cruise we drove to Heidelberg. As it was a university city it was not bombed during the war and it is one of the few cities in Germany which retains its historic integrity.

The Schloss is quite incredible and it has the largest wine vat in the world in its cellar. It holds 21,000 litres. There was a very large moat built around the Schloss but it would not hold water so they put bears in the moat instead. It was attacked and badly damaged twice in the 16th Century so after the second attack it was not rebuilt.

The city of Heidelberg is lovely. We stayed at the Marriott and had a great dinner and breakfast. We have been told not to expect such good breakfasts as we head south.

My lovely comfy bed.

Day 1- Belgium

I thought holidays were supposed to be relaxing!!! After traveling for approximately 30 hrs, I was finally at my Hotel in London. I had a very pretty room and it was wonderful to have a warm shower, some dinner and check what time I wa to meet the tour group the morning, thinking it would probably be about a leisurely 9.30am. What a shock it was to find out that I would get a wake up call at 3.30am!!! breakfast at 4am and departure at 4.30am. 

Apparently this was because you can no longer drive into France easily because of the terrible refugee crisis. There are now large barbed-wire fences around Calais and the port and a refugee camp growing daily with people walking across Europe hoping to get to Great Britain. You could see them walking across the fields and along the roads with everything they owned on their backs, singly or in groups. Very sad.

Our first stop was in Bruges - what a beautiful village. It is surrounded by a moat built in the Middle Ages and you can still see the remains of the wall which was built inside the moat. There are 20 market squares and 30 churches (now been converted tino museums) in such a small village. We had a deluge while walking around Bruges, but it didn't dampen my spirits. I, of course, had Belgium Frites for lunch, delicious, and bought some Belgian Chocolates to try. Mind you, if I had been a bit smarter, I could have just gone into each of the many shops and tried the samples which they were very glad to give you. It is definitely a place where Imcould spend a lot more time.

We then drove on to Brussesl, it had been rebuilt since the war. It has an amazing square, looking very old but all new and pristine and there was a weekend beer fest in the middle of the Grand Place.we visited the Mannequin Pis, a tiny but famous statue in one of the squares. It looked to be very successful. We had dinner and then to our hotel where our bags were already in our room. It is a very modern hotel and I had a great sleep ready for the next big day.

The White Cliffs of Dover followed by many photos of Bruges

Bruges is surrounded by a moat and once also a wall which has been take down now.

The trees are leaning towards the sun and the boxes are an art installation done by a Japanese artist.

A very typical house in Bruges.

Maria and I in front of the last wooden house built. You are not allowed o build in anything other than brick. You can see in the photo above his one how they decorate in brick.

The cloth guild tower - it has 360 steps.

You can see that we had beautiful weather.

God frites for lunch.

Built for the world expo in Brussels.

The Mannequin Pis a very famous statue in Brussels, of course there is a legend but it's too long a story to tell here. There is an art gallery that house all of the clothes that have been made for it and presented by other countries over the last 100 or so years.

City Hall

Beer fest in the Grand Place.

Welcome dinner.

My very welcome bed.

Ready to go

I'm at the airport, through all the checks and waiting at Gate 79. Nerves are settling now. Not long to wait. Not many here but as usual, I'm early.

E 

One sleep to go

Thanks to Sharon for the bubbles, I am feeling more relaxed and prepared for the holiday. One more photo test, my beautiful granddaughter.

Test 5

Tuesday 1 September - a special day

Today, I went to the Albany Hills State School Assembly. Nathan was surprised to receive a Certificate  of Distinction in the Science Awads.

A rose between two thorns.