Germany photo update (part 2)

More photos from Germany, all of these taken in the capital...


(The Olympic Stadium, originally built in the 30s but more recently done up for the 2006 football World Cup)


(Photos from our day trip to Poland)


(The famous Checkpoint Charlie site in central Berlin)


(Boat trip in Berlin with (left to right) Dennis, Ines and their Kiwi mate Rick. On the right is the TV Tower)


(Ines and Sheryl...and an evening craft market on a chilly night in Berlin)

(In this square in 1933 was the first Nazi book burning, now it's a picturesque square. And the famous Brandenburger Tor - formerly the icon between East & West)

Germany photo update (part 1)

Everything in Bournemouth is how it was when we left but a bit more grey and a bit more rain, but not as cold as Germany. Anyway, some more photos from Munich, Dresden and Berlin...


(The fairytale setting for the Neuschwanstein Castle, two hours out of Munich)


(Photos from Dresden, including the re-built Church that was flattened in WWII)


(Evening shots down by the river. Serenity...)

(A rather odd, and if you ask me pretty ugly, monument in memory of the Jews killed under the Nazi regime. Sheryl finds out it could be great for a spot of hide and seek!)


(Out for dinner on Dennis' birthday, and photos from Potsdam just out of Berlin)

Pop over to Poland

Only two full days left on our initial European tour (before we can save us some more to go travelling again) before we fly to London in the wee hours of Wednesday morning. Since our last post we´ve managed to fit in heaps of what Berlin, and surrounding areas, has to offer.

This included a day trip to Potsdam, 45 minutes by train from central Berlin, and even though it rained we had a chance to walk around the town and through the Sansoucci Park and it´s numerous impressive palaces. It was one of the few rainy days we´ve had here, most have just been a bit cold and very grey and miserable. Sheryl has adjusted well to the idea of losing daylight midafternoon.

We checked out the Olympic Stadium one day too - initially built by Hitler and co. for the Olympics donkeys years ago but more recently was done up to host the final of the 2006 football World Cup.

A full day midweek was dedicated to clothes shopping for Sheryl and she successfully found a big black winter coat, which she´s pretty stoked about. Everything seems much cheaper here than in the UK.

On Thursday the four of us took a day trip to Poland to a small border town called Slubice. I had no idea Poland was so close - only an hour by train from here. The town itself was nothing spectacular but there was a nice river dividing the two countries. Cheap cigarettes are the big pull for a lot of Germans. Try a carton (ie. ten packs) of Winfield or Pall Mall for NZ$7! Dennis and I happily sat and drank a Polish beer in a small bar while the girls window shopped.

On Friday we went to check out the historic Checkpoint Charlie, or what remains of it, and spent over an hour reading the free material plastered around the streets on the history of the location. Then we lost light and headed home, but not before eating a steaming hot Wurst. I think it´s pretty funny how you get a long sausage with a ridiculously small piece of bread. The sausage to bread ratio is, as the Germans would say, inefficient.

Yesterday we took a boat trip through Berlin and in the evening walked through some of the markets and historic points in the central area. We´re pretty happy to have spent plenty of time here to soak it all up - we´ll share some photos later in the week when we return to Bournemouth.

Dale & Sheryl

In Berlin

On our final full day in Munich we took a day trip out to the beautiful Neuschwanstein Castle, close to the town of Fussen. It was a good 2 hour train journey and although we didn´t pay to go in the castle it was still worth the 30 minute hike up the hill for photos and spectacular views of the nearby town, countryside, lake and ice-capped mountains. The castle itself inspired Walt Disney in his creations.

The two hour journey back left us with next to no daylight left for the day (it´s getting dark not long after 4pm these days) but we had a bit of time to check out the Englischer Garten (English Garden), a city park twice the size of New York´s Central Park.

We were only minutes away from missing our train to Dresden the following morning after complications with what tickets needed purchasing, and upon arrival in Dresden found the map illustrated on the hostel´s brochure was somewhat useless. Well, I blame the map anyway for a 30 minute detour in the complete wrong direction!

Our hostel was cool, even if it seemed more like a bar/internet cafe with hostel facilities rather than the other way round. The big bonus was we were in the Neustadt part of town across the river from the city centre. It was the student part of town crammed with cheap eats and cool bars.

Our only full day there was spent wandering semi-aimlessly about the small historic town centre. Most of Dresden was fairly well flattened at the end of WWII so a lot of the buildings looked fairly new. Definately glad we had the time to do a two night stop here.

We were met in Berlin by Sheryl´s sister in law Ines and whisked back to their flat 20 minutes or so from the main train station. On our first full day we were taken on a guided tour (courtesy of our hosts!) through some of Berlin´s most famous spots. This included places like the Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburger Gate - formely the boundary between East & West) and various remainders of the Berlin Wall. A sizzling hot Curry Wurst (German sausage) was definately in order on such a cold day.

Yesterday it was Dennis´ birthday so we went out to a local restaurant for some German fare and drinks. Erdinger Kristall for me, Dunkel for Dennis. Sheryl opted for a glass of random German red wine that tasted more like Rose.

Anyway we´ve now booked our journey back to the UK, flying with Easyjet Wednesday 22nd November. That should give us plenty of time to sample plenty of what Berlin has to offer, and maybe a cheeky day trip or two.

Tschus!
Dale & Sheryl

Update from the camera

We´ve had a great couple of days in Munchen so far. On our first morning we woke up to light snow and freezing temperatures outside. It didn´t take me long to convince myself a pair of new wooly gloves was in order, and a scarf for Sheryl.

On our first full day we wandered about the busy town centre, checking out the famous glockenspiel on the Town Hall´s clock, and seeing the busy farmers market.

In the afternoon we popped into the Hofbrau Beer Hall for a Stein (for me) and a shandy-esque Radler (for Sheryl). There was a brass band dressed up in traditional Bavarian clothing for extra effect. We ended up chatting to a random German couple and spent some five or six hours chatting and drinking with them. Later, we went to another beer hall, Augustiner, for ´thigh of pork´ with sour kraut and funny stodgy dumpling potatoes. Not to mention more beer!

Today we had a much more sobering experience in a trip out to Dachau - the first of many Nazi concentration camps. More than 32,000 people died at this particular one and I think I´m right in saying this was the only one to be operational for the 12 years of Hitler´s reign. A wander around the huge memorial site, and inside the gas chambers and crematoriums, was followed with a 45 minute video in English.

We plan to leave for Dresden, in eastern Germany, on Monday for two nights. Then it´s off to Berlin where a piece of carpet at Sheryl´s brother and sister in laws´new flat has our name on it. Not literally we hope. But we´re looking forward to it all the same.

For now, it´s servus from Munchen!

Dale & Sheryl

Photos from Venice...

(Boredom on the night train to Venice leads to a series of Hallensteins poses)


(Shots from canals in Venice...don´t ask where!)


(More canals shots, and us from the Rialto bridge)


(Sheryl amongst the pigeons at Piazza San Marco, and some night shots)


(An evening on the Grand Canal)

Photos from Rome...


(Roman ruins and the Colosseum from the outside)


(Forget queing, we were inside just minutes later!)


(The Vittorio Emmanuel I monument - guarded night and day by Italian´s with guns)


(Silly poses are nearly always funny...and the Colosseum by night)


(The impressive St Peters Basilica in the world´s smallest country, the Vatican City)


(551 steps later we got a half decent view, and later from inside)

(On the way home via the river)


(High speed tandem fun in Vila Borghese - a leafy park in Rome)

Photos from Munich...(so far)


(From close to 30 degrees to light snow in the space of a day!)


(When in Rome (hey, Bavaria is home of beer)...drink with the Romans!)


(Some shots from Dacau...the writing on the fence told prisoners "work sets you free")