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Post by Owen on Sept 7, 2014 5:32:28 GMT
1 ~ Highlights of Germany
This travel tale was written by Tiffany and relates to a Trafalgar Tour.
It was originally posted on the Trafalgar forum.
Day 1
Highlights of Germany – May 9 to May 21, 2013
As this is a new tour, and I believe the first tour tale regarding this tour, I’ll try and give a little bit more detail than I normally would.
As some of you already know, this was my first cost saver tour, and I was really curious to see the differences between the first class and cost saver tours. Overall, this was a good tour, however, I did notice some little differences. The hotels on this tour were pretty far out, with the exception of our hotel in Nurbemburg, which was a 5 min walk to the city. Our travel director even had to rearrange our optional tour to Potsdam because our hotel in Berlin was so far out. As the optional lake district dinner was close to Potsdam, we left for that dinner early and stopped to view the Wansee Villa, Neau Palais, and the Sanssoucis Palace and Park, however, we did not get to tour the Cecilienhof. The food on this tour was okay, but not the best. They eat a lot of pork and sausages in Germany, which is not my favourite, and a few of our included meals were pork. We did have some nice soups and salads though, and one of our included dinners consisted of chicken, which was really good. The optional dinners were much better than the included dinners, and you got a choice for each course. The biggest difference I noticed between the cost saver tour and the first class tours I’ve done in the past are the lack of city guides. This tour only had an included city guide in Berlin, and in every other city, when we got there, we were given a brief overview by our travel director, and then we were on our own. I like having an included city guide show us the sights, and then have time on my own, which we didn’t get on this tour. Our tour director did tell me that the first class version of this tour had a city guide in 4 other cities. I guess this is one of the ways they save on the cost of the tour.
Be prepared for long days on this tour, especially if you do all of the optionals (which I highly recommend). We left at 7:30 a.m. almost every morning, and didn’t get to our hotel until after 6:00 p.m. almost every night. Dinners were late almost every night, although that’s common in Europe so I was expecting that . Most dinners were between 7:30 and 8:00 p.m., however, our farewell dinner was at 6:30 p.m. because people wanted an early night in order to pack and get ready to leave the next day.
I did all of the optionals on this tour, and thought they were all worthwhile. The Harbour Cruise optional in Hamburg was not offered due to a festival, which meant we had more time to tour Hamburg. Unfortunately, we arrived in Hamburg on a Sunday, and everything was closed. I thought the dinner optionals were good value, especially since they incorporated some sight-seeing, and the optional dinners were much better than the included dinners. We were 32 people on our tour, and almost everyone did all of the optional tours. My least favourite optional was the Berlin’s Secret Past optional, because I was expecting something more detailed, however, everyone else loved this optional tour, so it might have been just me. It was an informative tour, I just expected to see a little bit more than we did. The optional tour to Salzburg (which was originally on the itinerary but removed) was not on our itinerary, however, so many people complained about this, that our tour director had them write him a note, and then got permission from head office to offer this optional tour. Most people signed up for this optional, and it was probably the best optional on the tour. I don’t know if they will continue to offer it though as it’s not part of the itinerary.
Our tour director was good about giving us a lot of time to see the sights, and usually offered two pick up times in each city, so if someone wanted to go back to the hotel early, they could. This is a fast paced tour, which I like, however, some of the older people on this tour got tired easily. I like to see as much as I can while on tour, and am not interested in going back to the hotel early, so I liked the pace of this tour. Just be prepared for a lot of walking and some very long days.
Overall the hotels were clean and there was nothing wrong with them. The only hotel I had a problem with was the one in Cologne, and that’s because the hotel made a mistake and gave us all smoking rooms, and you could smell the smoke. I also had a dirty toilet in that room, and had to clean it myself. Our travel director spoke to the manager about the smoking rooms, so I don’t think this will be an issue on future tours.
A day by day description of my tour is below. As Day 1 was my overnight flight from Toronto, I will start with Day 1.
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Post by Owen on Sept 7, 2014 5:33:34 GMT
2 ~ Highlights of Germany
Day 2
My flight landed in Frankfurt around 11:20 a.m., but by the time I got off the plane, got through customs and got my luggage, it was after noon. I was worried that I missed the 12:00 p.m. transfer, and didn’t want to wait around the airport until the next transfer at 2:00 p.m., however, when I exited the luggage area, the Trafalgar rep was waiting for us. It turns out that everyone she was picking up from that terminal was on my flight, and I was the first to arrive. Once everyone else got there, she directed us to the coach, and we made our way to terminal 2 to pick up a few other travel companions, and then made our way to the hotel.
I arrived at the hotel around 1:00 p.m., and our travel director, Craig, met us in the lobby, showed us where the Trafalgar instruction sheet was posted, and advised us to meet in the lobby at 4:00 p.m. for our city tour of Frankfurt. I then proceeded to my room to shower and change. I noticed when I got to my room that I had a double bed, but was only given a single duvet and one small pillow. After I showered and changed, I went to reception to ask for a double duvet, and was advised that they didn’t have any. She then proceeded to get me another twin duvet and pillow. I found out after that in Germany, even if people have a queen or king sized bed, they still sleep with their own twin duvet. German’s believe that in order to get a good night sleep, people should not share a blanket, which could disturb their partner’s sleep.
After settling in, I made my way to the mall down the street to get something to eat, and then I walked around for an hour to kill time. Our hotel was not close to the city centre, so there wasn’t enough time to go into Frankfurt on my own to see the sights. While walking around the mall, I found a yellow purse that I liked, but I didn’t buy it because it was my first day on the tour, and I wanted to wait and see what else I saw along the trip. I decided that if I still wanted it at the end of the tour, I’d pick it up then, as we were staying that the same hotel. This ended up backfiring on me though as our last day in Germany was a holiday, and the stores were closed.
I made my way back to the hotel to meet our group at 4:00 p.m., and then we headed off for our orientation tour of the city. We drove into Frankfurt, and were given a brief introduction of the city before arriving to the area south of the river called the Museumsufer, where the museums are located. We then crossed the river and saw the banking district with the Commerce Bank, the Frankfurt Opera, the Hauptwache, the Ziel (main shopping street), and Goethe’s house, and then we stopped in the medieval Romerplatz area and were given an hour and a half to walk around and see the sights on our own. Here we saw the town hall, the fountain of Justice, which faces the town hall and has no blindfold, making sure the town council knows they are being watched, the St Nicholas Church, and The Kaiserdom (Imperial Cathedral). This is a nice area of Frankfurt, however, it’s not that big. My original plan was to have a drink on one of the many patios in the square after walking around and taking pictures but I started talking to other people on the tour and never made it. We then made our way back to the hotel for dinner which was at 7:30 p.m.
The Altes Rathaus
Dinner consisted of a beef consommé soup, pork (which was over cooked) with potatoes pancakes and broccoli, and a nice creamy dessert (not sure what exactly it was, but it was good).
After dinner, I made my way to bed as we had an early start the next morning.
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Post by Owen on Sept 7, 2014 5:34:30 GMT
3 ~ Highlights of Germany
Day 3
I was up at 5:45 a.m. this morning, and luggage had to be out by 6:30 a.m. We left shortly after 7:30 a.m. and made our way to St. Goar, where we boarded the boat for our Rhine cruise. It was about a 30 min drive to the boat, and we boarded the cruise around 9:00 a.m. Unfortunately, we did not have the best weather during this tour, and it was a little cool that morning. I still stayed on the top of the boat so I could get great pictures of all the castles, colourful homes and the Lorelei.
The boat cruise lasted about an hour, and when we docked, our tour director walked us up to the little village of Boppard, the home of the inventor of the Bentwood Chair, Michael Thonet, and gave us an hour to look around. It was a quaint little village, however, it started to pour shortly after we go there, so I didn’t see much of it. Even with my rain coat and umbrella, I was getting soaked, so I made my way into one of the shops until it died down, and then made my way back to the coach. It seemed that everyone had the same idea, as we were all back on the coach and ready to go before the hour was up.
We weren’t on the coach long when we stopped at an unexpected place for lunch. Our tour director has noticed that there was a Barrel Organ Festival going on in the little town of Linz on the Rhine, so we stopped there for an hour and a half with time for lunch. I went to a nice little Italian restaurant with some fellow travel companions for lunch, and although the food was really good (I had the pizza), the service was a little slow, so I didn’t have time to see much of Linz. If it hadn’t been raining, we could have sat on the patio and listened to the music while eating lunch, but the weather was not good enough for us to do that. After lunch, I had about 15 mins to walk around and take pictures, and then I made my way back to the coach. We then continued along the Rhine, seeing the remains of the Remagen Bridge and hearing about the V2 Rocket which was launched from Hellendoorn in The Netherlands. We then continued past Bonn, the birthplace of Beethoven and the home of the Robin Hood Banker.
From here we made our way to our hotel outside of Cologne, dropped off our luggage and freshened up, and then headed to Cologne for some free time to look around. We left the hotel around 3:30 p.m. to make our way into downtown Cologne, and were dropped off by the cathedral. We got there by 4:00 p.m., but by the time our tour director gave us instructions and walked us to the cathedral, it was 4:30 p.m. As we had no included or optional dinner that night, we were told to grab something to eat in Cologne, as the only restaurant close to our hotel was McDonalds, and we were told the pickup times to go back to the hotel, which were 6:30 p .m. and 7:30 p.m. After our travel director left us, I made my way into the cathedral to look around, and saw the Shrine of the Three kings, the Gothic Stalls and the Altar of the Magi. The cathedral was quite impressive inside, and as someone who loves looking at churches and cathedrals, I spent about half an hour there. I also made may way into the crypts where they had an impressive candelabra on display.
After looking around the cathedral, I spent the rest of the time walking up and down the shopping strip with a fellow travel companion. There wasn’t much else to see close to where we were, so we walked the strip and looked at the shops, and then found a pub for dinner. By this time, the rain had stopped and it was sunny and nice, so we ate dinner on the patio and watched the people go by. After dinner, we made our way to the pick-up point for the 7:30 p.m. pick-up, and were back at the hotel by 8:00 p.m. At this hotel, there was only free WI FI in the lobby, so I sat in the lobby, had a beer and checked my email before going to bed.
This was another city where I really missed having a city guide, and I think it would have been a good idea to have offered an optional sight-seeing/dinner tour in Cologne, so people would have had the option of seeing more of the sights. I really feel like I didn’t see much of Cologne in the 3 and a half hours I spent in the city.
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Post by Owen on Sept 7, 2014 5:35:10 GMT
4 ~ Highlights of Germany
Day 4
I was up at 5:45 a.m. again this morning, and luggage had to be out by 6:30 a.m. We left shortly after 7:30 a.m. and made our way to Hamelin. We got there shortly before lunch, and made our way into a glass blowing factory. Our tour director was going to see if he could arrange for a demonstration, but they charged about 3 Euros per person, so we all passed. We then made our way into the main square, and our tour director gave us some information about things to see and do while in Hamelin, and told us he was going to give us a little bit of extra time there, as there was a play at noon about the Pied Piper. I walked through the town church with some fellow travel companions, and then we made our way to a nice restaurant for lunch, as it was cold and wet, and we wanted to warm up and get out of the rain. Unfortunately, by the time we finished lunch, we had missed most of the play, and only had about 10 mins to walk around and see the sights. At least by this time it had stopped raining, and had warmed up a little bit.
We left Hamelin around 12:45 p.m. and made our way to Hamburg. Our tour director advised that he couldn’t offer us the Harbour Cruise optional as there was a festival going on at the waterfront, and it would be too busy to organize. We arrived in Hamburg around 2:00 p.m. and were given 2 hours to see the sights. Unfortunately, it was a Sunday and everything was closed, and a lot of people were a little upset as they didn’t know where to go or what to do. This is where I really missed having a city guide. I did some research about Hamburg before leaving for the trip, but not a lot, so I was a little unsure about what to see and do myself. I ended up making my way to Jakobikirche with some fellow travel companions, and then we went inside the Rathausmarkt (city hall), walked around the square, and then made our way to a patio off of the Alster lake for a drink. When we got back to the coach, our tour director took as for a drive around the St Pauli district (red-light district) and the Reeperbahn (where the Beatles once played) and then we stopped by Michaeliskirche (St Michaels Church) and went to see the Krameramtswohnugen, which is a group of half-timbered houses, linked by a courtyard, where the widows of shopkeepers lived. We then made our way to the Port, which had quieted down as the festival was wrapping up, and were given some time to walk around and take pictures. We even saw the Queen Mary II leaving the Harbour. After spending some time at the Port area, we made our way back to the hotel for dinner. It was another long day, as it was after 6:30 p.m. before we got to our hotel. Dinner was at 7:30 p.m., and consisted of a nice caprese salad, steak with potatoes and green beans, and an excellent apple strudel for dessert. Overall them meal was good, but they overcooked everyone’s steak, so unless you liked your meat well done, it was a little tough. After dinner, I went back to my room to bed as it was already 9:30 p.m.
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Post by Owen on Sept 7, 2014 5:36:59 GMT
5 ~ Highlights of Germany
Day 5
It was another early morning with a 5:45 a.m. wake-up call, luggage out by 6:30 a.m., and we left shortly after 7:30 a.m. to make our way to Berlin. We drove straight to Berlin, and got there around noon. We picked up our city guide, and then were dropped off in the area of the Kurfurstendam, near the world famous Ka De We (Berlin’s most prestigious shopping centre), for lunch. Most of us went to the Ka De We to use the toilets, and then I grabbed a quick sausage with a couple of travel companions for lunch, so we would have time to walk down to the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedachtnis-Kirche, which was a few blocks away. We were only given an hour, so there was not a lot of time to eat lunch and see the sights. We finished lunch fairly quickly, and walked down to where the church was, but it was hard to find because it’s under construction and mostly covered with tarps and scaffolding. We would have liked to have gone inside the church, but we didn’t have time, and could only take a few pictures of the outside of the building, before heading back to the coach. It’s too bad that we didn’t have time to look inside the church, as a few others who did said it was beautiful on the inside. Oh well. You can’t do it all when you’re short on time.
After lunch we started our city tour of Berlin with our local guide. It was around 1:15 p.m. when we started our tour, and it lasted about 2 hours. We drove around the west end of the city first, driving by the Tiergarten, Victory Tower and Reichstag, and then got off the coach close to the Reichstag and walked over to the Brandenburg Gate for some free time to take pictures. We then got back on the coach and drove to the Gendarmenmarkt, where the French Cathedral, Concert Hall and German Cathedral is, and got off the coach again with some free time to take pictures.
The French Cathedral.
After some free time, we got back on the coach and drove to Museum Island to see the museums, Berliner Dom and TV Tower, and then continued on to Alexanderplatz where we dropped off our city guide for the day. We then made our way back to the hotel, and got ready for our first optional dinner, which most people did. Our tour director told us this would be a good dinner to dress up for, if we wanted to, and we had two hours at the hotel to freshen up and get ready before leaving for dinner at 6:00 p.m. I used this time to hand wash a few things, as this was our first two night stay, and then got ready for dinner. I met a few people in the lobby at 5:00 p.m. to go to the convenience store across the street to get some water and other snacks, and then met some people in the hotel bar for a pre-dinner drink.
The Berlin Cathedral.
We left at 6:00 p.m. for the Berlin By Night and Dinner optional tour, which most people did. We went to a nice restaurant in Berlin by some remains of the old city wall, and had a choice of at each course. Our menu selection is as follows:
Berliner Potatoes Soup
“Berliner” hors d oeuvre
Mixed salad “seasons”
Snails on leek bed
Shrimps-cocktail
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Filet of salmon with seafood sauce, vegetables & rice
Pork Steak with Fried potatoes + Green beans
Big Prawns flambé rice and vegetables
Chicken-breast, mushroom sauce &green beans & potatoes
Beef pot roast with potatoes & red cabbage
Végétarien végétalbes souffle „á la chef“
*******
Cheese plate
Mixed ice cream with cream
Rice-pudding with cinnamon & sugar
Fruit-flavoured blanc-mange
Filled pancake
I had the Berliner Potatoes Soup, the Pork Steak with Fried Potatoes + Green Beans (it was a pork schnitzel), and the Filled Pancake (a crepe). Overall the meal was pretty good, although I thought my pork schnitzel was a little tough. The people who had the other options all seemed to enjoy their meal though, so I think I just made the wrong selection. During dinner, we were entertained by a couple of local musicians, and everyone started singing along with them, and some people got up and danced, and, overall, everyone had a great time. After dinner we got back on the coach for our drive around the city by night, which included a drive through Potsdammer Platz, the Tiergarten, the Schloss Bellevue (which is the residence of the German President), the Reichstag Building and the Chancellory. After crossing the river Spree we saw The Hauptbahnhof, and then continued along the river to the Freidrich Stadtpalast, home of the longest kickline in the world consisting of 32 dancers, and then we drove by the Oranienburger Strasse, which is one of the popular nightspots of the city. We also saw the Neues Synagogue, the Alexanderplatz, and then we drove along the Unter den Linden on our way back to our hotel. Our tour director played music while we were driving, and we all had a sing-along as we drove back to the hotel. We got back to the hotel around 9:30 p.m. and pretty much everyone went straight to their rooms to go to bed, as those of us going on the Berlin’s Secret Past optional tour had an early morning the next morning.
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Post by Owen on Sept 7, 2014 5:37:39 GMT
6 ~ Highlights of Germany
Day 6
I got to sleep in about half an hour this morning, and we didn’t have to put our luggage out this morning, which was nice. Those of us doing the Berlin’s Secret Past optional tour this morning (which were most of us) had to be on the coach for 8:00 a.m. to go and pick up our city guide. From here we made our way to the East Side Gallery, which is the largest and best preserved section of the Berlin wall, and were given some free time to walk around and take pictures. Unfortunately, it was another cold and wet morning, so most of us took some pictures and made our way back to the coach pretty quickly. From here we drove to the Holocaust Memorial site, and were shown where Hitler’s Bunker used to be. I was a little bit disappointed about this part of the optional tour, as I thought we would be going inside the memorial, but we didn’t. We just got off of the coach, were shown the memorial site, and were given some time to walk around and take pictures. The memorial site consists of a large field with dark grey steles of various heights that symbolise the six million Jews and others murdered by the Nazis in concentration camps. We then made our way to the Bendler Block, which is the Memorial to the Resistance Movement and where Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg was executed , and, again, got out to take some pictures, and made our way back onto the coach. We then drove through Checkpoint Charlie towards the Topography of Terror Documentation Centre, and were told that this was the end of the tour. We were given about an hour to walk around the documentation centre, and, if we wanted a ride to one of the three drop-off points in Berlin, we had to be back on the coach by 11:00 a.m. Most people went back to the coach, and then we had three drop off points where we could get off the coach and to spend some free time in Berlin.
I got off the coach at Museum Island with two travel companions, and we walked around and got some great pictures of the Berliner Dom, Neuues Museum and TV Tower, and then went to check out the inside of the Berliner Dom. It was 7 Euros to get in, however, we were told by our local guide that would could go in for free during the service if we wanted to participate in the service. We tried to do that, however, we were told that we would have to stay for the whole service, which was 20 mins, so I just peaked in quickly, and then we went for lunch. I regret not paying the 7 Euros to go into the cathedral, as it was quite beautiful inside. From here way found a nice restaurant behind the cathedral for lunch, and then made our way to the Pergomonmuseum. We decided to skip the 2:30 p.m. pick up from Alexanderplatz so we would have more time to look through the museum, which was a good decision as we didn’t get out of the museum until 2:30. Our original plan was to walk to Alexanderplatz and take the tram back to the hotel from there, however, by the time we got to Alexanderplatz, we decided to take a cab, which cost 15 Euros with the tip. This wasn’t a bad price as we were three people, and it wasn’t that much more than it would have been if we had taken the tram. We got back to the hotel at 3:45 p.m., which only gave us 45 mins to get ready for our next optional at 4:30 p.m.
As stated above, our travel director combined the Potsdam and Lake District Dinner optional into one optional, as we had to drive through Potsdam to get to the restaurant. We did not get the full Potsdam optional, as described in our itinerary, however, we did not have to pay extra for the dinner optional, so it was like getting one and a half optionals for the price of one. We made our way to Potsdam, stopping at the Wansee Villa, where the Wannsee Conference was held. We got out of the coach, and made our way to the front of the house, and were given some free time to take picture of the house and the lake. We then got back on the coach and drove through Potsdam to the Neues Palais in Park Sanssouci, were we were able to get off the coach again to walk around and take pictures. We then drove around Park Sanssouci, seeing some of the beautiful and grand homes, and then we got off the coach again, and our tour director walked us to Schloss Sanssouci and gave us some free time to take pictures of the house and walk through the extensive gardens, which reminded me a little bit of Versailles.
Wansee Villa.
Neues Palais in Potsdam.
Schloss Sancouci in Potsdam.
From here way made our way to the Glienicke Bridge, where the Cold War Spy Swaps took place, and then we made our way to dinner at Wirtshaus Moorlake. The restaurant was right off a lake, and the view was beautiful. They had a nice patio area, but, unfortunately, it was not warm enough for us to sit outside. Our dinner options for this meal are as follows:
Starter:
Fresh cream soup of the season, Asparagus cream soup
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Main Course:
Fresh Grilled Lake Trout
Venison with red cabbage and potato croquettes
Grillteller Moorlake-Grilled Pork Fillets with Mixed Vegetables, Sauce Béarnaise and Potato Croquettes
Eisbein, Boiled Pork Knuckle with Sauerkraut, and Potato Puree
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Dessert:
Tartufo (vanilla ice cream ball with chocolate)
Egg Liquor
I got the grillteller moorlake-grilled pork fillets with mixed vegetables, sauce béarnaise and potato croquettes (it was a mixed meat plate), however, I should have gotten the venison which looked amazing, and everyone who had it said it was really good. The mixed meat plate was good as well, but by this time, I was getting really tired of pork. After dinner, we had about an hour ride back to Berlin, and got to our hotel around 10:00 p.m. As we had another early morning the next morning, I went straight to bed.
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Post by Owen on Sept 7, 2014 5:38:15 GMT
7 ~ Highlights of Germany
Day 7
I was up at 6:15 a.m. this morning, with luggage out by 7:00 a.m.. We left Berlin around 8:00 a.m. to make our way to Dresden, and arrived there around 11:00 a.m. Dresden was a beautiful city, and one of my favourite places visited on this tour. We also had beautiful weather for once, and it was a really hot day. In fact, it may have been a little bit too hot for sightseeing, but it was still better than the cold wet weather we had been having up until then. We got off the coach at the Kempinski hotel in Dresden, and our tour director pointed out some of the sights, told us when and where to be back on the coach, and then walked us to the Frauenkirche (the Protestant Church) via the procession of the Princes, which is made of 25000 Meissen porcelain tiles and shows the 1000 year history of the House of Wettin. He then gave us a few more instructions, and let us go off on our own. I made my way inside the Frauenkirche, which was completely rebuilt after being destroyed in the second world war. The inside of the church was very ornate inside, however, some people really loved it. It was a bit much for my taste. From here, I went for a quick lunch at a local pub with a fellow travel companion, and then we made our way to the Hofkirch (the Catholic Church) and took a look inside. I personally preferred the inside of this church, although it was not as ornate as the protestant church. After this, we walked over to the Sachische Staatsoper (The Opera House), and were going to go inside, but it was 9 Euros, so we decided against it. Instead, we got some great pictures of all of the buildings, and then made our way to the Zwinger. After walking around the Zwinger and getting some pictures, I decided to go see the Porzellansammlun (the porcelain collection) as I had heard that it was quite impressive. It was a very nice collection, and I’m glad I saw it, but I do regret not having enough time to walk to the boardwalk and see the waterfront.
Catholic Cathedral in Dresden
It was almost 2:00 p.m. by the time I finished looking at the porcelain collection, so I made my way back to the coach to meet the group. Those of us going on the Treasury and Moritzburg Castle optional tour got our boxes (listening devices) ready, and got back off the coach, while the rest of the people on the coach were taken back to the hotel. This optional tour was one of my favourite, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who does this tour. First we entered the Residenzschloss with our local guide, which was the former residence of the Wetting family and now houses the Treasury, and had a tour of the museum. The green vault is 400 years old, and is the second oldest museum in Europe. It contains magnificent works by famous artisans including Johann Melchior Dingliner. Some of the greatest works of the vault include the Palace at Delhi of the Mogul Aurangzeb at his birthday, which is a miniature with about 150 people and animals. It was created from 1701-1708, and it costs as much as one palace. There was also a golden coffee service with the cups and saucers made of gold and then enamelled, and the cups and saucers and sugar bowls were presented on an elaborate pyramidal etagère surmounted by the coffeepot. We also saw some beautiful jewels, gems and table decorations, and spent about an hour here before leaving to make our way to Moritzburg Castle. On the way to Moritzburg Castle, we stopped at a quaint little restaurant for a drink and piece of cake, and then made our way to the Castle for our guided tour.
Moritzburg.
We spent about an hour and a half walking through the Castle with our guide before making our way back to Dresden to pick up a few people who didn’t go on the optional tour or take the earlier ride back to the hotel, and then made our way back to the hotel. We got to the hotel around 6:30 p.m., and as dinner tonight was a buffet, we could go to dinner at any time before 8:00 p.m. I went to my room to unpack and freshen up, and went to dinner around 7:00 p.m. to find that I was one of the last to arrive. I guess people were pretty hungry after our long and busy day. The buffet was pretty good, and one of the best included meals on the tour. After dinner about 8 of us made our way to the patio for a drink before heading to bed. I went back to my room around 9:30 p.m. as we had another early morning the next day.
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Post by Owen on Sept 7, 2014 5:41:02 GMT
8 ~ Highlights of Germany
Day 8
It was another early morning with luggage out at 6:30 a.m. I woke up this morning with a sore throat, and found out at breakfast that about 7 others woke up with a sore throat that morning as well. I guess the “bus bug” was starting to make its way around the coach. We left Dresden at 7:30 a.m. and made our way to Bayreuth to see the Wagner Festival Theatre. We got off the coach and spent about 20 mins walking around and reading the information boards posted in the garden area and taking pictures of the bust of Richard Wagner. The theater itself was under construction, so there was scaffolding all over the outside of it. Work on the theater was started on May 22, 1872, Wagner’s birthday, and was funded by Ludwig II of Bavaria. To be honest, I was not that interested in seeing this site, however, it was nice to get off the coach and walk around, and it was another nice day.
We got back on the coach and made our way to Nuremberg, drove around the city walls, and got off the coach by the Hauptplatz. As it was lunch time when we arrived our guide split up the optional tour, and anyone doing the Franconian Lunch and Rally Grounds Documentation Centre optional went with him to the world famous Bratwurst Roselein for lunch. Our lunch was a traditional German lunch, and consisted of large pretzels with mustard to start, a plate of mini sausages with sauerkraut and potato salad, and then apple strudel for dessert. Although I was really sick of sausages by this point, I have to admit that the lunch was really good, and by no means was it a “light lunch” as advertised in the optional. We finished lunch around 1:30 p.m., and then we were given 2 hours of free time to see the sites of Nuremberg. From here I made my way to the St. Sebald’s Cathedral with a couple of travel companions, which contains the shrine and relics of the patron saint of Nuremburg, St Sebaldus, which is contained within an elaborate bronze monument. It took the master sculptor Peter Vischer the elder and his sons 11 years to make the bronze monument. From here we went to check out the fountain in the Hauptplatz, walked around the market in the square, and then went into the Frauenkirche. After this, I went off on my own and walked towards the Lorenzer Platz and St Lorenz-Kirche, stopping to see the Heilig-Geist-Spital on the way. This was a hospital founded in 1332 which is now a old folk’s home and restaurant. On the way to this I ran into a few other travel companions who were making their way to the pharmacist, so I went with them to get something for my sore throat, as Advil was not helping with the pain. After getting some over the counter drugs, I went into the St Lorenz-Kirche, and then made my way back to the coach as it was time to leave for the documentation centre.
The Frauenkirche in Nuremberg
We got to the documentation centre around 3:45 p.m., got our headsets, and started going through the rooms. I found this optional tour to be very informative and interesting, however, 2 hours is not enough time to get through everything. Even with skipping a few rooms, I had to finish up in the last room quickly in order to make it to the coach for 6:00 p.m. There were a few others with me, as everyone else seemed to skim through the documentation centre, and then went for coffee. I asked how they managed to get through everything, and they said they skipped a lot of the rooms. We then drove around the perimeter area of the rally grounds, stopping at the tribune of Zeppelin field, where we got off the coach and walked to the area where the rally ground speeches were given. After about 10 mins here, we boarded the coach again and drove to where we could see the great street with the silhouette of the old town castle in the background, and then continued past the area where the 400000 seat German stadium was to have been built. From here we made our way back to the hotel.
This was the only hotel that was within walking distance of the city, which was nice as we did not have an included or optional dinner tonight. After getting back to our hotel, I went back to my room for about 20 mins to freshen up and unpack, and then I met two travel companions at 7:15 p.m. and we walked over to the city centre for dinner. We walked through the Frauentor gate, where there is a number of alleys with half –timbered houses, shops and cafes, and then went into the main area to find a restaurant for dinner. We finally settled on an Italian restaurant, and were going to sit outside on the patio as it was a nice evening, but the smoke was too bad, so we moved inside. Everyone in Germany smokes, so finding a smoke fee patio in Germany is impossible. After dinner we made our way back to our hotel, and I went straight to bed as we had another early morning the next day.
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Post by Owen on Sept 7, 2014 5:41:51 GMT
9 ~ Highlights of Germany
Day 9
Luggage had to be out at 6:30 a.m. again this morning, and we left at 7:30 a.m. to make our way to Medieval town of Rothenburg, my favourite city of the whole tour. We got there fairly early, around 9:30 a.m., and walked as a group along the medieval streets to the much photographed spot of the Plönlein with Koboldzellersteig and Spitalgasse, and then we continued to the Marktplatz where the town hall is located. From here we walked along the Herrngasse, regarded as the most elegant street of Rothenberg with one noble house after another, and leads all the way down to the Western gate and the Burgarten. Our tour director then pointed out some of the sights, and gave us until noon to see the sights and have lunch. After talking a few pictures of the Rathaus (town hall) and the surrounding area, I made my way to the Kathe Wohlfahrt store, which specializes in Christmas decorations, to look around and buy some Christmas ornaments. I always collect Christmas ornaments while travelling, and this store didn’t disappoint. It was huge, and kept going on and on and on. The ornaments were a little pricey, but they were handmade and beautiful. After buying two ornaments, I made my way back outside, and then walked to St. Jakobs Kirche. It was a cold day, and I wasn’t dressed properly as the weather forecast had predicted a warmer day, so I didn’t want to spend too much time outside. I paid my 2 Euros to go into the church, and spent about 20 mins walking around and taking pictures. If you go into this church, I highly recommend that you go upstairs to see the Zwolfotenaltar (the famous Alter of the Holy Blood), which is beautiful. After leaving the church, I made my way to the Burggarten (the castle garden) and walked around the gardens and took some amazing pictures of the surrounding country side. The views from the Burggarten were amazing and beautiful. From here I started to make my way back towards where the coach was parked, stopping at a Birkenstock store to buy a pair of Birkenstocks. The prices were amazing, and if they had my size in the colours I liked, I would have gotten a few pair, but I only ended up getting one pair. After shopping, I met a two travel companions for a quick pizza lunch, and then looked in some of the shops while making may way towards the coach.
Burggarten in Rothenburg.
We left Rothenburg around noon and continued on our way along the Romantic road passing Dinkelsbuhl and Nordlingen before rejoining the Motorway to make our way to Munich. We arrived around 3:00 p.m., got off the coach at Max-Joseph Platz, and walked over to the Marienplatz where our tour director pointed out the Neues Rathaus (new town hall) and Altes Rathaus (old town hall), and then gave us directions to various places. He told us to be back at the Marienplatz by 5:00 p.m. if we wanted to see the Glockenspiel Carillon (each day at 11:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. the bells ring out a carillon, while the mechanical knights fight a tournament and a mechanical crowd dances), and then gave us some free time. I walked over to the Michaelskirche and looked around, and then made my way to the mall to use the bathroom. It was another cold and wet day, and I was tired of the weather, so I just walked around the mall, and checked out some of the shops around the Marienplatz. Unfortunately, I did not see much of Munich, but I was not interested in walking around in the rain, yet again.
I made sure I was back in the Marienplatz by 5:00 p.m. to see the Clockenspiel Carillon. This lasted around 10 mins, and then I made my way to the meeting point so we could head over to the Hofbrauhaus. Our tour director had advised us earlier that he would be splitting the Hofbrauhaus and Bavarian Dinner optional tour, as we would be getting back from the Salzburg optional late the next day, and there wouldn’t be time to go to the Hofbrauhaus before dinner. Those of us doing this optional walked over to the Hofbrauhaus, while the rest of the people had the option of going back to the hotel, or staying in the area until we went back to the hotel at 6:30 p.m. Going to the Hofbrauhaus was an experience. Our tour director had advised that he went over there earlier to see if he could find us some seating together, but the place was packed. When we got there, he took us on a walk around the place, so we could see how big it was, and then found us seating at various tables throughout the place. I sat with two travel companions at a table with some strangers, and we soon made friends with the young people having drinks beside us. Our tour director came around with a waitress to take all of our drink orders (I ordered a mug of beer), and I later ordered a large pretzel from another waitress, who was incredibly rude. I mistakenly gave her the wrong coins, and she threw my money back at me saying “that’s not a 5 cent coin”. I offered to look for the correct change, but she told me to never mind, and gave me my change. I retaliated by telling her that she wasn’t getting a tip from me. The Oompah band started to play about 20 mins after we arrived, which was a lot of fun, and we headed out after about an hour there. I really had a good time at the Hofbrauhaus, and I would go back there again if I went to Munich.
We got back to the hotel around 7:00 p.m., and had about half an hour to freshen up before dinner at 7:30 p.m. The rooms at this hotel were quite large, although a little big older, and the beds were the most comfortable on the tour. My favourite included dinner was also at this hotel, which was chicken with potatoes and veggies. It was nice not to have pork, yet again, and the chicken was nice a moist and not overcooked. After dinner, I went back to my room to get ready for bed, as we had another early day the next day.
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Post by Owen on Sept 7, 2014 5:43:10 GMT
10 ~ Highlights of Germany
Day 10
It was another early morning as it’s a long drive to Salzburg, which was a full day optional tour. Almost everyone did this optional, and I think everyone loved it. I would even say it was most people’s favourite optional.
We drive west towards Salzburg, passing the Chimsee and King Ludwigs follies, and then crossed the border into Austria. We pull in to Paris Lodron Strasse and meet our local guide, Manfred, who showed us the sights of Salzburg and Eagles Nest. We start walking through the Mirabel gardens, where several scenes from the Sound of Music were shot, and then we walked towards the Mozart Family house and the homes of Doppler and Herbert von Karajan before crossing the river Salzach, which runs through the city, via the Makartsteg Bridge, which is covered in Lovelocks (when people get married, they lock a padlock on the bridge and throw away the key, to signify that they are bound together forever). We then entered the old town to see the Cathedral, Mozart’s Birthplace and the wrought iron sign laden, Getreidegasse, and are then given some free time for lunch and further sightseeing. I walked around with two travel companions, and grabbed a huge pretzel for lunch. I wasn’t very hungry at the time, so I only had some of it, and then got a sorbet from a local vendor.
View of the Hohensalzburg fortress from the garden of Schloss Mirabell, Salzburg, Austria.
We meet the group at Mozart Platz around 1:15 p.m. and made our way towards the Eagles Nest, with beautiful views of the Austrian countryside on the way. We got off the coach at the Obersalzburg station, and transferred to special buses to make the journey up to the next level. Once we got there, we walked down a long tunnel to the lift that take us to the top of the mountain, and then we walk around the Kehlstein (now a restaurant) before going into a room to watch a short video on the construction of the place. We then had some free time, which I used to climb up the mountain and get some pictures of the amazing views. After our free time, we made our way back to the coach and headed back to Munich to get ready for the Bavarian optional dinner.
The Adlerhorst (Eagle's Nest) on Kehlstein
We got back to our hotel in Munich around 5:45 p.m., and had about 45 mins to freshen up and get ready to leave for our optional dinner. The dinner was good, but I had pork, yet again, which I was really getting sick of at this point. I picked the pork though as I can’t eat fish and don’t like duck, which were the other options. After dinner, we made our way back to the hotel, and a group of us met for a drink in the lobby bar. We had a later start the next morning, so I was in no rush to go to bed that night.
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Post by Owen on Sept 8, 2014 19:49:31 GMT
11 ~ Highlights of Germany
Day 11 & Day 12
We had a later start this morning, and I was looking forward to a sleep in until my wake-up call, which was a loud knock on my door, arrived at 6:05 a.m. (my alarm was set for 6:45 a.m.). Our travel director had arranged for a 7:00 a.m. wake-up call for us, however, hotel management took it upon themselves to give us all earlier wake-up calls as they wanted us to go for breakfast at 6:30 a.m. instead of 7:30 a.m. as they had three groups staying at the hotel, and they were worried breakfast would be too packed if we went at 7:30 a.m. Let’s just say I was not impressed! I still went back to bed until 6:45 a.m., but I was not able to get back to sleep. The worst part was, when I went to breakfast at 7:30 a.m., there was hardly anyone in the breakfast room.
We left at 8:30 a.m. and drove south through Munich towards Oberammergau, stopping in Ettal to see the Ettal Monastery. We got off the coach, and were given about 30 mins to walk around and take pictures. As it was a Sunday morning, there was a service taking place, so I stepped into the church to hear some of the service and see the interior. I then took some nice pictures of the church and surrounding area, and made my way back to the coach.
photos were here
Cathedral in Ettal
From here it was only a 10-15 min ride to Oberammergau, which is known for its famous Passion Play, which originated in 1634. The Passion Play was first put on by the inhabitants, who made a vow to perform the play every 10 years if no further people died from the plague. With the exception of 1870, 1920, and 1940, the play has been presented every tenth year since 1680, and the daylong performances are attended by thousands in the passion play theatre, which was built in 1930.
Oberammergau is also known for its houses, which are decorated with Luftmalerie such as Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding hood, and the Bremen Singers.
Oberammergau
After spending about an hour in Oberammergua, we made our way to Neuschwanstein where we stopped for lunch. As it was pouring rain, again, I didn’t walk around much, and just got a few pictures of the fairytale castle of Ludwig on the Romantic Road before heading back to the coach.
Neuschwanstein Castle.
After lunch, we continued westwards along the German Alpine road towards Bregenz, getting our first glimpse of Lake Constance and the area of Baden-Wurttemberg, which is an important wine and fruit growing district of Germany. We passed by Friedrichshafen, where the Zeppelin airships, the Maybach luxury car, and the Dornier planes were made, before stopping at the Birnau church, which sits above the shores of lake Constance. We got out of the coach here, and were given some free time to use the rest-rooms, go into the church, and get pictures of Lake Constance. It had actually stopped raining, and the sun had come out, so it was nice break to get to walk around outside.
We arrived at our family run hotel in the Black Forest around 6:00 p.m., which has free WIFI, and had about an hour to settle in before dinner, which consisted of pork, yet again. This meal was my least favourite meal of the trip, as I’m not a big fan of ham or scalloped potatoes. After dinner, a few of us sat in the lobby to chat for a little while, and then I made my way back to my room to go to bed. I still had a bad sore throat, and the lack of sleep I had been getting wasn’t helping me to get better.
Day 12
It was another early morning with luggage out by 7:30 a.m. After breakfast, we made our way to the House of the Black Forest Clocks, and were greeted by the owner, whose family has been making Black Forest Clocks for generations. We all got a shot of liquor, were advised that we got 10% off anything we bought in the store, and then made our way into the store to look around. The coo-coo-clocks were beautiful, and I thought about buying one, but I have no place to put it, so I bought a nice beer stein instead, and went upstairs to share a piece Black Forest Cake with another travel companion. I’m normally not a big fan of cake, but I thought I couldn’t go to the Black Forest and not have some cake.
Black Forest
After about an hour and a half, we got back on the coach and drove through the Black Forest until we reached Heidelberg, where we stopped for lunch. We all got off the coach at the River, and our travel director walked with us to the main square, and told us how to get up to the castle if we wanted to go and see it. The castle houses what is reputed to be the largest wine vat in the world, holding 220,000 litres (58,100 U.S. gallons), and is guarded by the court jester Perkeo. It also houses the German Pharmacy Museum. I would have liked to have seen the castle, but we only had an hour to have lunch and see some of sights, so I passed. I was tired of having to rush all of the time to eat and see everything. Our tour director gave us a recommendation for a place where we could get a quick lunch, however, when we got there, we were told the place was full. About 6 of us then decided to go to the restaurant across the street, which we were told would be fast, but, unfortunately, it was not. The staff here were also very rude, which seemed to be a recurring theme in Germany. Most of us decided to order a burger, as we were all tired of soup and pork, which turned out to be very good, despite having to wait forever for it. It was actually quite big and I couldn’t finish it all. I finished lunch and paid with bill with 15 mins to spare, so I walked back to the coach with two others, stopping to take some pictures on the way. We were lucky as a few travel companions who came into the restaurant after us had just gotten their food when we left, not leaving them much time to eat.
Here, we said goodbye to 4 of our travel companions who were travelling elsewhere in Germany, and then we got back on the coach and headed to Frankfurt.
We arrived at our hotel in Frankfurt around 4:00 p.m., and I went straight to the one computer to print my boarding pass. It would seem that a few others had the same idea, as by the time I was done, there was a line up of people waiting to use the computer. I then went up to my room to freshen up and get ready for the farewell dinner. About 21 of us went on this optional dinner, and our tour director told us to dress up a bit for this dinner, if we had dressy clothes with us, which most of the people did. We left for this dinner at 6:00 p.m., and made our way to the restaurant in the Romerplatz area for our 6:30 p.m. dinner. This was my favourite optional dinner out of all of them, however, after having a big burger for lunch, I was not that hungry for dinner. I still managed to eat most of it though. We made our way back to the hotel around 8:30 p.m., and a few of us meet in the lobby bar for a farewell drink before heading to our rooms for bed.
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Post by Owen on Sept 8, 2014 19:50:51 GMT
13 ~ Highlights of Germany
Day 13
It was another early morning for me, as I needed to catch the 7:00 a.m. transfer to the airport. After a quick breakfast, about 10 of us got on the coach, and made our way to the airport for our flights home.
This ended another great Trafalgar tour for me, and I’m already planning my next one.
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This travel tale was written by Tiffany and relates to a Trafalgar Tour. It was originally posted on the Trafalgar forum. |
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