The Port City & The Capital City

Hamburg:

To acquaint ourselves with this massive port city we plotted a course to wander along from our hotel to the tourist info place. What a way to be introduced to Hamburg –firstly the gritty, arty, grungy streets nearby gave a dirty version of Newtown (Sydney) feel and then we happened to stroll down into the seediest, dodgiest part!  Drunks, brothels, police, graffiti and rubbish (think Kings Cross x 100) were what we came across before reaching the port and being amazed by the sheer size of stevedoring, so much part of the city.

We were the ultimate tourists the following day by joining Hamburg’s version of a City Sightseeing bus-you know the one-double decker, open top, fire engine red.  The city is such a jigsaw that we though the best way to see it was to cruise around tourist style.  We did the whole 90min or so loop first without hopping off and got a great feel for the city, being exposed to more than just the scruffy side.  We ended up choosing an interesting area to wander around and low and behold came across a beer festival by the lake.  So with water views, local beer, casual chatter and cheesy live jazz music (yes there was a saxophone) we saw a different face of Hamburg.  To end the day we meandered back through the botanical gardens-a mass of lush green grass, beautiful blooms, and enchanting hidden gardens.

Maximising our final few hours in Hamburg on the morning of our departure we embarked on the 7.6km route around the Aussenalster-the outer of the Alster Lakes.  Aside from the usual morning joggers and dog walkers it was a quiet and pleasant way to start the day and to end our time in Hamburg.

Berlin:

After navigating our way out of the behemoth that is Berlin Hbf, finding our hotel without clear directions and noting that the hotel was right next door to the Australian Embassy we made a beeline for the must see museum of the capital-the Pergamon Museum.  The plan was to zip around the museum then head to a recommended restaurant for dinner.  This plan failed due to a number of rookie errors.  Firstly, the museum was ma-hass-ive!  You could easily spend half a day at least looking at all the archaeological treasures dug up from the metropolis that was Pergamon, Greece/Turkey not to mention the 360 degree, 25m high panorama. (see this for more info http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pergamon) .Then secondly, the restaurant was all booked out so after hours of traipsing around the museum then traipsing around town looking for food we collapsed into bed, exhausted but excited to explore further.

Quite intrigued by modern Berlin we took a cycle tour to see the ‘eccentric and uncensored sides of Berlin’.  For about 5 hours we cruised around the ‘burbs exploring public land use such as squats, rave clubs & street art, the effects of the Berlin Wall on architecture and how an old airport can be turned into an open space.

In an effort to see all the major attractions in Berlin we attempted to take ourselves on a walking tour (thank you Lonely Planet Germany for the guidance).  Unfortunately the heavy rain grossly hampered our efforts and dampened our spirits.  We did manage to see a bit of the Berlin Wall near Potzdammer Platz, the holocaust memorial and the Brandenburg Gate (including the money making capitalists dressed up in Soviet & American military attire getting cash for being in people’s photos) before seeking shelter in a massive Harrods style shopping arcade.  Also in true tourist style we were part of the ‘out of place, rain drenched and cash strapped’ crowd just looking rather than buying!  After a mad dash down to Check Point Charlie in the rain, we headed to the Reichstag where the sun finally shone.  We actually went up to the dome of the Reichstag for some great views too.

To take advantage of the (finally!) blue sky we took a stroll through some lovely areas including Gendarmenmarkt-a lovely beautiful square with beautiful buildings and the Bebelplatz-also some beauties but darkened by the fact that this is where the infamous 1933 Nazi book burnings took place. We finished the day in a great little eatery which has been around since 1621 and apparently has fed ‘everyone from Napolean to Angela Merkel’!

What stay in Berlin would be complete without a visit to the Eastside Gallery?  We set out early in the morning to be beat the tour buses and crowds to see the longest remaining stretch of the wall (about 1km) still standing but covered in murals.

Here is the link for some more photos :)

Dusseldorf & Surrounds

Aussie friends Ross & Emma's awesome pad in downtown Dusseldorf was our base for our first couple of nights in Germany and they were our equally awesome guides.
For a proper introduction to the Land of Ideas we went to a local brauhaus where beer was aplenty the pork knuckle was enormous!
We were treated to Ross' Tour of Dusseldorf-taking in sights such as the Rhine from way up in the Rhineturm, the funky Frank Ghery designed buildings and the cobblestone streets of the Altstadt which had cute little sculptures waiting for us round every corner. 

Rhineturm (tall tower on left) & trio of Frank Ghery buildings (white, silver ((tricky to see)) and brown)

The obligatory stop for currywurst was taken of course!  A stroll around the gardens of Schloss Benrath was topped off nicely by Kaffee & Kuchen (cake & coffee).

Our hosts also showed us around the town of Aachen, the spiritual home of Charlemagne (well at least home of all his treasures).  The Dom (cathedral) and it's glittering mosaic ceiling were magnificent and although the Dom treasury wasn't originally on the agenda, the rain drove us in and we oohed and ahhed over well preserved artefacts.  Another obligatory German food tasting occurred in Aachen too-Printen-gingerbread-y type cake.  The train trip home was made all the better for it!

Looking up inside the Dom

We couldn't stay in Dusseldorf without making the short tip down to Cologne to admire the cathedral, Germany's biggest.  And big it was!  We attempted the belfry climb of 500 odd steps with Julian going all the way and thus being the chief photographer while Danielle's vertigo got the better of her about nine tenths of the way :( 

The mighty Koln cathedral

Being a bit wurst (hehe) for wear we stopped for a bite then carried on for Danielle's Surprise Roman Tour of Cologne.  So called because Julian normally does the navigating but this time put the task in the hands of Danielle not knowing where we could end up!

Roman tower

We obviously made it back safely as we've got the blog and the photos to show for it!  See the Photo Links page for said photos.

Seeking Summer

Part one of our Seeking Summer holiday saw us hop on the Eurostar bound for Belgium-first stop, Bruges.  Yes of course we watched the film In Bruges on the train, and of course we continued to quote it whilst in Bruges!  It truly was a magical city, like a fairy tale, with the cobblestone streets, skyline of steeples, bells tolling, horse hooves clip clopping along…

Random little tower popping up over the trees-just like a fairy tale

The brewery, the Belfort, the windmills, a church or two and the canal trip were all must do tourist things we covered and all showed us just how beautiful this old medieval town is.  *Note to all potential Bruges tourists-lots of places are closed on Mondays as we discovered.  Julian was bitterly disappointed to not be able to go into Bruges’ oldest pub or a little alleyway beer house offering a selection of over 400 beers*

We did get to try two local delicacies however, which made up for the closures.  Frites also known as 1cm thick French fries (without mayo for Julian) and chocolate-mmm, yum yum in our tum!

After a couple of days in Bruges we moved onto Brussels- the ugly red headed step son of Belgium-to quote a fellow traveller! In fairness, it wasn’t as bad as people had made it out to be.  It was certainly busy and culturally diverse but it kept us busy for a day and half.

Intricate carvings on amazing buildings

 We went to another brewery. One which makes traditional ‘Lambic’ beer unique to the country due to its spontaneous fermentation process, something to do with yeast in the air.  Certainly an acquired taste unlike waffles, another Belgium delicacy which was very easy on the palate.  We tried these a few times just to make sure they were worth the effort!  We thought we best go to the chocolate museum to learn about the process and do the all-important tasting seeing as Belgium is the king/queen of chocolate.

 Aside from another church (oldest in Brussels), viewing platform (elevator for this one, no stairs) and some beautiful buildings (so much intricate sculpture) the best bit was discovering the quirky side of Brussels by following the comic strip trail which wound its way through the streets of the city, taking you to various mural scenes painted on walls depicting famous Belgium cartoons including Tin Tin & Asterix. 

Amsterdam
We had a lovely catch up lunch with family in Amsterdam-sunshine, wine & wandering-a good introduction to the city on our first day.  To top it all off we had received a free upgrade of accommodation putting us into a room well out of our price range and exceeding all expectations.  Think king-size bed, fluffy robes & slippers, his & her basins, remote control curtains, Nespresso machine and the icing on the cake FREE MINIBAR! (Replenished daily)

The next day was very busy-Julian took us on a self-guided ‘Canal appreciation’ walking tour around some of Amsterdam first thing in the morning, thus avoiding peak hour cyclists-what a hazard!  (Or perhaps, more correctly we’re the hazard as wandering tourists!)

 After this tour though, we really did become the hazards, opting in on a cycling tour of Amsterdam and the nearby countryside.  Once we had dodged the trams, pedestrians, cars and other cyclists in the city, we meandered on a path alongside the Amstel River for a while, stopping at a working windmill and then a farm owned and run by a crazy cheese making, clog carving Dutchman.  After lunching on cheese (surprise, surprise) we took a different route back to the city, cycling past lush green fields and through expansive parks, all the while trying not to get in the way of much more experienced local cyclists.

To add in a bit of culture to our Amsterdam stay we visited FOAM, Amsterdam’s photography exhibition space as well as the Van Gogh museum (along with every other tourist in Amsterdam!) and the obligatory walk through the Red Light District. 

More photos have been put on the Photo Links page

Our time is up? So soon? June 2012

We wore our English 'hats' and tourist 'hats' this month in a mad dash effort to squeeze in as many experiences as possible in our last month of living in the motherland.

There was the Polo in the Park where we enjoyed Pimms and cocktails in the sunshine. Oh and some polo too.

We had to fit in with all the other half tanked Aussies carrying arround pineapples!

An 'adults only' trip to the London Zoo-that's right-no children!  I think the place was full of teachers who could finally enjoy being at a zoo with friends rather than on school excursions.

Only party animals in sight-food and drink a plenty!

A trip down the Thames to Greenwich to explore the Cutty Sark-the last surviving tea clipper and fastest and greatest of her time according to Royal Museums Greenwich-it was pretty impressive!

Use those guns!

Exploring yet another Sir Christopher Wren designed building-The Monument-climbing all 311 steps to get some great, but windy views of London.  The best part (after the views) was the certificate we received on our way out!

We had a little taste of country England too, taking a trip to Lavenham, a historic wool town in Suffolk.  On any normal day you would expect the village to be sleepy and quiet, however we just happened to turn up the on the day of the VW convention-the place was heaving with Beetles and Combies!

And finally, we farwelled our oh so conviently situated living quarters, packed a bag each of Summer, holiday clothes and shipped off all other possessions in some suitcases bound for Sydney.  So long London, love you long time x

Our street in Hammersmith-the trees finally getting their leaves back!

The photo links page will have a link to this months photos

Mooching about in May

Aside from spending the first weekend away in Vienna (see separate page), most of May was spent hanging out in London and enjoying the company of friends as well as the spate of lovely weather!

Blue skies, late sunset, 26 degrees, the River Thames & a glass of wine-what a combination!

Our rowing course progressed and we eventually made it out onto the Thames a couple of times without anyone capsizing or falling in!  On the 6th & final night, we even got to go out in a double together which saw Julian doing the bulk of the rowing while Danielle sat white knuckled, balancing the boat and barking orders!


This isn't us but it is our boathouse and shows the river at low tide.  At high tide, there is no ramp to tramp down!

 We continued to explore more local pubs for Julian to tick off the list and sampled another fine English Sunday roast at one such local pub.  (There's been talk of setting up a rating site for all this roast tasting!)

Our final weekend in May saw us return to Cambridge (with camera battery charged this time) where we tried to blend in more with the locals rather than the tourists thanks to our lovely hostess, Kier, Danielle's ex flatty.  We went up to Ely to gawk at it's magnificent cathedral-the oldest Catholic church in England...

...sampled some lovely, local real ales and ciders at the beer festival which was conveniently on the weekend we visited and also went to a local air show, put on in honour of the Queen's diamond Jubilee...

 Brilliant weather, stunning scenery and good company made for a fabulous weekend!

More photos can be found here

6 months down, 6 months to go

After the whirlwind that was March, April has turned out to be a much more subdued month (aside from the road trip over Easter of course!).  Carrying out more research and making more bookings for the upcoming summertime bonanza of travelling has been at the forefront of our activities and we've kept all adventures this month low key and local...
 
The never-ending search for London's best roast took us to a north side pub and was certainly a contender for the prize and we also found another in the running right on our doorstep in the west. 

Fancy seeing you here!
(Anna, a work colleague of Julian's from Oz joined us for a roast)

Speaking of right on our doorstep, after 6 months of living just a stone's throw away from Fulham's home ground, Craven Cottage, we finally made it to a game and a Premier League game no less!

For the very back row, we still had a good view
(aside from those two columns though)

We've finally succumbed after seeing the rowers on the Thames day in and day out and enrolled ourselves in a beginners rowing course.  Unfortunately we've not made it out onto the river yet as the conditions haven't been great but hopefully this week...

Danielle's absolute highlight of the month would have to have been catching a glimpse of Prince Harry at the London marathon.  She went along (with Gemma) for a spot of charity work, cheering on runners at the finish line on behalf of the British Red Cross, expecting a great atmosphere with plenty of entertainment but got much more than this when Prince Harry was spotted doling out the medals to the elite runners a mere 20 metres from the posse in the charity stands!

Dressed in blue, kind of in the middle of the photo. 
Ahh Harry, so close yet so far!

Finally, Julian has resumed his quest in earnest to have a pint at every pub in Hammersmith after finding the long lost map which happens to have highlighted every pub in Hammersmith.

March Madness

Iceland, Ireland, farm, France-four weekends in March equals four adventures hence the name 'March Madness'!
These adventures used all our energy and the majority of our time this month and so Iceland, Ireland and France each have their own page of the blog dedicated to them-check them out!

The farm gave us a weekend of family time and the opportunity to see more of the lush, green countryside and quaint little villages within easy drive of the farm.

In Thaxted-the cobblestone path leading from the Guild Hall up to the Church

This path in Saffron Walden led us to some beautiful gardens-at this point though we thought we might end up in someones backyard.

Of real note though this month, was the beginning of British summertime (daylight savings), and the coincidental,  run of gorgeously warm, sunny weather.  This meant everyone in London came out of hibernation, no longer grumpy and glum but in good humour, smiling and chatty-ourselves included!

We celebrated the start of Summertime with a sunset drink by the Thames