McLays in Europe

Arriving at Berlin, perhaps the many shifts of recent weeks was starting to catch up with us. We were tired and certainly looking for a sleep in. We found Hotel room easy after booking it via WOTIF.com It surpassed our expectations. Berlin was too exciting a city to stay in our room for long!
We picked ourselves up next morning and went for it. A city just packed full of marvellous history (well much of it pretty tragic) but so interesting and the contempory influences were just wonderful. We found a city bus and were headed for the History Museum. Unfortunately too many things distracted us and finally got to the museum about 2pm. It was too late to get around it by 6pm when we were asked to leave and Ian continually complained that he only got up to the invasion of Poland! Next day Alison ruled out Ian on going back to the History Museum and we soon became involved in the Check Point Charlie, Holocaust Memorial, Gestapo headquarters and Brandenburg Gate etc etc. We hit bed late again really exhaused and our heads swimming with history.
We both agreed Berlin was a must to visit again!

We arrived by train about 2pm at Magdenburg train station and had to kill a couple of hours until the hosts arrive. We had been on many train trips in Europe but did not enjoy this one. There was a piercing noise the whole way and for once a ticket inspector did not come along which meant we could not bring it to the attention of anyone who could maybe do something about it! There also seemed to be a lot of passengers who walked back and forth the whole way - maybe looking for a solution to the noise. We were very happy to got off this one. Outside, we found a modern shopping centre and slipped into front seats to watch the judging of Mr & Miss Magdenburg. We curiously wondered if this would have been sanctioned before unification! Girls parading in bikinis and boys in their speedos!
We meet up with Michael & Kirsten and they only had a work van with one bench seat in front so Micheal had to catch the train home. We all got to their home which wasn't far away and sat down to another well prepared German meal. We shared a glance and thought oh, here we go again!
They had just got out of the German rent trap and were buying their own home. It was nice, on four levels and then we learnt we had been given their double bed. They announced they were going up to the third and fourth floors, but not the same floors. It seemed he snored so that was a big joke for the next few days.
Next day Kirsten took us around Magdenburg and although we didn't have much idea of what to expect at this place it turned out to be another very interesting stop. Magdeburg is a medium sized city in the former East Germany and was literally flattened in WWII. Michael's grandmother remembers it burning. The city profile reflected therefore remnants of the past and some rebuilt beautiful old churches and government buildings, but also the communist influences which were bland, and the modern and ultra modern. One significant building we were shown was painted bright pink and although structurally as sound as any other, has the surrounds to windows and doors painted with crooked lines. This was irritating to our hosts as being German they generally like things perfect!
We suggested a restaurant meal for us to thank them (anything to avoid more sausage) and spent a very pleasant night with them. We were surprised to find out that our hosts were younger than us. It seems they have had a hard struggle with life living through a country divided and their accounts of the cold war are not pleasant. They were honest and happy to talk openly and we appreciated their hospitality and hope to host them in Alice Springs in 2009.

Stepping off the train from Frankfurt at Goslar train station, we heard Hartmut calling out to us. Also close behind him was his wike Dorena and dog Sissy. Earlier this year we had hosted them in Alice Springs, and travelled to Ayers Rock with them and we had got on so well and had much fun. Although we struggled with language, our German - Australian dictionary helped with interpreting. As they both grew up in the former East Germany they were made learn Russian at school. After reunification they dropped the Russian like a hot potato and started learning English, so were very happy to have us to practice on. They took us to their house, different to others again. It had four levels and three separate families in it, including an area for their call centre business. A small man-made river was at the end of their back yard and separated them from their neighbours at the back. Doreena had prepared a huge German meal (which we were becoming slowly accustomed to, although much discussion between us on how it sat with Alison's food principals! but did not seem to transfer into overweight population, who appear to be more active than Aussies. We saw some very old people walking the hills and riding bicycles throughout Germany). The night ended with Hartmut in charge showing video and digital photos on a large screen of their recent Australian holiday. And of course we were in it!
We had by the next day developed colds and felt rather miserable, but Hartmut wouldn't hear of it. He is such a character as he struggles to master the Queen's English and managed to keep us entertained despite the colds and proudly showed us his country over the next two days. And what a beautiful one it is. Goslar is relatively small and was therefore fortunate enough to be left unscathed from WWII bombs. It now promotes itself as being virtually the same as it was around 500 years ago. The Kaiser palace sits on the highest ground and the whole old city surrounded by a wall. Lanes all cobblestone.
On the last day Hartmut could not put off work any longer to be with us, so we just walked around Goslar one more time, and loved it. We took a horse and buggy ride and it seemed like we were back several hundred years in time.
That night we exchanged gifts and well wishes and wondered if we would ever meet up again. Ian presented Hartmut with his cat's scarf, which had been the subject of much fun and had been inseperable from Ian ever since the Grand Final day before we left. But Ian had to apologise for the burnt bit one end where a disgruntled Port Adelaide supported put a match to it on Grand Final Day.

Frankfurt is the financial centre of Germany and has the second biggest airport in the world. We had witnessed this briefly on our trip over, landing at Frankfurt before changing flights for Dresden. It is so big we had a bus take us to our plane over a 10 minute trip!

As we followed our host's directions from Frankfurt main station (also pretty large!) to parliamentplatz station, we were coping well. Already we have on several occasions had time to understand the German rail system, with S & U lines from the main station. But when we hit the street from parliamentplatz station we went wrong and were lost at night! We retraced our steps to the station and started again. Was it another matter of German/English interpretation on words! Anyway it worked out and we stumbled down the right street this time and there on top of a large block of units was our apartment. The place had a Gothic look to it, especially at night. Lugging cases up five stories was testing, and the neighbour gave us the key with a smile but absolutely no English. The apartment was tiny, one living room with small balcony, kitchenette and bathroom. Well over 90% of Frankfurt residents rent their places as it is much too dear to purchase, and in equivalant terms the rent on this place in Australia would be still around $200 per week. Regine, the host who had escaped to Hamburg for a few days was a book seller and the apartment was lined wall to wall with books! We hosted Regine in Australia and had a nice time with her, and although it would have been great to see her again due to the small size of her apartment it was better she left us to it as we were falling over each other as it was. We telephoned her to let her know we have arrived ok (well sort of) and she recommended a Greek restaurent around the corner.
We tidied up and left for the Greek Resuarant and when we entered there was a rowdy group sitting around the bar and no-on else in the place. Waiter had no idea of what we were asking him, but eventually another man came over and assisted us to order. We had a nice meal and then were approached for a challenge. Gain free drinks if we could pick a fault in each of three Greek wall paintings. We did so sucessfully with a little help here and there and then joined them at the bar. The Fankfurt soccer side had just beaten some side after many years of failure and so they we elated. Ian managed to convey that we too knew how it felt to have our footy side win after many years not winning!And so an hour of chat and fun was had.
Next day was Sunday and we went into Frankfurt to catch the city tour bus, but a Marathon was taking place through Frankfurt and the bus was cancelled. Next day a bus /boat tour to the Rhine. Cable Cars had stopped the day before and our tour guide said in a week or two the area would be shut down for winter. So we just slipped through in time, and the bus was only half full, so no crowds thankyou!
The tour guide was excellent and we all had lunch together at a local Rhine pub, which was a good chance to make friends with some American women (Mother & Daughter) also on the tour. They sat with us the rest of the tour and were good company.The next was the boat section of the tour down past many medieval castles, and although the day was overcast the photos seemed to come out surprisingly well.

Australia is 20 times bigger than Germany but only approx 25% the population. And Germany has a very well distributed poulation, no real mega cities and all over it is so green and productive looking. Dairy farms everywhere. People we meet, say' oh from Australia, it is so big!'. They don't however have generally a handle on how much desert is here though (This is Ian's que for talking about aims of Desert Knowledge!)

Driving in Munich was frustrating! Cars swapping lanes and coming up very close on all sides. One wrong move or even the thought of it prompted a 'honk' or series of 'honks'. Not knowing exactly where the Europe Car drop off was a problem but driving around a bit sorted that out. The man gave a thumbs up meaning the car was ok so off we took to our room, which was within a stroll as we had planned. So far Munich did not appeal to us, or at least this part of it. The lift to our room only took one person plus case and the room was not much bigger. They certainly know how to make use of small spaces in Europe. We dropped things and headed out for dinner. An Italian restaurant appealed to us just down the road and the chef was a very short man from Sardinia who cooked a mean Lasagna. We were much earlier than his regulars so he chatted with us for a while and gave us some tips for Italy. We left the room early next morning for the railway station for the next part of our journey and had to skip our included buffet breakfast!

Our GPS system was doing a great job directing us to our next exchange closer to Munich. Ian now after a few days at the wheel of a left hand drive vehicle was feeling a settled driver, that is until we hit the Munich expressway. Cars and trucks zooming by in the fast lane, many at over 150kph. Then as the nicely spoken English woman on the GPS said - 'turn right at the next exit' - we again returned to beautiful rural countryside. We were met at the house by the owner's son Christian, who explained the workings of the spacious house. It had four levels, an open fireplace made redundant by an extremely efficient central heating system and large room with a mezzanine floor/study. Hungry at this stage we visited the local pub for dinner which appeared very traditional. The waitress was very nice but baffled by Ian's peppered steak requests and eventually tipped the salad dressing in his lap, which did not improve communications at all. Accidental of course. Having a hire car made a diifference and the next day we took off early. It was starting to rain and get cold so we took the opportunity to visit shops for new boots and coats as we were certainly going to need them. Then, I suppose a bit cheeky with the previous days success with the GPS decided to just drive around the place and if we lost our way the GPS would get us back. We therefore drove around back lanes and around hillsides that were very beautiful and seemingly through people's back yards and close to houses jutting out within inches of the roadside. It was so green on the ground with beautiful autumn leaves on the trees. Next day was more structured and we visited Chiemsee to see the lavish Castle of King Ludwig II of Bavaria. This King took the thone young and under difficult circumstances did some good things but will be remembered for his extravagent building of Castles, which were in the main replicas of the finest Castles in France. This castle at Chiemsee was on such a grand scale that it was never finished but the 20 odd rooms that were were breath-taking. They were adorned with gold chandeliers, furniture and trimmings. He eventually fell out of sort with the people and particularly his family,who he bankrupted and drowned himself under suspicious circumstances. Although he built castles elsewhere in Bavaria this was the one he spent most time at and it had to be reached by ferry in the middle of a huge lake. Next morning, looking through the back window at home revealed snow on the mountain caps so off we went to investigate. We found a cable car at Wallbergbahn and at the top an accomodating restuarant with 360 degree views around. We could not resist a Bavarian meal and warm red wine for lunch. In the middle of the snow season this was a toboggin slope but here we were with it to ourselves! The views around were simply stunning.
Next day was clean up the house day, recycling meant every group of rubbish had a different bin and this took time to sort out. We also realised that they do not use mops as we know but wrap rags around brooms to wash the floor! No wonder I couldn't find it at Schoweg. The car was under a pile of snow, we loaded up and set the GPS for the railway station in Munich.

Two days of resting around the house at Schöfweg was needed following the busy schedules since departing Alice Springs. Then we decided that we needed to hire a car to enable us to see the sights and then jouney on to our next destination at Fishbachau closer to Munich. We planned to go via bus to Passau but the bus did not arrive so we instead hailed a cab to Deggendorf and experienced our first real problem of conversing with a cab driver who thought we were from another planet. However, with the use of our German-English Dictionary we managed to find Europecar and a great little sporty Nissan. Ian had his first expereince with a left hand drive vehicle and managed to get it back to Schöfweg without incident. The next day was our first day of rain and we needed to buy some coats and strong shoes to keep us warm and dry. We travelled to Tittling to see an outdoor Museum collection of very old buildings which had provisions for animals to live under the main roof and huge stoves as the central core of the building for heating, cooking. This museum set the scene of the past Bavaria and the hardships that people encountered in their daily lives.

On arrival at Plattling railway station we were met by Herwig(pronounced Hairvig). Herwig is a cousin of the house exchange owners. As Margarete and Horst are now in Australia staying in our house in Alice Springs he had kindly come over from Munich to give us the keys. He drove us to the house in Schöfweg and gave us lessons on how to live in a Bavarian house which extended to three levels with a cellar, ground level with kitchen dining and lounge and upstairs with bedrooms. This is the owners holiday house and therefore had been shut up for a number of weeks. Herwig had started up the central heating system which piped hot water to each room for heating and also showed us how to manage a further heater based on the ground floor, which was essentially a fire box within a huge brick surround that when lit sent waste up a flue but retained all heat which was dissapated throughout the bricks for heating. This used only an amazing nine logs per night! We were very keen to climb into our lovely bed that night only to awake about 3am absolutely cooking.
The next morning Herwig greeted us with a Bavarian breakfast that consisted of bread rolls, Bavarian sausage, cheese and eggs with loads of coffee. He announced he was staying with us for three days to make sure we were ok. And so we had scored a personal guide, and a very witty and knowledgable one at that. After breakfast we went by car to Passau where we boarded a five hour boat trip up the river which flows between Germany and Austria. On the banks of the river, buildings which dated back as far as 1200 years still remained in a servicable condition and one or two castles were in full view along the way. On return to Schöfweg we dined at the local Bavarian Gusthaus and enjoyed wine and food in the Bavarian culture and traditional surrounds. English was not well spoken in these parts and tales of Alice Springs greeted with blank looks.
Next day after another warm night in the Bavarian house we travelled further to Frauenau to look at the Glass Factory, Museum and retail outlets. Glass manufacture was obviously a large part of this town's background and the displays were marvellous to see. The history went back many years before Australia was even discovered and illustrated the craftmanship with the manufacture and blöwing of glass to the point where the processes were taken from craftsmen and handed on to production lines in big city factories. Another marvellous dinner with Hervig at the local Bavarian gusthaus and we felt accepted as we were now handed a card entitling us to discounts when we had attended 10 times??
Next day a further barvarian breakfast and final instructions on the Bavarian House as we waved Herwig goodbye - our first bavarian friend, and then inside to shut down the heating systems and finally have a day or two sleeping.
One thing was for sure, this is a beautiful country and the Bavarian hills and forrest so lush and interesting especially at this time of the year with the autumn leaves.
Ian´s View: The Bavarian people have a proud culture of their own and strong ties with the Austrian people. Their culture is further underlined by their national dress and proud history. The structure and development of their buildings was of special interest and design of houses to have warm large living areas and rooms above to share the heating. Interesting cellars below to escape the heat and cool a vast variety of beverages.
Reindeers running wild and signs to warn motorists was a novelty along with many winding roads that were public roads but seemed to go through peoples back yards and within inches of the corners of their homes.

After a 15 hour flight we arrived in Frankfurt airport for a short stop before a connecting flight to Dresden. The airport is amazing - it was a 10-15 minute ride in a bus to meet the connecting flight along rows and rows of airplanes. We met 2 boys from Bendigo at the information desk at Dresden airport! Luckily we were able to obtain train tickets right through to our first exchange house in Freital as we would have never been able to organise connecting trains due to the fact we could not read the train timetable! Finding a bus from the train station to the house was as equally difficult but we engaged the assistance of a local lady who guided us in the right direction. We were thrilled when we finally arrived at Katja and Chris's apartment. It was small, split level but very modern and quaint. Ian opened a window and it frightened him by falling over at the top. Closer inspection found that all windows and doors incline due to weather conditions encountered. We then tried to stay up for as long as we could to beat jet lag but only made it until 3.30 pm and on going to bed found a double bed with single doonas (which appears to be normal for Europe) and slept for around 16 hours.
Whilst in Dresden we were kept busy negotiating our way on public transport each day but had some good offers of assistance from locals and even managed to travel into the city in the midst of a train strike which we were completely unaware of! On 3 October which is German Unification Day holiday, we went on a 'red bus tour' of local highlights which allowed you to get on and off as you required and had English translation via ear phones. We were lucky at one stop to be the only two English speaking tourists and had our own guide - otherwise German speakers were about 30 to a guide. We were impressed that so many German people are seeing Dresden for the first time following the reunification. There is still a lot of rebuilding happening as Dresden was flattened at the end of WWII and they are rebuilding as they can afford. One cathedral, Frauenkirche which survived the bombing but collapsed days later due to the heat of the resulting fires, has recently been finished and is absolutely spectacular. Other highlights included the Zwinger built by Emperor Augustus the Strong in early 1700's. He is famous for his 30 mistresses and 365 children and at one stage was Emperor of Rome. There was also a piece of tiled wall called Frurstenzug portraying all of the emperors of Saxony which survived the bombings and is very beautiful.
Other highlights included a visit to the National Hygiene Museum (all about health - including nutrition!), a saxony meal of suckling pig, sauerkraut and potato dumplings and of course beer tasting.
We were blessed with sunny, dry conditions and Alison commented on the smell of fermented apples which perhaps accompanies the autumn leaves and apples falling from the trees.

Ian's view: Dresden is an architectural dream place, enhanced by the rebuilding program after the devastation of WWII. Climbing to the top of the Cathedral was truely a highlight however taking off in the wrong direction to return home was not but was validated by the discovery of 'Ayers Rock Pub' in Downtown Dresden. We presented ourselves as Territorians to an all German bar crew and did not manage to impress them at all!
The Cat's scarf managed to find an Aussie from Brisbane in the Dresden crowd who came up and said I must be very proud.