Every day a new challenge or an adventure!

Stop!!!!!!!
Part 1. I yelled, “Tony – STOP!!!!!!” ....... and fortunately he did. At the time he was trying to throw himself under a car.
After that little frantic moment we continued on our way to catch our train from Bingen to Stuttgart. It was 2 hours of very pleasant first class travel and we arrived to share some quality time with our friends. Claus had been working hard to renovate our bedroom and we have a very comfortable room with en suite. Tuesday saw Lutzi, Claus, Tony and myself heading off for a trip to a mediaeval monastery in the small town of Blaubeuren in the Schwabische Alb. Here the water wells up in a similar fashion to the Blue Pool at Jenolan – but the surrounds are a little more developed and have been for the last 500 years or so. The water is crystal clear as it flows past the old bath house and through the village and there are lots of spotted trout. We had pasta and trout for lunch. Then we continued on to the ancient settlement of Tuebingen (a university town) where the flowers were bright and colourful and blossoming everywhere. The food in the shops and restaurants is enough to turn us all into little round barrels and it is very difficult to choose what to eat and drink. Along the way we passed a very small Danube River.

I was trying to get a good photo of the speedo while we were travelling along the autobahn but it was a bit hard – this shot was the best I could do!



Part 2.....And the angry aggressive young woman in the supermarket snarled STOP!!!!! (in German) ….. and I had no idea what was happening. This was followed by much more snarling and flapping. Lutzi muttered at her and Klaus tried to explain that the Australians were looking at the interesting things to buy and taking photos. By now I had worked out what was going on and we deleted the offensive and illegal photos of vegetables, meats and fruits. The range of cheeses, meats and delicacies is really interesting – it didn’t look quite as good in the shopping bag unfortunately as it did all spread out. There were some fascinating flower arrangements with pumpkins that I had also taken a photo of – imagination will now have to do. Shame about that!!!!!! When we returned to the house there was a little hedgehog in the garden – this is the first and only one I have ever seen and I was very happy.



The weather has been warm and sunny – we are wearing short sleeves and are very comfortable.







Lutzi and Claus have been excellent hosts and they took us on a drive through Southern Germany to Lake Constanze on the Swiss border. We managed to see the crossing but our passports were back in Stuttgart so we were stuck on the German side. Claus crosses to buy Swiss fuel whenever possible and Lutzi bought us some Swiss chocolate – yum! We spent our time looking in the toy shop which mainly sold model trains and doll’s house furniture. The lake was very foggy but attractive none the less and then we were off to Titisee in the Black Forest – some wonderful cuckoo clocks here and lots of tourist shops, little boats, a cruise ferry, and a very fine restaurant at Treschers Schwarzwaldhotel Am See. A few more little Christmas decorations are now in the bottom of the bag – the cuckoo clocks are still in the shops.






Today (Friday 24/10) is our last day in Germany and tomorrow we head for Austria and Salzburg. It is a bit dreary today and that is unfortunate as the plan at the moment is to go to the Volk’s Festival which starts this afternoon at 3. We have no internet available so all our posts are accumulating!

The plan worked and we enjoyed a couple of very happy hours at the festival with Claus. Lots of music, huge beer tents, gigantic rides and many folk on the way to being drunk. We returned home on the tram where Lutzi was waiting, having spent the time that we were away cooking paella.




The trip to Salzburg through Bavaria was very pretty – sadly the windows of the train were a bit dirty from the rain and the photos were hopeless. Salzburg is a very attractive city (except for the somewhat demolished railway station). They were having a festival here too and we enjoyed wandering through the stalls and looking at the goods on display. The food isn’t too bad but everything else seems very expensive. Fortunately we had been warned! We walked kilometres and kilometres, travelled to the top of the mountain to explore the castle, wandered through the gardens, and roamed the streets and wandered along the river.

It is a hard life being a tourist.

The trip to the hair dresser was interesting and successful and all the clothes arrived safely for the dress ups. At the Rathouse we had music from 2 guitarists, a non English speaking mayor performing the ceremony and a very happy couple. The ceremony was short and sincere and then it was off to the reception centre – high on a hill overlooking the vineyards. The food was superb and beautifully presented and the tables were adorned with clear glass vases and 5 different varieties of white flowers. (dozens of bunches!). Just magic!
Germans play games at weddings and at one stage the bride was wearing her beautiful long white dress and very large bright blue flippers while she broke balloons containing money! The wedding was at 1:30, we left the reception at about 11 and the last guests departed at 5 am.



Sunday saw us floating along the Rhine, castle watching and meeting up with family and friends for dinner. It has been an amazing time in Ruddesheim. Stuttgart – here we come.

Staudernheim and Ruddersheim

Wowee - what a great place this is!
We caught our train to Staudernheim and then entertained the locals by trying to find our hotel using very fractured German. A noisy whistle alerted us to strange beings in the town - yes - it was Marea and Michael. The meeting with Bettina's family and the pre wedding party were fantastic. A mobile beer cart, a pork spit roast, great salads, an oom pa pa band and lots of laughs and happy people made for a great night. Then a late night walk back through the very sleepy little village to our guest house completed a fantastic day.
Today (Friday) we travelled to Ruddesheim – the town where the great wedding will take place. We are in an Irish pub right beside the Rhine. I have crossed the Rhine by car ferry. The hospitality is great. While we waited for our bags to arrive the bar man bought us coffee and cake and when I attempted “death by coughing” they brought free mineral water. There is good internet access and a tea / coffee / hot chocolate bar on the floor above us. This pub has been owned by the one family since the 1500s. I am not sure about the Irish influence however. The shops are great - little narrow streets and old buildings, wine bars, beer cellars, German Christmas decorations, cuckoo clocks, embroidery, leather caps, beer steins and all sorts of tourist non necessities. This afternoon we took the gondola ride to the top of the mountain – what a view!

Marea and I are having our hair and make up done tomorrow morning in preparation for the ceremony at the Rathous and the reception at the vineyard. Let us hope we are still standing at day’s end!!!!!!


This was taken from the train as we whizzed along the Rhine - this is one of the best train trips I think I have done.


Cookibng the meat at the pre wedding festivities - Marea and the boys

Trouble with web mail

Can't seem to send messages at the moment - apologies to Emily - have tried several times - won't send and won't save message.

Farewell to Bonnie Scotland and off to The Fatherland

Photos taken in Scotland - the bridge at Duffus Castle, Gordonstoun House and other views near the Moray Firth. (except for the photograph of Lake Windemere in the Lakes District - that's the one with the water and the little jetty)


North of the border.
Having explored Nottingham reasonably thoroughly it was time to collect the hire car, install the GPS and head off. Our little voice told us to take our first turn – sadly the signposting said NO!..........and that was the first of many corners that didn’t turn out quite right! It was however much much easier negotiating the cities and roadworks etc without having to rely on the map.

We visited St Alkmund’s Church in Derby in search of family history (Grandparents x4?) were married here and then nearby Quarndon. I don’t mind coming from this part of England – it is rather pleasant. Our plan was to stay overnight in the Lakes District but there were far too many people and it seemed that everything was full so we headed instead to the wonderful area around Hadrian’s Wall and found a pretty little B & B on top of the hill and quite close to the wall itself. I was really pleased to see a woodpecker feeding in the garden while I was having breakfast. It was hard to get a decent photo and sadly my breakfast got cold while I was trying – I had a lovely time however. Later we climbed to the top of the hill and to the wall near Walltown Crags before heading across the border over the Cairngorms and to the Moray Firth.

Varie and Richard Parker live in a little cottage (Kirktoun via Duffus) on the driveway to Gordonstoun School. I am sitting in the lounge room looking over the fields where cows are grazing. There are lots of little finches at the bird feeder and earlier I saw a male chaffinch. The mist has lifted and the travellers are content!

We have had a most enjoyable day walking along the beach at Moray Firth. It probably would have been better if I hadn’t been attacked by the waves – but then Tony and Varie would have had nothing to laugh at! The paths are lined with gorse, rosehips, harebells, apples, thistles and dandelions.

Our explorations continued to see many wonderful old ruins, graveyards, and villages – Kilross Cathedral, Spynie Castle, Elgin Cathedral, Duffus Castle and the villages of Hopeman, Lossiemouth, Findhorn, Florres and the school at Gordonstoun have been part of our grand tour. We have been to the butchers, the Co-op, tasted the haggis and the black pudding, watched the airforce at play (or practice), consumed the Australian and NZ wine and been entertained by the birds at the feeder.

This is our last day in Scotland (Sunday) – tomorrow we head for Edinburgh and then we fly to Frankfurt.







It was rainy on the way to Edinburgh and our photos were not so good. Our flight to Frankfurt was smooth - finding the shuttle bus to the hotel was not - but all eventually was right. It was an easy transfer to the railway next day and a speedy train trip to Cologne – a truly wonderful city on the banks of the Rhine. It seems that Germans eat a lot – they must do to fill up all the restaurants and beer halls. We have done our bit!

Cologne Cathedral was as good as I had hoped – so large and so overpowering – impossible to do it justice with our cameras. We have walked many kilometres and seen a good slice of the city. It certainly makes you wonder how a city overcomes its past. Photos of Cologne in 1945 show a city that is largely flattened and yet, so much survived and so much has been rebuilt. The mood of most of the people seems very positive and cheerful. Tony is making a good attempt at his German (perhaps that is why people around us seem to laugh a lot), though it is clear tghat many people involved in hospitality have excellent English There do not seem to be many Australians around.

Wonderful Cologne - on the aerial phtograph Tony is pointing to our hotel - we are amazingly close to the Cathedral and the river.





The high roof and some of the wonderful stained glass



Our next exciting event is to travel to Staudernheim and the pre wedding festivities.

Pews and chairs

Pews and chairs.
We have been to Mass in Nottingham Cathedral. It is not an ancient church and it is extremely well kept. The decoration is Tudor in parts and there is a most beautiful side chapel painted in the very strong colours of that era. The singing and the music were wonderful! Following mass we walked up the hill which takes you to the old cemetery. Interesting shops were all along the road – all closed for Sunday but containing the most eclectic collection of things – furniture, flowers, clothes, bric-a-brac and costume shops. Prices were all over the place and there seemed neither rhyme nor reason for the value attached to the articles on display. From there we walked down to the canal and watched the long boats going through the locks and travelling along the waterway. Our final tourist activity for the day was The Museum of Nottingham life – full of toys, models, clothes and really good information about the past peoples of Notts.

Robin Hood, Robin Hood, Riding through the glen...

Robin Hood and his Merry Men.

On our last day in London the plan was to tour the Houses of Parliament and “do’ that part of the city plus whatever took our fancy. After breakfast we set off on quite a lengthy walk from our hotel down to the Thames at Westminster. But….it was only 10:15 and the Houses tour was not until 1:15. So we decided a little trip on the river would do. There is a lesson here – plan ahead - (not that it actually mattered) but our little trip set sail at 10:30 and we didn’t get back until after 7. Excellent value at 30 pound for the two of us but not actually what we had in mind. Still - lunch in Hampton Court is always a good thing!

Then, the next day it was a reasonably early start to St Pancras to catch our train to Nottingham. A smooth voyage and then we used the GPS to find our hotel. It was quite a walk up the hill but not too far. We lunched at The Olde Trip to Jerusalem (supposedly the oldest inn in the country) and had a good wander around. We also had tea at the same pub. We must go back tomorrow as we have discovered that they have a haunted model of a ship. It is now enclosed in glass as people die when they touch it!

Nottingham is considerably cheaper than London and it seems that bars etc have free WiFi and if you buy 2 large glasses of wine you get the rest of the bottle for free. Not bad merchandising. Today (Saturday) we wandered the city and visited Nottingham Castle. We also wandered up to The Lace Market area (now totally devoid of lace) and explored many old streets, alleyways, churches and gates. In the middle of the old Market Square is a carnival / beach / entertainment area set up for summer. There is a beach and all of the traditional English rides from our past readings of English school and adventure stories. I have never seen such a good helter skelter and was sorely tempted to have a go!





We are approaching the end of week 1 – we have been busy and my feet are tired tonight. The cold hasn’t gone yet! Tonight we ate in our room –“ noice” new blue plastic plates and cups from Tesco’s and we had smoked Scottish salmon, English ham, French brie, snow peas, tomatoes, mushrooms and a bottle of Jacob’s Creek Shiraz Cabernet 2007 vintage. We have lots of strawberries and blueberries for tomorrow as we couldn’t eat any tonight.

In the next 2 days the plan is to visit the caves underneath the city, Sherwood Forest the Justice Museum and the Museum of Nottingham Life. With any luck on Monday we will meet up with our friend Marilyn for a coffee. Tuesday is the day we pick up the car and head north. I hope to upload all blog entries here as we have quite good connection speed and it is impossible to know what will happen after that.