Day 87-89: Belgian Waffling

Day 87-89:  Belgian Waffling

Place: Etap Hotel, in the middle of nowhere, Antwerp in Belgium

27^th June: Journey from Luxembourg City to Antwerp

Not the easiest of days traveling, but we are bound to run into some ‘dips’ on this trip and I am sure that it wont be the last.

And because of this particular journey and from the lessons learned from previous trips, here are some handy tips, which are vital in travelling for long distances and periods of time:

1.     ALWAYS have an extra sandwich in the food/snack bag

2.     Make sure that there are sufficient snacks too (peanuts, suckers, jellies)

3.     WATER WATER WATER WATER!!!!! Even if it’s a hack to carry around, make sure that you have loads of it.

4.     Get enough sleep (either before or on the bus/train)

5.     ALWAYS ask the tourist information for directions if you aren’t sure.

Otherwise you will also end up walking for 20minutes looking for the right train in the wrong place as well.

I think it was because we didn’t do or have any of the above-mentioned hints and this made the trip worse, and were in foul moods once we found our hotel.

Anyways, we eventually found our hotel situated in a very industrial area, with nothing but trucks, unused train tracks and factories within a 4km radius. And being starving, dehydrated, tired of carrying our backpacks and ready to shower and relax…out of desperation, we found the closest place to eat and ended up forking out a heavy R250 for a hamburger + chips + coke + tea= NOT HAPPY L.

28^th June: Bring on the Brugge

What did make me very happy was the thought of being in Belgium and all of its array of Chocolate. This of course meant that while here in Belgium, I am on an all and only chocolate diet. Craig jokes and says that instead of doing LENT (as I give up chocolate every year) I am doing LINDT (and eating only chocolate).

Anyways….

We decided to base ourselves in a central place in order to make various day trips to nearby cities, towns and countries. This means of course that we can unpack and leave our big backpacks (particularly mine as it is gigantic and poor Craig was kind enough to carry it for me everywhere) in one place for a longer period of time.

We slept well and hard to slowly get up and dressed to catch the bus and train to Brugge to the west of Belgium for a leisurely day of sightseeing.

It’s so amazing to see how not only does the landscape change between the different countries, but the architecture of homes, the size of cows and horses and the people too.

Belgian homes are antique looking with houses stacked on top of each other (basically extensions of a house, extended onto another, and this goes on and on and on). However none of these houses look like extensions as they have a different brick colour, shape, window frames and roof tiles.

Craig and I made our way to the tourist info office to grab a map (which is the first one that we had to pay for), and we made our way through this gorgeous little city. We enjoyed walks along the little waterway smelling the beautiful scents of chocolate drifting everywhere, and spotting everyone with a paper cone filled with French Fries (which were created in Belgium I have only now found out).

We dodged the crowds and bikes everywhere and eventually found a serene park where we sat on our jerseys and ate chocolate while watching ducks and swans bob up and down scouting for algae on the bottom of the pond.

The evening drew near and we headed back to our industrial park to catch some Wimbledon  and the semi final of the Euro cup where Italy annihilated the Germans (we are loving having English channels for the first time in 3 months…even the Flemish channels are fun as we understand them perfectly).

29^th June: Dirty Amsterdancing

Peanut butter sarmies made, we stumbled out the door for a day of huge picturesque windmills, colourful wooden clogs, racing bicycles with clanging bells, chips soaked in mayo, and smoky coffee shops with a distinct smell… yes we are going to Amsterdam.

We decided not to follow a map and just browse the streets of Amsterdam, convinced that we will stumble upon things we want and need to see, but not before long, we unintentionally found ourselves walking in the famous red light district. Craig and I were caught off guard, as we were not expecting to be there so soon, and after about 5 minutes of walking we grabbed for the map in a desperate attempt to get away from this awful part of Amsterdam.

It has a very ‘heavy’ feel to it, walking around this part of the city. We found it difficult to enjoy the scenery and atmosphere in this area particularly for obvious reasons.

We redirected our route and made our way to the other side of the train station where we absolutely loved walking next to the water alongside the boathouses, which were very prettily decorated with flowers in search of the Anne Frank museum. Once arriving, we were met with an uninviting queue to get into this famous attic, and quickly decided to visit one of the neighbor cafes and eat a scrumptious pancake with cheese, bacon and onion, light yet delicious beer for Craig and you guessed it…a rooibos for me (I am making up for time lost).

Time running out, we decided to catch our 2 hour train home and passed the unbelievable 3 story parking garage crammed with bicycles wherever a space could be found.

Amsterdam is a very interesting city and very contrasted from one side to the other. I’m not sure if I would return to it with excitement, but I am super glad that I got to share the experience with Craig.

Tomorrow, another ‘once in a lifetime’ experience, as we head to Leige to catch the time trials of the Tour de France.

Day 85 and 86- ReLUXing

Around 5:30am our alarm went off. Instead of having to get up to go to work, we lay in for about 10mins and then got up to go to Luxemborg via Zurich.

We were greeted by a wet and cold Salzburg morning and by faces on the bus with them Monday blues, as people headed off to work.

Which reminds me that recently I have had to keep telling myself to not complain – in these 6 months I am not allowed to complain. I have found myself complaining about stupid things like the owner of the guesthouse only providing us with one roll of toilet paper at a time. Or the shower curtain doesn’t work properly. For goodness sake, I keep saying, I am living a dream of mine and still I find something to complain about. It just shows human nature can be so obstinate, no matter what the circumstances. No sooner had I disciplined myself, I walk aboard the first class RAILJET cabin, furnished with adjustable leather seats and enough leg room to park my Golf, I then have the audacity to complain that the seats that had been reserved for us looked straight into a pillar. We decided to rather take the unreserved seats behind us with a cinema scope view of the alpine landscape. 

Waiting for our bus at Neu Anif, Salzburg bus stop. 6:20am. On our way to Luxembourg.

Railjet Train - our ride to Zurich from Salzburg.

My tongue lashing soon faded away as the Railjet accelerated out of Salzburg Hauptsbahnhof into the Austrian countryside in search of rolling hills, green pastures, heards of hungry cows and hopefully a glimpse of Liechtenstein.  Aaaah…I kicked back, relaxed into my racing style seat and got ready for the show.

WELL, all I can say was that Austria and Switzerland gave us show of note. We saw hundred rivers, a number of waterfalls, endless rolling hills with lush green grass (that made me wish I was a cow) and towering snow capped mountains. I could easily live here. Who couldn’t?! I don’t even think the locals get bored of this scenery.

During this amazing show, I cheekily dozed off(not the first time I have done this) only to be woken up by Donna tugging at my shorts and whispering excitedly that the train had broken down. Logically, knowing that there had to be more than this, which inspired her excitement, I listened on. She continued to mention that the train had stopped on the only section of our journey that goes through Liechtenstein. This country is 25km long and 6km wide. It is still run by an iron willed Monarch who lives in a Gothic castle on a hill. The last time this country was involved in a military engagement was in 1866. 80 soldiers were dispatched and 81 returned which included a new Italian friend. The army was disbanded soon afterwards. Anyway, I took as many pictures as I could as we travelled next to Liechtenstein. We really wanted to go to this country but time was a problem and it was in the wrong place. If it could move closer to Spain then we can go there.

This is Liechtenstein - our train stopped here due to issues at the station Buch.

A pic from the train of a lake in Switzerland.

We pulled into Zurich main station 28 minutes later than planned, much to the embarrassment of the very apologetic driver. It wasn’t even his fault. A technical glitch at the station of the border town of Buch was the culprit. But the Austrians and Swiss are foreign to error and don’t handle it well.

While writing this blog we have passed through 4 countries. Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and France.  

We spent 2 hours in Remilly train station as the main station in Metz had a computer problem, which failed to control the track switchgear – therefore no trains could change lanes. Eventually we arrived at Luxembourg main station at around 10:30pm and then sprinted after a bus, which would take us to our hotel. Getting to bed just after 12am.

We had breakfast in Austria, lunch in Switzerland and had supper in Luxemborg. This is certainly excursion to remember.

Today we visited the tiny city of Luxembourg. A very peaceful place, with friendly people and brilliant architecture. We arrived in the town around 11am and had seen everything by 15:30, which included lunch. But a trip well worth it!

Pics of Luxembourg today.

A dos in the park after lunch.

Day 78-85: Munchen on some Salzburger

Day 78-85:  Munchen on some Salzburger

Place: Haus Christofsen, Neu Anif, in Salzburg, Austria

Note: Sorry for the delay in posting, we have had no internet in Austria so trying to catch up quickly

Munich (18^th June-21^st June)

My memories of Munich have always been vague and overshadowed by Italy, France and Switzerland from my contiki tour some 6 years ago, but I will always remember the festive Hofbrau house in Marienplatz and for this reason it was an easy decision to revisit Germany with my merry beer-drinking husband.

After a hectic couple of beer guzzling days with Nick and Dags in Prague, Craig decided that a day off of the hops and barley was in order, and we would save the hofbrau house for our final day in Germany.

This park is where the Munich massacre occurred during the 1972 Summer Olympics, when members of the Israeli Olympic team were taken hostage by the Palestinian terrorist group Black September which had ties to Yasser Arafat’s Fatah organization. Eleven athletes were murdered by the terrorists.

This is also the year that Mark Spits broke 7 records in the swimming pool, (which Michael Phelps bettered with a brilliant 8 records broken at the Beijing Olympics in 2009- I was also very fortunate enough to attend the Beijing Olympics and experience the magic of the games first hand).

Back to this astonishing park.

We exited the subway station to a huge part of the park, which is now used as the BMW Museum. Craig couldn’t believe his luck and his eyes sparkled as we entered the modern lobby with bikes, hybrids, old and new models of the BMW cars. The museum is very impressive, and if given the chance, Craig would never leave. I had to eventually entice my darling husband with a mention of lunch to get him to leave and we walked through the gardens, trees and over the bridge to another stadium, which has been revamped into an awesome self-service restaurant.

We found a table under an umbrella and out of the hot hot hot sun, overlooking the water where we watched ducks waddle and play, people enjoy a jog, cyclists dodging kids on the paths, hot dog stands and enjoyed our first taste of pretzels, French fries and currywurst (chunks of pork sausage in saucy tomato and spices – reminded me of a thick flavorsome tomato soup) mmm mmm mmmm.

Along the water was also the ‘walk of fame’ where celebrities have visited and left their hand imprints in the cement with a message. Craig and I strolled up and down to see who had been there while taking photos.

We reached the wondrous main stadium and entered the gates where we found a seat in the stands and sat in awe of the architecture of this stadium. We found it very hard to believe that this magnificent stadium was designed and built in the 1970’s.  It is a very surreal feeling being the only people in the stands of such a great stadium and we imagined the feeling of being part of such an event.

With so much more to see, I took my ‘tour guide’ responsibility serious and so lead Craig through the beautiful park, back to the subway to visit the English and Chinese Gardens a few blocks away.

From the moment we entered these famous gardens, I was completely wowed by the beauty and sereneness, which surrounded us. The deeper we walked into the gardens, the more I fell in love.

Towering trees of all species, green, immaculate grass with colorful flowerbeds and various hedges and bushes in every direction with a random bicycle parked next to a pale body in a bikini catching some rays and colour for the summer. Eventually, the bikes became more, as did the bodies and soon it was like being on Ushaka Beach with people jumping into the stream and being pulled by current (like the lazy river at Ushaka). Such a festive atmosphere with people everywhere, just enjoying the wonderful weather and swimming with friends. Craig and I felt very overdressed and wished that we knew about this spot earlier and brought our costumes too. As we got to the end of the stream, we saw a bunch of guys and girls with surfboards and board shorts. This was very intriguing as there is no beach for at least 50km. We found this awesome spot where the locals were surfing a small and continuous wave (a natural wavehouse of sorts). These surfers are amazing and it was such fun to watch.

Feeling very productive with our viewings for the day, we headed home for a nap with the idea of coming back into town later to watch the soccer somewhere, or visit a beer garden.

Nap done…I wasn’t going anywhere, well at least not by bus or train. So Craig and I walked to a restaurant down the road to watch England play Ukraine in the Euro Cup. We couldn’t turn down a local German schnitzel with horseradish and mustard, a beer for Craig and I again sipped on a lovely rooibos tea.

The next day we awoke and caught an earlier train to Munich in order to see the Glockenspiel ring at 11am sharp and tour around the city after.

We arrived to Marienplatz early, which gave us plenty of time to grab a coffee/tea and a brekkie while sitting in the square admiring the scene.

While waiting for the ‘dancing dolls’ at 11am, we took a stroll to the nearby fountain which I remembered from my previous visit, we later found out that it is called the Koningplatz (which was on our itinerary for the day). ‘Killing 2 birds with one stone’, we quickly headed back to the Glockenspiel.

The bells sounded with music at 11am on the dot and went on for about 15 minutes and square was filled with people to see this remarkable sight of dancing jesters, jolting knights and spinning men captivating our attention.

Not ready for the hofbrau just yet, we decided to walk a little more. I took Craig to a market of local fruit and veg, butcheries, cheeseries, fishmongers, florists and a garden already buzzing with beer guzzling grannies, pretzels and locals. I knew that this would quickly tempt Craig and his beer cravings would kick in soon.

After 10 minutes of walking through the market with scrumptious smells, sounds of clanging beer glasses and jabber, Craig was ready and we made our way to the famous HofBrau House for 1 litre beers, Frauleins, the brass band and a well anticipated Eisbein.

As we arrived, we found a table, ordered a litre beer for Craig and I was snubbed with my coke order. We sat down and the band started playing catchy tunes, setting a truly authentic atmosphere (not to mention the sights of curly mustaches, feathered hats, suspenders attached to shorts, and the long socks worn by the ‘old school’ German men with their own beer mugs 

As we sat, the crowds poured in and before we knew it, we were sharing a table with another German couple and shouts of ‘Prost’ (my jolly husband would find any excuse to slam his glass with the locals yelling ‘Prost’).

Disappointed with the tiny eisbein, Craig finished his litre, and we ordered a huge pretzel to fill the gap, which the eisbein didn’t, as well as ordered another 500ml beer (we didn’t order the litre because we had planned to visit another beer house after).

The look of Craig’s slanted; googly eyes meant that a walk was on the cards in an attempt to sober him up a little before the next litre of Augustineer Beer.

After seeing the Maximillion Palace, getting lost looking for the metro, we eventually jumped onto our train and headed to the Augustineer Beer Garden for round 2.

Craig and I rested our weary legs on a bench under a huge tree loving life while chatting and munching on another giant pretzel. But the rain started and so we ran for cover and grabbed a table with 2 local Germans having a drink after work. The German men were trying to buy Craig another beer but we declined quickly and mentioned that we were on our way home as we had just come from the HofBrau House…they laughed and were impressed with Craig’s drinking abilities.

So 3 litres of beer later, it was time to take my soon to be drunk husband home.

Salzburger, Austria (21^st June – 25^th June)

Due to the recent decision to travel through Bavaria and up to Netherlands, Belgium (to catch the start of the Tour de France, by the way), Luxemborg and then Switzerland instead of heading South to Croatia, we were able to revisit Austria to Craig’s pure delight.

We caught a 1.5 hour railjet directly to Salzburg, and barely getting comfortable, we arrived to this charismatic ancient city and out again to the mountains where we would be staying for 4 nights.

22^nd June

Dark skies and grey clouds surrounding the mountain deterred us from heading up the mountain preventing any views and so we opted for a city walk around Salzburg city.

Strolling along the river, making sure to stay on the pedestrian part of the road as we would be taken out by the passing cyclists, we had to take a couple of minutes every now and then just to take the views all in.

The castle on top of a mountain, overlooking the city of spires and cobblestones squares, is something storybooks are made of. We ambled through the Schloss Mirabell gardens where we were lucky enough to witness brides, grooms and wedding parties taking pictures in the famous gardens.

FYI: These gardens were used for the filming of the ‘Do Re Me’ scene in the ‘Sound of Music’.

This was a great start to the day as we then stumbled upon Mozarts Home, and the Sacher hotel, which is where we were told to sample the famous Sacher Torte. The Sacher Torte is a secret recipe from hundreds of years ago, which is exclusive to the Sacher Hotel and has been enjoyed by Queen Elizabeth, Grace Kelly, Bruce Willis, Sharon Stone and John Travolta to name a few. We indulged in this little chocolate pleasure.

After spending R150 on a piece of chocolate cake, 1 coffee and a tea, we headed away quickly and again sauntered through the little streets and squares.

Art everywhere, Mozart everywhere, cafes everywhere, and the enticing brackwurst everywhere, we again stumbled into a little stand hidden in a wall, surrounded by locals and we knew that this is where we would smack a good and most importantly, cheap, lunch. We were given a healthy portion of yummy sauerkraut (of which I am now a huge fan), mustard and a huge grilled sausage.

After chatting with some locals we found out that there is an Augustineer Beer hall in Salzburg, which was screening Germany vs Greece that night, and without a doubt, we would be there.

Quickly we headed back to the mountains and our hotel for a nap and to get ready for a great night out, weather permitting.

7pm came and out we went to make sure we had a good spot to watch the game.

Unfortunately we didn’t think that the rest of Austria would be there too. We were turned away from the halls, but found a spot outside under a tree with a tiny glimpse of a tv inside the hall in-between the people, but this was good enough for us as it was the atmosphere that we were after. I guarded our table, while Craig went on a search for some dinner and those famous 1 litre beers.

Unfortunately with a plate of wonderful sauerkraut, chopped eisbein and mustard, Craig also returned with rain. So much so that we ran for cover once more and managed to find a spot on top of the stairs with yet another small glimpse of a tv in the hall.

We took the gap at half time, as it would be a miserable walk in the rain to catch our bus and sloshed our way through the puddles to a nice, warm and dry hotel room.

23^rd June

Legs exhausted and tight, clouds covering the mountain still so no chance of epic views, we decided to take the day off from travelling and sightseeing. Instead we walked to the nearby town, did some admin and tried to find a post office to send some very overdue postcards. The post office was closed, so that has to wait for another day, but we did find the SPAR and bought some lunch which we would enjoy on the porch of our hotel.

Lunch over, and heavy eyes, we napped, woke up and napped again.  Eventually we got up, walked to get a coffee and tea and that was that for the day….just the way I like it.

I did however make an astonishing discovery in that my husband has NEVER seen ‘The Sound of Music’. This is something that shocked me to the core and will have to remedy a.s.a.p.

24^th June

Prayers answered, Craig and I woke up to a beautiful and clear blue sky. This of course meant that we would be going up up up the glorious mountains of Untersberg . We quickly threw back a breakfast, got ready and ‘double timed’ our way to the cable cars which would take us up this magnificent creation so that we could hike down, up, in-between and around for hours. We just made it and squashed our way into the already jam-packed ‘car’.  1800m above sea level was where we got out and stopped to breathe in this crisp fresh air, take a picture…well a couple of pictures and start walking.

We were ‘taken away’ by the absolute beauty of the snow capped mountains in the distance, and took every chance possible to take a picture of snow on our mountain as we could. We even got creative and emptied out our plastic food bag in order to sit on it and toboggan down the little slope.

We ascended, descended, walked, crawled and climbed our way all over this mountain in search of the ‘Eishole’ (pronounced Ice-hole), which is what we assume are ice-caves, but with no success, we quickly changed the pronunciation to something very different (I’m sure you can figure it out) and after 4hours of hiking, we decided to head back for some lunch with our feet hanging over the cliff to enjoy the view before making our way back to our hotel.

It was an amazing blessing of a day to finish off our visit in Salzburg and we know that our legs will appreciate the 11 hr journey on the train to Luxemborg tomorrow.