Bavaria, Bohemia & Berlin

We left Munich behind and headed north for Regensburg. This is a quaint little town on the Danube, which we have been following on and off since Vienna. It has a beautiful Old Town full of winding cobble streets, colourful medieval architecture and flocks of the common Wandering Gawker. This is a strange species that nest exclusively on River cruise ships and infests every place these ships dock. Regensburg like many other ports along the river provide Gawker sanctuaries where they can eat, drink and procure colourful trinkets to store in their nest. They can be recognised by their gaudy plumage and Anglophile squawks. We managed to avoid most of them.

Our next stop was somewhere special, across the Czech border and into the heart of  what was once Bohemia. Here lies one of most outstanding medieval cities in the Europe - Prague. Bohemian Rhapsody isn't just a song here it's a state of mind. This place is beautiful beyond compare. Standing in the old town square you are overwhelmed by the sheer beauty of the buildings. They all look like they were built yesterday not 600 years ago. The colours on the famous Astronomical Clock are bright and vivid. The creams and browns and greys of the building blended beautifully and the ceiling of the Tyn Church is outstanding, overshadowed only by the voices of the choir reverberation around the ancient walls. The narrow streets of the old town wend their way to the Vlatva River and so to the Charles Bridge. Stone arches span the river to the eastern side where more winding streets climb the heights to the Prague Castle, one of the the largest and intact castle complexes in Europe. There is just so much to see it is impossible to absorb it all in one hit. That's why we have decided to return next year.

We left with regrets and headed back into Germany. Our next stop was on the banks of the Elbe at a quiet little riverside town of Konigstein. This is Saxony and the the area that straddles the Czech border is know as Saxon Switzerland (the Czech side is Bohemian Switzerland). It is an area of unusual sandstone mountains of outstanding beauty. Konigstein is very reminiscent of Melk, both geographically and historically. Anywhere else it would be just another average riverside town except for what overlooks it. Konigstein Fortress stands on a sandstone cliff top that looks so out of place in this environment. It looks for all the world like a Mesa from the Painted Desert in the USA has been transported to a landscape of razor sharp ridges. Here it is clothed with pine forest as are the rest of ridges that tower over the riverside. The upper cliffs are vertical and barren with battlements that wind their way around the edge of this flat topped mountain. The castle complex is extensive and almost invisible from view on the riverside due to trees that grow within the battlements. It was so imposing and well built that it was never taken in battle.  The surrounding area is dotted with places to explore. This is another place we will be returning. The Black has continued to haunt us and we left Konigstein in the rain and headed for Berlin.

Berlin is somewhere we have always wanted to come. When we were here in the 70s it was almost impossible to travel to. After spending four days here I can say with confidence that if it wasn't for Berlin's 20th Century history it would be the last place in Europe worth visiting. This place is Ugly - in every sense of the word. The Wall was torn down over two decades ago and in a spirit of re-unification the good burghers of Berlin must have hired all the East German architects to help build the "New Berlin". The buildings here are some of the most awful I have ever seem. The city is populated with slab-sided, narrow rectangle windowed, insipid coloured monstrosities. If it doesn't look like an Communist Era government building it looks like a prison.

Buried amongst the ugliness is the remnant of a Medieval and Prussian past, but you'd be hard press to find it or be shown it on a tour. They focus almost exclusively on the 20th Century Nazi and Communist history. The life and times of Fredrick the Great who turned Prussia into one of the first democratic states in Europe outside France is sadly neglected. For anyone back home who is foolish enough to admire people like Julia Gillard, Doug Cameron or Lea Rhiannon I suggest they come to Berlin and walk the Wall, read the memorials of those who were MURDERED in the name of an ideology that killed millions, an ideology that the aforementioned admired and supported. The words and deed of the Nazis were no different from the words and deeds of the Communists. If you don't believe me just come here and see for yourself. Berlin is a place to see once and never again, but a place where the deeds done here in the name of two grotesque ideologies should NEVER be forgotten.

We are now on the way to Amsterdam and then via Cologne to Paris. This year's European Adventure is almost over. We'll be back in the UK in August.

May The Schwartz Be With You.

To understand this you need to know that Schwartz in German is the colour Black.

We left Italy and headed across the Alps into Austria. The Black clouds that heaped torrents onto us in Italy seemed to be following us. We stopped the night at beautiful little Aire in the small town of Rosegg. Even at 30kph it's a Blink and you'll miss it kind of place. The Aire was just a large grass field opposite the beautiful Guesthouse that owns it. The view was outstanding. It was overlooked by a ruined castle on a small hilltop and across endless fields of green ripening corn loomed the distant snow clad mountains. We took a walk around town and decided it was so interesting we would leave the next morning.

We'd headed for Vienna and hoped the Black sky stayed south of the Alps. The Aire in Vienna was right in town just a few minutes walk from the Underground station. The city is beautiful and we wandered around the town using the great tram system. We visited the famous Prater Amusement Park with its ferris wheel (the classic model for all the subsequent "Eyes" built around the world). The Gothic St Stephen Cathedral looks impressive from the out side but the inside is rather austere and barren. The outstanding stained glass that is so typical of the Gothic era is totally missing here. The few stained windows that are evident are nowhere near as impressive as Amiens or Metz. The interior is dark, morose and unfriendly. There's that Black again.

We took the U Bahn to Schonbrunn Palace the seat of the once powerful Austro-Hungarian Empire. The palace and gardens are a statement of power and rather sterile, especially when the sky above is Black. Versailles in Paris and Nymphenburg in Munich are much more impressive.  Vienna the city is a little the same. It just doesn't live up to its self created image. It trades too much on its former glory and the reputations of Strauss and Mozart. If it wasn't on the Danube tourist cruise route I doubt it would rate as the tourist destination it has become.

We left Vienna and headed west along the Danube. The first impression is that it isn't anywhere near as scenic as the Rhine or Mosel. There are exceptions and one of those was our next stop. Melk would be an insignificant little riverside town if not for one outstanding feature - Melk Abbey. It sits on a spur of rock several hundred feet above the river. The area itself has been inhabited since the Bronze Age and the abbey is built on the remains of a Roman Fort. We stayed in a small campground right on the river run by the adjacent Guesthouse. The markings on the front of the building were a bit disconcerting. They inscribed the heights of the historical floods of the Danube. On 18-8-1501 it reached the second story window sill. On 4-6-2013 it reached the top of the ground floor windows. There were five other markers on the wall. 

The place is a bit of a Bucket List place for me as I have wanted to come here since reading Umberto Eco's "The Name Of The Rose". This Benedictine Abbey houses one of the largest collections of the earliest written books and manuscripts in the world. To mark our arrival the sky turned Black and the thunder trumpeted around the valley. We sheltered under the Cafe umbrella and tried to drink our coffee without getting wet while waiting for our guided tour. The tour through the abbey was very enlightening and while we were inside the storm gave up waiting for us and went off to rain on someone else's parade. The library is brilliant and I'm sure some of its design features were used in the movie.

Salzburg was our next stop and it has changed little since we were here last. It's a beautiful city and we spent most of our time just wandering around. The cathedral is nothing special from the out side but the ceiling frescos are outstanding. A definite homage to the Sistine Chapel. We took the new cable car up to the Salzburg Castle. The guided tour was terrific and the view of the city from the battlements is outstanding. The city is named for the the white gold that created and maintained its wealth and power - Salt. Salzburg is literally Salt City. At one time in the past salt was more precious than gold and our next stop was where it was mined.

Hallein is a small town just south of Salzburg that is only a few thousand metres from the German border. Here lies the salt mines that were the source of Salzburg's fame. The tour of the mines takes you by train deep into the Blackness of the mine then you walk along the narrow dark tunnels under the border into Germany. You slide down polished wooden slides deeper into the mine then boat across an underground lake where you descend down more slides to the lowest point at 210 metres. You then wind your way back into Austria with only the sparse tunnel lights to keep the darkness away, before you ascend via escalators back to the train and finally return to daylight again. The tour is not expensive and absolutely worth it.

We left Hallein and within a kilometre we were in Germany. We bypassed Berchtesgaden and the Eagles Nest as all the historical Nazi stuff has been removed and the car park and cable car price was over €40. It's just a view from the top of a mountain now and you can get that anywhere in the Alps for free. So we headed for Chiemsee. This is a beautiful lake overlooked by the German Alps. We stayed in an Aire in a marina car park. The park adjoining the   Aire was alive with music in the evening with a Zumba session that went for over two and a half hours. It only finished because the sun had finally gone down. Someone was supposed to come and collet the fee but no one turned up so we had the night's stay for free. The electricity was not working so the Dutch guy next to us ran his lead from a socket in the toilets and shared it with us. He didn't mention the World Cup either - nice guy.

The next day we took the passenger ferry to Herreninsel the island on which Ludwig II built one of his palaces. This is Herrencheimsee which was built as a homage to Louis XIV of France. Ludwig was enamoured with The Sun King and built his version of Versailles albeit on a much smaller scale. This place is plain on the outside but inside it is just so over the top it's unbelievable. There is so much gold leaf gilding it becomes gaudy. The workmanship of everything from the floors, furniture and textiles is just outstanding but it is spoilt by the over use of gold. The hall of mirrors here is actually a stand out as it is larger and more impressive than the one in Versailles.

We left Ludwig Land and hit the autobahn for Munich. We couldn't help but notice in Bavaria that Black is the new Black. Black Beamers, Mercs, Audis, Fiats, Hyundais, VeeDubs, Skodas. You name it, one in four were Black. Of course we were in the trend as well as "Bertha" is Black. The other thing you notice here is there are very few non European cars. You rarely see a Honda, Mazda or Subaru, there are a few Toyotas but that's it. The most frequently seen Asian cars are the Hyundai i10 or i20 which are made in the Czech Republic and the Nissan Dualis. Car buyers here are very loyal to the local product. That's what happens when the local industries build cars that over 75% of the local populations actually want to buy, cars that are reliable, fuel efficient, well equipped and hold their value. A lesson Holden and Ford Australia refused to heed. Now they are gone we may see some of the great cars that they make here Downunder.

The Black followed to Munich - the cars and the clouds.  The lightning, the thunder, the rain. Oh the humanity. Nah just kidding, it clouded over and drizzled all day and night. The next morning was cold and wet but we went into town anyway. By the time we got back to the campground it was clearing and as I sit and write this the morning sun is shining down from a clear blue sky. It's Summer here and that's how it should be. It's winter back home so you can have the rain and the cold and the Black. You can have the Beamers and Mercs too if you like.

May the Schwartz be with you - And not with me.