Biding Our Time and ... Octoberfest, Sept 14 to 24

Our trip itinerary took some twists and turns to accommodate a stay in Germany during Octoberfest.  As a result, we spent some delightful time watching the countryside roll by on scenic train trips to three-day stays at each of the following:  Arles (Provence), Annecy (French Alps), medieval Bern (Switzerland) and Augsburg (Germany).  Augsburg was our home base for getting to and from Munich for Octoberfest.   

Some reflections:

Train ride from Spain towards Provence was spectacular, especially between Narbonne and Beziers – hilly little farms… Fred & I shared a colorful salad Nicoise with a cold glass of beer  for lunch at a stopover in Nimes.

Arles in Provence – wonderful Roman ruins to be seen in this sleepy little town.  Would visit again.  Hotel was right on the Rhone.  Easy to explore the town center with its narrow streets – lots of shops, more pizza and baguettes.

The train ride from Anncey to Bern was beautiful – Lake Geneva, the Alps, Lausanne.

Annecy (French Alps) another town with a quaint old town center.  More shopping and cafes and pizza and baguettes.

Bern.  We had been told that the Swiss people can be cold and stand-offish, but we didn’t find them so.  Maybe because therewere so many university students all over the place.  Our first full day was very cold and rainy.  Fred and I were both nursing colds, so took refuge in a pub with some Irish coffees.

Loved Augsburg.Our hotel was just off a large, historic square with lots of shopping, restaurants, cafes.  (Also, right behind a church with loud, tolling bells -- thank goodness the bells took a rest from 11pm to 7am!)  The food in Germany was good and reasonably priced.  Had a memorable pork schnitzel with cranberry sauce.  Just a half hour train ride to Munich and Octoberfest.

Octoberfest was so much fun!  I couldn't talk Fred into donning the traditional garb (dirndl for me, leiderhosen for him) that most everyone else was wearing, but we managed to join in all the requisite eating and drinking festivities.  We partook of beers (the steins were huge, so we shared), roasted chicken, sausages, pretzels and gherkins at FOUR beer gardens!!!  Of course the toasts and the music were raucous.   I am glad we visited early in the day -- people were still upright, including us, when we left to catch a train back to Augsburg.  

Nuremberg – would love to spend more time here – it was a quick layover on our way to Prague.  Cute craftsman lane – toy, doll, chocolate, Christmas shops, as well as a beer garden.

Sunny Barcelona, Sept 10 to14

Calella, a beach town east of Barcelona, was our home base for time in Spain.  It was a pleasant place to dip our feet in the Mediterranean, shop, eat (evermore pizza and ham baguettes!) and spend time utilizing sign language with the mostly Slovenian and German tourists.  The weather during our stay in  Spain was very hot and humid – high 80s. 

We took a bus tour of Barcelona ,enjoyed a leisurely stroll along the Ramblas and explored the winding streets of the medieval Bari Gotic. 

3. Gay Paree (Paris), Sept 5 to 10

Fred and I traveled via the chunnel from England to Paris on the Eurostar. We caught a cab at the train station and after a quick taxi ride through busy Paris neighborhoods made it to our hotel in the Latin Quarter.  From our hotel window, which looked down into the Sorbonne, there was a view of the Eiffel tower off in the distance—nice!

First day – walked the Champs Elysees down to the Arc de Triomphe.  You can’t help but be struck by just how monumental the sites are – the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Notre Dame.  On the other hand, as Fred repeatedly noted, everything else is so small and close – the chairs, the hotel rooms, the coffees, the restaurant spaces – all so tiny.  Food was expensive – our best options seemed to be pizza, baguettes with ham or pommes frites – we really got tired of eating these – to the point that we couldn’t stand the thought of another pizza, baguette or french fries.  We had a couple of dinners at a little café/bar near the restaurant and some tasty pastries out of a Viennese bakery next to our hotel. 

We used the metro and train system extensively to get around Paris and environs.  Had a likeable and informative English-speaking guide – Christian – for walking tours of the Latin Quarter and Montmartre.  Took a day trip to Versailles – the palace and the grounds were amazing! We ended our sojourn in Paris with a romantic night cruise down the Seine.

Travel advice:  Tourists should beware of nuns stealing money.  Fred was short-changed 10 euros getting into Notre Dame’s audio tour. Notre Dame, by the way, was also our least favorite tourist opportunity; Do take advantage of the free toilettes to-be-found in any Starbucks and McDonalds. (Starbucks is a godsend if you are craving a full-sized and decently priced coffee.  Don’t let it bother you that you are not going local, all the Parisian students drink there, too!)

Unfortunately for me, my Kindle bit the dust while in Paris.  This will surely limit my upcoming (at least until we reach Australia) reading options in English.  Anyways, my favorite series set in Paris: Aimee Leduc series by C Black.  Each book features a murder in one of the Paris neighborhoods, such the Basille, Marais, Sentier, Latin Quarter, etc.

Photos will be added soon.  We had to buy a new netbook and are dealing with adding software/transfering files and learning our way around a control panel in Italian...

2. London and Scotland, Aug 29 - Sept 5

               Our bed and breakfast hotel was tiny, but the reception staff and breakfast made up for it.  The hotel was in close walking distance to 3 tube and/or train stations – Kings Crossing/St Pancras, Euston and Russell Square which made it extremely convenient for us to get around to see the sights.  Some of those sights:  Tower of London, the London Eye, Westminster Abbey (loved the tour), Buckingham Palace (just ok… , but did get to see Kate Middleton’s wedding finery and the wedding cake on display), Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, the Tower Bridge, the London Bridge (visited the Borough Food Market nearby –enjoyed some delicious paella!), window-shopping at Harrod’s, and picnicking at Hyde Park.  A hop on/hop off bus tour, along with a Thames river cruise, also afforded us the opportunity to see a lot in our short London stay.   Of course, we made time to visit some great local pubs each evening to relax and unwind over fish and chips, steak and kidney pies, and beer.  Travel tips: Don’t try the chicken wings in England!!!; Don’t follow Fred up the emergency stairway in Russell Square – spiral staircase equivalent of 14 floors.

               I'm a mystery reader.  If you are so inclined, a good series to prepare for and/or recall all those London locations you visited – the Arthur May & John Bryant (Peculiar Crimes Unit) series, by Fowler.

              
Edinburgh was so much fun, but we only had a day and half to spend there.  Fred rented a car at the Edinburgh airport and we wended (if you want to call it that) our way to the little village of Aberfeldy, which is just north of Perth.  It was quite a harrowing adventure to watch Fred maneuver a big ol’ SUV - driving on the left side of the road WHILE managing a manual stick shift with his left, rather than his right hand.  When you get off the freeways, most of the roadways are tiny lanes – at least that was the case in the areas we visited.  We both loved the tour of The Famous Grouse whiskey distillery which was a half hour’s drive from our bed and breakfast in Aberfeldy.  The next day we dropped off the car at the airport back in Edinburgh and took a taxi to our hotel near the Edinburgh Castle.  Travel tips:  Don’t EVER rent a car in Edinburgh and try to drive into the city yourself – Edinburgh is a maze of convoluted streets;  Make sure your carry-on is wheeled -- I pulled my back with my Rick Steves carry-on/backpack and had to buy a wheeled suitcase to carry my backpack in - hah!  (It has been challenging trying to manage what will be 3 months of travel with a 20 pound carry-on!)

               My favorite mystery series for Scotland is the Hamish Macbeth series by Beaton – set in a fictional town on Scotland’s west coast. We didn’t have time to get to this area, but the books are so much fun, I thought I’d throw them out there.  (The PBS series doesn’t come close to the characters or storylines of the books, but Robert Carlyle can be fun to watch.)    

1: Cruise Across the Pond, Aug 22 to 29

The seven days spent on the Queen Mary 2 was so relaxing!  Almost too relaxing -- lots of seniors (Fred and I not to be excluded) catching daily naps in deck chairs lined up as far as the eye could see on the sunny starboard side.  A wonderful, celebratory sail-away party took us under the Verrazano Bridge and away from New York harbor with dancing (well some folks were dancing), drinking, and music -- great fun!  There was a good mix of ages, including quite a few kids -- predominately folks from England and Germany made up the guest list.
Of course we enjoyed sampling everything offered at the buffets, daily walks around the promenade deck and the requisite cocktail-of-the-day.  Friday was wonderful -- somewhat of a wild and windy gray day with choppy waves -- what you would envision the north Atlantic waters would be like.  The rest of the time was very calm with beautiful, cool weather.

Pre trip planning

What a lot of work, but Fred and I are ready to launch our trip on August 22!  I am hoping this blog will keep family and friends updated as our big adventure unveils.  So, stay tuned for Chapter 1:  The Cruise Across the Pond ...coming (hopefully) your way soon.