20090525 – Monday – Stratford upon Hillsborough

Worst hotel yet!  Large room.  However, on getting out of bed, we found no one and no food in the dining room!  There was some food in the refrigerator thanks to Rhea and Carl – but where were the meats, the cheeses, the selections of breads and pastries, the salades composée, the Viennese café or the Cappuccino?  Where were the cereals, the yogurts, the selection of fresh fruit, the hard boiled eggs?  Where was the wait staff to clear away the dishes? 

What did we find?  A stack of mail – well, to be specific, bills to be paid!

Well, Virginia, there may be a Santa Claus, but unfortunately, there is no maid, only laundry at the end of a vacation.

Ah, bien, à la prochain vacances!  До побачення!

20090524 – Sunday - Munich to Montreal

After a slightly (but only slightly) lighter breakfast, it was running ahead of the rain drops 300 metres across the cobblestones to the Schnellbahn/Ubahn station and our train to the Flughafen (Airport).  The ride to the airport was somewhat amusing and noisy.  A young black guy was rather uncomfortably sleeping across two seats with his both feet firmly planted in the aisle, snoring at about 6 on the Richter Scale!  Great flight on Lufthansa and then unfortunately a seven hour layover in Montreal.  Paid something like $11CDN for a beer – a pint – not even a Litre in the airport!  Got in at midnight and thankfully we were picked up by Gloria.  All luggage intact.

20090523 – Saturday – Munich

Saturday morning was another round of sightseeing of some of the historic churches.  They are fabulous and one runs out of adjectives.  It is easy to see how they inspire awe and belief.  In the afternoon, we took the U-bahn (Metro) to the Olympic park.  It is a beautiful location with hectares and hectares of parkland, a pity that it has to be remembered as the place where terrorists killed 11 Israeli athletes and coaches.  We went up to the observation deck at the 190 metre level of the 291 metre tower.  What a fabulous view of Munich and the surrounding countryside with the Alps in the background.  We then strolled around the lake, watching the ducks, geese and swans.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympiapark,_Munich .  Then it was off to BMW Welt (World).  Everything BMW, all current models, literally 100s of interactive experiences, including workshops for children.  Even Gail, who is not usually that impressed by cars, other than knowing she likes nice ones was impressed.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_Headquarters   Unfortunately we did not have time to visit the BMW Museum.  It was then back to the hotel and clean up and to celebrate our last nite in Munich with a "white wine and white linen" dinner as Gail calls it.  After another fantastic meal, it was back to the hotel to pack and get ready to leave in the morning.

20090522 – Friday – Munich

Raining today, but not a problem as we went thru the Residenz or Royal Palace and the Royal Treasury – crowns, etc.  One of the most opulent and best collections that we have seen.  Beside the Residenz is the memorial to famous Bavarian generals which Hitler had turned into a Nazi shrine and made it compulsory for everyone passing to do the Nazi salute and say Heil Hitler!  Behind the memorial is a small lane that people who wanted to avoid the salute would pass.  It came to be know as Heil Hitler Lane.  The Nazi décor was removed after the war, but the name persists.  We then went to the Hofbrauhaus which is the largest and oldest beer garden and ale house dating back to the 1500s.  We then went exploring and site-seeing other landmarks and churches as well as some souvenir shopping.  Later we had dinner at another great Italian restaurant not too far from our hotel.

20090521 – Thursday - Munich

Early start to the day!  We had an excellent taxi driver who pointed out sights along the way.  What a great time to see the city – 5am, sunrise, no traffic!  Just a note that the traffic in Lviv is horrendous – double what is was two years ago.  Arrived in Munich and took the S-Bahn (train which is combined with the U-Bahn or Metro) into the heart of the city and about 300 metres from our hotel.  We checked into our hotel and went to the famous bier garten in the Englischer Garten.  Of course we had a small beer (1L – Gail wouldn't let me have a large – 2L) and sausages.  We then went to St Peter's and the Rathaus (city hall) where we went up the tower for a bird's eye view of the city.  Later we went to the Monaco, a small Italian restaurant recommended by Fodor's and around the corner from our Pension.  Great food at a reasonable price.

20090520 – Wednesday – Lviv

Woke up to pouring rain, but set out for the pioneer village anyway. An outdoor (what else would you do in the pouring rain) museum, with buildings from the various areas and times in Halychyna-Bukovina. Later we met Tess for lunch at the UPA theme restaurant where an armed guard challenges you, asking if you are a Muskovite. You can go into the basement and shoot off a revolver, but we just ate. Later we did a bit more site-seeing before heading off to the ballet. The Opera – Ballet Theatre is fabulous in décor, rivals Vienna, and is about half the size. It was built during the [Austro-Hungarian] empire. http://www.uazone.net/go/gallery.cgi?gallery=Lviv&what=buildings&ac=show&id=063 After the ballet we had dinner at the Restaurant Mozart, with usual sumptuous and enormous portions of slavic-germanic foods served everywhere! We then went back to our room to pack for our 4am wake-up call for our flight to Munich. Sleep was not easy. At about 2330h, crowds poured onto the streets, singing, drag racing, drinking and generally celebrating Ukraine's victory over Germany in the Euro Cup.

20090519 – Tuesday - Lviv

Took the early train to Lviv and checked back into the George.  We then did a walking tour of the city concentrating on the areas we did not get to on our last trip.  We met Tess for dinner at the Jewish restaurant and had another great meal complete with the hand washing ceremony.

20090518 – Monday – Ternopil

Ted went to the provincial archives in the morning and was able to report some success.  Gail took a walk along the lake which is behind our hotel and in the middle of Ternopil.  Taras and Olena then picked us up and took us to the Monastery complex at  which miraculously was not damaged by the wars or closed by the Russians when they invaded after WWII.  We had our own novice as a tour guide and surprisingly, he spoke Ukrainian even though it now belongs to the Moscow Patriarchy.  Wonderful pictures of "baba Gail" in her "over clothes and babushka" - a requirement for entering the complex.  That evening we went out to a great restaurant with the young cousins where we introduced them to the concept of a doggie bag.  They were uncomfortable with it the idea, but I went up and asked for one and they quickly said yes and brought us a box like we would get roasted chicken in at Sobey's.

20090517 – Sunday

We said our goodbyes to everyone in the village and drove down with Roman, Maria, Volodomyr and Hania to Ternopil.  They were going to see their other grandchild little Taras.  We visited with Taras and Olena and her parents.  Oleh, Hanna and Petro came over, drove us to the Hotel Ternopil and later collected us for dinner to their new apartment.  Oleh has installed a shower with the multi-heads!  They are the first people in their complex – another couple just moved in and the interior hallway lights have not been installed, so leaving was by flashlight!

20090516 – Saturday – Chabarivka

We ate, and ate.  In the afternoon, Roman (Maria's father) drove us to Kam'ianky and Movchanivka, where the Kulbaba families (Ted's mother's family) originated.  We found a few people, but no one remembered (110 years since emigrating) and I had not expected anything else.    We did get some pictures however.  We ate, visited, ate, ate.

20090515 – Friday – Kamianets-Podilski

K-P is a natural location for this fortress.  It is built on stone cliffs running down to the river on a bulge in the river, with a ravine on the 4th side. It was never taken in battle.  The town itself is historic and shows the main areas of those that occupied the town – Ukrainians, Poles, Armenians and Turks.  When the turks pulled out under a peace treaty, they had previously converted a church into a mosque, building a miniaret.  The terms of the treaty stated that the miniaret must remain. The mosque then reverted to a church and a gold statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary was put on top the miniaret – honouring the treaty!  Our driver then drove us into the village of our relatives, who were awaiting our arrival.  We first visited with Nadia and Stepan and ate, and ate, and talked.  We then went to  Volodomyr and Hania's where we were to stay and ate, and ate, and talked where Gail occupied herself with playing with her buddy Maria (from our first trip) now 3 years old and teaching her English.  Maria reminds us of Stephen at that age – very articulate and chatty.  From then on Gail was chocha Kanada – auntie Canada!

20090514 – Thursday – Lviv – Kolomyia - Khotyn

We were picked up by our driver Roman and went south to Kolomyia to see the Pysanka museum and the Hutzul Museum of Culture.  Both museums were extremely interesting, with the Pysanka Museum having works from everywhere that Ukrainians have settled.  Then we moved onto Khotyn and the fortress.  It is standing and in fairly good shape, but is undergoing restoration under the auspices of the European Union Committee on Historical Sites.  Ukraine as a whole needs a lot of money poured into restoration of historical buildings and sites.  We drove to Kamianets-Podilski (or K-P as Gail calls it) that evening to the Hotel Gala.

20090512 – Wednesday – Vienna to Lviv

Did some last minute shopping before catching our flight to Lviv.  After checking into the Hotel George, Ted went to the electronics store to pick up a sim card for the phone and a couple of jacks while Gail wandered about Rynok – Market Square.  We then wandered about a bit refamiliarising ourselves with the town.  We then went for dinner to the Kupol Restaurant, our favourite dining place in Lviv, which we discovered on the last trip.  It is in an old mansion and has been in operation for over a century.

20090512 – Tuesday – Vienna

     Today we took a bus tour from Vienna to Melk Abbey which included a 1.5 hr boat ride on the Danube.  Everything lush and green.  Unfortunately it was pouring rain, so we only had our guides word that there were castles on the hill top.  The abbey (from the 800's – yes that's correct) is still functioning and also serves as the local junior and senior high school for the children in the village, being taught by the abbey monks.  When we arrived back in Vienna, we were lucky to scalp a couple tickets to the opera – Tosca.

20090511 – Monday – Vienna

More site-seeing, the Opera, the Albertina museum, the horses – unfortunately, we had to settle for the carriage horses as the Lippizaners were not practicing today! In the afternoon, we had lunch across from St Stephen's and then toured it. After we went to the Schonberg Palace, which was the summer palace. It has over 1400 rooms and they only showed us 28! In the evening, we went to the opera, but all the rush seating was sold-out, so we walked about and went to the Hotel Sacher to have cappuccino, and Gail had their famous Sacher-Torte. I had a taste. Poor Ted.

20090510 – Sunday – Mutters Tag – Vienna

Went downtown, saw a number of sights in the Ringstrasse which is the circle that encloses old Vienna. Saw the Hofburg Palace along with the Parliament, etc. In the evening we went to dinner at Fiorino's, where Ted has been before. Ted ended up chatting to two ladies from Lviv, Ukraine. Gail has only Ted's translation as to the conversation (:-)

20090509 – Saturday – Salzburg to Wien/Vienna

We went to see more churches that we had not seen and had time for a final cappuccino before catching the train. Had a quick lunch on the train (a bring along) and met a couple of nice young guys from Brazil. David was some kind of consultant and Ricardo an electrical engineer. They were combining a work trip with a chance to see Europe. They were quite a pair. They were trying to cover as much territory as possible and in that 24 hours they had started from Italy, been to Germany and were on their way to Budapest with a 3 hour layover in Vienna. We gave them our Vienna map, so they wouldn't waste any time! We checked into the Hotel Tabor where Ted had previously stayed. There was a message waiting from friends. They picked us up and we went to dinner at one of their favourite haunts – good Austrian fare and they we went back to their place for drinks, and more drinks!

Note

Note – this is being typed on a netbook (small keys, dark gray letters on black keys), in poor light. I will check the spelling and add links later.

20090508 – Friday – Salzburg

We went over to the Mirabel Palace and gardens. The palace is now used for secular weddings and we saw several. As a matter of fact, one of the wedding parties asked us to take a few photos for them. We had lunch on a balcony overlooking Motzart Platz and then went on a walking tour (with a bunch of people from Toronto) of the old town. We then did some touring on our own and had dinner in a Bier Garten. Note – in Germanic countries, bier gartens are actually in gardens, not on asphalt parking lots! Later we had cappuccino and apfelstruddel on a terrasse.

20090507 – Thursday – Salzburg

We caught the morning train and arrived in Salzburg around 1400h. We found our hotel and immediately went up the funicular to the castle. It is one of the highest in Europe, probably over 1000m. It is hugh and we were able to go up to the highest point which gives a fantastic panorama of Salzburg (the city of salt) and the surrounding countryside. We then had a very expensive scenic beer a the restaurant at the castle. It was great to relax and take in the vista. We then wandered the old town and had dinner, this time splitting the schnitzel entree, at the Wildermann, a Fodor's recommendation.

20090506 – Wednesday – Fussen

We were supposed to be renting a car, but all were gone. Just goes to show that you do have to plan and reserve ahead. No problem and we had a fairly relaxing day visiting the high castle and museum as well as the church, all of which were very interesting and we would have missed if we had gotten the car. We decided to have a lighter dinner, so we went to an Italian restaurant. I had a pizza and Gail had a pasta with salmon (I think it was a whole salmon!) As an appetizer we ordered a small antipasta. Well, the "small" portion came on a 35cm plate piled around 10cm high! We took the pizza back to the hotel with us for lunch the next day. We then walked down to the river to see the castle and the cathedral all lit up at night.

20090505 - Tuesday - Fussen

A bit of orientation and sightseeing in Fussen in the morning, a quick lunch and then to see the castles of Hohenschwangau and Schloss Newschwanstein which was the inspiration for the Disney Wonderland Castle. Before I start griping, I would like to say that seeing the castles and the views was definitely worth the effort. They are breath taking! First you take the city bus to the site - well, almost. The ticket office, even though we had prepaid vouchers was another 500 metres. After that, Hohenschwangau was a further 750 metres up hill. After the tour of the castle, it was down hill to the bus to go to Newschwanstein. Three kilometres on the bus and then another 3 kilometres on foot as the crow flies. Unfortunately, the road went up and down and it seemed like 8 kilometres as the worm crawled!

20090504 - Monday - Fussen

First thing in the morning there was time for a few more photo ops and a round of souvenir shopping, before catching our train(s). We arrived in Fussen around 1630h and unpacked and had dinner - a 45cm plate full of schnitzel, spatzle, potatoes, vegetables - a light fare! We went back to the room to do laundry and write this blog as well as do up a few other housekeeping activities.

 

20090503 - Sunday - Rothenburg ob der Tauber

In the morning we headed out to the train station for our ride to Rothenburg. Arriving at our hotel the "Goldenes Lamm" at around 1730h, we had a quick bite and set out on the walking tour. Later we took the tour with the "Night Watchman". In medieval times, the night watchman was a fixtures in all cities. Often he was responsible for lighting the lamps, but his main job was to protect the people and houses from the seedier elements and to be on the lookout for fires, which were deadly in those days. The hotel was small. In the rooms, they installed an entire bathroom unit of sink, toilette and shower in an area of about 80cm by 2 metres or less, making the train bathrooms look absolutely hugh. This meant that the already modest room was made smaller and even more so by the king size bed.

20090502 - Saturday - Luzern

We got up early and headed out for the walking tour of Luzern. It was an odd day alternating between rain and sun. We went to the "Hug" for a lunch of Rosti - a Swiss specialty - butter fried potatoes with various toppings. In the afternoon we headed for Mount Pelatus in bright sunshine. The mountain is just outside of town and is reached by a series of cable cars, the last going almost vertically to the 2200 metre summit! In the evening we went out for a Traditional Swiss Cheese fondue - probably a kilo of cheese and a loaf of bread each. As a matter of fact we took the rest of the bread and joined tourists and locals alike feeding the swans in the river in front of our hotel. We then strolled across the wooden bridge that was part of the fortification of the town, down the other side to one of the other bridges and ended up having cappuccino in a water-front brasserie. Our hotel was quite nice with a good breakfast which was included. The safari bag provided lunches. The stay was made more pleasant and informative by Selma the night clerk. She had just arrived back from studying in California and was able to interpret what we wanted (as Canadians) and provide us with a look into the reality of day to day life in Switzerland.

20090501 - Friday - May Day

We woke to a beautiful sunny day. We had hoped to go to Schilthorn where "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" was filmed. Unfortunately, it was closed due to the bad weather. Instead, we caught the train and went about half way to the Jungfrau mountain to Kleine Scheidegg which is around 1400m. This is a major stop for skiers and our waiter (beer, of course) in the outdoor restaurant said that only a few days earlier, they had had over a metre of snow! We then went into Interlocken, which is a beautiful town situated between two lakes, somewhat like Banff. After exploring the town, we went up to the 18th story of the Metropol Hotel - considered the ugliest block of concrete in town for the breath-taking view. You could see para-gliders taking off into the clouds from the mountain tops to land below us in the town common. It as quite a site. The flight of the para-gliders took at least 10 minutes, but it was hard to judge as there were so many and the mountains so far away. Had it not been so late in the day, I would have gone up. On the way back to the station, we went to the co-op and bought a picnic and ate it on the way back to Luzern. As it was late when we got in, we just bought a bottle of wine at the train station and had it in our hotel room.

20090430 - Thursday - Arriving in Zurich

Arriving in Zurich, we were whisked by train to passport control, which other than a short line-up was again a non-event. After 31+ years, Gail again wanted to hop on the first train she saw. I voted for waiting and making sure that we got on the right train to Luzern. When we stepped out of the train station, we were able to see our hotel, the "des Alpes" a short distance across the river. After checking in, we immediately grabbed the train to Bern, capital of Switzerland. The Swiss are a cagey lot, much like the Dutch. Each have many names for their nation and nationality. Not only Switzerland in the 4 major and 3 minor languages as well as English and Latin, but the same number denoting the traditional name which is the "Confederation of the Helveti", which is abbreviated CH, hence the designation for the national identity on licence plates, currency (CHF or Swiss Francs), and the internet .ch. It was time for Gail to shine - the walking tour of Bern at a forced-march pace. Bern, and Switzerland in general are noted for their decorative fountains, something like 24 in the downtown area. The bear (Bern) is of course the symbol of the city and occurs in the coat of arms of the city as well as decorating buildings and everything else. There is a bear pit in the river valley. Unfortunately, they had already left for the Labour Day weekend when we arrived in the afternoon. The parliament buildings are relatively new and overlook the beautiful Aare River. We photocopied Rick Steves and were able to read about all the places as we walked along. Returning to Luzern that evening, we went out for a traditional Swiss meal of pizza!

20090429 - Wednesday - Leaving Canada

Overall, leaving Canada was a non-event. This is a good thing. We had a 3 hour lay-over in Toronto, had a snack (diabetes thing) along with an $8.50 beer! Air Canada was surprisingly mediocre which is a major leap forward for them. The food was okay, even the mystery vegetable mush. The booze was free, although impossible to get a second drink. On the other hand, they gave you a full can of coke rather than the usual shot-glass full. Gail slept like a log although I was not able to get comfortable on the seats spaced for hobbits.

20090504

In Fussen

 

Hi, we just arrived in Fussen, alive and well.  I will try and get the blog up to date as soon as possible.  Contending with a German keyboard right now.

 

Gail & Ted