Let’s Go Germany… This morning we woke up bright and early thanks to more construction happening on the pathways around the campsite- there is no need to set an alarm around here as they start work at 7 a.m. on the dot- no exceptions! After a quick breakfast we unhitched the bikes and headed into town. Still unable to get Stijn’s bike fixed we stopped at a few bike shops along the way. Our Dutch bikes seem to be incompatible with the German ones but we did manage to find someone who will look at it later this week and try and sort something out! From there we began exploring more of the city but were surprised to see that the downtown is actually quite compact and that we had actually covered the majority of it with the moms’ earlier in the week. So we shopped… or at least I did… before heading back to our camper to check out of the campsite. Because we’re so self-sufficient in the camper, we only need to stay at a site every once in a while to get water or plug in so tonight we’re parked next to a canal in Munich, surrounded by trees and in relative privacy. It is much more quiet without the moms’ and we miss the company already but as always we are appreciative of the time we had with them and look forward to the next stage of our journey.
Tomorrow we head to the concentration camp at Dachau to wrap up our time here in Munich before moving onto the next destination. We have a few more bigger cities to hit along the way before we start to make our way south for the hotter months and explore much more of Europe!
Today we headed out relatively early… what seemed like a quiet park road turned into something of a free way for most of the night. Each time a car ripped by in true German fashion, our entire home on wheels shook keeping us both awake for the majority of the night. Ear plugs don’t really help in this case!
We made it to Dachau, located about 25 km outside of Munich, relatively early but not early enough to beat the school crowds. I found it very strange to enter the town and wonder what it must be like to live in a town of such infamy. For all intense and purposes, it is a town just like any other which out of necessity has had to move on as best it can but of course can never really escape its past. The concentration camp is located on the edge of town and is surrounded by trees that seem to try and hide the horror. The site now is relatively intact from the time of its liberation in May of 1945. As you enter through the gate that told its prisoners “Arbeit macht frei” (or Work will set you free)- of course this couldn’t have been further from the truth. The two remaining prisoner barracks show the extreme living conditions that all those that passed before the unfortunate gates would have to endure or succumb to. On first inspection, the camp and the barracks look large but when you read that building made to house 600 people were over stuffed with 6,000 the reality quickly sets in. At the time of liberation, over 60,000 people were contained in the relatively small area.
Stijn and I were both surprised to learn just how many concentration camps there were scattered across occupied Europe and the terror that was being dished out at each one. We were also interested to read in detail about the events post World War I and the internal German political situation that lead up to and allowed such a horrific reality to occur. After taking in the video that provides a quick history as well as many haunting images of large piles of corpses, disease and torture it was time for us to leave. It is such an important site and such an important part of history that is a must, but it by no means is an easy one.
In need of a mood change we headed to what continues to be our favourite stop… the grocery store! WE once again stocked up on bread, cheese and all of the staples of our European diet and proceeded to eat our lunch in the parking lot in the comfort of our camper before hitting the road in search of a gas station that would fill our propane tanks. Unlike back in Canada, this is no easy feat. After stopping at several places and being redirected a number of times we were finally able to fill our tank which has luckily lasted us since we left Holland over three weeks ago. En route we also happened across a bike store as we are still in search of someone who can fix peg leg. Luckily we met a guy who had spent some time in Whistler and was able to recommend a handicap pedal extension, and while they didn’t have one in stock, we now know of a suitable solution to our bike woes so the hunt will continue.
After being on the highway, and with a potential bike solution in mind, there was no reason o return to Munich so instead we hit the road in the direction of Salzburg, Austria- our next destination. We once again utilized the road side rest stop, complete with mountain views, for our resting place for the night. It wasn’t long before it was pouring rain so we bunked in for the night with perhaps a few too many bottles of wine and a dice tournament in hand.
Let’s Go Austria…The next morning was not an early one. Still raining, we were in no hurry to hit the road knowing full well rain awaited us in Salzburg which was only about 100 kms from where we had stopped the night before. As we pulled into the campground Mio had taken us to, we set up camp for the day and took advantage of the poor weather and internet access. I had been plugging away at the blog update from when the moms’ were with us and finally finished it in time for Stijn to add the photos and post the update. It is equally as great to be out of touch technologically speaking as it is to be back in touch! This particular campground would not be our favourite, despite the mountain- view and meeting a Calgarian mother of four- a much more ambitious tour than our own- we found the owners’ of the campground extremely arrogant and cold. Let’s hope that will not continue to be our experience here in Austria.
That day we took our time packing up our ‘camp’ and slowly made our way into the city- with the weather being still questionable we weren’t in a huge hurry! When we arrived downtown and finally found parking we realized that our parking ticket was valid for the entire weekend- all for only 3 Euro! As we headed into town to check things out and try to determine what we would see and do the next day. Many of the sights, unsurprisingly are centered around Mozart and his life in Salzburg, every gift shop or corner store is playing (and selling Mozart’s music) and of course everything “Sound of Music”- I can still hear Maria and my mom singing the theme song!
Rather than trying to rush through the sites we opted for a patio session complete with Stiegler Beer (my new favourite) and see the sights tomorrow. Besides patio’s, our next favourite adventure is finding grocery stores which can sometimes be difficult in the centrums and even more desperate on a Saturday evening as everything shuts down early in the evening and doesn’t open again until Monday or Tuesday. After mistakenly walking into make apothecary stores, which are seemingly everywhere, we finally managed to find one en route back to the camper. Since our parking ticket was valid until Sunday we decided to make good use of it and camp right there for the evening! Despite a few loud groups of bar goers knocking on our door, we had a relatively good sleep considering we were downtown!
The next morning we started early in order to see the list of places we had decided on the night before! Starting with Mozart’s Residence- an 8 room apartment in the heart of the city where Mozart, his older sister and parents moved to after some of Mozart’s concert success. The history of his career and of course his music echoed in each of the exhibits or rooms of the apartment. Across the river, in the older part of the city was Mozart’s Birthplace, a much smaller but much more charming home once again detailed the life and career of the Mozart family. Though this was the second of the Mozart museums, both Stijn and I enjoyed it much more and enjoyed the stories each room told. Though this was considered to be a much more modest apartment, it was still quite large and we weren’t sure why the family of 4 (for the most part- younger siblings were born but none of them lived through infancy) needed more space.
Our next destination on the tourist map was the castle high a-top the mountain overlooking the city. Yesterday we had made the climb almost the whole way on foot just to check out the view but today we opted for the funicular. As has been the case with most of the castles and to some extent the churches we’ve seen thus far, the outside architecture is far more stunning than is the inside. Inside this particular castle was a marionette museum which to be honest was a tad on the creepy side. For the rest, there were little shops and cafes that utilized the view.
Judging from our map we thought we could walk to our next destination, and certainly gave it a good effort, but once we realized we were over 8 km away we opted to take the bus to what ended up being our favourite stop on our tour- the Stiegler Beer Wart (World)! Upon entry we were given directions to go through the museum- the first part explained how the beer is made and the second gave more of an history on the company itself… clearly Stijn and I were more interested in the tastings that would follow so we quickly made our way to the patio where three mugs were quickly given to us to try. My personal favourite was the Radler- which I had tried before in Germany and several of the patios since- but this one was mixed with grapefruit rather than lemon and was really tasty! The other two beers were more standard and for me, not as tasty! We enjoyed our 6 pints with a pretzel and then merrily headed back to the bus for one more destination- the 2000 and some foot cable car to the top of the alps. Perhaps it was the beer or just sheer naiveté but I hadn’t given any thought to just how high this cable car really was- and even when I saw it, thought nothing of it. I guess that’s because you can only see the first level that it reaches- the second and highest point is hidden by the edge of the cliff and frankly is just far too high to see from the bottom. I only realized just how high we were as we were on the tiny little car, as it swayed and jerked its way up the giant mountain hundreds of feet above the tree tops. I was pretty happy to get off of the car, and while the way down was much better, I was pretty happy when we reached the ground! While at the top we had to take a quick look around as the last cable car down was scheduled to leave only 15 minutes after we arrived at the top but we did manage to take in the stunning view, albeit with wobbly knees, and even see a few base jumpers take off. Despite being a little unnerving, it was well worth the ride to see just how spectacular Salzburg and the Alps really are!
With our list of tourist stops completed it was time to hit the road again- this time we were taking a detour out of Austria and heading north to Prague before coming back to Austria to see Vienna. While geographically it perhaps didn’t make the most sense, Prague has long since been on my list of places so despite some eventual back tracking, we were en route!
Let’s go Czech Republic… Sadly, of the 42 countries that are programmed into Mio- our loveable GPS system, the Czech Republic is not one of them and we quickly learned that life without Mio isn’t a happy one! After being able to navigate the highways without too much difficult,y and being able to take in the changing scenery including counting the hookers and brothels as we entered the eastern European country, we finally hit the city itself. This seems to be somewhat of a theme in a few of the countries we’ve been too- quite literally the women stand on the side of the road waiting for truck drivers and other people passing by to stop with interest and then presumably head into what is usually a forested area to go about their business .
Driving into the city, we thought we were right on track as we found a campground sign right of the highway and relatively close to centrum- we foolishly followed it… and the next one, only to realize that there were only two signs and they weren’t leading us anywhere! After crossing the entire city we stopped and asked a police officer if she knew where the nearest campground was and she directed us to one that is located on an island on the river that crosses between new and old Prague. This sounded great so we headed to centrum… not a smart move when you consider we are driving a motorhome! We ended up driving not only on cobble stone roads (charming to look at but not particularly functional in this tank!) all the way to a road meant only for trams! Stijn quickly made a u-turn, or as quickly as one does in a motorhome, and took the first road that appeared to lead us out of the city! Luckily we ended up back on a highway and even managed to find a great little campground outside of the city and only about half an hour by bus and metro back into the city. Funnily enough as we made our desperate escape from the city’s downtown, we drove past the island where we could have camped… but we now know that just because you can see something in Prague… doesn’t mean you can get to it!
A lot stressed out over life without Mio, we started to set up at the campground and I quickly set out to make vodka tonics making full use of the extremely large Duvel Beer glasses we bought in Belgium! From there we moved onto red wine with dinner which oddly enough lead to us attempting to Skype my Mom a few times (or twelve so we’re told!). We’re slowly getting used to life without the Moms’ and clearly we miss our ‘Delores’ as we’ve now nicknamed her! Maria has since signed up for Skype so she’ll be getting her calls as soon as we find internet! After a lot of laughs and yet another camper party we headed to bed and I’m sure everyone camping around us were happy that we did!
The next morning was a slow start on account of the vodka tonics and red wine- perhaps not a brilliant mix! Nevertheless, we made good use of time at the campground and managed to get the laundry done and the camper cleaned out- not so glamorous but even on vacation the laundry needs to get done! With our hangovers behind us, we headed into town to meet up with Irek, a friend from home who now lives in Prague with his wife Klara and two adorable little girls Evi and Mati. We met Irek at the metro station outside his office which happened to be only three stops from where we got on- very surprising in a city this large! We met Klara and the girls, complete with tutu’s, for dinner at an Italian restaurant and had a great time getting to catch up with Irek and meet the lovely ladies of his life! It’s so nice to be able to meet up with people along our journey and we are always glad to be able to share some time with new and old friends!
The next morning we dropped our camper off early at the mechanics to have a little electrical work done and our new water pump installed. The public transportation, while easy, is filled with a variety of people, none of which appear to be very happy. Stijn and I were hard pressed to find anyone who was smiling, laughing or even just sitting pleasantly. As we transferred onto the metro from the bus, this would continue to be our impression. Passing through the various suburbs filled with a sea of communist style ghetto apartments, it was easy to see the imprint that communism has left on this country and its people. The divide between rich and poor is a very large one and even the buildings themselves reflect this seemingly widening gap.
One of the main reasons Stijn and I discussed wanting to explore this country was because so much of the history was still in-tact since none of it has been destroyed in World War II- and that is true but that isn’t to say that they have been well taken care of, or even preserved in some cases. There are lots of old buildings that are similar to those you will find in the majority of Europe but what they lack is charm and authenticity. Block after block of buildings are filled with tacky tourist souvenirs, even tackier jewellery shops and liquor stores. None the less we wanted to give the city that so many people have raved about a fair shot and still headed out for the sights.
Prague is divided into the new and the old part of the city, though new is still quite old even by European standards. The metro stop was close to the centre of new Prague so we decided to start there with the National Museum, the old train station and the square itself. From there we wandered across the river and over to the Castle that is built high up on a hill over- looking Prague and from there made our way back down and across the Charles’ Bridge and back through the new side of the city. Many of these sights were impressive, while some of them were so in need of reparations you weren’t sure if it was even safe to walk on the floors. It is very easy to see that this city is struggling to keep up with the rest of the European Union and has a long way to go until it can compete with many of the great cities we’ve seen so far.
Upon reflection our impression was heavily impacted by the people that we saw so unhappily going about their daily lives. Perhaps it is a cultural thing but the city itself has many of the components that could make it really great but it’s the lack of vibe that didn’t seem to work for us or get us excited about exploring further. Or perhaps it had more to do with our stressful entry into the city, either way we leave Prague wanting to shake the sense of depression that seems to loom over the city and get back onto the open road in search of brighter skies (and faces). Regardless we are always happy to have been to a place and have been able to explore it for ourselves and of course we couldn’t have been happier to meet up with Irek and his family- they were certainly the highlight of this portion of our trip!
Let’s Go Austria… Again! Delighted to be back on Austrian soil, we left Prague and headed for Vienna. For this part of the trip we had done little research and instead decided we wanted to take in more of the local experience and meet up with an old university friend of Stijn’s. With Lucian’s address programmed into Mio, we made the long trek back through the mountainous country. We were once again fortunate to find an amazing rest stop to call home for the night. The rest stops in Austria are particularly quiet and often have a sound barrier to dampen the sound of traffic through the night. They are nothing like the rest stops we have in Canada and in most of Europe are complete with showers, restaurants and cafes, and in Austria they even provide fresh drinking water straight from the Alps! Apparently this is the supply that provides Vienna with the cleanest drinking water in the world, straight from the tap! We took full advantage of the deliciousness and filled up our camper and our spare gerry cans! Never one to sit still, I think Stijn is happy to have the camper and some of the little projects it’s provided for him!
The next morning we made the rest of the trek to Lucian’s place and managed to find parking just around the corner from his flat which was very centrally located. After saying hello and getting a tour of his place, we headed out for downtown to grab some lunch. We opted for a great little sushi place and while I’m not sure everyone else was thrilled with their meals; my sushi platter was outstanding and hit the spot! After lunch we strolled around what is one of the major shopping streets after lunch before heading back to Luke’s for a couple of drinks before making our way to a house party. I have to say it’s pretty outstanding to be able to go to a house party in another country, something we wouldn’t have been able to experience without meeting up with Luke and it was pretty great. We were able to meet lots of people and just enjoy a different side of night life in Europe! That being said, we paid in all kinds of ways the next day! Both Stijn and I were a little under the weather to say the least but none the less made the trek for lunch with Luke and one of his friends.
After lunch we spent the day at the river where there is a wake boarding cable line that takes people up and down the river on their wakeboards similar to how a boat would. It was really neat to see something so simple and yet so creative. The whole place was filled with people as there was also a great café all within the surrounding park and trails- I wish Edmonton would take advantage of the river valley in this way. Though Stijn and I didn’t feel up to partaking in the wakeboarding, we enjoyed watching all of the people, both good and bad, give it a go. It was a great way to spend a sunny day in the city surrounded by the locals and just breathe in the city.
The next day we wanted to ensure we saw some of the highlights of the city- while Luke had already taken us downtown and shown us some of the old churches, the opera house and a few other attractions we also wanted to take in the famed grounds of the Schonnbrunn Palace. Though the palace itself is smaller than the Palace of Versailles, it far surpasses it in charm. Stijn and I climbed up to the Gloriette, located on top of the back garden and had tea and apple strudel while a violinist and a pianist played beautiful classical music. One of the nice things about this palace is that it is still very functional today- it is often utilized for concerts, of course the great restaurant and café but it is also home to the world’s famous Vienna zoo that is over a hundred years old. There are also several gardens and other facilities within the property but for us it was the view of the city and being able to enjoy a fabulous Sunday stroll that made our visit memorable.
Before heading back to the camper we hopped on our bikes to take in some of the ambiance of the city, which always a bit difficult on a Sunday in Europe as everything is closed… everything that is expect the vendors of ethnic markets and grocery stores. Luckily we stumbled across a great Turkish grocer complete with some of my all-time favourites; home- made tzatziki, olives and fresh Balkan bread; needless to say, lunch was delicious!
With the majority of the city closed we decided that it was time to head for Italy- our next destination is Venice and we cannot wait to see what it offers us. The journey is a long one and will likely take us two days, but will mark the start of our journey in Southern Europe!
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