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Europe with Trisha 2023

August - October 2023
Our trip in 2020 needed to be postponed but is now going to happen! Read more
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  • Europe with Trisha 2023
    Day 3

    Day 1 Flying and Frankfurt

    September 1, 2023 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    After a leisurely start to the day with casual packing followed by a bit of panic and quick packing we were off. John drove us to Auckland airport and we were there at 3.30 for our flight leaving at 8.30. Maybe Trisha will be a good influence on me? Security was no issue except for Trisha leaving her money belt on and needing to be checked by Hayley who happened to be on duty.

    We had booked 2 aisle seats next to each other and it was great for us to have a spare seat each next to us for our first 17 hour flight. Unfortunately the girl 2 seats away was really sick, coughing and looking like death warmed up for all of the flight.

    Had 3 hours in Dubai, only enough time to get off plan go to the loo find some stuffed dates and then on plane for the next 6.5 hour flight. Both of us slept a bit on the plane and were feeling quite good and excited when we touched down in Europe - first time for Trisha.

    I had made a contact with a lady through a fb group called host a sister and arranged for her to meet us at the airport. She had mixed her days up so wasn’t there, but lived close and we had nowhere else to go so just waited for her. Golly that was such a great plan. Frankfurt airport has been undergoing alterations and my plan of knowing where to catch the train would not have worked well as we had to catch a shuttle bus first. We would have worked it out I’m sure but it was so much easier not having to.

    So we took a train into Frankfurt, found our accomodation which is in the city centre. Very basic with 2 beds in a room with shared shower toilets and laundry and a small lounge area. $110 for the night so was perfect.

    So dropped bags and put shorts on because we were both really hot. It was about 18 degrees but NZ has been a bit colder than that recently.

    We walked around the old town went through a market with yummy fruit and veges, cheese, meat etc. I bought 2 granidilla and was very excited to see them there. Unfortunately 1 wasn’t nice and the other had just the hint of the yummyness of the ones I had tried in South America. There was a bit of a loud drunken crowd in the old square and the police were there on horseback to monitor the situation. We just walked around the other way and by the time we got back they had dispersed.

    We went into many bakeries, and chocolate shops just enjoying the great sights and smells. I think both have ideas about what we can eat tomorrow. The last lunch on the plane was very substantial with a main meal as well as profiteroles, cheese and crackers, bread roll, and a quinoa salad. So we didnt think we needed to eat for a while. Walked over the bridge which was pretty cool and then we both hit the wall. I think we had done pretty well though. Had intended to do a walking tour tomorrow but Martina was probably better than that. She is a lovely lady who used to work at the airport and if people were stranded she would offer them a couch in her small apartment. So then went to a ALdi supermarket got some raspberries, blueberries and chocolate - priorities sorted! Then found a really nice salad type place for dinner.

    Then back to apartment where we crashed. Didn’t even manage to have a shower. So that was 8pm and I had hoped for a good sleep. Which I did have until 1am. Trisha woke up at 3am so I took iPad out to lounge to type this blog and hopefully will be able to go back for a bit more sleep now. I have been feeling ok, but still coughing a bit.    Read more

  • Europe with Trisha 2023
    Day 3

    Day 2 Frankfurt and Nurnberg

    September 1, 2023 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    After quite a few hours sleep it was time to organise the chaos that was our room after just emptying everything out to find what we needed. That took us to about 10am. Nice shower in place with sideways jets so didn’t have to get hair wet.

    So then 2 hours walking around Frankfurt where it was a bit rainy but warm. Went to the mall, interesting that the designer roof had leaks which we noticed when going up the escalator. Went to supermarket bought 1 banana 1 nectarine 1 toothbrush plus toothpaste. Had pretzels for brekkie at Wiener Feinbaker Heberer. And then went back to the Kleinmarkethalle. Bought a few things there including saffron tea with chia seeds and mint. Tasted great at the stall, and first try this evening was pretty nice. Also discovered a really neat wee bookshop which had some fascinating titles. Bookshop was Buchhandlung Walther Konig. Trisha was sorry she didn’t have a big bag to fit some in.

    Then it was time to go back to get our bags and make our way to the train station. Thanks Google for taking through what seemed to be some dodgy streets with lots of strip clubs and dodgy men hanging around. When we got to the station it appeared that the parallel street looked much nicer! I’m pleased I didn’t choose accommodation near this station though, the reviews did not make it sound like a great place.

    We had lunch at the food market at the train station. Sat at a 4 person table as that’s all that was available, but gave it up for a group of 8 later when a 2 person table was available, those people were very appreciative. We both had a salad and I had some roast chicken to go with it, yummy.

    We thought we had our train sussed very early. Got on platform 7, spoke to a lady who said that train was out of service. We thought that might just change when it was time for ours to go. But luckily Trisha read another sign board and it had changed to platform 6. We got on all ok and had a nice 2.5 hours relaxing on the train.

    Arrived in Nuremberg and had decided to walk the 1.8 kms to our hotel. Hmm, didn’t notice the hills on the walk which took us through the old town which looks great, and we had a few rests on the way and finally got here around 7pm. Our hotel is wonderful. Nice separate sleeping areas and we are here for 4 nights so have unpacked everything.

    We couldn’t be bothered going out for tea so have snacked on what we have, did some washing and will be in bed early.    Read more

  • Europe with Trisha 2023
    Day 4

    Day 3 Nurnberg

    September 2, 2023 in Germany ⋅ 🌙 19 °C

    Both had wonderful sleeps and were ready to go at 8.30. We walked down to the square. There is a rather big hill between our hotel and the main train station and the old city area is in between. So good that we are close to it, but always have to walk that hill.

    Breakfast was an apricot, fig and nectarine from the market. The nectarine was divine! Trish had a coffee from the cart, which had long life milk, guess they didn’t have a fridge handy.

    Then it was off to the information centre which was very useful. We bought a train ticket, was 13 euros which is normally for 1 day, but will cover Sunday as well. Also it is a family ticket so will cover both of us for trains, trams and buses.

    Then we wandered around the old town for a while checking out a few shops, visiting a McD's for a pit stop and then had an awesome chicken salad and roast veges plate from a kebab shop.

    Then it was time to try out the trains. We got off one stop early to start with but easy to get back on the next train. Then caught a tram to very near our hotel. Off to the local supermarket for some fresh food. And then for a wee rest for a couple of hours. We have a mini bar fridge which we have emptied out to put salad stuff in.

    Then it was off to check out the castle which was great to walk around with stunning gardens and good views. The wall around was around 2m wide at the top. It took a while to walk around but we had to leave to get our tickets for the dungeon tour - ie we had to walk down the hill again, and the castle was up a big hill too. After getting the tickets we wandered around for a while and checked out a big church.

    The dungeon tour was pretty good. They were actively used for 500 years until the 1800s. One of the executioners had documented his life thoroughly in the 1500s which gave a good insight as to why people were incarcerated there, why they were tortured and the good dinner before they were executed.

    Then we waited a long time for a band to start at the top of the old city area. We initially had seats but the smoking drove us away. The band were pretty good and we stayed for a few songs.

    It was nice to prepare our own dinner at the hotel with some lovely fresh veges and bread.

    20,300 steps and about 24 degees. A shorts and t shirt day all day.    Read more

  • Europe with Trisha 2023
    Day 5

    Day 4 Nurnberg

    September 3, 2023 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    We were up early and out the door by 8am. Took a tram, train then bus to Doku-Zentrum at which we were supposed to find the Nazi Party Rally Grounds. After walking around a bit we found it and followed some of the stations. The one thought I had was that it was all so HUGE. It appears that they started building this massive arena with huge paved roadway to it but never actually finalised or used it. The road was 60m wide and 1500m long, they didn’t finish the last 500m of the road. Since then there has been a lot of discussion about what it could be used for. We also saw the Zeppelin Grandstand and Zeppelin field. This was the scene for mass parades to assemble before the Fuhrer Adolf Hitler. It was a surprise to be standing somewhere that Hitler had once stood.

    There was also some sort of photo shoot with race cars which seemed a bit odd there, but lanes were marked out for races so it must be a normal thing.

    It took us a couple of hours to walk around, and pictures will not do it justice. Then it was time for Trish to have her first beer here - before midday even! She had a sausage dish for lunch while I had a cheese salad. Her beer didn’t cost much more than my glass of tap water!

    Then it was a tram then train to Nuremberg Palace of Justice where the allies held trials against representatives of the defeated Nazi Germany for plotting and carrying out invasions of other countries and atrocities against their citizens in WW2.. We visited the museum here and courtroom 600 where the actual trials were held. There was a very good simulated video of the actual trials and a lot of different information to be accessed through the auto cues. Interesting for me was that the Nuremberg principals were to be applied for any future genocide or where atrocities were perpetuated. The recent Ukranian war featured in here too. It did strike me that yesterday we were talking about 500 years of executions in the dungeons, and that the Nazi Germany period was just a small fraction of that time, but what has been remembered the most.

    After that we went back to the hotel for a wee rest. Then later went to walk a part of the old town we hadn’t been too with lots of lovely bridges and photo opportunities. We had a gelato and then back to the hotel for our dinner which we ate off the plastic top of the salad container and the empty grape container. We are still using the wooden forks that we got from Trisha’s drawer at home and used with oranges on our flight. We intend to visit Decathlon tomorrow and might find some proper utensils.

    So winning today is our ability to catch trams, trains and buses. Trisha is totally the expert in working that out.

    There are lots of dogs walking around here, most ignore each other but occasionally there is a bit of barking. When we were waiting for a tram, a child went up to a dog which had a bit of a go at the child. Didn’t look like it connected but everyone seemed to ignore it except the father and grandfather who laughed and told the child that he shouldn’t have gone over in the first place. Child was about 4 ish.

    20,458 steps and 24 degrees.    Read more

  • Europe with Trisha 2023
    111
    Day 6

    Day 5 Nurnberg

    September 4, 2023 in Germany ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Up early again for us and out the door around 8am. We then took a tram and train to the nearby town of Furth. We wanted to go the info centre but we were too early, so after Trish had had a cappuccino we caught a local bus and ended up at my old favourite Decathlon. Trish bought a small pack, my little fold away one which she had borrowed was not that comfortable while walking around. We bought a bamboo cutlery set so we can stop using the wooden forks, and both bought a top.

    Then we popped over the road and went to a really large supermarket as opposed to the small local we have been frequenting (yes, multiple visits over the last 4 days lol). I made up a salad from the salad bar and Trish had a ready made one. I got some sunblock and bagel chips. Our plan was to catch a bus back to where we had come from but got a bit confused about which way it was. Trish wanted to sit in the shade so we were behind the stop perched on a raised garden bed and so we missed a bus going past. Then when the next bus was due I looked over the road and noticed the other bus stop… with a bench seat… in the shade. So crossed the road, got on the right bus and ended up in a nice grassy area near the info centre where we ate our lunch.

    Gotta talk about the smoking here. Just ridiculous the amount of people smoking. It is hard to sit anywhere without smoke wafting over. So in this grassy area there were 4 benches occupied, and people on 3 of them were smoking when we sat down.

    The people at the info centre were really helpful and we went away with a new map. Caught a train for 1 stop and were then in the old city which was just lovely. Took lots of pics of statues which were quite whimsical. We stopped and had a gelato, and then left due to the smoker next door. Then ended up by some fountains and I got some watermelon which I ate sitting on the grass in a park. Then saw another fountain which kids were playing in. We finally ended up in the green area that we had been aiming for and that was really lovely. Fountains, walkways, kid playgrounds, large green spaces. We sat for quite a while just chatting in front of the water area. A little squirrel joined us for a while and then a couple with a border collie sat on a bench nearby. When we left I said something like “hi matey” to the bc, who then proceeded to lunge and growl at me and I was very pleased he was onlead!

    So then more of a walk back to the train station, and a train then tram back to our hotel. We have had a rather busy 3 days here and are leaving in the morning so have decided we are staying in for the evening. We got back here around 5pm so it was a pretty long day.

    Public transport has been amazing and Trisha is a superstar. We often don’t bother looking at a map to work out what we need to catch. Total has been 8 trains, 8 trams and 3 buses. So a total of 19 public transport trips!

    19,000 steps and 26 degrees today.    Read more

  • Europe with Trisha 2023
    1
    Day 7

    Day 6. Scenic train on the Rhine

    September 5, 2023 in Germany ⋅ 🌙 24 °C

    We had a casual start to our day. Off at 7.30 to buy provisions for our train day. Then finalised our packing and chilled out until our leaving time of 10am. Catching tram and train was easy to get back to Nuremberg Hauptbahnhof where Trisha had a coffee and we chilled out in a cafe until our train was due to leave at 11.30.

    We knew we had 2.5 hours to Mainz and then an hour wait until the scenic train, but time marched on and we had a couple of nervous moments wondering if we should have got off at Frankfurt and transferred to another train. But a helpful guy allayed our fears and just said our train was running 40 mins late. Then we wondered if we would make our connection, but he said if we didn’t we could just stay on our current train which would take us through to Koln.

    When we got off the train it turned out that the scenic train was also delayed.

    The scenic train was well worth the extra money and time. I had reserved seats in the panoramic carriage which I thought might be at the rear of the train. But Trisha saw it at the front. It was a really long train and we got on the first third, but had to make our way through a few carriages carrying bags and banging people’s shins. Trisha didn’t want to go back through those carriages to find a toilet later as she was worried about those shins she had attacked.

    Then an older man was in my seat so I had to ask him to move, and Trisha and I had seats which backed onto each other. I asked the lady facing me if she would mind swapping and it was lovely that she did and we had the perfect seats and view.

    It really was some amazing scenery we went through and I would highly recommend it.

    Got to our hotel around 6pm. It is very close to the train station and an ok room but not like our last one and no fridge. We dumped our bags and went for a walk. Gee this place is pumping. Lots of people, river is amazing, we walked over the bridge to the other side, sooo many locks on this bridge. There is also a really long area beside the river with stone benches all the way along for people to sit on and enjoy the river and the views of the other side. Our hotel is very close to the river and entertainment section.

    While on the other side we booked a bike tour for tomorrow online so hopefully that will go ahead. We also have been hearing that there are issues with trains from Paris to Milan because of rock fall, and I have now received an email canceling our train, so we are going to have to find a flight which is a bit of a pain.

    Had a shared pizza for dinner and of course a gelato.

    We are both feeling rather tired tonight which is funny as we haven’t walked a huge amount, but the last few days have been quite busy.

    Really hot today, it was 29 degrees, and was 27 at 7pm.
    14,375 steps…    Read more

  • Europe with Trisha 2023
    1
    Day 8

    Day 7 Cologne

    September 6, 2023 in Germany ⋅ 🌙 22 °C

    This morning I was busy trying to interpret the email that I received in French about our cancelled train trip. I was quite impressed with my school girl French to realise it was important and then used google translate to work out what needed to be done for our refund. Managed to find the form to complete in English and when the confirmation email arrived I realised it was in French German and English. So I looked back on the initial email and that was also in 3 languages, I just needed to scroll down, duh!

    Also found out that I can call people on our SIM card as wanted to confirm the bike tour that I booked last night. It was all on, and we walked there arriving a bit early so Trish had her coffee at a cafe and I was asked not to eat my pastry there that I had bought on the way.

    The bike tour was brilliant. There were only 4 other people on the tour plus the guide and a guy training to be a guide. We were all pretty competent (really surprised Trisha that she was placed in that camp), so we did some extra things and some slightly trickier parts like very narrow alleyways, and steep downhills. There was only one really hard hill that we both managed to get up. Haven’t ridden a non e-bike for a while, where was the extra assistance!

    So we rode all over the place, stopping to get info about the sights, walked up to a rose garden, stopped and had a snack, and were finished about 3.5 hours later.

    We walked back to the river Rhine and picked up some bread rolls, cheese tomatoes and salami for a picnic lunch and ate that by the fountain, and I soaked my feet in the nice cool water. Then off to the cathedral which was pretty spectacular inside. They took the windows out in WW2 so they weren’t damaged and there was only a small part that was bombed - a lot of the rest of the city was decimated and has been rebuilt.

    We knew we wanted to go to the chocolate factory which was a 1.4km walk. It was so very hot that we took the little city bus there instead. Inside the factory there was lots of exhibits, free chocolate and explanation of how chocolate was made including actual machines doing it. But, it was very hot in there as well. We didn’t buy any chocolate as it would have melted very quickly and we don’t have a fridge in our room.

    So back on the wee bus which took a while to get back to the cathedral which is close to our hotel. We had a rather short lie down and decided we didn’t have many more steps in us so we had dinner at the bottom of the hotel that we are in. Couldn’t be bothered walking a block to get a gelato either! Might be because Trish has a rather large beer and I had a limoncello spritzer.

    So let’s talk about the weather. I knew there had been a heat wave and was expecting it to be cooler. Sarah our bike guide said that it was really cold here last week and she had to lend warm clothes to people doing the tours. I have just received a heat wave warning from the UK government as it is going to get hotter. Paris seems to be hotter than here and is forecasted to be 35 when we arrive on Sunday. But then 23 the next day, we might feel the chill then lol. Trish and I have known each other for a long time and it’s good that we feel comfortable with just wearing a bra and undies in our rooms because it is just too hot for anything else. The bonus is that our washing dries really quickly every day.

    18,761 steps and 30 degrees    Read more

  • Europe with Trisha 2023
    1
    12
    Day 9

    Day 8 Amsterdam

    September 7, 2023 in the Netherlands ⋅ 🌙 25 °C

    We were a bit too knackered to pack last night and thought we had it down to a fine art so were up about 7 and all ready packed and showered by 8. Trisha had a coffee in the square looking at the amazing Cologne cathedral which gave us a sitting spot. I went in search of something to eat on the train for lunch. We have really missed having a fridge. I found a Rewe to go which had a great salad bar amongst other things and even had fresh milk. So I got a salad and banana and then got lost in train station trying to get back. I was just thinking about googling the cathedral when I worked it out. Then finally remembered my middle of the night thought that Trish and I should share location on snap chat so we can find each other.

    We were at our train platform pretty early, and Trish went and got her salad. No drama on the train today. We hadn’t reserved our seats but no one moved us on so was all good. We switched trains at Utrecht so we could go directly close to our accomodation and had a 1.2 km walk when we arrived and chose not to try the metro to get closer.

    Our room is rather tiny. We are at an Airbnb which is a one bedroom flat. The owner, his wife and their 8 month old baby relocate to the lounge when they have guests. But Peter is really nice and been helpful when I contacted him before we arrived and part of the charm was having free bikes to use.

    So after putting some washing on, didn’t realise the front loader would take 3 hours so my clothes for going out were limited, we were off on our bikes whizzing around Amsterdam. It was soooooo much fun! Trisha did really well, probably didn’t expect it to be nearly as chaotic as it was and also probably surprised that she survived the experience! Bikes, people, cars and trams were everywhere.

    The sights were pretty cool. Lots of boats in the canals, pretty bridges, found the flea market, looked for optician shops, found some lens cleaner and basically just absorbed the atmosphere. Found a gelato shop and mine was limoncello and mango. They also sold hemp cookies, great combination!

    So it just got busier and busier so we decided that we had had enough and started the bike back. Found a spot where lots of people were swimming in the canal which was a bit surprising.

    We have access to a fridge here, so planned a supermarket visit. Trish stayed outside with the bikes and probably wanted to send out a search party for me. For a start it was a huge supermarket and I was feeling the responsibility of deciding what to buy. Then I used the self checkout and my Wise card wouldn’t work. There were several people waiting for assistance which took quite a while. The assistant told me that only European credit cards were accepted, really? But then said cash was ok and there was an atm at the entrance. Of course my Wise card wouldn’t give me cash - found out later that I had disabled it in the app. So it was outside to Trish who also didn’t have the 25 euros we needed. I had her Wise card and she kindly told me her pin which I have forgotten. So got cash out on her card and then had to try and find my shopping. I nearly fell over it on the floor and the lady who had it said do you still want this? At that stage not really! Then back to the cash lane and finally outside to Trish.

    So back to our room and had a lovely dinner with some yummy chocolate for dessert. We had thought about going out tonight but have piked out. Maybe tomorrow.

    30 degrees, 10,836 steps, but several hours of biking too.    Read more

  • Europe with Trisha 2023
    Day 10

    Day 9 Amsterdam

    September 8, 2023 in the Netherlands ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    This tripping around is rather tiring. We were in bed before 10 and I slept until 6.30. We had a leisurely start to the day and were on our bikes by 8.30 and on our way to Anne Frank’s house where we had booked tickets for 9.30. We got there successfully except an encounter with a thorn bush for Trisha. As we were early I went off to try and find an ETOS chemist for some anti bacterial cream for her, but got a bit lost so returned so I wasn’t late.

    Anne Frank house was very moving, and reading all the stories again just brought it home how horrific that time was for people. There is now a video at the end saying that 30 years ago about 50 % of the world had democratic rule, in 2021 that had shrunk to 30%. So there was quite a message about protecting our democracy which was a sobering message.

    Across the road was the tulip museum so we had a look at their nick nacks which were all pretty cute and then onto a cheese shop next door where we tasted a lot of cheese. On the way to Anne Frank I had noticed fresh stroopwaffles, so then we went in search of those. Biked quite a way before we found one, but while biking down a busy street I spied a croc shop. I have been getting sore spots on my feet from all the walking in the heat. I thought about bringing my crocs from nz but changed my mind last minute. Fur lined wouldn’t have worked here though. I was very pleased to find some bright yellow ones on special and wore them for the rest of the day.

    After our stroopwaffle we realise there was a Hard Rock Cafe in town which is somewhere Trish had been keen to try. We had a really nice lunch there with a cool drink and the best thing was the air con. Then it was off to a local park for a lie down on the grass. Lots of traffic there, foot and bike. The most interesting was the guy walking about 10 large dogs while he was on his bike, just around the corner they all ran off chasing something, no one seemed to care.

    I was pleased that I managed to navigate the 5kms back to our place without the help of google. The canals help a lot with the orientation.

    After a couple of hours rest, we departed on our big night out in Amsterdam! Managed to find our way to the metro station, bought tickets for there and the way back and we were off! There were loads of people around. We did visit the Museum of Secrets which had insights about the prostitution industry which was very interesting. Then we roamed around, saw a few people who possibly had been eating the special cookies. There were some ladies in windows who were ready for business. We didn’t buy anything to eat or drink while we were out and no prizes for guessing how long we were out for! But we managed to get the metro back with no issues and had dinner in our room.

    Packing up time again as we are off to Ghent and some Belgium chocolate tomorrow.

    30 degrees, 12, 094 steps and around 20 kms on the bikes.

    I really enjoyed the biking. I should tot up the near misses…
    1. Trisha getting spiked on her lower leg by a thorny bush after riding into the bushes
    2. Me riding totally into the info centre when I forgot I only had back brakes which didn’t work well
    3. Trisha nearly arsing off coming out of the park when someone biked to close to her and she lost her balance
    4. Motorbike hooning around the corner in the bike lane nearly taking me out and yelling imbecile as he left
    5. Very fast guy on a black bike that I just didn’t see having to take evasive action
    6. Trisha following me when the sign changed to stop and getting abused

     But we lived to tell the tales!    Read more

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