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Kay's Travels

Kay's Travels

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  • Kay's TravelsEurope 2018Reisender

    Bad Wildbad to London

    6. Juni 2018 in England ☀️ 66 °F

    A long travel day so not much to report today. Left my beautiful spot in the Black Forest around 8:30 for the drive to Munich, about 3 1/2 hours. Uneventful. Flight was not until almost 5P so a long wait in the airport. Left a little late and arrived London an hour late. Then the various forms of transportation to get to my final destination, my new flat in London. Gatwick Express to Victoria Station, tube to Earl's Court to pick up key (owner of the flat is on vacation). Then a walk to the apartment about 1/2 mile away. All went smoothly and arrived about 8:30PM.

    Long days in London this time of year. Still some light at 10PM and also at 5AM. Out to dinner and some much needed wine. High Street Kensington is just around the corner, tons of cafes, restaurants, and shopping areas. Entrance to Holland Park right across the street and a supermarket around the corner. Tube is about 5-7 minutes walk. Very convenient to all. Had light dinner at Cafe Concerto - very good as was the wine!! Back to flat to fall into bed.
    No pics today.

    Miles: 5.0    Weiterlesen

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  • Kay's TravelsEurope 2018Reisender
    1

    Bad Wildbad

    5. Juni 2018 in Deutschland ☀️ 68 °F

    Last day in the forest. Have loved it here. Would recommend this place to anyone looking for peace and quiet yet close enough to towns and cities. Landhaus Gruden - Sommerberg/Ba Wildbad. I booked through Home Away/VRBO but they told me it might have been a bit less to book on Booking.com. You pretty much do need a car but you could take the train to most places. But it is easy to drive here, the roads are good and wide enough. (unlike Italy)
    dWent for my last walk in the forest this AM. The area around here is pretty familiar by now so found some of my favorite spots and sat for awhile. Went to "town" for a quick salad lunch and then to the spa/baths. Palais Thermal - there are 2 large spas in town, my host said this was the best so that's where I went. The place was really beautiful. They have kept the Roman bath decor on the lower floor but the upper floors are very modern and amazing. I do not know how many pools they have - they were all over and I am not sure I found everything. They do have 9 saunas - both indoor and outdoor. All at different temperatures. They were all large - about 4-5 levels. The place was not at all crowded so had the 2 saunas I tried to my self. But the best spot to me was the upper Panoramic deck on the top - outside. Spectacular views of the forest on the top of the mountain and the funicular going up the mountain. The pool is an infinity pool on all side. Really something special. And it was also funny. I had read in one of the brochures that "garment-free" sunbathing is allowed on the top deck until evening so I was not sure what to expect. Much to my surprise for some time I found myself to be the only one wearing a bathing suit !! Whoever said Germans are a "staid" race needs to spend an afternoon here !! Life is full of new experiences.

    Dinner locally - Auerbahn - good trout and a lovely outdoor dining area.

    Miles: 5.9    Weiterlesen

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  • Kay's TravelsEurope 2018Reisender

    Bad Wildbad

    4. Juni 2018 in Deutschland 🌧 68 °F

    Another relaxing day, walking and enjoying the incredible scenery all around me. Off this AM to find a new area to walk. Drove 10-12 miles in a different direction, parked off the main road and went for a lovely walk along a rapidly flowing stream with the forest all around me. Walked for 3-4 miles and then back to the car to find a new place to walk. Decided I was hungry so saw this lovely place up on a hill - lovely outdoor area to eat and whiled away an hour an a half - taking in the scenery and having a terrific lunch. Salad Neptune. Will attach picture - 3 pieces of wonderful salmon or steelhead - not sure which - (menu all in German). Will attach pic. Their presentation of salad is wonderful here. Just always too much food. Hated to leave any of this as it was all wonderful. But under that mound of greens was potato salad and coleslaw!!!

    Back to Bad Wildbad to look around at places I had not seen yet. Needed some new face lotion - this being a spa town, choices were numerous. Checked out the "baths" I am going to tomorrow, compared to US prices, this will be a bargain. Gas, grocery store, etc. Back to home for a "lie down" and then out for a "second to final" walk in the woods. Weather is incredible - low to mid 70s with sun and puffy white clouds. The evening is wonderful here, the tourists are gone and the forest is left to those of us staying on the top of the hill. Quiet and peaceful.

    Back for some back yard/garden time to ensure I enjoy all of the sunshine for the day. I have essentially spent 2 months living outside with the exception of sleeping. I could get used to this. Just checked the weather for London and it should be in the low 70s when I arrive!! A nice conversation with the host of this place while he was grilling their dinner. Also met Elfrieda, their cat, the world's best mouser. She has a never ending source of meat with the forest out the back door.

    Miles: 5.6    Weiterlesen

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  • Kay's TravelsEurope 2018Reisender

    Bad Wildbad

    3. Juni 2018 in Deutschland ⛅ 70 °F

    Lazy AM catching up on "paper" work. Needed to check in flight to London, ensure all set for Home Away in London, and figure out how to get from Gatwick to the last apartment on this trip. Also starting to look at theater in London. Then off for the day.

    First a walk in the woods out the back door to find the bridge that my host mentioned when I first got here. The bridge is a newly built 1km long pedestrian suspension bridge in the forest that is just being finished. The dedication is scheduled for mid July. The bridge is on the Fairy Tale trail in the woods. Lots of Fairy Tale iconography in this area as the Brothers Grimm, revered for their telling of fairy tales, lived and wrote here. I followed the trail a short ways and found the bridge, quite an engineering feat. It starts and ends in the woods but spans over open space with terrific views of the towns below for about 1K other 0.65 mile. Though it does look like they still have a ways to go to be ready for 7/15. Another amazing thing to see and do right out of my front door. I really just lucked out on this place - wanted to be in the forest but had no idea where. Since I wanted 11 days, lots of other places not available for that long. Sometimes luck is better than skill. Walked a bit more and came across a Hang-gliding take off spot. Watched one fellow got ready and took off - have a video but you cannot put videos into this blog. Not sure I could just run out and jump off a mountain. :-)

    Then off for a ride. Target was Baiserbroon - about 30 miles away. I have found a good website - https://theculturetrip.com/europe/germany/artic… -- and I am knocking them off one by one. Have done the top 3 so today is number 4, about 30 miles South of me. The town itself was nice but the terrain in this area was beautiful. There is more open space from the forest so you see pristine, steepled towns in the distance when you turn every corner. Also visited an old (built in the 9th Century) monastery, lovely grounds and garden - Benedictine monks. Found a place to park and just picked a path and walked for an hour+. Paths everywhere and lots of folk out for Sunday afternoon walks but still not hard to get away. Back to home to get the last half hour of sunshine in the back yard garden. Relaxing Sunday.

    Pasta for dinner - last meal I will cook here. Finished a book I have been listening to - The Exile - Richard North Patterson - very good. And then finished the first season of Berlin Station on Netflix. Very good as well.

    Miles: 5.9    Weiterlesen

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  • Kay's TravelsEurope 2018Reisender

    Bad Wildbad

    2. Juni 2018 in Deutschland ⛅ 66 °F

    Breakfast with the other guests today. Talked with a couple from Australia who travel a lot so nice to hear and speak some English instead of my highly inadequate German. Off to Baden Baden, about 30 miles away, and the "capital" of the spa towns in the Black Forest. A horse racing town as well, a major European race this weekend. Horses (sculptures) all over town, just like the cows in Chicago and the bears in Berlin.

    A great day in a lovely small City - Baden Baden. Season is starting so plenty of tourists around The city is known for its "baths" but also for cultural events all year around. Spent some time finding where to park and then off to find the TI for a map. Beautiful weather - around 70 sunshine and puffy white clouds - I will never have another vacation like this one which such amazing weather for 2 months!

    First booked my tickets for the early evening concert in one of the "largest concert and opera houses" in Europe" - the Festspielhaus - a 6PM start time so perfect timing. I do not relish trying to find my way around this forest at night.

    Just wandered the town for 4 or 5 hours. A big pedestrian only section with the numerous cafes and shops. Baden Baden is an upscale town and the shops reflect that concept - Missoni, Louis Vuitton, Escada, etc. I tried the Faberge museum thinking it sounded interesting - not. Small, dark, minimal English and minimal any kind of description. Story of Carl Faberge and all he did mostly before he did eggs. Jewelry, dinnerware, etc. Only 2 eggs on display (they were beautiful) but many more eggs for sale in the gift shop. :-) And from the prices, I think they were real. So that was only a 30 minute stop.

    I had read about the lovely park that goes through the town and, indeed, it was beautiful and goes for about 2 miles - long an narrow with a river running through it. Many of the big museums are along the way, rose garden, huge belle epoch villas, lots of bridges to walk back and forth and a very pleasant way to spend a couple hours. Treated myself to a late afternoon upscale lunch/dinner in one of the lovely cafes overlooking the garden. Rizzi - great carpaccio and a Thai creme soup with scallops!! And, of course, a German Reisling. Life is good.

    Then to the concert, the concert hall is huge (seats 2,500) - only built 20 years ago. I was surprised to read that it was that new as the entrance looks old. Checking on line, the location was an old railroad station and the kept that as the entrance and then built the very modern structure within and behind. The acoustics were terrific - I sat in the 2nd balcony and it was like I was next to the stage. Pianist solo for a Liszt piece, terrific. All was great. Home and only got "lost" once.

    Miles: 6.3

     The orchestra was the Dresden City Orchestra    Weiterlesen

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  • Kay's TravelsEurope 2018Reisender
    1

    Bad Wildbad

    1. Juni 2018 in Deutschland ⛅ 61 °F

    Impressive thunderstorm around midnight last night. Thunder, lightening and hard rain for a good hour. Not conducive to much sleep. But humidity and temps are down, ~70 with much sun today. I had a "locals" list of 3 things I wanted to do so started with that list today - crossed off 2 of them. Finally did the Treetops walk - really beautiful and so much fun. I thought it might be too "touristy" but it is a lovely walk high above the treetops in the forest. Beautiful views in all directions. Lots of fun things to do along the way, it goes for about 3/4 mile until it gets to the tower. Then unbeknownst to me (I had always wondered what that tube in the middle of the tower was) you can walk to the top and tube down!! I debated for awhile and then said to myself, "what the hell you are not getting any younger" and off I went. It goes fast !! Kind of like an amusement park ride. They put you on a carpet kind of "slip pad" with your feet in a pocket at the bottom of the carpet and tell you not to try to stop yourself and off you go. :-) (Big smile)

    Back to my "home" for a salad lunch and off to the park in town. (Kurpark) I was so very impressed. I think it if the most beautiful City park I have ever seen. Kurpark is long and narrow and has every conceivable amenity you would ever want in a park. I parked at the far end - I think it runs about 1.5 miles long - and walked the length. A small, but beautiful river, runs the length and there are numerous bridges so that you can wander back and forth on both sides. A water wheel, gazebo, tennis courts, duck pond, lounge chairs in the grass, places for kids to walk in a tiny stream, rose garden (most roses gone) and so much more. Just a peaceful and tranquil spot in the world. Walked for an hour and a half or so, taking pics, and then found a secluded lounge chair and took a nap. :-)

    Home for more pasta for dinner and off to a concert in town tonight. I lovely evening in a beautiful building in Bad Wildbad. Concert was light opera, mostly music from Operettas - mostly German composers. (Go figure). Two violins, cello and piano.

    Miles: 6.6    Weiterlesen

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    Bad Wildbad

    31. Mai 2018 in Deutschland 🌧 72 °F

    Another lovely sunny AM and out the door for a walk leaving from Kaltenbronn about 12 miles away. Lots of people with the same idea today as when I got there a bit after 10 and most all the shady parking places were taken.

    This is also a popular walking area. Only about 5.5 miles rt but I planned to add on a bit. The round trip goes through the forest for about 3 miles and then comes around to a large Nature Preserve that has a small lake - Wildsee. The popular route for many folk is just to walk out to the preserve, look at the late and come back - about 3 miles. Since that was the busier way I went through the forest first. Lots of trees and everything so very green. Clouds came in early around 11 or so. Decided to do the extra mile and a half and went to Grunhutte, a guest house and restaurant in the forest. I had been there the other day coming from the opposite direction. They are known for their Blueberry Pancakes and I got to see many of them being served. Wish I had taken a picture of one. The pancake filled the entire plate and was fluffy on the edges. The middle was filled with a mound of blueberry sauce. They looked wonderful! While eating my lunch there the clouds got serious and it started to pour. People came to the place from every location in the forest. Fun to watch. I waited it out along with rest and then started back to the Nature Park and Wildsee. A very pretty walk - sprinkled the rest of the way.

    Home for a little rest and clean up and out for dinner in Bad Wildbad. Went to one of the hotels in town for dinner - Alte Linde. It was OK - I need to learn that I am in a meat eating country and not order fish. Trout was pretty tasteless but done well. Potato croquettes were very good. Home for another episode of Berlin Station and my new book.

    Miles: 8.4    Weiterlesen

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    Bad Wildbad

    30. Mai 2018 in Deutschland 🌧 72 °F

    A very lazy morning after 2 full days of tourism. Did not get started until about 1PM. Then off to check out a couple towns in the area. Read an article on the 10 best towns in the Black Forest so started on that list. The town of Calw (no idea how to pronounce) was noted as one of the most picturesque in the forest so decided to start there as it was only about 20 miles from my current home. What a treat! Good roads, easy to get to and easy to park. A combination not found frequently in Europe.

    A town full of half timbered houses set along the Enz River! If you love to see tons of this type of architecture, this is the place for you. Every color combination imaginable. Lovely to walk around and the usual cafes and shops. An interesting church with a butterfly as the focal point, could not find out what that was all about. (Sometimes it pays to go on a tour.) Wandered around for a couple hours, taking pictures and enjoying an apple sparkling water by the riverside. Good find.

    Then to check out another town, Kaltenbroon - mainly because I want to hike to there tomorrow. By foot through the forest its about 7 miles to get there from "home", by car its 14 miles !! Checked it out, got a map and have decided to drive over there in the AM and walk from there. There is a big nature preserve there as well as a couple lakes I would like to see and it looks like a nice walk. Weather has been warm (up to 80) but some of the humidity from the last couple days is gone. And always cooler in the forest.

    Back to town for a grocery store stop and home for pasta.

    Miles: 3    Weiterlesen

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    Bad Wildbad

    29. Mai 2018 in Deutschland ☁️ 63 °F

    Off to Heidelberg via train on the 8:35. Heidelberg is only about 50 miles away but decided to take the train to save the hassle of constant GPS navigation and parking once I was there. Turned out to be a questionable decision. :-)

    I had always wanted to go back to Heidelberg, a city that I just drove through once and thought it looked pretty and worth coming back to. Train schedules from here (a small town) usually have multiple transfers to get to anything over 20 miles away. I looked on line (very good and user friendly website) and found one that only had one transfer so took that. My host told me that if I parked in Calmbach, a town about 2-3 miles from Bad Wildbad, I would not need to pay for parking. Bad Wildbad has virtually no street parking, all in large parking garages. So left from Calmbach, the train stopped every 5 minutes, filled with commuter folk and those just going to the grocery store. Found a new "best friend" in a kid who worked in one of the towns along the way but was on his way back home to Romania for vacation. 20 something very social and loved to talk about what he was doing. 20 something and speaks 3 languages !!! The 2nd train was a bullet train and sped right along to Heidelberg.

    Arrived at the train station, a big and busy place. TI right outside to get a map and transit information. Transportation is cheap here as this is primarily a university town, The famous Heidelberg University. Bus/tram ticket only about $1.60. I took a tram to the Old Town - a large area where most of the tourist sites are located. Walked the Old Town, took the Old Bridge across the Neckar river which flows through the City. Climbed to the top of one of the old churches (Protestant) and great 360 views. Pictures not great as it was cloudy. Sun came out at 4PM. Warm and sticky. Heidelberg castle on the hill above the town is a major tourist attraction. Did not go up there, chose instead to walk across the river to the Philosopher's walk - a lovely wooded walk high on a hill across the river from the Old Town. Known as the Philosopher's Walk as it is where the professors and philosophers from the university could converse in the beautiful green way and enjoy the views of the Old Town and Castle across the river. A truly beautiful spot. Checked out a lot of buildings that are a part of the university. Heidelberg population is 20% students and of the 25,000 students, about 20% are international. I heard a lot of English being spoken from the kids. Also found a place to get my nails done!!

    Back to train station for my 7:30PM train - which, when it showed up on the board was going to be 90 minutes late. So I had to get another set of trains that had 2 transfers and did not leave until 8:10PM. One of them only had 8 minutes to get from one train to another. Needless to say a bit stressful but all went well and was home only an hour later than I planed. A very busy day. A day off from tourism tomorrow.

    Miles: 8.5
    Floors Climbed: 38    Weiterlesen

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    Bad Wildbad

    28. Mai 2018 in Deutschland ⛅ 68 °F

    Lots of plans for today. My first longer walk in the Black Forest. My host suggested a place on the map called Grunhutte, a guest house in the middle of the forest about 3+ miles away. Sounded good for my first trip into the forest. Walk was beautiful and easy, green everywhere. The forest is really not like "hiking", it truly is a walk. Some of the trails are what we call in the US, forest roads. All is very clean, lots of benches along the paths and little huts every couple miles. The guest house was lovely - lots of flowers and outdoor seating for walkers. Went a different way on the way back and stopped at one of the hut areas - all have picnic benches 0 to have my sandwich.

    Back by 1:30PM, a little rest and out to check out Bad Wildbad. To get to town, you can take the funicular down the mountain, do your business and take it back up. Decided to do this once just for the fun of it. (I do have a car of course). Fun ride, lots of people here at the top of the mountain use it as their daily means to get back and forth. I checked out the TI (tourist information) looking for some music in the area. Did find some for Friday night. The town is long and skinny as it takes advantage of the riverfront. Lots of cafes, some shops and of course, bakeries and ice cream everywhere. I checked all of that out on my way to the grocery store for a few more provisions and then back up the mountain for cocktail hour. :-)

    Made some pasta sauce, did some planning for a trip to Heidelberg tomorrow, and had pasta on my deck about 9PM. Good day.

    Miles: 9.1    Weiterlesen

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    Bad Wildbad

    27. Mai 2018 in Deutschland ⛅ 73 °F

    A really lazy day, must have needed a recup day. Woke up early and took a morning and afternoon nap !! :-) I went out late AM to check out the Black Forest area around me.
    This settlement is at the top of Sommerberg mountain and attracts a lot of tourists and weekend folk. Lots of folk doing the Treetop Walk - an amazing walk in the woods to a huge tower that you walk around until you are above the trees. Its minutes away from my doorstep. Pictures are not good as weather started to turn. Day started with sunshine but, the weather forecast was correct and around noon significant thunder though very little rain. Checked out the first longer walk I want to do tomorrow - about 7-8 mile rt to a little town about 4 miles away in the forest that is supposed to have a good restaurant. This is also a big biking area with trails all over that are "engineered" - e.g. bank and bumps, etc. Not your usual biking through the woods. A ski hut close to here with a rope tow nearby. I was amazed to see a fellow coming up the rope tow on his bicycle - they have some kind of device that attached to the rope tow that brings them up the mountain on the rope tow!! My kind of cycling - all downhill. Having said that, I saw a lot of trails that were engineered above my ability even it it was downhill.!!!

    Took a ride this afternoon, checked out the downtown of Bad Wildbad and a town about 4K away. Lots to do here and a railroad station to get me to wherever I do not want to drive.

    Out to dinner tonight. There are 2 hotels in this area that I can walk to and not have to take the car down the mountain. Ate at one of them - the Auerhahn. Was ready for a good dinner and had Salmon-trout (steelhead to me) with asparagus and potatoes. It was very good. Home for some back yard silence and back to apartment.

    Miles: 3    Weiterlesen

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    Munich to Bad Wildbad

    26. Mai 2018 in Deutschland ☀️ 61 °F

    Up and out for another new adventure. Made my way to the Munich airport where I rented my new car. A Ford Fiesta - automatic. :-) And with air conditioning which was needed. Weather had gone from perfect temps in the low to mid 70s to upper 70s and low 80s. Today around 80 most of the way. About a 3 hour drive from Munich to Bad Wildbad. Bad Wildbad is a spa town in the Black Forest near the French border. I chose it for a more rural setting (have done 3 cities in a row) and ready for some more hiking. Only made one wrong turn driving, it turned out to be a relatively long detour as where I was supposed to get back on the freeway, the ramp was closed and all the GPS wanted to do was to get me to that on ramp. Finally turned off the GPS and following the signs for a town a bit away and then reset the GPS and found the freeway.

    Arrived here around 5PM, met the owner who kept the orientation short with a promise from me to have tea together later. I needed to get to a grocery store as tomorrow is Sunday and everything will be closed. The area I am staying is up the mountain from the town about 2 miles but a community into itself. Found my way back down the hill and there are 2 large grocery stores in town, tried them both. Very excited to find some Sancere wine at one of them. Check out the town just a bit. There is a railroad station which I can use for free within a certain distance. Will use it to see local area towns just for fun. I want to go to Heidelberg one day - it is about 50 miles from here.

    Back for my "orientation" to the area. Milka (??sp) went through her entire book of tourist information and how to get everywhere and opening and closing hours of restaurants, how to get to the walking trails, etc. We had a cup of tea together, she is lovely but a bit over the top with enthusiasm. They have a lovely outside space here. Lots of lounge chairs and very green with flowers and right on the edge of the forest. I can start walking from the back door.

    On my own and it is almost 8PM. I have my own outside terrace with chairs and table - a great place for my wine. Had picked up a salad for dinner. Enjoyed that outside as well. An episode of Berlin Station (Netflix) and to bed.    Weiterlesen

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    Munich

    25. Mai 2018 in Deutschland ☀️ 64 °F

    Last day in Munich dawned bright sunshine and warm. My streak of incredible weather continues. Some housekeeping chores first: my adapter for my computer died and had to find a new one, needed hand lotion and a new transport ticket.

    After all of that off to the Pinakothek Museum. There are 3 Pinakothek museums: old, new, and modern - in the same area. I decided to go to the new, new should be in quotes as the first New Pinakotek was built in the late 1800s! However as with most buildings in Munich, it was destroyed in 1944 and has been rebuilt. This museum houses art from about 1600-1850 so is after the Renaissance and includes the Impressionists. Another huge building but I love what they have done with the space. All of the art has a lot of room, there may be only 7 or 8 paintings in a 600 sq foot room. And most of the walls that the art hangs on are painted blue. Thoroughly enjoyed the museum. Took time for a "tea" break and later lunch in their lovely outdoor cafe.

    Back for my final trip to the City Center - Marienplatz - and the market nearby for a bottle of German white wine and "home"early to pack and a relaxing evening. Enjoying the last glass of wine on my balcony with its terrific view.    Weiterlesen

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    Munich

    24. Mai 2018 in Deutschland ⛅ 66 °F

    Today I did get to the Deutches Museum. Had read a fair amount about this museum so had pretty much planned what I want to see. The museum in on an island in the Isar river that flows through Munich. It is touted as the largest Science and Technology museum in the world - and it is huge. I was not the only person in Munich going there on this day - line to pay took almost 1/2 hour. Museum is quite amazing - probably helps to be an engineer or related field for most of the exhibits. Lots of things for kids and they were having a ball. I did the ceramics, glass and paper exhibits as well as the pharmaceuticals. The most impressive for me was the reproduction of the Altamira cave in Spain where they found paintings from up to 21,000 years ago. An exhibit showed how they did the reproduction in the cave.

    I had read in some tourist information to go across the street - sort of - to the Volksbad for lunch. (Clearly they did not think much of the museum food). I was ready for something different so found my way there - by the river Isar. The Volksbad is a spa with baths, etc and had a lovely cafe outdoors with lots of greenery. A good tip.

    After lunch, I wandered about town - bought 2 new T-shirts - I am very tired of the ones that I have been wearing for 7 weeks! I checked out the Hofbrauhaus - modestly known as the most famous tavern in the world. It seats 1300 beer drinkers inside and I do not know how many more in the large courtyard. It is open every day of the year. Apparently it is the "Mecca" for religious beer drinkers.

    Sat in one of the hundreds of cafes and had some tea while waiting for some music that I wanted to go to in the evening. I was able to get a ticket and the Classical music concert with Violin and Cembola (Harpischord). Least you think I know what a Cembola was, I had to look it up when I got home. :-) It was wonderful. The violinist was outstanding. And the setting was a small chapel in a "used to be" palace. Very baroque in design and lovely. The music fit the setting. Another great day.

    Miles: 6.2    Weiterlesen

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    Munich

    23. Mai 2018 in Deutschland ⛅ 63 °F

    A day off of tourism. Felt lazy today and was very tired last night so today a day with not much to report. Planned to go to the Deutches Museum but when I finally got around to getting there, it was 3:30 and when I checked the website they closed at 5PM - so tomorrow.

    So the day consisted of some "body maintenance" - pedicure - and actually some shopping. Weather has been warm and I left my favorite "runaround" dress at home, so went shopping for a dress to throw on and wear for "tourism". Found one for 20 Euros so if it lasts until I get home I will be happy.

    My travels on foot - shopping and looking for a place to get a pedicure - took me to some new parts to the city. Tons of shopping here, for those that are reading this and do not know me well, I am NOT a shopper. But some new vistas, more beautiful buildings, lots of cafes and a beautiful day in the low 70s to just enjoy. This afternoon I went back to the surfing area in the English Garden to watch longer and get some better picture. Took some videos, fun to watch the kids and this "engineered surfing".

    Home for a night of cocktails on my balcony watching the weather - a T storm presently, salad for dinner and some CNN/BBC. Started a new book and think it is going to be good - The House by the River. A book written by Greek author - Lena Manta - in 2007 and just translated into English in 2017.

    Miles: 6.1    Weiterlesen

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    Munich

    22. Mai 2018 in Deutschland ⛅ 61 °F

    Up and out for another walking tour. Today to Dachau, a small city (around 50,000) only 12 miles from Munich. Its hard to decide if you "want" to go to a former concentration camp. Not exactly a fun activity while traveling. I had been to Auschwitz several years ago and afterwards was glad I had had the experience, this Dachau this time.

    The camp was similar to Auschwitz however I learned that Dachau was Labor Camp not an Extermination Camp as was Auschwitz. No gassing was done in Dachau - that is not to say that many were not killed, just not gassed The atrocities were just as horrible. But the labor force of the camp supported the Hitler war effort. Medical experiments carried out as well. The memorial is well done, depressing and thought provoking.

    The tour was most of the day. Unlike yesterday, the group was much larger - around 30. We left at 10:15 and back by 3:30. A walk through the market in Marienplatz, bought a bottle of French white for home consumption. Then back to "home" and off to the grocery store. Got supplies for the next 3 days. Home for an evening of planning and leftover pizza for dinner.

    Miles: 5.6    Weiterlesen

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  • Kay's TravelsEurope 2018Reisender

    Munich

    21. Mai 2018 in Deutschland ⛅ 63 °F

    Bright sunshiny day and off early for downtown Munich - about a 20-25 minute walk and tram ride away Today is a holiday in Germany, Ascension Day, (40 days after Easter) so no shops or grocery stores open again. (Yesterday was Sunday) Went "downtown" - Marienplatz - city center and lots of cafes and tons of tourists - to find breakfast. Amazing the number of people having beer for breakfast!! This is a very beer drinking culture (wine is secondary). Pretzels (the bread that comes with all meals) eggs and ham - tasted good as I have been having cereal and yogurt for many day s in a row.

    Headed for the TI and the City Walking Tour at 10:45. Nice small group - only 6 of us there for the English tour - our guide originally from Rhode Island. We toured the City highlight city buildings, history of Munich and WWII history, as well as churches and the English garden (where they surf in Munich). Some German engineer managed to create a wave area in the myriad of underground waterways (used to be moats) and now it is well known venue for the surfing community. A nice group of people and a good tour. Nice conversation with a professor from Rutgers who was traveling Germany speaking on political psychology. I managed to spend some time with the tour leader and got some recommendations on museums (there are so many you have to chose), restaurants and other sights.

    After the tour, back to the TI for information and tonight's reading materials. Then to the central train station where there were stores open and I found a grocery store. I was thrilled. Back to the city center and a late lunch at Neurnberger Bratwurst for their specialty - sausages and sauerkraut. And of course the obligatory beer. :-)

    Back to the apartment for some catch up, a visit from the owner who was able to adjust the TV for some English TV stations (CNN and BBC) and some time on my balcony just admiring the view. Out late to check out a geocache near by. Too funny. As I am crawling under a railing looking for the geocache another couple comes up and, as it turns out, they are looking for the same geocache! Geocaching is big in Germany. They found it quite quickly so we shared in the find together. They were from Northern Germany, near the border with the Netherlands. Down the street for a take out pizza and home for TV and pizza.

    Miles: 7.5    Weiterlesen

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    Budapest to Munich

    20. Mai 2018 in Deutschland 🌙 61 °F

    A travel day. Off to airport and sorry to leave Budapest. Could have spent another couple days here to see all on my list. Uneventful flight to Munich, a bit late - tram from airport to within a mile of my new home for the next 6 days. Ulrich met me at the apartment - easy to find . On the 8th floor of an apartment building in East Munich. View is terrific!! Have a 180 view of the Alps in both the living room and the bedroom and from an outside balcony. A real step up from Budapest. The location in Budapest was terrific - the apartment pretty basic.

    Out for a walk before dinner. Checked out the neighborhood. ATM, etc Found out tomorrow is a holiday in Germany so no grocery stores open tonight or all day tomorrow. Did manage to find wine and beer at a German 7/11 :-) !!! Then around the corner for dinner - good pasta and a very generous wine pour from the waiter - my new best friend. Spend the dinner hour with my German dictionary. Back to apartment and another episode of Sneaky Pete on my Ipad.

    Miles: 5.5
    Not a single picture today    Weiterlesen

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    Budapest

    19. Mai 2018 in Ungarn ⛅ 66 °F

    I will be so glad when this wedding is over !!!! Its all I can get on Sky or CNN. (Wedding of Harry and Meghan is today).

    Last day in Budapest. :-( Plan for today is to go to the "baths". This is out of my comfort zone as I have never done this before. However the baths are a big part of Hungarian culture since being occupied by the Turks a long time ago. They have many bath sites. I asked my walking tour guide yesterday which one she would recommend. She gave me 2 choices - one was the largest and one was the most beautiful. I went for the most beautiful - the Gellert Baths. It was amazing. Indoor and outdoor pools, thermal, cool and hot. Also Finnish sauna - outside. They even had a wave pool - what fun. Had a lazy 3 hours looking at everything and working on a sun tan. A perfect day with sun and clouds in the low 70s. And yes, if you are thinking, all do wear bathing suits. Although on some of the young girls, it was hard to tell. (just jealous).

    Wended my way home via tram, a stop at the grocery store, and just made it home before a brief thundershower. Winding down on my Budapest stay, still have a list of things I did not get to so will happily have to come back. Made my final plans for the rest of this trip. Tomorrow to Munich and then some time in the Black Forest in Germany,near Baden Baden and the border with France. Then to London and home on June 12.

    Out for the evening to check out a Ruin Bar. Went to Szimpla - what fun. Drank a beer and checked out all of the rooms and watched the people. By 8:30 the place was packed and still pouring in. Must have 10 different bars in the place. Then to dinner at the other restaurant Sebastiano had recommended. The Ruben Restaurant. Had venison "stew" with dill dumplings. Amazing. Home for some wedding wrap up. :-)    Weiterlesen

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    Budapest

    18. Mai 2018 in Ungarn ⛅ 63 °F

    Have a list of what to do yet in Budapest and time to get started. First the Jewish walking tour of Budapest. The Jewish section which is now quite small after WW11 is close to my apartment. Met the group of about 20-25 at 10AM. The first hour was the history of Jews in Hungary (Summary: protected by Germany {as Hungary was allied with the Axis powers} until almost the end of the war, 1944, when the Hungarian government was thinking about "changing sides" - then Budapest was occupied and estimates of 600,000 Jews transported and/or killed in 6 weeks) and sites of synagogues in Budapest. The 2nd half of the tour included the very recent past 5-6 years in the development of the Jewish sector with restaurants and Ruin Bars. Many of the old alley ways, now lined with cafes and bars. The newest fad in Budapest is the Ruin Bars. They are old dilapidated buildings that have been turned into quirky, fascinating bars and are hugely popular. We visited the original - Szimpla - it is many levels, amazingly decorated with pop art and old furniture. Many have warrens and mazes that open into courtyards. Check on-line for images as this explanation is inadequate. I plan on visiting again Saturday night. And yes, for those of you who look at pictures first, the Rubik's cube was invented by a Hungarian

    Then to the Central Market. A very large building and hundreds of stalls and vendors. It seems to go on forever. Their "food court" was a zoo of many stalls with delicious looking food - so hard to choose. I ended up going to a cafeteria (more places to sit) and had a goulash tasting menu. (3 types of goulash and some sauerkraut and pickles. Apparently there are a lot of ways to make goulash. Wandered the market for awhile, buying the obligatory paprika and back to home to do a wash. Need time for it to dry on a rack before I leave on Sunday.

    Out in the early evening for a classical music concert at the Matthias Church. (Picture posted previously). This was all strings - 4 violins, a cello and a bass. It was terrific. Most all well know classical music. Out to find dinner. Public transport here is great, combination of trams, buses and metro - and inexpensive. Went to an area near my place that I had not yet explored and had a late evening salad with some good Sauvignon Blanc.

    Miles: 8.3    Weiterlesen

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    Budapest

    17. Mai 2018 in Ungarn ⛅ 63 °F

    First day "on my own". Decided I wanted to do one of the Walking Tours of Budapest. They are free with a tip for the leader obligatory at the end. Joel and I had seen most of the sights but this time got more information to make the sights more meaningful. Also got a lot of Hungarian history - they have been on the losing side of most all major wars. As our tour guide said - if WW3 comes along, look to see what side Hungary is aligned with and do the opposite. :-) Tour included several of the large and pleasant squares, St Stephens cathedral, the Danube, bridges of Budapest, Castle Hill and the Parliament buildings . Not any real good pictures as the day was mostly cloudy and a bit of rain right at the end of our tour. Back to have lunch at "home" and a rest and some planning for my last 2 days in Budapest. Out late afternoon to check out where I get the express bus for the airport on Sunday. Only about $3.50 US to go the 30 minutes to the airport. Hungary has their own currency, the Forint. It has way to many zeros and is about 264 to US $1.

    Tonight attended the classical music concert at St. Stephens cathedral - organ, flute and opera singer. Interesting combination. A terrific venue for a concert and the organ music filled the cathedral. Afterwards a bowl of goulash and red wine at a local cafe and home.

    Miles: 5.7    Weiterlesen

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    Budapest

    16. Mai 2018 in Ungarn ⛅ 57 °F

    Last day with Joel. He is going to a hotel tonight as his flight to Barcelona is at 6:15 tomorrow AM. Off we went to see the Parliament buildings. On the banks of the Danube and a huge complex. All lit up at night and quite a sight. Hungary is a parliamentary representative democratic republic with a president (largely ceremonial) and a prime minister who runs the government. We saw the guards of the buildings do their stately "walkaround" - apparently q15 minutes. Then off to Margaret Island, a large island in the Danube which is totally pedestrian (except for bus service and service deliveries) about 2 miles long and maybe a half mile across. The entire island is a park - a beautiful place to walk and look at the attractions. The best was a "musical fountain" where a large fountain with many spouts "dances" to classical music. It was great. Also a lovely Japanese garden, an athletic field, quite a few cafes, a hotel but most of all lots of green grass and lovely big green trees. Quite a find. We spent several hours there including lunch at one of the cafes. (Kolbasa for Kay - very good.) Then back to apartment for Joel to pick up his gear and go to check into his hotel. Kay found the local TI and got literature for what to do the next 3 days as well as schedules for the nightly music venues.

    Our host had told us about a couple restaurants and after checking out several, we chose the Menza for our last dinner together. It was excellent. Duck liver on mashed potatoes with a cherry sauce for Kay with ratatouille with egg as an appetizer. A real Hungarian dinner and it was terrific. Chocolate cake (think warm lava cake) with pistachio ice cream for desert.

    End of dinner was punctuated by a brief but impressive thundershower - it really poured for about 15 minutes. We huddled up under the blankets provided by the restaurant while we finished our wine. The the sun came out at 7PM !! Said goodby to Joel and did some necessities shopping on the way home and back to apartment for the rest of the evening.

    Miles: 7.7    Weiterlesen

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    Budapest

    15. Mai 2018 in Ungarn ⛅ 64 °F

    A late start to the day due to last night's early AM escapade on our arrival. Out for the essentials in a new country: ATM, breakfast and grocery store. Rainy in the AM but sunshine showing through the clouds in the afternoon. Out to do a walkaround of the major tourist sights. St Stephens Basilica is about 2 blocks from the apartment and is a massive cathedral with a beautiful interior. I liked it especially as it is more understated (less gold) than those we saw in Italy. Then out the beautiful pedestrian promenade towards the mighty Danube. The river marks the separation of Buda in the west and Pest in the East. The scenery of Castle Hill with the Buda Palace (not a castle as many people think), the Matthias Church (Franz Liszt first performance of his Coronation Mass); and the Fisherman's Bastion is highly impressive.

    We walked across the Danube on the famous Chain Bridge and took the funicular to the top of the hill. Quite a sight from the top, looking back across the river to Pest and we were so fortunate to have such great weather and after the rain, everything sparkled. Walked all around the hill and stopped for late lunch and a beer at one of the numerous cafes.

    Back to our apartment around 5 and a clean up and cocktail hour before up to the corner cafe/pub for hamburgers for dinner. An after dinner walk over to St Stephens and up the promenade to the river where all on Castle Hill is lit up and so beautiful. A truly magical city. Back for an early bedtime for some catch up sleep.

    Miles: 7.9    Weiterlesen

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    Milan to Budapest

    14. Mai 2018 in Italien ⛅ 55 °F

    Up and about to pack and clean up apartment. We have loved this place - would highly recommend. Alessandro's Place Milan Lombardy - Home Away. Address Via Vincenza Foppa 44. Joel and cleaned up andpacked. Our flight does not leave until 10PM so have all day to continue to explore Milan.

    First stop: Fondazione Prada (FP), an unheralded, great find in Milan. An interesting incident on our trolley ride to the site. One of the cables that hooks to the electrical line at the top broke, came down on the window of a taxi in back of us and shut down the electrical for the entire system on that line. :-( An of course, then none of the others could get around it so we walked the last mile or so.

    The FP was the brainchild of the Prada family (of Italian fashion fame). It is a unique building with an an art museum and other exhibition space for temporary exhibits. Both the interior and exterior are very modern and interesting. I talked with a fellow from Switzerland there who was an architect. He said it is a must see for architects.

    Fashion area

    Late flight to Budapest, did not leave until 10:20 PM. Note to self: Do not do that again. Flew Wizz air -a low cost Hungarian airline where you pay for everything but the base flight was about $30. Arrived Budapest at midnight along with about 3 other plane loads of people. Must have been 100 people in the taxi line as all other transportation at that time of night is done. Finally got a cab and then the cab driver could not find our place where our host was waiting. Then the police are following our cab with flashing lights - this is now about 1:30 in the morning. He finally left us off, told us it was to the left somewhere amidst construction while he dealt with the police. Joel got us going towards the apartment with GPS while I am texting back and forth with the host. What a fiasco. Had our orientation to the apartment and to bed sometime between 2 and 3AM !!

    Miles:    Weiterlesen

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    Milano

    13. Mai 2018 in Italien 🌧 61 °F

    Up early to start the planning for the day and relax on our little terrace that lets us look out on the city life below. After breakfast and several cups of coffee/tea we are off around 10AM. First stop, the Milan suburb of Brera. Lots of public transport today - metro and tram. The rest walking. Brera is the home of the Bohemian in Milan. (According to the tour books) Tram arrives near the obligatory church - San Marco.- the stone doorway is the only part that remains of the original church built in 1254. However my favorite was the sign on the cafe awning in front of the church. :-) Pic attached. We wandered the streets and of note was another very large building, the Palazzo Cusani, which houses a library and the well-known (in Milan) Pinacoteca Art Museum which boasts paintings by Raphael and Caravaggio. On the grounds of that building was a small botannical garden that was a nice secluded spot away from the street, lots of large trees (linden and ginko bilbao) and a pleasant walk around. Approaching lunch hour the place is alive with restaurants, cafes and shops opening after church.

    Then off to the Milan main train station - Centrale. We had seen a picture in the Eye Witness guide that was intriguing and Joel is a transportation buff. He loves figuring out public transportation in all the cities we visit, great for me as I am happy to leave it to him for a couple days. I would certainly recommend a quick stop there, the building is massive, the 2nd largest building MIlan next to the Duomo. The highlight is the cover/roof over the area where the trains leave. Will attach picture but could not get it in its entirety.

    Then the most fun find of the day while trying to find the Isola street art *which" we never found. I saw and elevated walk way with a lot of people walking and it reminded me of the NYC Highline. So we went to take a look and, indeed, it was huge expanse of walking, high end shops and unique architecture office buildings, fountains, pools, cafes and all elevated from the street. It was so fun. We had tea there and just enjoyed the ambiance and people watching. Off to take the metro home and a rest before dinner. Got on the metro, went about 4 stops and got off only to find a major thunderstorm in progress. It was pouring and actually had some hail in it. We took cover under the eaves of a building and waited it out. About 30 minutes later we made it home, quite wet.

    Rain passed and out for dinner to a great Asian Fusion restaurant near by. Joel surprised me by picking the place and then told me dinner was on him for Mothers Day!! So sweet and entirely unexpected. A great dinner, highly recommend the restaurant. DOU Asian Passion.    Weiterlesen

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    Milano

    12. Mai 2018 in Italien ⛅ 75 °F

    Awake early so took advantage of the time before Joel came and got my Verizon/Three and Capital One issues resolved - not to my satisfaction as my Capital One card does not work in the hand held machines used everywhere here. :-( Something happened to the chip - maybe. They are sending me a new one to home. Have a back up and there is always cash.

    Joel arrived around 10AM. He showered and we were off for the day. First to the canal area of Milan - Naviglio Grande. Who knew Venice had a canal? At one time the canal was up to 93 miles long. Started in the 1100s (everything here is old), it was added to in the 1500s with the help of Leanardo da Vinci but finally ceased operation in 1979. At one time if was the 13th largest port in Italy!! Today it is a pleasant combination of bars, cafes, restaurants and park area. You can walk for a long ways along the banks. We had a pleasant lunch and a beer by the wayside.

    Then off for Joel to see the Duomo - walkable from where we were. Impressive as ever and since it is a Saturday very busy. Passed many Milan landmarks on the way - the old entrance to the city, famous churches and a lively shopping area. Also walked the Vittorio Emmanuele II Galleria with its magnificent architecture and upscale shops. Took in La Scala from the outside. Then walked to the large park in the middle of Milan central - Parco Sempione. Again a Saturday event that had finished, a market and lots of gelato and food stands. A very lively crowd and we had a pleasant walk through the park to our Metro station and home for Joel to take a nap and Kay to clean up.

    A leisurely evening, catching up on family and San Francisco politics and activities. Our around 8 for pizza nearby and home for an early evening.

    Miles: 7.5    Weiterlesen

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