Summer 2018

June 2018 - March 2024
An open-ended adventure by Susan
Currently traveling
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  • Day 1

    Day 1 Reims

    June 30, 2018 in France ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Started off for the Eurotunnel to start our 2 week trip in Europe (doesn’t really compare to 5 years but ....) Made good time and got an earlier shuttle than the one booked. Decided to meander towards Reims and bought French bread and cheese in a supermarket, then found a lovely park to eat it in. Went on a motorway for the last leg of the journey. Parking was booked at the accommodation but the spaces were made for small cars, so it was a bit of a squeeze! Accommodation very good and only a short walk to Reims centre, where there was a party atmosphere following France’s football win. Sitting outside watching the evening game John wished he wasn’t driving when he saw the fun metre of beer dispensers. We then moved to a Mexican restaurant which was also showing the football! We then walked around the town. A great start to the holidayRead more

  • Day 2

    Day 2 Strasbourg

    July 1, 2018 in France ⋅ 🌙 21 °C

    We left Reims and started off along non payage roads towards Strasbourg. The scenery was absolutely stunning ( sadly no pictures) and we stopped for a picnic lunch in a scenic picnic spot only to find an old American tank preserved for posterity! Once in Strasbourg we had the studio flat accommodation again. Slightly more basic than yesterday’s but still good and again in easy walking distance of the town centre. After the short walk to the city I paddled in water by some fountains, then we explored on foot and looked at the cathedral, several churches, interesting shops and buildings. We wandered around Petit France, where the houses overhang the water, more like Venice to my mind than France! Next was a boat trip around the city mainly on the river ill and partly on a canal where we went through 2 locks. From The boat we saw Petit France from the water and also, the Court of Human Rights and the European Parliament among other things.Read more

  • Day 3

    Day 3 Munich

    July 2, 2018 in Germany ⋅ 🌙 17 °C

    We started out from Strasbourg for Munich before 9 as that was when the parking charges started (it was free on Sundays). We stopped on the way to eat coffee an croissants in the sunshine. Meandered through Germany to the outskirts of Munich to Hotel Heigl where we are staying for 2 nights. A really lovely room, huge with settee etc and lovely balcony with table and chairs overlooking the garden. After a short rest we set out to explore the surrounding area where we saw a depiction of herons etched in the concrete on a house wall. We checked out the best way to get to the Centre of Munich tomorrow ( it is about 10 kilometres away). We found the local railway and timetable and bought tickets to be validated upon travel. For our evening meal we settled on a restaurant with outside ding bordering our hotel. The restaurant only had menu’s in German but we used google translate to check what we were letting ourselves in for! The waitresses all wore traditional Bavarian dress, which would have seemed very touristy if it had not been for the fact that everyone else in the busy garden appeared to be German! I had Schweinebraten (pork with dumplings and pickled white cabbage) followed by Rohrnudle ( a Bavarian hot pudding crossing bread and cake with plums in the centre and a sauce, highly recommended by the waitress) John had Zwiebelrostbrat (a Bavarian steak) and creme brûlée. It was all absolutely delicious. Then about five steps back to our hotel to rest before what we expect to be a busy day tomorrow.Read more

  • Day 5

    Day 4 Munich

    July 4, 2018 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    We got up early (for us) and breakfasted on unusual but tasty food. This was served by a lady in Bavarian dress! We walked to the station armed by the hotel reception with a Map and instructions on the over and underground. We already had our all day travel card and once a Solln station validated it and hoped on the first train to Munich. The journey took about 20 minutes and with no firm plans we splashed out Ona tour bus. We were going to do the full circuit first but at 11.50 we were at a stop where an automaton in the spire of a church was going to start moving at 12. This only happens twice a day so we hopped off and watched the mechanical story. I went up the tower by lift waving to John who remained on the ground. We looked round the market nearby and Hopped on the bus to continue the tour. We decided to visit the English garden where we had a light lunch. After more exploring we hopped back on the bus to the largest beer garden in the world (probably). It certainly was large. Finding that the tail end of the afternoon match was being shown on large screens all around we decided to stay and have an evening meal there before watching the England match! The atmosphere was quite friendly for most of the game with a big cheer when England scored but there was an even bigger cheer when Columbia scored. We stayed to the bitter end although it may have taken years off John’s life. In the end John was thrilled to win on penalties. We had to go swiftly in order to get our train homeRead more

  • Day 5

    Day 5 lake Garda

    July 4, 2018 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    After a lovely breakfast at the hotel this morning we set off from Solln near Munich and set off for Italy via Austria, remembering to pick up a vignette for the motorway en route. We stayed on the motorway through the 3 countries as this was the longest drive of the holiday. The scenery was still spectacular. We arrived in searing heat, and were told the water heating had gone wrong and wouldn’t be fixed until tomorrow, so did we want to find another hotel! We decided to risk it and were given drinks and snacks while the owner took our passports to sort out the paperwork and our room keys. The owner was slightly eccentric and we did wonder if we would see our passports again! The daughter actually brought the passports back and showed us to our room. We explored the area and bought a take away Pizza which we ate with wine on our balcony. We started to play cards and then were treated to a display of lightening in the distance against the dark night sky.Read more

  • Day 6

    Day 6 Day 2 at Lake Garder

    July 5, 2018 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    We had a lay in and then breakfast on the veranda overlooking Lake Garda. It is further from the lake than we imagined but the scenery is magnificent. Mountains on 3 sides and the lake on the 4th. We went to Bardolino to see the weekly market. All I bought was a sun hat but was tempted by more. After lunch we hired sun beds (shaded by trees) and swam in the lake. There were lots of lizards around and also ducks. I made the mistake of feeding 2 ducks and tried to get on the lounger to get more food! We stayed there until 6pm when we went to explore Sirmione ( a large peninsular going several kilometres into the lake) on the way we stopped off to get bread and cheese from a Lidl and were tempted by a case of local wine to bring back. Sirmione was much more interesting than we had thought with a castle, lighthouse and unusual shops. All we bought was an ice lolly from the largest selection I have ever seen. They were also huge lolly’s so we shared a purple one! It was delicious. Back in the accommodation rather later than planned we were delighted to find we had hot water! Then a few hands of cards with the backdrop of thunder and lightening again! Is this a regular show every evening?Read more

  • Day 7

    Day 7 Day 3 at lake Garda

    July 6, 2018 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Both to breakfast on the beautiful terrace, then off to relax in the gardens and the beach at Bain del Sirene. Beautiful views but rather a steep walk down to the beach area. Explored, swam and picnicked until late afternoon when we drove into the mountains along some lovely wriggly roads, then back to the hotel to change for dinner. We decided to walk to a local restaurant and on the way an Italian woman stopped her car and asked us where was good to eat! She persisted even when we explained we were English visitors and she ended up at the restaurant we went too! The restaurant was not exactly geared up for English visitors but with the help of google translate we made ourselves understood. I had mushroom tagliatelle, Rabbit with Polenta then amoretti semi Freddo and John had bean and pasta soup, steak with green peppercorns and lemon sorbet. We both had coffee and they put a bottle of grappe on the table to help yourself. Oh and I forgot to mention that they had the football showing!Read more

  • Day 8

    Day 8 Day 4 at Lake Garda

    July 7, 2018 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    We had decided to spend the day in the mountains of the national park, starting off at a place called Perri on a very wriggling road towards Fosse. We drove and then walked in the National Park. The stunning scenery is not really captured on the photographs. We had a picnic lunch and came back just in time for the to watch England win their match against Sweden.Read more

  • Day 9

    Day 9 Day 5 at lake Garda

    July 8, 2018 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Today we drove to Verona and decided to park in the central underground parking despite the rather exorbitant prices. We bought a map of the city and as it is fairly small we chose to walk round and see the sights. Handily the map marked the main attractions by number making a rather convenient walk to follow. We started off at the colosseum and went on from there stopping for lunch of pasta wine and ice cream before carrying on the walk. There were several interesting buildings, churches, bridges, statues and similar but the most commercialised by far was a balcony which they alleged was the very one that Juliet came out on ! You can only imagine the souvenirs available around the area. For a fee you could actually stand on the balcony. We didn’t. I was surprised to see in the main square, apart from a police presence there were army officers with guns! It was however a great day and we came back late and exhausted but pleased with an interesting day.Read more

  • Day 10

    Day 10 day 6 at lake garda

    July 9, 2018 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    A very lazy day today swimming and chilling, then in the evening went back to Sirmione. It was beautiful I the evening with the walks in the park subtly lit. After exploring the peninsular fully we returned to the castle at 11pm. We sat on the moat wall to eat the largest ice cream and lolly I have ever seen anywhere! We went back to the hotel very tired.Read more