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Gabrielle Ingram
Gabrielle Ingram

Gabrielle Ingram

traveled in 16 countries Read more
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  • Gabrielle IngramEuropeTraveler
    Playing aroundMena and the kids at the Wernigerode SchlossWernigerode SchlossWe made it to the other side!Paying your rates wouldn't be so bad in this Rathaus (City Hall)Very long suspension bridge

    Berlin to Hamelin via Wernigerode

    October 24, 2017 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    Up bright and early this morning to set off for Wernigerode which was 3.5 hours drive away to pick up Mena en route to Hamelin where we were staying the night. Mena made us a lovely lunch in her apartment before showing us the quick sights of Wernigerode - a brisk walk up the hill to the local castle, through the Altstadt (beautiful old town!) before we drove out to the world's longest pedestrian suspension bridge. I was looking this up before to find out that it was only the world's longest suspension bridge for a few months because Switzerland went and opened up a longer one in July! Poor Germany. It was quite cold on the suspension bridge, which is built by a rather large dam wall. Crazy people were using a zip lone that would have been over 1000m long starting at the top of the suspension bridge and whizzing down toward the lake. Other crazy people were dropping off a platform built below the suspenion bridge attached to a long rope which would then swing under the bridge above the lake. We elected just to talk on the bridge from one side to the other and back again. That was enough.

    We then drove to the village just outside of Hamelin to meet the Stolper family. What a lovely evening!!! We had a beautiful meal, and the kids got to sleep in Mena's room for the last time whilst Craig and I stayed in the hotel down the road.    Read more

  • Gabrielle IngramEuropeTraveler
    Oberbaum Bridge
    1The first magnet-caught bikeThe second magnet-caught bikeAustralian bear

    Berlin - Fishing at Oberbaum Bridge

    October 22, 2017 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    We ended up at the Oberbaum Bridge, which was an impressive structure. It signified a divide between two boroughs of Berlin so has since become an important symbol of reunification.

    Down by the river below the bridge we found a couple of guys with a bit of rope attached to a super-powerful magnet chucking it into the river. By the time we got there they had already fished out a chair and were in the middle of pulling a bike out of the river. ‘Tis amazing how entertaining this can be to watch. We hung around for a bit only to see them hook another bike, although it was taking a bit of effort to unleash it from the mud using the magnet! I would suggest that this is way more rewarding than trying to catch “real fish”, mainly because I have never been successful at the real deal.Read more

  • Gabrielle IngramEuropeTraveler

    East Side Gallery (I)

    October 22, 2017 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    Given we had seen everything on the sightseeing schedule and it was only just after lunch, we decided to walk to the East Side Gallery, a 1.3km section of the Berlin Wall which was established as an international memorial for freedom with over 100 artists across the world invited to contribute art in 1990. It was a 5km walk from our apartment. I am not sure if it was some sort of psychological effect, or whether it was true, but there was a marked difference between the main city (and Westside) areas we had been in on the morning, and the Eastside offerings. For starters, a LOT more graffiti, a lot of building in disrepair or derelict, and then some real anarchist type dwellings with humpy-type villages set up along the river.

    I could see how film scouts could be forgiven for thinking this part of Berlin was a perfect place to shoot The Walking Dead at times.

    Then suddenly we were at the East Side Gallery and there were tonnes of people. The graffiti art on the walls was interesting, and colourful, or bleak, depending on the artist. I suspect the husband will disagree with me on this one, but there was a lot of “graffiti vandalism” on the artwork which in some cases detracted, and in some instances added to the art work. I like things in neat little boxes (so cut out for my current profession!) so I was finding myself miffed by the “vandals”. That said, the graffiti on the buildings and infrastructure actually seemed to make the place a bit edgy and quite cool. I guess I can’t have it both ways ;-)    Read more

  • Gabrielle IngramEuropeTraveler
    Political gathering of some description at Brandenburg GateCurrywurst

    Berlin - Brandenburg Gate

    October 22, 2017 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    We were at the Brandenburg Gate on a Sunday morning, and a stage was set up right outside the gate with some hip-hop artists singing something, people were carrying placards, rainbow flags waving. Haven’t been able to work out from Google Translate or the web what it was all about. I did read that parliament is reconvening on Tuesday... perhaps related?

    We had a currywurst for lunch, as promised, in view of the Brandenburg Gate.    Read more

  • Gabrielle IngramEuropeTraveler
    Funky building at Potsdamer Platz
    Inside the Sony CentreRoof of the Sony CentreThe Sony CentreAussie restaurant, German styleMemorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, dedicated to victims of the HolocaustMemorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, dedicated to victims of the HolocaustMemorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, dedicated to victims of the Holocaust

    Berlin - Potsdamer Platz

    October 22, 2017 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    The Potsdamer Platz housed the Sony Centre which has a rather spectacular roof and we found the Corroboree Bar where you can apparently enjoy a currywurst with Corroboree curry sauce and Aussie cut fries!

    We then moved on to another outdoor memorial called the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, dedicated to victims of the Holocaust. I have been so impressed with the respectful way that the atrocities of WWII have been dealt with in Germany. The memorial sites are well curated, memorials or commemorative sites are tastefully presented and don’t shy away from the past. The simplicity of this particular memorial, without plaques or descriptive plates, is enhanced by its impressive scale.    Read more

  • Gabrielle IngramEuropeTraveler
    Hard to see what you could have a museum about, but they wanted €10 to enter!
    Checkpoint Charlie signAnd the other side...Checkpoint CharlieThe pink and purple pipes of BerlinTopography of TerrorBerlin Wall at The Topography of Terror memorial siteTrue!The Berlin Wall line

    Berlin - Checkpoint Charlie

    October 22, 2017 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    We had a massive walking day today of just over 15km! Berlin is very flat so walking is quite easy, and I think I had underestimated just how much we would be able to get through on foot in one day. The kids did remarkably well – they were asking by 3pm if we could catch public transport home, but in fact it was almost the same amount of time to walk as to catch a bus/train, so walking it was. They have been superstars on the walking front over the last 8 weeks - we really have been blessed with kids that are pretty amenable to going with the flow.

    To be heard circa 4pm this afternoon…

    Craig: “How’s your little legs going, Kitty?” | Katiekoozle: “Good. How’s your little legs going, Dad?”

    Just around the corner from home is the Deutsches Currywurst Museum Berlin. For some reason, the kids were desperate to go to it, but we said no - earmarked currywurst for lunch instead.

    We are staying “on the East side” in an apartment on Charlottenstraße in Berlin Mitte which is one of the streets intersected by the Berlin Wall. A one minute walk from our front door is Checkpoint Charlie. There is a free open-air information section near the checkpoint which was very handy as it described a lot of history of the Wall, but also pointed out that the double cobblestone line running through parts of the city indicate where the Wall actually was.
    We followed the “Wall line” around to an exhibition called the Topography of Terror which has a remaining section of the Berlin Wall. It is also on the site of buildings which housed the central institutions of Nazi persecution and terror – the Secret State Police Office with its own “house prison,” the leadership of the SS and, during the Second World War, the Reich Security Main Office. We can’t really linger in some of these places as there is a lot to take in and the kids can’t be expected the read all of the panels which document the history, so I will put this on the list of something I would like to return to one day.    Read more

  • Gabrielle IngramEuropeTraveler
    These things are mumma doonga
    That's a lotta wind turbinesParking the carPhwew!Only 2 out of 3 bedroom atrocities occurring here

    Bavaria to Berlin

    October 21, 2017 in Germany ⋅ 🌙 11 °C

    It was a day of travel today - 5.5 hours to Berlin. We were all packed up by 9.15am, only to discover that in checking the entire AirBnB for anything we left behind, we neglected to notice the car keys on the little nook we had been leaving them on in the hall. Closed the door locking the house keys in the house, only to find that starting the car was now a bit tricky.

    Sent emails and texts to the host, with no response, but luckily the cleaners arrived. Unfortunately, they were relying on our house keys being in the key safe. Oops! But luckily, they called the manager, he popped around with keys, and we were only an hour late leaving. Could have been worse I guess! In the meantime, we did have a great chat to one of the cleaning ladies whose ex-husband was English and she had lived just outside of London for 5 years, so she spoke excellent English.

    We stopped at our favourite wind turbine to take a picture - those things are dizzyingly big. Looking up at them make you feel motion sick! We passed one section of countryside where we ended up stopping for lunch that had over 50 wind turbines.

    Our drive was pleasant, except for the bits where the husband was driving at 175kph. That almost made me want to vomit from anxiety. I thought it would also be stressful driving into Berlin. It was simple (she says, not actually doing the driving). And then we got to the parking garage attached to our accommodation, which has one of those lifts that make you feel like your car is about to get squished on the ceiling.

    I was excited to see that our Berlin accommodation had only indulged in two of the three acts of bedroom heresy. If I had to name the top three things that have driven me insane in Europe, they would be the ridiculous European pillows with absolutely no stuffing in them whatsoever, the split mattress on the double/queen bed, and the two doonas situation. All three together are like the holy trinity of bedroom atrocities.

    My shoulder is steadily getting more painful each night I have to put up with the pillow situation, so the one thing I am looking forward to when I get home is sleeping with my four perfectly stuffed pillows again! Luckily our Berlin accommodation is only committing two of the three acts of bedroom heresy - the bed is not actually two separate mattresses. I think Europeans must all be exiting in a state of perpetual tiredness from fighting with their bedroom linen all night trying to get comfortable. Might even be a reason for re-running the Brexit referendum - they were all too tired to vote, or to vote with any sense due to ridiculous bedrooms?    Read more

  • Gabrielle IngramEuropeTraveler

    Our last night in Bavaria

    October 20, 2017 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    A few other odds and ends from our time in Bavaria...

    Our day trips have included a lot of time driving on small country lanes in the rural parts of Bavaria. A few days ago we started to notice large piles of what looked like rocks from the distance, but up close, in fact, turn out to be large piles of swedes. These are apparently used as livestock feed during the winter.

    There are also a LOT of solar panels covering the rooves of farmhouses and sheds in this part of the world. There are also a lot of wind turbines. We have passed one in particular most days as we head out on our day trip. It has been having problems, so a technician has been in attendance most mornings. All working when we came home last night. Finn wants a picture with it, as they are quite impressive.

    We have also noticed a number of house doors in the villages have chalk writing on the tops of them. They will say things like 20*C+M+B+17. This is taken from a website:

    The letters are an abbreviation of the Latin phrase, Christus mansionem benedicat: “May Christ bless the house.” The “*” represents the star of Bethlehem. The “+” signs represent the cross, and the “20” at the beginning and the “16” at the end mark the year in question. Taken together, this inscription is performed as a request that Christ bless the homes so marked and those who live there. The chalking of doors is a popular tradition on Epiphany or Dreikönigstag in southern Germany.

    Craig has been convinced the bells outside our bedroom ring all night. I've thought they stopped at midnight and recommenced at 6am. Last night he recorded them at 3am, 4am and 5am. They go all night! Crazy.    Read more

  • Gabrielle IngramEuropeTraveler
    View from the tower
    Views from one of the towers on the wall walkThe double bridge which featured in Chitty Chitty Bang BangSkyline view on our approach into Rothenburg (hazy day)And of course, the beautiful flower boxes which is a feature of Bavarian homes

    Red rooves of Rothenburg

    October 20, 2017 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    The red roofs of the village are the defining feature and are how the village got its name. The certainly were quaint and very steep.

  • Gabrielle IngramEuropeTraveler
    A door the right size for KatieThis teddy shop had a bear up in its window blowing bubbles - the kids are catching themThe RathausChristmas HeavenPart of St Jacobs Church

    Rothenburg - Old Town

    October 20, 2017 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    The town was picture perfect! Impossible not to take gazillions of photos of beautiful houses.

    The beautiful signs hanging from the shops were a drawcard for me too!

    But the highlight (Craig, my little humbug, will groan at this) was a walk through the Käthe Wohlfahrt Christmas Store (kaethe-wohlfahrt.com). It was gigantic!!! There was every sort of Christmas 'thing' you could ever think to buy, and then some. In fact, we came across things we had never seen again, including schwibbogen (a sort of balsawood vertical Christmas scene), and Christmas Pyramids, which are a German folk tradition. They are wooden tiered items with wooden figurines which have a space for candle around the outside. The warmth created by the candle then cause a rotor fan at the top to spin around, which in turn spins the main carousels housing the figurines.

    And of course, there needs to be a movie reference! This village was used for filming scenes from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Parts I and II!    Read more

  • Gabrielle IngramEuropeTraveler

    Rothenburg - Spital Gate

    October 20, 2017 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    At the end of the walkable wall, we came across Spital Gate, which was a fortification built in the 16th century in a figure eight pattern to defend the southern end of the village. Inside there were canons set up to show how these were used as part of the defence system.

    And you could just wander through, no signs, no barriers, no light other than what came through the slits in the walls - fabulous!    Read more

  • Gabrielle IngramEuropeTraveler
    In this section of the wall, the houses were up closeSteep stepsOne of the city gates

    Rothenburg - Medieval City Walls

    October 20, 2017 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    We paid a visit to Rothenburg today and it was fabulous! It is only a 30-minute drive from where we are staying, so we were able to have a shortish sightseeing day on our last day in Bavaria.

    We started off with a walk around the city walls, which were well preserved and intact. By the end of the day, we had pretty much walked all of the walkable ramparts of Rothenburg. We started near the Executioner's House (built into the wall) and then came across a tower where you could walk up 4 levels (of very steep steps) for views across the city.Read more

  • Gabrielle IngramEuropeTraveler
    Not holding 40,000 people todayCraig took this from the main "pulpit" (can't think of what other word to use)Only used for concerts now

    Nazi Party Rally Grounds, Nuremberg

    October 19, 2017 in Germany ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    We spent a couple of hours walking around what remains of the Nazi Party Rally Grounds. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to go through the museum which is housed in the unfinished Congress Hall. That building looks like a modern day Colosseum from the outside.

    The structures would have been magnificent in scale. The cost of upkeep though has been too much and in 1979 the main columns of the iconic front section of the Zepelin Field building were destroyed by the government as they had become unsafe.

    These days, the venue is used for concerts and car races, and the annual VolksFest. There are also a number of sporting stadiums. The walk around the lake was great. We came across a flock of wild geese who were not at all disturbed by humans wandering past.    Read more

  • Gabrielle IngramEuropeTraveler

    Unschlitthaus, Nuremberg

    October 19, 2017 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    As we were making our way back to the Haupmarkt, we came across a series of bridges across the Pegnith River - breathtakingly beautiful!

    Walking back to the car, we followed the city walls. I remembered this a little too late that I had read that it went through the red light district, a la Amsterdam style. Kate advised us this street seemed "inappropriate" because all the girls were only in their bras and undies. Yep!Read more

  • Gabrielle IngramEuropeTraveler

    Nuremberg Bratwurst

    October 19, 2017 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    We stopped at a restaurant today, whose sole menu offerings were a plate of either 6, 8, 10 or 12 bratwurst with a side of potato salad or sauerkraut.

    They were the yummiest sausages!

    Took some photos of our poppets, not the sausages.Read more

  • Gabrielle IngramEuropeTraveler
    Heilig Geist Spital
    The very interesting "Fountain of Virtue"WeissgerbergasseAnother great sculptureWeissgerbergasse

    Nuremberg Altstadt

    October 19, 2017 in Germany ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C

    Nuremberg was fantastic! We had an excellent day with a real variety of experiences. Nuremberg is a walled city so we started off walking to the Altstadt (old town). There is a lovely river running right through the old town, lined with medieval buildings and a spattering of modern buildings which have been really tastefully integrated.

    There is also a lot of renovation occurring in the city, so there were cranes everywhere you turned!    Read more

  • Gabrielle IngramEuropeTraveler
    The court chapel
    Beautifully manicured gardensHannah and the familyThe ResidenzWe have had beautiful autumn leavesThe bridge had 10 statues on it

    Hannah and Würzburg

    October 18, 2017 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    A very exciting day for us! Last night, Hannah, our new au pair, drove from her home town of Saarbrücken, over near the German/French border, to stay with us for a couple of nights, so we could meet her before she arrives in Australia at the end of next week. She brought some lovely gifts including some honey from her Uncle's hive and some homemade grape marmalade made with grapes from their place.

    Finn did his best to grill her with all sorts of hard-hitting questions such as "Do you like plums?", "Do you like cake?" and "Do you like plum cake?". He loves making plum cake, so a winner its a winner if you like plums, cake and plum cake!

    We went to visit Würzburg today, starting with a visit through the the 18th-century Residenz palace. This featured lavish baroque and rococo architecture, with particularly ornate rooms. There was a huge fresco by a Venetian artist (Tiepolo) over the main entry staircase which had us all fascinated as it also included some of the figures in the painting coming out in 3D (plaster?). It was a great effect and we spent ages staring at the ceiling in this and another room with similar room.

    We also visited the garden where I was able to spot our first German eichhörnchen (which is a very groovy way of saying squirrel). The kids had already negotiated that the first person to see one and say eichhörnchen for 1 Euro cent. I had spotted one in Austria but couldn't remember the name to say. The added bonus for this squirrel was he was a reddy-brown and had an acorn in its mouth as it disappeared into the hedge. Cute as.

    We had lunch in the main square and then went down to the river which is obviously where all the cool kids were hanging out. The river was very wide and was split at one side with a commercial lock. Two large barges pulled up as we were watching, so we waited for them to navigate through.

    Back home, we played a bit of Uno and introduced Hannah to the game of Cheat. She is now probably thinking "what sort of family encourages their children to cheat in a card game!"    Read more

  • Gabrielle IngramEuropeTraveler
    Finn ferrying our illegally acquired kindling into the houseThe kids sleeping area + the other bedroomThe bells, taken from our bedroom window

    Bartenstein AirBnB

    October 17, 2017 in Germany ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Our AirBnB in northern Bavaria is marketed as a baroque-styled holiday house. It is absolutely enormous, but in a ghost town village. There is a little room at the front with its own entrance (not used anymore) which looks like the house may have been part of a telephone exchange, or possible used as a guesthouse or boarding house, as there are 8 little mailboxes in it. Next door is another room with an old fashioned telephone in it.

    There is another part of the house we don't have access to which looks like it might be derelict, although there is a top window open. Craig is hypothesizing a senile old lady lives there.

    The husband is also current debating if the ringing bells on the village gate, right next to our bedroom window, are actually ringing randomly in the middle of the night (I am fairly sure they stop chiming at midnight and don't start again until 6am), but he is adamant he heard them at 3am this morning. I have a feeling he has just set an alarm to check out this theory. So, if a 3am chiming village bell doesn't wake me, I guess the alarm clock will - joy!    Read more

  • Gabrielle IngramEuropeTraveler
    This was the most insistent goat you could ever find
    A battle for rock supremacy was about to break outThis one was bouncing around and bleating trying to get attentionWild boarEither an illiterate person is not really a Belieber, or... we are at The Beaver enclosureRaccoonThese guys just looked like they were chillin' manOur wascally wabbit

    Bad Mergentheim Wildpark (II)

    October 17, 2017 in Germany ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    And a few more photos of the awesome animals.

    Kate has overworked the European Tooth Fairy since she has been here. She has lost three teeth in the last few weeks, so quite possibly can now be included in the rabbit display in lieu of Bugs Bunny.Read more

  • Gabrielle IngramEuropeTraveler
    Stag
    This one looks slightly crazyHeavy hoo-ha, and it is only one side!This was seriously coolBobbing for applesTwo of the four vulturesA seriously big birdHungry wolves

    Bad Mergentheim Wildpark (I)

    October 17, 2017 in Germany ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    To provide some relief from the "looking at medieval towns" for the kids, we went to a wildlife park which is only about 30 minutes down the road. It was great to see European animals in a wildlife park which was similar in style to the Western Plains Zoo at Dubbo, except that the animals were a lot closer and it wasn't as big.

    We arrived in time to follow a feeding tour, which was great for a couple of reasons... a) as we started out, there were only about 20 people on the tour, and b) the animals were out and about! The downside... it was all spoken in German, so we just had to follow the crowd when they moved on.

    We saw a number of mountain goats with various horn arrangements, and varying states of hairiness, deer, owls, otters, brown bears (AMAZING), lynx, vultures (AMAZING), a pack of 30 or so wolves (AMAZING), wild boar, raccoons and ferrets, and wildcats. The beavers were in hiding, so we missed out on seeing them.

    You were able to walk through the bird enclosures, so we were really close to the birds. The feeding of the vultures was incredible. The birds fly across the enclosure to attack the meat that is being thrown out, to the point where I had to duck as the vulture flew overhead. I had no idea how big they were.

    There were two brown bears who were being fed apples. They had this amazing way of scooping them out of the pond or rock crevice the apple had landed in, and then balanced the apple on the back of their paw like a dinner table and then ate the apple off that.

    The wolves too were incredible. One or two heads popped over the ridge whilst the feeder was introducing them. She then walked through the centre of the flat enclosure area dropping meat out of the bucket, and within seconds the entire pack had materialised as if from nowhere. It was quite magical.

    The kids got to go into the enclosure to feed the goats and we were also able to feed the deer, until the buck decided feeding time was over and chased them all away!

    I am not sure if it was the opportunity to see new animals that I haven't seen before, but certainly the closeness to the animals combined with the lack of people, but I would go so far as to say that this was the best zoo we have ever been to!    Read more

  • Gabrielle IngramEuropeTraveler
    Coffee in Dinkelsbühl. We played the "which house would we live in" game with these
    City gate, DinkelsbühlFollowing the town wallThe most colourful street ever!House built on the city wallChurch courtyard in Feuchtwangen???

    Dinkelsbühl + Feuchtwangen

    October 16, 2017 in Germany ⋅ 🌙 12 °C

    Cool names for towns hey? We visited some towns on the Romantische Straße (Romantic Road) tourist route today. Dinkelsbühl is one of the best preserved medieval towns in Germany. We followed the city calls around past a number of the watch towers through into the city centre. More of the same in Feuchtwangen.

    As we left Feuchtwangen we noticed school must have been in recess and there were a lot of teenage children smoking. Whilst we were stopped for groceries on the way home, I noticed a rather odd billboard advertisement for cigarettes. This caused me to look up WHO prevalence of smoking to discover than 32% of the population over the age of 15 smoke! It is even higher than Italy and France, and in those two countries we though we would be suffering from nicotine withdrawal by the time we got home from passive smoking. By contrast. Australia is 16%. Here's hoping Germany's health care system is indeed fabulous!

    We found eating outside in lovely weather in France and Italy to be almost impossible if we were not prepared to be shrouded in smoke. Australia should be proud of its tough legislative stance on cigarette advertising, sales restrictions and smoking in public places.    Read more

  • Gabrielle IngramEuropeTraveler
    My kind of road system

    Autobahn

    October 15, 2017 in Germany ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Alrighty, I am not cut out for this 'no speed limit' caper. Craig got up to 163kph on the autobahn today. I was a nervous wreck, and yet we were not even in the fast lane and cars were passing us at great speed even then. The kids were in the background going "weeeeee" when he sped up to overtake a "slow" person. I was white knuckled, eyes closed, heart rate elevated. I swear I lost weight expending nervous energy on the 1.5 hours of the autobahn.

    At one stage we passed one BMW towing another BMW with 3 metres between them doing 130kph on the autobahn. I just about died from anxiety as the car being towed was drifting as we passed (doing more than 130).

    I am much more a 'quiet country lane' type of gal. Much more sedate and less stress. Happy to be the tortoise, not the hare.    Read more

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