Germany – JaksTrips

Berlin February 2022

Sunday 13th
Stayed Hotel Marriott, with parking. Car stays in car park, take keys with you.
Comfy, actually slept fine until 03:45 alarm.

Monday 14th
Shuttle to airport, I was sole mask wearer. Airport better but still only 50% compliance despite repeated calls on intercom. Yoghurt breakfast at Pret. At Security I got told off for not taking the iPad out of the case (because it’s a mini and I had checked that I didn’t need to).
Flight fine, 100% compliance. Arrived at 09.30. I went cabin bags only with easyJet. Train to the Hauptbahnhof (main train station) then walked to Hotel Mercure near Checkpoint Charlie. Quite a long walk, but sunny. Left bag. Lunch at Beets and Roots, lentils and salad, excellent. Walked to Alexander Platz TV tower.
Back to check in.
Got takeaway salad from Mix and Match kiosk next to Hotel, too salty.

The Cube at Hauptbahnhof (main train station)

Remains from 12th century St. Peter’s church

The River Spree with the Reichstag (parliament) at the end

Tuesday 15th
Nice breakfast. Supermarket for bottled water and German red wine.
Walked to Checkpoint Charlie then up Friedrichstrasse to Unter den Linden. The Hotel Sofia has gone, I pretty much knew it wasn’t there anymore after looking at Google Street View but I had to be sure. We stayed in it back in 1973 or 4, it was in East Berlin and was quite a rough hotel, my researches tell me it was known for gays and prostitutes and I was a bit young at 15 or so to realise that fully but I did know it seemed a bit dodgy. Gays were not allowed in the DDR. Onto Unter den Linden to the Brandenburg Gate then to the Reichstag.
Into the Tiergarten (literally a zoo but it’s just a park) to see the Roma, Soviet and gay memorials. Across to the Jewish memorial, very emotive. It is across road from site of Hitler’s bunker which was a car park when I was last here.
To Potsdamer Platz, salad lunch in cafe then to the Topography of Terror museum which was much better than it sounds. It’s a fully referenced exposition of atrocities on the site of Himmler’s HQs. The site contains a preserved section of the wall.
Hotel then back to Beets and Roots for more salad.

Hotel Adlon, as featured in the Bernie Gunther books by Philip Kerr!

Memorial to gay people murdered during Nazi rule

Memorial to Jewish people murdered under Nazi rule

Remaining chunk of Berlin wall on Niederkirchnerstrasse

Wasn’t expecting that to still be there, no one in residence

Memorial to Roma and Sinti people murdered under Nazi rule

The crier or caller, from 1966, calling into the void

Wednesday 16th
Walked to U Bahn Stadtmitte, 5 minutes from hotel. Up Friedrichstrasse then took the S Bahn to Oranienburg. Walked 20 minutes through the suburbs to Sachsenhausen.
Sachenhausen was the primary location for the incarceration of homosexuals. The camp also had a section for Soviets. It wasn’t built as an extermination camp however that certainly didn’t stop the regime from committing murders and atrocities. The site is big to walk round and the area that is available for visitors today is about 1/6th of the size of the complex during the Nazi era.
After my visit I had overcooked pasta and veg in a café outside camp. The café inside the memorial only sold drinks and cake.
Back to Berlin. I got off at Unter den Linden to visit the Ampelmann shop. Back to Stadtmitte U Bahn. Supermarket for more water.
Hotel, then out to Italian restaurant very nearby, Lungomare. Lentil and sausage soup and beer. I make it better!
Bereavement group online.

Memorial to those murdered by the Nazis at Sachsenhausen

The grey outlines mark where barracks were, Sachsenhausen

FFP2 mask compliance is about 99%. Most people know how to wear them, not many noses visible. It is requirement in inside places.
Also I have to give either proof of vaccination or proof of vaccination and ID in most indoor places: shops, cafes, restaurants and museums.

Thursday 17th
After a good night of sleep I managed to get out a bit earlier. Took the U Bahn to Unter den Linden then the U5 heading east. Got out at Magdalenenstrasse station on Frankfurter Allee straight into the massive complex that was the HQ for DDR Security. One very small part of the complex holds the museum. It’s not entirely logical in layout and some things could be better explained. I felt quite depressed at the lengths the regime went to to suppress freedom of thought.
I worried that when my mum and dad and I visited mum’s friend Ilse and gave her stocking and razor blades for her dad, that Ilse might have been subsequently investigated by the huge network of informers.
At the time we joked that the hotel rooms we stayed in were bugged but from what I’ve learnt today it would have been extremely likely.
The weather today was vile and the wind really howled when I stood in Erich Mielke’s office. The whole building is a fascinating study in 1960s/70s brown. I particularly liked the chairs covered in fake fur (I was allowed to sit on one!)
Afterwards I did think of looking at a Wall exhibition but the weather was a bit challenging, hard to stay upright, the U Bahn station had a lot of daytime drunks and undesirables in it so I cancelled that plan and got a train back to Unter den Linden. Short stop for a salad lunch. Walked back to the hotel to get a break from the wind.
After a reprieve from the wind, out again to take in the massiveness of the former Nazi Air Ministry, Goering’s empire, a huge building that is now the Finance Ministry. It had dull yellow lights on in some of the ground floor rooms which revealed ancient looking dusty box files which were a bit untidy! There I was thinking this would be an entirely computerised department! I only saw this as I walked past on the outside.
Then there was an intense but thankfully short cold windy downpour. Back to my warm room.
Out to Fontana di Trevi on Leipziger Strasse for beer, chicken in gorgonzola sauce with veg and then an amazing tartufo, my first proper dessert since October last year. Well worth waiting for.

Entrance to Stasi HQ, built on so you couldn’t see who was getting in and out of cars

The current Ministry of Finance, previously the Ministry of Aviation during the Nazi regime

Museum of Communication, previously the Ministry of the Post Office

Brass tablets outside buildings to show who lived there

Stasi boss Mielke’s sitting/bed room in Stasi HQ with bathroom at the back

East German concrete remnant, nothing to do with the wall

Art Nouveau building from 1905, built for the Württembergischen Metallwaren-Fabrik (Württemberg Metalware Factory). They originally made tableware but moved to armaments during both world wars using labour from Sachsenhausen and also set up their own concentration camp. Still in business doing tableware and coffee machines.

Mielke’s office, his desk at the far end

Friday 18th
Walked to the Jewish Museum. Stunning building by Daniel Libeskind. From the outside it’s even difficult to photograph, inside it’s difficult to walk round. The intention is to make you work and to put your mind a bit out of kilter. Clever use of technology to tell the stories of lives. I spent hours there.
Had some delicious inexpensive beetroot soup in the café.
Back outside I walked round the exterior of the Topography of Terror and the timeline exhibit. Despite the over the top name, the site is very well managed, a thoughtful way of dealing with hard facts. Yes the site was where atrocities were systematised but the museum has carefully worked out how to acknowledge that whilst also explaining the history.
It was by then very cold and wet so I went home to my room. Out briefly for wine and water.
Out later to go to an Art Deco brasserie which turned out to be shut for the duration. It was next to Gendarmenmarkt which has 3 huge buildings, concert hall, French church and German church.
Instead I went to Maximilian’s just off Friedrichstrasse for goats cheese and beetroot salad with sauerkraut and a glass of beer. Very good.

Art Nouveau building on the same street as my hotel, 1904. Restored

Each disc represents one life, there were 10,000 discs in this hall

After some children had finished jumping about on them

Gendarmenmarkt, concert hall on left, French cathedral on right

Art Deco restaurant, sadly closed for what looked like a long time

Saturday 19th
It was very cold today, we had terrible winds overnight, I couldn’t sleep and all the bikes and scooters were blown over again as well as some fencing panels and a big potted tree nearby. I decided to be indoors as much as possible.
This was the day I did too much on top of all the other museums.
I went to The House on the Wall, a large rambling exposition which desperately needs a curator to make it make sense. It’s well meaning but could be so much better.
Then I went to The Bunker near Anhalter station, this was a bit better.
I tried a different restaurant tonight but it was shut so I ended up at the Italian Lungomare across the road again.

30+ years on there is very little to see of the wall, other than where it has been deliberately preserved. Sometimes there are markers like these.

Keith Haring’s work on the wall, sadly not preserved

This facade is all that remains of Anhalter Station

Bunker used during WW2 air raids, prone to flooding so not great

Sunday 20th
Set off on the U Bahn to Zoologischer Garten station. Had a quick look at the Gedachtniskirche but it was not open. Also cast my eyes down the Kufurstendamm. Got back on the tube for a few more stations to Olympiastadion. I was the only person at the station, by then it was raining heavily. Walked up to the Stadium entrance but it was shut to visitors because of an event. Back to the train. Got off at Bülowstrasse. I do worry that I’ll accidentally get off into a bad area but this was fine. It seemed quite trendy, I passed 3 nice looking cafés all shouting vegan! I didn’t go in because I can’t see with specs, mask, hat on a wet day and it makes me quite cross.
I crossed over the Landwehrkanal to reach the Memorial to German Resistance. It’s located in the Bendlerblock building on Stauffenberg Strasse where Stauffenberg was executed.
This is an excellent museum and is free. The best ones I’ve been to have all been free: Sachsenhausen, Topography of Terror, Jewish Museum and this one. This one even gave me a book of pretty much everything in the exhibits. It felt strange to be in the offices of Stauffenberg and Fromm, they are all full of exhibits. It’s good to know that there was so much resistance.
I walked back via Café Dallmayr which is in the ex Ministry of the Post Office now a museum of communication, this is one museum I did not visit, and had a great apple cake.
Wish I knew how the abandoned scooters work as I would have got round a lot quicker! It’s an app and a cheap rental system. Not much helmet wearing though so potentially lethal.
I’d wanted to see the Funkturm and the victory column but it’s been a bad week wind wise for going up anything. Also the Bauhaus museum but that was shut today.
I’ll need a holiday now to recover from museum overload.
Nowhere open other than Vapiano to eat so I took the plunge. I’ve been avoiding it all week.
I’m now totally au fait with providing my vax proof and my ID at all restaurants.
Did that, I was then given a card, this notched up all my spends. Next I went to the order point and ordered my salad, presenting the card. I was then given an electronic gadget and had to ask what it’s for.
I got a beer on the card, sat down and waited for the gadget to do something. Quite quickly, it was only salad, it buzzed insistently. I exchanged it for my meal.
The food was fine but the fiddling about is just an excuse not to pay some people to wait tables.

Kaiser Wilhelm memorial church, bombed in 1943

Olympia Stadion, built for the 1936 Olympic Games and the site of Jesse Owens’ 4 gold medal wins

Bendlerblock courtyard, site of the murder of Stauffenberg and many other conspirators who tried to overthrow Hitler

Bendlerblock, now a museum to those who resisted the Nazi regime

Monday 21st
Got up and came home. The hotel gave me a packed lunch because I was too early for breakfast. I walked to Stadtmitte U Bahn and left the lunch there. I had forgotten to say to them no bread, etc. A man picked up the bag of lunch and then he too left it on a bench. It was all wrapped up so I hope someone hungry got it.
I couldn’t even find the platform let alone the airport express train at Friedrichstrasse so I just got on the only train I could see going to the airport. That worked fine, got there in good time even if it did stop at every single station.
Because I only had cabin bags, (I’d paid for a large cabin bag which allowed me to have 2 bags in the cabin) I was eligible to do Speedy Boarding. It took me nearly half an hour to get through Speedy Boarding because the couple in front had not done something or other so it ended up being Very Very Slow Boarding.
Then security, this time I thought I’d get it right and got the iPad out of the case but no I got told off for not having Berlin airport plastic bags for my toiletries, I had to have to full works scan and open up my case.
Once I’d done all this, I was thinking I’d get some breakfast however it was time to get to the gate and there were panic messages saying it was 20 minutes walk away. It turned out to be about 7 minutes. No breakfast! Then the bloody flight was delayed by half an hour so I ate what easyJet call a snack box which was crackers, hummus, red pepper dip, olives and a baklava. It was ok.
The flight back was fine, a bit of a bumpy landing. It took forever to get through border controls. I felt sorry for all the German people arriving in maskless Manchester. What a rude shock for them.
Free taxi back to my car at the Marriott, the driver ignored all the speed limits. I got home to find my house still standing, but no internet. It came back of its own accord much later.

I still don’t really know how to do holidays. I spent a week without any conversation with anyone apart from my bereavement group but that’s a fairly normal week anyway. I just did it in a different location. I managed not to stuff myself and put on loads of cake. Hey ho, guess I’ll work it out eventually. At least I don’t mind my own company and it doesn’t stop me doing stuff. I didn’t bother with any gay bars because by the time I’d been out sightseeing and then found somewhere to eat, I was knackered each night. Most nights I sorted my photos, read my book and drank some wine.

Springsteen in Cologne May 2012

Thurs 24th May

7.30 pm Chris arrived at our house and I am all packed up and we are ready to rock.

Our stay at the Manchester Airport South, actually west, Premier Inn, starts with us getting an upgrade to a twin room at no addition to the £15 it is costing us each. The room is spacious and each twin bed is in fact a double. Chris has brought a flask filled not with coffee but iced gin! So we drink up and go to bed in good time for waking at 4. It is very hot.

“In the wee wee hours” (Springsteen), I wonder what happened to the nice shot I took when the room was tidy!

Fri 25th May

Wake at 4. Up and out promptly. Park in T3 Meet and Greet. Check in and we sail through Security having paid £3 each for the Priority Lane. This is well worth it as it gives us time to shop and have breakfast in Costa. Chris has a bacon bap and yoghurt and I have a croissant and yoghurt and coffee of course.

The flight is smooth and quick with only a half full plane and we are in Duesseldorf about 9.30. The luggage arrives correctly and we take the Skytrain to the airport train station. A short wait with some Bruce fans for the double decker train to Koeln. We end up in first as it’s very full chatting to Mrs. Bruce fan whilst Mr. is in a different carriage (because the train is so full). She tells us about their trip to Everest base camp. I don’t want to go there at all, ever, it sounds completely horrid. We arrive in Koeln and the hotel is a stone’s throw from both the station and the cathedral. The Hotel Excelsior Ernst is no. 1 on Trip Advisor and it is 5 star. Very helpful, verging on obsequious attention is paid to us. Only later do I realise the chap is touting for a tip, too late, and we never see him again. The room is huge, has embossed writing paper and a washbasin each! The mini bar is completely free and is replenished every day. So we sample some Bitburger to check it’s ok!

We unpack and then straight out to find lunch which is sitting outside a resto near the Rhein.

After perusing the expensive menu we opt for the daily schnitzel bargain which comes with chips and salad and more beer. C has a wheat beer and I have another pils.

It’s hot, about 25C as we walk along the Rhein to the next big bridge and the cable car. Very pleasant, lots of cyclists on what look like huge heavy bikes.

As the cable car moves off, C reminds me that she might have vertigo. At this juncture we are swinging up over the Rhein and about to cross the motorway! I am told to talk but not expect an answer! Despite the photo showing a relaxed traveller what you can’t see is the hands gripping onto the seat in sheer terror! Fortunately it’s a short trip with good views of the Dom.

We walk through a nice park and along the side of the river, some of which is dirty grubby. Then back across the railway bridge which has thousands of padlocks for love along the fence separating the footpath from the tracks. At the end of the path is a plaque to say 1000 Roma and Sinti left here in 1940.

Then we wander around the Altstadt, stop for another coffee which is not great. Through a shopping street where I buy a pork pie hat to keep a bit more sun off my ears. Luckily I don’t have to try to ask for it!

Back to the hotel for crisps, Koelsch beer.

Whilst Chris relaxes in a cool bath, a girl comes and asks if we want the beds turning down. I ask her to bring lighter weight duvets which she does.

Lovely shower and then out again to Heumarkt to find no. 6 resto on Trip Advisor. After walking round twice we get directions from a taxi driver. The Brauerei Zur Mauzmuehle is old fashioned and cool inside. You step in through a revolving door wondering when you will be let out. Chris has lots of Koelsch and woodcutter’s pork with fried spuds and sauerkraut and I have asparagus omelette with salad. It is asparagus season so lots of asparagus on the menus. Happy diners. Then I take C on a long walk to the gay area, some of which is trendy. We are aiming for a bar called Bastard and I am expecting it to be really tacky but it’s down a little ginnel and is lovely and quiet and leafy and dark. C has more beer and I have white wine. We walk back with Google maps but the Dom is such a good landmark day or night.

Our room has a doorbell. I love that there are electric sockets next to the washbasin!

It’s nearly midnight. Time for bed.

Archaeological dig

Roemerturm

On the plane

Our own washbasins!

Chris: “Why did I say I wanted to do this?!”

“OMG, we’re actually going to go over the motorway!!”

Padlocks of lurve

Archaeological dig of Jewish synagogue to become museum

Picture above an old pub

Boy on corner

The Dom

Pork and sauerkraut

Asparagus omelette

In the gay area

Also in gay area

Not Chris, obviously!

Roman Tower

Angels in dark, thankfully you can’t see the car they are attached to.

Bear

5* bedroom

[googlemaps https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Excelsior+Hotel+Ernst,+Trankgasse,+Upper+Bavaria,+Germany&aq=0&oq=hotel+excCologne,+Germany&sll=50.937531,6.960279&sspn=0.309814,0.965424&t=p&g=Cologne,+Germany&ie=UTF8&hq=Excelsior+Hotel+Ernst,+Trankgasse,+Upper+Bavaria,+Germany&hnear=&radius=15000&ll=50.941772,6.956406&spn=0.064899,0.102997&z=12&output=embed&w=300&h=300]

Sat 26th May

Wake at 9 and straight to breakfast. This is a sumptuous feast – lots of fish, meats, cheeses, breads and little pots of butter, mayo, cheese, beetroot and intriguing things. I have 3 types of muesli and yoghurt followed by thinly sliced beef and salami and cheese with rolls. Then a croissant. All washed down with proper coffee, espresso for me and cappuccino for C. She eats salmon, herring, cheese and salad.

Out to the U Bahn and after a bit of pfaffing we work out our ticket and platform. Head off for Bensberg about half an hour away.

The man at the hotel had thought we would struggle to find the outdoor pool but Google maps helps us to be self reliant.

The pool is in the ‘burbs on the edge of the forest. It’s open air and 50m long. Chris does 32 lengths i.e. a mile and I do 5 i.e. 250m which is a lot for me as am not very good at swimming. It’s quite blowy which makes big waves. It’s very hot in the sun on the grass and I don’t realise it until later but just this short exposure to the sun burns me. Thank goodness for Factor 50.

We wander back to the town for a cheese and tomato toastie and then back to the forest for a woodland walk on no. 13 path. We see a very big bird of prey. I am wanting a Biergarten and have seen huts marked on the map at the start of the walk. These turn out to be what look like wooden bus shelters and not inns. We take a “wrong” turn which spits us out at a “Friends of Nature” inn so in luck after all. Chris has a big beer and me a coffee.

Back via a lake to the station. We leave the train at Neumarkt and arrive back at the hotel at 7. Our luck is in as Philip Jump, one of the Badlands Fan Club brothers, is in reception dishing out tickets. He invites us to the bar but we have other plans plus there is mad Bruce fan hanging around and both of us would rather not have anything to do with her.

We go and shower and drink the minibar then out to eat. We’ve picked a bar but the whole central area of Koeln is packed full of people and fairly hideous. We end up in Brauhaus Sion sharing a table with a nice couple. Whilst we down several Koelsch we watch the gangs in their matching t shirts erupting into spontaneous singing. There are lots and lots of hen nights where they all have the same shirts and the brides to be carry what look like usherettes’ trays.

Chris has pork with onion gravy and fried spuds and coleslaw and I have beef roulade with mashed spuds and red cabbage. Our neighbours say goodbye and wish us a “schoenes Pfingsten”. I’ve never been wished a lovely Whitsun before!

Then we go to the riverside for ice cream, very yummy and watch the disco boat on the river. So many people it’s like being at a rock concert without the music.

Back to hotel.

Not posing at all.

Not a Biergarten

Bahnhof at night

And Dom also

Friends of Nature Biergarten, lovely

Big big logs.

Chris swimming movie

[googlemaps https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Bensberg,+Germany&aq=0&oq=Ben&sll=50.965633,7.157032&sspn=0.077407,0.241356&t=p&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Bensberg,+Germany&ll=50.965671,7.157078&spn=0.032433,0.051498&z=13&iwloc=A&output=embed&w=300&h=300]

Sun 27th May

This is Bruce day.

We have a very big breakfast. Muesli, raspberries, huge loganberries, yoghurt, cold meats, bread rolls and pastries. Unable to move. We go to the river to buy our boat tickets and then continue to walk off the breakfast by heading up to Neumarkt. We enter the Kaethe Kollwitz collection via a shopping centre which is closed because it’s Sunday and go up the tradespeople’s staircase to the 4th floor. Have to ring the doorbell to be let in. The boy and girl are surprised we have come this way. The exhibition is very good and hardly anyone else there. Calm and cool. Pictures very emotional. We leave via a glass lift.

Back to the river for an ice cream then a long time in the queue for the boat. It’s full and incredibly hot. I feel I’m burning even with factor 50 and through my shirt. We go up the river, down the river and back up again. Bit too hot and full for huge fun as we didn’t get a seat even after the queue so we sit on the lifeboat. I don’t mention that I can’t see enough lifeboats for the huge quantity of people on board. Some Springsteen fans are sitting near us. Today is the day to wear the Springsteen shirt, I’m saving mine up so it’s at least clean and not sweaty for a whole 5 mins.

Into town to the Peter’s Brauhaus for lunch, we get a seat today as failed last night when it was so mad and busy. C has sliced leg of pork with sauerkraut and mashed spud. I have boiled spud with veg in cheese sauce gratin. Very filling. C starts on the beer!

Back via the Dom where the Goths or possibly the fetish festival as well are hanging out. I can’t tell anymore! I did manage to spot some queers on our travels. I read the other day that people can tell immediately if someone is gay by the shape of their face. This sounds like sheer nonsense to me.

We prepare for the evening, Born to Run shirt on but The Rising baseball cap insufficient against the sun’s rays. I ring home and am entertained by Carol’s story of the biggest spider in the whole world. At 6 we go to reception and wait 5 mins for the Badlands people and then we set off anyway as they have clearly gone. We pfaff a bit in the station with the ticket machine because the VRS ticket office and machine are shut and are the same colour as the DB machine so we go to the info desk and it’s great, our Bruce tickets include free travel and indeed say VRS on them, but in the small print in a lot of other terms and conditions in German so I hadn’t seen this. We finally get going. At Neumarkt we change trains and are directed to a special train. We sit and chat to some German Bruce first timers. T shirt makers in Germany are having a boom time generally and so some have used the gig to demonstrate their affiliation. A group of 4 baby dykes are all saying they are Mrs. Bruce Springsteen. What will Patti have to say about that? Given that Mrs. Bruce Springsteen seems to have other priorities than fulfilling her membership of the E Street Band then perhaps she doesn’t mind at all…

Everyone gets in line in a most orderly fashion and we give our empty plastic bottles to a collector who will get money back on them. Eventually we find somewhere they will let us on the pitch. Security staff seem a trifle grumpy. I team up with a fellow beer buyer to get our beer, there is a €1 deposit on plastic glasses. We find a spot near the mixing hut but it’s not good for seeing the stage and only just ok for the screens.

Bruce comes on before 8 which is v. good for him. The audience makes a lot of noise! Then we have a 29 song set. Lots from the BitUSA album. About half time C gets more beer and we move back for a better view of screens. Less smoky here too. The Red Cross come past with a stretcher and snapping on the latex gloves. As well as being good value for money, Bruce made me laugh and made me cry. After some albums which didn’t quite cut the mustard, he’s back on track and talking to me again.

After a brilliant night we get some more beer although the serving boy is rude and stupid. Back on the train. Into the Bierkeller next to the hotel. I make another bar boy friend which seems to be the only way to get served!

Back to room to drink the mini bar!

Official gig photos
Working on the Highway on YouTube
Wrecking Ball on YouTube
The River on YouTube

Bruce’s own YouTube channel

Greasy Lake set list

From a distance you can’t see the supporting section

Dom and Gross St. Martin (I think)

Dom

1930s TV station

Suspended from bridge with the padlocks

Couple of poofs at gig

On top of the TV station

Poof doing a doo wop to Bruce!

“Tramps like us

baby, we were

Born to Run!”

With her killer graces and her secret places

That no boy can fill with her hands on her hips (sort of!)

Better camera for next time

And better spot too with luck

Mon 28th May

Awake at 9 after just about enough sleep. As today is a bank holiday there are no free newspapers. Lovely breakfast. I have bowl of fresh berries, cold cuts, roll, croissant. Back to pack and then check out. Leave bags at reception while we go to the cathedral and climb the south tower. It’s only 100m of climbing but up a narrow spiral stone staircase which is 2 way. Some people are v. annoying. We reach a central chamber above the belfry. The bells as we pass are chiming and so loud I was frightened and reminded of the Nine Tailors by Dorothy L Sayers. We rest and then it’s up an open stair. This bit makes me feel slightly sick! C keeps on going, after the cable car she is being brave. Finally it narrows and we are up as high as it goes so we walk round the outside which is strongly fenced in on all sides and top. Hideous amounts of graffiti. Then down. The first part down to the central chamber is all down a really narrow spiral and some prats are unable to interpret the no entry sign at the bottom which means it is 1-way.

Back to hotel to collect bags. The doorman is grumpy with us now that we are no longer guests. Grrr.

Off to station for ticket to Duesseldorf and fail to get coffee from 2 cafes outside so we get some inside. C also gets a Jamaican drink. Train is quick only half an hour.

At Duesseldorf we put our bags in a locker and buy a tube ticket. Travel to the riverside although at first it looks like we are in the middle of nowhere but actually we just walk along a short way to the riverside. Then we find a place to eat in the Altstadt called Maredo. We both have self serve salad which is excellent but the Schnitzel and chips just not great. The Altbier is good! Just as well.

Then along the riverside and back into the town to a lake with lots of birds and their young. Ducks, geese, swans. Sit quietly for a while away from the hubbub.

Back to river for ice cream for C and coffee. V hot in sun and I feel a bit too tired and hot with so many people. Back to tube. Back to station. Pick up bags. Off to airport, just 5 mins on train. Then on Skytrain to terminal C after quick look at A where no mention of flight.

Check in, Wander round. Do controls and then shopping. At last, as all shops have been shut for 2 days.

Flight is on time and very smooth. Only 20 passengers on plane, lovely.

Thanks Chris, for a brilliant Bruce adventure, here’s to the next one!

Places we went, things we ate, on Trip Advisor.

Please visit Map and Compass and learn how to interpret a map with me and my navigation partner, Cath.

Inside the Dom

Going up

Still some way to go

Zoom on Hotel Excelsior Ernst

The thought of dangling on this makes me feel sick

But clearly stonework needs attention

So very camp! (Duesseldorf)

Duesseldorf Rathaus

This was mad woman inspecting a photo!

Skates, dog, queers

Bad birds

Extremely bad birds

Phew!

Hot duckling, anyone?

or cygnet?

Last ice cream

The Four Muses

Please visit Map and Compass and learn how to interpret a map with me and my navigation partner, Cath.

Koenigstein Monday July 6th 2009

After a surfeit of eggs the day before, I thought it would be kinder to forego them for breakfast – C had a fried one.

We worked out how to ask if we could leave the luggage there to collect later and that achieved and bills settled we went off to do some bits of shopping and sight seeing.

First had to have a coffee, this was at the cafe next to the green seats one of the night before. Whilst there noticed that their fare claimed to be real German and locally sourced so decided to return later for lunch.

Looked in a cheap shop, C attracted by candles. Held back for time being.

Went up to castle and for E2 had a great time looking round. Very nice tickets too with old picture of the castle on. We were the only visitors. C looked through telescope. Wandered round and then went up the tower, 7 flights but the views at the top were worth every step. Could see the Grosser and Kleiner Feldbergs, the Altkoenig and then very oddly, Frankfurt appearing like a futuristic metropolitan blot on the landscape. Looked very out of place somehow.

A short walk through the trees brought us to the open air swimming pool again. Much quieter as all the children were in school and all the adults were making money in Frankfurt. Had a nice swim, not too long as the weather was quite a bit cooler. As soon as we’d got showered and dried under the body driers, great invention, it started raining. Back through the forest to the town and didn’t get wet.

Back to the cafe but went inside as it did quite a big short shower. Chris had pork medallions and I had Wiener style schnitzel. Some beers. All very delicious and properly cooked, yum.

Did a bit of shopping, the cheap shop got raided by Chris who decided to let go at last.

Then back to the hotel to pick up the bags, and back to the train station. Back to Frankfurt main station, posted the postcards. Train to the airport.

All very smooth. Bit more shopping at the airport, bum bag for J. And then a smooth flight home. The plane was jammed full and we couldn’t sit next to each other which was annoying. But many others in same situation so someone had cocked up that lot.

Eventually located the car park and the car at Manchester! Drove back to Fountain Villa, gave C her bag of bits and off she went. A totally lovely holiday, thank you so much.

[googlemaps https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=K%C3%B6nigstein+Fortress,+K%C3%B6nigstein,+Germany&aq=0&oq=+K%C3%B6nigstein+castle,+Germany&sll=50.206132,8.460503&sspn=0.069217,0.209255&ie=UTF8&hq=K%C3%B6nigstein+Fortress,+K%C3%B6nigstein,+Germany&t=m&ll=50.918538,14.05529&spn=0.008116,0.012875&z=15&iwloc=A&output=embed&w=300&h=300]

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Koenigstein Sunday July 5th 2009

After not sleeping very well (a lot of traffic noise because of being on the corner for J), we went for breakfast. A nice array, muesli, yoghurt, salamis, hams, cheeses, jams, nice fresh bread, not very nice coffee, possibly with chicory in it. J had a boiled egg.

We asked the lovely breakfast frau, possibly the one on the right in the picture of Cafe H about how to get to the Grosser Feldberg. Actually weirdly none of the people in the pictures on their website or the dog look like anyone that we met.

She gave us the bus number so we went to the train station to get the bus. The bus turned up with a very nice bus driver (Chris’). We climbed up in the bus to the top of the mountain (hill) as it’s only 878 metres where there was the annual town sports rally taking place as well as a biker convention. Despite all this, it was all very calm, there were a couple of cafes and kiosks, so we went to get a coffee.

On the short way, Chris picked up an old geezer who was taking a photo of a car. As well as the challenging language situation he had also had a stroke and so it was amazing that we were able to communicate at all. I kept trying to drag C away from him but this was very difficult so struck was she. Finally got away and into the cafe only to have him come and sit at the next table. At this point we gave in. Anyway his granddaughter lives somewhere in England and is very intelligent. The Americans taught him his English after the war, he was born in 1933. Actually he was quite a nice old man but most of the chat had to be done at high volume so guess we all entertained the cafe customers.

After some small purchases, we set off to walk the so called 7 km back to Koenigstein with the map which took a lot of working out so we just followed the signs and then just the general direction (down).

We had our substantial packed lunch, ate up some of the bits from the previous days extreme hunger rations, ate our new rolls and cheese and ham and tomatoes.

The walk through the forest was lovely, very quiet, a man passed by on a horse, the odd walker. We crossed the big road going up to the top and then came across a cafe/pub so had to investigate. It was next to a campsite and seemed to be part of an old Nature Movement. C had a beer and I had an espresso. Lovely.

At this point I finally managed to work out where we were on the map, better late than never. We walked back into Koenigstein and the Cafe H. Had a nice quiet couple of hours, I had a nap.

Then refreshed, went into town and after some photo opportunities went to what we thought was a real German restaurant that we’d picked out the night before, only to discover it had a Greek theme to the cooking. We sat outside and C had a lamb kebab and I had a lamb steak with cottage cheese in the middle of it. Not a good choice and mainly because I couldn’t remember what Schafkaese was. More beers.

Wandered back, stopping at a bar for a cocktail (C) and a big whisky (me).

[googlemaps https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Feldberg,+K%C3%B6nigstein,+Germany&aq=0&oq=feldberg+K%C3%B6nigstein,+Germany&sll=50.194869,8.470974&sspn=0.017308,0.052314&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Feldberg,+K%C3%B6nigstein+im+Taunus,+Germany&t=m&ll=50.224037,8.437157&spn=0.032948,0.051498&z=13&iwloc=A&output=embed&w=300&h=300]

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Frankfurt and Koenigstein Saturday July 4th 2009

We never did work out what the Women Style was!

Saturday morning woke up having left the curtain open all night, still very hot even though we also left the air con on all night.

Went for sumptuous breakfast, had everything nearly. Muesli, yoghurt, fresh fruit, dried fruit, croissants, bread (bit dry), hams, salamis, cheeses, jams, horseradish (yes), eggs, fried stuff….cakes (resisted).

Took some processed packed things for later hunger attacks. Oh and 2 hot, hot, hot boiled eggs.

Checked out and rode the rails again into Frankfurt. The train made us get off at the airport and whilst we were waiting for the next one, C raced off to get a “bottle of pop”. Expecting her to return with cola etc., she totally surprised me with a bottle of Pikkolo fizzy wine. And very nice it was too. After buggering about at the main station for a little while, decided to go straight to Koenigstein and get into the country air. I think it was this time we stopped for a little coffee and a almond croissant (me) choc (C).

Took the train to Koenigstein, lovely air conned train at last, out into the country. Passed lots of allotment looking gardens. Mostly very flat around the city with various factories including Coca Cola, then more agriculture. Started to rise a bit, went through nice looking well off suburbs and after 40 mins arrived in Koenigstein.

We knew that the Cafe was only 50 metres from the station but we took a slightly longer route to get to it, however avoiding the steps.

Got to the Cafe Haerdtlein, at first the woman didn’t seem to have us down but then she found us. All the bookings I had done were in Chris’ name as she comes first in the alphabet, slightly disconcerting when the ID is the credit card!!

The Cafe H is an eclectic mix of styles, some hideous and some frankly disturbing but quite cheery. Nothing has ever been thrown away.

The room was fine and comfortable although it didn’t ever really get cool.

Chris went off to the supermarket to get some supplies as it shut on Sundays. Stocked up on water.

We were going to try and get some tourist info e.g. a town map but upon asking in the kiosk across the road, a rather nice young man (mine, I think) told us the Tourist Info would be shut and he gave us directions on how to get to the open air pool.

So off we went through the houses and then out onto a country lane, past fields of wheat. Through some trees and there we were. Only E3 to get in, the pool was quite busy as it was a hot Saturday afternoon, lots of families with well behaved children. Worked out all the lockers and systems. Straight in and it was VERY cold water on our HOT bodies. Had lovely swim and dried in the sun. C did some long lengths, the pool seemed immensely long and wide to me. C had a tuna sandwich that looked a bit odd.

After a bit we wended our way along the railway track (single track through the trees) then via the town to the hotel. Stopped at the supermarket to get lunch for next day, ham and cheese.

Another change of clothing and another underwear washing spree and off to get some food, I was kill hungry by this point as had not been fed properly since breakfast, having turned down the weird looking food at the pool.

We saw some nice but rather expensive restaurants along the way, including a dear little Italian one with trees all round it.

Then we found a nice one with green seats and sat outside. C had pasta with salmon and I had mixed roast veg and cous cous which was totally totally delicious. There was also a cocktail (C) and a glass of local cider, very nice.

Then back to sleep, sleep, sleep some more.

[googlemaps https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=K%C3%B6nigstein,+Germany&aq=2&oq=koenig&sll=50.110891,8.682289&sspn=0.034677,0.104628&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=K%C3%B6nigstein+im+Taunus,+Darmstadt,+Hesse,+Germany&t=m&ll=50.178767,8.471918&spn=0.01649,0.025749&z=14&iwloc=A&output=embed&w=300&h=300]

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