Tuesday 2^nd August

Neither of us slept much. Whether we were worried about the alarm not going off at 6:15am or jet lag from our Frankfurt leg or excitement, who knows. However, once up, things went smoothly from the hotel to taxi to airport. Our taxi driver took us to Changi Airport via a different route. This was mainly through an area of light industry yet it was still lined with trees and gardens.

At Changi, we had a muffin and tea to tie us over until we got our airline food but were unable to get the scarf I was looking for. The colour and style had changed and the silk ones were too expensive considering how little I wear scarves. We decided to pick up some perfume and a super-large chocolate for our son at Sydney Duty Free instead. It saves a lot of carrying.

What continued to surprise us was the way people ignore the regulations for on-board luggage. They remind you before boarding that you are only allowed only 1 bag and it is to be under 7kg. However, a lot of people on every flight had way over this. Ours was heavier than it should be but that was nothing compared to some people. One couple had two bags each. It was a bit of a problem on the last leg as 2 people got to their seats only to find less than a third of their overhead compartment was free for luggage. Others had bags that should have gone in the overhead compartment but had them at their feet. When the hostess told them it had to go under the seats in front, they tucked in one edge, as that was all that would fit. The hostesses move through so quickly that they just presume that people will follow their instructions without actually checking that they do!

We did manage to get a different menu but no bed socks! Most people were trying to snooze because of the early morning take off (9.25am) and were huddled under their blankets for warmth, without their free bed socks. The problem with a day flight is too much food and drink really so that there is always a queue for the toilet especially when one of ours was closed as the sink was blocked. This time, I kept my shoes on!

Unfortunately, Charade was not on the list of classic movies as we had a different aircraft and so, when I finished my book, I started watching a new movie from the book by Michael Connelly, an airport thriller, The Lincoln Lawyer, turned into a movie. It was a little annoying as I have been reading several of his where the detective, Micky Haller, is the main character. They changed it a little to allow for a more intimate relationship with his ex-wife, which didn’t gel with me and then I ran out of time again! I had judged that there was enough time to watch it but didn’t allow for all the in flight announcements that kept stopping the film. So that’s two videos to borrow from the video rental shop!

We disembarked and went to immigration. Despite the announcement on board and the signs up everywhere, one young Asian lass whips out her mobile phone and starts talking. I pointed to the sign that states there is a $1,000 fine for doing this before you exit the terminal and she thinks I am telling her to go to another line. We had to follow her and explain the signage. She got back in our line. Then we noticed she had a Japanese passport and was in the queue clearly signposted as “Australian and New Zealand passport holders only”. Some people should not be let out alone!

Quarantine was a non-event for us and the man waved us through to the exit and we were quickly aboard a taxi for home. Now our taxi driver was Australian and had to chat. It was so nice to come home to a chatty person. Every taxi driver we had overseas was reluctant, or refused, to speak to us. Still, it was an expensive ride. Our Singapore taxi cost $S20, our Sydney $A64! This is the disadvantage of such a spread out city as Sydney but at least we have a good –sized garden and live in a house, not a flat.

Everything was fine at the house but our son had been home to have showers before going on to church. They were cold ones as we had turned off the hot water system and he did not know how to rectify the problem. There were towels lying about and some uneaten chocolate biscuits in a sealed container on the floor so we knew the signs. In addition, the house was so cold and damp. It took several hours before the electric blanket warmed up my bed sufficiently for me to sleep. Still, it was good to be home.

Our trip had been great giving us a fabulous opportunity to see some beautiful and amazing sights. We have been very fortunate to have had three ‘trips of a lifetime’. Of course, we saved hard for them and went without other things people enjoy but still most of the world has not had the opportunity to see so much of other cultures and God’s magnificent scenery.

Now for the awards:

Best hotel we stayed at– Adina, Frankfurt

Worst hotel – Royal at Queens, Singapore – not recommended

Best camping ground – Siena

Best region – the Dolomites

Least interesting region – northern Black Forest in Germany

Best road – the Grossglockner, Austria

Best food – France

Best bread – Germany

McRent, Friedberg – not recommended. They are unreliable, and our van was not ready when they said it would be. The van was very poorly equipped and we had to buy a lot of things we had to leave behind so they got them for free. The pillows they gave us were unusable as they were old and very lumpy from frequent washing. We were only given 1 pillowslip (They blamed the laundry service as they do not check what linen is given to you.). We were forced to buy two expensive pillows with pillowcases to suit. They directed us to a difficult first night campground much further away than they led us to believe. At the end, they refused to refund the money we spent on replacing the side mirror neither would they include it in our insurance excess. David is in a battle with them to get a written statement to say they did not pay for the mirror, as the receipt we have for it is addressed to McRent, but we paid it. Suzanne, whom we dealt with was very nice, but Klaus was difficult and obviously the guy who puts the pressure on you at the end. He was not pleasant and his English is not good. Furthermore, the centre is inconvenient, it was moved from Offenbach near Frankfurt after we contracted to hire form them. It is a 50E plus taxi ride from Frankfurt or you have to get the train from Frankfurt to Friedberg, cart your luggage up and down stairs to get out of the station there and then get a taxi. This does not compare favourably with the service we got from van hiring in the UK, NZ and Canada. We would not rent from them again and neither would we recommend them to anyone – in fact, the reverse.

It is good to be home. Besides a chance to stop and rest, there’s a big fridge (you shop once a week not every three days), a large top loading washing machine (you wash once a week instead of every day) and I know where to find things in a quality, well-stocked supermarket! Of course, there is the down side of housework and house maintenance! David now has the task of sorting through and editing our 10,000 photos! Hopefully, they will keep him busy until we take off in our caravan somewhere in Australia after next Easter.

Monday 1^st August

I believe, I should start by wishing all horses a happy birthday and all Aussie bankers a good day off! (My dad was a banker.)

I slept badly once again. This time it wasn’t the noisy a/c but my aching knees from all that walking. I woke about 1am and took painkillers but didn’t really get off to sleep again, just dozed as the pain seem to come and go. I pushed myself awake and out of a bad dream about 9:45 when David asked when I was going to get up. He was showered and dressed.

We trotted back to The Coffee Bean for our cheap breakfast. This time they did have English Breakfast tea but gave us green tea instead. We asked for it to be changed but even then their EB was nothing like Twinings and I would have preferred the teabag I carried in my handbag for emergencies. The toast was soggy as they had flooded my plate with salad dressing and the roll was sitting in it! Still, we got the 2 for 1 deal again and I was satisfied enough to last out for lunch.

David set off in search of a flash for his Nikon camera and I went to seek out some craft shops in the Singapura Plaza just past our hotel. We had searched the Internet for the craft shops before we left Sydney so I knew what I was looking for. Singapore is a mass of shopping centres. If you don’t want to shop there is not much point in being here, except to rest your back from too long in a plane! Actually, we have allowed far too much time here and in Frankfurt. We should have only allowed one night in Frankfurt and a maximum of two here for our return. We are tired and ready for home and there isn’t much to do that we have not already done and, furthermore, we aren’t really into shopping for things we can get just as cheaply at home.

The craft stores in the Singapura Plaza, for example, have smaller ranges and more expensive prices than my craft shops in Sydney. Rhinestones, which in Sydney I get  for $A2.99 are $S8.99! Still, they did have some unusual items that interested me but not at their prices. I found one craft book I would have liked but, at $S55, it wasn’t worth it. I was able to buy a few scrapbooking papers for about the price I pay at home and they were different brands to the ones usually stocked by my suppliers. I was hoping to get a craft sheet cheap, but they were still over $S35, and I can get them much cheaper from the US via the Internet. So it looks like I’ll be online soon after my return to get some craft sheets, pads, inkers and paints. In Australia, they sell the pads but you can’t buy the matching inkers so when they dry out you have to throw out the expensive pads. Some craft people re-ink their pads weekly!

Nevertheless, I liked this shopping centre. It wasn’t as poky and tortuous as many as you enter into a large central courtyard with the shops surrounding it on five levels. The shops are modern and attractive and to have Spotlight and two crafts store in one building is a bonus. What is more, not once was I pressured into looking at something I was not interested in. In fact, I could have been shopping at home. You were left in peace until you got to the counter with your purchases.

I met an Australian woman and her toddler in one craft shop. The poor child was grizzling and unhappy. His poor mother shrugged and said he just woke up that way and hadn’t improved. I began chatting to the child and he immediately beamed back at me and giggled. Within a couple of seconds he was all smiles and charm. I have never met a toddler with such personality. Even after we had parted, he kept checking me out and, if he caught my eye, would laugh and his eyes twinkle at me. I can’t say I have ever had such a positive effect on a child. They usually cry!

David was waiting for me, empty handed, back at the hotel and we set off for lunch at a Mediterranean restaurant on few floors below The Coffee Bean. What attracted us to this shop was its unusual concept. On arrival, you are given a magnetic card onto which your purchases are added as you chose between Turkish, Greek/Italian, Spanish, Moroccan and French dishes. There were salads, deserts and drink stations as well. When you have ordered your main dish, they give you an alarm and you go to the table and wait for your items to be cooked and come back to pick them up. Each table had some smooth pebbles on them. On one side was painted “Free” and on the other “In use”, so you could set up your table and leave it to collect your items without the waitress clearing it. The servings are small but adequate for lunch. David chose seafood paella and I a Turkish lamb dish and we shared these with a small salad. This with 2 small fresh orange juices came to $S35:30, which wasn’t cheap, but at least we only paid 7% GST and no service charge!

We hate all these added charges; they have them in the US too and you feel that you are being tricked into paying more than you planned. It is really annoying having to work out the real cost of things by adding 17%. The Australian system is much better – no surcharges and no tips. Nevertheless, it was an interesting experience. You present your magnetic cards at the checkout and pay as you leave.

We kept busy reading and blogging until afternoon teatime when we treated ourselves to tea and cake in the restaurant downstairs off the main lobby. Then, we worked it off by having a good swim in the hotel pool. It is much nicer than the one at Royal Queens and was a lovely temperature. Actually, we looked a little silly walking to the lifts in our white waffle-weave bathrobes and slippers supplied by the hotel. One size does not fit all, especially little old ladies like me. We must have looked strange to those in the lobby eyeing us off in the glass lifts! Still, we weren’t the only ones there in our robes. On arrival you are presented with bath towels and, while we swam, we watched them set up the buffet tables we couldn’t find yesterday as we toured the hotel. It turns out that it is a buffet dinner, not lunch, and held nightly during the feast of Ramadan. The decorations caught my eye. Ribbons of various colours and widths was woven into rectangular box shapes of varying sizes and hung from the ceiling. I could not make up my mind whether I liked them or not. Certainly, the ones in clusters of different sizes, and using ribbons of toning colours with some gold or silver, looked the best.

After a shower and much debate, we opted for a one course dinner, not the seafood buffet, although David did have a full lobster thermidor for $S29++ which was good value and very nice. We stuck with the expensive house wine, as the other drinks were not much cheaper. Water, was again particularly expensive, for water.

And now we are packing and charging up our computers in case we wish to use them on board tomorrow. I am trying to dry our swimmers using the hotel’s hairdryer! Our flight leaves at 9:25 am so we will get up early, dress and then check out. We’ll grab some breakfast at the airport as I am always more relaxed if we are not rushed through traffic and then security. Besides, I need another novel for the plane and will check out the duty free but only as far as our spare Singapore dollars will allow. Let’s hope boarding and landing with SA this time goes more smoothly. We’d also like a change of menu as we have had the same thing each flight if our memory serves us correctly. This time I also hope I remember to say no to their terrible peanuts (handed out before take off) and ice creams (dessert for the main meals!). I need to watch the last half of the old movie Charade with Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant that I started watching from Frankfurt. We enjoyed watching it many years ago and, even though I know the ending, I do like both the actors and the comedic lines. Audrey is so elegant and Cary – such a smoothie!

Sunday 31^st July

We didn’t sleep much, what with the noisy a/c and the time difference so we were up just after 5am having a cuppa. Then back to bed we went until after 10am, still sleeping restlessly. There isn’t much point in being up before then as shops generally don’t open until 11am and stay open until late.

You see, Singapore is all about spending money especially through shopping. As workers starting between 8 and 9 can’t shop, you have to have the shops open for hours after they finish work. Many shops appear to stay open until well after 9pm.

Not wanting to pay the exorbitant price of a breakfast here, we wandered off to The Coffee Bean, a shop we found in our wanderings last night. It offered a breakfast with scrambled egg, pork sausages and toast with jam cheaply. In fact, it turned out to be even cheaper than we thought as we got a 2 for the price of 1 deal as well. So our breakfast total was under $S8, that’s a lot cheaper than $S52 here at the hotel. Of course, it was nothing to rave about. They didn’t have English Breakfast tea; they had run out. So we got Ceylon but it was highly fragrant and so I haven’t a clue what it really was as there is no label on the teabag distinguishing the type. I do not like such teas and even David wasn’t fussed about it. The toast was a bread roll halved and toasted and, strangely, a salad with dressing was served on the side! David does not like dressing! Still, it was filling enough and David was willing to go back tomorrow provided we got English Breakfast tea or used our own teabags. (We always buy extra teabags when we arrive at a hotel, as we get sick of asking for more. They presume everyone drinks coffee and only provide two teabags.)

Then it was off on the Singapore Airlines Hop on Hop off bus to the Singapore Flyer. Of course, we just missed a bus and had to wait almost a half hour for the next one. Still, when we got to the Flyer, everyone else must have been having lunch as we got a capsule all to ourselves, which was very nice and convenient. As the capsule goes up and over the giant ferris wheel, we could wander around freely taking any pictures we wanted although the glass/Perspex was, of course, dirty! This is a bit annoying as you pay $S25 each to go up for about 30 mins. You get an excellent view from the top although the weather was still cloudy. What particularly struck us was the hundreds of boats / ships in the harbour and there must have been lots more as we could not see all the wharves because of the skyscrapers. No wonder the Japanese wanted Singapore in WWII! The ships we could see were just those waiting their turns to unload. Immediately around the Flyer there is a lot of messy construction work associated with the F1 track and the Gardens by the Bay area, which is on the other side of the Singapore River. One large trumpet shaped structures surrounded by several smaller ones intrigued us. All we could think of was that they would have shooting fire coming out of their tops when completed. I guess that if this is the case then they would complement Singapore’s nightly neon and fireworks display. Not that the locals seem to take any notice. I saw the neons flashing about on the fronts of some of the buildings last night but the Singaporeans were walking about below without an upward glance.

Underneath the Flyer is a tropical garden with a fishpond surrounded by places to eat so we walked around it twice trying to select where to eat. The fish place was too expensive, the outside “Beach Bar” was deserted (not a good sign) and the locals were all eating cheap and unattractive noodles smothered in sauce. We ended up at the American chain of O’Leary’s where David had a hamburger (minus the pickles, of course) and I had fish and chips with coleslaw. Cost wise, it was somewhere in the middle of the options available. Then it was wait again for the Hop on Hop off bus as we had just missed one!

This time we got off near Chinatown and spent a couple of hours walking the streets, reading the historical signs and not buying anything. The narrow side streets were crammed with stalls and pushy salespeople. Unfortunately, we are not used to this and do not like to bargain etc; it just puts us off. Besides, there was nothing much worth buying, juts more junk and appalling colour combinations. Our baggage was just below our 40kg limit from Frankfurt so we cannot afford to buy much until we get to Sydney’s Duty Free.

In addition, I have to say that we are disappointed in Singapore as a shopping centre. Goods seem to be as dear or dearer than Sydney and / or Frankfurt. I have my eye on a Danish watch. It is cheaper in Frankfurt than here.

Around Chinatown there are several temples. The Hindu temple charges entry plus extra to take photographs. It would have cost us $S12 to go in! We didn’t. The Buddhist temple was free but the priests were conducting some sort of ceremony inside and the wailing and smell of incense kept us out. People were lighting incense sticks and bowed with them in all directions. Once more we felt the relief and freedom of being Protestant Christians. Along the sidewalks in several areas, people were lighting candles and burning paper. I am pretty sure the paper was pretend money and we saw a couple of stalls selling it. The burners did not seem to care where they lit their candles and left their offerings. Most were in the gutter and we saw a poor workman going around trying to sweep away the debris. In another place, they lit the candles right up against Peace Lilies planted along the footpath setting fire to and scorching the plants.

It was time to head back to the hotel but, guess what, we had just missed the Hop on Hop off bus, yet again! So we pondered the situation and decided we could walk back in less time as the bus route necessitated the bus travelling right out to the Botanic Gardens and back before getting near our hotel. So walk we did. It took about 40 minutes, saving us about 20, but in the heat we were tired and hot even though we walked on the shady side of the street. Our consolation was that we should sleep well tonight.

We opted for dinner in the hotel and just 1 course to keep the cost down. The restaurant was very nice, continuing the black and white theme, and we found courses within an acceptable price range. However, the wine is very expensive here. It cost $S24 plus 17% charges for two small glasses of house white wine. In Europe, we could have bought three whole bottles or more of much better wine for the same price. It rather made our less expensive dinner, expensive.

We could have eaten from the buffet here instead. For $S47 plus 17% charges you can have an eat all you want seafood buffet which is much cheaper than home. They even cook crab with the sauce of your choice for you as requested in that price. We are thinking about it for the final main meal of our holiday tomorrow night. The problem with such a buffet is that you eat far too much and then, besides putting on weight, you don’t sleep well. There were only a few tables eating form the buffet so the wastage must have been huge as well.

It is about 11pm and time for bed.

Saturday 30^th July

I hate night flights! I took a sleeping pill but all it did was make me too groggy to watch a movie and not tired enough to overcome the crying child, cramped legroom and narrow seats. I think in future, I’ll opt for the seats near the emergency exits where you have more legroom and your TV screen is at a lower level more suited to bifocals. Still, I think, probably in my state, the time flew by more quickly than a daytime flight. However, I do wish they could somehow manage separate toilets for males on these flights. Everyone is in stocking feet and you get to the toilets and the males have missed their target! This is not pleasant. Another time, I groggily waited my turn for about 10 minutes only to find the hostess had been inside grooming herself. No one could see her in the darkness anyway!

Landing at Changi Airport was not a pleasant experience. In fact, it was the second worst landing I have ever had in a plane. The pilot came in too fast and had to slam on the brakes. So we crashed into the tarmac several times and began to swerve off the runway. Luckily, he managed to correct our path with another swerve – not good. I hope someone on the crew or in the control tower speaks to the pilot.

By the time we were ready to leave the airport the queue for the taxis was long and no taxis seemed to be about. It turned out that today was practice day for the national day celebrations. It is nearly 46 years since Singapore became an independent country. The traffic was heavy near the city centre. So we decided to get the shuttle. We only had a 10-minute wait and the shuttle arrived but as we were leaving, we noticed the taxi queue had vanished! The taxis had obviously all arrived at once. Naturally, we were the last of the 4 couples aboard the shuttle to be delivered to our hotel. Still, this time we knew where we were going and the gardens along the route are attractive.

The Concorde Hotel in Singapore is, quite simply put, weird. After being driven to the impressive front doors of 2 other hotels (Forget the Ibis.), we were delivered to the back door of ours via the underground car park! You only get a front door treatment if you are wealthy enough to arrive in a taxi! In fact, even pedestrians can’t get access straight off the street into the foyer. First, you have to go down a few steps into a narrow alley in front of some small, unimpressive shops. Then you go up a flight of steps to a desk and are directed to the right passed more small, unattractive shops, into a corridor that houses the lifts. You go up one more level and get out of those lifts and you are to the side of reception. To get to your room, you have to go back to the lift lobby and go up in a different set of lifts, glass lifts. It is a mess.

From this, you are thinking that this hotel must be appalling! In fact, it is very swish and expensive. The rooms start at nearly $S500 a night although, because we booked a long time in advance and over the Internet, we are paying less than $S300 a night. Naturally, they tried to get us to upgrade by telling us we would get free Internet etc etc but we did not bother. Having come in via the underground car park, carrying our own luggage in what appeared to be a service lift without any porter to assist, we were not convinced we would even like the place enough to stay 3 nights. We did receive a complementary fruit juice while we registered but nothing is cheap about this place. Breakfast is $S26 a head plus GST plus a 10% service charge. (Consequently, we don’t tip anyone!)

We rather miss our Frankfurt hotel. There breakfast was only 8.50E and you got more to eat. Here we have two rooms not 3. There is no lounge here so there is only I chair and an armchair to fight over. The a/c is noisy and if you turn it off, you cannot open a window. I guess, with all this heat and humidity, you need it on anyway but it makes it hard to sleep at night. In Frankfurt we could open 2 windows and a door onto a little balcony. However, the room is larger than at the Royal Queen here where we stayed on our flight in from Australian in April and the view is better. We can see trees and have a pleasant outlook.

It was dinnertime by the time we got settled into our room and we went searching for dinner; we needed the walk. We did not want to spend a lot at the hotel restaurant. So we found a street stall area and picked a small meal of rice and meat (duck & pork) each and got Taiwanese black tea from a stand across the side street. Never again! The picture displaying the food is not what you get. What we got tasted okay but it was dumped on the plate and much less meat was covered with a little brown sauce. By this time, after weeks in Germany and Austria, we are rather sick of seeing unappetising food lacking vegetables. And Taiwanese black tea is not for us.

We wandered about the hotel familiarising ourselves with its features but still at a loss about the poolside restaurant that supposedly has a lunchtime buffet. All we could find was a small bar area and the pool closed at 8pm, which is ridiculously early given this heat.

And so to bed.

Friday 29^th July

Well, another day to fill in until our flight at 10pm. We had planned a visit to the State Art Gallery where they have Durer, Matisse and Picasso paintings to name a few. However, we were disappointed as the gallery closed on 26^th until October for renovation! This means the two major galleries / museums in Frankfurt are both out of action at the same time – not good. Instead, we opted to avoid the shops and the numerous other museums (not at many as Nuremberg – no one could have as many as Nuremberg) and go to the Botanic Gardens.

This meant train travel in the underground but we soon managed to work out the station name, line etc although train travel here is relatively expensive. It is 2.10E for any station in the metropolitan zone so as we were only going three or so stations this mounts up. Once out of the station, David was convinced we were going in the wrong direction so we did an about face and walked up the western side of the Palmgarten. When we got to an entrance, it was closed with a sign saying it was only open on the weekends and public holidays but entry would be 5E. We therefore, presumed that the Palmgarten must have been a private garden next to the botanic gardens. (In Sydney we are so fortunate to have free access to our gardens and art gallery etc.) So we continued up the western side looking for another entrance. We came across one, although it looked a bit scruffy, and entered. The plan now was to walk from the northern end back to the southern end and back to the underground. By the time we reached the southern end, it was obvious that the Palmgarten was the botanic gardens and everyone had to pay to get in. We had come in the tradesman’s entrance! Explaining all this to the ticket office was going to be difficult so we gave it a miss. It seems so strange to us that basically there is only one entrance into gardens, and with the cost, this so isolates the residents from their public spaces. However, we did opt to have lunch in the garden’s restaurant so we did make a financial contribution but more of this later.

The gardens contained areas of great interest, unusual aspects and so areas of neglect. We were fascinated by a wonderful display of dahlias. A distant cousin in the UK was a dahlia breeder and judge and you could see why these plants fascinated him. I was particularly struck by the variegated and the huge ones. David took lots of photos for me but, unfortunately, not all the plants were labelled. There was a meadow of European wildflowers like we had seen in the alpine walks we have taken this trip and an area of American prairie flowers that brought back a glimpse of our trip to US National Parks in 2008 especially the Echinacea. We ate some morning tea fruit in Goethe’s Garden, a strange modern area with painted, square steel pillars cut with German writings of the man and walked through an avenue of apple trees planted in celebration of 250 years of his life. Apparently, his mother had an apple orchard in Frankfurt. We wandered through a few greenhouses that contained plants form exotic locations like New Zealand, Chile and Australia. At one point, an American woman ahead of us, with an older German-speaking woman (possibly her mother) pointed out a banana tree with fruit high above our heads to a delighted child (possibly the grandchild). This amused us but it must be of great local interest too as the gardeners had made up a special sign for children pointing to the fruit.

The rose garden was particularly unspectacular especially when we compared it to our visit a couple of years ago to Adelaide’s botanic gardens where the rose display is fantastic. However, we were interested to see a marriage about to take place in the pavilion in the middle of the rose garden. Everyone rolled up including the groom pushing a small child in a stroller and a bride in traditional white bridal regalia. In numerous shop windows and on advertising boards we have seen photos of many German bridal dresses and they all were dreadful to our eyes. They like the flounces and elaborate skirts as well as the strapless versions and plunging necklines. Once assembled, they entered the pavilion and the couple sat side by side on chairs at the front. We gave them no further thought until we entered the restaurant for lunch.

Getting in and out of the restaurant was a little tricky. You had to take a ticket and insert it into a turnstile to get in and out. A sign explained in German and English that this was because the restaurant was accessible from the street without having paid the 5E entry fee. However, it was not clear how to get through the turnstile. Our cards did not seem to work until a German lady directed us away to the far right had side to a narrower turnstile that was not obvious to us from where we were standing. The was no seating left outside under the market umbrellas and we were a little sad about that as it forced us inside and away from the view of the garden and its lake. However, it turn out to be fortuitous as while we were eating lunch the rain began to pour down and the outside eaters were forced indoors.

There were several things that struck us about this restaurant. Firstly, the service was again slow and when we did finish our single course and asked for our bill, we waited another 10 minutes and nothing happened. David went up to the cash register and again asked for the bill. Another 5 minutes later the forgetful waiter returned with a short apology and our bill. It took over an hour sitting there to get some very small servings of food. David had the tomato salad with red onion, goat’s cheese and walnut dressing. When it arrived it was a small pile of sliced tomatoes with no visible red onions, some brown dressing and a round goat’s cheese cut in half. There was no real attempt to make it attractive to the eye and it should have appeared in the entrée category. I had ricotta cannelloni, which was also a basic serving of three smallish pieces sitting on some spinach. Fortunately, they supplied three different types of bread with butter, which enabled us to fill up. With 2 small orange juices and two pots of tea it came to over 40E (A$60). Despite this ridiculous cost, the restaurant was full!

One quarter of the inside area, just next to us, was occupied by another wedding party. It was weird. They were having their wedding reception in a public restaurant with everyone else. What was even weirder was the comings and goings of the bride and groom. After dessert, they got up to leave, hugged and said their goodbyes to their guest and went up the stairs to the entry area, with her parents, and disappeared. About 10 minutes later, I went to the restrooms and there was the bride standing around by herself outside the loos! Within 5 minutes both the bride and the groom reappeared and carried on talking to their guests. Then they went through the same procedure again. Everyone waved goodbye to them and, after the groom began to get inpatient with is talkative new wife who was reluctant to say goodbye, up the exiting steps they went again. Within five minutes the groom was back paying the cashier for the wedding breakfast! He then went through the ritual of saving goodbye again to the few young male stragglers still left at the tables. At this reception there were no speeches just people talking to each other at tables and then circulating to other tables before leaving. It seemed an odd affair.

Still, it was probably an aberration. As we returned to our hotel later in the day, the young couple from the rose garden were having photos taken in the park along the river front and then went to meet their guests at the Italian Restaurant overlooking the river that we had discounted as too expensive for dinner the night before. They had the whole top floor of the building set aside as a private reception area. This was much more satisfactory although undoubtedly much more expensive. Still, we silently wished Kristen and Torsten a happy married life together as we passed by the restaurant doors

From the botanic gardens, we again caught the train on a different line to the Chinese Gardens. By now the rain had stopped. These gardens proved a little disappointing. They were small, within another garden and colourless, It was all white, green and a dark purple brown. The stonework was all grey stone from the Faux dogs to the Chinese lanterns and cobblestones. In side the pavilion a man was sitting contemplating, and perhaps eyeing the huge grey fish in the large pond, but his peace was frequently shattered by three young ladies and an accompanying young man who laughed and giggled demanding he photography them posing here and then posing there.

We ended up walking back to the hotel although it was quite a distance and then sitting for over an hour on a bench at the river just people watching. After all, we had this some 5 hours until our plane left. I do like the Quay of Frankfurt. To me, it is the highlight of the city. I tried getting David to play a game of ‘Boast’ like I do with my ESOL students, but as with ‘I spy’, he was hopeless at it. We enjoyed watching a couple of groups of rowers. The first group were frankly our age or older and the cox was a very large woman at least in her 70s. It looked rather amusing and incongruous.

Our trip to the airport and up to the boarding gate was uneventful and our snack for tea before boarding was a stale bread roll with ham, cheese and a little salad. However, boarding was a large mix up and not what we expected from our previous experience with Singapore Airlines. Before boarding, they announced that we would be boarding shortly in a set pattern: First & Business, then Economy in rows from the back of the plane forward. Sounds sensible but nothing happened. No call for boarding was given. Then came a final announcement asking all the “remaining passengers to board immediately”. So everyone got up and tried to get on at once! Furthermore, they insist on serving First Class and Business Class passengers a drink as soon at they get to their seats making it almost impossible to squeeze past a hostess carrying a tray of drinks. I don’t think it would kill them to wait ten minutes for a drink especially as it took sometime before take off. We were late leaving.

Thursday 28^th July

How to fill in the day; that is the question? Firstly, you sleep in and don’t get to the dining room for breakfast until 9:30am. We had our usual small breakfast but this time there was no jam to have with toast, just that chocolate / hazelnut spread, liverwurst spread, cream cheese spreads and a jar of vegemite! Then, by the time you’re ready to trot out the door of the hotel it is about 11. David went out looking at a hobby shop while I continued my novel. He returned with a couple of model fire brigade vehicles for his train layout. (We have noticed that any reasonably sized German town has a prominent fire brigade building and to this point David did not have one, or vehicles, for his layout.)

We then set off to wander about the streets basically looking for prices on some items we may buy duty free, if available, at an airport and a 2010 Soccer World Cup shirt for our son. We wandered up to the Eschenheimer Turm, a medieval tower that seems to have survived the war bombing and now houses a restaurant and bar, back through the Zell, where we had lunch, and the Romerplatz. We purchased some chocolates, fruit and some reproduction train plaques as we wandered back to our hotel along the riverbank. It is a pleasant spot.

After an afternoon rest, we took off determined to eat dinner somewhere else, just for a change. We discarded an Italian restaurant overlooking the river as too expensive. They wanted 35E plus for mains, which we think is ridiculous especially for Italian food. The menu at the Intercontinental didn’t inspire and was only fractionally cheaper. Over the road is the second Intercontinental building and it had a more reasonably priced Italian restaurant. Unfortunately, they served bread and warmed basic pizza pieces with a bowl of marinated cherry tomatoes, fetta and green olives. This was washed down with an oversized glass of apple juice that neither of us could finish. So we had begun to feel full before our meal arrived. It was ok but not nearly hot enough. However, they did serve a large platter of vegetables with it so we were satisfied. When we got our bill, we were informed that,” It doesn’t contain a tip but you can leave one at your discretion.” Now, that is rude. We didn’t.

We have been surprised by the number of Muslims and beggars we have seen this time; they were absent in April. I guess then it was too cold for beggars. As for the Muslims, they seem to like this hotel and the foyer often has them seated about. I feel for the women. The men are dressed in short sleeved polo shirts and modern slacks and the women are burdened with hot, drab, unfashionable and heavy clothes leaving only their faces to feel the cool air. They never seem to smile much.

The remainder of the evening was spent organising the packing. Whilst we are taking a few extras home (gifts / souvenirs), and considering what we posted, we still find that there’s more kilos than expected. We may need a reassessment in the morning.

Wednesday 27^th July

We left Heddernheim about 9 as expected and had a smooth half hour’s run to Friedberg picking up a full tank of cheaper petrol as we entered the town.

Rain made it difficult to present the van well at McRent but I guess they expect that especially when we did not have to wash the van although I notice another couple’s van was spotless on the outside. We passed the inspection although we will lose our 1000E insurance excess because of the accident, but we knew this.

This couple ended up sharing a taxi with us back into Frankfurt. A local taxi driver (a pushy type) was at McRent to greet us and offered us a deal. For 50E we could get to the Frankfurt central station so we asked him if he would to it to our hotel nearby and he agreed. To go by taxi / train / taxi would have cost us around 30E and been more of a hassle. The other couple, Americans, paid the standard fee, which I suspect was 50E. We all piled into the taxi and had a pleasant although rather long and roundabout trip (the taxi driver was thwarted by roadworks and took us halfway to Darmstadt) to Frankfurt, dropping the couple at their hotel closer to the airport as they had an 8am flight out the next day. Our arrival in Frankfurt was greeted by reasonably heavy rain which, fortunately, tapered off as we reached our hotel.

The American couple were an interesting pair. It was the second marriage for both of them, having 5 children, 7 grandchildren and 1 great grandchild between them. They have been 8 times to Europe, about every second year since her son was working over here in the 1990s, and stay about 4 months, each time. They are campers and did their first cruise last year and, like us, were not impressed. Usually they stay in the free or 10E campervan areas where possible. She found showering in a van the same size as ours a challenge she does not really enjoy. They must be well off. They retired to Florida and then downsized to an over 55s apartment. This gives them the freedom to lock up and go for as long as they like. Fortunately, they have friends in Germany who store their table/ chairs and bikes ready for the next trip. Unfortunately, as far as David is concerned, we don’t and he wants a train layout and not to live in a unit block so it make sit more difficult for us to go away for long periods.

Our hotel gave us a much less attractive apartment this time. We are at the back of the building overlooking a laneway so our view is the walls of the building behind us. It is a modern one but the laneway can be noisy at night and in the early morning and we have no view of the River Main. It is also smaller. It is now peak season and we are paying the same as our first stay here so we figure that explains it. This time we didn’t have an issue with the door locks. Instead it was the kettle. After our first cuppa, we found the kitchen bench top flooded. So we rang the main desk and asked for a new kettle. The next one tripped the main circuit breaker, turning off the lights. We tried it twice; the effect was the same. So we rang the desk again and they sent up the same teenager to check it out as they obviously didn’t believe us. At his request, we tried it twice more and twice more the breaker tripped. So he tried it in a different power socket; again no lights. Then he rang the desk and they said it was because we had our computer plugged in. He removed our computer plug and tried again despite David telling him it would make no difference and me assuring him that David was an electrician and so knew what he was talking about. The breaker went again. He then went off to get us our third kettle.

David went out looking for magazines at the railway station bookshop while I put on a load of washing, rested and read a novel. We had given McRent 7 novels and so took 4 as replacements. David returned empty handed, as he half expected. We had dinner in the dinning room, which was empty, except for us and a couple outside at the pavement tables having drinks. The food is fine (You do get vegies with your meal!), although not cheap but the menu is limited. So basically it was a quiet, orderly day.

Tuesday 26^th July

We turned clean up day into a leisurely affair with a sleep in until 9am. I really needed it. Then, after breakfast, we organised our ‘stuff’ so it would be easy to vacuum out the van including inside the cupboards. David went to procure the bread rolls and a treat to look forward to after the cleaning and then we set off in search of the service station with a vacuum cleaner. Fortunately, the first one we tried had one and was easy to find. For 50c you get 7 minutes but the cleaner is a cumbersome affair especially with the cramped room inside the van.

Getting back was a little more challenging. You could not do a left U turn as the tram line cut right down the middle of the road separating the two rows of traffic. Either side of these lanes were a mass of one-way streets that looked a nightmare on the map. We continued to drive south away from the camping area until I spotted, high to the right, an inconspicuous black and white sign showing how to do a U turn. David missed seeing it. It was a case of turn right and there was a U turn lane that allowed you to return, cross the tram tracks and turn north. From there all we had to do was follow the signs to the camping ground.

The rest of the day was predictable and unexciting although we did manage to wipe over most of the outside of the van, even though we didn’t have to, but it was merely a lick and a promise. There isn’t much point really, as we have had at least three light showers today. It actually gave us something to fill in the day, would you believe?

We used our awning as a dining room today to keep food crumbs out of the van and discovered, at this late stage, that it is a shade awning only, secured at three places along the top so that the awning leaks between them. (David really doesn’t like using awnings if we don’t really need shade protection in hot weather as we don’t leave it out at night and he gets sick of putting it out and pulling it down.) One of the “between” spaces is right over the door! In wet weather, you are forced to close the door up tightly or see rain dripping into the van.

This seems like another design flaw in European campervans and caravans. We also dislike the windows they install here. You have to push them out fully to release them and they catch in only a few settings. So in heavy rain, this can be awkward. To open or close windows this way means you have to have rollup flyscreens. They use two way ones that incorporate flyscreens and pleated blinds but this means they are subjected to too much work for their design to sustain. We much prefer our design at home where the flyscreen remain in place and you have a winder to wind the windows in or out to any setting you wish. This means you need curtains but I much prefer the look of curtains to plain blinds anyway.

The caravan over the road must be strangely designed too. The man comes outside with his kettle of water and plugs it into the electricity cable on its hose reel outside the van! The van must not have any power points. Another van opposite us has two large, removable water containers, not a inbuilt water tank. The son drove them to the amenities block about 25m to fill them up and take them back to the van. Yet these vans are new, modern and virtually indistinguishable from the style we have at home.

This park has the oldest and most dilapidated “motorhome” we have seen. It is on a three-wheeler vehicle and the roof has disintegrated to the extent that sheets of corrugated iron are placed on top and held there by rocks. The floor is starting to rot out and is held in place by concrete blocks and no inspection would ever allow that amount of rust in the body. Naturally, it doesn’t go anywhere and, frankly, I don’t see anyone living in it so it is just an eyesore despite the ladybirds and sunflower once proudly decorating its sides.

Like many camping grounds we have come across, this one once would have been quite good but neglect has rendered it overgrown with weeds and with poor roads. Tarting up the amenities inside with modern tiles and basins needs to be accompanied by improvements in the exterior and layout. But am I going to tell the rude man here that? Not likely! We are charged 3E a day for electricity here, which is a rip off although, overall, this site is cheaper than Nuremberg. (Nuremberg was a ridiculous 31E a night while here is under 26E a day.) Where we have had metered electricity it has cost us about 1E a day. Apparently, there are metered sites here but we haven’t seen any near us. Still, twice now I have had well over my 4 minutes of hot shower water. As I have said before, I can cope with a lot provided I get my hot shower!

We were going to have a basic dinner from the ‘restaurant’ (if you can call this outdoor collection of trestles and benches that) here tonight but it wasn’t open so we made do with the last of cheese, fruit and wine. After all, we had had afternoon tea. After breakfast tomorrow, the cupboards will be bare. I am pleased that there is not much wastage. I gave a little oil, dried herbs, half a clove of garlic and a tin of tomatoes to a Spanish woman in a van near ours. Besides that, we have left over sultanas, toilet paper and paper towels. I guess someone will take them in the morning. The remaining small amounts of salt, sugar and washing powder we discarded, as I needed to wash out the containers ready to return them.

The test tomorrow is whether we can fit all our stuff into our suitcases as get them back to the hotel via the train without our backs giving way. Neither of us has been able in the confines of the van to keep up our back exercises and David, in particular, is feeling it. We are hoping to be able to walk straight onto the correct platform at Friedberg, without the up and down stairs we were subjected to on our arrival there. Then we may just get a taxi to our hotel.

There is a distinct advantage in using the same hotel as we found in Vancouver in 2008 provided, I guess, that you are reasonably happy with the hotel. At the end of our travels the last thing I want is to cope with finding a new hotel and not knowing how it operates. After all, we have been doing that almost daily for 3 months with new towns, new camping grounds, new shops and new activities. It is comforting to know that the lovely “small breakfast” waits me in Frankfurt and I know where we can find a good roll of walnut bread etc.

Of course, we will be going to a new hotel in Singapore but that suits as I did not like our first hotel there and it will open up site seeing in a different part of Singapore but in an area we are vaguely familiar with from our travel through it on the bus. This time we will get a taxi there and back. That make sit easier too. Besides, I will be too excited about getting home to worry about a hotel.

Monday 25^th July

Our taxi to the post office to post off our parcels of books, brochures and magazines arrived quickly this morning and the parcels were despatched without much ado but with much cash. While it cost 220E, which makes these items very expensive, they are the souvenirs David treasures the most from our trips and he will not throw any out. Of course, you have to wait in a queue; all post offices around the world seem to be the same. The taxi driver was helpful, although we suspect he deliberately took us on a long way round. I asked him what he thought of all the English words appearing in Germany and he just shrugged. It was a phenomena of the last 10 years he said and some people hate it but he realises it will probably get worse.

We bought fresh bread rolls and once again did the long trip back to the camping ground. The trains run about every 5-7 minutes on a weekday. Fantastic service! That’s the advantage of a small relatively modern city where most people appear to live in units. At least, I suppose, the walk back to the camping ground gave us some exercise before sitting in the van for several hours to Frankfurt. However, I had not slept much last night. I was woken, just as I was drifting off, by loud fireworks in about three spells. Then my painkillers wore off and my poor knees would not let me sleep except in short spurts. Two days walking around for hours on hard surfaces in Nuremberg, on top of all the walking done these last three months, had taken its toll. So I was rather tired when we left Nuremberg and spent a lot of the trip dozing.

It was, however, basically a good run on the motorway but road works were a bit of a nuisance. Luckily, we were not travelling in the opposite direction where road works in one spot caused a huge traffic jam lasting 15km. Before leaving Nuremberg, we detoured via the Nazi Parade Ground I had seen in so many WWII newsreels. It doesn’t look so impressive with all the weeds growing up and around the concrete structure, nor too attractive without all the Nazi flags and banners. It is a sad reminder of how easily people are lead and the power of oratory to whip them up.

We had no difficulty finding the camping ground at Frankfurt. This was the one we had intended to use for our fist night in Germany but were talked out of it by the McRent people. Yes, we have discovered, the owner is very rude and abrupt. Firstly, when we arrived the reception was closed between 1 and 5pm! We could not be bothered translating the sign and someone told us to get a site even though we think we were supposed to call a telephone number first. When David went to pay at 5pm, the owner told him to go away and come back in 20 minutes, as he was busy! Great customer service! Later, when David inquired about bread for the morning and Internet, he was told to go and get them in town, as it was only 10 minutes away!

We had just walked to the local shops, scattered as they are through the suburb of Heddernheim, to fill in the afternoon and get some more exercise. They do not seem to have the concept here of the main street. We had hoped to find a bakery but the only one we came across did not have anything that appealed. Instead, we went into two supermarkets of the unattractive variety and got some dusting cloths, for tomorrow’s clean up, and some Pringles. We purchased some more wine on the way home to have with dinner and reward ourselves after the cleaning is done.

We don’t like cleaning day but usually go to considerable effort. In Canada, they were amazed how spotless the van was when we returned it to them. However, that will not be possible here. There is nowhere to wash the vehicle and what’s the point with the overnight light rain we are having. We have been told that a vacuum cleaner is available at some service stations so tomorrow we will go in search of such a station. There are two nearby but they may not have a vacuum cleaner, which would make our job a more difficult hands and knees affair. Basically, we have to leave the kitchen and bathroom clean, which means the stove, sinks, fridge and cupboards. I would like to vacuum the front cab carpet, although a good beating works ok, and wash the small floor area. So we have chosen a heavily gravelled site to reduce the amount dirt we track into the cleaned van and will eat tea out tomorrow night so we can turn off the fridge after lunch and defrost it.

There is a restaurant here where we hope to get salad and sausage; it is the best we can hope for. Otherwise, the site does not inspire. It was wet and boggy in places with lots of puddles and reminds me of the ground at Garmisch –P., near the Zugspitze. The facilities are worse inside here except for the laundry area. The showers are token showers and all you get for 1.10E is 4 minutes of hot water. David says it is at least hot although they are the most expensive showers we have had, I think. Two nights here, on top of the last three, is not a particularly good end to the holiday but it will make the hotel seem like heaven. In addition, this ground is the closest to Friedberg where we have to return the van by 10am on Wednesday.

Another advantage of here is that it is only a very short walk to the train into town, although you are a fair way out, and we won’t be taking advantage of this facility. The trams and buses are a deep teal green, by the way, – not my favourite colour. The local area, despite some trees and greenery, is not particularly attractive. It is like working-class suburbia with lots of the same style of basic, bland two storey houses or three storey blocks of flats. The walls have none of the old decoration or ornamentation. The windows are just punched into the walls and the walls rendered and painted pale colours. I guess there was a drastic need for houses after the Second World War and they put up these shells. It is not somewhere I would be tempted to live.

Sunday 24^th July

The sun was distinctly absent this morning, which forced our Danes into T-shirts and us into double layers! It is only expected to get to 18 degrees today and was about 8 overnight. The average summer temperature for Nuremberg is 24! There was some light rain overnight too but it held off all day as we made our second assault on the attractions of Nuremberg.

Being Sunday in Germany, we heard bells both morning and evening and the shops were all closed. Some restaurants and café/bars opened to cater for the small number of people entering town and going to the museums which open daily. We could have been in a different city altogether. By lunchtime, there were more people about but it was still very quiet.

Our aim today was to firstly check out the Post Office nearest us as we will be going there by taxi, we hope, in the morning to post home 4 boxes of books and papers. So we walked to the station, caught the train and got off a few stations later and after 5 minutes, task completed, got back on the train and alighted at Lorenzplatz so shortening our walk to the castle.

Around the castle area is an interesting group of buildings including the house of Albrecht Durer, the town walls, towers and the castle itself. It is a relatively steep climb over cobblestones to the castle and when we got into the courtyard to enquire about the tour we overheard several people, including the ticket seller, not recommending it, especially for children. The castle itself had only empty rooms, the tours takes one and a half hours and the museum is full of armoury and weapons. None of this appealed so we contented ourselves with walking around the outside. Historically, it is an important area for the Holy Roman Empire and the German nation. Commenced about 1100AD, the castle was the scene of Diets (assemblies of imperial magnates) from this time until 1491. It was then largely ignored until historians discovered it in the first half of the 19thC. During WWII, it was heavily bombed and took 30 years to restore. It is constructed of a reddish stone called ashlar and, I suspect, that under all the grim the churches of Nuremberg are constructed of the same material. Even today, work is still going on and several places, including the two-level chapel, were closed to the public. The upper level of the chapel was for the Emperor, and it sits directly above the lower level, connected to it by a shaft that allowed both congregations to hear the same service! Now, that would have been interesting to see.

We moved on to the Durer House. Here Albrecht, famous for his praying hands drawing, conducted a studio, printing workshop, shop and training school. It is an attractive half-timbered house with round circles of glass in the windows, which allowed a lot of light into the upper levels. You are given an audio guide in your language of choice and off you go. The person on the guide pretends to be Durer’s wife guiding you through her house as it stands today. She objects to changes made by museum staff and comments on the 19thC attempt to refurbish it as “not too far out” except for that porcelain stove. This is a little strange at first but we came across this way of guiding people through a building yesterday at the Fembo House. A modern extension and stairs has been added to the back to provide exhibition space and here is a magnificent blown up photo of a self-portrait of Durer aged about 29 that covers an entire wall. Seeing it blown up makes the detail even more astounding. Not only are the hairs of his head and beard individually wrought, and you can see the moisture in his eyes and even on his lower eyelids. We were able to buy a very large postcard of this painting later at the German National Museum. Also there was an automated display on Durer’s work. You touched a picture and it enlarged. You touched the ‘i’ button and details about that picture were displayed. It was an interactive and selective way to learn more about the man’s work. Durer travelled widely in Europe and sold his paintings in fairs and from his studio. Many of his works were carefully rolled up into large wooden barrels to be transported all over Europe. Overall, I liked this house much better than the Fembo House (it was more unified) and when I get home I would like to find out more about Durer’s wife. There were hints that she had a very poor reputation during the tour but she seemed to have supported Durer and the running of his business. From her commentary, we learnt the names of numerous other painters and humanists that Durer associated with in his home. This was to come in handy when we visited the German National Museum.

However, first we needed lunch. There were four café/restaurants open near the Durer House because of all the tourists in that quarter so we chose one that had an inside space to get out of the cold. We ordered tea and a hot meal. After 50 minutes wait and long after my tea was finished, I got my roast pork shoulder with crackling (not what I expected) served with potato dumplings. It was either dumplings or sauerkraut; the Germans just call it ‘kraut’ which remains one of the name used for them during the World Wars. The meat was delicious but the potato dumpling was stodge with a strange texture and no potato flavour. Poor David waited 55 minutes for his lunch! How can it take 55 minutes to grill 6 tiny thin sausages and serve it on a bed of warmed sauerkraut pre-prepared in a jar? We were not impressed and neither were several other table occupants who also kept looking at their watches. One German couple even spoke to the waitress about the length of the wait. They ordered after us but got served before us! It pays to complain but David never will and the language is a barrier. We got up and left the table as soon as we finished. To wait for the bill to arrive at our table would have added another 10 minutes to our lost time. Anyway, it confirmed our negative beliefs about German food. If you don’t have a salad (it was too cold today) then you are not going to get any vegetables except potato or sauerkraut! It isn’t that they don’t have these foods. The food served here leaves a lot to be desired and I am glad we have had our own kitchen allowing us to avoid the worst of it. This is surprising as we saw lots of fresh fruit and vegie stalls in the markets yesterday. I would have bought a lot of berries here as they are more plentiful and cheaper than at home, but David didn’t want them and the quantity was too large for one. Furthermore, if this service is typical, no wonder they need to close up shops etc for at least two hours for lunch!

Then we walked back to the German National Museum. You enter via the Way of Human Rights, an avenue of 29 tall, capital-less pillars inscribed with many languages but, we think, the inscriptions cover the UN’s declaration of Human Rights. One can only hope that the Germans are sincere about respecting these, especially in Nuremberg with its history of human rights abuse.

The Museum itself is a conglomeration of what appears to be an old cloister, numerous old buildings and modern structures. It covers German history and culture from the pre-historic to the present. From experience, we know you cannot even attempt to see the whole of such a large museum. We selected the art and design of the Renaissance through to the Baroque as this included Durer’s work. Disappointingly, there is not much of Durer’s work in his hometown. He and his wife were so successful in marketing his work that little remains here. There are two large paintings of the Emperor Charlemagne & a saint done in about 1512. There was the painting of his teacher in his teacher’s old age, which is remarkable for it is one of the first pictures showing people warts and all. Previously portraiture was generally expressionless and done to keep a record of the family virtues so younger generations could emulate them. There is also an early portrait of his mother before Durer’s skill was at its height. There is not much else except work done to his designs (an antler & dragon chandelier. According to Durer’s wife on the audio guide, Durer loved this form of lighting – no thanks!), or by his contemporaries and students. What is even more disappointing is that all the valuable works are under glass! The up side of this, however, is that you can get very close to virtually every item in the museum as long as you do not touch. This is a refreshing change. A closer examination of numerous works showed to us inferior painting to that of Durer. Some of the faces were particularly poorly painted.

Because of the world wars, Germany lost so much and, as a result, even keep and display works known to be copies, a practise which they admit is discredited in other museums but sometimes a copy or another modern impression off an old plate or mould is all they have. I guess, this is also the reason why Nuremberg has so many museums. They now collect anything they can lay their hands on. Unfortunately for the German National Museum, most archaeological finds these days are kept by the local authorities where they are found and are not given up to the national museum so they are struggling to add to their collection. If I were them, I would be dishing out money to acquire more Durers.

What the museum does have is the oldest globe of the world from 1492-3. Unfortunately, it has suffered from time and wrongful cleaning so it is very hard to read. The maker, Behaim was unaware of the discovery of the Americas by Columbus and so they are missing. Furthermore, he worked from inaccurate estimations of the size of the world so it is too small. The islands of the Philippines cover Indonesia as well. I guess what is really interesting is the purpose of the globe’s construction. On it are large areas of minute writing highlighting where treasures such as minerals and precious stones can be found as well as much valued, expensive spices. It seems to have been an advertising exercise to get backers for world trade and conquest!

However, the item I liked the most was, surprisingly, a piece of furniture. It is a writing desk by Plitnzer dated about the early 18thC and a gorgeous creation of inlaid wood, tortoiseshell, mother of pearl, metal and more highlighted by gold gilding. Even very close scrutiny could not reveal the slightest poor join. The hours of skilled and artistic workmanship involved in this piece is astounding and, although this is not generally my ‘thing’, it was more enticing that the most skilled gold goblet in the place. Fortunately, and for a change, they actually had a postcard of this desk. Whenever I find something I like in a museum or art gallery, they never seem to have a postcard of it to take away as a memory, but not today.

To recover our strength we had a cuppa and cake in the museum bistro before trudging back to the U bahn (train) and then the long walk back to the camping ground. It is not a conveniently situated ground but at least the trains run every 10 minutes on the weekend. I was exhausted by two days walking Nuremberg and we hadn’t even done more than the most important sites.

Tonight I waited until about 10pm and got a warm shower. It was hotter than any other shower I have had here but still not a hot shower. Oh, and the shop was open for business tonight at the camping ground! We have discovered you cannot believe anything told to you by a receptionist at a camping ground or hotel. Their accurate knowledge of their local area, and amenities likely to be wanted by travellers, is almost zero.

Saturday 23^rd July

Such a quiet start to the day is unexpected. Being situated where we are, there are no 6 and 7am chimes to wakes us as we have had so often and for the last few days. Our little Dutch boy was so exhausted form his exertions yesterday that he did not rise until after 8:30am. As I poked my nose out the door, however, we were greeted by the two families of Danes soaking up the morning sunshine on their chests wearing just shorts! Oh, sorry, the wives did have on bras! But half naked obese bodies on mass is not a recommended sight first thing in the morning. Obviously, exposed flesh is not just the practice of the Germans and Austrians.

There was a mass exodus of vans this morning resulting in a traffic jam to leave the place. I am not surprised. While I like Nuremberg, I definitely dislike this caravan park. This evening I had a cold shower, after my lukewarm one yesterday evening. This is not likely to win my approval as a park. There is no way to adjust the water temperature. Given the closed facilities (they were open selling pizzas tonight despite what we were told yesterday) and the state of the showers, this cannot claim to have 3-star status. Today, I read that there are 3 free campervan sites around Nuremberg but David does not seem interested in moving into one. He suggests I have morning showers, which is of no help getting me off to sleep in the evening!

Today was exhausting. I think we are getting tired after nearly 3 months on the go. To top up our food supply until we get rid of the van, we had to walk 1.3km to a supermarket. David walked back to the van, put the food in the fridge and walked another 1km to the train station. So while I ended up walking 1.6km, David did 3.6 without either of us getting on the train into town. I sat on the platform and waited for David’s return, slowly freezing. Fortunately, the trains run about every 10 minutes even on a Saturday. However, it meant we did not reach town until 11am after leaving the campsite at 9.

We got off at the main station where I decided to send a penny, well 50c, actually. A free toilet stop is very rare; even in a shopping centre here they want 30c. I put in my coin and the turnstile refused to budge. I gave the box a hit to make sure the coin had gone down and still no movement in the turnstile. So I thumped it! I got 35c change and climbed under the turnstile. There was no one there to help or stop me. Why is it that mechanical and electronic items dislike me and not David? Am I developing a persecution complex?

David and I parted company at the train station. He took off to the train museum while I wandered off sightseeing. Firstly, I had to have a cuppa and pastry. I did look at the Black Forest Cake but it had too much cream so I opted for a snail with a nutty filling. They sell snails in quite a few varieties here and at 2.80E for tea and pastry it is cheap.

Refreshed, I wandered into two nearby churches: St Martha’s Reformed Protestant and St Clare’s Roman Catholic. The first was a squat church, wider than it is deep, which is most unusual. Unusual too are the stained glass windows. There are 8 in all, all the same size with panes arranged 3 wide and 6 deep. We have seen hundreds of stained glass windows but these were the first I can remember where each pane held a separate picture. Otherwise, the church did not excite. It was a dark, dull and depressing interior, enlivened only by possies at the end of each pew. I suspect there was to be a wedding there later in the day.

St Clare’s was also a surprise. You enter through modern glass doors on the side of the church as the altar apse occupies the street frontage. Inside is a modern vestibule followed by a curved area of slabs of green and black glass stacked op top if each other and forming a sanctuary for an old statue of Mary. However, on entry to the church there are more surprises waiting. The church is modern! The pews and spiral staircase to the organ loft are minimalist limed wood. The altar table stands on its isolated in front of plain glass windows. The only ornate features are two altarpieces, one each side of the entry to the main altar table. One is dark and depressing and, naturally, of the crucifixion. The other is light with much gold gilding and, naturally, is of Mary. Is there nothing to rejoice about in the crucifixion? Like most of Nuremberg, this church was partially destroyed in the bombing of WWII and although restored in the 1950s, was rebuilt in 2007, which explains its modernity. An organist was playing the organ and signing along too, which also gave this church more life than St Martha’s.

Later in the day, David & I were to wander into three other churches and disliked them all. Like St Martha’s they were of a greyish stone. Whether this was the actual colour of the stone or just the years of grim, which seem to lie over both the exteriors and the interiors, we could not tell. St Lawrence Church is a Lutheran 3-aisle basilica built in High Gothic (perpendicular Gothic, which we usually love), which was strangely extended in the 15thC so that the altar and choir stall ends make the church disappear into darkness rather than light is the main church area. The elaborate Annunciation piece (1518) hanging in front of the altar is lost in the gloom and the excessive ornamentation behind it.

St Sebald Church houses the silver casket tomb of this saint. It is encased in a black (bronze, 1397) Gothic structure which rests of a collection of black snails for feet! This, the oldest parish church in the city, dates from 1215 and was heavily damaged in the war and rebuilt and has been reconsecrated as a memorial for peace. There are lots of pictures behind the columns of the damage done to the building and then its reproofing, in particular. It seems to reflect the idea we have come across elsewhere that the Nazis were tyrants, the cause of the evil, and I find this particularly difficult to swallow. Hitler was democratically elected and had majority support except for the brave few who resisted within Germany. Furthermore, if you start a war that kills millions and destroys other cities by blitzkrieg, you can hardly complain about your cities and churches being destroyed. There is a lot written on reconciliation and forgiveness in this church but no acknowledgement of the German need for repentance especially as the Roman Catholic Church cooperated with the Nazis. Perhaps this is conveyed in the German text that I couldn’t read but somehow I doubt it.

The Church of Our Lady is another squat church, like St Martha’s, and very similar in its dullness to all the other churches except St Clara’s. They all need a good clean and the painted statues refreshed with bright colours. I guess nothing has been done to them since they were rebuilt in the 1950s. The feature I liked the most about this church was its elaborate carved and painted door arch from the vestibule into the church proper. It would be stunning if restored.

After lunch, we wandered to the Fembo House City Museum. This is a curious home with 4 levels dedicated to both its architecture and that of the city. From the ground floor entry, you are sent in a lift to the 4^th floor and a model of the city before WWII. In the dark it I shard to appreciate the fine wood carving of this model but there is a commentary (we got audio guides in English) as different parts of it are lit up and discussed. It was here that the German problem of dealing with the Nazis was further illustrated. They cannot just blame the Nazis for the Jewish slaughter. At least 4 times in the history of Nuremberg have the Jews been killed and run out of town. After the second pogrom where about 500 were killed, they were eventually allowed back into the city but not granted citizenship for 300 years. Twice since then their main synagogue has been demolished. You get a feel for the size of the old city (now about 1 million people live here), which originally had between 25,000 and 50,000 residents in medieval times. The remains of the 5km of city walls are amongst the oldest in Germany.

When the model talk was over, you are supposed to go down to the third level but we could not find the door or the stairs. We tried the lift and got straight down to the ground floor and were told to go up again and use the fire escape! Well, that was it looked like with its fire escape EXIT sign on a basic white door. Of interest on the next level down is the heavily carved wood decorating the family’s rooms. While beautifully done, it is very dark and not my style. The glass in the windows is old glass, which is very distorting, and mostly in circular pieces set in lead. The commentary says this replaced the bubble (bottle) glass in the circles so the patrician ladies of the house could see something in the street. Apparently, in the middle Ages, they were not allowed to leave the house except to go to church! The only room not completely dominated by wood is the room with oldest surviving Baroque stucco ceiling. From the dark wooden dado upwards, it is heavily encrusted with stucco figures of Venus and cupid and spandrels. It looks strange however as it is all off white; one expects frescoes to be painted in the flat areas and colour and gilding to emboss the rest but not so here. The next level down is much lighter with the wood having been replaced by one owner. Despite this, it is not as interesting as the higher floor and dedicated to Nuremberg’s arts and artists.

Despite its gloomy churches, we liked Nuremberg. It is a lively spot. The city was crowded with people, perhaps because the fresh food market was being held from the Lorenzerplatz to the Museumbrucke (one of numerous city bridges) over the Pegnitz River that divides the town in two. At the Hauptmarkt the crowds had gathered for a concert and food stalls. As at Ottobeuren, the people were seated at long trestles with benches to sit on and all their beers lined up to drink. Food wise, it seemed to be sausages and bread rolls, German pizza or melted cheese on bread and not much more. However, the crowds made it difficult to get a good photo of the Beautiful Fountain or the Church of Our Lady and its glockenspiel. The Beautiful Fountain is indeed beautiful if you like a gilded Gothic tower ornamented with statues, which I do.

We didn’t get as far as we would have liked into the northern section of town, the upper town, which is the oldest and so the Imperial Castle will have to wait for tomorrow. However, we did break up the journey home by stopping for tea and cake just before getting on the train. Having a cup of tea here is a bit of a lottery. If you ask for tea or English Breakfast tea, they ask if that is “Black” and you could end up with Darjeeling, Earl Grey, Assam or Ceylon! You get served a glass mug of hot water and a teabag. They don’t seem to understand the subtleties of tea drinking here. It was after 6pm when we made it back to the van. Such a long day! Then, after all our shopping this morning, we discovered the shop was open to sell pizza! Still, David needed milk for breakfast.

David – Now that our trip is nearing the end, this was one day I’d been waiting for – my visit to the DB Museum, THE rail museum in Germany. As I expected that the information about the collection would be in German, I enquired about a guide in English and was given a pamphlet with descriptions of the various exhibits. This was so brief it was practically useless. It was until I got to the Museum Shop at the end that I discovered an inexpensive book in English that gave a translation of the main descriptions of each exhibit. But by then it was too late.

The museum’s major exhibition covers the history and development of the railway in Germany from the various state owned companies, the amalgamated Reichbahn (DRG), with a large section on the WW2 period, the split into the DDR (east) and DB (west), then the present day. Despite my language problem this appeared to be a good coverage of the topic. The German text and photos were supplemented by quite a number of scale models (mainly 1:10) of locomotives plus passenger and goods wagons of the various eras. There were about 8 original items (mainly locos) displayed in the inside hall, including King Ludwig’s coach, but they were crammed too close together to get a good view.

I enjoyed the models but the language problem made the major exhibition disappointing particularly as I’m not all that interested in the history of the earlier periods. However, when I went across the road to the outdoor displays my disappointment increased substantially. There were very few locos or wagons to see compared to what I had expected. I’m very glad I went to the museum’s annex at Koblenz otherwise I would have seen hardly any of the items that I wanted too. So of the 3 rail museum sites I have visited, Koblenz would have to be the best, followed by Freilassing and then Nurnberg.