Day 17 - Pforzheim

Saturday August 18, 2012 

One of the things Jonathan wanted to do while we are here is to go to France for a day.  We set off early this morning and travelled through the Black Forest of Germany and ended up in Strasbourg, France.  We walked through the centre of town and visited the Notre Dom Cathedral of Strasbourg.  We had bagets and Camembert cheese at an outdoor café for lunch but then we had to travel back to our hotel so Michael and John could change in preparation for the closing ceremonies and banquet in Pforzheim.

Day 16 - Pforzheim

Friday August 17, 2012 

Michael shot in the Junior Lorenzoni event today.  He shot very well and ended the competition with a 21/25.  He won the silver medal as his team mate, Haley, shot a 23/25 to win the gold medal.  It was a very exciting match with Canada getting the gold and silver medal and Sweden getting the bronze.

In the evening they held the medal presentations with Germany picking up many of the medals, and Great Britain very close behind them.  Both countries established new world records in their respective events.  But the highlight of the night was when they presented the Junior Lorenzoni medals to Haley and Michael and they were called up to stand on the podium and they played the Canadian National Anthem.

Day 15 - Pforzheim

Thursday August 16, 2012 

Today was a big day for Michael.  He shot in the adult Lorenzoni event of the world championships.  He shot well scoring 35 out of 50 even after having encountered a gun malfunction.

We ate dinner on the way home in a small village called Wurm.  It was an Italian Restaurant with a patio right on the river.

Day 14 - Pforzheim

After dropping in at the gun club we traveled to Weil der Stadt birth place of Johannes Kepler (1571-1630), astronomer and mathematician.  We visited the home where he was born which is a museum today.  Lunch was very good in a Russian restaurant and then an ice cream shop for dessert.  We ended our visit with the Kepler walk which is going from the Sun and following the planets that are relative distance apart.  Mars was the farthest we walked.

Day 13 - Pforzheim

Tuesday August 14, 2012

Michael had a free day so we traveled an hour north to Heidelberg.  We walked the length of the city to the marktplatz where we saw the Heiliggeistkirche, the Romanesque Basilica, the Haus zum Ritter built in 1592 for a rich cloth merchant and is now a luxury hotel, then we climbed the hill to the Heidelberg Castle where the view of the city and river below was breathtaking.

We traveled back to our hotel where we had just enough time to change our clothes in preparation for the open ceremonies for the MLAIC World Championships.  Michael carried the Canadian flag in the parade of nations to the market square where several dignitaries including the mayor of Pforzheim spoke to the participants and spectators.

Afterwards we had dinner on the main street in Pforzheim in a restaurant on the walkway that lead back to our car.

Day 12 - Pforzheim

Monday August 13, 2012

Michael and John went to the Gun Club early this morning while Jonathan and I had a later breakfast.  We then went for a walk along some bike paths through the woods close to our hotel.

John and Michael came back around noon and we went into the town of Pforzheim for lunch on the river in the centre of town.

We all went back to the gun club where Michael had his final practice time on the other range.

For dinner we had some problems finding a restaurant.  Our hotel is closed on Mondays as are many other places we soon discovered.   We finally found a courtyard restaurant in a little town nearby.

Day 11 - Neu-Ulm to Pforzheim

Sunday August 12, 2012 

Today we travelled to the Gun Club in Pforzheim where Michael was able to have some time practicing on one of the ranges and he had an opportunity to gather his ammunition in preparation for his matches.

Our hotel we are staying at is in Muhlhausen which is about 20 minutes from the Gun Club.  We had a lovely dinner at our hotel in the courtyard.

Day 10 - Salzburg to Neu-Ulm

Saturday August 11, 2012 

We ventured into the mountains of southern Germany where we traveled the Berchtesgadener Land.  Unfortunately the ceiling was very low with cloud cover and the view of the mountains was limited so we really did not get the true feel for the mountains but it was a beautiful drive none the less. 

We exited the mountain then traveled north/west into Munich.  The traffic was really slow along the way and when we finally found parking it was very late and we were all needing some lunch.  Munich was extremely busy even more so than Salzburg.  Michael commented that he had never before experienced being in such a crowed place before.  We managed to snag a table in the market square where men in lederhosen and women in dirndls were serving huge steins of beer.  We saw the Rathaus in the central square and tried to get a table at the Hafbrauhaus with no success.  We found the crowds difficult to manoeuvre through so we left to travel to our hotel in Neu-Ulm.

Day 9 - Zwiesel to Salzburg

Friday August 10, 2012 

On the road early for a visit to Passau whose history dates back to Roman times.  It has a medieval feel in its narrow alleys and archways.  This is a big stopping point for Danube River cruise boats.  We walked through the town, had lunch at a small table overlooking the Inn River.  This is the town where the Danube and the Inn Rivers converge.  It was interesting since the Danube is quite a blue colour and the Inn is a very fast moving river and is mud coloured.

After leaving Passau we entered Austria and travelled through Austria to Salzburg, birth place of Mozart and home of the Von Trapp Family as well as a destination for millions of visitors.  It was very, very busy but a very beautiful city and we are glad we stopped.  We saw the statue of Mozart, the Salzburg Cathedral and the birthplace of Mozart and where he composed many of his early works.  There are many concerts and balls in the evenings and as we were leaving we passed many people dressed in tuxedos and fancy dresses en route to a special event in town that evening.

Our hotel that evening was in a very small village in Austria and as it turns out 100 yards from the border with Germany.  We dined in the courtyard of a small restaurant located beside our hotel.

Danube and Inn rivers in Passau

Salzburg street

Salzburg fountain

Day 8 - Heukewald to Zwiesel

Thursday August 9, 2012 

We had breakfast early since we had a very long drive ahead of us.  We traveled to Bayreuth where we saw the homes of Richard Wagner and Franz Liszt who both resided in Bayreuth.  We also visited the residence of Wilhelmine Margrave sister of the Prussian King Fredrick the Great.  Wilhelmine also commissioned the building of an opera house in the market square for the nobility of the 1740s.  It is described as one of the finest theatres in Europe.  It is no longer used as a theatre today since it needs extensive upgrades which they are planning to do in the future.  We were able to go inside the theatre where we were told the history of the building.  We could just imagine the nobility all around us as we sat in the opulent theatre.

Our destination that night was Zwiesel which is located close to the Czech Republic boarder with Germany.  We went into town to a restaurant on a hill on the second floor of a building on a patio overlooking the town.

 

Day 7 - Berlin to Heukewalde

August 8, 2012

Travel from Berlin to Heukewalde

Up early in Berlin – no breakfast with the apartment (it has a kitchen).  Continuing with the normal European breakfast we had bread and cheese from a small shop on the mall in front of the apartment hotel.

Pack the car and drive off the site of Hitler’s Bunker through West Berlin past many of the embassies.  West Berlin looks a little more vibrant than the Berlin we walked through yesterday.

Travel the Autobahn to Lutherstadt-Wittenberg the birthplace of Martin Luther.  The city centre was like most of the smaller towns we visited with an open air market.  This market was a little less ‘touristy’ than some of the others we visited.  Everything from socks to sausages was available.  Butchers and Bakers were set up in mobile caravans with the sides opened up for display.  Down an alleyway was a courtyard of an old brewery where we had a nice lunch and samples of the local beer.  Before leaving Lutherstadt we visited the church from the 1500’s that Martin Luther and Manchomodt are buried.

The drive to Heukewalde took us through many small East German farm villages.  Off the main highways we were in farm country with almost all of the land under cultivation.  The crops were similar to Southern Ontario, corn, wheat, hay.  As we were getting closer to our hotel we wondered if it was really there.  The road was getting smaller and smaller by the mile and as we drove around a bend a large ‘Pension’ appeared.  We had a big room on the second floor overlooking the courtyard behind the ‘Pension’.  Jonathan has another schnitzel dinner in the restaurant downstairs. 

Day 6 - Aurose to Berlin

Up early for breakfast (bread, meat and cheese again) for the 2 hour drive to Berlin.

Arrive early in the morning and find our hotel/apartment is only 100m from the Holocaust Memorial and our assigned parking is almost on top of the old site of Hitler's Bunker.  After parking we set out for a walking tour and covered many of the highlights of Berlin: Brandenburg Gate, Wall Memorial, Checkpoint Charlie, the largest/oldest chocolate store in the world (Fassbebder & Rausch - Chocolatiers am Gendarmenmarkt) and many others (details to follow).  Jonathan is caught up on his souvenirs including pins and t-shirts. A great treat was the Berliner sausage Currywurst at 'Curry @ the Wall' on the way to Checkpoint Charlie.

We found a great restaurant only 2 steps from the entrance to our apartment unit.  The front of the apartment looks over the street with it's many cafes and the back bedroom looks out over the Holocaust Memorial.

Now that we are caught up with the basic version of the travelogue its time to get to work on the photo's.

Last 200m of wall museum

Holocaust Memorial from apt. window

 

Michael & Jonathan @ Brandenburg Gate

Day 5 - Zierow on the Baltic to Aurose in the former East Germany

Started the day like most - brotchen, meat and cheese.

Traveled to Rostock, one of the largest ports in Germany.  Very nice 'marketplatz' in the middle of the old town.  Lunching on the pier on a boat/restaurant on the pier.

Next stop was in Attrenshoop and the sand dunes on the Baltic coast where Jonathan and Michael went swimming in the Baltic.  Good thing the sun was out and the air was warm.

After some crepes, a quick drive to Aurose to our hotel.  After a great meal the boys played ping-pong on an outside table beside deer grazing in the field behind our room.

Day 4 - Hanover to Zierow on the Baltic

Just getting back to an internet connection.

Day 4 was a big travel day.  After leaving Hanover we stopped by the VW factory/museum.  More like Disney than a car factory.  Spent a long time looking @ the sights there.  After traveling up to the Baltic we checked into our hotel and went for a fish dinner on the pier in Wismar.

Learned a few things: You can't make up time on the GPS @ 150km/hr on the Autobahn.  80% of the cars passing >150km/hr are black, have 4 doors and are made in Germany!!  

Tall Ship in Rostok Harbour

Tower of new VW cars @ Wolfsburg VW Museum

Day 3 - Belgium to Hanover

After breakfast at our hotel we went directly to the bakery where we purchased some Belgian Chocolate (can’t go to Belgium without getting chocolate).

 

We drove directly into Cologne which was only a one hour drive.  There we toured the Cologne Cathedral.  The foundation stone was laid in 1248 and wasn’t completed until 1880.  Today it undergoes restoration.  We toured the inside and also climbed one of towers (533 steps – spiral to the top) and saw the church bells.
We found a sidewalk café overlooking the Cathedral for lunch and a well deserved beer or two after that climb up and down.
After lunch we took to the Autobahn where driving at 150 km per hour was like standing still as the BMWs, Mercedes, Audis, and VW’s passed us by.  We drove to Hemmigen just outside of Hanover.  We are staying in a little cottage by a little lake. 
For dinner we found a Bier Garten outside under umbrellas that was serving ribs and salads, beer and wine.   Very unique dining experience but very delicious.

Cologne Cathedral

Ribs & Beer @ Biergarden in Hemmigen

Day 2 Trier to Belgium

Hotel very quaint in small village.  2 bedrooms and a sitting room.  Very clean and comfortable.    Food in restaurant excellent.

Wonderful breakfast at the hotel.  Lots of choices (meat & cheese).  We were on the road by 9:00am.  We drove along the Mosel River in the Mosel River Valley.  It was very scenic and with winding roads.  Grapevines lined the steep walls of the valley all along the road.  

 

 







We followed the road to Trier, the oldest city in Germany, established in 16BC.  The gate to city is called the Porta Nigra (Black Gate) it was erected in the 2^nd century and was the entrance to the city when it was a walled city.  In the 12^th century the gate was transformed into a church and served as a church until the 19^th century.   

Porta Nigra

 

We toured the gate and climbed to the top where we were able to look out over the city of Trier.  We visited the Hauptmarkt that dates back to the 10^th century, where we ate sandwiches for lunch followed by ice cream cones.We toured the oldest cathedral in Germany, Dom St. Peter.

In the afternoon we left Trier to travel north and into Belgium where we stayed at a hotel built in 1832.  The boys went swimming in the pool before dinner.  For dinner we had schnitzel (again) and Belgium beer.

Travel - Day 1

What a day!!  Everything was all planned and we arrived at the airport in plenty of time.  Thanks to Bob for car storage for 3 weeks.  We checked in over 3 hours before our flight to Montreal to catch a connection to Frankfurt.  Thinking we had plenty of time we thought a bite to eat would be in order - except we had it outside the security check in.  While we were eating lunch the departure boards showed that our flight to Montreal had been cancelled.  Following the directions of an Air Canada staffer we went to the Security Check-in.  John made it in but everyone else was turned away because they didn't have a boarding pass to an existing flight. Back out to try to get to Montreal.  There is not enough room to explain exactly what happened next but we ended up flying to Ottawa to catch a different flight to Frankfurt.

Waiting in Ottawa for rescheduled flight

Arrival in Frankfurt around 0900 local time.  Secure rental van (after resisting the generous offer from the Hertz check in guy of an upgrade to a fancy Mercedes for only an extra 300 euros per week).  Drive to Wiesbaden for a nice lunch and a tour of the old city.  After lunch and the tour we traveled up the Rhine Valley to our first Hotel.  After a great dinner we were all off to bed.

First night Hotel

Worlds Largest Cuckoo Clock in Weisbaden