We left Furina early today, as it was a reasonably big drive to my friend Amelia’s house just south of Milan, and because it was my birthday, we decided we wanted to pop into Switzerland for lunch (just to add another country to our list). Richard and I are getting used to the motorways now, and I am getting the hang of not turning off as soon as the GPS gives a direction (checking the distances first). Once we got to the Swiss border, we were ripped off bigtime, having to pay 30 Euro for a toll pass for one year, even though we knew there was cheaper, and were only going to be in the country for an hour or so! There was no budging the non-English speaking border control people, so we coughed up, but bitterly! Things went a bit hazy with the GPS when we were looking for a lunch spot, so Richard pointed to a hill road and said “go up there” – I was driving, and so off we went... up and up the hillside (you know the story – cliff on one side and stone wall on the other..) road narrowed to just camper width, and I started to chicken out... then it was narrower than camper width, so guess what, I was the lucky one who had to back the darned camper down the hill, being careful not to hit the brick wall on one side, nor to drive off the cliff on the other. I made Richard get out to check behind us and direct a bit, and luckily we finally managed to find a (tight) turning spot, and ended up facing the right way down the steep hill again. We ended up stopping for lunch in a carpark, close to a cache that Richard wanted to do (up another fairly narrow winding hill road). It was lucky we had stopped there apparently, because Richard came back from the cache saying that the road narrowed considerably between buildings and the camper definitely wouldn’t have fitted!
So much for Switzerland... we left 30 Euro worse off, and didn’t even see a cuckoo clock!
After that, it was back on the motorway, headed for Milan. As seems to be usual for us, we hit Milan right on 5 pm, so the traffic was very busy. For some unknown reason, the GPS routed us right through the middle of the city. We have come to the conclusion that Italian drivers are really quite mad, especially the ones on motorbikes!! There are no lanes painted on the town roads, yet they are about three lanes wide (give or take a lane depending on how many people are double parked). Richard’s theory was that we are bigger than everyone else so we would just aim for the middle and hope for the best! This theory seemed to work quite well for us, and we made it through unscathed. Richard was most proud of the fact that he actually passed a Lamborghini.
Finally we made it out the other side, and again pushed our way in to lines of traffic, until we arrived in Vairano, where Amelia lives. All we had to go on was a Google Earth waypoint, no phone number, or address. Amelia has been in Italy for 3 years grooming for an Olympic level eventing (and dressage) rider, Emma, another girl we knew from Sarah’s pony club, was also grooming there. Suzie, the rider, has both an eventer and a dressage horse qualified for the world equestrian games in Kentucky later this year – a first for an Italian rider apparently. We got to meet the star horses, examine their saddles and bridles, see the amazing facilities – indoor arena, outdoor arena, show jumps, whole cross country course etc. The horses are stabled most of the time, so looking after them is quite labour intensive. We also got to see inside Suzie’s truck (or lorry), an absolute monster, painted in Italian colours. Inside was room for 4 horses, grooms quarters, leather lounge suite, flat screen TV, push out wall section and push up roof section (to make a bedroom for Suzie) – WOW!.
We went out for dinner that night – to a local Pizzeria, and Amelia had to order for all of us as the waiters only spoke Italian. I had my first taste of truffles (on my pizza), and they were delicious. Kind of like salty mushrooms. Hayden, who is a bottomless pit at the moment (he must be growing, as all he does is eat and sleep at every available opportunity) – couldn’t believe his eyes when we got a whole pizza each, and he was the only one who polished off his whole pizza. We also had wine, and finished off with sorbet, so was a lovely evening out, and Amelia and Emma were very happy to have English speaking companions for a change.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Day 6 Venice
It was a beautiful morning, so we got organised early and caught the 8 am ferry to Venice. Sarah had chosen a campsite right at the waters edge, so it was a short 5 minute walk to the ferry terminal. Travelling by boat is a nice way to get to Venice (there is also a causeway), because we got to see all the waterfront houses, and canals going in between them.
Thankfully, Richard had his GPS, so getting lost was not part of our itinerary, so long as we all stuck together. The houses and history in Venice is very old, so we saw some amazing old buildings, which I am sure would all have stories to tell. Our first destination (with a cache along the way at a Gondola boat builders), was St Marks square, as we were aiming to visit the Basilica when it opened, before the crowds. We meandered our way through little dark alleys filled with houses and shops with crooked walls, the narrowest of which, Sarah could reach each side with her arms outstretched. The buildings would go up for 3 or 4 or more stories. Richard really enjoyed these alleys, as did Hayden, but Sarah and I thought they looked quite dodgy and stunk of urine. There were lots of doors going off them, and I said to Richard (as I was usually tagging along behind), that all they would hear was a squeak from me, look around, and I would be disappeared – dragged through a doorway by some dodgy character never to be seen again!
St Marks square is an impressive sight, though there were far less pigeons there this time than last (albeit 20 years ago). The basilica stood majestically at one end, swathed in golden mosaics, archways and columns made of every colour of marble. Richard had found some free audio guides in MP3 format on the Internet, so we all got our new MP3 players out, and dialled up St Marks Basilica and started listening. It was a great account of the history of the place, and described the incredible mosaics in the domes etc. Apparently St Marks remains were stolen from where they lay, and brought back to Venice by two merchants, hidden in a pork barrel. His bones were stored while the church was built, but then, many many years later when it was completed, they couldn’t remember where they had put his remains! Eventually they located him, and he is buried beneath the main alter. Most of the precious artefacts there had been stolen and looted from other countries over the centuries, so it stored an eclectic selection of goodies. There was a great story about 4 enormous bronze horses that had been stolen off Constantine and whisked away to be displayed at the top of the entrance to St Marks. They were believed to be over 1000 years old. Now there are replicas outside the basilica, and the originals are indoors (which we saw), as they have been damaged by pollution. Incredible! St Mark is believed to be one of the Matthew/Mark/Luke/John writers in the Bible.
From there we did more wandering. Even though Venice is flat, we had to climb and descend an awful lot of stairs – every time we had to cross a canal! I think we walked for about 7 hours, with only a small break for lunch. The shops were fascinating, I was particularly taken with the hand stencilled paper, and glass handled quills, the glass beads/necklaces and the lovely scarves. The kids loved the masks.
The day turned out really hot. We weren’t sure what the temperature was, but we were in tee shirts and I managed to get sunburnt! There were lots and lots of people in Venice, and we would hate to think what it would be like in peak season. We arrived within minutes of a ferry leaving, and enjoyed the short trip back to the mainland and our camp ground.
Thankfully, Richard had his GPS, so getting lost was not part of our itinerary, so long as we all stuck together. The houses and history in Venice is very old, so we saw some amazing old buildings, which I am sure would all have stories to tell. Our first destination (with a cache along the way at a Gondola boat builders), was St Marks square, as we were aiming to visit the Basilica when it opened, before the crowds. We meandered our way through little dark alleys filled with houses and shops with crooked walls, the narrowest of which, Sarah could reach each side with her arms outstretched. The buildings would go up for 3 or 4 or more stories. Richard really enjoyed these alleys, as did Hayden, but Sarah and I thought they looked quite dodgy and stunk of urine. There were lots of doors going off them, and I said to Richard (as I was usually tagging along behind), that all they would hear was a squeak from me, look around, and I would be disappeared – dragged through a doorway by some dodgy character never to be seen again!
St Marks square is an impressive sight, though there were far less pigeons there this time than last (albeit 20 years ago). The basilica stood majestically at one end, swathed in golden mosaics, archways and columns made of every colour of marble. Richard had found some free audio guides in MP3 format on the Internet, so we all got our new MP3 players out, and dialled up St Marks Basilica and started listening. It was a great account of the history of the place, and described the incredible mosaics in the domes etc. Apparently St Marks remains were stolen from where they lay, and brought back to Venice by two merchants, hidden in a pork barrel. His bones were stored while the church was built, but then, many many years later when it was completed, they couldn’t remember where they had put his remains! Eventually they located him, and he is buried beneath the main alter. Most of the precious artefacts there had been stolen and looted from other countries over the centuries, so it stored an eclectic selection of goodies. There was a great story about 4 enormous bronze horses that had been stolen off Constantine and whisked away to be displayed at the top of the entrance to St Marks. They were believed to be over 1000 years old. Now there are replicas outside the basilica, and the originals are indoors (which we saw), as they have been damaged by pollution. Incredible! St Mark is believed to be one of the Matthew/Mark/Luke/John writers in the Bible.
From there we did more wandering. Even though Venice is flat, we had to climb and descend an awful lot of stairs – every time we had to cross a canal! I think we walked for about 7 hours, with only a small break for lunch. The shops were fascinating, I was particularly taken with the hand stencilled paper, and glass handled quills, the glass beads/necklaces and the lovely scarves. The kids loved the masks.
The day turned out really hot. We weren’t sure what the temperature was, but we were in tee shirts and I managed to get sunburnt! There were lots and lots of people in Venice, and we would hate to think what it would be like in peak season. We arrived within minutes of a ferry leaving, and enjoyed the short trip back to the mainland and our camp ground.
Day 5 Drive to Venice
Nothing else to call today but a driving day –our destination close to Venice - we took the scenic route over the Brenner pass (including very “scenic” when I took a wrong turn and we ended up on a very narrow winding country road, passing houses mere inches from the camper’s mirrors). The scenery was astounding, and the pictures just don’t do it justice. Our road ran mostly parallel with the motorway – an amazing engineering feat with huge spans of road and bridges crossing over and behind quaint country houses and barns. The two didn’t go together very well, but the advantages of the motorway to the driving public must have been enormous.
We climbed slowly up and up and up, over the Brenner Pass – a low pass through the mountains to Italy. We reached the snow line, and the temperature plummeted to a chilly 5 degrees, before we rejoined the motorway and started our gentle but long decent on the other side. Passing through borders is a breeze (it is more difficult to decipher the toll gates for the motorway)!
Finally we arrived in Fusina, on the coast opposite Venice, where we are camping for the next two nights , and the plan is to catch the earliest ferry across to Venice, and spend the day there exploring (and probably getting lost!)
We climbed slowly up and up and up, over the Brenner Pass – a low pass through the mountains to Italy. We reached the snow line, and the temperature plummeted to a chilly 5 degrees, before we rejoined the motorway and started our gentle but long decent on the other side. Passing through borders is a breeze (it is more difficult to decipher the toll gates for the motorway)!
Finally we arrived in Fusina, on the coast opposite Venice, where we are camping for the next two nights , and the plan is to catch the earliest ferry across to Venice, and spend the day there exploring (and probably getting lost!)
Day 4 Dachau Concentration Camp
We took a short drive to Dachau to visit the first concentration camp set up in Germany. I was unsure how I would feel about visiting a place where so much misery and death had been bestowed upon fellow man, but it didn’t hold those sorts of feelings for me at all. It was certainly sobering to listen to some recounts from people who were there, and the memorials/sculptures at the site befitted the horrors that had happened there. Many people were taken to Dachau just to put fear into the occupied territories. The concentration camps were publicised. Even though Dachau was used as a work camp, and not for gassing, many thousands of people lost their lives there through illness, torture and hangings. We went into a gas chamber, and the crematorium. It was a beautiful day, and the weather didn’t seem befitting of the place – a grey day would seem to match Dachau much better.
The camper was ready and waiting when we arrived at 3 pm. After a quick trip following each other to drop off the rental back at the airport, we started the long drive to Innsbruck in Austria – about a 2 hour drive on the autobahn – the camper sits comfortably at 110 km/hr, but anything over that felt a bit floaty on the road. It took a bit of getting used to the sucking feeling as trucks/cars went past us, but we soon got the hang of it (or rather I did... Richard took on the role of navigator). The scenery was amazing, with green fields, little villages all white and orange, and majestic mountains in the distance. The motorways are a good fast way to travel, but you lose some of the beauty of the area, and the villages. Just on dark, we arrived at our destination, and wielded our way through the narrow streets of a village (Natter-see) to find our lovely first camp ground. It was on the edge of a lake, with mountains all around. The facilities were also top notch, with flash toilets and showers with heated floors, and music playing all night long. Just like in the RV movie (Sarah’s standard of what to do on campervan holidays) – we parked within inches of the edge of the lake. She had visions of the camper falling in there in the night (like in the movie), and was quite pleased to find we were still on dry land in the morning. It took us a while to set up all of our beds for the first time, and we had to have sandwiches for tea, as we didn’t have a lighter to start the gas stove. We all slept fairly well in our new beds, so are looking forward to the next month in our home away from home.
The camper was ready and waiting when we arrived at 3 pm. After a quick trip following each other to drop off the rental back at the airport, we started the long drive to Innsbruck in Austria – about a 2 hour drive on the autobahn – the camper sits comfortably at 110 km/hr, but anything over that felt a bit floaty on the road. It took a bit of getting used to the sucking feeling as trucks/cars went past us, but we soon got the hang of it (or rather I did... Richard took on the role of navigator). The scenery was amazing, with green fields, little villages all white and orange, and majestic mountains in the distance. The motorways are a good fast way to travel, but you lose some of the beauty of the area, and the villages. Just on dark, we arrived at our destination, and wielded our way through the narrow streets of a village (Natter-see) to find our lovely first camp ground. It was on the edge of a lake, with mountains all around. The facilities were also top notch, with flash toilets and showers with heated floors, and music playing all night long. Just like in the RV movie (Sarah’s standard of what to do on campervan holidays) – we parked within inches of the edge of the lake. She had visions of the camper falling in there in the night (like in the movie), and was quite pleased to find we were still on dry land in the morning. It took us a while to set up all of our beds for the first time, and we had to have sandwiches for tea, as we didn’t have a lighter to start the gas stove. We all slept fairly well in our new beds, so are looking forward to the next month in our home away from home.
Day 3 Traunstein Festival
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We left at 6.30 am to arrive early – it was a 1.5 hour drive on the autobahn. I got accused of being a nana driver, because even when doing 140 km/hr I got passed by the airport shuttle van. I sped up to 160 km/hr (with encouragement from all the passengers), but still got passed like I was standing still – mostly I drove in the “slow” lane at about 130 – 140km/hr. The scariest thing is that you don’t even feel like you are going fast. Our car had a lot more in her, and could have gone much faster again if I had really put my foot down. I think I actually prefer the motorways to the off roads, because although fast, at least you don’t have to worry about crossing intersections and the dreaded roundabouts. I managed to drive right through Munich and out the other side on our journey – which sounds impressive until you realise it was Easter Monday 7 am and actually we were the only car on the road.
Traunstein was a lovely old town (dated back to 1200 AD), with cobbled streets and beautiful old buildings. There were no people about however, and no reference to the festival, and we began to wonder whether we had come on the wrong day. It turned out we were just early, and found some traditionally dressed young men with a basket selling festival badges. There is some connection to St George and the dragon, with lots of reference in the town, but we never quite got an understanding of what the connection is.
The boys sold us a festival badge, and in faltering English, explained that we needed the badges to attend. After about ½ hour, more people started to be milling about, many in traditional dress, and a few four in hand horse teams pulling decorated wagons trotted through the town square, past the church. We saw hardly any tourists – this was an event for the locals, which made it all the more special for us. We found out from the information stand, (though the lady spoke very limited English), that the festival started with the sword dancers in the square, followed by the parade, that went on up the hill to a church, which she took us round the corner to show us.
The square filled to brimming with people, the music started, and in marched the sword dancers with all their extra guards, leaders, and flag bearers. With lots of pomp and ceremony, they performed their unusual and intricate dance moves and patterns with their swords. They wore funny little leather shoes with buckles, and high pieces of leather at the back of the heel. We took lots of photos, so it is easier to look at them, than explain what they were wearing. They were very bright and colourful.
Next, was the highlight for not only Sarah and I, but the whole family, as mostly heavy (and I mean heavy!) horses and riders, wagons, and walkers paraded past us. All were decorated to the maximum with straw and flowers, and all the people were in traditional dress of many varieties. Everybody from granddad to the smallest child seemed to be involved in the parade, and there certainly must have been at least 400 horses. Many of the heavy breeds I have heard of but never seen in the flesh, but they would have made our NZ Clydesdales look positively puny!
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Day 2 Bavarian Castles
The weather was looking reasonable, so we had a quick breakfast and got in the car to drive to our castles about 50 minutes away. Richard’s turn to drive, and yes, he made all the same mistakes I did! Its the roundabouts we find the hardest.... and driving a manual again, when you are trying to concentrate on other things! He got into the spirit of things on the motorway though and made it up to 130km/hr – listed in our guide as the recommended maximum.
The countryside is gorgeous, lots of little villages in mostly white with orange tiled steep roofs, surrounded by big open fields with mostly no fences and just a spring tinge of green, with wintery trees on the edge just waiting to burst into life again. Sarah wondered where all the animals were. We can only presume they are kept indoors? We had great excitement when we saw a squashed fox on the side of the road. Very tempted to stop and give it a poke, but travelling too quickly, and probably not allowed to cross anyway. This lead to a big discussion about what animals actually do live in Germany. We also saw black birds that are either crows or ravens.
On the way to schloss Linderhof (castle) we stopped in a super cute village, and went to investigate an enormous churchy looking building, which turned out to be Ettal monastery – a Baroque/Rococo church (catholic we presume). A service was taking place, but this didn’t stop us from taking a peek inside – it was incredible – painted/gold/elaborate dome and internal walls. There was still a little snow sitting on the ground from the cold snap of a week ago and there was a real bite in the air. It stayed around 5 degrees all day (according to our car). One of the little shops there had leiderhosen (swiss looking shorts) displayed in their window, which we thought Richard should buy, but sadly, (or luckily) the shop was closed. (At Linderhof we actually did see a couple of men wearing this traditional garb. Just doesn’t seem quite right though somehow.
We passed lots of tour buses on the way to the castle, but when we got there, there weren’t too many crowds to hold us up. We booked for a tour of the castle (which Hayden thought didn’t look like a “real” castle as it has no turrets etc) and the kids were excited to see a squirrel while we waited. It is the very beginning of the summer season, so some things were still closed in the castle grounds, and many of the statues were boxed up in plywood – to protect from the winter we presume. We were herded into the English speaking line of tours, and were shown round Ludwig’s castle, which was built in the 1870’s and was inspired by the Versailles palace and King Louis the fourteenth of France, 6 kg of gold leaf (which is a LOT) adorns the elaborately decorated walls and ceilings, along with delicate porcelain, enormous chandeliers and even more gold. One room was also mirrored, and looked like it went on for infinity, and the fine tapestries were incredible.
A (big) walk round the grounds down to the hunting lodge (which unfortunately was closed), resulted in another (even bigger) walk back over a hill, to get an excellent view down over the castle and grounds. We were struck by the symmetry of the formal gardens for quite some area around the castle. It was trying to drizzle, and was cold, but not uncomfortable, and quite still with no wind. We also took a tour through the grotto – a man-made fantasy “underground” cave complete with stalactites and lake and coloured lighting, which was inspired by one of Richard Wagner’s plays. The kids and I wandered out early as the commentary was in German, but Richard was treated to the waterfall being turned on¸ and an English commentary, so that was a shame (for us).
From there we travelled to Neuschwanstein castle, which met with Hayden’s approval as to what a castle should look like. Many more lovely villages later, we arrived back home, had dinner, and off to bed.
The countryside is gorgeous, lots of little villages in mostly white with orange tiled steep roofs, surrounded by big open fields with mostly no fences and just a spring tinge of green, with wintery trees on the edge just waiting to burst into life again. Sarah wondered where all the animals were. We can only presume they are kept indoors? We had great excitement when we saw a squashed fox on the side of the road. Very tempted to stop and give it a poke, but travelling too quickly, and probably not allowed to cross anyway. This lead to a big discussion about what animals actually do live in Germany. We also saw black birds that are either crows or ravens.
On the way to schloss Linderhof (castle) we stopped in a super cute village, and went to investigate an enormous churchy looking building, which turned out to be Ettal monastery – a Baroque/Rococo church (catholic we presume). A service was taking place, but this didn’t stop us from taking a peek inside – it was incredible – painted/gold/elaborate dome and internal walls. There was still a little snow sitting on the ground from the cold snap of a week ago and there was a real bite in the air. It stayed around 5 degrees all day (according to our car). One of the little shops there had leiderhosen (swiss looking shorts) displayed in their window, which we thought Richard should buy, but sadly, (or luckily) the shop was closed. (At Linderhof we actually did see a couple of men wearing this traditional garb. Just doesn’t seem quite right though somehow.
We passed lots of tour buses on the way to the castle, but when we got there, there weren’t too many crowds to hold us up. We booked for a tour of the castle (which Hayden thought didn’t look like a “real” castle as it has no turrets etc) and the kids were excited to see a squirrel while we waited. It is the very beginning of the summer season, so some things were still closed in the castle grounds, and many of the statues were boxed up in plywood – to protect from the winter we presume. We were herded into the English speaking line of tours, and were shown round Ludwig’s castle, which was built in the 1870’s and was inspired by the Versailles palace and King Louis the fourteenth of France, 6 kg of gold leaf (which is a LOT) adorns the elaborately decorated walls and ceilings, along with delicate porcelain, enormous chandeliers and even more gold. One room was also mirrored, and looked like it went on for infinity, and the fine tapestries were incredible.
A (big) walk round the grounds down to the hunting lodge (which unfortunately was closed), resulted in another (even bigger) walk back over a hill, to get an excellent view down over the castle and grounds. We were struck by the symmetry of the formal gardens for quite some area around the castle. It was trying to drizzle, and was cold, but not uncomfortable, and quite still with no wind. We also took a tour through the grotto – a man-made fantasy “underground” cave complete with stalactites and lake and coloured lighting, which was inspired by one of Richard Wagner’s plays. The kids and I wandered out early as the commentary was in German, but Richard was treated to the waterfall being turned on¸ and an English commentary, so that was a shame (for us).
From there we travelled to Neuschwanstein castle, which met with Hayden’s approval as to what a castle should look like. Many more lovely villages later, we arrived back home, had dinner, and off to bed.
Day 1 Hanfeld, Bavaria, Germany
The next series of blog posts will be from our family holiday to Europe...
We made it! It was a loooooong way to the other side of the world.
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The house we are staying in is a house only a Debbie could find – it is very quaint, but also quirky, and arty/crafty - and surrounded with horse paddocks! Four stories high, we found when we arrived that we had been promoted from the basement we booked, to the attic!
We were met at the door of the car by Ralph, our host, who had been busy across the road, shaping a giant new Maypole for the village. Most appreciated of all was the fact it was quiet! A quick trip into Stanberg to get some groceries (where we discovered that both wine and cheese were very cheap – well who are we to let bargains like that go???) Coupled with some german sausage and some sauerkraut, we had an excellent dinner in our new home away from home, then off to bed.
As usual, I am up early, it is 5.20 am and I have just heard the first rooster crow!
So here we are... today we intend on driving to two of King Ludwig’s castles – Neuschwanstein and Linderhoff – we visited these last time we were in Bavaria, and I cant wait to see them again AND to see the children’s reaction to them.
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