The European City Adventure Thread

[XXXpedition]

well, it's not really adventure, not an expedition either (so if moderators feel it should be moved, please do), but i thought we are exploring so much of europe (and there is not much 'outback') it might still be interesting for some of you to follow us along...

we have started to explore a while back but i thought i would all post it in one thread and then keep it up as we go...
hope you enjoy some of it!

lets start:

Another long weekend offered us 4 days of exploration time. We decided to check out our new home country. After all, we know embarrassingly little about Germany!

We started by heading out west towards Ulm. Our first stop was more of a practical nature since we had to pick up our roofrack which Sven had dropped off a week earlier for sandblasting and basic treatment. A nice fellow from a German offroad forum had offered his services at cost. From there we detoured to Ulm, which sports not only a beautiful historic centre and many new architectural jewels, but also the world's highest church steeple (161.53 metres, 530 feet) at its minster. We climbed all 768 steps to the top to enjoy the breathtaking view (you'd be out of breath after such a climb as well!).

Then we journeyed north through lovely countryside with fresh, green meadows covering rolling hills, until we reached Heidelberg. Heidelberg's old town is long and narrow and is dominated by the ruins of the Heidelberg Castle. The many beautiful plazas were teaming with visitors while a wedding procession passed us in a horse-drawn carriage.

Continuing north, we stopped for a stroll through lovely Rotenburg/Fulda. We rather liked the small town with its many frame houses, some of them leaning at peculiar angles, but had a strange encounter with a local man who caught us taking a picture from a bridge: "I take it you are not from here? When you have finished taking your pictures, make sure to leave right away. This place is the region's biggest .....whateveryouwannacallit!" Then he walked off, clearly very upset.

Finally we reached our nothernmost point for this trip: Göttingen, a lovely university town very busy on this Saturday afternoon. Here, too, several weddings were going on. As we started heading back south, we followed a minor country road through some lovely forests and countryside until eventually coming to Weimar, a really old town even for German standards: The oldest record of the city dates from the year 899. Weimar is one of the great cultural sites in Europe; it was called home by such luminaries as Goethe and Schiller, Liszt and Bach. The tombs of Goethe and Schiller can be visited in the city. It is also where the Bauhaus movement was started, and several modern architectural jewels stand testimony to its artistic aspirations.

Our last stop was Regensburg, which seemed to have more churches and squares than houses. This was the first town in our tour that sported different architecture, and having seen many frame houses during the last few days, we quite welcomed the change. It was very hot and everyone was on the streets, trying to stay cool with iced coffee and icecream.

By the time we rolled back into Munich, we had covered a little over 1,000 kms (620 miles), walked through six towns, cruised through hundreds of kilometers of countryside, consumed dozens of cappuccinos, icecream, and local specialties, and taken a myriad of pictures of lovely houses and squares.

 

[Jasslaw]

awesome collection of pic...

 

[RgrBox]

Great pics..

I was down your way while on vacation.. we visited Salzburg while staying in Bertchesgarten..

 

[XXXpedition]

next time near munich - drop us a line - maybe we can hook up...

(that's for everybody on here...:sombrero

 

[XXXpedition]

Strasbourg

We took the opportunity of the three-day weekend to head west to Strasbourg, a beautiful city in the Alsace region in northeastern France, just across the border from Germany.

Strasbourg is the seat of several European institutions such as the Council of Europe and European Parliament; but it is most known for its historic city centre full of frame houses, classified a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1988. The heart of the city, the "Petit France" Quarter, is picturesquely situated along the river Ill and sports many historical houses. Strasbourg is full of medieval churches, lovely palaces and parks, plus a gothic cathedral famous for its astronomical clock and breathtaking rose window.

We wandered around the town centre, strolled along the Ill, walked through several parks, and enjoyed coffee and cake at one of the many cafes facing the river. The city was full of tourists but it had a very relaxed atmosphere and everybody enjoyed the beauty of this place under the warm spring sun.

We noticed an unusually dense number of storks who seemed to inhabit every tower and park in Strasbourg and were busy building nests on top of chimneys and such protrubances.

On Sunday morning, we had coffee with a friend who had met Magdalena during a 6-month internship at her Munich employer and got some interesting insight into the city's history and lifestyle. We are very lucky to know people all over the world who give us a rare glimpse of life otherwise often not visible to mere "tourists"!

 

[RgrBox]

I was in Strasbrug last year with my family.. we ate at the resturant in the pic above and stayed in the hotel across the street from it.. BTW.. I wife is from Wurzburg..

 

[XXXpedition]

wow, you resided in luxury ))))
we just slept in the truck in a quiet side street

 

[RgrBox]

Well, we were 4 including the kids.. and my truck at the time wasn't set up for sleeping..

I do like a good bed if I'm in the city.. but outdoors, I just want to be outdoors..

 

[Streakerfreak]

MMMMMM, I do so love Germany and the surrounding countries. It's so beautiful.

 

[XXXpedition]

B E R L I N
For a few days we visited Berlin, the previously divided city, with its history of west and east block. Now it shines in a new light with many contemporary buildings although you can very clearly tell the old eastern influence on some buildings.
the brandenburger tor:

inside the jewish museum:

typical eastern berlin building:

checkpoint charly (the guards are fake):

and the reichstag:

 

[jeepmedic46]

Beautiful architecture. Great collection of pictures

 

[RgrBox]

Was there several years ago.. I liked the city.. stayed at the Park Inn at Alexandria Platz. Would run every morning from the hotel, Unden den Linden Strasse to the Brandenburg Gate and back.. was back in 2003 and that terrible heat..

I see they're starting to tear down the old East German building across from the Cathedral.

RB

 

[XXXpedition]

thanks for the compliments, icefisher!

yep,they're taking it appart piece by piece...
they want to save all the humonguous steel beams.

an amazing city (to visit)

 

[XXXpedition]

We had a week of vacation and wanted to explore the northern part of Italy. We left Germany and just a 3-hour-drive took us to springtime at Lago di Garda, a popular and scenic lake sitting in the middle of spectacular mountainous scenery.

Our next stop was Brescia just south of the lake where we strolled through the beautiful historic old town where many Roman and medieval monuments are preserved, and marveled at the imposing "new" medieval cathedral from 1604 and its "old" neighbor from the XI century, a rare example of a circular Romanesque Basilica; the view from the castle was remarkable.

Piacenza was equally impressive with is squares and grand palazzi. Due to its strategic location at a major crossroads, this city has been of vital interest to political powers striving to control northern Italy.

Crossing through the agricultural belt of Italy, best known for its parmiggiano "Grana Padana", we reached Pavia, a beautiful university town where we were almost blown up one of the many towers

by a gale that literally took our breath away, not least because it had kicked up tons of sand. Where all that soil came from was apparent when we continued on west and passed countless and very dry fields. After this intense sandblasting treatment we were glad to reach Vigevano, a lovely little town with impressively elegant ancient horse stables

and its beautiful rectangular central square.

Since the campground was still closed for the season (like almost all we had inquired with so far), we asked the police for a hint on where to park overnight - many Italian cities provide "one-night-only parking for self-reliant campers", i.e. a parking lot. The carabinieri suggested that for safety and comfort reasons, we should stay right behind the cathedral since "metered parking is free after 7pm - however, you will have to pay after 9am tomorrow!"

Milan was the only major city on this trip and it took over an hour just to get from the outskirts to the centre by car. The city is vast, choked with traffic and has about a trillion gazillion traffic lights. Once we found parking for our vehicle, we headed on foot into the general direction of where we believed the centre to be. Several people we asked for the way seemed taken aback by the question and suggested that maybe we were looking for the cathedral? Apparently, Milano does not have a "centre" but asking for the cathedral will take you exactly there. The cathedral and adjoining grand galleria,

as well as the imposing castle, were well worth the effort.

From here we headed north to Lago di Como, surrounded by even higher and steeper mountains. We had hoped to hook up with an acquaintance from Spain, an Italian baker who had moved back to his home town near the lake. Unfortunately, we only knew his first and last name and the fact that his sisters owned two restaurants, but had no idea where around this 46-km (28-mile) long lake we should start our search. Thankfully, Italians in this area tend to stick around in their home villages (with some exceptions), so after our camphost indicated the respective village to us where this said family was from, all it took was asking a lady on the street for the brother of the two ladies who own a restaurant! Amazingly, we did find one of the sisters. Our friend was not in town but his sister welcomed us warmly and we chatted a while over a nice espresso. Then we continued north along the scenic lakeshore and toured once around the lake, stopping for the occasional view,

walk, and obligatory refreshment of cappuccino, icecream and pizza (not necessarily in this order). The small villages scattered around the lake are all worth a visit, although driving is sometimes challenging
(yes, this street is a two-way lane!).

We had just about enough time left to leasurely cruise up the eastern shore of Lago Maggiore, the "Greater Lake", which we followed into Switzerland. A short one-night stop-over later, to visit with a dear friend who calls this lovely town of Bellinzona her home, we were on our way north, heading home. While in Bellinzona we had enjoyed 25 degrees C (77 degrees F), we faced way cooler temperatures the next day when crossing over the San Bernardino pass at 1,500 meters (almost 5,000 feet) altitude.

 

[RgrBox]

WOW!

You guys did see most of Southern Europe..

Man those are some great pictures..

How did your tires hold up on the trip.. on and off road?

RB