Travelfour

The Music you are listening to is
"Odyssey"

Our Travels.

The Continent.
Germany----France
Holland

Munich Central

After a short flight from England, we landed in Germany.
The weather was cool and overcast, and every so often it would start drizzling rain.
The reason we chose Munich, was because Margaret's father was a Prisoner of War there from 1941 to 1945. She wanted to go to where the camp was, but just could not bring herself to go there when the time came.
Our stay in Munich was only for three days and we were lucky that we had good weather for the rest of our time there.
The hotel we stayed in was called the "Eden Wolff" and we can recomend it to anyone going to Germany. Most of our time there we spent going on conducted tours.
They are good, but at times it was very hard to understand the tour guides. Their English, though good, had to be said very quickly and at times it got a bit garbled. The tour bus took us past many beautiful places of intrest.
One place that is a must see, is the Nymphenburg Palace. The Palace and the surronding buildings are huge. Unfortunatly it is prohibited to take pictures inside the Palace.
It is impossable to hear the Guide, because of the squeaking floors and the number of people walking over them cause a terrible noise, so dont bother trying to hear anything.

Nymphenburg Palace
The top photo is looking towards the Palace from accross the lake. The photo below was taken from the steps of the Palace and the buildings, we were told, was where the visitors stayed.

Munich is a beautiful, clean city, and they have the loudest sirens in the world, on their fire engines.
And so to Paris......

The Eiffel Tower by night

Paris

Although we had booked first class rail tickets from Australia for our journey through Europe,we discovered to our dismay, that the Booking office in Munich didn't give a darn if we had first class tickets or not. He just said "Sorry, no first class on this train. You will have to sit up all night just like everyone else."
Please.... If you take the night train from Munich to Paris, take plenty to eat and drink with you, because there is neither on that train, and with the air conditioning, you get very thirsty.
Arrived in Paris early A.M. It was raining so hard you could only see a little way in front of you.
Arrived at our hotel after a drive half way accross Paris. We thought the cab driver was ripping us off,but we discovered that he took the shortest way possible. {If the cab driver in question should read this, my most humble apologies.}
Our hotel room was more like a small unit, with a little kitchen, small lounge and dinning room and a nice comfortable bed.

Top photos--Margaret outside enterance to Louve-- Venus and myself
Bottom photo--Marley Courtyard at the Louve

Anyone who has been to Paris will agree that it is a most wonderful place to be at any time of the year. We arrived there in the middle of Autum and the weather, though chilly, was beautiful for us.
Like all tourists do in Paris, we did all the tourists things, in this beautiful city.
Once off the beaten tourist track you get to see the seamier side of the city. The pot-holed streets, the uncollected garbage, the dogs droppings, {and there sure are a lot of them.} I think that the average must be about one dog per person.
Our hotel was in a suburb called Nation, which is in the eastern side of the city, and to do our tourist thing, we went by the Metro. The Metro is the very efficient rail system they have, and that can get you anywhere you want to go in the city.
The Louve you could get lost in for days and never see the same thing twice, it is so large.
The only place to see Paris from at night, is from the Eiffel Tower. The view is supurb with the lights of Paris spread out below you.
Notre Dame Cathedral, very ancient, very fragile and also very, very commercial. The restoration is ongoing, but, I think that the decay is getting ahead of the restoring program.
On the streets outside the Cathedral there is nothing but souviner shops, and in every nook and cranney there are stalls selling every type of cheap trinket you could imagine. Of corse we purchased our supply to take home with us.

Mona Lisa---- Champe Des Elysees----Cafe scene

There is one strange thing about the cafe's in Paris, and that is that the closer you sit to the gutter outside, the more it costs for you food wine or coffee. Try to sit beside the kitchen door, it's cheaper. The only problem with that is, you can not be seen, and in Paris, everyone likes to be seen.
In my lifetime, I have driven everything on wheels, from semi-trailers down to pushbikes, BUT, there is no way I would drive anything in Paris. They are all crazy once they get behind the wheel.
Parking is another thing again... From what we could deduce, when a driver arrived at the place he wanted, he stopped his car, weather it be double parked, on a pedesterian crossing, at an angle accross a corner, it just didn't seem to bother them it was a vacant spot. Red lights are to be ignored and pedestrian crossings are aiming sights.
But even with all that, we loved Paris......

The scene above is a quiet Sunday afternoon driving around Concorde Square. This is where Madam Le Guillotine did all her work during the French Revolution. I think more get killed there to-day by cars than got their heads chopped off with the guillotine.
Our train from Paris to Amsterdam left at midnight from Gare Du Nord Station. We were both a little hungry and decided to get a hamburger from the McDonalds just outside the station. I have eaten McDonalds all over the world,but this one was the worst I have ever had.

And on to HOLLAND........

Holland.... The country of Windmills, Tulips, Canals and no hills and millions of pushbikes.

On leaving Paris,we were advised by the conductor on the train, to keep our compartment door locked at all times as there had been robberies on that train.
Unlike the trip from Munich, we did have our own sleeping compartment.
On retireing, we made sure that the door was locked and that all our valuables were secure.
The next morning, we were unable to find Margarets handbag. On answering a knock on the door, we were confronted with the Conductor holding Margarets bag in his hand. He said,"Your wife left her handbag in the toilet". Margret informed him that she had not been to the toilet. He just shruged and left. The only things taken were her credit cards.
After he had gone, it dawned on me that I did not have to unlock the door to see who was there. The door was already unlocker. So whoever entered our compartment had to have done it with a key. Makes one wonder!!!!!!
The police at Amsterdam Station were fantastic. Helped Marg make out the report on the theft and we were also able to cancel the cards straight away.
Being a Sunday morning when we arrived, the cards could not have been used.

The Dam ------ The Green Bridge

Canal Bridges
The Dam is the main shopping center in Amsterdam. We don't know why they named the bridge The Green Bridge, and then go and paint it white. One would suppose that they had a good reason though.
The whether by this time had started to turn very cool and was the time to bring out our heavy clothes. Our hotel this time was five star. Everything was perfect, even down to the gold plated plumbing in the bathroom.
The shopping in the Dam was, to say the least, enlightening. Everything that the broadminded person could ask for was there on open display.
It is the first time I have seen drugs, you would go to jail for in Australia, on open sale. Even advertised in shop windows.{It was even GROWING in windows}
There are signs in different languages, telling you to beware of pickpockets.
We found the people in Holland to be very polite and helpful, and everyone spoke English. The speaking of English made us a lot happier, after trying to cope with German and French.

House boats-----Tour Boats-----Pickpocket sign

It is not cars that you have to look out for in Amsterdam, It is the pushbikes!! They are just everywhere. There is even special paths for them. The riders get very indignent if you are walking on their path. It was just as well we could'nt understand what they were saying to us as they passed.
Our impressions of Holland were....Would be great to be there in summer....
The food, though plain {lots of cabbage} was very good....
If going there again, get fit and hire a bike....
Spend more time there.

So on to New York.........

This page was created on 6th October, 1998 and is maintained by Bob Freeburn
Last updated on 28th April 1999

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