Breakfast in new hotel was nice but, disappointingly there was no butter shooting machine! We were allowed to get up at a civilised hour today as we had to set off at 10am for a walking tour of the centre of Dresden. It looks very old but every single building was only built in the last nearly 30 years since the wall came down and the communist regime was replaced. That’s because we bombed it out of existence in 1945 in an attempt to bring the War to an early conclusion. So what they’ve done is to rebuild everything to look like it did before 1945. So our hotel, for existence looks like it’s about 300 years old but it’s only 10 years old and everything inside is modern and swish!
But our guide had to be careful when he was telling us about the war, as sometimes one of the local residents stops to listen to see if he says anything they find controversial. A lady stopped today but gave him the thumbs up to say she accepted his version of events!
This afternoon we finally managed a river boat trip which was very nice.
For tea I had spotted a place that sounded Italian and wanted to try it to spare Mum from eating any more sausages or burgers. It turned out to be a good shout ( 😉G). When you go in they give you a credit type card. You then peruse the menu and order directly over the counter, to the chef who cooks it in front of you. Mum wanted ravioli and I wanted pizza so we had to join separate queues. I ordered my pizza and the chef gave me a pager, so I then went to the bar and got a beer and a big bottle of water for Mum. But it turned out that, for non alcoholic drinks you can get them at the food counter. So, once you collect your food etc you then choose a table and eat it, and then on the way out you give the cashier your card which has been loaded with what you’ve had, pay and go. The food was delicious and totally fresh; he cooked the ravioli from scratch, in front of her. And Mum was the hero (😗G) drinking 2 pints of fizzy water. I guess when I get up for my middle of the night wee tonight I may have to join the queue.
Monday, 11 June 2018
Sunday, 10 June 2018
Colditz
Sunday morning so what time did we have to get up? 6-30 which is 5-30 UK time! Nice breakfast but then had to pack, check out and be on the coach at 8am! Everyone else in Berlin was still in bed when we left. Drove for 2 hours then stopped at a service station near Leipzig. To get into the toilets you have to put 70 cents in a machine which opens a turnstile to let you in, but also gives you a token worth 50 cents that you can spend in the shop. The only way to get back out of the toilets is back through the same turnstile which just clicks back to let you out. The problem was that there was a coach load of people queuing to get in and they wouldn’t let those who were in back out, so it just got more crowded in there. I blame Brexit!
First proper stop was Colditz castle. Our guide was a Yorkshireman! He was funny though. The castle has been there for 900 years but all us Brits are bothered about is 1941 to 1945 when it was used as a prison for British officers. They actually built a glider out of bits of wood, fabric and porridge in the attic and intended to fly off the roof, over the river but the guards found it before they could use it!
There was only one cafe open in the little town on a Sunday so our whole coach load descended on it for lunch and we only had limited time. The Rumanian guy who owns it was literally running round taking orders and serving food but he served everyone in time. What a hero.
We then drove to Meissen where they make porcelain. It’s a difficult and complicated process done entirely by hand which makes it horrendously expensive. They make a very intricate (and large) jewellery box which costs over half a million pounds and they only make one every now and then. They made one last year for Victoria Beckham! They had a cafe and had some cake with a very long German name which translates to rhubarb cake so i had to try some! It was nice.
Arrived at our hotel in Dresden at 6-30 after a very long day on the road. The handwriting on our room key envelope was so weird I thought it was 427 when it turned out to be 421. The worrying thing is that it opened 427 much to the consternation of the people in that room! Good job I barricade us in with a chair at night!
First proper stop was Colditz castle. Our guide was a Yorkshireman! He was funny though. The castle has been there for 900 years but all us Brits are bothered about is 1941 to 1945 when it was used as a prison for British officers. They actually built a glider out of bits of wood, fabric and porridge in the attic and intended to fly off the roof, over the river but the guards found it before they could use it!
There was only one cafe open in the little town on a Sunday so our whole coach load descended on it for lunch and we only had limited time. The Rumanian guy who owns it was literally running round taking orders and serving food but he served everyone in time. What a hero.
We then drove to Meissen where they make porcelain. It’s a difficult and complicated process done entirely by hand which makes it horrendously expensive. They make a very intricate (and large) jewellery box which costs over half a million pounds and they only make one every now and then. They made one last year for Victoria Beckham! They had a cafe and had some cake with a very long German name which translates to rhubarb cake so i had to try some! It was nice.
Arrived at our hotel in Dresden at 6-30 after a very long day on the road. The handwriting on our room key envelope was so weird I thought it was 427 when it turned out to be 421. The worrying thing is that it opened 427 much to the consternation of the people in that room! Good job I barricade us in with a chair at night!
Saturday, 9 June 2018
Life on Dorotheastrasse
We’re on holiday so set alarm for 7-30! Necessary because we had to leave the hotel at 9. Breakfast was a buffet job and there is lots to choose from. The best bit is a butter machine; you look through a hole in the top and place your plate underneath, then press a button to fire a fresh pat of butter wherever you need it. Too much fun even if you don’t need any butter!
Onto the coach which drove all round Berlin, frequently parking up so we could jump off and look at stuff for between 10 and 20 minutes. Got a cafe latte at one stop. I thought it was just the right temperature but Mum said hers was freezing. Just shows there no pleasing everyone! Oh yeah, we passed Angela Murkel’s actual home. It’s right next to the river and there is a street market outside. They don’t make a fuss but no stalls are allowed right by her house and there are 2 policemen standing outside. She wasn’t in as she’s in Canada at the G7 conference.
We saw Checkpoint Charlie, Hitler’s bunker etc etc and returned to hotel at around one o’clock. The problem was we had tickets for the Reichstag Dome at 2-15 so only had about 20 minutes before we had to set off walking. It was 32 degrees today so very hot, walking. The Reichstagg is the German Parliament building so security is equal to airports but Mum got in after the usual frisking. It’s difficult going places with a desperado. The dome has been built on top of the old building and you go up a long slope round the outside wall and the floor transmits messages about what you are seeing through a headset. You then come down an intertwining slope. Of course there are always some wallies who go the wrong way round. I wonder what their headset makes of that?
Then we had tickets to go up the tv tower which is far and away the tallest structure in Berlin but it necessitated walking all the way back to the hotel and then walking about twice as far in the opposite direction! It was very good and the views were brilliant but it was very stiflingly hot inside! We had a very nice tea on the way back and by the time we got back to the hotel we’d done 17,000 steps today. I’m in danger of the troops (aka Mum) revolting!
Onto the coach which drove all round Berlin, frequently parking up so we could jump off and look at stuff for between 10 and 20 minutes. Got a cafe latte at one stop. I thought it was just the right temperature but Mum said hers was freezing. Just shows there no pleasing everyone! Oh yeah, we passed Angela Murkel’s actual home. It’s right next to the river and there is a street market outside. They don’t make a fuss but no stalls are allowed right by her house and there are 2 policemen standing outside. She wasn’t in as she’s in Canada at the G7 conference.
We saw Checkpoint Charlie, Hitler’s bunker etc etc and returned to hotel at around one o’clock. The problem was we had tickets for the Reichstag Dome at 2-15 so only had about 20 minutes before we had to set off walking. It was 32 degrees today so very hot, walking. The Reichstagg is the German Parliament building so security is equal to airports but Mum got in after the usual frisking. It’s difficult going places with a desperado. The dome has been built on top of the old building and you go up a long slope round the outside wall and the floor transmits messages about what you are seeing through a headset. You then come down an intertwining slope. Of course there are always some wallies who go the wrong way round. I wonder what their headset makes of that?
Then we had tickets to go up the tv tower which is far and away the tallest structure in Berlin but it necessitated walking all the way back to the hotel and then walking about twice as far in the opposite direction! It was very good and the views were brilliant but it was very stiflingly hot inside! We had a very nice tea on the way back and by the time we got back to the hotel we’d done 17,000 steps today. I’m in danger of the troops (aka Mum) revolting!
Friday, 8 June 2018
Berlin
Get up times for holidays get sillier. Alarm went off at 2-30am! Left home at 3! Negotiated local roads full of joy riders, burglars and drug dealers safely onto the M62 only to find that it was closed at Rochdale! Luckily the road we had no alternative but to follow lead us fairly quickly onto the road that Tom S uses to cut across to the M60 so we arrived at terminal 1 meet and great with no additional trauma other than going all the way round one roundabout 🙂.
There was a big queue to hand car keys in so I braved the automatic machine and seemed to manage ok, although the proof of the pudding will be if there’s a car awaiting us on our return, or whether we have to get a taxi to Heathrow to collect it. As if that wasn’t sufficient tech savvy we then had to check our own bags in at EasyJet, including printing out and attaching our own luggage labels. We ended up with 2 tickets for one case so I just put one in my pocket just in case I got lost en route.
Anyway I must have done an excellent job as our cases were virtually the first on the baggage claim (they were already going round when we got there!). We did balk at doing the self passport check but I did do that on returning from Portugal. So, apart from refuelling the plane and piloting it myself I’m now fully competent in all aspects of the flight process 🤔
The upside of such an early flight is that we were in our hotel room by 11-15am. The tour guide took us for a quick orientation walk round, before he had to go back to the airport to meet the other half of our tour party from Bristol who didn’t arrive until 7 hours after us so we get the longer holiday.
We then went out walking, saw the Brandenburg gate, the holocaust memorial etc. But it was very hot and sunny (29 degrees). This always happens if I don’t bother bringing any shorts!
We came across a hotdog cafe that was pure American, including the staff, which was part of the Marriott hotel (so maybe not a surprise!). Mum had a basic hot dog with some onions. I had a Bad Dog which had everything, including every sauce known to man. It was nice tasting but disgustingly sticky and messy to eat so I had a hose down in Marriott’s very classy toilets.
We (well ok, me,) took around a week then to find the river so we could go on a river boat tour as the guide had assured us there were loads of them and they all served coffee and cake (my crafty way of getting Mum to go on one 😉) but we only found one empty boat! So after 15,000 steps we returned to the hotel for some much needed rest.
There is a cool sightseeing idea. A tour guide drives round in an ancient VW and his clients follow him, each driving one of the old East German Trabants and he tells them what they’re driving past by walkie talkie, but very sadly I’ve left my driving licence at home. Mum has brought hers but, unaccountably she doesn’t seem to fancy that experience 😕
There was a big queue to hand car keys in so I braved the automatic machine and seemed to manage ok, although the proof of the pudding will be if there’s a car awaiting us on our return, or whether we have to get a taxi to Heathrow to collect it. As if that wasn’t sufficient tech savvy we then had to check our own bags in at EasyJet, including printing out and attaching our own luggage labels. We ended up with 2 tickets for one case so I just put one in my pocket just in case I got lost en route.
Anyway I must have done an excellent job as our cases were virtually the first on the baggage claim (they were already going round when we got there!). We did balk at doing the self passport check but I did do that on returning from Portugal. So, apart from refuelling the plane and piloting it myself I’m now fully competent in all aspects of the flight process 🤔
The upside of such an early flight is that we were in our hotel room by 11-15am. The tour guide took us for a quick orientation walk round, before he had to go back to the airport to meet the other half of our tour party from Bristol who didn’t arrive until 7 hours after us so we get the longer holiday.
We then went out walking, saw the Brandenburg gate, the holocaust memorial etc. But it was very hot and sunny (29 degrees). This always happens if I don’t bother bringing any shorts!
We came across a hotdog cafe that was pure American, including the staff, which was part of the Marriott hotel (so maybe not a surprise!). Mum had a basic hot dog with some onions. I had a Bad Dog which had everything, including every sauce known to man. It was nice tasting but disgustingly sticky and messy to eat so I had a hose down in Marriott’s very classy toilets.
We (well ok, me,) took around a week then to find the river so we could go on a river boat tour as the guide had assured us there were loads of them and they all served coffee and cake (my crafty way of getting Mum to go on one 😉) but we only found one empty boat! So after 15,000 steps we returned to the hotel for some much needed rest.
There is a cool sightseeing idea. A tour guide drives round in an ancient VW and his clients follow him, each driving one of the old East German Trabants and he tells them what they’re driving past by walkie talkie, but very sadly I’ve left my driving licence at home. Mum has brought hers but, unaccountably she doesn’t seem to fancy that experience 😕
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)