NORTHERN GERMANY

Hamburg

Hard to believe that we are back in Germany after travelling so many kilometres (now approaching 14,000).  We left The Netherlands and had a big day's drive to Hamburg in the north of the country.  The countryside was quite different to southern Germany - no quaint villages with church spires, and the rolling hills and fields weren't the same lush green.  This area of Germany was more sprawling hills of broadacre farming.

Hamburg, Germany's leading port city, was alive with development.  Our most exciting stop was at Miniatur Wunderland - an incredibly extensive minature world.  It is built around 12 km of model train tracks and the different sections represent many locations around the world.  There are over 890 model trains, 14,000 carriages, 200,000 tiny people and 215,000 trees in the display.

We were all overwhelmed by the intricate attention to detail - traffic lights and vehicle indicator lights worked, vehicles moved on complex road plans, planes taxied down the runway and took off and landed, and every 15 minutes day turned to night and over 300,000 little lights came on.  There were many exclamations of "Look at that" and "Have you seen this?"


Berlin

Our first day in Berlin was spent very productively visiting the Berlin Zoo.  Wow   ...   what fun.  We saw elephants, rhinos, hippos, lions, tigers, panthers, jaguars, brown bears, black bears, polar bears, gorillas, chimpanzees, orang-utans, wolves, giraffes, zebras, gazelles, antelopes, penguins, seals and so the list goes on.

The zoo has the largest number of species in the world, however we realised as we were leaving that we had not seen any Australian animals except for a few birds.  We all felt invigorated by our day with the animals - Ellie kept saying, "I can't believe that they are actually REAL."

Although the city of Berlin is a relatively young city it has an incredibly interesting history.  A four hour walking tour (which stretched to six hours) was wonderful as we trekked around the city centre learning about its history from the mid 1700's until 1989 when the Berlin Wall fell.  We visited many sites including the Reichstag (parliament building), Brandenburg Gate, Holocaust Mahnmal (a Jewish memorial), Hitler's bunker where he spent his last hours, and numerous city squares including one at the Humboldt University which was the site of the "book burning" by the Nazis.  The Brandenburg Gate was impressive and the Jewish Mahnmal was very effective with its 2,711 grey concrete columns of differing height.

We met up with Claire (Vid's sister) and Dave who were planning to spend a couple of nights with us in our spalatial home on wheels but declined as Claire was feeling a little unwell.  Fortunately though we still spent a great day exploring with them.

The Mauermuseum had a fascinating exhibition on the history of the Berlin Wall including many stories from those that had escaped and the escape helpers.  It was established in 1962 right beside Checkpoint Charlie in West Berlin and was a known meeting site of escape helpers.  Between the wall's erection in 1961 and its fall in 1989, more than 5000 people escaped across, over and under the wall.

Over the course of time the aids and methods they used to overcome the increasingly perfected GDR (East Berlin) border security system became more and more inventive - the museum's collection includes many of the original items.  It didn't feel quite real that all these stories happened so recently in history.

After lunch we walked through the enormous wooded parklands of the Tiergarten to the Siegessaule - a massive column with an 8.3 m, 35 ton, gilded Goddess of Victory standing on top.  The Siegessaule was built around 1870 to commemorate the Prussian (of which Berlin was the capital) victory in the Prusso-Danish war of 1864.  We climbed the hundreds of spiraling steps to the observatory platform at the top, which rewarded us with excellent views of Berlin.

Spreewald

The Spreewald (Spree Forest) lies just south of Berlin on the way to Dresden.  It is a picturesque area of wooded forests and narrow canals feeding from the meandering Spree River.  Our highlight was a canoe paddle around the many canals near Lubbenau.

We paddled along at a reasonably leisurely rate until the splashing of raindrops rapidly increased our pace   ...   alas, too little, too late.  We tried to take cover from the brief torrential downpour but could only sit in the middle of the narrow canal and laugh.


Dresden

Shortly before the end of World War II, the Allied forces bombed and consequently incinerated much of the old baroque city centre of Dresden.  Fortunately many of the buildings have been rebuilt including the Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) where 8,500 of the original blackened stones were categorised and have been reused in the rebuilding.  Its beautiful baroque style inside was highlighted by the enormous majestic 12,000 tonne dome.

We walked along The Procession of the Princes, a 100 metre long mural decorating a wall depicting rulers of Germany since 1127.  Over 90 people are portrayed through the use of 25,000 ceramic tiles.  It was a fabulous masterpiece and little did we know that it was a pre-cursor to what we would see at the Green Vault Museum.

The Green Vault Museum was absolutely extraordinary with its incredible collection of treasures.  There were more than 1,000 priceless and beautiful objects.  Gold, silver, jemstones, ivory, ebony, stones, wood, rock crystals, glass, bronze and other beautiful materials have been used to create some amazing artpieces.  The highlights were seeing the worlds only green diamond (caused by natural radioactivity), an enormous sailing frigate carved from ivory, and a tiny cherry stone that was carved with 185 faces.  This treasure chamber was absolutely overwhelming.  Unfortunately we have no photos as cameras were not allowed, so we are hoping the memories will remain vivid.

On our last full day we had a quick stop at Wurzburg to soak in, for one last time, a beautiful old city surrounded by castles and acres of vineyards.

It is now time to fly home from Frankfurt.  We have had the most amazing adventure and cannot believe how many great sights we have seen.  We are definitely feeling richer from the experience although after three months abroad, we are looking forward to coming home and seeing everyone.  There is no place like Australia.

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BELGIUM AND THE NETHERLANDS

BELGIUM

Calais - Oostende

After learning about Operation Dynamo at Dover Castle, we left England on our return ferry ride to France and drove along the Belgium coast between Calais and Oostende, stopping to see the beaches of Dunkirk and sections of the Atlantic Wall.  Built by Hitler during World War II, the concrete machine gun bunkers were a stark reminder of the ruthfulness of the war.

This impressive defensive structure stretched along the coast from the north of Norway to the top of Spain, with 14,000 of these heavy concrete bunkers built along the wall.


Bruges - Brussells

Bruges, the "Venice of the North", was the quintessential medieval style Belgian town.  The historic Markt was alive with the hustle and bustle of daily life and the horse and carriage rides were too tempting.  The clip clopping on cobblestone streets past chocolate, sweets and lace shops was perfect. 

Nearby Ghent was not quite as enchanting as Bruges.  We wandered through the old city streets admiring the many towers and spires puncturing the skyline.  It was amazing to think that this city was once the second largest city in Europe before politics and The Plague.

Brussells, with its population of one million, had the feel of Brisbane - warm and friendly.  The Grand Place (central square) was the most magnificent city centre we felt we had visited on our travels across Europe.

The square's splendor is due largely to the Gothic styles and the antique frameworks of the guildhalls adorned with gilded statues and symbols.  We had an easy stroll past the famous Manneken Pis statue, the Palais Royal and through Park de Bruxelles.

Waterloo - Luxembourg - The Netherlands

The Lion Mound at Waterloo was our next chapter of European history.  We had an interesting couple of hours learning about Napolean and his defeat at Waterloo to the Duke of Wellington (British) and the Prussians.  The walk up the steep 226 stairs to the top of the mound, underneath the 28 tonne lion, offered fantastic views of the battlefield and the surrounding countryside.

A family vote was taken the next morning and we all decided to head into the hills towards Luxembourg rather than venture back into another city.  It was a big day of driving through four countries:  Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany and The Netherlands - a pleasant country drive through farmlands of crops and livestock dispersed with wooded hillsides.

THE NETHERLANDS

Kinderdijk - Utrecht

Water, water, water - our initiation into The Netherlands was fat cattle speckled across lush green fields of grass surrounded by narrow canals with no fences, just gates, between the never ending waterways.  Needless to say, agriculture here is very different to Australia's parched landscape.  Two thirds of The Netherlands is below sea level, so an enormous amount of infrastructure is concentrated on draining the country. 

Kinderdijk is built in a polder (a low lying tract of land enclosed by dikes) that is below the level of the adjoining river.  To drain this polder, a system of 19 windmills was built.  Although only two are still in working order, these "old man" windmills have stood defiantly since the mid 1700's, saving this town from flooding.

The De Haar Castle at Utrecht was another magnificent medieval residence, built in the late 1300's.  We walked the castle grounds with its colourful ornamental and patterned gardens and majestic oaks and willows lining the walkways.

A wander around the surrounds (and another simple hedge maze) managed to entertain the family for a couple of hours.


Amsterdam - Zaanse Schans - Volendam

We are hoping that there was not much to see in Amsterdam as the family again took another vote to bypass the city life in favour of a more scenic day to celebrate Ellie's fourth birthday.  If you ever want to teach young children how to count backwards, start about ten sleeps before their birthday.

We had a great day visiting Zaanse Schans, which has a collection of well preserved historic Dutch windmills and houses.  The paint dye windmill was fascinating and the clog workshop had us intrigued.  After witnessing many locals in their traditional attire, we came to the conclusion that thick socks are an important factor for wearing wooden clogs.

A birthday cake was found in a little pastry shop and four matches quickly became candles.  After the simple birthday ceremonies and cake devastation, we drove on to the old fishing village of Volendam and across a 25 km sea dike that protects the city of Amsterdam from sea storms, before finding a campsite for the night.

Arnhem

The Netherlands Water Museum at Arnhem was a modern and interactive museum dedicated to all aspects of fresh water, not only in The Netherlands but over the entire planet.  The child-friendly exhibitions covered the various sources of water around the world and nature's reliance on it.  It gave an excellent overview of the history of the dike and polder system within The Netherlands and its current management system.

Back to Germany   ...   and the countdown to coming HOME has started.

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LAST WEEK IN ENGLAND

Hadrian’s Wall – Yorkshire Dales

After bidding Scotland good-bye, we set off to explore Hadrian’s Wall, the defensive fortification built across northern England by the Romans from 122-128 AD to keep out the savage Scottish.  It was an enormous undertaking by the Romans:  120 km long, 5 to 6 m high and 2 to 2.5 m thick, with forts and turrets every 500 m.  We spent the morning stopping at many interesting points along the wall, including Chesters Roman Fort and Museum.

Everyone’s favourite stop was walking along the wall at Walltown Crags - a short stroll up a hill dodging the local sheep and we were on top of a well preserved section of the wall.  The views were spectacular, and Hadrian’s Wall impressive, dramatically snaking and diving along the hilltops (where it has done for nearly 1,900 years).

We zig-zagged our way south to the Yorkshire Dales, stopping at Hartside Summit to soak in the beautiful views.  We were lucky enough to witness an old steam train on the Carlisle to Liverpool line, hurtling along at full speed (about 100 km/hr) and blowing enormous clouds of smoke into the air.

The Yorkshire Dales is a region of rolling hills, lush valleys and craggy limestone cliffs with crystal clear streams, mossy dry-stone walls, unspoilt villages of brown stone and slate rooves   ...   and sheep.  A beautiful corner of the world.

York - Warwick - Oxford

Onto York, the walled Roman city that was later conquered and held by the Vikings for hundreds of years before the Norman Conquest.  We walked the wall, saw York Minster (cathedral) and ambled through the Shambles (overhanging timber framed shops which were mainly butcher shops dating back to the 14^th Century).

The Jorvik Viking Centre was the highlight of our visit as we journeyed in a time capsule back to around 900 AD to learn about the brutality of the Vikings and their way of life.

The museum is on the site of the archaeological diggings of the old settlement of Jorvik.  Clifford’s Tower, the old fort tower built in the 1300’s, was our last stop for the day and gave the children an opportunity to dress up to be kings and queens for a while.

Warwick Castle, although very commercialised, was a fun day for everyone.  We saw knights on horseback jousting, plenty of sword fighting, and story telling (about dragons, of course).

Various activities were on offer for budding knights and princesses, including archery and juggling lessons with the Court Jester.  The most interesting part of the day was watching the “Flights of Prey” show with magnificent birds of prey, some with wingspans up to 8 feet, flying around the castle grounds and swooping the spectators.

On to Oxford, and the spirit of learning lingered in the streets and old buildings as we walked around the historic Oxford University.  Some of the residential colleges were like grand palaces with fortress like walls, stately buildings and very “English” gardens, with deck chairs lazily spread across the manicured lawns.

We walked up the narrow spiral staircase to the top of St Mary’s Church to overlook the city and the heart of the university, Radcliffe Square.  

London - Dover

Next on the agenda was a visit to Hampton Court, the largest and grandest Tudor structure in England.  It was built by Cardinal Thomas Wolsey in 1514 but passed to King Henry VIII when the cardinal fell from favour - he was unable to convince the Roman Catholic Pope to allow the divorce between Henry and Catherine of Aragon (his first wife).

We wandered the many rooms and out into the grand formal gardens, which have been painstakingly returned to the period of Henry and a later king, William III.

It was interesting to learn that the monarchs would only live in one place for a short period of time as they (and their massive entourage) would deplete the local region of food and other resources, and the rooms would become so dirty and smelly that they would pack up their furniture and move on.

We spent an interesting afternoon at the home of Charles Darwin, where he lived for forty years and worked on his revolutionary theories and the book, “On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection”.  The book shook the Victorian world and has influenced thinking ever since.

The garden contained areas that Darwin set aside for his many experiments, including his weed garden which illustrated the struggle for existence in nature.

We thought we had better make it three castles in three days just to get our required dosage before leaving old England, so we ventured to Dover Castle.  The castle, perched proudly atop the White Cliffs of Dover, boasts a long and eventful history.

It became a Norman earthwork castle soon after 1066 and was garrisoned uninterruptedly until 1958.  Although it has an interesting medieval history, it was its more modern history that captivated us. 

During World War II, this frontline fortress once again was the centre of activity with 250 year old tunnels being recommissioned for use by the British Navy.  In 1940, these tunnels were the engine room of Operation Dynamo, the rescue mission of over 338,000 Allied and British troops from the beaches of Dunkirk (they were only expecting to save about 30,000).

These troops had their backs to the ocean and were fighting to save their lives as the Germans cut them off.  The rescue attempts by a massive flotilla of 700 naval, merchant and civilian boats were nothing short of miraculous.  There were incredible stories also of the ingenuity of troops on the ground - when the beach was too shallow for the ships to come in they built a jetty out of army trucks into the ocean and climbed upon them to reach the ships.  It was a powerful presentation.

Off on the ferry tomorrow back to France to make our way up to Belgium and The Netherlands.

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SCOTLAND THE BRAVE

Carlisle – Ayr

Our first day in wee Scotland was spent driving from Carlisle across to the west coast through Galloway Forest Park and north to Ayr.

We drove through magnificent scenery all day, particularly along the coast looking over the Atlantic Ocean towards Ailsa Craig, an imposing rock mound island, and Kintyre.  (The family may have broken out into a few choruses of the song “Mull of Kintyre”.)   

At Ayr, the magnificent 18^th century Culzean Castle, perched on a rocky outcrop overlooking the Atlantic, was spectacular.

Not only was the history and the architecture of the castle fascinating, the herd of red deer (does, fawns and stags) feeding peacefully under the oak trees was entrancing, and the Walled Garden with its myriad of coloured garden beds and beautifully manicured lawns was perfectly tranquil.  We all loved this castle.

Glasgow - Drumnadrochit

A brief stopover in Glasgow at the Kelvingrove Art and History Museum increased our knowledge on Scottish history.  We learnt about the early Scots, the Vikings invading Scotland, Robert the Bruce, Robert Burns the poet, Mary Queen of Scots, and her son James VI of Scotland (who was also James I of England).  The children learnt that kilts were only worn originally by Highlanders, and that they only came into existence around the 1600’s.  Clans designed their tartan around what they could afford (red dye tartans signified wealth as the dye came from a rare type of beetle). 

Next a bit of family history was investigated by Sarah at Renton, just north of Glasgow.  We visited the castle of some of her paternal relatives who sold the castle in the 1930’s.

Due to the enormous upkeep of the buildings, this castellated Gothic mansion was turned into a nursing home about 25 years ago.  We made ourselves known to the nursing staff and then took a wander around the home and its simple grounds.

The open rolling hills of farmland gave way to more extreme mountainous landscape the further north we headed towards Loch Ness and Drumnadrochit.

We stopped numerous times on our travels to breathe in the fresh Highland air and to marvel at the wild mountains and the cold glacial lochs.  A wee bonnie Scotsman was playing the bagpipes at one lookout which set the perfect atmosphere for our travels.

It was interesting to learn as we drove past Ben Nevis, UK’s highest mountain, that it was only 1344 metres high.

Neptune’s Stairs on the Caledonian Canal, which helps link the North Sea with the Atlantic Ocean via Loch Ness, Loch Lochy and Loch Linnhe, was a very interesting stop for the boys in the family.  We watched a boat pass through part of the lock system which raises or lowers the boats 80 feet above or down to sea level.

Nessie did not show her face and fortunately we all felt quite at ease camping beside the loch.  Ellie had reassured us that she was “really friendly and didn’t eat people”.  Georgia (the horsey one) went for an hour long ride around a horse riding farm which overlooked the ruins of Urquhart Castle and Loch Ness.

She claims that she REALLY enjoyed it.  We visited the Loch Ness Exhibition Centre and learnt about the Loch Ness monster hoaxes and how they were solved.

Drumnadrochit - Ullapool

A day ahead of schedule, the family decided to head further north-west in search of more rugged landscape   ...   and we found it.

On our travels we stopped at the Falls of Shin and had the most unexpected surprise – Atlantic salmon jumping up the falls on their way to freshwater breeding grounds.  It was a wonderful experience witnessing these seafaring fish battling their way up fast flowing streams into the middle of Scotland.

The glacial cut landscape became more desolate the further west we headed, with very little vegetation and few inhabitants.  We assumed the low population was due to the inhospitable terrain, but we were to learn later that the clan numbers were significantly reduced by the English Red Coats after the Jacobite rebellion in 1746, to avoid the possibility of another Highland resurgence. 

We stayed that night at Ullapool, which typified the Scottish fishing village:  a village in Scotland with fish.  It also sported steep pebble beaches with an endless supply of smooth skipping stones.

Ullapool – Cairngorms (Grampian Mountains)

We passed through Inverness on our travels east, but as we were too invigorated by our stay in the Highlands, we didn’t stop in the city.  Just east of the city is Culloden Moor, the site of the last battle fought on British soil.

This battle was fought in 1746 between the English Government and the rebelling Jacobites and lasted for just one hour.  It saw the end of the attempt by bonnie Prince Charlie to regain the English crown for the Stuart family from the reigning Hanover family.

This battle led to the English building the fort, Fort George, only a few kilometres down the road at Ardersier.  We wandered around the military barracks and climbed the ramparts to catch a glimpse of the magnificent views over Moray Firth and out to the North Sea.

Dolphins swam lazily in the water just off shore, which was an added bonus to our day.

Time to turn south through the Grampian Mountains and into Cairngorm National Park.  A working water mill captured our attention at Blair Atholl and we learnt about the process of stone grinding oats and wheat to make various grades of meal.

We couldn’t resist stocking the pantry with their fresh home-baked breads.  Our highlight in Blair Atholl however was finally seeing some gorgeous Highland cattle with their enormous horns, shaggy coats and their shaggy fringes completely covering their eyes.

Heading south, we visited the Scottish Crannog Centre where we inspected a reconstructed loch dwelling from the Bronze/Iron Age.  These lake dwellings, and the lives of their inhabitants, are still puzzling archaeologists today.

The Centre had fascinating hands-on exhibitions encouraging visitors to try various arts and crafts from this bygone era, including how to light a fire without matches.  Vid managed to create fire, and Tom and Georgia loved trying the simple techniques of wood turning and grinding a hole through a stone.

The countryside continued to overwhelm us with its unique beauty as we opted to drive the narrow, hair-raising, no-room-for-two-vehicles road towards Edinburgh.  The baron windswept hills with low growing purple flowering heather were magnificent.  We felt alone (Vid quite enjoyed the lack of other vehicles) to the extent that we were on another planet when we saw some “golden” sheep.

Unfortunately as we wound our way down the mountains we approached civilisation again and the busy world we live in.

Falkirk - Edinburgh

The Falkirk Wheel was Vid and Tom’s highlight for the day before driving onto Edinburgh.  The wheel is the first boat “lift” and is an enormous feat for modern day engineering.

It works on the Archimedes’ principle of water displacement, and although the concept in theory seemed simple, the practicality of developing this amazing structure was admirable.

On to Scotland’s historic capital, Edinburgh, and in particular Edinburgh Castle.  Although there is quite a variation in the architectural styles of the castle (as it was built over many centuries) the stone buildings all had their own character.  The quaint chapel of St Margaret’s is the oldest building in Edinburgh and is the only building within the castle walls not to have suffered at the hands of battle.

The castle is the home to the Scottish crown jewels – the crown being the second oldest in the world after the Hungarian crown.  It has not been worn since the 1600’s.  We also saw the “Stone of Scoone”, a sandstone piece of rock which has reputedly been used for over one thousand years as the stone where the monarchs of Scotland sit for their coronation.

We stopped on the Scottish/English border to bid Scotland a wee farewell and enjoyed the magnificent views for a final time.

It is certainly a country we would all love to visit again.

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