Days 13-17. BATES MOTEL, BEER and finally DRESDEN

"WIESN" (OKTOBERFEST) IN MUNICH

Well, with the Munich weekend looking more and more like a disaster, Germany yet again is full of surprises.

After a flurry of changed plans to try and get closer to the Oktoberfest-packed Munich despite total lack of accommodation, Marko came to the rescue. Friday 30th Sept we trained it from Fuessen (goodbye to the Bavarian Alps, now topped with snow) to Augsberg, about 80km west of Munich.



Augsburg, home of the wealthy Fuggers

Probably the highlight, and later the most frustrating thing about the train ride from Fuessen to Augsburg was that on the final leg, a delightfully smiley girl sat next to Sharon and started chatting. I could not pick her accent, and couldn't believe it when she said she was German. After the usual exchange of info regarding nationalities and locations she mentioned "Oh, Australia...that's where I learned to speak English! In Adelaide, actually". When we got off the train she showed us where to stash our bags and gave some directions etc. She was unbelievably smiley, happy and helpful, when we said "Danke", she even curtsied with the longest, sweetest and slightly tounge- in- cheek "Bitte schön..!".

Augsburg Rathaus (town hall). That's a pine cone on top, some kind of ancient fertility symbol. Whatever.

Frustrating? We didn't even get her name or pop into her workplace (a local travel agent) later to say "see ya". We walked past the office once and saw that she was busily taking calls, still wearing a huge smile. I remember Marko and Katja once expressing their concern that we would be put off by seeing how "cold" some Germans can be.

Is it just our good fortune, that the majority of Germans we encountered, have only been kind-hearted and friendly people?


The Fuggers

We wandered around the big and beautiful Altstadt of Augsburg while the tourism office tried to find accommodation. The usual squares and massive churches were consumed, as were some statues of people called the Fuggers who were local Catholic Philathropists. They are affectionately known as the Wealthy Fuggers. Apparently these wealthy fuggers were everywhere.

Meanwhile, the tourist office managed to find us some acccomodation- another 30km west (in the opposite direction from Munich). We got a room in an empty hotel in a town with absolutely nothing (correction, it had a brewery, but there were no people) I think it was called Ustersbach. The hotel/ Pension was lovely, but we were the only guests and I feared the landlord was some kind of German Norman Bates. I wished again that we had visited our mystery friend.

Still, it was the only way to see Marko and Betty again in Munich at Oktoberfest, albeit just to sample the atmosphere rather than get into the impossibly packed beer tents. We trained it into Munich on Saturday the 1st, where Marko promised us that "we would find them" at the massive, crowded Hauptbahnhof. It occured to me, as we lugged our backpacks through the Oktoberfest crush, if we could survive this, we could survive anything.

Sure enough, there was Marko and Betty with friends Sylvio and Katja, with a big "Welcome Patrick and Sharon" sign, complete with picture of Kangaroo drinking beer. Nice touch and lovingly done!


Quite a good caricature of me

Oktoberfest was, um, interesting. We managed to score a table (they don´t serve beer unless you have a seat. You are not officially taking part in Oktoberfest until you are sitting down, and of course later, falling over).

But Oktoberfest began pretty much the moment we caught the train from Augbsurg. All men were in Leiderheusen, and girls were in the tradition Bavarian dirndl complete with cute pigtails, but this wasn't the only thing that made Sharon and I stand out like sore thumbs- we weren't clutching bottles of beer either. I wondered if this was the only public event where Germans come out to drink en masse? What about football games and Grands Prix? In Australia, we use any public event as an excuse to get drunk.



Marko gets into the Oktoberfest spirit...


Despite the fact...

...that he's a teetotaller


I, however, am not...

As if Marko and Betty's assistance wasn't enough, our Saturday night accommodation problem was solvered, with friends Sylvio and Katja offering us the spare room at their apartment, evicting Marko and Betty to the couch. After Oktoberfest we headed for central Munich. The weather was foul so it was a short afternoon. But I reckon the best part was the evening.

lucky they have these leaning poles placed around Oktoberfest

Beginner's guide to Oktoberfest:1) drink beer 2) drink more beer 3) fill up on beer 4) go on stupid fairground ride 5) throw up 6) drink more beer 7) repeat process from 1)

Art Gallery (and Audi A8 Quattro), central Munich

After supermarket shopping for supplies, back at the apartment the guys prepared us a traditional Bavarian meal of Bratwurst and Sauerkraut. Guten appetit! Marko then found a web site with voice software. It audibly spoke whatever words you would type into the screen. So, the rest of the evening was spent with us giggling like schoolchildren as we typed in all sorts of (sometimes bawdy) things and listened to it repeated by a robotic voice.

Cold, hard Germans indeed.

These Germans drink some weird stuff...I thought it was an ice cream cone

With more foul weather (only the first we had experienced in the whole trip) we cruised around Munich, taking in all the sights from Silvio and Katja's minivan. It included the BMW museum, Allianz stadium (site of World Cup 2006) and the 1972 Olympic Village, scene of the first ever Palestinian attack on Israeli citizens where 11 Israeli athletes died. Sylvio mentioned the yet-to-be-released movie by Speilberg on the subject was getting big press in this town. I was disappointed to later discover the movie was a poor representation of the actual events.

When fed up with Churches, Art Galleries and Beer Drinking in Munich, there's always this- the REAL pride of Bavaria!

BAHNSTORMING TO DRESDEN AND CLAUDIA

With poor Claudi and Jörg unable to come to Munich and drive us back to Dresden, the next problem was the expensive prospect of the train ride from Munich to Dresden. Again, Marko was the hero. He rang some Dresdner friends who were driving back on Sunday after Oktoberfesting. I cannot question enough....what would these travels be like without such people?

Although the time with Marko and Betty was precious and too short, I was anxious to start phase 2 of the trip; Dresden, a city I have learned to love before seeing, and to be reunited with Claudia after almost two years. From her texts I gathered she was as excited to see us as vice versa. We have all been waiting for what has seemed like forever since our travel plans were made in March and she then found out she was sick only days later. Of course, in our most negative moments we feared we would never see her again. A great friendship had been struck up over those two years. So neither of us cared what time of the evening we would arrive, as long as we arrived.

In healthier times

It is a long way from Munich to Dresden (around 450km I think). We grabbed a bite at Pizza Hut, across from the Olympic Village, to escape the Munich rain and wait for the ride Marko had arranged. Sebastian and Kathleen rocked up at 5.30pm. Sebastian had been enjoying Oktoberfest, so, Kathleen would be driving, natürlich.

I thought it would be forever before we would arrive in Dresden, to see this long-awaited treasure of a city and greet our beloved little cancer survivor. But I forgot, this was Germany. All you need is a piece of autobahn, a German driver, and a deadline. In Australia this drive would take a tedious (and dangerous) five hours. We arrived in Dresden just after 9pm.

Sebastian mobiled Claudia to arrange a meeting point- Hochschulstrasse, just south of the Dresden Hauptbahnhof, out the front of the Technical School of the Dresden University. This was where the original "MCG footynight" gang Claudia, Marko, Jana, Sophie, Katja et al all first met and studied. This was where we waited for Claudia. Apart from paying them a miniscule fee for petrol, we gave Kathleen and Sebastian a couple of spare koalas we had in our stash, which they appreciated. Plus I made a point of telling Kathleen that she was a female Michael Schumacher and I was extremely impressed. Because I was!

So began phase 2 of our trip as Claudi and her tall bespectacled boyfriend Joerg arrived with Claudi half out the door before the Subaru wagon had even stopped. It was the same excitement we felt from being in Germany for the first time, all over again. Maybe even more so. Seeing the waify little survivor and giving her a big, long hug was more special and memorable than 3 laps of the ´Ring. Yes, you can quote me on that (I have no choice- it´s in writing!)

Our happy little band then drove off in the night, to Claudi´s little town of Seifersdorf, a gorgeous little hamlet in the rolling hills which in wintertime must look like one of those snowglobe towns. Dresden sightseeing would have to wait until morning. Her parents don't speak english, but that was half the fun, as we chatted about Australia, the footynight, Kangaroos, GDR and Trabants, then off to bed.

DRESDEN

Having spent all time thus far in "West" Germany, this was our first look at the former east. The urban differences between the two (theoretically) reunited Germanys are very clear. Diluting the classic German architecture is Communist developed mass density unit housing. There were parks overgrown and unkempt, graffiti and abandoned buildings. Only 16 years ago this was a totally different country. And it shows. But I absolutely love it. This is the Germany I came to see, and nobody denies that the differences are still there, visually and economically.

Typical Eastern Europe- traces of socialismus

Tourist waiting for that elusive tourist-less photo, Zwinger

Inside the Zwinger

Thanks to Cam lending me a book of the same name, representing the most authoritative, sympathetic yet realistic and poetically written account of the 1945 allied attacks on Dresden, it was hard not to look at the sights of the old historic section, without feeling a lump in your throat. Despite the military justifications of the attack (which there were, contrary to popular, and Soviet propagated, belief) you hear a little voice saying "what did we do?"

The massive Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady), still under privately-funded econstruction was the most poignant symbol. On February 14th, 1945, after twin firebomb midnight attacks (which were described as "the operation which went horribly right"), terrorized and shocked Dresdners surveyed their destroyed and burning city.

They were able to take some solace that their battered skyline at least retained the proud, 300 foot- high shape of the Frauenkirche. The ancient, solid structure withstood the potent explosives, bombs had literally bounced off the surface. But the surrounding high temperatures weakened the iron and timber sub-structure, and at 10.45am on the Thursday after the Tuesday-night attacks, the last remaining piece of Dresden skyline collapsed into rubble.

Florence on the Elbe


The Soviets left it that way for 40 years. After the Iron Curtain fell, a plethora of private and corporate donations lead to a triumphant rebuilding, and we were privaleged to see the culmination of that. It is mostly a "reproduction". It stands out with bright, fresh stonework, but dotted with distinctive dark block sections, being some of the original stones. With the aid of computer software, what original stonework could be salvaged was relocated in the exact place from whence it came.

The stories of world generosity in the rebuilding effort are far and many. The golden cross atop the Frauenkirche was personally crafted by the son of a WWII bomber pilot who took part in the raids. But bookstores and postcards everywhere here remind us of the bombing of Dresden.

the beautiful big lady

Claudi's grandmother recounts sitting in her house in Seifersdorf (across the courtyard from Claudi's where we are staying) during the raids. She said she was able to read the newspaper. I think this is an unremarkable statement, until I realise what she meant. It was midnight, there was total blackout, she could read the newspaper from the orange glow 15 miles away.

strolling through the beautful Theaterplatz

I hope that here the feeling of reconcilliation and progress encompasses any feelings of bitterness. Of course I feel sorry for the Dresdeners who endured this, the lives lost, and of course it's terrible that so many beautiful things were destroyed. But of course nobody should apologise. It was war. It's over now. The reconstruction of Dresden, and particularly the Frauenkirche, is a great symbol of "moving on". Unfortunately, the memory is occasionally used by neo-nazis and anti-west groups for propaganda. Nothing new there- the Soviets' approved of the bombing to help end the war and give them a slice of the takings. Then when they ruled the area, they told East Germans look at what the West did to your beautiful city. Aren't they evil?

Well, if there's one thing we learn from history, it's that we learn nothing from history.

Destroyed under Nazism, unkempt and neglected by Communism, properly rebuilt under capitalism.

Kreuzkirche, near the Altmarkt, an open square where over 4,000 bodies were cremated in 1945

All of the magnificent, stately and massive baroque buildings, surviving or rebuilt, are a characteristic combination of black stone, emerald green spires and dazzling golden ornaments. It´s not until you look closely that you realise that the blackness of the stonework is not old, quaint discolouration from age, but the permanent scars of a 1000-degree firestorm.

Neustadt

After the Altstadt we ventured out along the Elbe to Schloss Pillnitz, a colourful Dresden riverside landmark. Here Claudi and Joergy treated us to a local delicacy- Pulsnitzer Chokoladenspitzen (I think), soft gingerbread, chocolate coated, with jam filling. We may be attempting to import some to Australia very shortly- it was wickedly yummy.

Schloss Pillnitz

Call me an old softie (preferably leave out the "old") or sentamentalist: to walk through the city of Dresden is a poignant and moving experience.

But our experience today was brightened by the happy face of Claudia, wearing a perpetual smile from ear to ear. It´s a pleasure to see her again. She only looks frail, but doesn´t act it. As demanding, sightseeing tourists, we will try not to wear her out over the next few days.

PHOTOS

Before I impress you with more stories, FINALLY I have some photos for you to enjoy (or otherwise)

Day 1. Römerberg in Frankfurt. There was an apple cider fest on

Day 2. ME at THE RING...that little Renault and I, we went through a lot together.

Day 3. St. Goar on the Rhine, almost as cute as Bacharach, where we stayed. When you´ve seen one 1000-year old German river village, you´ve seen ém all

Day 4. Wonderful Heidelberg

Day 5. Sinsheim museum in Baden-Wurttemburg. LOTS of big boy toys, including this one, which I first saw almost 20 years ago to the day

BUT the car I REALLY came to see...a TRABANT. It has taken me almost as long to SEE one of these as it took East Germans to acquire them. Now we know why Erich Hönacker eventually gave up on communism. He wanted a new car

Day 6.Sharon and Susanne Lagler went off looking at palaces, while I spent the day looking at...

Sharon just didn´t know what she was missing...

Day 7: Stuttgart. And one week of perfect weather.

Day 8: Freiburg in Schwarzwald. This is the Münster, a monstrous cathedral, with one-way spiral staircase up to the spire. No kidding, if someone is coming down, you have to reverse. I estimate it is approximately 20 stories. Most fascinating feature, builder´s chisseled graffiti from as early as 16th century.

Freiburg. Waiting for bratwurst

Day 9. Schwarzwald. Rowing Lake Titisee

Days 9 and 10; Meersburg on Lake Constance. Yes there is a castle in there . Two, actually.

Beautiful frescos inside a church on Mainau Island, Lake Constance

DAYS 8-12. THE CUCKOO'S NEST, GNOMES AND FAIRY TALE CASTLES

Cute little mosaics on Freiburg's pavements

Second day in Freiburg and we attempted to "explore" the Blackforest, but that entailed jumping on a short cable car ride up to a steep summit and going to a lookout. As if that wasnt enough exercise for one day we decided to use the region´s excellent (and well-valued) public transport system to go further afield and explore.

Is it just me or is every single train ride in Germany utterly beautiful? Heading slightly southeast from Freiburg takes you through the Höllental ("Hell's Valley", and ironically the first tiny town on the way is HimmelTor, or "Heaven's Gate"). This is a dramatic steep valley where at times the light struggles to reach the bottom. Legends abound of deer leaping from one peak to the other to escape hunters. Stopping at the beautiful Lake Titisee (no jokes please), we went for a romantic rowboat ride out into the lake. Chivalry is NOT dead.



Lake Titisee, Blackforest


I like ducks anywhere in the world

A famous icon of the Schwarzwald area is the humble cuckoo clock. At lake Tititsee is a souveneir shop with an entire wall covered in cuckoo clocks, all busily ticking, tocking, clanging and cuckoo-ing in hilarious unison. I could have stayed there all day laughing like a maniac waiting for the next cuckoo. It was strangely addictive and amusing.

So that's it then. When I am old, demented and senile, I will live in a house full of cuckoo clocks cackling like a fool. There's your Christmas gift idea for me. A cuckoo clock (or a straightjacket)


Hee hee hee hee heee!

Then back on the D-Bahn to a town called Breisach, where we saw another magnificent old church (rebuilt from being pummelled in WWII) and waved to France across the Rhine. We know they were French because of their outrageous accents. From there, France didn't look that special.

France. Wow

As I said, the public transport system for tourists is exceptional. You can get a "day pass" for travel anywhere on the local network (excluding the superfast ICE) cheaper than a one-way ticket. And, it covers up to five people. On the way back from Breisach we sat across from a group of uni students. One of them was obviously being fined for not having a ticket. Sharon lamented that we could have offered her a place on ours. It seemed such a waste having a ticket covering five people but it's not like you can tell who needs it until it's too late, so we made a mental note that if anyone asked, we could help them (and meet someone new!).


Another steep hill to a big church, Breisach

Rathaus, Breisach. Just look at those windows!

Back in Freiburg and anxious to eat out in the beautiful cobblestoned market squares, we teamed up with Jess from the USA again. I was reminded that the Brazilian GP was on (at a better hour than 3am). The only pub that had a TV had meals way too expensive but I ducked in there occasionally to see Alonso clinch his first F1 crown. Again, in Australia, a cafe won't mind a freeloader having a quick look at the TV without buying anything. In Germany, I got stared at like " he obviously doesn't know the rules".

Day 9 and 10, goodbye Blackforest and back on the D-Bahn (3 changes of trains, accomplished without a hitch) to the wonderful Lake Constance region, bordering Austria and Switzerland.


Who doesn't like trains?! Leaving Blackforest, heading to Lake Constance



Hard to read with those views, but the book DRESDEN by Frederick Taylor was compelling


Landlocked southern Germany flocks down here to enjoy the only large body of water they can shake a stick at. We escaped some of the tourist hordes and stayed in the (cute little) village of Meersburg (pronounced "Mairz-borg" as we discovered from grumpy bus drivers).


Lake Constance and Switzerland

Gorgeous Meersburg...


...and more steep hills

Altes Schloss, Meersburg, supposedly 7th century Merovingian


On the first day here we enjoyed a boat ride to Mainau Island. Mainau Island has a castle (naturally), acres of amazing gardens (where Sharon took photos of every single flower) a 30 foot tall lying-down garden gnome made from flowers, and a butterfly house. Next to the butterfly house was a car that looked like it had been attacked by Triffids. It was basically a big, amusing novelty garden bed. I videoed myself standing in front of it quipping something about forgetting where I had parked, but later discovered I had taped over it. Pity that, it was probably the funniest thing I had done on my whole holiday movie collection.



Teutonic Knights Palace, Mainau. With big Gnome.

That Big Daddy Gnome must have had a Mummy Gnome around somewhere

In fact it was quite the predominant garden-gnome theme on Mainau Island. There were gnomes everywhere, and none of the brochures explained why the excessive gnomeology. I asked one of the locals, but he didn't even answer me. He just sat and stared straight ahead, with his white beard and funny pyjama hat.


You're not from around here are you?



just a snippet of Mainau's extensive gardens


On the ferry back to Meersburg, I found a German newspaper and attempted to read about Alonso's F1 championship but gave up after the headline.



Spooky busker at the Altes Schloss, Meersburg


We stayed in a private room with a lovely old lady who made us killer breakfasts. Luckily we asked her where was the best point from which to catch a train to Fuessen, Bavaria. Had we not asked I expect we would have ended up in Switzerland. She advised that we catch a bus to Friederichschafen and get on a train from there. With an hour to spare in Friederichschafen we we able to catch the Zeppelin museum. There, is a replica of what the interior of the Hindenburgh looked like before it discovered the perils of static electricity and dropped out of the sky like a big burning piece of paper.

So it was DAY 11, on the train again (3 changes, including one in the total middle of nowhere). But this time, we left the state of Baden-Wurttemburg, which had been our home for 9 days, and crossed into beautiful Bavaria. Destination Fuessen, a little village (extemely cute, naturally) squeezed in between massive Alpine peaks, and the best spot to see the most famous castle in the world; Neuschwanstein, the never-finished toy project of the young, neglected King Ludwig II, and the icon used by Disney. It was always intended to look like a "fairy-tale" castle, and that it does.

They say the journey is half the fun. Whoever said that must have taken a train ride through the Bavarian Alps on an Autumn day. It was the most gloriously beautiful train ride I have ever been on. Bavaria is like one, big, mountainous golf course.

Arriving in Fuessen late we chilled around for a bit. Needless to say, Fuessen in a beautiful little village, probably a little more colourful than most and wedged in a small plain next to massively steep Alpine slopes. Our (rather expensive) hotel was directly below the town's castle, lit up at night. Fortunately they showed some consideration and turned the lights off at around 1am so we could sleep.


View from our hotel window, Fuessen, Bavaria

Twighlight

On the morning of Thursday Sept 29 (DAY 12) we woke to the unusual sight of rain. Fortunately, whilst wandering around some old ruins we found someone's colourful umbrella. Now, Germany does have some tight social protocols and heavy-handed regulations so I had some concerns about the possible jail term for umbrella theft. But the owner was clearly long gone so we quietly thanked the owner and God that we were able to stay dry for a while.


15th Century Hohe Schloss (high castle). Note the three-dimensional painted window treatments. They aren't some tacky modern addition, they were painted like that in the 17th century

Our first contact with one of the "Melbourne footynight 2003" Germans was today at lunchtime: Marko and girlfriend Betti made the trip down from Munich. Marko is a fit, intelligent and good-humoured young man who had kept in good contact with me for the last two years. It was great to see him again and meet the lovely Betty.


Betty spoke English so well she was correcting MY grammar

So we all made out like Tourists and did the castle tours. Words will fail me (gasp) to describe these castles. Neuschwanstein looks like it was built yesterday. Okay, it kinda was built yesterday and is heavily touristed, but by golly it is PRETTY SPECTACULAR.


Neuschwanstein Schloss peering out of the gloom

A glimpse of Austria, from atop Hohenschwangau, King Ludwig's Mum and Dad's house


It's nice when the kids don't move far from home

Marko and Betti spoiled us by taking us across to Austria- five kilometres away, to get petrol 20c cheaper. We sat in a service station queue for 15 mins, and just about every car in the queue had German plates. So, we've been to Austria. It seemed nice. Just like our last overseas trip nine years ago- we only went to one country, but got to step into a couple more incidentally.

Bye bye to Marko and Betti, we will see them again in Munich on Sunday. Well, that is presuming no other disasters occur to thwart our troubled Munich weekend. At the time I was looking through Ludwig´s Richard Wagner-inspired concert hall, Claudi texted me to tell me she couldn´t come to Munich. Not surprisingly, the chemotherapy is knocking her around. Now I have to cancel a night in Munich (which will increase the cost of the remaining night) and book a train to Dresden a day earlier. At this point I was getting a little stressed.


Beautiful Bavaria

See ya all soon! Yeah, as usual, photos are a lost cause, but I will try again on Claudi´s pooter in Dresden.