October 2007

A bit of unexpected fun trying to get to Frankfurt on the trains, leaving just enough time for a walk and some Apfelwine before I head out to the airport and fly back home.

I’m not sure which bit of this Esquire opinion piece I like most, but maybe this fantastic 2005 quote: “We’ve been attacked,” [says pastor Ray Mummert], “by the intelligent, educated segment of the culture.”

My last full day in Germany was nice and relaxed, I took the trains up to Heidelberg, famous for its’ picturesque castle ruin, and spent the day wandering around there.

I forgot to post earlier, I’m doing a presentation on Rails testing at the WellRailed group meeting tonight.

After yesterday’s flop and a giant catch-up sleep I was up extra-early for the day. Packed in a giant breakfast and then headed out for a great day of walking in the scenic Northern Black Forest.

My outdoor plans for the day didn’t come off as hoped (guess you can’t win them all), but I headed into the Northern Schwarzwald (Black Forest) area, and at least got some cake out of the whole deal :).

Got around to creating a Facebook account. So you can all stop bugging me now :).

Germany, land of beer, sausage, history, and trains that run on time. They even go places that you want to go! Brilliant. Here’s how to use them, if you’re not keen to figure it out as you go.

More fun with trains, and then a loong walk up to Burg Hohenzollern, seat of the epic Hohenzollern family, who seem to make up pretty much half the German royalty of history.

I head back into Germany in the direction of a castle, via Munich (with inevitable Oktoberfest action), mislabelled trains, and bed in Stuttgart.

After a great few days with my Austrian friends around Vienna, it was time to say my fond farewells and many thanks for them having me to stay!, and hop on the train to head west to the Alpine province of Tyrol. S’where the Alps are.

[US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice] met human rights activists and said she wanted to help them build institutions to protect people from the “arbitrary power of the state”... wait for it… in Russia.

So after a busy day in Vienna came a nice walk around the local area with the guys, then a trip out to some forest and castle ruin goodness by the Danube. And genuine Wien-style schnitzel :).

Having taken the train in last night I spent the night at Fritz & Kathie’s apartment in the nice town Sankt Pölten, and then spend the day sightseeing in Wien (Vienna).

Just tried the Brazilian (?) thing of eating avocado as a fruit, cut & sprinkled with a decent dose of sugar. It rules.

So I’m in Regensburg, a well-preserved Bavarian town with big cathedrals, big towers, big bridges, and small sausages.

We didn’t get too much done the next day, I was busy trying to solve the problem with my next destination in the morning, and we all left town that afternoon. Near disaster for the hotel staff on check out though!

I left out one of the things that went wrong on that day in Prague. Laundry services, not so great – and opening hour signs, they mean nothing.

I find the burčák (new wine) I have been hunting, and we have dinner at the excellent Klub Architektù.

We were keen to get out of Prague and see a bit more of the Czech Republic, so on day 3 of our time there we ran to the trains and headed out to Kutná Hora to see the Sedlec Ossuary and St. Barbara Church.

Lunch, towers, fishies, powerisers, photos, and failing to drink!

On Day 2 of our Prague visit Mary, Charles, and I started the day with a tour around Prague’s old city sites.

After finishing up at Prague Castle we wandered back over Charles Bridge, looking at the cool buildings and finding some streetside drinks, and Czech-style dinners.

Mary, Charles, and I spent most of our first day in Prague exploring the castle, Prague Castle.

So after arriving in Prague I get to do the fun part of any trip, which is figuring out how to use the local transport system.

To a New Zealander, one of the coolest things about being “on the continent” is the ability to go to another country without going on a fecking big plane flight. Case in point, Berlin to Prague on the Inter-Continental Express in 4 hours.

I’ve always felt a bit of a noob when it comes to art history and art by the big historical names, so with a few hours left before I had to jump on my next train, a trip to Berlin’s Gemäldegalerie to start my education was high on the priority list.