travel blog

None of us quite knew what to expect of Dresden before our arrival. The only concrete fact we knew was that the city was practically wiped off the map during World War II by Allied bombing. However its location and relatively small size made it an ideal, one-night stop off point between the two big cities of Prague and Berlin. Our hostel was located in the northern, party district of town. On the tram ride from the railway station we were surprised to see lots of refurbished Baroque architecture plus active streets and markets (considering it was Good Friday and German unemployment is at a dizzy 20%).

I have now gone through all the photographs I took whilst on the tour of Germany, Austria and Czech Republic. They are available for viewing if you are interested. Click on a thumbnail to see a larger image if you want. The photos are arranged in the order that we did things.

Germany, Austria and Czech Republic Photographs...

The three days we spent in Vienna were good but we were definitely pleased to checkout of our cramped firetrap of a hostel and board a train for a five hour journey to Prague. Prague is the capital of the Czech Republic, which prior to 1990s was Czechoslovakia and a member of the Communist Warsaw Pact. The Czech people have struggled through hundreds of years of occupation and battering by just about every country in Europe (even the Swedes got the boot into the Czechs 400 years ago). Recently the Czechs have suffered under the occupation of the Soviet Union who established a very destructive communist regime after World War II. After the fall of Communism Prague has emerged as a prominent tourist destination in Europe because of its rich cultural history and a broad spectrum of architecture.

Our three day stay in Vienna was a mixed bag of experiences. In many respects our impression of the city was tainted by the uncomfortable journey there and the worst accommodation of the journey.

On the train from Salzburg to Vienna we thought we had struck gold by securing a quiet, empty six-seater compartment on the busy train. Unfortunately during the journey a young couple joined us and it was then that we discovered the compartment was previously empty because it was in the smoking section and ventilation for such an activity was very poor. Unfortunately for our lungs the couple were chain smokers who lit up just as the train left the station and did not stop until we pulled into Vienna three hours later. Just to make matters worse the guy received or made cellphone calls every few minutes and had no qualms in filling the compartment with noise and smoke much to our disgust.

After the unique Sound of Music tour our second day in Salzburg started more sedately with a walk through the city and a look at the large fortress on the hill. The fortress began life in the 15 Century and has since been expanded and reinforced to become one of the most impressive medieval fortresses still standing in Europe. There are a lot of loose comparisons that could be drawn between the fortress and the big city in Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. Moving through the different defensive layers revealed an older part of the castle until you reached the centre which contained a very impressive quarters for the ruling King. There were a few museums and exhibitions within the fortress but compared to Bath's Roman Baths the tours themselves were a little disappointing.

After the fast paced nature of Munich the quiet trip across the Austrian border to Salzburg was a nice change. Salzburg is the home of 'The Sound of Music' and its surrounding landscape is at times breathtaking. We stayed at the Yoho Hostel which had a definite Sound of Music (SOM) flavour. Every morning at 10:30am the SOM movie is shown for guests and discounted tickets for the twice daily SOM tour can be purchased at reception. Consequently the hostel has a higher than usual number of female occupants and on the whole a very nice feel.

After a peaceful but somewhat uncomfortable nights sleep we caught an early (8:50am) train down to Füssen. The regional train was not as nice as the high-speed ones we had become accustomed to but after two hours and numerous stops we were eventually in hilly, snow covered Füssen. The small town has the feel of an alpine tourist mecca with lots of hotels, shops and amusements designed to sapp you of as many Euros as possible.

We checked out of our hostel in Stuttgart early in order to catch the express train to Munich. The two hour 180kph ride was through snow covered plains and hills and was very comfortable. On the way we passed through Einstein's birthplace (which according to Emma was the birthplace of the hang-glider as well). During the trip I travelled through the train to get a coffee from the shop at the front. It was quite a feeling walking along at 180kph as houses and trees zipped by at a frenetic pace.

Munich's Busy Streets

The tourist information office hooked us up with a nice, quiet bed and breakfast that was affordable and reasonably close to the city centre. We spent the afternoon taking a walking tour of the city with Emma as our tour guide. Munich is a lot denser than Stuttgart and has a more active feel about it. It has a lot of museums, galleries and historic buildings scattered right throughout its densely packed streets. Fortunately for us the weather was perfect and the temperature for the first time on the trip passed single figures.

On the second day I was relieved to get my travel documents back from the bus driver at 12:00pm. This allowed us to catch the 12:40pm high-speed train from Frankfurt to Stuttgart. The train, traveling between 150-200kph took one and a half hours to get between the two cities and was very cool. Stuttgart is the home of Mercedes and as a consequence there is a lot of flash cars on the streets. The hostel was a fifteen minute up hill trek from the train station so in order to gain the energy we bought some very nice crepes. Once again the hostel itself was of a very high standard although it did feel very dead. Unlike New Zealand, German hostels are used a lot by local school groups for accommodation and as a result they feel very cold but extremely professional. The hostel itself was only partly complete as it was undergoing a massive extension programme (like most of Stuttgart) for the upcoming 2006 Soccer World Cup which it is hosting.

Stuttgart's Modern Art Gallery

 

After our long but uneventful night at Stansted Airport we boarded our Ryan Air flight to Frankfurt-Hahn. Unbeknown to Emma and I Frankfurt-Hahn is actually two hours away from Frankfurt by bus. Consequently we landed in sub-zero, snowy conditions on a small airstrip in the middle of nowhere. Although it was a little weird it was definitely the most unique landing I have made as snow was piled 1m high around the runway and taxi way. It was very picturesque and a nice way to arrive in Germany.