A few days in Germany and Spain - with photos
Jan 24th, 2012, 04:27 AM
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 531
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
A few days in Germany and Spain - with photos
Hi all,
First of all, a big thank you to all of the help and info I received from this forum. As usual, all of the advice was spot on!
This is not a typical trip report. I took photos and uploaded as I went when wifi was available. Some have long captions, some are very brief, but here's the link:
http://flic.kr/s/aHsjxYoeTT
One note, I took a regular camera, but ended up not using it. I got the new iPhone 4GS with the 8MP camera. It did pretty well, probably not as well as my little Canon. But the convenience of being able to just upload as we went was great. Also, the convenience of just using your phone that's always handy was great. My biggest complaint is that alot of the photos are slightly crooked.
Since this was our first trip to Spain, I will make a few comments and observations here, some of which may also appear in the photo captions. These are in no particular order.
- Sevilla was gorgeous! When the airlines changed our return flight time by several hours, I should have taken the opportunity to try to change our return city to Sevilla, or even Madrid, and spend all of our nights in Sevilla.
-Spain was cheap! We've been to Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy, and Greece prior to this trip. Usually rural Germany is pretty cheap, especially off the tourist trail where my Aunt and Cousin live, but Spain beat even rural Germany. I tend to enjoy my vacations more when I don't have to think about re-mortgaging my home on my return.
-Sunrise and sunset times seemed odd. In summer, I am sure it would not be noticeable, and it also depends on what you're used to at home. Since Spain, and especially Sevilla and Jerez are in the westernmost part of the time zone, it was light until around 6:30 in the evening and made for a great winter time destination. But the sunrises past 8:30 in the morning were hard to get used to. I'm quite a morning person and I adore early sunrises. But I guess overall, it was nice to have the additional sunlight time in the evening. For comparison, it began to get dark in Germany around 4:45 PM.
-One thing I did that I found to be invaluable was the purchase of a Tapas/food dictionary that I could access on my kindle app on my phone. Since the book was searchable and downloaded prior to the trip, we were easily able to search food terminology with no internet usage. The book was called Menus(e): Spain and it was $6.59 on Amazon.
-I was shocked at how few tourists seemed to be in Sevilla and Jerez in mid-January. We ran into a few other English speaking tourists, but not many. Perhaps we were just very lucky with the weather, but the temps were perfect for touring in a light jacket. We ate several meals outside - mainly lunches.
-Probably the best money we spent was for the Sevilla Walking Tour with Concepcion Delgado. I had heard a Rick Steves radio show podcast where he spoke with Concepcion and he refers to her in his book. She was awesome. The tour is supposed to last an hour and a half, but ours was nearly two hours. It probably helped that there were only four of us (her minimum for giving a tour). The tour was €15 and even Mr. Fan who doesn't like doing tours thought it was very informative and helpful.
- We have been to Germany 5 or 6 times. Once before we were there in the winter, but that time there was snow covering everything. I was shocked at how green everything was during the winter. It was cold (ranged between about 27 and 34 degrees) and a bit windier than I expected, but everything was pretty and green where there was no snow.
Can't think of anything else right now, but feel free to ask any questions you might have.
H
First of all, a big thank you to all of the help and info I received from this forum. As usual, all of the advice was spot on!
This is not a typical trip report. I took photos and uploaded as I went when wifi was available. Some have long captions, some are very brief, but here's the link:
http://flic.kr/s/aHsjxYoeTT
One note, I took a regular camera, but ended up not using it. I got the new iPhone 4GS with the 8MP camera. It did pretty well, probably not as well as my little Canon. But the convenience of being able to just upload as we went was great. Also, the convenience of just using your phone that's always handy was great. My biggest complaint is that alot of the photos are slightly crooked.
Since this was our first trip to Spain, I will make a few comments and observations here, some of which may also appear in the photo captions. These are in no particular order.
- Sevilla was gorgeous! When the airlines changed our return flight time by several hours, I should have taken the opportunity to try to change our return city to Sevilla, or even Madrid, and spend all of our nights in Sevilla.
-Spain was cheap! We've been to Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy, and Greece prior to this trip. Usually rural Germany is pretty cheap, especially off the tourist trail where my Aunt and Cousin live, but Spain beat even rural Germany. I tend to enjoy my vacations more when I don't have to think about re-mortgaging my home on my return.
-Sunrise and sunset times seemed odd. In summer, I am sure it would not be noticeable, and it also depends on what you're used to at home. Since Spain, and especially Sevilla and Jerez are in the westernmost part of the time zone, it was light until around 6:30 in the evening and made for a great winter time destination. But the sunrises past 8:30 in the morning were hard to get used to. I'm quite a morning person and I adore early sunrises. But I guess overall, it was nice to have the additional sunlight time in the evening. For comparison, it began to get dark in Germany around 4:45 PM.
-One thing I did that I found to be invaluable was the purchase of a Tapas/food dictionary that I could access on my kindle app on my phone. Since the book was searchable and downloaded prior to the trip, we were easily able to search food terminology with no internet usage. The book was called Menus(e): Spain and it was $6.59 on Amazon.
-I was shocked at how few tourists seemed to be in Sevilla and Jerez in mid-January. We ran into a few other English speaking tourists, but not many. Perhaps we were just very lucky with the weather, but the temps were perfect for touring in a light jacket. We ate several meals outside - mainly lunches.
-Probably the best money we spent was for the Sevilla Walking Tour with Concepcion Delgado. I had heard a Rick Steves radio show podcast where he spoke with Concepcion and he refers to her in his book. She was awesome. The tour is supposed to last an hour and a half, but ours was nearly two hours. It probably helped that there were only four of us (her minimum for giving a tour). The tour was €15 and even Mr. Fan who doesn't like doing tours thought it was very informative and helpful.
- We have been to Germany 5 or 6 times. Once before we were there in the winter, but that time there was snow covering everything. I was shocked at how green everything was during the winter. It was cold (ranged between about 27 and 34 degrees) and a bit windier than I expected, but everything was pretty and green where there was no snow.
Can't think of anything else right now, but feel free to ask any questions you might have.
H
Jan 24th, 2012, 06:10 AM
#4
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 4,109
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thanks for sharing your pictures and travel story. I really enjoyed them.
The picture of the "man" leaning backwards off the balcony drew an audible "OOHHH" from me until I realized what it was.
Re your comments about including Catherine and Kopernicus in the German Hall of FAme:
Catherine was born in a duchy that was later included in Germany. she married Czar Peter III and after his death ruled Russia on her own.
Copernicus's birthplace of Torun is today in Poland and was part of Poland at the time. However, it is in the area that has floated back and forth under the control of several different countries and thus by a stretch might be claimed by Germany.
The picture of the "man" leaning backwards off the balcony drew an audible "OOHHH" from me until I realized what it was.
Re your comments about including Catherine and Kopernicus in the German Hall of FAme:
Catherine was born in a duchy that was later included in Germany. she married Czar Peter III and after his death ruled Russia on her own.
Copernicus's birthplace of Torun is today in Poland and was part of Poland at the time. However, it is in the area that has floated back and forth under the control of several different countries and thus by a stretch might be claimed by Germany.
Jan 24th, 2012, 06:08 PM
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 531
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thanks for all of your kind comments.
One thing I forgot to mention is that for the first time ever, we traveled with no guidebooks. I had two loaded on my iPad but no paper guidebooks. Honestly, I didn't miss them. The online versions are easily searchable and more easily navigated, in my never humble opinion.
Irishface (love that name, btw) I guess I struggled with how to characterize those included in the Hall of Fame, not their inclusion. Being a first generation German, I am proud of the contributions made. It's interesting, also, to think about the changed geographic and demographic outlines of Germany.
Regarding the Germany portion of the photos, sorry about having to view some family pics, but it didn't make sense for me to load the photos in two separate groups.
Thanks again for for your help and comments!
H
One thing I forgot to mention is that for the first time ever, we traveled with no guidebooks. I had two loaded on my iPad but no paper guidebooks. Honestly, I didn't miss them. The online versions are easily searchable and more easily navigated, in my never humble opinion.
Irishface (love that name, btw) I guess I struggled with how to characterize those included in the Hall of Fame, not their inclusion. Being a first generation German, I am proud of the contributions made. It's interesting, also, to think about the changed geographic and demographic outlines of Germany.
Regarding the Germany portion of the photos, sorry about having to view some family pics, but it didn't make sense for me to load the photos in two separate groups.
Thanks again for for your help and comments!
H
Jan 25th, 2012, 10:02 AM
#9
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 1,491
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thanks so much for sharing your trip and your photos! Have enjoyed all very much. Amazing how well your iphone did, even when conditions, like light levels, weren't ideal. I love Andalucia, have been back several times but never in winter, something I've wanted to do for some time now. You have made me think I need to plan a trip there for next January!
Jan 26th, 2012, 03:58 AM
#10
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 531
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Funny, I feel like I should be thanking all of you for viewing them.
irishface, thanks for making me feel better about the family pics!
julia1, yes a few of the photos surprised me as well. There is one photo taken of the Glockenspiel in Munich. It was what I would call late dusk. I did not think there was any way it would turn out, but it did.
Regarding going in January, I think perhaps we were somewhat lucky with the weather. I know that there is potential for the weather to be bad, but there are also lots of indoor things, just in case.
For anyone who cares, I looked at several apps before we left that would simplify the upload process. Most would get my photos to Flickr, but not into a specific set. My daughter, a photographer, encouraged me to get an app called camera+. You actually take the photos from the app and the upload process to Flickr and to the specific set was easy and fast. It also has some editing capabilities.
Yes Andalucia was wonderful. I really think I could spend a month there. Since this was our first trip to Spain, we were not sure what to expect. I don't think we met a single rude or scary person in Spain. Everyone was very gracious and helpful.
Thanks again,
H
irishface, thanks for making me feel better about the family pics!
julia1, yes a few of the photos surprised me as well. There is one photo taken of the Glockenspiel in Munich. It was what I would call late dusk. I did not think there was any way it would turn out, but it did.
Regarding going in January, I think perhaps we were somewhat lucky with the weather. I know that there is potential for the weather to be bad, but there are also lots of indoor things, just in case.
For anyone who cares, I looked at several apps before we left that would simplify the upload process. Most would get my photos to Flickr, but not into a specific set. My daughter, a photographer, encouraged me to get an app called camera+. You actually take the photos from the app and the upload process to Flickr and to the specific set was easy and fast. It also has some editing capabilities.
Yes Andalucia was wonderful. I really think I could spend a month there. Since this was our first trip to Spain, we were not sure what to expect. I don't think we met a single rude or scary person in Spain. Everyone was very gracious and helpful.
Thanks again,
H
Thread
Original Poster
Forum
Replies
Last Post
bettyk
Europe
6
Oct 14th, 2007 08:45 AM
tcreath
Europe
5
Jun 1st, 2005 05:09 PM
