Mr & Mrs Annhig go bummelling round Germany.
Sep 19th, 2014, 03:42 AM
#22
Pretty good, though I'd expected someone to have a stab at no 4.
1) before 1714, the elector lived in Hannover - after that date, which is when the then Elector was invited to become the english monarch because all of Queen Anne's 15 children had died before her, they mainly lived in England, though some royal visits were made on occasion. This was the case until the accession of Queen Victoria, when the thrones were split again, as a woman could not become elector.
2) Well done, Thursdaysd - there were 7 electors, and the ruler of Hannover was one of them.
3) Poor Queen Anne died without issue though she had 15 children, so according to the 1701 Act of Settlement, George of Hannover was the nearest Protestant candidate :
<<In 1701, under the Act of Settlement, George's mother Sophia was nominated heiress to the English throne if the reigning monarch William III and his heir Anne died without issue. The Act sought to guarantee a Protestant succession and George's mother was the closest Protestant relative, although there were at least 50 Catholic relatives whose claims were stronger. The Electress Sophia and Anne died in quick succession and George became king in August 1714.>>
4) George I was succeeded by George II and then George III who was the King George who managed to lose England its american colonies, and is the subject of the "Madness of King George", though it is thought now that he may have suffered from a blood disease called porphyria. Because of his illness his son, George, was appointed Prince Regent, and he was famously portrayed in the Blackadder series by one Hugh Laurie, astonishingly with no trace of a Boston accent. [Mr Laurie can be seen at 1.50 in the following clip]:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xvl...ity_shortfilms
hope you enjoyed the quiz!
1) before 1714, the elector lived in Hannover - after that date, which is when the then Elector was invited to become the english monarch because all of Queen Anne's 15 children had died before her, they mainly lived in England, though some royal visits were made on occasion. This was the case until the accession of Queen Victoria, when the thrones were split again, as a woman could not become elector.
2) Well done, Thursdaysd - there were 7 electors, and the ruler of Hannover was one of them.
3) Poor Queen Anne died without issue though she had 15 children, so according to the 1701 Act of Settlement, George of Hannover was the nearest Protestant candidate :
<<In 1701, under the Act of Settlement, George's mother Sophia was nominated heiress to the English throne if the reigning monarch William III and his heir Anne died without issue. The Act sought to guarantee a Protestant succession and George's mother was the closest Protestant relative, although there were at least 50 Catholic relatives whose claims were stronger. The Electress Sophia and Anne died in quick succession and George became king in August 1714.>>
4) George I was succeeded by George II and then George III who was the King George who managed to lose England its american colonies, and is the subject of the "Madness of King George", though it is thought now that he may have suffered from a blood disease called porphyria. Because of his illness his son, George, was appointed Prince Regent, and he was famously portrayed in the Blackadder series by one Hugh Laurie, astonishingly with no trace of a Boston accent. [Mr Laurie can be seen at 1.50 in the following clip]:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xvl...ity_shortfilms
hope you enjoyed the quiz!
Sep 19th, 2014, 04:21 AM
#24
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>there were 7 electors, and the ruler of Hannover was one of them.
Please allow me to add a detail - there were originally 7, but by the time Hannover got their status, the council had grown. Hannover was Elector no. 9.
Please allow me to add a detail - there were originally 7, but by the time Hannover got their status, the council had grown. Hannover was Elector no. 9.
Sep 19th, 2014, 08:52 AM
#25
Day 1 - Where did you say the airport is?
One of the advantages of this trip was that we could fly from our local airport at Newquay all the way to Germany, only having to stop off in Birmingham on the way. This means a journey to the airport of just 30 mins, rather than the 3 hours that it takes to get to Bristol which is usually where we fly from. Also, DD could take and collect us so we would avoid the exorbitant cost of airport parking.
What could possibly go wrong?
Only that it transpired that DD didn't actually know the way to the airport and we only discovered this on the way when she took a wrong turn! Luckily we were able to put her straight and having given ourselves plenty of time to get there, it didn't matter too much, though we were slightly worried that she wouldn't be able to find her way back at the end of the holiday to pick us up.
Newquay is as close to a village airport as you're likely to get. When we first used it, they greeted us by name and luggage reclaim was a couple of trestle tables. Since then they've added a cafe, a few more comfy seats, and a bar airside. But the same people still check you in, wo/man security and the gate, and guide you out to the plane. We were soon on board the Flybe Dash aircraft [quite comfy though the propellors are a bit noisy] and almost before we'd started, we were landing in Birmingham.
for those of you who aren't familiar with the UK, I should tell you that there is a pretty large asian population in and around Birmingham, so DH and I were looking forward to spending part of the 3 hour lay-over that we had in eating a decent curry. Fat chance. The only "indian" restaurant that we found anywhere was a snack bar near arrivals. Airside there was nothing, so we had to resort to sandwiches from Pret a Manger and a glass of wine in the champagne bar to wile away the hours.
After what seemed like an age, we finally got called for our flight to Hannover, and though we took off a bit late, we were in the air for little more than an hour, so by 7pm, we had landed and were striding along the concourse, looking for the S-Bahn to the centre of Hannover, where we were due to stay for 2 nights, before setting off on our travels. It took us a couple of goes but we eventually worked out the ticket machine, bought ourselves two single tickets, and then boarded the train, and luckily the ticket inspector didn't seem to care that we'd validated the wrong end of the tickets.
After only about 20 mins we arrived at the Hauptbahnhof and following the directions provided by our hotel, we negotiated our way through the other passengers to the right exit, just to find ourselves stumped when we got outside the station. "Leave the station at EXIT Ernst-August-Platz (west side of building). Walk left towards the Luisenstrasse." said the directions, only the Luisenstrasse wasn't on the left of the station. So there we were standing under a lamp post trying to make sense of the map in our Fodors Guide. Finally we cracked it - not left, but straight ahead, in fact we could see the hotel from where we were. Phew.
I chose our hotel http://www.kastens-luisenhof.de/ for its position and because we wanted a bit of luxury at the beginning of the trip. Bearing in mind its success on both counts, the price of about £100/night was good too. I am sure that I could have found cheaper but it was very comfortable, and very conveniently placed near the station, the shops, and the Altstadt. Once we'd dumped our luggage, we scampered out to try to find some dinner.
Not having much of an idea about where to find a restaurant, we wandered around for a bit in a desultory fashion, before we found a place with a typical german menu - pork dishes of various varieties, a bit of fish, chicken and turkey, and sausages. Not having had a schnitzel for a while we both plumped for one, [probably a mistake] and enjoyed them very much, especially as they came with something new to us - a cucumber and potato salad. Not a combination we were used to, but very good. DH had a beer [OK, maybe two] and I had a "halb-trocken" white wine which went very well with the pork.
By now we were beginning to flag, so after a nightcap in the hotel bar, we fell into our very comfy bed and looked forward to a day exploring Hannover.
One of the advantages of this trip was that we could fly from our local airport at Newquay all the way to Germany, only having to stop off in Birmingham on the way. This means a journey to the airport of just 30 mins, rather than the 3 hours that it takes to get to Bristol which is usually where we fly from. Also, DD could take and collect us so we would avoid the exorbitant cost of airport parking.
What could possibly go wrong?
Only that it transpired that DD didn't actually know the way to the airport and we only discovered this on the way when she took a wrong turn! Luckily we were able to put her straight and having given ourselves plenty of time to get there, it didn't matter too much, though we were slightly worried that she wouldn't be able to find her way back at the end of the holiday to pick us up.
Newquay is as close to a village airport as you're likely to get. When we first used it, they greeted us by name and luggage reclaim was a couple of trestle tables. Since then they've added a cafe, a few more comfy seats, and a bar airside. But the same people still check you in, wo/man security and the gate, and guide you out to the plane. We were soon on board the Flybe Dash aircraft [quite comfy though the propellors are a bit noisy] and almost before we'd started, we were landing in Birmingham.
for those of you who aren't familiar with the UK, I should tell you that there is a pretty large asian population in and around Birmingham, so DH and I were looking forward to spending part of the 3 hour lay-over that we had in eating a decent curry. Fat chance. The only "indian" restaurant that we found anywhere was a snack bar near arrivals. Airside there was nothing, so we had to resort to sandwiches from Pret a Manger and a glass of wine in the champagne bar to wile away the hours.
After what seemed like an age, we finally got called for our flight to Hannover, and though we took off a bit late, we were in the air for little more than an hour, so by 7pm, we had landed and were striding along the concourse, looking for the S-Bahn to the centre of Hannover, where we were due to stay for 2 nights, before setting off on our travels. It took us a couple of goes but we eventually worked out the ticket machine, bought ourselves two single tickets, and then boarded the train, and luckily the ticket inspector didn't seem to care that we'd validated the wrong end of the tickets.
After only about 20 mins we arrived at the Hauptbahnhof and following the directions provided by our hotel, we negotiated our way through the other passengers to the right exit, just to find ourselves stumped when we got outside the station. "Leave the station at EXIT Ernst-August-Platz (west side of building). Walk left towards the Luisenstrasse." said the directions, only the Luisenstrasse wasn't on the left of the station. So there we were standing under a lamp post trying to make sense of the map in our Fodors Guide. Finally we cracked it - not left, but straight ahead, in fact we could see the hotel from where we were. Phew.
I chose our hotel http://www.kastens-luisenhof.de/ for its position and because we wanted a bit of luxury at the beginning of the trip. Bearing in mind its success on both counts, the price of about £100/night was good too. I am sure that I could have found cheaper but it was very comfortable, and very conveniently placed near the station, the shops, and the Altstadt. Once we'd dumped our luggage, we scampered out to try to find some dinner.
Not having much of an idea about where to find a restaurant, we wandered around for a bit in a desultory fashion, before we found a place with a typical german menu - pork dishes of various varieties, a bit of fish, chicken and turkey, and sausages. Not having had a schnitzel for a while we both plumped for one, [probably a mistake] and enjoyed them very much, especially as they came with something new to us - a cucumber and potato salad. Not a combination we were used to, but very good. DH had a beer [OK, maybe two] and I had a "halb-trocken" white wine which went very well with the pork.
By now we were beginning to flag, so after a nightcap in the hotel bar, we fell into our very comfy bed and looked forward to a day exploring Hannover.
Sep 19th, 2014, 09:34 AM
#26
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Reminds me to find a copy of Three Men on the Bummel and read this sequel to Three Men in a Boat...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Men_on_the_Bummel
Looking forward to the rest of this TR!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Men_on_the_Bummel
Looking forward to the rest of this TR!
Sep 19th, 2014, 01:14 PM
#27
good idea julia - bet they didn't have trouble getting a curry!
Day 2 - following the Red line round Hannover.
At €19 each the hotel breakfast was a bit expensive for us, so once we'd dragged ourselves out of bed we strolled round the block to a row of shops and cafes facing the back of the opera [sadly shut until towards the end of the month] and found a place offering freshly squeezed OJ, croissants and coffee for only €7. DH had already picked up a leaflet from the TIO just down the street from the hotel which recommended following a tourist route around the city, which is denoted by a red line drawn on the pavement. We picked it up round the front of the opera, and then followed it round the city, pausing only for the odd beer and coffee, until we found ourselves in the market square, where we had a lunch of sausage and sauerkraut - what else?
our Stadtbummel took us past many interesting places, lots of Fachwerk houses, old churches, and some very nice streets and squares, but the most interesting sight turned out to be the Rathaus and its Dome, complete with the only curved lift in europe, which takes you up the side of the dome to the top. Not that it was well advertised, not even in the Rathaus itself, where we'd only gone to use the loos. After availing ourselves of the facilities, we were admiring the models of Hannover at various stages of its existence, and then saw signs to the viewing platform of the Dome. Thinking it might be fun, we took a lift up to the top, only to discover that we needed tickets, so I went back down again to get them, discovering en route that if we'd used the other lift, we'd have seen the sign telling us that we needed the tickets. Then we had to wait at the bottom of the stairs until a girl came out and announced that she had room for 5 people. [in fact, she only ever had room for 5 as the lift only took 6 including her!] She turned out to be a student with a wry sense of humour which she clearly needed whilst dealing with the public. The view from the top was very good, but taking the curved lift was quite an experience and well worth doing just for that.
The afternoon plan was to take the tram out to the Herrenhausen Palace [the home of the aforementioned Elector] but try as we might we couldn't find the tram stop at the stop at Kroepcke, so in the end we jumped in a cab and for €10 soon found ourselves at the ticket office, where we bought combined tickets for the gardens and palace for €8 each. first stop were the botanical gardens, where we spent about a hour wandering around; we particularly liked the huge pots full of pelargoniums and fuchsias, both panted as part of the 1714 celebrations.
The orchid house was nice too, with some lovely blooms and a few finches chirping away in amongst the plants. The highlight however was the Grosser Garten, which certainly lived up to its billing. clearly the designer had been looking at pictures of Versailles as there were many vistas ending in fountains and lovely beds and parterres. However, what there weren't were cafes - and by about 3pm we were very hot and gasping. It turned out that you weren't supposed to leave and come back again, though at one gate, next to a cafe, they did allow this. So having inspected the gardens at length, we had a cup of tea and then made for the palace and its exhibition about the linking of the Hannoverian and English royal families in 1714, which was blessedly free of people, and airconditioned.
By 5pm we'd had enough, and decided to get the tram back into town, getting off at the nearest stop the hotel ie Kroepcke. "Oh, that's why we couldn't find it, it's underground!' Underground trams - I'd never have thought of that. which is why we couldn't find it.
In the evening we strolled around the old town, and eventually had a meal at an austrian restaurant, which was OK but nothing to write home about, but the atmosphere in the little square was nice and the illuminated buildings of the old town very pretty. After that we took to our bed to gather our strength for collecting and driving our hire car the next morning.
Day 2 - following the Red line round Hannover.
At €19 each the hotel breakfast was a bit expensive for us, so once we'd dragged ourselves out of bed we strolled round the block to a row of shops and cafes facing the back of the opera [sadly shut until towards the end of the month] and found a place offering freshly squeezed OJ, croissants and coffee for only €7. DH had already picked up a leaflet from the TIO just down the street from the hotel which recommended following a tourist route around the city, which is denoted by a red line drawn on the pavement. We picked it up round the front of the opera, and then followed it round the city, pausing only for the odd beer and coffee, until we found ourselves in the market square, where we had a lunch of sausage and sauerkraut - what else?
our Stadtbummel took us past many interesting places, lots of Fachwerk houses, old churches, and some very nice streets and squares, but the most interesting sight turned out to be the Rathaus and its Dome, complete with the only curved lift in europe, which takes you up the side of the dome to the top. Not that it was well advertised, not even in the Rathaus itself, where we'd only gone to use the loos. After availing ourselves of the facilities, we were admiring the models of Hannover at various stages of its existence, and then saw signs to the viewing platform of the Dome. Thinking it might be fun, we took a lift up to the top, only to discover that we needed tickets, so I went back down again to get them, discovering en route that if we'd used the other lift, we'd have seen the sign telling us that we needed the tickets. Then we had to wait at the bottom of the stairs until a girl came out and announced that she had room for 5 people. [in fact, she only ever had room for 5 as the lift only took 6 including her!] She turned out to be a student with a wry sense of humour which she clearly needed whilst dealing with the public. The view from the top was very good, but taking the curved lift was quite an experience and well worth doing just for that.
The afternoon plan was to take the tram out to the Herrenhausen Palace [the home of the aforementioned Elector] but try as we might we couldn't find the tram stop at the stop at Kroepcke, so in the end we jumped in a cab and for €10 soon found ourselves at the ticket office, where we bought combined tickets for the gardens and palace for €8 each. first stop were the botanical gardens, where we spent about a hour wandering around; we particularly liked the huge pots full of pelargoniums and fuchsias, both panted as part of the 1714 celebrations.
The orchid house was nice too, with some lovely blooms and a few finches chirping away in amongst the plants. The highlight however was the Grosser Garten, which certainly lived up to its billing. clearly the designer had been looking at pictures of Versailles as there were many vistas ending in fountains and lovely beds and parterres. However, what there weren't were cafes - and by about 3pm we were very hot and gasping. It turned out that you weren't supposed to leave and come back again, though at one gate, next to a cafe, they did allow this. So having inspected the gardens at length, we had a cup of tea and then made for the palace and its exhibition about the linking of the Hannoverian and English royal families in 1714, which was blessedly free of people, and airconditioned.
By 5pm we'd had enough, and decided to get the tram back into town, getting off at the nearest stop the hotel ie Kroepcke. "Oh, that's why we couldn't find it, it's underground!' Underground trams - I'd never have thought of that. which is why we couldn't find it.
In the evening we strolled around the old town, and eventually had a meal at an austrian restaurant, which was OK but nothing to write home about, but the atmosphere in the little square was nice and the illuminated buildings of the old town very pretty. After that we took to our bed to gather our strength for collecting and driving our hire car the next morning.
Sep 19th, 2014, 01:17 PM
#28
I thought there was a law that you HAD to have a beer in Germany.! or you can't leave the country. 
Sep 19th, 2014, 02:12 PM
#29
Jawohl, Herr Percy! noch ein Bier, bitte.
in fact, germans produce vast quantities of wine, most of it white, but with some good reds as well, most of which they drink themselves. our friends took us to a wine festival the first night we arrived at their house, and of course while we were there the world famous Wurstmarkt [the world's largest wine festival] was taking place at Bad Duerkheim just up the road.
http://www.duerkheimer-wurstmarkt.de...rstmarkt.html?
in fact, germans produce vast quantities of wine, most of it white, but with some good reds as well, most of which they drink themselves. our friends took us to a wine festival the first night we arrived at their house, and of course while we were there the world famous Wurstmarkt [the world's largest wine festival] was taking place at Bad Duerkheim just up the road.
http://www.duerkheimer-wurstmarkt.de...rstmarkt.html?
Sep 19th, 2014, 04:52 PM
#32
Hi annhig
I toured Germany last year and the further east I went to more it became "beer country".
In Bamberg I had Smoked Beer. The server told me it tastes like bacon!
I did not think I would like it....but 2 sips and I was hooked.
I toured Germany last year and the further east I went to more it became "beer country".
In Bamberg I had Smoked Beer. The server told me it tastes like bacon!
I did not think I would like it....but 2 sips and I was hooked.
Sep 19th, 2014, 07:47 PM
#33
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I'm glad I bummeled my way into the Europe forum to find your stellar trip report, annhig. I think this is the first trip report of yours I've read even though I've appreciated many insights of yours on threads we've both commented on in the past. I'm consequently not surprised to discover that I like your travel writing and style--I look forward to reading about more of your perambulations in Hannover and beyond in Germany.
Sep 20th, 2014, 04:37 AM
#34
Daniel - thank you for your kind words - I've enjoyed our previous virtual encounters as well.
Percy - i'm not sure about wine drinking diminishing as you go further east, but you may be right. In and around Bamberg you do of course have the wines of Franconia which are drunk a lot by the locals, so much so that our friends who live the other side of the Rhein rarely get to taste them. Though we'd gone to Bamberg with beer in mind, DH was not greatly impressed and point plank refused even to try the smoked variety - perhaps I should have given them a go, but I'm really a wine drinker, though i found myself drinking a lot of Apfelsaftschorle [apple juice topped up with soda water] as it's so refreshing and made a good drink when I was driving.
carolyn - i'm doing my best but i suspect I won't be finished before you leave. Sorry!
Trophy-wife - we didn't see it all by any means, for example we never set foot in any of the museums. I think that had our trip been longer overall, we could easily have spent another day exploring Hannover - there is a blue line self-guded tour around another part of the city, another garden out near the airport, more of the Herrenhausen gardens that we didn't see, some very nice shops, though some were very expensive - my eye was caught by a very nice knitted jacket that I thought that my mother might like, but dearly though I love her, €540 was beyond my budget by a considerable margin.
Tomorrow - we make another "Fehler"
Percy - i'm not sure about wine drinking diminishing as you go further east, but you may be right. In and around Bamberg you do of course have the wines of Franconia which are drunk a lot by the locals, so much so that our friends who live the other side of the Rhein rarely get to taste them. Though we'd gone to Bamberg with beer in mind, DH was not greatly impressed and point plank refused even to try the smoked variety - perhaps I should have given them a go, but I'm really a wine drinker, though i found myself drinking a lot of Apfelsaftschorle [apple juice topped up with soda water] as it's so refreshing and made a good drink when I was driving.
carolyn - i'm doing my best but i suspect I won't be finished before you leave. Sorry!
Trophy-wife - we didn't see it all by any means, for example we never set foot in any of the museums. I think that had our trip been longer overall, we could easily have spent another day exploring Hannover - there is a blue line self-guded tour around another part of the city, another garden out near the airport, more of the Herrenhausen gardens that we didn't see, some very nice shops, though some were very expensive - my eye was caught by a very nice knitted jacket that I thought that my mother might like, but dearly though I love her, €540 was beyond my budget by a considerable margin.
Tomorrow - we make another "Fehler"
Sep 20th, 2014, 08:20 AM
#35
Day 2 - Just how do we start this car?
After another very nice breakfast at the cafe round the corner, we checked out of the hotel and jumped in a cab to take us to the car hire office. After a lot of research, DH had located an AVIS office that had a car at a decent price reasonably close to the hotel, but further than we wanted to walk with our cases. The cabbie - a woman - chatted with us on the way there, which turned out to be further than we'd thought as the railways were on strike and several streets were closed off. we made it however in good time and completed the paperwork for our VW Golf with no problems. That was where our luck ran out however - try as we might we could not start the car. Cars have obviously moved on since we last bought ours - this one seemed to have no handbrake, and some sort of automatic engine cut-out when you stopped, but none of that was going to be any good to us if we couldn't start it. Eventually there was nothing for it but to go and ask the chap in the office to show us how to start it.
"Sie müssen die Kupplung drücken" - he told me. Now those of you, like Daniel, who speak a foreign language or two will know that it doesn't matter how many words in a sentence you recognise, it's inevitably the most important one that you don't. So it was with me - I knew that he was telling me that I had to push something, but what in heaven's name was a Kupplung? So there was nothing for it but that he come outside and show us. Ah - the clutch! of course! Brum, brum.
So finally we were away, our Tomtom or "navi" reminding us to drive on the right, heading east to Goslar, where we had decided to make our first stop. the first hour or so in a new car, driving on the wrong ride of the road, not really knowing where you are going is always a strain. Fortunately the saturday am traffic in Hannover was not to bad, the signs corresponded with what the navi was telling us, and we soon found ourselves on the autobahn. mmmm - that wasn't quite what we'd intended. Where had that nice little road we'd seen on the map gone? oh well, never mind, let's just get there - this autobahn driving is so nice and easy.
Why Goslar? firstly it looked pretty on the internet, secondly I reckoned that we would want a stop after about 90 minutes driving on our first day, and thirdly, I had a very vague memory of its having featured in my ancient pre-WW2 german text book at school. Perhaps I would remember when we got there.
What my vague schoolgirl memories had not prepared me for was how busy it was. We had to drive all the way through the town til we found a car park near the schloss/museum. still it looked nice, with lots of Fachwerk houses and buildings bedecked with flowers and painted in pretty colours. First stop was a friendly looking Gasthof near a water mill, where we both tried a much needed beer, then eschewing the lure of the TI, we set off to explore the town, which definitely lived up to its billing. lots of little streets, a few interesting churches, and many inviting cafes and Gaststätte. Lots of the shops were of course aimed at the many tourists, but they were not necessarily the worse for that - we toyed for quite some time with the idea of getting a novelty wooden bottle opener for our friends. Would they see the joke of some of the sayings carved into the handles? [DH thought some of them pretty funny when I translated them to him, but that might just have been my bad translation!] would we have to take it home with us? what use did we have for a 2 foot wooden bottle opener? In the end we decided to get a very nice umbrella though if it stayed this hot, we'd need it more to keep the sun off, rather than the rain.
Further perambulations took us to the Market Square where we arrived just in time to see the little figures come out onto the balcony as the bells tolled the hour - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijAjS8K-NVU - and past several cafes who were advertising their wares via a life-sized witch. Indeed the witch theme seemed pretty popular as did a dish of what I translated as "cabbage roulade" which will have to remain a mystery as we never got the chance to try it, though I did manage to sneak a photo with DH standing next to his new "girlfriend". Eventually though we needed our lunch, and as the Kohlrouladen did not appeal, we made our way back to the place where we'd had our beer where they had some very pleasant outside tables and a menu that we'd been reading as we drank our beers earlier.
But what was this? no outside tables? it was going to rain? - surely not. oh well, by now it was well gone 1pm, we wanted lunch, and there was plenty of room inside, so inside it was. and within 5 minutes or so, we could see from the window that the sky had darkened and the rain started - and what rain. within minutes the lightening was flashing and the streets awash. How clever of us to realise! and how perspicacious to have bought that umbrella. Meanwhile we would eat our very nice lunch of trout and kartoffelsalat, washed down with a lovely off-dry white wine, and wait for the storm to clear.
Finally it did, and we made our way back to the car in bright sunshine to carry on our journey into the Harz.
After another very nice breakfast at the cafe round the corner, we checked out of the hotel and jumped in a cab to take us to the car hire office. After a lot of research, DH had located an AVIS office that had a car at a decent price reasonably close to the hotel, but further than we wanted to walk with our cases. The cabbie - a woman - chatted with us on the way there, which turned out to be further than we'd thought as the railways were on strike and several streets were closed off. we made it however in good time and completed the paperwork for our VW Golf with no problems. That was where our luck ran out however - try as we might we could not start the car. Cars have obviously moved on since we last bought ours - this one seemed to have no handbrake, and some sort of automatic engine cut-out when you stopped, but none of that was going to be any good to us if we couldn't start it. Eventually there was nothing for it but to go and ask the chap in the office to show us how to start it.
"Sie müssen die Kupplung drücken" - he told me. Now those of you, like Daniel, who speak a foreign language or two will know that it doesn't matter how many words in a sentence you recognise, it's inevitably the most important one that you don't. So it was with me - I knew that he was telling me that I had to push something, but what in heaven's name was a Kupplung? So there was nothing for it but that he come outside and show us. Ah - the clutch! of course! Brum, brum.
So finally we were away, our Tomtom or "navi" reminding us to drive on the right, heading east to Goslar, where we had decided to make our first stop. the first hour or so in a new car, driving on the wrong ride of the road, not really knowing where you are going is always a strain. Fortunately the saturday am traffic in Hannover was not to bad, the signs corresponded with what the navi was telling us, and we soon found ourselves on the autobahn. mmmm - that wasn't quite what we'd intended. Where had that nice little road we'd seen on the map gone? oh well, never mind, let's just get there - this autobahn driving is so nice and easy.
Why Goslar? firstly it looked pretty on the internet, secondly I reckoned that we would want a stop after about 90 minutes driving on our first day, and thirdly, I had a very vague memory of its having featured in my ancient pre-WW2 german text book at school. Perhaps I would remember when we got there.
What my vague schoolgirl memories had not prepared me for was how busy it was. We had to drive all the way through the town til we found a car park near the schloss/museum. still it looked nice, with lots of Fachwerk houses and buildings bedecked with flowers and painted in pretty colours. First stop was a friendly looking Gasthof near a water mill, where we both tried a much needed beer, then eschewing the lure of the TI, we set off to explore the town, which definitely lived up to its billing. lots of little streets, a few interesting churches, and many inviting cafes and Gaststätte. Lots of the shops were of course aimed at the many tourists, but they were not necessarily the worse for that - we toyed for quite some time with the idea of getting a novelty wooden bottle opener for our friends. Would they see the joke of some of the sayings carved into the handles? [DH thought some of them pretty funny when I translated them to him, but that might just have been my bad translation!] would we have to take it home with us? what use did we have for a 2 foot wooden bottle opener? In the end we decided to get a very nice umbrella though if it stayed this hot, we'd need it more to keep the sun off, rather than the rain.
Further perambulations took us to the Market Square where we arrived just in time to see the little figures come out onto the balcony as the bells tolled the hour - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijAjS8K-NVU - and past several cafes who were advertising their wares via a life-sized witch. Indeed the witch theme seemed pretty popular as did a dish of what I translated as "cabbage roulade" which will have to remain a mystery as we never got the chance to try it, though I did manage to sneak a photo with DH standing next to his new "girlfriend". Eventually though we needed our lunch, and as the Kohlrouladen did not appeal, we made our way back to the place where we'd had our beer where they had some very pleasant outside tables and a menu that we'd been reading as we drank our beers earlier.
But what was this? no outside tables? it was going to rain? - surely not. oh well, by now it was well gone 1pm, we wanted lunch, and there was plenty of room inside, so inside it was. and within 5 minutes or so, we could see from the window that the sky had darkened and the rain started - and what rain. within minutes the lightening was flashing and the streets awash. How clever of us to realise! and how perspicacious to have bought that umbrella. Meanwhile we would eat our very nice lunch of trout and kartoffelsalat, washed down with a lovely off-dry white wine, and wait for the storm to clear.
Finally it did, and we made our way back to the car in bright sunshine to carry on our journey into the Harz.
Sep 20th, 2014, 08:40 AM
#37
thanks, thursdaysd. yet another of our failures on this trip had been to pack an umbrella, hence our purchase. [and yes, before you ask, it's on my packing list but I was working right up until the day we went away so I didn't read it too well].
BTW, I looked up Kohlrouladen and discovered that they are indeed stuffed cabbage leaves, made with minced meat and gravy. The trout were definitely a better bet.
BTW, I looked up Kohlrouladen and discovered that they are indeed stuffed cabbage leaves, made with minced meat and gravy. The trout were definitely a better bet.
Sep 20th, 2014, 08:49 AM
#39
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I love Goslar! We have many fond memories of it since it was a nice weekend drive from Berlin. I'm very interested to read where you go next as we'd like to spend more time in the Harz.
When we rented a car earlier this year, we found that when you took your foot off the clutch at a light the engine would stop... then start up again when you pushed it in. A gas saving feature, I suppose, but certainly startling that first time.
When we rented a car earlier this year, we found that when you took your foot off the clutch at a light the engine would stop... then start up again when you pushed it in. A gas saving feature, I suppose, but certainly startling that first time.
Sep 20th, 2014, 08:55 AM
#40
trophywife - we actually turned off that feature as we couldn't cope with learning all the different things the car could do all at once! DH started off hating the car, with good reason as you will shortly read, but by the time we handed it back, he'd just about come to like it. I think.
