Dowd adventures in Bologna: The great Northern Europe road trip

lunedì 31 agosto 2015

The great Northern Europe road trip

And so it was that we did a month road trip through northern Europe, this time we lost Caterina in the back seat with the boys and Megan Hollick replaced her.
We set of around the 25th July, and headed to Salzburg (Austria),Munich, Leipzig, Lubech (Germany), Copenhagen (Denmark), Karlskroner (Sweden), Berlin (Germany), Wroclaw (Poland), Prague (Czech Republic), Vienna (Austria), Bratislava (Slovakia), Budapest (Hungary), Zagreb (Croatia), Slovenia, and finally back into Italy at Trieste, before driving to Bologna.
And we got snow globes at each place, so out collection is now over 50, l believe. We left in heat, and as we drove over the alps the temperature dropped from 38 down to 17 with heavy rain and strong winds. Infact so strong a man checking his car oil at the station had his bonnet blown up and the air braced hinge broke or seized and he could not shut it, god knows what he did.
So first Salzburg, we stayed in the original house of the Von Trapp family, which Jayne loved, and it was a short bus trip into town, Salzburg is very pretty and loves tourism, everyone was friendly and along with the Sound of Music you have Mozart's house and typical Austrian restaurants. So the first hotel started a standard, and as you will see this standard changed dramatically and constantly, for good and bad, usually the bad was my fault l gather!!
Second was Munich, where we stayed at an Ibis hotel, mostly we booked a day or two ahead. Here we had two tram rides into town, Munich was packed and that takes the shine a bit, but of course there is much to see, but the boys seemed mostly interested in Bayern Munich stores, and the stadium. Those along with Dachau concentration camp was Munich. Generally we felt we could have given it a miss, which is probably tough, as l have been there before and loved it. As we left Munich we first went to Dachau camp, which obviously was rather emotional, but important for the boys to visit, and then to change the tune we went via the Bayern Munich stadium and their store, where Ewan got an outfit. Hunter had got one earlier.
Next stop was Leipzig , and this was a lovely surprise, though we only spent a night there, and l had been some long day drives, along with the boys fighting in the back seat, and Jayne telling me to watch out for every truck or car we were near, thank fully Megan kept her cool and helped calm Hunter and Jayne down.
After Liepzig we decided to just do a short trip to get close to the ferry to go to Copenhagen, and so Lubech was picked. It is a UNESCO town with its unique architecture and famous two cone tower building as you enter. We ended up in a rather strange apartment above a restaurant, up 3 flights of greasy stairs into a half new and half old apartment. Megan's snoring was too much for the boys so she slept on a mattress in the kitchen, and so began the idea that we needed to get 3 bedrooms or two or three rooms. Lubech had some great restaurants and bars, along with some very boutique shops, though following on with the expierence in Munich we found the Germans less than fun or polite, and l never ever mentioned the war!
So the next morning we left early to line up to catch the 45 min ferry across to Denmark, arriving in Copenhagen and staying near what is called the meat district, and has become the cool area for restaurants and galleries. Unfortunately l had picked this apartment, and though the position was good, we entered the ground floor apt, to find sheets in a dampish pile on the beds, all the sheets where worn or holly, and the apt was basically rather lean on appliances. The owner who l contacted and was away was very upset to hear this, and l said l would need to buy some sheets, which she would reimburse me for. But as the days passed we realised she meant nothing at all, and did not care. This along with the rubbish removal outside our bedroom window was all too much for Jayne, who really never enjoyed Copenhagen, on the other side l took the boys to Tivoli which they loved, we visited Louisiana museum, which had some great shows on, Terry Winters in particular. And we did lots of the tourist sites, ate at my favourite restaurant Peder Oxe. Jayne and Megan went to a brilliant fish restaurant near by, and as always the Danes were most friendly, except our landlord.
Gitte my friend was not there but at her holiday mill in Sweden near Karlskroner, so we drove over the bridge to Sweden and to Karlskroner, but Gitte and my ideas of where we were going to meet got mixed up and we waited at the train station and tried ringing and texting, but no answer, finally got hold of her and with directions drove to the mill. the boys and l have been there before and they love it, fishing, swimming and the forest. But the idea of an outdoor toilet and there were not enough beds drove Jayne and Megan to a hotel 40 minutes away. I think the idea of being away from the boys fighting and being able to sleep in without me trying to get them up to see the sights was very exciting. The boys, Gitte and l went canoeing, fishing and had home made pizza one night, they had a great time. we left with Gitte and followed her to a fantastic local restaurant (Vägga Fisk & Delikatessröker) on the water , and then went to Wanas Konst, an art museum similar in ways to Louisiana but it was an old villa and barns that had been turned into a museum to support the families cost in repairing and maintaining the property, they lived in the villa and the barns and grounds turned into a museum. One of the best l have been to, with about 30 hectares of parkland dedicated to sculpture, and installations in the barns.
Leaving there we all went back and we stayed in a different hotel than last time in Copenhagen, that l also bravely booked. This was called Cabin Hotel, and was like staying in a ship, but Jayne was not too disappointed, but still did not like Copenhagen!
The next morning we left and drove to the ferry back to the mainland, it was a different ferry, which l did not know , and took 1.5 hours to reach Germany, l had 250 kroner left in my wallet and bought a bottle of Makers Mark in the duty free store aboard for 250 kroner, it was meant to be.
We landed, i'm really not too sure where, but it was a bloody big port, and headed towards Berlin. Arriving and staying at MOTEL. com, sort of Ibis style hotel, it was in a good location not far from the Zoo and transport. So three days in Berlin we did the open bus tour, Jayne took the boys to the Zoo, l got to go to a few alternative galleries. Generally Berlin was good, though one night at a local pizza restaurant Jayne's handbag along with her wallet was stolen. And so began the task of cancelling all cards, and now getting them replaced, along with her Aust drivers licence and permesso here in Italy, nothing is easy. How they got her bag is a mystery, as we were quite protected, we thought. And so that gave us a sour taste regarding Berlin.
So next we drove to Poland in particular a town spelt Wroclaw, but pronounced completely differently , and they have another name for it which l forgot, which is spelt and sounded the same in English, l guess because they try to get a lot of tourists there, and they did. The main piazza which is very beautiful and large is full of all sorts of restaurants. We arrived in a heat wave, record temperatures. We were staying in a lovely apt, we got two one for Megan and one for us, with washing machines so since Copenhagen we were able to wash our cloths something important when you are travelling with few cloths. Thankfully l got everyone to bring one bag each, Jayne and Megan took this as 2! So the boot was always full along with a small esky and the boys homework ,which they never looked at, and the snow globes.
Wroclaw has a great poster gallery, where l bought 7 posters, and l had with the boys the best breakfast ever, it was a muesli, cacao in a cold paste form, and blueberries, and a mix of other things, this took 20 min to make along with our smoothies, but it was well worth the wait, and l would return to Wroclaw just for that plate. We took the boys one day to a water park which was terrible and rather dangerous, every child l saw was overweight, and most people looked as if they don't see the sun much, rather different from Italy. It was packed, over packed so the pool which l could not go in, as there was no room, and l noticed no one got out to go to the toilet. Along with this was loud music blaring away, the boys had fun on the tube runs and the wave maker, and l guess it was cooler there, so it could have been worse, but it's the worst water park i've been to.
I will say the Polish people were all lovely, and we enjoyed our time there, but it has suffered as a country. We drove south from Wroclaw and went through an area called the black triangle which is an open cut coal area, and coal station. We got a bit lost in this area, and you felt you had gone back 50 years, and we wondered if we would ever see the world.
From Poland we drove into Czech Republic, and the border crossing was something out of the cold war, there were no real signs but you got the feeling you had to stop, and then you had to find the entrance to a large building and then put up with a girl who did not want to be there, and purchase a road tax permit, which you never really knew if you had or not.
So to Prague we drove, after leaving the corrugated roads of Poland, arriving in an apartment that had no air conditioning in a record heatwave. I can't remember if l booked this place but lm sure it was my fault it did not had air conditioning . Prague of course is a huge tourist destination and that takes the shine away, but l got up very early one morning to go to Charlie's bridge which was better. The boys and l went on the paddle boats on the river, and then they had a go in a huge bubble which they rolled and fell over in. This was a welcome break in the heat, along with the swim in the river they had.
The castle of Prague is well worth the trip , especially the library. The cathedral on the hill also is brilliant with an incredible silver sculptural socophagus . You also have all the small houses that trades people lived in while the castle was in use, Frank Kafka lived there for 2 years, the art gallery there is ok, but a tour of the castle is great. There is a Kafka museum in town, along with a tour of the Jewish ghetto and synagogue, and graveyard. Jayne and Megan did it and said it was well worth it.
Generally l liked Prague but found it dirty with rubbish and graffiti, and the service was average. The transport system is hopeless, and difficult to get tickets.
From Prague we drove to Vienna, were we stayed in a non air conditioned pensione during a record heat wave. Great position, but found it like Prague just too many tourists. Great cathedral, and wonderful river and life along it, but lm not a fan of the Austrian cafes, with their huge cakes and sit down affair, l have grown to prefer the Italian style more.
After 2 nights in the heat we left to the air conditioning of Bratislava, where l found the best coffee (Coffee 4 You) place since leaving Italy. Bratislava lies also on the Danube, and is in Slovakia, infact is the capital. It has a castle on the hill that they have done a great job in repairing, and have a fascinating exhibition of Etruscan works and models.
Bratislava is like Wroclaw in the sense they have both made an effort to attract tourists from everywhere, and so are very welcoming, and have some high standard places to eat and drink along with regular ones. Bratislava has a wonderful and cool in the heat botanic garden, and an old area that has many spire buildings and churches, and you can get a boat trip past all this which for the price is well worth it. You can see they are doing a great deal of work to make it more of a tourist attraction.
Budapest was next, made of two cities, Buda and Pest, l kid you not. Buda is the hill side with the castle, and Pest the lower side with restaurants and most of the main buildings and museums. We stayed in an apartment, that had brilliant air conditioning, hate to harp on about that but the heat was bloody hot. Everyone was very friendly, and the parliament is an incredible building, built in 18 years. The castle is also amazing and Hunter decided to stay at home that day and so Jayne , Ewan and l got Segway's to travel about, something Hunter had wanted to go on since he saw them weeks ago. Later we got some more and the boys and l just went for a drive around for fun. We also went on two bike carriage rides with tour guides around the town. And it showed what an interesting town it is. Especially how the Russians are not liked, though they made them put the Statue of Liberty on the hill, but as the Hungarians say they did not liberate them only enslaved them. You can still see the bullet holes in buildings from the rebels and Russian fighting. The food is very good in Budapest, and it has one of the top 10 hotels in the world, the Four Seasons, and some beautiful buildings. You can see in 20 years Budapest will be an incredible city, but is is still suffering from the Russian era. There are many films made there due to the look and cost. They have a huge island called Margaret Island, which has a zoo, gardens, parkland and walks around, with golf carts, bikes to ride around on. You could bring the kids here for the whole day. They have a musical fountain that though it may sound geeky, it actually was incredible, and somewhere cool to put your feet in the heat. We stayed two nights on Pest side and then one night on Buda side which is much quieter, but with a great view of parliament. The castle has a beautiful cathedral, and buildings and great to get a view from.
Next stop was Zagreb, Croatia, where we left the EU, and had our first place where we went by customs and got our passports stamped. Zagreb was unusual, we saw Harvey Norman billboards, and stayed in a very old fashioned hotel. The town had a museum called The Broken Heart museum, which was full of letters and objects given from broken relationships. It was funny and sad, and well worth it. The coffee is terrible in Zagreb, but there are some excellent restaurants, and strangely lots of Australian tourists. There are many museums, but we felt it was a one night town, and we spent two nights, but l got a good rest. It rained since Sweden, so that may have added to our average feeling of the town. Everyone was friendly and helpful.
The thing we noticed as we drove on our trip was the huge amount of corn crops, and l don't think they are for corn, but for feed and bio fuel. Every country had them in different points of growth or greenness . The other site was wind turbines and the occasional fields of solar panels. Some countries had huge amounts of turbines, like Denmark, Sweden, Germany, but all had many.
We then drove through Slovenia, and got a 150 euro fine for not purchasing a road permit, though we found it hard to see the signs and when they showed us one it was not in English or Italian. The whole thing is a money racket, and pissed me off, and they knew it. But Slovenia was very beautiful after Croatia, more hilly and green. We lunched in the capital called Ljubljana, a very pretty town, again perfect for tourists, well worth visiting, just remember to get a road permit!
We left there after a quick golf cart ride which was free around the town and its sites by from what l can gather a volunteer.
We drove on to Trieste, and therefore Italy. Our last night of the trip was in a wonderful hotel just off the main piazza, which is the biggest of any port town in Europe. We caught up for dinner with Gianluca our favourite ski instructor, who was leaving to live and study in Lisbon two days later. A wonderful local restaurant with local dishes, its a most impressive town, with a roman amphitheatre and small private museums. We left via a small town called Duino and its castle. The castle was taken over by the Germans in the war, where they built a bunker below it with a cannon to shoot at boats . In 1943 a New Zealand patrol attacked the bunker and took it back. The rubble from making the bunker was thrown over the cliff edge and ended up making a beach at the base. The castle is impressive with a museum inside, and from it you can see the original castle ruins from the 10th century .
The rain started coming down, as we left and the temperature dropped, as we came back to Bologna, after a heat wave there as well. And so ended 4 weeks in the car, with the boys often fighting and yelling, too many toilet stops, a range of hotels and apartments, wonderful sights and churches, lots of beer and sausages. And now we are back in the land of pasta and coffee.