Author: admin

 

It took 14 hours but finally made it. It must be my age because the time flew by like the scenery from a train doing 300 klicks an hour. I am not kidding. And I had to put up with screaming kids and a guy who would not stop talking. SHUT THE BLEEP UP. It must be my age. It couldn’t be my awesomeness personality could it? I am a grumpy old man and I am killing  it.

My friend and host drove me to the Augsburg train station at oh dark 30. That is really early. Everything went well until Paris. I was going to take the metro but the lineup to get a ticket was full of rookies. They just could not figure it out. After 10 minutes waiting I hadn’t moved so I left and got a taxi. The taxi tried to rip me off. Combien I said. 65 euros monsieur he said. I said no way, sacre blue monsieur. He said 70 euros. We agreed on 25, which is what it should be. We both laughed and I gave him a 5 euro tip.

Off I went with no delays and no problems except for the screaming kids. I almost lost it again and yelled SHUT THE BLEEP BLEEP UP. They yell here just as bad as in Canada but in French and I didn’t know how to say shut the…up in French.

We arrived. I found my gite and here I am having a beer on a terrace.

Bon soir.

 

Rain all day

Sometimes hard, then light. We drove to Landsburg. which is another medieval town.  Beautifully set on the Lecht River, which flows from the Austrian Alps. The town was Pristine. Houses, buildings, cafes and restaurants are all situated on narrow cobblestone streets. The buildings are colorfully painted but in dull pastel colour’s. All of them having high pitched roofs. Anchored by a beautiful church with an onion skin type bell tower, this town was right out of a Hansel and Gretal story. Lush green forests complimented the town. We walked through a forest where I expected the big bad wolf to jump out at any time.

We had to stop and sample the wares. Of course we did. It was a magical day. Margit has been an exceptional host. But all good things must come to an end. Tomorrow I leave for Le Puy, France. Goodbye to the Bavarian countryside.

The medieval wench song!

 

Went to Augsburg today. Margit has been the perfect hostess. Augsburg is a medieval town with many churches and a cathedral. Awesome!

Wonderful place. Old architecture, beautiful stain glass windows, history and great 🍺.  Did I mention the beer was good.We walked around the old town with many tourists. Everybody is super friendly and seem to know I am a foreigner. I do not know why??? And the 🍺 is great.

Apple strudel and coffee to die for. Oh and the beer is great. We walked around the old town to the tune of oom paw paw. Then Margit cooked a dinner on her electric BBQ. mmm mmm good. It is a Weber.

Great. And the beer is great too.

You can say what you want about catholicism but they have given the world impressive architecture, beautiful art, profound literature and awesome music.

 

 

Continue reading “August 17: More from Munich.”

A real gong show. The 1 hour flight to Munich from Amsterdam took 11 hours. Next time I will take the train. Initial flight was canceled so I had a long wait while they found a plane. When we finally arrived in Munich it took over 50 minutes to get our luggage. The Munich train station was another gong show with thousands of people vying for their departure trains with me being one of them. Yet, despite it all the countryside around Munich was picture perfect.

Stinking hot here. Humid too. Perfect to enjoy a balmy evening outside. We celebrated a family birthday for my hostess Margit last night. Wonderful evening. Schnitzel, German potato salad, lager and even some depth charges. Hangover inbound. Today I  had a boat tour of a lake, some lunch at a biergarden  and a short and a relaxing moment of reflection at a monastery that goes back to 1755.

 

Beautiful! Thanks Margit.

Arrived in Amsterdam after an over nighter. Seat was cramped and harder than granny’s plastic covered upholstery. I felt like a sardine. Not fun. One would expect better for the prices we pay. On top of that I had to pay extra for my backpack. I had no choice given my trekking poles are considered weapons of mass destruction so they had to be checked. Ticked off? You bet. Other than that the flight was uneventful.

Getting my bag took longer than getting a letter from Canada post. Almost 2 hours to get my backpack. Me and others around me had our eyes on other people’s luggage. But, given my luck I probably would’ve ended up with baby clothes or that from a 2 ton trucker dude

But alas, all is now right with my world, except I am up at oh-dark – 30 writing ✍️ this. That is early for my non military friends out there. Of course, this helps.

Central Station Amsterdam

What baggage problem??

Oops, wrong picture from another trip. Tomorrow? Munich.

By the way, that is not me in the background.  And Munich is in 🇨🇭 right???.