A wee trip to Scotland – Aye!

The May half term holidays also saw one week of Scottish bliss – rolling green hills, spunky kilts and the ‘delicious’ Haggis – this trip had a lot of expectations! Not to mention, Gerard’s brother James was joining us... the Brick boys on the loose!

Our journey started in Edinburgh, a much talked about city. Interestingly, this beautiful city was built up vertically over the years, making the tall buildings and cobblestone streets weave in and out of one another. Highlights included the Edinburgh Castle perched on the hill (overlooking the whole city), The Royal Mile - the stretch between the castle and the official Scottish residence of the Queen) and of course the endless pubs and drinking locations.

Our Macbackpackers Tour of Scotland introduced us first to our tour leader – Ewan. What a legend. A typical Scot, donning kilt and with long hair and bushy beard, Ewan had exactly the right balance of humour, endless knowledge and Scottish Charm! He would have to be one of the funniest people we have ever met!

A wee run down of our Scotland trip:

• Gerard taking a dip in the freezing Loch Ness – fair to say ‘Nessy’ didn’t make a guest appearance.

• The ruins on Duntulm Castle –we picked the windiest day we have ever experienced to climb around the ruins, also perched high on the cliffs overlooking the ocean!

• The quiet village of Ullapool – fish and chips, yum!

• Isle of Skye – despite the rainy and misty weather, we still managed to take in the sites of Kilt Rock and Portree.

• Eilean Donan Castle & the Dunkeld Cathedral – both very old but beautifully preserved and maintained.

• Scottish dancing at the Skipinnish Ceilidh House – wow, what a workout! Lots of fun, clapping and partner swinging!

• Fairy Glen and Hope Hangs Branches – both very beautiful and mysterious hidden places, known to bring good luck and hide the elusive Scottish Fairies.

• James getting turned down after three hours of negotiations with a Frenchwoman.

A visit to Scotland was high on the priority list and it did not disappoint. If only we had more time.... sigh!

Berlin - "Hitting the Wall"

Of course we needed to escape the Royal Wedding madness and what better way to do that than to duck over to Berlin, a much anticipated mini-break. It did not fail to disappoint. Berlin itself isn’t exactly what you would call pretty (the Jay-Z song about the concrete jungle was actually written about Berlin), however we were instantly drawn to the uber-cool vibe, rich history and of course German Beer.

A free walking tour (always a must when you first reach a new destination – not only can you get your bearings but you are always introduced to the highlights) gave the Autumn House roomies a snap shot of what makes this city so unique. Checkpoint Charlie, The Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe, Brandenburg Gate, the site of Hitler’s bunker (you need a great imagination), Reichstag, to mention just a few. It is so amazing and so true that Berlin is still such a new city and still building itself! Also highly recommended was the ‘Alternative Tour’– definitely something that did not disappoint. It was very cool to see another side of Berlin; from Tacheles, a large old warehouse turned art gallery taken over by squatters and covered in graffiti, walls and walls of street art by truly gifted artists - to secret, hidden cafes and cinemas. The political and social messages left on the Eastside Gallery (a 1.5km section of the Berlin Wall, whereby 109 artists were invited to leave their unique mark on the wall) was very cool – but obviously left you with strong messages at the same time....

Sachsenhausen concentration camp was another sombre and thought provoking experience. Approximately 30km outside of Berlin, Sachsenhausen was not only prominent during the Nazi regime but also once the Soviets had gained power, used as a ‘special camp’. The amount of information, artefacts and knowledge gained made this visit a really rewarding one.

On a lighter note, the nightlife of Berlin had much to live up to. Our visit also coincided with May Day celebrations (strangely protests by day, but massive street parties by night), paving the way for boogying on the street... These festivities, teamed with good bars and pubs, even better beer and of course the amazing night kebabs (Gerard did not eat one Bratwurst!) ensured lots of laughs and fun!

Belgium

The final leg... we were really looking forward to finishing on a high! We had high expectations of the old architecture, and of course the chocolate and beers!

 

Hans-sur-Lesse: The first stop on Belgium soil was a small village, not too far from Rochefort. We were welcomed by lovely old buildings, a lovely river and lovely countryside. The main attraction was the caves, highlighting the amazing rock formations made over millions and millions of years. The down fall, the tour was all in Dutch and we were the only English speakers! We were in that case quite lucky to be the tour guide’s little project and he was more than willing to translate most for us – a small taste of what it felt like to get special treatment!

Brussels: Simply strolling around the beautiful old city was enough to make the mouth drop in awe. Despite a slight ‘it has almost been two weeks and we have been confined to a small van together 24/7’ hiccup, we thoroughly enjoyed seeing the main sites including Mannequin Piss, Royal Palace and of course Grand Place (which also made the perfect backdrop for beer tasting in the early evening). We were also very lucky to catch up with friend Klaus - holder of the key to secret bars, including the famous Delerium. The bars - one in a cave, one in an old theatre and one with a scary/witch type theme all would have been a mystery without him! Only in Brussels! We were also able to escape the van for one night and stayed on his couch, boy was it nice to have a soft mattress and not to have to wear thongs in the shower!

Waterloo & Ghent: A last minute decision to stop by the location of the famous Battle of Waterloo was one of Gerard’s better ideas. It provided us with another valuable opportunity to pay respects to past battles fought and appreciate the life we have today. Wow, was Napolean gutsy! We then tried to outrun the autobahn (never a good idea) and finally made it to Ghent were we stopped briefly for a picnic in the main park and a quick stroll through the main town. Again, beautiful and busy... it would have been nice to be able to spend more time there – next time!

Brugge: We arrived in Brugge and just flopped. The tiredness was starting to catch up with us, but after a lie down, an early dinner and an obvious beer we headed by foot into the city in the evening. It was lovely to see the old town as the sun was setting especially the ancient cathedrals and unique shape buildings. To top the night off we indulged in more beers and a waffle – an absolute must! The next day also saw more strolling, visiting Michelangelo’s ‘Madonna with child’, purchasing chocolate and eating fries! Tough life!

In regards to the coastal trip from Brugge to where we needed to catch the ferry let’s just say we really are spoilt in Australia!

The last night of our trip was spent in Dunkurque enjoying a delightful sea fresh meal at sunset and a loss of epic proportions in mini-golf from Bee – the ‘Ayers Rock’ beard was to stay!

So, departing words: The idea of opening up on the back roads and making our own way was the structure of trip we had envisaged as a highlight when planning our destinations. The freedom and experimenting we would need to do (not parking on a slope, ways to relieve oneself in the middle of the night, letting Bee drive) were all challenges we enjoyed. The people we met along the way, while not exactly aged related, were pleasant and friendly and we learnt a lot about other cultures on our travels.

For the record, 2994kms were travelled in the 13 days on the road, four boxes of cereal smashed, around 25 baguettes and three kilos of cheese consumed, 23 quality wines and beers tested, ‘less than 10 u-turns’ completed and a couple minutes of silence experienced. The price for still having a beautiful woman in the passenger seat – priceless!

Luxembourg

A good place to stop for cheap petrol. Travel time – 1 hour.

Germany

Black Forest: This will be a short entry. Lots of back roads, U-turns, a wrong turn costing us approximately 1 hour, an average coffee, a bit of scenery but no Black Forest and about 5 hours later we are at our destination. Worst day of driving by far. With the good comes the BAD hey. That’s right Baden- Baden!

Baden-Baden: This hidden, somewhat unknown spa town also really surprised us. Covered in flowers and open squares, you could stroll around the streets for as long as you soak in the thermal waters. Mind you, the Caracalla Thermal Pools were 3 hours of magic – especially after hours of walking, riding and then sitting while on the road. The ears had a rest as well, very hard to hear when you have your ears underwater. Gerard of course was also very impressed with the Lowenbrau beer garden and mammoth schnitzels (which he in fact didn’t order and was very lucky Bee shared).

Switzerland

Lausanne: This very clean, sporty, hilly, lovely city did not disappoint. Mind you, we had very high expectations of Switzerland in general and were off to a great start! The Old Town and Ouchy waterfront of Lake Geneva were perfect areas to stroll around and take in what is the official Olympic City. In this case, a visit to the Olympic Museum was a must and is highly recommended.

Interlaken: We finally made it after Bee took us on the wrong highway (Gerard driving might we add, but didn’t pick up on anything unusual...) and all we can say is WOW. What an amazing experience to be surrounded by snow capped mountains, clear skies, blue lakes, flowing rivers and of course Jungfrau, Europe’s tallest mountain. We took a 6 hour hike and reached 1850m, high enough for Gerard to end up knee deep in snow and have to navigate the track – (No we left the compass in the car – all that pre-trip discussion of whether we needed one and Gerard didn;t even have it when we needed it!) May we add that Bee did not complain once on this walking marathon, it was a quiet few hours... The following day we hired bikes (after spending over 2 hours trying to figure out if the rental place was even open) and set off on the train, again UP. We visited Trummelbach, the only accessible waterfall inside a mountain in Europe. Can you believe that 20,000 tonnes of water passes through a second? Amazing, as was the bike ride down the mountain... no steps, no hills!