Guten Tag

On the scenic bus journey from Bolzano to Munich, we prepared for our time in Germany. We had relished the Italian food and countryside but were excited for a new culture.
Googling what to do in Munich, we immediately found a beer festival happening next to our accommodation. First night sorted. After that, we had a long list of foods and sights to see, so the next morning we got cracking. And a cracking day it was.
Everyone and his dog was out. We wandered the central areas, tasted white sausage (suprisingly delicious) and enjoyed the architecture and streetscapes. The English Garden was particularly lovely with a small river running through the middle and local surfers testing out the 'wave' made as water passed out of a large pipe.

On the way home we stopped at local park to watch some boys playing cricket, the first we had seen for many months!

The bus ride to Karlsruhe was easy and we were excited to get there and see our friends Alex and Nicola, and their little daughter! It was lovely to hear some Australian voices and share a meal and we enjoyed exploring the local palace (Schloss) gardens and forest (and beer garden). Many people sit in the palace gardens on weekends and have a drink or two, or as Alex put it 'get schloshed at the schloss'. Something that was becoming more regular now that the warm weather was setting in.

We caught the train along the river Rhine, a big river with concrete edging running along the edges. Ian explained to Jamie the history of the Rhine being used to transport military vessels and munitions from factories along the rivers edges during the war. We could still see barges carrying containers being used as transport. Further along, the slopes leading to the river became lush vinyards, a very picturesque landscape. We both agreed a bike ride along the river at a later time would be an excellent trip.

We stopped at Mainz, a medium sized town, cheaper than Frankfurt but still on the trainline. We planned to go wandering on our day there, but the weather turned out to be a bit chillier (8 degrees) and we spent a day at the local cafe and at our accommodation catching up on things. Mainz had a lovely cathedral and some excellent authentic German restaurants. We were given some dyed boiled eggs at the end of one meal, in the lead up to Easter.

We made our way via train to Bochum. I know, you say, why would we go to Bochum? An industrial town with few attractions, except for two excellent people (Felix and Vera) that we met in Colca Canyon, Peru. They greeted us with hugs and huge smiles at the Train station and it was wonderful to catch up with our Chico's. We had lost contact with them, but with some expert sleuthing skills, they had tracked us down through LinkedIn. We had a night in, enjoying home cooked meals and chatting.

It was sad to leave, but we had a date in Malk Gohren on the 8th of April, so we had to keep moving. We made our way to Hamburg, not greatly enjoying the weekend bucks partys starting their revels on the train. Drinking on trains (or anywhere) in Germany seemed to be legal, and people were used to it. Hamburg was beautiful, we were lucky with the weather, and we really got to see why people call it the most beautiful German city. The Mahnmal St Nikolai was a highlight, a largely demolished cathdral with only the bell tower remaining, it was destroyed in a bombing. Within the eerie ruins was a memorial to those who had died in the wars, it was very well done.

We made our way back to our hostel to make some dinner and prepare for our time partaking in a WWOOF Germany experience at a farm in Malk Gohren. We were looking forward to some time in the country, some dirt between our fingers and some fresh air. As we caught the small bus from the train station to the small village, we had no idea what awaited us. Would our two weeks at the farm be wonderful? boring? busy? I guess we'll find out in the next blog.