The photos are sorted and the panoramas are now panoramic. The following is a blurb about the trip but check out the photos to see what I'm talking about.
We started our epic journey of train delays early on the 21st Dec in the freezing cold. Nearly all trains north of Lund were delayed or canceled and there was not a bus to be seen. Here starteth the joy of traveling in winter!
Eventually we made it to Copenhagen airport where we waited for our diverted plane to recover from a "problem on board"! However, they made it up to us with free tea and chocolate on board.
There are three parts to our trip Bonn/Köln (Cologne), Finnentrop & Würzburg.
Bonn/Köln
We arrived safely in Bonn with no further plane troubles to hang out with Eva and Wilma (Eva's cute Dalmatian dog). It was here that I learned the very important phrase of "Was sagt der Hund?" - What does the dog say? This is a key phrase in Wilma's life and also Jochen's. Unbeknownst to me Jochen turns into a dog when he sees one! So after Jochen and Wilma got reacquainted with lots of tail wagging and sniffing we hit the Weihnachtsmarkt - Christmas markets and indulged in some Gluehkirsch - cherry mulled wine, with extra rum! The Weihnachtsmarkt usually occurs from the end of November until just before Christmas. It's full of lights, food and shiny things you don't need but really want!
Next is the educational section of the trip as we wandered into the Beethoven Museum where Beethoven was born. This experience might have been boring for non-musos but Jochen was exceptional at pretending to be interested and translating for me. He earned many brownie points that day! We spent the afternoon walking from Schloss (The Kurfürstliches Schloss) to Schloss (Poppelsdorf Palace of the Archbishop of Köln) both of which are now part of the University of Bonn.
The next adventure was in Köln where the weather was terrible. Freezing cold rain and snow at once. However, outside the train station is the biggest Gothic Cathedral you've ever seen in your life, gargoyles and flying buttresses galore! We escaped the weather and explored the inside which was just as cold as the outside but had some pretty amazing lead light windows, nice arches and cool patterns in the tiled floor. These are the main reasons I like going into all these churches, the architecture is amazing and I like to see how big their organ is :-) The Chocolate Museum was next, it was educational but we were hanging out for the tastings and shop. Yummm!
Finnentrop
After a couple of nights drinking with Eva in what felt like all of Bonn's bars, we needed some recovery time, so next stop Finnentrop! We arrived on Christmas Eve (despite more train delays) to a happy family, piles of prezzies and bucket loads of chocolate and food. Jochen was once more employed as my translator between Mum, Dad and myself and big brother Carsten filled in the gaps. Like any proper Christmas, this one was spent eating lots of yummy food and then filling up on sweets in between. We spent most of our time playing with our new toys and enjoying family time and yummy things.
Würzberg
One early morning four days later we rolled ourselves back to the train station a few kilos heavier in bag and tummies and headed to Würzburg! We stayed with Mario and Ilka who showed us around town and fed us lots more yummy food. If you haven't noticed already this trip was mainly about food.
While poor Ilka had to work, Mario took us up the mountain to find a pub while drinking brandy tea on the way. The next day we went to see the baroque Residenz of the Würzburg Prince Bishops which was built from 1720 - 1780. We took a tour of the interior but we only got a couple of photos of the fresco's of Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. A few weeks before WWII ended, Würzburg was hit with an air raid which left not only the town devastated but most of the Residenz as well. Therefore much of the building has been restored impeccably and the craftsmanship is amazing.
We walked up to the Marienberg Fortress which overlooks Würzburg and is where the previously mentioned Prince Bishops of Würzburg lived. It's a steep climb surrounded by grape vines but definitely worth the amazing view of the city below. Unfortunately the museum section wasn't open but on the way back down I took my first attempt at tobogganing on half a plastic bag. Heaps of fun and I was rewarded for my effort with lots of snow down my pants!
We ended our evening with a wine tasting of the surrounding region while watching the entertainment of a slightly drunk waitress drop a few glasses, a bottle of wine and then eventually she ended up on the floor herself.
We spent New Years Eve drinking and eating with friends at Mario and Ilka's, then we headed down to the river to watch and set off fireworks. We brought in the new year with champas and a surprising lack of firework injuries.
After recovering from our hangovers we made it back to Sweden safe and sound.
Cara's German Food Firsts
1. Bonn - Wild Boar Goulash with Spätzle
2. Bonn - Bratkartoffeln (fried potato with onion)
3. Bonn - Räuberfleisch (fried meat)
4. Köln - Berliner (jam donut)
5. Köln - Currywurst (take away pork sausage in curry sauce)
6. Finnentrop - Meat Fondue
7. Würzberg - Franconian Breakfast (giant bakery pretzel, white sausage, mustard and wheat beer - has to be eaten before midday)
8. Everywhere - Jägermeister (thank you to the Bavarian restaurant fulfilling the stereotype of a buxom serving wench...it made my day!)
I'm sure there are more but either I can't remember them or I can't pronounce them, but overall it was fantastically yummy!
So a big thank you to all those who housed us, fed us and entertained us, we had a fantastic time.
