Today my blog comes to you from outside! I am currently sitting in the beautiful weather in Neuss, Germany, at the house of my friends the Geisler's. Just to prove it, here is me:
Mum don't worry that's just the lighting-I'm still very blonde rather than dying my hair blue (although how cool!I kid, I kid). It also shows how sunny it is.
I've got some music playing, I'm wearing shorts (it feels weird showing my legs after so much time covering them in Morocco and the cold!) and just finished eating some Vegemite and cheese sandwiches. You can take the girl out of Australia but she WILL hunt down Vegemite and eat it to feel like home has joined her on the road.
Germany has really turned on the charm these past few days and we have had stunning weather, almost like the Australian Summer that I missed when I was in Morocco. Needless to say I have taken full advantage of this and spent a great deal of time in the sun relaxing.
Since my last blog about Hamburg and Kiel so much has happened! When I last wrote I was also in Neuss, but now I'm in Neuss blogging about a different set of events; that of my travels with Ron and his family. This will be a small series of blogs as we covered so much ground in the few days we were on the road in North-East Germany before returning here, and then we set off again for a day trip (but that one is a surprise). Without further ado, I give you "My time with the Geislers, Part 1!"
Whilst I was staying with Mara, I had been in contact with Ron about staying with his family for a little while in Neuss, Germany. I was originally going to leave Mara's on the 17th and make my way slowly through Hanover and surrounds to Dusseldorf, and arrive at the Geisler's house on the 21st. However, on the 14th Ron emailed me and invited me to travel with them on their family holiday for a few days in North Eastern Germany. I was surprised but very excited; I had been in the North West of Germany but didn't know much about North East, and this would mean that I could see more of the country whilst getting to know Ron and his family. We decided that we would meet on the 17th, and after my day of recoding with Gerrit, Mara and I drove down to a city called Lubeck so I could meet the Geislers.
It was late in the afternoon by the time we arrived and found a park, and I bid my goodbyes to Mara and set off. We were to meet at the Holzentor, Lubeck's main tourist attraction. The Holzentor was an old city gate; an arch between two large towers that leaned towards each other. I'm not quite sure why, but it provided a good and simple place to meet.
As I walked up I was quite nervous. I had never met the family before, and had made contact through my Mum who had known Ron when they were teenagers and he had visited Australia.However, I was quickly put at ease as they were lovely. We made our way to a coffee shop and sat down and discussed our next move. We were to spend the evening exploring Lubeck and then make our way to a small Bed&Breakfast to spend the night just out of the city.
After our coffee we made our way to the Cathedral and Ron, Christoph and I proceeded to take the lift to the top. The view was quite lovely but the wind not so much, and after all taking a few photos we headed back down in the lift to meet Elisabeth and make our way to a different old marketplace, before jumping in the car and driving out to the B&B, where we had a lovely dinner and then headed to bed.
The next day after a small sleep-in and a nice breakfast we set off. Our target for the night was a place called Schwerin after a stop over in Wismar for some sight-seeing in the morning.
Wismar was quite a pretty little port town of about 46,000-47,000 people on the coast about a hours drive from Lubeck. Once there we found a car park and made our way to the centre of town. It was decided that since Christoph had hurt his ankle, we would take a bus sight-seeing tour around the city to see more in a smaller amount of time. The bus took us past the town hall and main market square, down to the port and then back through the town, showing us the brewery and some more beautiful old houses. I felt that the city was a bit like an open-air museum. The bus tour was lovely (if in German-Elisabeth translated for me!), and afterwards we made our way back to the brewery for a massive lunch. The serving of Rouladen was so incredibly big that I couldn't actually finish the sides of red cabbage and apple. Considering my appetite (let's just say I can eat) that is a feat. After lunch we made our way back through the town to the main market square and then to the car, where we once again started driving, this time to Schwerin (pronounced "Shver-een")
Schwerin is a beautiful little town set inland from the coast and a only a little while from Wismar. As we pulled in to a parking lot to try to find a hotel, we passed the Schloss Schwerin (Schwerin Castle) which is a work of art and to which we would return later on to sight-see.
We ended up staying in a lovely little Pension just behind our original stop. After we unloaded our bags, we set out to explore with our first stop being the Schloss Schwerin.
The castle was amazing. We didn't go inside, but the outside was enough to give us a fair impression of how opulent and beautiful the inside would be. However, the castle is not typical of Germanic architecture. It is in the middle of restoration and is being re-painted in a beautiful yellow colour similar to that of the castles in Austria. With over 600 rooms and beautiful gardens, it was incredible.
We wandered around the castle through the gardens before heading towards the centre of town, passing some more beautiful buildings on the way. If you're a fan of old, stone architecture, then this city would be right up your alley. Once again it felt a bit like an open-air museum. We continued wandering for a little while, making our way to one of the many lakes that surrounds the town
and then to a Greek restaurant. I didn't believe that I was that hungry having had such a large lunch, but I soon proved myself wrong. After a delicious dinner we made our way back to the Pension, relaxing and watching television (the search for Germany's next super-brain" and some ridiculously confident/arrogant young people) until eventually falling asleep later on.
The next morning we awoke and had another nice breakfast (German people do breakfast really well) and then set off. We were that day headed for Rostock, a larger city on the Baltic Sea after a stop over in Bad Doberan and the area of Heiligendamm to see the resort where George Bush II caused major offence by putting his feet up on a table. It really does live up to it's name of "the White City", due to almost every building there being incredibly large and built in white stone. Being a resort city we only spent a small amount of time there before heading in to Rostock for lunch.
Rostock was again a slightly larger town situated on the Baltic Sea. We arrived and parked the car, and then set off to explore and find a nice place for lunch. We wandered down the boardwalk and settled on a Greek restaurant right on the beach-front. After another big lunch we set off walking again. We made our way down to and wandered along the Port before heading into the older part of town (The Oldstadt) and then making our way back to the car.
We had decided that morning that instead of continuing our travels in the North Eastern part of Germany we would return home that evening and then travel to a different destination the next day which I was quite happy about as it meant that we would be going along the autobahn, one of Germany's finest inventions (in the opinion of a car-lover). On the autobahn, unless it is signposted the speed is unlimited, so you drive to the road conditions. As conditions were good, this meant some lovely, spirited driving and we returned home to Neuss in the evening of Friday the 17th.
We went inside and I was shown to my room, a lovely converted attic space, and fell asleep later that evening, ready for the next day's travels. Since those travels were to a completely different destination, I will leave this blog post here! No, there will be no hint. You'll just have to read on and find out *smiles*
Until next time,
Love Love!
Clem xx
 |
| Me. I haven't changed that much really... |
I've got some music playing, I'm wearing shorts (it feels weird showing my legs after so much time covering them in Morocco and the cold!) and just finished eating some Vegemite and cheese sandwiches. You can take the girl out of Australia but she WILL hunt down Vegemite and eat it to feel like home has joined her on the road.
Germany has really turned on the charm these past few days and we have had stunning weather, almost like the Australian Summer that I missed when I was in Morocco. Needless to say I have taken full advantage of this and spent a great deal of time in the sun relaxing.
Since my last blog about Hamburg and Kiel so much has happened! When I last wrote I was also in Neuss, but now I'm in Neuss blogging about a different set of events; that of my travels with Ron and his family. This will be a small series of blogs as we covered so much ground in the few days we were on the road in North-East Germany before returning here, and then we set off again for a day trip (but that one is a surprise). Without further ado, I give you "My time with the Geislers, Part 1!"
 |
| View from the top of the Cathedral in Lubeck |
Whilst I was staying with Mara, I had been in contact with Ron about staying with his family for a little while in Neuss, Germany. I was originally going to leave Mara's on the 17th and make my way slowly through Hanover and surrounds to Dusseldorf, and arrive at the Geisler's house on the 21st. However, on the 14th Ron emailed me and invited me to travel with them on their family holiday for a few days in North Eastern Germany. I was surprised but very excited; I had been in the North West of Germany but didn't know much about North East, and this would mean that I could see more of the country whilst getting to know Ron and his family. We decided that we would meet on the 17th, and after my day of recoding with Gerrit, Mara and I drove down to a city called Lubeck so I could meet the Geislers.
 |
| View #2 |
It was late in the afternoon by the time we arrived and found a park, and I bid my goodbyes to Mara and set off. We were to meet at the Holzentor, Lubeck's main tourist attraction. The Holzentor was an old city gate; an arch between two large towers that leaned towards each other. I'm not quite sure why, but it provided a good and simple place to meet.
As I walked up I was quite nervous. I had never met the family before, and had made contact through my Mum who had known Ron when they were teenagers and he had visited Australia.However, I was quickly put at ease as they were lovely. We made our way to a coffee shop and sat down and discussed our next move. We were to spend the evening exploring Lubeck and then make our way to a small Bed&Breakfast to spend the night just out of the city.
 |
| In Wismar, the more windows you had, the wealthier you were. |
After our coffee we made our way to the Cathedral and Ron, Christoph and I proceeded to take the lift to the top. The view was quite lovely but the wind not so much, and after all taking a few photos we headed back down in the lift to meet Elisabeth and make our way to a different old marketplace, before jumping in the car and driving out to the B&B, where we had a lovely dinner and then headed to bed.
The next day after a small sleep-in and a nice breakfast we set off. Our target for the night was a place called Schwerin after a stop over in Wismar for some sight-seeing in the morning.
Wismar was quite a pretty little port town of about 46,000-47,000 people on the coast about a hours drive from Lubeck. Once there we found a car park and made our way to the centre of town. It was decided that since Christoph had hurt his ankle, we would take a bus sight-seeing tour around the city to see more in a smaller amount of time. The bus took us past the town hall and main market square, down to the port and then back through the town, showing us the brewery and some more beautiful old houses. I felt that the city was a bit like an open-air museum. The bus tour was lovely (if in German-Elisabeth translated for me!), and afterwards we made our way back to the brewery for a massive lunch. The serving of Rouladen was so incredibly big that I couldn't actually finish the sides of red cabbage and apple. Considering my appetite (let's just say I can eat) that is a feat. After lunch we made our way back through the town to the main market square and then to the car, where we once again started driving, this time to Schwerin (pronounced "Shver-een")
 |
| Wismar town hall |
Schwerin is a beautiful little town set inland from the coast and a only a little while from Wismar. As we pulled in to a parking lot to try to find a hotel, we passed the Schloss Schwerin (Schwerin Castle) which is a work of art and to which we would return later on to sight-see.
We ended up staying in a lovely little Pension just behind our original stop. After we unloaded our bags, we set out to explore with our first stop being the Schloss Schwerin.
 |
| Schloss Schwerin |
The castle was amazing. We didn't go inside, but the outside was enough to give us a fair impression of how opulent and beautiful the inside would be. However, the castle is not typical of Germanic architecture. It is in the middle of restoration and is being re-painted in a beautiful yellow colour similar to that of the castles in Austria. With over 600 rooms and beautiful gardens, it was incredible.
We wandered around the castle through the gardens before heading towards the centre of town, passing some more beautiful buildings on the way. If you're a fan of old, stone architecture, then this city would be right up your alley. Once again it felt a bit like an open-air museum. We continued wandering for a little while, making our way to one of the many lakes that surrounds the town
and then to a Greek restaurant. I didn't believe that I was that hungry having had such a large lunch, but I soon proved myself wrong. After a delicious dinner we made our way back to the Pension, relaxing and watching television (the search for Germany's next super-brain" and some ridiculously confident/arrogant young people) until eventually falling asleep later on.
 |
| Schloss Schwerin gardens |
The next morning we awoke and had another nice breakfast (German people do breakfast really well) and then set off. We were that day headed for Rostock, a larger city on the Baltic Sea after a stop over in Bad Doberan and the area of Heiligendamm to see the resort where George Bush II caused major offence by putting his feet up on a table. It really does live up to it's name of "the White City", due to almost every building there being incredibly large and built in white stone. Being a resort city we only spent a small amount of time there before heading in to Rostock for lunch.
 |
| The Baltic Sea |
Rostock was again a slightly larger town situated on the Baltic Sea. We arrived and parked the car, and then set off to explore and find a nice place for lunch. We wandered down the boardwalk and settled on a Greek restaurant right on the beach-front. After another big lunch we set off walking again. We made our way down to and wandered along the Port before heading into the older part of town (The Oldstadt) and then making our way back to the car.
We had decided that morning that instead of continuing our travels in the North Eastern part of Germany we would return home that evening and then travel to a different destination the next day which I was quite happy about as it meant that we would be going along the autobahn, one of Germany's finest inventions (in the opinion of a car-lover). On the autobahn, unless it is signposted the speed is unlimited, so you drive to the road conditions. As conditions were good, this meant some lovely, spirited driving and we returned home to Neuss in the evening of Friday the 17th.
 |
| Rostock Port Area |
We went inside and I was shown to my room, a lovely converted attic space, and fell asleep later that evening, ready for the next day's travels. Since those travels were to a completely different destination, I will leave this blog post here! No, there will be no hint. You'll just have to read on and find out *smiles*
Until next time,
Love Love!
Clem xx
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