Tim and Jayne's Adventure Germany II: 2013

In September Tim's Dad and his longtime girlfriend, Joanne, visited us in Germany. This was the first trip to Europe for both of them.......

Herzlich Wilkommen

The first weekend here we took them on a castle/palace tour.....

Saturday
First stop - Schloß Weißenstein in Pommersfelden, Bavaria This palatial building was built as a summer residence in 1718 and remains in the same family - the Schönborn's.

This palace also contains the largest private
Baroque art collection in Germany

Next stop - Schloß Seehof in Memmelsdorf, Bavaria. It was built as a hunting lodge in 1696 and was used by the Prince Bishops of Bamberg. During the 18th century, the palace garden was one of the most famous Rococo gardens in Germany. About 400 stone figures and benches were placed in the garden - only a few remain.

Next.....Schloß Greifenstein. It is a castle nestled in the mountainous area called Franconian Switzerland and located just north of where we live. Since 1691 it has been in the seat of the noble family Schenk von Staufenberg, although this lovely Gothic castle that was first noted in 1172.

As this castle is nestled into the hill, we couldn't get a good picture of the whole building, but here is one from the internet...

Of course, the day ended with a visit to Adlitz Biergarten for a 'bier' and a typical Franconian meal....

Joanne chose Schäufele and Kloß (a potato dumpling)

Schäufele - in Franconia the meat, the pork rind and the bone are scratched in a criss-cross-pattern, seasoned with salt, pepper and caraway and put in a casserole dish with diced root vegetable and onions where it is overpoured with beer and roasted in the oven for about two or three hours. The roast is ready as soon as the meat is easy to dissolve from the bone and the pork rind is crispy and golden brown. Umm, umm good! Just ask Joanne.

Sunday
First stop...Hetzles! A gorgeous little village, about 10 km east of Erlangen. I call it the half-timber house town.

Then a quick, healthy snack, at the local biergarten.
Jack chose the apfelstrudel mit eis und sahne.

(next stop was the flughafen - airport - where we had to drop of Tim as he had to go to Barcelona for a couple of days)

We then went to Schloß Cadolzburg, a castle first mentioned in the history books in 1157. As I sat in the sun waiting, Jack and Joanne went off and wandered around the castle grounds.

Cadolzburg Castle

As I was still in a cast, I couldn't give them the 'A' list tour around Erlangen and Nürnberg, so we got them on the train and off they went to see the sights of Nürnberg on their own.

We also went on a 10 day road trip covering 2357 km taking us from Erlangen to........ Here is our Route

...first stop.... Pilzen in the Czech Republic (CZ) - home of the original pilsener beer, where you can have a.....

...Beer Spa!!!
Bathtubs are filled with a special beer bath that consists
of a special batch of Pilsener beer and other ingredients,
its initial temperature is set on 35 °C. At your disposal,
there is a wooden barrel of Purkmistr lager – a genuine Pilsener,
from which you can drink as much as you like.

We then headed to our hotel for the night. It is an old Chateau...

Hotel Bykov Chateau Farm,
located just outside the village of Hromnice which is about 16 km north of Pilsen.

Built in 1704 by the Order of Cistercians
and recently renovated into a hotel.

Dining Room
We had an amazing meal - true Czech food.

View from bedroom window !

Breakfast room.

...second stop....Prague, CZ, via hrad Karlštejn - Karlstejn Castle. It is one of the most visited castles in the Czech Republic. Jack and Joanne went for the tour but were a bit disappointed.

Karlstejn Castle

Then......Prague. We rented a 2 bedroom apartment for 3 nights.

Luckily, my wheelchair was delivered the same day as we left home.
So now I was going to be able go with everyone instead of
having to stay close to home (I couldn't walk very far with my crutches).

Our visit to Prague was perfect timing for Tim and I to meet up with our wonderful friends from Horseshoe Valley, Brenda and Dale Derbyshire. They had just finished a Vienna to Prague cycling trip with friends. So we had a wonderful afternoon and evening together, talking, laughing, drinking and eating. Oh, how we miss them.

Jayne and Brenda

Tim and Dale

St Vitas Cathedral

Main Square in Prague

We went into this chocolate shop and this lovely employee shood Tim off and gave me a private tour of the shop.
He was wonderful.

Vltava River and Charles Bridge

Astrological Clock at night.

....next stop...Verona, Italy with an overnight stop in Sankt Kanzian, Austria. The drive was much longer than Google Maps told me and it rained the whole time - poor Tim, who did all the driving.

The Patrie Family

Jack ordered a Caesar Salad
Look at the size of the bowl!!!!

...Verona, Italy... Here we rented a 2 bedroom apartment in the suburbs of Verona, for 4 nights.

Day 1 - Discovering Verona

Old streets of Verona.

Roman Arena in Verona.
Built in AD 30

Now being used for Operas

Beautiful!

Sooo Italian!

Hummmmm!

Day 2 - Day tripping to Venice

Day 3 - Meandering around the Valpolicella Wine region.

We were lucky enough to be there during the harvesting of the grapes.
Something we haven't seen before.

Gorgeous Chateau

Heading up to San Giorgio

San Giorgio - absolutely gorgeous!!!

...next stop (Jayne's birthday)...somewhere near Lake Como.....ahhhh Chiavenna, Italy!! But first a birthday lunch in Dervio on Lake Como.

Birthday lunch on Lake Como.

Yum, yum - Tim's pizza

Chiavenna is an open air museum. Walking along the streets of the centre, you see how it has lived a past rich in history and generous in making the palaces with rich facades beautiful, doors in soapstone and squares with splendid fountains. Along the town’s streets and through the itinerary of the parks you can taste the traditions of a valley on the border of the Alpine passes that separate Italy from the heart of Europe.

Chiavenna, Italy

Old town centre.....

Chiavenna....

Buying wine! Really?

Mountain side houses

...our final day took us through an absolutely gorgeous mountain pass - Splügen Pass. It was a very very windy road with many tunnels. Over the mountains and into Switzerland.