Trippin' Archives - Page 3 of 15

Český Krumlov

July 8, 2016 by Dee

I guess for any Antipodean or American whose [colonial] national history is ridiculously short compared to the histories of Europe there’s an aesthetic about these historic places that’s really compelling. The sights I’ve seen have left me pretty much agape for the majority of my time in the Czech Republic. (Keep your eyes peeled for the Polish and Hungarian photos too… my jaw has been dropped most of this last section of my trip).

An offhand comment from a friend about this medieval city south of Prague set me off on a google quest to find it and here it is, Český Krumlov a UNESCO World Heritage site in the crook of the Vltava River (yep the same one that bisects Prague). And as the pictures attest, it is divine.

I had the good fortune (completely coincidentally) to be there the weekend of the Five Petalled Rose Celebrations, an annual event to celebrate the Renaissance Period (my favourite) so the town, bathed in gorgeous sunny weather (except on the two occasions when there were thunderstorms and horizontal rain), delightful costumes, and an abundance of period foods, events and stalls. I couldn’t have picked a better time to go… Hence the massive amount of pictures.

Truth to tell, I couldn’t have been more glad I had the chance to go visit.

Scenes on the Vltava River

The Castle Tower rising 86m above the Vltava River

Tower of St. Jošt Church in Český Krumlov

The Castle Tower

The Main Town Square

St Vitus Church, Cesky Krumlov

Inside St Vitus’ Church

Castle Walls

Castle Gardens

Castle Walls

Townscape

Castle Tower

Cesky Krumlov

Castle Walls

Tower of St Jost Church

Market Stalls

Tower of St Jost Church

Entertainers!

Sunset over the Brewery Eggenberg (mmmm beeer)

Spectators at the Tournament

The Tournament Parade

Prague

July 8, 2016 by Dee

Prague has a cityscape that fairy tales are made of. Given the number of people who were clearly not from the local area, it seems everyone has heard and come to check it out.

I walked all over Prague, through the old town, along the Vltava river, up into the grounds of the castle and back to the delightful apartment I was staying in. It was hot, crowded and utterly gorgeous.

One of the highlights, and the tower from which the elevated images in the gallery below were taken was the Klementium a group of historical buildings the centrepiece of which is the baroque library hall, an image of which I’d seen online and which had captivated me. It was top of my list to visit and I wasn’t disappointed. Of course, you can’t take photos inside the Klementium, so the image below is one found courtesy of Bruno Delzant.

I had two days there, I could have walked the town twice but on day two, opted instead for a quiet spot on the banks of Shooters Island, in the middle of the Vltava River where I drank a beer or two, read a book and generally soaked up the delicious atmosphere.

Prague is beautiful, there is way too much to be seen than can be done in a couple of days!

Vltava River with the Charles Bridge

Charles Bridge

Charles Bridge with Church of St Nicholas’ dome in the background

Charles Bridge

Charles Bridge

Crawling babies sculpture by artist David Cerny

Klementium Baroque Library Hall – Image by Bruno Delzant

Prague Rooftops

Twin towers of the Tyn Cathedral

Prague Rooftops

Klementium map

Old Town Square

Old Town Square

Street Architecture

Klaus Synagogue, Prague

Charles River

From Letná Hill

Vltava River from From Letná Hill

Vltava River Bridges

Monument to Julius Zeyer, 1841-1901, Czech writer, playwright and Romantic poet, 1931, by Josef Mauder, in Chotkovy Sady or the Chotek Gardens

Prague Castle

Ball Games Hall (Míčovna)

Cathedral of Sts. Vitus, Wenceslas and Adalbert

Gargoyle – Cathedral of Sts. Vitus, Wenceslas and Adalbert

Cathedral of Sts. Vitus, Wenceslas and Adalbert

St. George’s Basilica

Steak, Potatoes and so many onions

Duck with Dumplings of all sorts. Protein and Carbs

Berlin

June 18, 2016 by Dee

Berlin has been the first city I explored on my own and it’s been an interesting experience. I chose to stay in Friedrichshain slightly out of the centre of town, and in the former Eastern part of Berlin. There’s a lot about the area that felt like Newtown in Sydney, very diverse, a little bit scrappy but it was easy to find my way around from.

I walked. Everywhere. From the first evening when I walked down to the river to check out the Oberbaum Bridge (enlarge the photo for the questionable art installation/performance in front of it) and the East Side Gallery to a 4 hour walking tour of Berlin’s highlights I ended the day footsore and happy to have seen as much as I did in so short a time.

It’s a city with a long and fascinating history.

And questionable weather as you can see from the pics.

The East German Ampelmännchen (traffic light men)

Oberbaum Bridge it links Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg, former boroughs that were divided by the Berlin Wall

East Side Gallery

View from the train

Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral)

Alte Nationalgalerie (Old National Gallery) Museum Island, Berlin

Gardens at Alte Nationalgalerie (Old National Gallery) Museum Island, Berlin

Rebuilding a replica of City Palace, Berlin

Dome of the Neue Synagoge

Fernsehturm de Berlín

Neue Wache (translation New Guardhouse) a memorial to all victims of war and tyrrany

After German reunification, the Neue Wache was again rededicated in 1993, as the “Central Memorial of the Federal Republic of Germany for the Victims of War and Dictatorship.” At the personal suggestion of Chancellor Helmut Kohl, the GDR memorial piece was removed and replaced by an enlarged version of Käthe Kollwitz’s sculpture Mother with her Dead Son. The pietà-style sculpture is directly placed under the oculus, and so is exposed to the rain, snow and cold of the Berlin climate, symbolizing the suffering of civilians during World War II.

Neue Wache

Entrance of Unter den Linden Equestrian statue of King Frederick II of Prussia

Humboldt University bordering Babelplatz – site of the one of the infamous Nazi book burnings

Humboldt University

A memorial to the Nazi book burning by Micha Ullman set into the Bebelplatz.

St Hedwig’s Cathedral, Babelplatz

Random Street Scene, Berlin

Französischer Dom (French Cathedral) 1701 to 1705 for the Huguenot (Calvinist) population

The Opera House on Gendarmenmarkt between the French and German Churches

Deutscher Dom (German Church) or The Neue Kirche (English: New Church

Checkpoint Charlie

Random Berlin Wall

Detlev-Rohwedder-Haus – Houses the Bundesministerium der Finanzen once the largest office complex in Europe

Detlev-Rohwedder-Haus – Houses the Bundesministerium der Finanzen

Max Lingner GDR era mural inside the Detlev-Rohwedder-Haus

Max Lingner GDR era mural

Monument to the Uprising of 1953 in East Germany

Sculpture of Georg Elser Hitler’s lone would be assassin

Fuhrerbunker Site – so well build multiple attempts to destroy the bunker failed so it was filled in and is now parked on

Sobering Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

Brandenburg Gate shrouded for the main event of the European Cup Soccer

Brandenburg Gate

River Spree with the New Synagogue backgrop

Fernsehturm de Berlín

Fountain in Alexanderplatz

Alexanderplatz and the Fernsehturm de Berlín

Fernsehturm de Berlín

Bremen

June 17, 2016 by Dee

I probably wouldn’t have thought to go to Bremen if I didn’t have someone to visit there, J is one of those internet type friends who also used to blog on the site on which the first iteration of this blog appeared (cough) 12 years ago… and we’ve followed each other’s stories since then; on our blogs, and then on Facebook as the members of that community have gradually congregated there as well.

I had found a delightful place to stay via Airbnb in the old quarter called the Schnoor and the climb up the stairs to my attic bedroom with my 17kg bag was an adventure in itself… J and I spent the evening drinking good German beer, wandering around the city and the following day had a lovely cruise up the Weser river to Bremerhaven. In Bremerhaven we visited the Klimahaus an interactive/immersive museum experience that chronicles a journey around the world, always following the 8th degree of longitude. Here are pics of the kind of stuff we saw there (which I didn’t take as you aren’t allowed to take pics inside). We caught the train home, watched Wales win a match in the European Cup, and ended out the evening by visiting the Bremen Town Musicians. A fitting end for a great day :D

The delightful home I stayed in via Airbnb

My attic bedroom

The Schnoor – the neighbourhood I stayed in

Public Art in the Schnoor

Walking along the edge of the Weser river

Bremen Cathedral dedicated to St Peter

Rathaus in Bremen

Statue of Roland dating back to 1404 making it the largest free-standing statue of the German Middle Ages.

Böttcherstraße

Entrance to Böttcherstraße: Lichtbringer (“Bringer of Light”) by Hoetger, April 1936

Böttcherstraße

Haus des Glockenspiels (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glockenspiel_House) at the Böttcherstraße

The Sögestrasse (Pigstreet) is marked with the pig herder statue at its entrance

The Main train Station in Bremen

Park Hotel in the Burgerpark (Citizen’s Park)

Scenes from the Weser River cruise from Bremen to Bremerhaven

U-boatbunker “Valentin” – made to build U Boats but none were ever made there it wasn’t finished before the war ended – built using forced labour/prisoners of war