our last 2 days, Nuremberg, Reilingen

On our way to Reilingen, we stopped in Nuremberg to visit Barbara & Wolfgang, a couple I met in Souris at Artisans on Main in the summer. After our conversations there, they invited us to call them if we came to Nuremberg. So we did!
Went to their house for coffee and cake, visited for several hours....nice family. Their daughter Katherine was on a school exchange with a Souris boy several years ago. She got to be friends with his younger sister and now the sister - Marie-Pierre is in Germany on a private exchange for 3 months!
Nuremberg is known for the Nuremberg Trials, unfortunately the museum is closed every Tuesday, so we missed it.

Drove on to Reilingen, to the Achat Hotel. Settled in, then drove to the village to find a restaurant. Walked back in later to Insel Kreta, lovely family restaurant, they came from Crete 35 yrs ago, now have grandchildren here. Delicious. Used the sauna and hot tub downstairs.

Next morning, got bikes from the hotel and biked into Reilingen for breakfast, well breakfast as we know it is hard to find, so settled on a coffee, bananas from the grocery store and a sweet cake thing. Then biked to Hockenheim, and then Neulussheim, then Altlussheim for lunch. All villages nearby, lovely bike trails everywhere! After lunch, biked along the Rhine River for bait, back to hotel for massages before our long flights tomorrow....Pizza and salad in room for dinner. Pizza 5 Euros, Wine 5 Euros, 2 salads 4 Euros total, best deal yet! Then another sauna....great last day!

biking along Rhine

houses in Reilingen

Regensburg, Canadian Thanksgiving, Oct 14

Excited for today, we are going to meet up with Lynne, Ruth, Pat & Les, who are all on a Viking River cruise, stopping here for the day!
After breakfast we went to the grocery store to get food for our dinner, walked around old town to see the cathedral and other buildings, and saw Lynne and Ruth on their tour! Then saw Pat & Les in another group!
We met them at the Historische Wurstkuchl, sausage house, sampled their sausages, but then walked thru town to find a better place to eat. Lovely lunch and get together at Alex.... imagine, here we are all together in Germany!! Sooo fun, our parents would be so pleased.
Walked around town some more, looked in shops, had a beer break, to our apartment, then to their ship. We were able to get visitor passes and see their rooms, the dining room and the bar. Very nice, luxury ship. They are on a 15 day river cruise, so seeing lots of Europe.

Lynne & Ruth in tour group

Dirndl's

gathering at the sausage house

the 4 Sask ladies

Regensburg

in the bar, Viking boat

such a great get together!

Neuschwanstein Castle, Oberammergau, Dachau, Germany - Oct 12 - 13

Toured the Neuschwanstein Castle built by Ludwig the Mad. A 19th century Romanesque Revival palace in Bavaria. The palace was the inspiration for Disney's Sleeping Beauty castle. Ludwig died before it was completed and it has been open to the public since 1886. Way over the top!! No pictures inside....

Then drove to Oberammergau to see the beautiful houses, walked around, quaint village, amazing neatness!!

Drove to Dachau, had leftovers and fresh salad in a lovely bright room.

The next morning we toured the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site, very moving, very sad. Spent 3 hrs there, excellent museum and a very hard to watch video....horrible times....

Drove to Regensburg, into apartment in old town, "Golden Crane", found thru Home Away, on Engelburgerstrasse. The apt is all "green", all appliances are bought for their energy efficiency, they buy green energy, very simple, elegant and very well equipped! Dinner out at a Vegan Restaurant nearby, awesome pasta!

the N Castle

view from the castle

Oberammergau

Dachau sculpture

thru Switzerland, back into Germany Oct 11/13

Took the ferry across to Cadenabbia, with car, then up thru countryside along Lake Como, then north to Switzerland. There is a border here as they did not join the EU, but they didn't stop us.
Found a roadside restaurant and it was a Marche, just like in Montreal....although we failed to get the details on how they charged and we paid possibly more than any lunch we've ever had!!!! It was definitely the best sausage we have seen yet, though!!

Drove into Liechtenstein:Liechtenstein is the smallest yet the richest (by measure of GDP per capita) German-speaking country and the only country to lie entirely within the Alps. It is known as a principality as it is a constitutional monarchy headed by a prince. 

We walked around Vaduz, looking in a few shops...not the best place to shop when it's the richest country!! The art exhibit "From Monet to Picasso" that we missed at the Albertina Museum in Vienna is here! What a coincidence, but we decide our timing is not right and we had better get on the road, given the fact we don't have a home for the night.

Our drive takes us to Fussen, Germany, at the start of the Romantic Road. Stayed at Pension Carina, near Schwangau. Lovely restaurant there too.

on the ferry leaving Bellagio, it snowed overnight!

Swiss alps and snow!

Vaduz..mountains between buildings

Lake Como, Bellagio, Menaggio, Oct 9 - 10

Drove from Venice to Lake Como, Northern Italy, 300 kms this day. We had some food in our bag, wine, cheese, bread, olives, carrots, fruit, so thought we'd just stop at a park somewhere. Exit off Autobaun, not easy to find a spot, ended up finding a slab of cement, table like, all set up then realize it is probably someone's front yard. No mind, buddy came out and somehow we communicated and he said it was OK!!
Stayed in Bellagio at Casa Lory, lovely large apartment. Francesca checked us in, very mod, super clean, very European. Narrow stone roadway to get there, see photo. Walked into village to get groceries, chicken dinner.

The next morning, took ferry on foot, to Veranno, across Lake. Explored, had lunch at Nilo (so, so...), recommended in Wilkinson Guide, very rich food!
Ferry to Menaggio, but timing was bad, as everything is closed between 12:30 and 2....Wandered around, found a trail uphill, so did a little climb, then had gelato. Ferry back to Bellagio, checked out all the shops. Bellagio is more touristy, but was fun!

Bellagio

Verrano

Driving the Skoda thru the narrow road to Casa Lory. We had to pull in the mirrors to fit!!

Trees getting trimmed in square

Burano, Murano, Oct 8/13

The Islands of Burano and Murano are short ferry rides from Punta Sabbioni also, so we started our day  with Burano. Sweet, quaint island with colorful buildings. Burano is known for its Lace. Shops just opening, raining again, ducked in for a nice coffee.

Then off to Murano, known for its Glass! Blown mostly, but some fused. Tons of stuff that I know is made in China, which is sad....Tons of amazing large pieces of art, too! It's a bit overwhelming, as there are so many different shops. Spent a few hours wandering around, and then bought a bead, and a picture frame with millifiore cut pieces on it. It will be a good model for me to copy...:-), although I don't think I can get the millifiore...
Back to apartment, relax, then off on the bikes that are there for us, to check out the beach - Adriatic Sea! Pasta at restaurant for dinner...quite good....

Burano street

Burano

door covering

glass decor on a door, Murano

Murano, wow!

garden art

Murano

Venice water front

Venice - Oct 6 - 7

Stayed at apt called "Flat near beach in Punta Sabbioni" (on Airbnb), across the water from Venice. Since we had a car and there is no parking in Venice, we stayed at beach and took the ferry across.  After checking in, off to find groceries, and then had our leftovers for dinner!
Next day took ferry to Venice, walked to San Marco Square, raining & crawling with cruise ship people. Took the "Art Tour Boat" (Vaporetto dell Arte) for a tour of the Grand Canale with audio tour. Got off in San Croce, walked around, found, or actually "stumbled upon", great pizza at "Ae Oche", which we found out later was a recommended spot in our Lonely Planet book. You can't help but get lost in Venice, even with Gerry's phone map we couldn't figure out which way to go...streets are narrow, and there are sooooooo many canals, some streets just end at a door!
Walked across Rialto bridge, thru San Marco area, inside St Marks church, then ferry home.
Fish, green beans and salad in our lovely apartment.

almost flooded, sometimes it is!

amazing pizza!

Rialto bridge

Driving to Venice, Oct 5

Got our rental car, a new Skoda Yeti, with Navigation system, although it took us a week to get around to figuring how to get it to speak in English, ha, ha! We had our own GPS and used that.
600 kms over 2 days from Vienna to Venice. Had lunch in Graz, Austia. Overnight in Verlun, on Lake Worth. Lovely large apt @ Barry Memle on the lake. Last minute deal online thru booking.com, 42 Euros!! Has an indoor pool, sauna and infrared sauna, we used that. Awesome! Lovely breakfast also, which was extra. Had dinner at Fallaloon, sushi and stir fry, enough for 2 days!

Lake Worth

beautiful building in Verlun

our typical European bed, 2 single mattresses on a double bed frame, with our own duvet folded in 3. This one was very colourful! It worked well, we liked it!