Reunion and more - Germany & Czech Republic

[OZDUCK]

OK - another much delayed installment - only possible as I need to rest my back during the afternoon.

The next day we went to Wuppertal a city of about 355,000 people only around 30 minutes from Dusseldorf by S Bahn. It is not a particularly attractive city having been heavily bombed in WW2. Much of it was obviously rebuilt in a hurry. But what we went see had survived the war basically undamaged. And that was the Schwebebahn! For those who don't love glorious engineering achievements of the late 19th/early 20th centuries this part is not for you.

Wuppertal Schwebebahn - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

At each end of the 13.3 km line there are machinery houses where the carriages turn around 180 degrees.



The drivers cab is at the front so there is little to see forwards. However the back seats get a fabulous view over the River Wupper.







Part of the line runs down the main street and you pass very close to the buildings.







There was a famous incident in 1950 when a baby elephant was given a ride to publicise the arrival of a circus. Part way through the trip the elephant panicked, broke out of the carriage and fell into the river. Luckily it was unhurt and lived for many more years. We bought a children's book about the incident for our grandkids. It is charming and funny. There is a small statue of the elephant set on a stone in the river but we didn't spot it.

 

[woodyren]

Just found your TR. Been so busy on our travels and compiling my own TR that I haven't been following all the other topical or interesting things on AFF forums. Once we get home I will be catching up with all.

 

[OZDUCK]

OK - we have now been back a few days so I can restart this TR. Especially as I will not be going out for a few more days as I have now tested positive for Covid. So far just a like an unpleasant but not very serious cold. I obviously picked it up during the last few days in Germany.

 

[OZDUCK]

So back to Dusseldorf. I have to admit that this city is not one of my favourite places that I have visited in Germany. There are a couple of nice areas but in general it just did not strike a sympathetic chord with me.

One of these interesting spots is the MedienHafen which has been created at one of the old river quaysides

From the Rhine Tower

 

[OZDUCK]

The MedienHafen also has a bit of the 'Gehry's'. Not as impressive to me as Bilbao but still interesting - and not the last one we will see on this trip.















A bitt of maintenance is called for

 

[OZDUCK]

From the Rhine Tower with its viewing platform at 168 metres.

The low water state of the Rhine can be easily seen from this height.





The Rhine Promenade



The Brown Clock Tower in the middle distance is the HBF





The smoke stacks are a reminder of what the Rhine Valley was famous for in the past

 

[OZDUCK]

The Altstadt gets very busy from the late afternoon on - a few hours after this photo was taken



Later on it became more like this.



There is a "Japanese Quarter" in Dusseldorf which contains the largest population of Japanese in Germany. We had a meal there. Perfectly fine but not a lot different in taste to what I have had in Australia.





We were seated by the bar. I guess some of you will recognise these brands - Suntory is all I knew

 

[OZDUCK]

Now for some more photos around Dusseldorf

There are 10 of these Säulenheiligen statues around Dusseldorf. "the artist, Christoph Pöggeler, wanted to create life-sized statues that represented everyday normal people" We didn't see all of them.



An interesting 'green' building. It is the "largest green facade in Europe". The new green heart of Düsseldorf - ubm magazin.





The Old Town Hall



The Königsallee - lined with high end shops







And good for thirsty dogs

 

[OZDUCK]

A final photo of The Königsallee




Some more of the food we ate.

We took a random tram ride and hoped off at an interesting spot. The suburban hotel turned out to be a good Greek Restaurant. Very popular with the locals and with huge serves - many of the customers were talking home doggy bags. There was also a Greek Salad with the meal.





For the carnivores. Run by a Croatian who had once played Serie A football in Italy.





We had a fish meal on the Rhine Promenade. I eat far, far more fish in Europe than in Australia.



The Gosch-Teller



My Labskaus. This is apparently a North German favourite. It features a sort of Corned Beef Hash. I tried it on the principle that I didn't have a clue what it was so I should try it once. It was very - hearty.



There was always a large flock of sheep on the far bank of the Rhine



And finally a photo of a sign from Dusseldorf that didn't really surprise me. It is far from my favourite place in Germany.

 

[OZDUCK]

We did a day trip to Cologne. Unfortunately there was a bit of rain around at times so we didn't see as much as we hoped.

Just in case you weren't sure were you were and what is the most famous local product..



The famous cathedral is literally on the doorstep of the HBF - of course with these buildings maintenance work is ongoing









Inside.



We both had trouble trying to capture the various windows in their full splendour. I don't know if it was because of the height of the cathedral, the strong contrast or what but most of our attempts were failures.



One of the few successes

 

[OZDUCK]

A few more of the undoubtedly magnificent cathedral







And from further away - also demonstrating how little rain there had been up until that day



The Hohenzollern Bridge - "the most heavily used railway bridge in Germany". It is also badly tainted by that ludicrous practice of putting cheap padlocks on the railings to pollute the area. The cruise boats in the foreground of the photo were not running because of the low water levels in the Rhine.



Balancing skeleton sculpture on the bridge. I cannot find any information about it.



Spaghetti Ice Cream - "vanilla ice cream is extruded through a modified Spätzle press"



The ruins of an medieval Romanesque church heavily damaged in World War II - Alte St Alban Church. Left as a memorial similar to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin. Those of you who have been to the The Neue Wache memorial in Berlin may recognise the style of these sculptures -The Grieving Parents. They were originally created by Kathe Kollwitze - who also created the original of the pietà-style sculpture in the Neu Wache





Some of the Old Town

 

[OZDUCK]

A last few of Koln. We barely scratched the surface of this city







Some of the mooring pontoons were sitting in the mud



Once again emphasising how close the cathedral is to the station.

 

[TheRealTMA]

A last few of Koln. We barely scratched the surface of this city

View attachment 293619

View attachment 293620

View attachment 293622

Some of the mooring pontoons were sitting in the mud

View attachment 293623

Once again emphasising how close the cathedral is to the station.

View attachment 293624

Love the town and the brauhauses and the fabulous home of Kölsch! Spent many days there in years gone past at the Messer.

And one of the best pieces of music ever recorded. The Köln Concert - Wikipedia

 

[OZDUCK]

Now we moved onto a city that I can unhesitatingly recommend - Muenster. Purely by accident we had booked to stay there at the busiest time of the year aa it was the weekend of the MÜNSTER MITTENDRIN (In the middle). I had wondered why accommodation seemed expensive and a bit scarce for a small city.

The city has a population of just a little over 300,000 and more than 100,000 people attended the festival so it was crowded - but fun.





It certainly felt strange to be among crowds again but everyone was light-hearted and happy. It did restrict access to places like the Domplatz but did not seriously affect our stay.

Around the city - much of the centre is pedestrian only.





St Lambert's Church



In the 16th C. these cages held the bodies of "three revolutionaries who had led one of the most brutal Protestant revolutions in history."

The Hanging Cages of St. Lambert's Church in Münster

www.amusingplanet.com

 

[OZDUCK]

More of the city


















Our hotel - Hotel Conti was directly opposite the extremely modern HBF





And we had one of those fabulous views from our room window that many on AFF are lucky enough to get

 

[OZDUCK]

Muenster is well known as a 'bicycling city'. The local authorities estimate that there are 500,000 of them for a population of 300,000. It is an extremely 'flat' city and area. It makes the notoriously flat Berlin seem mountainous by comparison.

Circling the city is the Promenade - it runs where the old city walls used to be and caters for cyclists and pedestrians. It is very busy but also very easy and safe to use. In many places there are footpaths on both sides of the bike path. The trees are Lime (Linden) Trees.





Bikes and their stands are everywhere



By the HBF is a large underground bike parking station (Radstation). It is the biggest bike garage in Germany with around 600 spaces

This is the main entrance. It was only 50 metres from our hotel doors and about 150 metres from the Promenade.



And below ground





There is a repair and hire shop there



We had booked 2 E-Bikes for what turned out to be one the most enjoyable days of our trip. They cost 25 Euros each for the day. Ordinary bikes are 9 Euro per day. Tandems, trailers etc are also for hire. Mieten | Radstation Münster We did a little over 40 km .

My wife's bike. They are in excellent condition. The only problem I had was forgetting that there was no horizontal bar when I stopped so the bike kept wanting to fall over instead of leaning against my leg. At home we normally ride our own bikes 5 or 6 days a week.

 

[OZDUCK]

The local Tourist Bureau has created lots of suggested rides. We bought a map of the one we wanted to do for 1.5 Euro. Next time we would probably ride further. The bikes had integral locks so were safe to leave parked. Stadt Münster: Münster Marketing - Bicycle capital - Bicycle tours

Ok - now for lots of photos of our day out.

Much of the day was spent on paths like these









There was probably only about 500 metres on dirt tracks






Crossing over the A1 Autobahn



Towards the end of the ride we came in through very quiet roads in the suburbs





It was Sunday and plenty of people were out for a ride with their families. Anyone of moderate fitness and normal skills would have a very pleasant day out.

 

[OZDUCK]

The first thing we came across wasn't even marked on the map. A WW1 war grave site.











There were a number of graves of Russian soldiers





There was an elderly woman leaving the cemetery as we arrived. She is obviously still caring for some of the graves and memorials.





This soldier died a long way from home

 

[OZDUCK]

Our next stop was at Haus Ruschaus - constructed in the1740's













Then onto Haus Vogeding - the first of our moated Moated Castles. Constructed in the 16th C. It is a private residence

 

[OZDUCK]

More of Haus Vogeding








We then arrived at one of the highlights of the day - Burg Hulshoff - "a closed Renaissance complex". First mentioned in the 11th C.