Water water everywhere! A day of contrasts.

The Wasserstrassenkruez or Water Bridge just outside Madgeburg in Germany sent the email world into hoax spins a few years ago when people queried the legitimacey of the photos that were being circulated. But now, as then, this is very definitely a real resource.

It compares with the Falkirk Wheel that we saw earlier this year in Scotland in terms of ingenuity and actually performs almost the same function - well, they both serve to minimise the number of locks on their water courses and to transport ships and boats far more cost effectively than the alternatives! We had been through here once before in August (on our way to Paris to collect Helen) and although we could see it above us, we were obviously in the wrong spot as we could not find our way through the huge fence. With directions from the staff at the Hotel Sachsen Anault though we find it easily from Barleben near Madgeburg. As we drive towards the River Elbe on the motorway we can see the canal (although it doesn't really look any different to another bridge of sorts) from afar.

We begin our look at this engineering marvel at the lock system that allows boats to enter and leave the canal. As the height of the canal is much higher than the previous waters, a complex system of holding ponds was created so that the water would not need to be taken from a diminshing source. There are three locks side by side and the width of the canal would easily allow two good size boats to slip by side by side very easily.

It is a truly impressive system and I only wish that there was some way that I could get in to one of the towers so that I could get a better photo of one of the paths of water flowing over the top of the other! There are plenty of photos that you can seek out elsewhere and todayis not the best of days with only one barge travelling on the canal while we are there. Not like the plethora of boats that many photos show! In the autumn chill of 6 degrees, this is one lonely place today!

We had read a little about Magdeburg Cathedral while I was researching the Water Bridge and so once we have had our fill there, we head into the centre of the City. As soon as we reach the outskirts we start to see the dichotomy of this city where the new sits proudly alongside the old, without conflict, but more with a 'what the ???' While much of the civic architecture is old, much of the housing is new. Apartments blocks sure, but at least with an effort to make it interesting with blocks of colour and great public art.

But our time here is limited as we have to drive to Wuppertal and it will take us over 3 hours. With Kate programmed for the city centre, we manage to find a parking spot (thank you Frances) in the Cathedral Square! It is a truly impressive gothic building whose towers can be seen for miles away. In fact we could see them from the motorway long before we got anywhere near the city. This Cathedral has a very interesting past - read about it here. Today it is quite an austere in first glance, but if you take a seat and quietly look around, special discrete items come to your eye. Like the ornate tomb that lies in Mary Anne's Altar in the Ernst Chapel, like the restored choir seats with their faces and scenes relating to earlier occpiers on their misericords, like the Green man and the Tree of Life - one old, one new, tying the 800 years of history relating to this church together. There is a beautiful Pieta and the tomb of King Otto I. And that is just inside. Outside is another story altogether!

The current Cathedral was built after the first cathedral burned down in the early 13th century. This one is much larger and grander. But unlike other gothic churches, there are no external buttresses supporting the walls of this church. The outside is filled with the most fantastic examples of gargoyles, grotesques and agonys. These characters take the forms of animals and people in the most wonderful poses. And then there are the finials and crenellations and parapets and quoins. Aren't they a wonderful mouthful of words - watch out my Scrabble mates, I might just use them! If you need any explanation look here.

Oh, but Magdeburg is more, so much more. It was the cross-roads of the old Roman northern and southern routes, so there are ruins of former roman settlements including statues found in niches that line the oldest garden in the city. Nearby stands the remnants of the former City walls. In the main square, the Markt, lies the outline of the former cathedral that was only discovered in recent times. At the edge of the square there is brass model of the inner city area showing the old cathedral and the new one with all the related church buildings and the other city churches as well as major civic buildings. I always love these reliefs, they visually set the place up so that you can see the relationship between them all.

Surrounding the other sides of the Markt Square are grand buildings that once formed part of the castle and today forms government offices and museums, and on the fourth side are two modern office buildings of a similar height. They are striking and coloured in shades of blues and purples, yet they blend in beautifully in the autumn air. They aslo provide a link to another striking building.

Here in Magdeburg there is another of the stunning Hundertwasser houses. This one is known as "Die Grüne Zitadelle" or The Green Citadel of Magdeburg, a large, pink building of modern architecture completed in 2005. We had hoped that we might get to see it while we are here and low and behold, there it is, peeking out from behind the earlier grand structures, just off the Markt Square. A composite structure, it houses commercial spaces, offices, a hotel and apartments.

Weaving arcades with undulating floors connect a series of inner courtyards with columned colonnades that look more mexican than anything that you would expect here. We can't resist a visit to the public toilets and are not disappointed there either - although at €1 a visit they certainly are the most expensive! There are some shops that really belong here with truly funky items and I manage to buy a few 'souvenirs' of our visit to take home. This adds to the rather small lot of mementos that we have bought!

Later than we had originally planned, we finally left Magdeburg at 3 pm. The drive over to Wuppertal was in and out of rain again. Germany is determined not to allow us to lift our mood as we leave her for the last time this trip. Wuppertal is definitely a working city and our hotel - the Art Fabrik & Hotel reflects this. Once a factory building, this funky establishment appealed to us as soon as we saw it advertised. A series of artists has been involved in the design and layout and their works are all through the hotel, including the furniture of the restaurant.

Dinner is eaten in the hotel as it is raining yet again.
Entrees:
Minestrone - Michael
Special Fleischbällchen in Tomaten-reich (Special meatballs in rich tomato) Maria
Mains:
Rolled Seezungenfilet gefüllt mit Krabben in Hummer-Soße mit Reis und Gemüse (Rolled fillet of sole stuffed with prawns in a lobster sauce with rice and vegetables) Michael
Scallopine in Weißweinsauce mit der Hand geschnittene Kartoffeln und Gemüse (Scallopine in white wine sauce with hand cut potatoes and vegetables) Maria
Dessert: we both have the Creme Caramel that is served with a vanilla custard and chocolate sauce - very nice.

Potsdam - the place of Palaces

Its time to be pushing on from Berlin. No matter which angle we have seen it from over the last few days, it really doesn't feel like a capital city with all rush and no time. It is more like Brisbane - a large country town with the added bonus of city nightlife and beautiful architecture but withough the frenetic crazy pace. Rather nice really.

We have been disappointed at the hotel - way over-priced for what you get. And I'll be letting Best Western know. Hence we are glad to be leaving - unlike our recent departure from Fancy House in Poznan! Oh Gosia, we miss you!!

We headed south to Potsdam. Before we left, we filled with petrol and put the car through a car wash - which is the only way you can wash your car in Germany - it really needed it - was looking decidedly grubby!! Petrol is costing €1.34 ($2.29) a litre at the moment - and that is cheap! Oh and guess what? This morning we discovered the Berlin traffic. Seems that they all use the Berlin Ring Road motorway. They zip around at crazy speeds despite the speed limit, dashing across three to four lanes of traffic in and out of the exits - no wonder we had such a quiet day on the suburban and inner roads yesterday! We get a bit of a giggle when within sight of those all-too-easy to recognise golden arches we see a gym title McFit - HA HA.

And we sure know that we are back in western Europe - there are all those eastern European trucks again - trumps today are Poland and Russia with a few Czech ones thrown in for good measure. The trip to Potsdam is only 40 minutes so it is an easy start to the day.

But that is where is ends. It is hard to imagine that Potsdam could be any more of a mess than any of the other city centres we have seen recently where they are undertaking roadworks - but believe me, it was. It seems that not only are they doing major roadworks, they are also replacing the tram lines AND making part of the city a pedestrianised area. Poor Kate is even starting to sound frustrated as time and time again I ignore her directions - and only because I cannot turn where she wants me because of all these works! In the end, I put her (and us) out of her misery and turn her off. But it is such a pity because there is no way that we can get a clean photo of these stunning public buildings that include the Victory Column, Nickolaikirche and the City Hall.

I spoke too soon yesterday when I commented on the favourable weather we are having in comparison to back home - it was a hot and sunny 36°C today - very hot while we are walking around! So, why Potsdam? Well, it has interests for many people from ancient history to royal history buffs to that of the end of WWII. It is now known as the town of the palaces and gardens with three quarters of the area being green spaces of parks and forests and waterways while only one quarter is urbanised. As we drive through these areas, it is cool and tranquil (away from the roadworks that is!).

In a nutshell, Potsdam was the core of the former Kingdom of Prussia and home to the Prussian Royal family, it was a bohemian community who welcomed immigrants from areas that others were shunning - France (Huguenots), Russia, the Netherlands and Bohemia. Much later, the former royal residences hosted the meetings of the Potsdam Conference from 17 July, to 2 August, 1945, where the victorious Allied leaders met to decide the future of Germany and postwar Europe in general.

As we drive through the city to get an overview, we are struck by how similar it is to Bath in Britain. The streets are wide and many are tree-lined. The buildings are predominantly neo-classical with clean lines and regular symmetrical buildings all of a uniform height and distance from the kerb. The public buildings however and the churches are definitely baroque. With all the trouble we are having just navigating through the city we opt not to park and get out here. We can only pity the local population who must be well and truly fed up.

The main reason we have come for this half day trip is to take a look at the Sanssouci Park and the royal buildings contained within. This park is world renown and for good reason. Extending over more than 142 hectares it is essentially a collection of sculptured and planed gardens, many in classic styles and former hunting woods. We see the terraced vine garden that falls away from the Sanssouci Palace, the Dutch garden the parterre garden at the Great Fountain, the Titon bridge and numerous circular flower gardens. Gosh, you would need to live here to get the best from it- exploring every little nook and cranny at a leaisurely pace. Like many other places we have been over the last 8½ months, we really need to spend more time here - but unbelievably for most of you, our time is fast ticking away. And as if to emphasise the point to us, the promise of autumn is creeping in with the leaves on some trees beginning to change colour and fall.

We need to have something to eat. The choice is limited - fast foods (wursts on rolls) or the Movenpick Restaurant. And our choice is therefore easy! Although the menu is only in German, we are quickly re-adjusting to the language.
Saltimbocca von der Putenbrust mit Salbei-Gnocchi, Pfifferlingen und geschmolzenen Tomaten (Saltimbocca of turkey breast with sage gnocchi, chanterelles and melted tomatoes) Michael
Schnitzel 'Weiner Art' vom Saalower Kräuterschwein mit Bratkartoffeln und Weißkrautsalat nach Art des Hauses (Schnitzel 'Weiner Art' of Saalower herb pork with fried potatoes and coleslaw speciality of the House) Maria

As we drive through the rest of the park we catch glimpses of Orangerie (where royal visitors and their guests were housed), the Chinese House, the sandstone balcony over the Nordic Garden from which you can supposedly see the whole park, the 17th century windmill, the Temple of Friendship and in the distance Charlottenhof Palace. This is an amazing place and even in those times of pomp and grandeur would have left anyone agog!

The statues throughout the parks are amazing too - they surely belong in one of the great art collections of Europe. But it is nice being able to see them up close and personal, to touch the marble that holds its cool depite the burning sun.

Oh, and I hope that someone remembered to turn out the lights in Italy, cos there is no-one at home - they are all here in Germany at the present.

So we leave Potsdam wishing that we had longer. As we turn out of the park area, coming through the set of lights are 5 police vehicles, lights flashing. But no ordinary vehicles - 3 armed personnel carriers one with a plough on the front, closely followed by two water cannon trucks. Michael was about to snap a pic, but we thought better of that one!

We are headed west toward Cologne but need to break the trip - at 6 hours driving it is just too long. Tonight we will stay at an outer suburb of Hannover called Wennigsen. The trip over is a breeze as we have decided to just get there and take the motorway. Oh, how I long for a convertible with the roof down as we drive along at 150 kph. There are plenty though who pass us, and quite a number of them are doing double that! Guess if they can afford big Mercs and Beamers, then they can afford the petrol that those speeds demand.

And then there is heartache (OK, maybe that is a little melodramatic!) There were two engineering marvels that I wanted to ty to see while we are in Europe - one was the Falkirk Wheel in Scotland which we saw, and the other is the Madgeburg Water Bridge. It was so tantalisingly close, yet so frustratingly far. We could see it from the motorway, exited to have a closer look and then could not find how to get to it - and Kate didn't know either. So there it is about 200 metres from us behind a huge fence and high above us. This one I would have really liked to take a cruise on - oh well, I am sure the world will not stop turning!

So tomorrow we head to Köln (Cologne) where we will catch up with our last exchange student Felicitas and her family. This was where Gen spent 3 months over Christmas in year 10. But not before we make a quick stop down the road a bit to have a look at an old timber windmill.