We have a new friend - barmaid Howrie!

Writing the blog sober can sometimes be a little of a chore.
Writing the blog while pissed as a fart is  . . .  a challenge.
So I didn't try to write the blog last night - hence me writing this morning!


The day started out well enough - with breakfast as we planned a day sightseeing in Göteborg.  Now Göteborg is a very walkable city.  It is predominantly flat and right on the coast with a significant harbour, with a few canals leading from the harbour in to the City.


The Scandic Crown Hotel is inner city - just beyond the Central Rail Station. The concierge at the desk here provides some advice on getting right in to the historic areas.  Walk around the station and through Nordstan, a 'Westfield style' shopping mall right in the centre of the CBD.  would you believe that in the month that we have been in Europe, this is the first shopping centre that we have been in.  And you will all be proud of us - despite all the 'Sale' signs in windows, we bought nothing!  To get to the historic areas of the City, we need to get beyond Nordstan, and the fastest way to do it is through it.

On the other side, we come out in an area of narrow cobbled streets radiating in a grid pattern out from the significant Gustaf Adolf’s Square facing the Rådhuset (Town Hall) with a canal running along one side - complete with picture pretty bridges lined with flower pots.

Our first building visit is in to The German Church which its also called Christinae Church. Named after Queen Christina, it was inaugurated in 1748, and used by he German and Dutch congregation in Gothenburg. While there are some ornate decorations, in the chandeliers and the windows, predominantly it is simple and basic and filled with light.


Crossing the canal brings us into closer quarters, with narrower streets, many of them pedestrianised so we don't need to be watching for vehicles quite so diligently.  It gives us a chance to look at doorways and rooflines and into the minutae of daily life here in Göteborg.


We are now close to the main canal and the city park and notice the spire for the Domkyrkan - the Cathedral.  We had a little difficulty getting in initially, turns out they are preparing for a radio broadcast on today, Sunday 8 September.  The original church on this site was consecrated in 1633 and following two fires, this final Cathedral was built in 1815. It is plainer than many we have seen.

We are headed to the Saluhallen, the Market Hall in Göteborg. This is the largest indoor market, and significantly nicer that the two outdoor markets we have seen thus far today.  When you enter in through the double doors,your senses are assailed in the very best of ways.  There are foods of all descriptions - smallgoods, cheeses, fruit and vegetables, sweets and nuts, meats, home-made pastas, cooked meals.  Only one fishmonger - and really they only had prawns and salmons plus sauces and salads.  Turns out that the City of Göteborg has its own fish markets down near the harbour.


Back into the sunshine - it is warm and lovely until the sun disappears behind a cloud and the wind picks up!  Across the next canal towards Kungsparken (Kings Park) we see further evidence of the regal presence in the city of the past.
At this point, Donna tells me we are not too far from the Haga district, the oldest quarter.  "How far is not far?"  "Only about 1.5 kms"  "Too far", was my response! Time to put the tram tickets we have bought to use.  Soon to the tram we go to visit the Haga district.  The first thing that we tend to notice are the rooflines - and that includes the spires and towers of the various churches.  There is no reason that the Haga should be any different!
At first we cannot get in to the Church as there is a service in progress.  Turns out the service is a wedding.  

I join the locals taking the sun, sitting in the beautiful little park adjacent to the church while Donna takes a walk down to see how close she can get to the Fish Markets we could see from the tram stop.  Like many other cities, there are significant road works being undertaken here and this means long detours around said works!
She comes back via some of the traditional half timbered houses that exist only in the Haga district now.  And like the main city area, some of the cobbled streets have been closed to traffic to allow safe access by pedestrians and bikes and cycles.

The bells were ringing (for me and my girl) as the newly wedded couple leave the church.  We come up to the doors as one of the church officials comes to the door, telling us we can only have five minutes as they are closing the church.  Quite a number of people follow us in! Church done, we head off to find one of the best examples of restored buildings in this area. We find a couple, unsure of which is the exact building in a row that all demonstrate some special features.

Our day is done.  My feet are done.
So it is back to the tram and back to the Scandic Crown.
After walking just over 5km (tram rides extra) we deserve a drink.

Howrie, bar tender of the day, helps us to make sure that we celebrate appropriately!
A few drinks later, we ask for Cointreau on ice.  She has never served Cointreau before and has to search the register to find the button!!
Its about now that she delivers a smallgoods tray to us.  Not sure if it was in recognition of our patronage or to ensure we eat something as we drink!  Who cares, was delicious.
She tells us that Göteborg can get as low as minus 20 degrees in winter and that in a heavy snow, the whole public transport network closes down.
She also tells us that limes are the most expensive fruit - even more so than mangoes,and that she would give anything to have a lime tree in her yard.  Turns out they sell at about 3 for 70 SEK.  That makes them about $3 each!

An early night follows - we needed it!

Sibiu - where the walls have ears and the roofs have eyes

Sibiu is a city of superlatives, recording many firsts in this part of Europe. 
The first hospital, the first library, the first school, the first pharmacy, the first paper mill, the first book store, the first theatre building, the first museum, the first cast iron bridge, the first mental illness hospital, the first whole Romanian capital bank, the first spring factory, the first beer factory, the first balance factory, the first tool factory, the first hydropower plant, the first Zoo garden, the first open-air cinema in Romania.

The first archives, the first folkloric ensemble, the first printing press in Transylvania and the first book in Ardeal having been printed here and the first newspaper in Transylvania.

The first mountain resort, the first encyclopedia in Romania was published, the oldest lightning protector in South Eastern Europe was installed near Sibiu, the first Museum of Natural History in Romania, the first city in Transylvania with a public lighting powered by electric power and the first electrical means of public transportation. Konrad Haas experimented the first stage rocket in the world near Sibiu. Sibiu proved to be a pioneer, a city with an accentuated innovative spirit due to its people and to the historical context.

So much for the boasting! Sibiu is also a city of beauty, a place to behold.  I never get jaded of being immersed in the ages of old!

As we had arrived in Sibui late yesterday, we could afford a little sleep in - breakfast was not served until 8 am. I am trying to eat lightly, but Michael is enjoying the full array of offerings.  This morning it was wurst (like frankfurter) and mustard along with his scrambled eggs and cheese.  We are only a few minutes to the old centre, but have trouble parking at first because the streets around here are filled with churches and as it is Sunday, the worshippers are being called to services!

St Frances doesn't abandon us altogether, and we find a spot between the lower town and the upper town. 4 Lei later (about $1.30) and we have a parking chit to cover us not only for today, but tomorrow also!

We head for the amazing tessellated spire that we first see when we turn away from the crooked and seemingly part finished roofs of the old town. We find out that this is the Lutheran Evangelical Church - which is closed to visitors for the moment due to the weekly service for locals. And while the service is on inside, there is another preaching happening under the watchful eye of the former Bishop Teutsch! Never mind, we have all day, so will see it on the way back to the car.

Along a cobbled street, through an arch and we find ourselves in the Piata Mare - the Big Square - oh, and look - there is that international sign the fabulous i. So Michael dashes in to get a map - but no directions!  Never fear, Cosmir, a local Police Officer comes to our rescue with some directions and a lovely chat. We tell him how much we are loving Romania in general and our first impressions of Sibiu. He moans that it is a very expensive place to live thanks to the impacts of the year round tourists. I console him with the thought that if you have to pick somewhere to live,it might as well be this beautiful. He wishes us a great holiday and we leave him to his duties.

He also shares a little piece of information not seen in the tourist literature - the 'Blue House' in the photo above this one was the headquarters for the Gestapo in Romania during WWII.  And because of this, there was almost no bombing here in Sibiu - all the architecture survived unscathed.  The cost of housing the enemy :(

"You must see the museums," he said, "they are excellent". And yes, excellent they are. The Brukenthal Museum houses the National Art Gallery and has more than 800 paintings in 13 galleries in this former palace. Remember how Sibiu had the first electric public lighting - well, it began with this building. With parquet floors that creak with every step, there is not a single nail or screw to be seen. There are painted and silk lined walls and crystal chandeliers everywhere - a truly amazing sight. But that artwork - sorry we could not photograph that - it was amazing - much of it religious in nature and dating back to the 13th Century. Still so vibrant and with nuances of light and shade giving such depth and body.

Other displays included one on the "Ball" and the history of Dance Cards, the Plaster Casts display, the Romanian Folk Art Gallery, the Lapidairie Medieval (masonry and capping stones from graves), and Prints and Drawings - truly fascinating.

Back down in the cooler courtyard, Michael pets one of the biggest cats we have ever seen - this one is particularly for you  Gen!

We next turn to the Blue House which dates back to the early 17th century. It now houses offices and workshops for the Brukenthal Museum AND a display on the Bibles owned by Simon von Brukenthal. The oldest  one dates back to 1478 and has illuminated capitals - something of which Brukenthal was very proud. He sent his agents to all the book sales of Europe to secure bibles, some costing more than an average person's annual income.

Back out in the Square, its a toss up for a coffee or the Catholic Church - coffee wins!  It is almost midday and something light to eat is on the menu.  Like yesterday, seating in the shade at a restaurant is a thing to be coveted. Luckily, we spy a party vacating their table and make a bee-dive. And Dani, the poor waiter in our section at 'Monsieur Joban -exceptionalle existent' is run off his feet. We order two iced coffees and a cheese plate to share.  I can't help but notice that the owner is in place today and watching with his eyes everywhere.  Once we have finished and ask for the bill, he comes over to check that we were happy with our meal.  Yes, we really were!

Over to the Catholic Parish Church next, and the smell on incense will always remind me of weekly mass as a child. Almost gagged on it back then, but now it has a reassuring familiarity. This church is built in the baroque style as many in Europe are - a sense of grandeur at a fraction of the cost of the real thing! Its funny how a camera finds light that the eyes can't.  This church was much darker than the camera depicts, but every bit as grand.

Just along the street, Michael makes a visit up one of the gate towers - as he does.  The photos over the square and the upper and lower towns are fantastic as usual - gotta love the rooftop shots! And a pigeon and her chicks have taken shelter in one of the gun slits!

We continue to explore the streets and squares, thankful that it is a little cooler at about 29 degrees. We stumble into Piata Mica (the Little Square) and finally  Piata Huet after crossing the Bridge of Lies.  We find the tradesmens house - complete with a couple of young tradesmen sitting in an upstairs chamber, on the windowsill in the cool.  Beneath them is a sample of the blacksmith's trade.

This brings us full circle back to the Evangelical Cathedral with that amazing roof.

Again,the camera lies - this church is even darker and danker than the catholic one. And just a little bit creepy.  The walls are lined with family plaques - I guess the higher they were placed, the more important the family was!  Some are indeed very high.  And some were almost too gothic in nature - including this one filled with corpses.  Social history at its best!  The main aisle has been worn with the foot treads of the faithful over many many years - to the point where it is actually a concave floor that you need to walk in carefully.  The pew ends are polished smooth with the hands of the faithful too.

And the best part of all - according to Michael - this one has a tower to climb too - complete with bells!
And the view over the roofs of Sibiu - and the crossed nave of the church below!

Late in the afternoon, we travelled a mere 54 kms to the Complex Europa Touristica just outside Cartisoara ready to tackle the Transfagarasan Highway tomorrow.  With the return of the weekend traffic towards Bucharest, it took us almost 90 minutes! Yes, bumper to bumper like the trip from the Sunny Coast back to Brisbane on a Sunday afternoon.

Simple lodgings reminiscent of a hostel - all raw timber with a stream rushing below our balcony, and the Carpatian Mountains at our backs.  The clouds were rolling in as we drove here and as I get ready to post this and go down for dinner, the rain has started.  Hope it clears for tomorrow!

Ulm - from disaster to fantastic

We made a good start towards Ulm this morning, getting away just before 11 am. After changing our minds, we are travelling towards Stuttgart along the motorway. This one is still being built and we often are turning into re-directed lanes that snake from one side of the road to the other. Then as if to laugh at our decision to take the fast route, we find ourselves coming to an almost screaming halt about 40 minutes into the trip and for the second time in a few months, we are being held up by a burning truck. It is about 800 metres from where we are and there are about 40 cars between us and it. Everyone rushes to pull to the outer edges of the lanes leaving space for the emergency vehicle (that we know will come) to travel down the centre between us. They do come eventually, but are travelling down the other side of the barrier.
This time the truck is carrying palleted goods, and boy, do they burn. The smoke starts thick and black and for a while we can’t even see the traffic lined up in the other direction. Then the smoke clears to white before a very loud explosion signals the petrol tank going and again the smoke turns black. The roads workers have a back hoe and they are trying to pull the burning load off the truck bed, but every time they move it, it allows more air in to the fire and up she goes again.

One police car,
1 fire truck, 2 fire truck, 3 fire truck, 4.
5 fire truck, 6 fire truck, gosh, do we need more?!
1 fire chief, 1 ambulance make up the score!
And foam, lots of foam seems to be the answer.

An hour after we first stop, the traffic in the opposite direction is led slowly past us by the fire chief. We however are still at a dead stop. They will need to clear some of the debris and much of that foam before we can move. The traffic from the opposite direction has now cleared and there is no more coming passed so we can only assume that they are diverting the traffic at the next junction. Behind us, the traffic stretches for kilometres – as far as we can see. Too bad there is not a spot to turn and re-trace our steps back to the last exit, although that was miles back.

It is 1¾ hours before we move. Once we get near the mess that was once a truck, the roads crews have forced open the barrier between the traffic lanes so we can cross to the other side and then a little later cross back in again. We reach the next exit about 3 kilometers further down the road and see that they are indeed diverting the traffic in the other direction. It is crawling at a snail's pace - much slower than we are going because they are being forced onto much smaller roads. And even though it is moving, the queue is a further 8 kilometres long!

We finally arrive at Ulm at 3 pm after crossing the Danube River. There is quite a haze covering the whole city and I guess that where there are industries, by the end of the week there is going to be some build up of pollution. Its a real pity because the countryside is lovely and green and the autumn leaves colour the landscape with a kaleidoscope of colours that is so different to the myriad of greens we saw here in the summer. We had come through here in July and had a very quick look at the Ulm Cathedral – just long enough to know that we wanted to come back and see more. Once we find our way into one of the underground car parks we head first for the Town Hall just off the main square.

This is one impressive building! Part is set with gothic windows and the surrounding walls are decorated with sculptures. But the north and east facades are covered most wondrously with paintings depicting human virtues and vices. The south east corner has a magnificent embedded oriel window and there is a pulpit of homage and an astronomical clock - and it dates back to 1491. Well sort off. It was destroyed by bombing in 1944 and rebuilt to the original plans and decorations in 1951.

There is the impressive 'Syrlin Fountain' of which we can just glimpse the top as is has been shuttered over for winter. We later find another in the courtyard of the police headquarters that was once the 'Neu Building' where the Swabian circle sat. (regional council)

The Cathedral too is an amazing building and boasts being the world's tallest church. We have seen some tall ones including Notre Dame, Cologne and Salisbury but this one really does take the cake. Check it out here. Michael is determined to climb the 768 steps to have a look today. When he comes back down, he tells me that he actually counted 772 steps.

Begun in 1377, it grew from small cathedral to grander and grander until all works were halted in 1534 with the arrival of the reformation. Work did not start again until the 1840s and the cathedral was not completed in its present form with the spire and twin towers until 513 years later in 1890! It is filled with stained glass windows from across the centuries, a 15th century tri- polytryptic altar and the most amazing carved choir stalls. And the views out over the twin cities of Ulm and Nue-Ulm from the steeple are fantastic as you can see!

By the time Michael gets down from his climb up the steeple it is 4:45 pm and the light is very quickly fading. We stop for a hot chocolate and coffee because with the dimming light, the temperature is heading south very very quickly! Then we walk around to the Fisherman’s Quarter. This quaint reminder of days past houses narrow little streets and crooked little half-timbered houses that were once the residences of local fishermen and boatmen who shipped goods and emmigrants to Hungary and other eastern Europe destinations.

Very foggy tonight and leaving Ulm I have programmed Kate to take us on the fastest route to 'home' - Steph and Felix's in Schwäbisch Gmünd. I though that this would have been motorway and major roads, but no, it is on back lanes through small villages, up hill and down dale - and all at a crawl - sometimes we are only going at 40 kph - all because of the thick enveloping fog. And it did not help that we climbed up and over the northern most tip of the Schwäbian Jura mountains in that fog - round and round the hairpins. Gosh, what a day!

Its great to see Steph again. She looks really well and a holiday in the States recently has given her a little colour. She has cooked a stir fry for dinner with VEGEs. Yum. We sit over a meal and shared bottle of red chatting about all that we have seen and done since re left here in July. Gosh it really has been a trip and a half. It is as cold as here - only 3 degrees outside. Thankfully, the heating is on and we warm up pretty fast.