Aachen shopping

Friday, 1 July

We had a day to ourselves as K and G were out for the day. We walked into town and it started raining. While we browsed in various shops it cleared up. We did some clothes shopping. In one shop called H & M the shop assistants (or one in particular) seemed very unpleasant. There was a certain queue you had to be in, it seemed. I made the mistake of queueing in the wrong one and next thing it’s “Hallo! Hallo! Herunter!” gesticulating at me wildly as if I’d tried to nick something.

I was fascinated by some one-man hotdog sellers who carried them around and set up anywhere by supporting the ‘servery’ on a pole. There was also someone cycling around on a small bicycle contraption with storage for cold drinks on the back and giving them out free.

We looked at music shops. I bought two more CDs – Tanzwut and Corvus Corax. We had lunch in a backerei but Chloe insisted on having McDonalds – omg. Junkfood freak.

Later we had coffee in shop near Elisebrunnen (above) a neo-classical building housing a hot-water spring – Aachen being a spa town.

We walked back about 5-ish. We saw a red squirrel on our way home – first time the girls had ever seen one – either wild or in captivity.

G was home. We ate pizza for dinner then caught a bus back into town to listen to Joe Cocker who was singing near the Dom.

"1. Juli 2005
Joe CockerSupport: Todd Sharpville Band
Beginn: 19.30 Uhr"
http://www.aachen.de/DE/stadt_buerger/aachen_profil/
bedeutende_ereignisse/kultursommer/info/katschhof_05.html

There was a cold wind but after a beer we stood nearby and listened and people-watched. I recognized several songs. Pity we couldn’t get a glimpse of him. I gazed at the others standing around us doing the same thing. All Germans by the looks of it. I marvelled at how there was not one fat or ugly German. They were all good-looking, sophisticated and intelligent looking. A far far cry from the average New Zealand crowd.

After a few songs we wandered around inner Aachen, up past a student hangout (Pontstrasse) to the old city gate, then caught the bus back home.

Checked email. Nothing.

Germany - Belgium - Luxembourg - France - Germany

Thursday, 30 June

We left about 10 in the morning for a trip through four countries. We travelled through Belgium on the motorway (and saw to my disbelief the lights every 50 metres), to Luxembourg. We stopped at Weiswampach at a type of supermarket attached to a petrol station, for more chocolate, etc (it was cheap and delicious, what can I say?) I was attracted to some medieval models and bought a black knight on a horse.

We drove on and drove through the city of Luxembourg but I was too slow to take any photos of some of the impressive-looking buildings. My brother didn’t want to stop, as there was really nothing much to see and the traffic wasn’t easy to negotiate. The buildings elsewhere in Luxembourg were dull, unadorned boxes. Some lovely countryside though. We crossed the border into France and stopped at a bar in a place called Cattenom and had a Kronenbourg beer.



It was time to head back home, back through Luxembourg along the Mosel river, through wooded valleys, past vineyards [photo to come] and camping grounds. We got to the town of Vianden in the Ardennes and towering above the town was an impressive looking castle. The oldest part of the castle dates back to the 11th century and was the home of the counts of Vianden in the 12th and 13th centuries. Some horrible local merchant pulled it down in the 19th century and it remained in ruins until 1977 when it was transferred to the state. The restoration is pretty impressive (from the outside anyway - we didn't go inside). [photo to come]

Returned to Aachen via Belgium.

Monschau

Wednesday, 29 June

After going to the bank, bro drove us to a village called Monschau in a wooded valley in the Eifel region. The drive there was idyllic with green-leafed trees overhanging the winding, hilly roads. When we parked, I wondered what was so special about the place because all we could see was a nondescript building beside the carpark. But then we started walking deeper into the valley and the street got narrower. The narrow, cobbled streets with half-timbered houses were delightful.


We wandered around, admiring the architecture, then stopped at a bar for a coffee and apfelstrudel. We wandered up a hill towards Monschau Castle, thought to have been built in the thirteenth century. (More about the castle and Monschau at http://www.monschau.de/tourist-information/sehenswertes.php?from=5). We then descended the many steps down the hill and headed back to the car.

We returned to Aachen via Belgium, through a town called Eupen. The road there was very potholed, although it was attractive – a straight avenue with trees on either side. Belgium, from what we saw, was not much to speak of. There were fewer trees and it looked more like New Zealand in summer (it reminded me of the road to New Plymouth from Palmerston North). Part of Belgium had once been Germany and there were signposts on which someone had spraypainted out the French placenames and written in the German equivalent. My bro told me, while travelling the bumpy road that the government ignored such roads while placing streetlights every 50 metres on motorways. (I thought he was joking but I soon saw the idiocy on another trip.) We stopped and bought some Belgian beer and chocolate (and Belgian chocolate is divine!) On our return I sent off some more emails.

Watched soccer and Brazil beat Argentina in FIFA.

Maastricht, the Netherlands

Tuesday, 28 June

Woken by crows at 5am but slept some more. Bro drove us to Maastricht in the Netherlands – just across the border. First of all he took us to the Dreiländerpunkt in Vaals (Holland’s highest point) – a point where the borders of three countries meet. You can have a foot in two different countries and reach across with your hand in the third – Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium. It was a unique experience for the girls – for New Zealanders, going to another country always means crossing the sea. Stepping across a line on the ground and being in a totally different country is a totally weird feeling.

We walked around Maastricht with its attractive cobbled streets. There were untold bicycles and dogs on leads everywhere. Some people had dogs in baskets on bikes and one had two dogs in a kind of pram (see my website photos www.geocities.com/scorpiwolf/europe.html).

We had a Belgian beer called ‘Palm’ (with the ‘l’ pronounced) then headed up the tower of a nearby church. Great views from the top. Back down below we looked in a souvenir shop and daughter, H, bought a tshirt for her friend, Jan, back in NZ (of Dutch descent). It was a marijuana leaf with the words ‘Dutch vegetables’ on it. More walking and we found a Koffee shop which sold dope. We could have gone if it weren’t for H who was under 18 (pity). Sent some postcards from Maastricht.

We returned to Aachen via a village called Valkenburg. We ate some fries with wonderful sauce and chatted to a Dutch chap who had a lovely dog with him. He took his dog everywhere on holiday and it stayed with him in the hotel. This is unheard of in New Zealand where dogs are not allowed in retail areas or in buildings (or even camping grounds). Dogs have to be left behind in kennels and looked after by strangers.

By now it was very hot. But I wasn’t complaining.

Houses very neat and tidy, I noticed, as we waited in the heat to get through some roadworks.

Aachen

Monday, 27 June

Woke at around 5.30-6 am. My bro had to drop the car off at a garage which we did at 7.45am then walked into town. Beautiful sunny day. I noticed a lot of dogs and some in shops – something you don’t see in New Zealand (with the all restrictive laws against dogs). It was lovely to see. Browsed some CDs and bought an In Extremo one. In the supermarket saw orange cola – something new to us also, so bought one to try it out.

We had a look in the cathedral and Charlemagne’s dome. Wonderful to see the artwork – gold leaf and tile and the later-period stained glass windows. Tried to feel the history while surrounded by tourists but it felt brilliant to be there – still didn’t quite believe it.


We had coffee and bought brotchen and pastries and sat in the park to eat it. Some guy behind us wearing a hoodie was flaked out, red-eyed, and laughing. The girls thought it was hilarious. He was totally out of it. He got up and left and we saw him later with some food going into another food place – obviously a serious case of the munchies.

Wrote out some postcards we’d bought and I sent an email to my workplace. Listened briefly to my CD. Watched another video in the evening but started falling asleep again.

Taipei - Frankfurt - Aachen

Sunday, 26 June

Actually managed to sleep on the plane. Saw some fascinating land features – dozens of what looked like small crater lakes somewhere in Russia. (I tried later to find it in an atlas, unsuccessfully, but it appeared to be in the region of Archangel? in Northern Russia). Very good looking young guy a couple of seats down from me – looked European. I noticed he was vegetarian. He slept a lot.

I was so excited about arriving in Germany again. I hadn’t been since 1977 (nearly 30 years ago!) and it was winter then. I watched eagerly as we got closer to Frankfurt and gazed down on German land.

We touched down and entered Frankfurt airport. Huge place and we walked straight to baggage pickup – no customs, nothing. Brilliant! Entered arrival lounge and saw bro straight away, grin on his face. Was great to see him. Hadn’t seen him for 5 years? We followed him through the huge glass-ceilinged complex. Took a while to find his car in the multilevel carpark. He had a small Peugeot with an NZ sticker on the back window. We had an extra view of the airport as he missed the turnoff and drove around the terminal twice!

I soaked in everything I saw – the beautiful green trees, such a contrast to the snow-covered pines I saw 30 years ago. We took a scenic route along the Rhein (Rhine) and passed through beautiful villages with narrow cobbled streets. Unfortunately I didn’t have my camera handy. It was my daughters’ first sight of the bits of Europe I love. I recognized St Goar, Bingen and Lorelei in summer! Truly beautiful. Last time I’d seen it it was all grey and misty. There were lots of cyclists cycling the paths along the Rhein. Lots of caravans also – these were the Dutch, my bro informed me – they took their caravans everywhere in summer (snails he called them).

Got onto the autobahn and it was fairly quiet still (early in the day) but busier later. Cars sped by even as we travelled at 130 kph. It felt unbelievable to be here. We passed by the turnoff to the Nürburgring (fans of 'Top Gear' or Gran Turismo 4 will know what I'm talking about).

We arrived in Aachen which was a lot bigger than I had imagined as a dot on a map. I expressed my disbelief at actually being there to my brother and he said he never thought I’d get there either – in all the years he’d lived there. Bro’s wife, G, awaited us outside the apartment which was in an attractive leafy suburb. Just brilliant to be there. We had something to eat and agreed that we needed some sleep.




We woke at about 3pm and talked, listened to music, etc. Went to their favourite Turkish restaurant in the evening which had a lovely atmosphere and great food. Then up a hill to a park which overlooked Aachen. Beautiful trees everywhere. (I LOVE trees.) Such a difference to the barren paddocks of sheep in New Zealand.



We watched a British TV series called ‘Ideal’ while drinking some European beer. Falling asleep but managed to catch a hilarious episode of a Brit comedy called ‘The Fat Slags’. Great stuff. Got to bed 9.30pm, exhausted, but a fitful sleep, waking at 2am.

Day Two - Wellington-Sydney-Taipei

Saturday 25 June

Daughter, C, got me up at 4am. R dropped us off at the airport around 5.15am. We met R’s son-in-law, N, there who was travelling to Sydney. We were on the same plane (but we were journeying on via China Airlines to Taipei).

Ghastly breakfast on Air New Zealand – a lukewarm ‘frittata’ which was probably a couple of days old by the taste of it, a small, lukewarm insipid sausage and some fruit which had been in the fridge for at least a day.

We arrived in Sydney and wandered around the airport trying to avoid buying food at horrendous prices ($5 for a pack of crisps). Unfortunately the pack of ‘kangaroo’ crisps was the cheapest item of food we could find.

It was great to see and hear so many different nationalities and to hear boarding calls to Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Santiago, etc. We could pretend we were travelling to any one of those destinations. I went online briefly at one of the internet stations dotted around the airport. Sent email to my brother to give him the latest and let him know we were on our way.

Very creaky China Airlines plane! It had me worried as it creaked and moved just going over the bumps on the runway. But it made it aloft. Nice (fresh!) food. However, I couldn’t sleep. It was cramped and noisy. It was a bonus to be able to watch the view from cameras on the plane in front and below so I could look at the clouds (I was not near a window). Nice muslim chap next to me who was appreciative of my moving every time he or his wife wanted to go to the bathroom.

Long flight!

Taipei airport was weird with a newer area which was bright and shiny and deserted except for a long corridor with moving walkway. We were directed via signs to a monorail which was deserted but seemed to work automatically. We got on and sat down and it moved off towards another terminal. All we could see was blackness outside with the odd lit up building or car. The monorail arrived and we got off, finding ourselves in an older area. The corridor was long and narrow and had shops of souvenirs in NT$. We looked but had no money. Very tired. We found a water dispenser and looked around for cups. On top of it were flat paper pouches – they were the ‘cups’.

We waited for our transfer to another plane going to Frankfurt….

Day One - still in New Zealand

Friday 24 June

Got everything washed and dried. Dropped off Ziggy and Zara at the kennels at 4pm. Left for Wellington about 5.15pm.

On arriving in Wellington, picked up C from her work 7.10pm and dropped her off at Melling station to get her car and go home to get bags.

Arrived at R’s (who’d kindly let us stay over so we could catch the early flight the next morning). Everyone came around to have dinner, which meant getting to bed late. To make matters worse, the mattress intended for me wasn’t delivered by the ‘kind neighbour’ until after 11pm – which meat I got fuck-all if any sleep. Not a great start to a hell of a long journey. You can tell I wasn’t impressed.

Willkommen

Just testing out this blog in readiness for my diary of my trip to Europe - specifically Aachen which was our 'home' base. Starting 24th June from Wellington, New Zealand via China Airlines to Taipei then onto Frankfurt.

Start packing.