Category: 2018-J) Sept and Oct, Salzburg, Munich and Berlin

Germany is the largest country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by Denmark, to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic, to the south by Austria and Switzerland, and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands. Capital: Berlin, Currency: Euro (€) Germany was a founding member of European Union in 1993. It is part of the Schengen Area and became a co-founder of the Eurozone in 1999. Germany is a member of the United Nations. Approximately 82,5 million people live in Germany (30.09.2016). It is the most populated country in Europe, and the 14th in the world

Our two stops in Germany are Munich and Berlin. We were looking forward to catching up with friends for the Octoberfest.

Munich was all about the Octoberfest. Wow what an amazing festival, we had not realised how big this festival really is, there are 14 large Tents some holding up to 17 thousand people, everyone dresses up in the traditional costume of Bavaria. We spent our few days drinking Beer, eating gigantic pretzels 🥨 apple strudel and lots of Bavarian food. It was so great to share this time with some great friends.

We did have one day out when we visited the largest thermal spa in the world THERME ERDING, Turquoise water, summer temperatures & refreshing cocktails await you in an impressive holiday ambience with real palm trees. There are our 30 themed saunas and over 300 beauty & spa offers. For fun & action can find it in their Wave pool & Slides area. 27 slides with three different difficulty levels. Afterwards you can relax in our wave pool with gentle waves. It really is an amazing place, to spend the day or a few days. We said goodbye to Gina and Andrew both heading back to the States and continued to Berlin with Angela and Rodi.

From here we went to Berlin. It was interesting to visit Berlin again, we had been here in 1990 a month after the wall came down. Two other friends joined the group Thelma and Jim, I have known Thelma for a very long time she and I went to school together in Ireland, we both emigrated to Australia, Thelma went to Perth and I went to Sydney but it is great that we kept in touch. It is always great to catch-up but particularly when we are all on holidays and in Berlin.

There is definitely a more relaxed feel about the place, and lots of positive young travellers. We did a great bike tour, Fat Tire Bike Tours, that brought us all over the city, a great way to see and learn about the history of Berlin. Some of the tour highlights below

• Brandenburg Gate
• Checkpoint Charlie
• Berlin Wall
• Nazi Architecture
• Site of Hitler’s bunker
• Reichstag (parliament building)
• Bebelplatz
• Museum Island
• Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe
• Berlin Cathedral
• Potsdamer Platz

It was great too share the experience of these three places with great friends. Thanks guys for making it so special.

Salzburg is the fourth-largest city in Austria (for details on Austria as part of this blog see August 2017). Its historic centre is renowned for its baroque architecture (heavily decorated style in buildings) and is one of the best-preserved city centres north of the Alps.

Flag of Salzburg

The fast-flowing Salzach River run through the centre of town, your gaze is raised inch by inch to graceful domes and spires, the formidable 900-year-old clifftop fortress and the mountains beyond

The city centre is very beautiful and is the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Salzburg was the setting for the musical The Sound of Music, also the nineteen sixties movie Where Eagles Dare.

Martin was keen to visit. Hohenwerfen Castle to see Where Eagles Dare had been shot back in 1969 it is a medieval rock castle, situated on a 623 metres precipice overlooking the Austrian market town of Werfen in the Salzach valley, approximately 40 kilometres south of Salzburg. The fortress is surrounded by the Berchtesgaden Alps and the adjacent Tennen Mountains. Just beautiful.

The Salzburg Festival was on while we visited it is a prominent festival of music and drama, eating local food and drinking some great beer, they also had a good selection of Gin I might add.  The festival was established in 1920 and is held each summer.

We stayed in the beautiful town of Hallein which is surrounded by alpine mountains and was a short train or bus trip into Salzburg City.