Hamburg is a very different vibe to other parts of Germany. It has a massive port and is close to the ocean. The city looks very affluent and in parts has a very distinctive brick style of architecture. Their closeness to the ocean also impacts their cuisine where there is more seafood than other places in Germany.
The summer of 2022 in Germany was an awesome time to travel because the government provided the 9 euro ticket. For just 9 euro a month, anyone in Germany could travel anywhere in the country on local and regional public transport. This meant both Germans and tourists could explore all corners of the country for a minimal cost and people could explore each city they visited more thoroughly as the local train and bus system was included too. This ticket also provided a massive simplification of the usual more complex ticketing protocol.
Unfortunately, as it was summer and there were more people on the move, the trains during peak times were often packed. This led to delays. When one thinks about the German trains, one imagines that they are always meticulously on schedule. This was not the case this summer. Nevertheless, it was a real privilege to get to see some of lovely Germany using this cheap ticket.
From a base in Cologne, we used the 9 euro ticket to do day trips to Bonn and Dusseldorf.
Dusseldorf was such a different vibe. It was so much more affluent and modern!
Mannheim, Germany is a city which is not on the tourist trail. It has a more modern build than many of the touristy cities in Europe. It is a university city and a gritty, working class city. It has neither the gleaming skyscrapers nor the fancy historical buildings. It is also very multicultural. There is a whole area called “Little Istanbul” and the standard of international cuisines in this city is very good.
Just a few minutes by train across the Rhine River is the city of Ludwigshafen. This is a city whose history is inextricably intertwined with the story and growth of the massive chemical company, BASF. Ludwigshafen dates back only 6 years older than BASF.
BASF is a worldwide company with over 111,000 employees but it’s headquarters is in Ludwigshafen. There are 39,000 employees that work at the Ludwigshafen plant. The plant is immense and takes up a space of 10 square kilometers. It is the world’s largest integrated chemical complex.
Visiting the BASF site was an absolute highlight of our visit to this region. It is amazing that a company running such a massive facility would allow the public to tour through their site in a bus. They run tours in a variety of languages throughout the week. These are available to book on their website. Due to the day we visited, we could only do a German tour. Luckily, there were only 2 other visitors that day so the tour guide did the tour in both English and German. First, we are guided through the visitor’s center followed by a bus tour of the plant. Unfortunately, photography is not allowed on the plant.
All 4 of us were driven through site in a massive double-decker tour bus. It was quite excessive as the giant bus carefully drove under piperacks and scaffolding. Despite the numerous hazardous chemicals being made and used on site, no road was off limits to the tour bus.
The plant is absolutely massive and we drove about 20km during the bus tour. It is so massive that it functions like its own small city with a fire-station, hospital, multiple bakeries and several canteens serving various cuisines. It is an impressive and mind boggling logistical exercise. The plant is located next to the Rhine River where both raw materials and products are transported via river barges. The railway also runs through the plant to carrying both materials and personnel. Actually, the tangled railway lines look more like a large rail switching station at one point.
We were surprised to note that despite the presence of many hazardous chemicals, productions plants and administration type buildings co-exist side by side. I would’ve thought to reduce the number of personnel in harm’s way, it would make more sense to keep admin buildings at a safe distance from the chemical plants. In this same vein, I was shocked to see so many people in t-shirts, shorts and sometimes even open toed sandals walking or cycling along the roads past both buildings and chemical production plants. I thought considering the close proximity to operating plant, it would be safer for all personnel to be in appropriate PPE type clothing e.g. steel capped boots, long pants and long sleeved shirts.
Also in very close proximity to the plant are the residential parts of the city which sit just outside the fenceline of the BASF site. The Rhein Galerie shopping centre is located only slightly upstream along the Rhein River. Any gas release or explosion on the plant would easily impact the city’s residents and those in Mannheim, on the other side of the river. It’s interesting to note the different mindset about safety in various industries and countries. Perhaps some of this is a legacy from this plant being operational at this location since about 1865!
It was also startling to note how many bicycles there are on site. I guess it should be no surprise with 39,000 employees working at the massive site. Everyone is issued with their own bicycle if they want one and they are allowed to ride it all the way home if they choose. It is 7km from the entrance to the far end of site where the harbour is located. It is no wonder that various modes of transport are required and used. Personnel can ride a bike, use a company vehicle, ride the tram or use the internal shuttle bus system.
Ludwigshafen is not a pretty city for tourists. It is however a city which forms an important industrial hub for Germany. If you ever have the opportunity to do a site tour of an industrial plant, or even to look at one from outside the fence, it is an opportunity not be missed. They are feats of human intellect, ingenuity, design and engineering. These are the places where so many of the things we take for granted in our comfortable modern lives are made.
The day after our bus tour of the BASF site, we caught the train from Manheim to Heidelberg and got back on the tourist trail with cobblestone streets, historic buildings, castles and touristy restaurants.
Nuremberg today struggles to be seen for more than it’s past of the Nazi rallies and the Nuremberg trials. Nevertheless, a visit to Nuremberg would be remiss without a visit to these sites. The visit to the Nuremberg Trials Museum was very sad. The video evidence presented at the trials is damning, disgusting and deeply disturbing. The saddest thing is that it wasn’t the first time, and it hasn’t been the last time for genocide and mass cruelty to take place. We humans, don’t learn.
On a brighter note, the famous local specialty in Nuremberg are it’s teeny, tiny sausages flavoured with marjoram and other spices. To be called a Nuremberg sausage, it must use the same recipe that has been handed down from the 1300s, be made locally in Nuremberg and be no longer than 9cm. Supposedly, the sausage was made so small so that tavern owners could continue selling food even during closed hours by passing these through the key hole. Another story was about how prisoners in the dungeons could be fed by passing these sausages through small holes in the wall. These are served in many of the restaurants in Nuremberg or on the street where you can ask for them served “Drei im Weggla” , three in a bun. We had ours in a crusty bun with mustard and sauerkraut.
What do you know about the food in Slovenia? Exactly! Unlike Italian, French, Chinese or Thai food, we are just not familiar with anything to do with Slovenian food! I decided to try to rectify the situation by choosing more local food and doing a food tour.
The tour guide of the food tour is school teacher by profession and she talked to us non-stop, filling us up with facts about Slovenia, Slovenes and their food. It turns out, Slovenians love something “on the spoon” like soups and stews. They must always have bread in the house or there will be panic! In the past, they were quite isolated so their traditional food comes from creativity and ingenuity using locally available ingredients.
Sunday lunchtime is strictly reserved for family lunch. Traditionally, the menu for Sunday lunch will be a fixed menu, an “iron” menu which is the same every week. Amongst other set traditional dishes will be beef and noodle soup! Turns out beef and noodle soup is also on the “iron” menu for all birthdays, weddings and Christmas. Be prepared to be “tut-tutted” by your senior relatives if you deviate from the traditional menu items!
It is an offense to the host if you leave food behind. It somehow implies that the food that you have been provided is no good.
Slovenia produces some nice wine. The tour guide explained the various wine regions of Slovenia by comparing the shape of the country to a chicken. Then she could explain the various regions by talking about the chicken head or the chicken butt! Unfortunately as the country is quite small and hilly, there can only ever be low volumes of wine produced as farmers just cannot cultivate the large acreages possible in other countries.
There was a dessert but unfortunately it was eaten too quickly to be photographed.
Buckwheat and walnut štrukli (rolled dumplings) with a salty, butter breadcrumb (?) topping. Interesting slightly sweet and salty combination!
Ljubljana was a wonderful, pleasant surprise. Perhaps it’s the absence of any pre-conceived notions of what a place might be like! Perhaps it’s the drop in temperature from unbearably hot to just perfect. Or maybe it’s the little things that make for a good trip like free tap water in restaurants and free public toilets. It felt very safe and was very clean. In contrast to France and Italy, there was no dog poo on the side walk and no smell of pee around every corner. I never saw ay homeless people and instead, there was lots of very eager, young backpackers with very large backpacks and lots of people eating and drinking by the riverside.
We visited the capital of Slovenia, Ljubljana and also the picturesque Lake Bled. Ljubljana is delightful. It’s historical buildings are incredibly clean and well kept and the pretty Ljubljanica River flows down the centre of it. The Austrian influence on Slovenia from centuries of being under the Habsburg rule was very apparent.
The Slovenes are very proud of their country and this is lovely to see. They take recycling very seriously and there is not a speck of rubbish on their streets. I saw a rubbish collector clearing out the public bins. He took out the bin liner and emptied the contents into his rubbish truck and then carefully replaced the same bin liner into the bin to avoid unwarranted waste! How unexpected!
There was a few summer storms before and during our visit. The one that happened before we arrived littered the streets with small branches and leaves from overhead trees. One afternoon, the wind picked up and quite heavy rain started. This only lasted for about 30 minutes. Most unfortunately, as a result of the rain prediction on the Friday we were visiting, the famous Open Kitchen was cancelled. I was so looking forwards to this collection of street food stalls run by famous restaurants in and around the city.
Despite there being a lot of tourists in Ljubljana when we visited, it wasn’t too overwhelming and the city was not over-run and had not lost it’s charms. There were plenty of locals enjoying their beautiful city as well.
If you are heading Slovenia, you would have surely seen the picturesque photos of Lake Bled. The town of Bled itself is reminiscent of Switzerland or alpine Austria. Lake Bled itself is the most gorgeous colour of blue-green. It makes for a beautiful vista set against a mountain backdrop. The 6km walk around the lake is mostly on a well paved path and is easy and stunningly beautiful. The lake from every angle looks like a postcard picture. Finish your exercise by eating some of the famous Bled Cream Cake (Kremsnita) and just take in the beauty of it all.
My expectation of a relaxing, serene day trip from big city Milan to some quaint, lake-side towns by Lake Como was somewhat misplaced. Lake Como is very, very pretty but it is not particularly serene. Not sure what I expected of Lake Como but it’s hoards of tourists, touristy shops lining the small alleyways and an exorbitant 3 Euro per person cover charge (coperto) to eat a meal.at a restaurant.
We caught the train from Milan to Varenna which took just over 1 hour. It is worth to get up early to beat the crowds. It is nice to experience the place without quite so many people and before the heat really sets in! (To be honest, there were already plenty of people at 9am in the morning and it only proceeded to get more and more crowded.) We quickly caught a 15 minute ferry to Bellagio to try and beat the crowds but in reality, plenty of people had the same idea!
After sightseeing and checking out Bellagio, we caught the ferry back to Varenna and then later on, the train back to Milan. It makes for a manageable day trip from Milan an the mountain views from the train to Lake Como are spectacular.
Lake Como itself, is actually pretty big and it is unrealistic to see all the lakeside towns in one day. The three most popular towns are Bellagio, Varenna and Como. We skipped Como because it’s the largest town and supposedly the least pretty. It was also to allow us a more leisurely pace on the day trip and to avoid having a very long day.
Bellagio and Varenna are very similar. Pretty but very touristy. Cute alleyways but anything lake-side will have lots of people. If you head inland just a few streets, it becomes deserted. There are steep rocky hills that rise dramatically from the sides of the lake. It gives the impression that the lakeside towns cling to any tiny available space leftover between the hills and the water.
Padua was a bit of a surprise. We chose to visit it instead of Trieste, driven mostly by price of accommodation. To our surprise, the old town of Padua contained many beautiful and historical buildings everywhere you looked. Unfortunately, the city was very quiet and shuttered up for the August summer holidays.
Outside of the old city, the stretch of road from the train station was very multicultural. Lots of Chinese run business and restaurants, kebab shops, bubble tea shops and a real diverse mix of people.
The train into Padua was insanely packed. This was the train into Venice. Considering there are a number trains on this line every hour, it is an indication of how many people are traveling at this time of year.
The most eye-catching and noteworthy attraction in Padua is the massive Basilica of Saint Anthony. This church was particularly ostentatious on the inside. In particular where the gold and silver encrusted room of the relics and the room with the tomb of Saint Anthony. Saint Anthony is the patron saint of lost things so he is the one to pray to when you lose something. This comes from a story during his life where he lost his prayer book. He prayed over it and the intern who stole or borrowed it, returned it!
Saint Anthony was noted for his powerful sermons and oratory. Supposedly, the Basilica was constructed for Saint Anthony after his death. Then they exhumed his body to place it in the Basilica. This was 30 years after his death and most of his body had turned to dust. That is, except for his tongue, which was still moist and glistening as if it belonged to a living person. It is surmised that his tongue did not decay as he was such a great orator. His tongue and part of his jawbone are stored amongst other religious relics in a special gated room for relics at the Basilica.
