Mannheim, Heidelberg and Ludwigshafen!

Posted on September 2, 2022 by admin

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.

Lahmacun – a delicious Middle Eastern flatbread topped with spiced mince. It’s delicious served wrapped around some salad, parsley or pickles. As usual with any delicious dish, various countries will try to claim ownership of it. In this case, both Turkey and Armenia claim ownership of Lahmacun. Cuisine does not respect the borders of countries. They were probably all enjoying eating Lahmacun long before the current borders were drawn up!

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.

Heidelberg Bridge Monkey (Brückenaffe) – as with so many bronze statues all across Europe, there will be some superstition! For this one, if you touch the mirror the monkey is holding you will become rich so every tourist will come and touch the mirror. It’s quite unsanitary in these Covid times! This statue must be the most photographed thing in the whole of Heidelberg. It took a lot of waiting for to get a shot of this statue without someone posing next to it or in it! Everyone wanted a photo with this statue!

Neckar River which runs through Heidelberg. This river flows into the Rhine

Staustufe & Schleuse Heidelberg (Barrage and Lock) – and a river cruise boat heading through. This was filled with travelers sitting on the roof of the cruise boat enjoying the view and the perfect mild summer day.

Heidelberg – see the castle in the background?

Nuremberg – A Pretty Place Despite the Dark History

Posted on September 1, 2022 by admin

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.

St Lawrence holding a grill. St Lawrence is the patron saint of cooks and more specifically grilling. This is because he was roasted to death upon a grill himself. Someone has a sick sense of humour!

The Beautiful Fountain (Schöner Brunnen)

Imperial Castle of Nuremberg (Kaiserburg Nürnberg)

Große Straße – This long square was almost 2 kilometres long and 40 metres wide. It was intended to be a parade road for the Wehrmacht and the central axis of the Nazi Party Rally Grounds

Documentation Center Nazi Party Rally Grounds

Zeppelinfeld – Monolithic grandstand by Albert Speer, formerly the site of the infamous Nuremburg rallies.

Ehekarussell (Hans Sachs-Brunnen – Ehekarussell) – Controversial fountain with ring of statues portraying Hans Sachs’ poem ‘Bitter-sweet Married Life’. Yes, that is sculpture of one skeletal spouse choking to death the other spouse, all on a giant striped iguana!

Slovenian Food Tour

Posted on August 31, 2022 by admin

Ričet, vegetarian barley soup/stew with bread – the soup was really deliciously full flavoured despite the lack of meat.

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.

Chicken Dumplings – These tasted like chicken sausage balls. Tasty but hardly gourmet!

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.

Antipasto Platter – with pig fat, various cold meats, local pate, pumpkin seed oil and mayonnaise dip, gherkins and figs. Served with homemade bread and rose wine. The dark green, pumpkin seed oil is much treasured in Slovenia. The flesh of the pumpkin itself is just an unfortunate, almost unwanted, side product of the seeds required for the oil.

Orecchiette with cherry tomatoes, polenta blocks to be eaten with a hearty and thick Istrian seafood Brodet stew/soup (yum!) and homemade Istrian Fuzi pasta with truffles (heavenly!). So nice to have fresh, homemade pasta with some bite to it!

Dishes from Tabar – tomato/melon dish and a dish with Adriatic sardines and crispy cracker topping with lime and wild onion mayonnaise. These are examples of how cuisine in Slovenia can be adapted to fine dining style dishes.

Carniolan Sausage, Horseradish and Mustard – salty and strong tasting

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!

Venison goulash and beef with noodle soup – the “noodles” are really thin slices of eggy crepe pancake. The beef soup was really light and the idea of bulking it up with the pancake “noodles” is a great idea to make a soup stretch with relatively cheap ingredients!

Bled Cream Cake (kremšnita) is a famous specialty of Bled. It is basically a slightly more upmarket Aussie vanilla slice.

Super Slovenia – Lovely Ljubljana and Lake Bled

Posted on August 30, 2022 by admin

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.

One of the dragons on Dragon Bridge! The people of Ljubljana are crazy about dragons. It’s on their city flag!

Ljubljanica River runs right by the old town. Romantic, alfresco restaurants line the riverside filled with people drinking beer or aperol spritz. Boat tours go up and down this river. We even saw a stand-up paddle board tour group head slowly up the river.

Daily central market in Ljubljana. Not the biggest market. To the side of the market square are a few vending machines. Most notable are the ones dispensing eggs and unpasteurized, fresh cows milk.

Monument to Slovene national poet France Prešeren in Preseren Square, Ljubljana

Prešeren Square – the centre of Ljubjlana. In August, it is full of tourists enjoying the atmosphere.

View from Nebotičnik skyscraper. You can go up to the top of this building for a 360 view of Ljubljana. Technically you have to be a customer of the cafe on the top floor but we had no issue popping up there, taking a few photos and then leaving. Check out the hill with the Ljubljana Castle on the top.

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.

Boats ready to row people across to the island in the middle of Lake Bled. These only leave when full so early patrons have to wait as the boatmen tout for more business from passerbys. Alternatives to being rowed across to the island is to hire a rowboat and row over yourself. The final option is to swim, which is possible as the distance is not that great!

Lake Bled – you can do the 6km walk around it. It is picturesque from every angle

Lake Como – Pretty but Touristy

Posted on August 28, 2022 by admin

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.

Chiesa di Santa Maria delle Grazie. Varenna

Salita Serbelloni of Bellagio – the famous main passageway in Bellagio which is picturesque and lined with touristy shops. Crowded with people in August!

Padua – and the Incorruptible Tongue of Saint Anthony!

Posted on August 27, 2022 by admin

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.

The ostentatious roof of the room with Saint Anthony’s Tomb

Gated room with the relics at the Basilica of Saint Anthony – including the relic of Saint Anthony’s incorruptible tongue!

The Basilica of St. Anthony – note the skeleton, winged angel blowing a horn on the top!

The Basilica of St. Anthony – robes for purchase at the shop!

Prato Della Valle, Padua, the largest square in Italy

Mighty or Muted Milan

Posted on August 26, 2022 by admin

In August, Milan is quieter than usual as plenty of the Milanese people escape the summer heat either to the coast or to the mountains. This, in addition to the public holiday to celebrate the Assumption of Mary, meant that the city was deserted. Many homes and restaurants were shuttered. Nevertheless, the areas around the main tourist attractions were crowded and busy. The line to get into the Duomo stretched out into the hot sun. (It was a bit offensive to see that ladies in their summery outfits were sometimes required to cover up further with disposable bibs that had to be purchased. Another excuse to squeeze a further dollar from a tourist.)

Speaking of squeezing tourists (and locals), restaurants in Italy do not serve free tap water. Italians seem to have a distrust for the cleanliness of their tap water, which could be interpreted as a distrust in their government and authorities. Bottled water has to be purchased (at a cost to the customer and to the environment!) When we requested tap water from a waiter, he clearly understood but returned with bottled water claiming that they did not have a tap!

Beware also the cover charge (coperto), 1 to 3 Euros per person, and the “maggiorazione”, a further 1 to 3 Euros per person. The cover charge is supposed to cover napkins, cutlery etc and the “maggiorazione” is generally only charged in tourist areas as some kind of surcharge. When a pizza can cost 7 Euros, the added cost of the “coperto” and “maggiorazione” can nearly double your food bill. Italy does not have a tipping culture but these added charges really leaves diners with a sour taste after their dining experience, thereby almost eliminating their chances for a tip. To be honest, these added charges drove us away from restaurants towards bakeries, takeaways and supermarket picnic food dinners. So much for sampling the much esteemed Italian cuisine!

Strangely, the sidewalks in Milan are pockmarked or dented in very particular shapes and in only specific areas. After some deduction, it was concluded that these are from the kickstands of bicycles, scooters and in particular the heavy high powered motorcycles. It seems that the soft material that the sidewalk is constructed from is unable to withstand both the summer heat and the point force of a kickstand. Seems strange that Milan is unable to perfect their recipe for sidewalk material when plenty of other places manage to.

The main train station, Milano Centrale is an imposing building built in a fascist style for Mussolini to convey the power of the regime. The Duomo is seriously impressive and incredibly ornate. The conclusion however is that whilst Milan is worth a visit, a visit in August with the local population mostly absent and the summer heat is not the best.

Milano Centrale Train Station – this was in construction years before Mussolini became Prime Minister but when he did, the plan became more complex and majestic. Mussolini wanted this station to represent the power of the Fascist regime.

Building with Painted Ceramic Tiles – The architecture is in the Liberty style i.e. the Italian variant of Art Nouveau. It can be spotted by it’s distinctive use of leaves, flowers and over the top ornamentation and decoration.

Private Fountain – There are a lot of private green spaces in Milan. Most of them, we can never even glimpse. We managed to get a view of this private fountain through the bars of the property gates.

Flamingoes in Central Milan – peaking through the bars of a private fence, we saw a group of flamingoes by a pool!

Lego Duomo – the Lego version of the most popular attractions in Milan

The Duomo, Milan – crowded with tourists!

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II – super high end shopping mall. Lots of people and queues outside Louis Vitton and Dior amongst others!

Sforzesco Castle – surprised that it was free to enter the grounds for a wander!

Sforzesco Castle – note the little piles of cannonballs on the ground!

Just in case all the photos of old buildings made you forget that this is Milan, Italy’s wealthiest city!

The South of France in August

Posted on August 16, 2022 by admin

A lot of people would have heard of Cannes and Antibes in the south of France. Actually, the whole coastline along that area is a holiday destination for Europeans in the summer. The vivid blue, sparkling water of the Mediterranean sea and the coastal aspect brings a relief from the heat. The area is littered with large pleasure crafts in the water, buzzy alfresco restaurants and crowded beaches. The day time temperatures in August are unpleasantly hot. The mornings are pleasant and the temperature drops as the light fades at the end of the day making an evening stroll an absolute pleasure.

The landscape in this region is drier and more rocky than other parts of France. It more closely resembles Australia.

The old city of Antibes is quite crowded with tourists in August. There are lots of small alleyways and quaint shops. The wait staff in the restaurants swap effortlessly into English to cater for the English speaking tourists.

Due to the love of dogs in Europe, many European cities smell of piss. It’s unfortunate as the stench mars a lovely visit. Perhaps more greenery in some of these old towns would help both with cooling the place in the summer and give the dogs (and maybe the men) somewhere more absorbent to relieve themselves! France has been a country where there are no free public toilets. This, I suspect, results in many of the male population relieving themselves for free where they can.

The beaches here are so much more crowded than Australian beaches. The quality of the beaches are also inferior to many Australian beaches as the sea floor is quite rocky and the sand is not as pale and fine. Nevertheless, it is so hot that everyone heads to the beach to cool off!

Whilst this area is beautiful, my strong recommendation is to avoid this region in August. It is too hot, crowded and expensive.