Deutschland....Germany....what shall i say?? So far d places we went to there were juz lovely and nice people too! Being d ignorant me, i got dis impression dat Germans will be stern n fierce and big...dunno y i got dis impression of dem....hehehe
I wasnt asking much on dis trip...just keep praying n praying dat it will snow...and wen i say snow...i mean really ongoing proper snow for a few hours, not like d pathetic minute snowflakes i see in London for a few minutes hehehe...Eventho d weather report says mostly rain, i never give up hehehe...And u know wat...it snowed n snowed n snowed hahaha...
The other reason we went there was to see d Xmas market...n boy did we see Xmas market in every town dat we went to...
Of course we have our ups and downs moments...memorable moments though....our moments wif out GPS tracker, ie. our Tom Tom....so patient hahaha..."recalculating" and "recalculating" for God knows how many thousand times haha. I can bet wif u if dat thing was alive, it would have given all of us good spankings for being so dumb on d road. Then again if it was alive, we would have bashed it up as well for being so annoying and persistent and rigid at times hahaha...
Driving on the right side of d road hasnt been easy too. Poor Darren was awkward in d beginning...sometimes going into d wrong lane! And having lanes for bicycles and trams add more pressure as well. We had to keep reminding him..."right side of the road", "right side of the road" hehehe...and i bet dat Mercedes suffered alot too...had to keep reversing n reversing n reversing, den had to go into dangerous snowny mountainous routes... kinda "injured" its left side rear mirror too!! hahaha...But d Mercedes survived the 2 and a half days of being wif us hehehe....A pat on Darren's back too for keeping his cool and maneuvering so well on the road on watever conditions...i would have freaked out if i were in his shoes...hehehe
And then comes German food...y do Germans eat so much salty and sourish food?? Even d hot drinks are sourish! Yes i was prepared for loads of sausages, pork and bacon which i couldnt eat of coz but salt and pickles everywhere!! The Germans even poured more salt on their already saltish food!! Just d thought of it now makes me feel like im having hypertension hehehe... Well not all was bad of coz...wen u r cold n hungry, u juz eat it anyway hahaha. Wif limited choices, i usually had these fried potato patties which are kinda good. Even had them wif smoked salmon once.
So wer did d four of us actually go to in Germany??
Well we initially arrived in Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg Airport. Long name for an airport coz it's actually shared between d Swiss, French and Germans. So u can either go thru d immigration fr d Swiss side or from the German side. We did went thru both sides while trying to find d right route to Germany which kinda resulted in more drama at the end of our trip...i'll tell you later hahaha....
We then boarded a train to Freiburg, where we picked up our rented car before checking in into our hostel. Im sure Freiburg is d place wer we got lost more den d other places, mostly coz we havent got used to our dear Tom Tom and driving on d right side of d road hehehe. We only visited d Xmas market there.
In the train to Freiburg
Lunch in a Chinese restaurant in Freiburg
The next day, we make our way to our next destination for d night, "Ortenberg".So along d way, we stopped over a few times along d way to enjoy d view of d mountains, and also stopped over in a couple of towns.
FURTWAGEN
Thanks to the lady at d gas station, we came upon this small town. Our first encounter with cuckoo clocks, which are supposedly famous in Germany. Went to this cuckoo clock museum and then had lunch at their small Xmas market.
Yes yes i know you can see snow...d highlight for me on this trip which i will elaborate later hehehe
TRIBERG
We then made our way to Triberg, known for its cuckoo clocks and waterfall. This is where Im sure Wong nearly go crazy wen she entered "The House of 1000 Clocks". Cuckoo clocks, big n small, mechanical or battery-operated everywhere...heehee
I bought a cuckoo clock too! Just a small
battery-operated one :)
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And these cute cuckoo clock magnets hehehe
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ORTENBERG
Dats wer we spent the night. Our hostel was an old castle. Wong was so adamant it was this castle on d hill dat we saw from a distance and she was right!! hehe...Getting there was a problem...yes Tom Tom brought us directly at d right address...so precise dat it turns out to be at d foot of d hill, looking up to d castle at d top, with no path to it hehehe...So we had to find our way to the castle ourselves while ignoring Tom Tom at d same time and got lost on another hill where we were saved by directions given by lumberjacks..so much drama, i love it!! haha...
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Our hostel in d day
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View from our hostel
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GENGENBACH
The next day we had to reach our next destination by evening to return d rented car...im pretty sure if d car can talk, it will be thankful d day is ending hahaha. Before that, we made our way to a small town called Gengenbach, which has pretty houses. xmas market not open yet though coz still too early in d morning.
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BADEN-BADEN
The last stop before arriving at our destination. Quite a relatively big town. Just walked around d Xmas market and had light lunch.
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KARLSRUHE
Finally we reached our destination. quite a big town too and it's from here that we will be taking the train across to Munich the next day. For once it was quite easy to find d hotel, probably coz it's on a main street hehehe...By the time we arrive here, it was already in d late afternoon. So we just drive around before returning our rented car. Just went to some ceramic museum and some lake before returning the car and heading to the Xmas market too.
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In front of Majolika ceramic centre
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The next day we made our way to Munich by train. Will post abt Munich later on...
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Next post: Xmas markets in Germany...everywhere....and of coz d highlight of my trip...SNOW!!!
hehehe
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