Jen and Dave: Adventuring

Day 1 We returned to Gotzenalm almost four years to the day from when we first visited. We bussed to the Jennerbahn Gondola and took it to the middle station, where we began our 5.25 hour hike.  We took the easy route, which was also the route less travelled, a farm road that meandered up…

Today was an early start, to make the first boat at Königssee, a large lake in the heart of Berchtesgaden National Park.  The boat ride was uneventful, as the commentary was exclusively in German, except when they played the horn at the echo cliffs. The notes reflect through the valley, creating a rich sound.  We…

We’re staying at Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten Berchtesgaden, which has been open since 1860. It’s a delightful place that mixes comfortable, spacious rooms with crisp white linens and old wood wainscoting, delightful objects d’art, and the odd piece of taxidermy. Breakfast has an expansive view of the valley and mountains.  It also has a huge and…

Today was another train day, and a rather complicated one. We returned to Berchtesgaden, almost four years to the day from our last visit here. We were delighted it has only improved over time.  But that’s getting ahead of things. First, three trains. The one from Nurenberg was a simple two hour high speed line,…

The hotel gave us a map with a walking route through all the highlights in the old town. So we walked, looked, and enjoyed the delightful walled city. Admittedly, we did not catch that there was a recommended route and started off finding our own way, but later discovered we had stumbled upon the recommended…

One of the major attractions in Nurenberg was the Germanisches National Museum. Given the rainy day, we slept in and then did the short walk to the Museum.  The museum covered 600,000 years of history of the German-speaking region. Highlights included a 10-9th century BCE gold hat, the 985 Codex Aureus, the 1492 Behaim Globe,…

Today was a train day. We left Luxembourg at 9:30, arriving at Koblenz, Germany around 12:30. We had a bit of time here, so we put our luggage in a locker and walked the city, visiting the Rhein and some of the more popular town squares.  We boarded a high speed train to Nurenberg just…

One interesting aspect of Luxembourg city is that half of the town is on rock features, 20 metres above the other half. The two are connected by old spiral staircases, stairs carved into the rock, elevators, and a funicular.  The high town is shops, restaurants, businesses, and expensive housing. Fortified in prior ages, the rock…

Today we took the 3h15 train to Luxembourg. It’s a bit of a milk run, and we went end to end. Then we grabbed a local bus out to the airport, home of the cheaper hotels. All public transit in Luxembourg is completely free, for residents and visitors alike. It’s also frequent, comfortable and easy…

We started the day at the Atomium, an imposing structure of nine originally aluminum-skinned (now Stainless Steel skinned) spheres, 18m in diameter, arranged in a body centred cubic formation on point. Its 102m tall structure was built for World Fair ‘58.  Refurbished for visitors in 2003-2006, you start with an elevator trip to the pinnacle,…