by Ron Largent | Nov 13, 2012 | Austria, Bavaria, Bern, BMW, Bullet Train, European Travel, Geneva, Leipzig, lucerne, Munich, Travel
Our day in Leipzig started with a big breakfast in the Executive Lounge and we left the hotel about 10…riding the tram to the church where we heard there would be a noon concert. We got there early and walked through some back streets to get to the church, and for the first time, got to see the remnants of the East German Russian rule. Pretty sad. Some buildings have been completely redone, and they will be right next to a building that looks as if it will fall down. In the area as we walked to this Lutheran Church (all up to now had been Catholic churches), the remnants of the fireworks were very evident, and in fact, the trashcans at the church were blown up, etc. The concert itself was at a noon vesper, and the artist was a Korean student studying here in Leipzig. It was good, but nothing special, and over at 12:30PM, so we walked out in the area looking for a bathing suit for Audy so that she could go in the sauna at the hotel. We had scheduled a message for her at 5 PM….we could not find a decent bathing suit, so stopped and had some pastries instead…then headed back to the Centrum for our own walking tour of the old city. The first place that we went into was the St. Thomas Church, the church where JS Bach worked as organist for 27 years. As we entered we heard the organ and we were going in during an organ lesson. We sat and listened for 30 minutes, then found that this artist would be giving a concert on Friday night. The lesson itself was interesting, for the teacher would play and then the student, etc…and they were doing some “ wild stuff”. Well, we could tell by the rehearsal that this would be something we did not want to miss…so planned accordingly, but we continued on the tour. The Bach Museum is just outside, along with the statue…Leipzig is also the home of Felix Mendelsohn…so very culturally alive. We continued into the Old Market Square, which is now the New Market Square, with the Baroque buildings next to the modern shops featuring the latest in fashion…etc. A lot of evidence of change since 1989, as Leipzig has been going through massive rebuilding to catch up with the rest of Germany. We walked through one of the many “passages”, that go between the various buildings and feature small shops, restaurants, etc….all out of the weather, etc. Very impressive and attractive, including the bar where Goethe wrote Faust in, etc…a lot of history in our presence. These areas are so attractive that you can spend all day here just looking, but as it was raining harder, we headed back to the tram to go back to the hotel for the massage at 5 PM. After the massage , we had some “dinner” in the klounge, thenb went back kto the Kauphof Galeria still looking for a bathing suit, and no luck. Very expensive to start with, and really nothing that Audy would wear…so we gave it up. We did see all of the stores at night, then went over into the Train Station Mall, which is just like a regular mall, with Gap, Body Shop, etc…and many restaurants. This mall is quite nice, and very new, and a model for other train stations. Actually a lot of fun to walk through, for it is the social center for the entire city. We took time at the Formula 1 display sponsored by Intel and I got into the car but couldn’t handle the pedals since I had my big boots on…but it was fun trying. The photos will illustrate the mall, and the station, which is the latest in design, etc. We got to bed at 9:30 PM….another great day in this beautiful restored city.
by Ron Largent | Nov 13, 2012 | BMW, Bullet Train, Geneva, Germany, Inter City Express (ICE), International Travel, IR Train, Lausanne, lucerne, Mercedes, Montreaux, Munich, Salzburg, Ski The Alps, Special travel deals, Stuttgart, The Alps, Travel, Travel the World, Zurich
We went down to the Marriott for breakfast and the placed was packed. Apparently, the hotels put together a special package for these holiday, and the place was full. We ordered from the menu…and got much more than we could eat. We walked back to the hotel…and left at 12 to catch the train to Leipzig. We were a little late in leaving, so had to rush to the station, using the U-bahn, but made it with about 5 minutes to spare. We went on to the first car that we saw was first class non-smoking, and as it turned out it was the end car with the engineer, except that the train was going in the opposite direction. This was the new ICE train, and the engineers compartment is like a cockpit, in that he sits at a console with computer screens “wrapped” around him. He is in a highback chair that is adjustable and on air, so that in the event of a bumpy ride his seat does not move. Right behind him is a glass wall, with a door, and then 6 seats, where we sat…then a wall into the next compartment. Within a few minutes we were off, headed towards Augsburg. It was at this time that the train changed directions, and the engineer came up to our car…so we in essence were in the first car…the drivers car, if you will. Pretty exciting, for again, these trains really move, and to watch the engineer control the speeds, etc…very interesting. He used both a cell phone and a console mounted phone, and was continually watching and checking the computer screens. We tried to monitor the speed, but it was hard to see through the glass, but knew we were going fast. Five hours later we arrived in Leipzig after this exciting time for both of us on the ICE. When we got off, the station at Leipzig was almost overwhelming…new, modern, and huge. The largest in Europe, with a full mall below the main station. Wow!. We walked 1 block to the Marriott, and although it was cold, we knew we were going to enjoy Leipzig. We were upgraded to the Executive Level, so had dinner right there…fried zucchini, etc…then went out for a walk in the sludge, as it had snowed and was much colder than in Munich. Back to the room and in bed by 9. A fun day on the train for a kid like me.
by Ron Largent | Nov 13, 2012 | alpine, Austria, Bavaria, Bern, Bullet Train, European Travel, Germany, Lausanne, lucerne, Montreaux, Munich, Salzburg, Ski The Alps, Special Events Travel Deals, Special travel deals, Switzerland, The Alps, Travel, Travel the World, Zurich
Audy slept in so I walked across the street to get a digital battery…cost $15.99…and then went on into the Bahnhof to check on the schedules…we went back into Salzburg to look around some more to try and find a Marionette doll, and then caught the 3 PM train to Munich…about a 90 minute ride.
The train was the IC, which is InterCity, and like the other fast trains, are really fast. We went through the country and out of the mountains as we headed for Munich, arriving about 5 PM. I had forgotten how big Munich was, and this was very obvious at the train station…and we caught a taxi for $15 dollars to the Renaissance, driven by a Ghanaian driver. We were given an upgraded room on the first floor, so had a delicious soup in the restaurant, and got to the room early. I walked down to the nearby Marriott, as well as the nearby Metro station…and then came back as Audy had gone to bed due to her back, etc. The area of the hotel is an upscale apartment area surrounded by some big business…Siemens is across the street, etc. The Marriott is quite big and nice, but no signs outside..which we felt were probably area zoning requirements.
by Ron Largent | Nov 13, 2012 | Alaska, Alborg, alpine, Asian Travel, Austria, Bavaria, Bergen, Bern, Bullet Train, Copenhagen, Cruise Line Deals, Denmark, Eidfjord, European Travel, Finland, Fjords, Gdansk, Geneva, Germany, Glacier Bay, Glaciers, Gstaad, Helsinki, Holland America Cruise Lines, Iceland, Iceland Hiking, Iceland Tours, Icelandair, Inter City Express (ICE), International Travel, IR Train, Juneau, Latvia, Lausanne, lucerne, Montreaux, Munich, Northern Europe Cruise, Norway, Poland, Russia, Salzburg, Sawyer, Sitka, Ski The Alps, South Sawyer Glacier, Special Events Travel Deals, Special travel deals, St. Petersburg, Stockholm, Sweden, Switzerland, Tallin, The Alps, The Fjords, Tracy Arn Fjord, Travel, Travel the World, Uncategorized, Viking Cruises, Vikings, Volcano Island, Warnemunde, Zurich
A few years ago we were traveling in Europe….and, as usual, I try to keep a daily log…so here it is…talks a bit about the events of the day…
Zurich to Salzburg, We set our alarm for 6 AM..got up and packed and left the hotel on the 7:40 am shuttle to the train station….carrying our luggage for the first time. A lot of thought, and some input from Carrie, had gone into our planning as to what we would take, and we ended up with one large pull-on suitcase, Audy’s green pull-on, and my black shoulder bag, which is used in China and it holds quite a lot. This worked well, for the only real weight was in the large pull on…and with its handles where they are, it is easy to move around. This morning was our first test…and it went well, as we got into the station to look for the Salzburg train. We got there a little early, so went into the mall area of the train station to their “Safeway”, which is called Micros, and got some bread, sandwiches, and drinks to be prepared for the long trip to Salzburg. These shopping areas are very clean and open, as my photos illustrate…and very easy to shop in, although Switzerland does not participate in the Eurodollar system, yet. We then went on up to the gate area, and encountered our first crowds, for this was the Saturday of the Christmas week, and a lot of travelers. We were hoping to get onto the Panorama car…but so were many others…and we decided on the regular first class car…which worked out best. The only difference in the cars is that the panorama cars have the higher windows…but it was crowded and loud…so we were happy 4 cars way in our “private area”. I say private, for the way the seats are configured, we usually had 4 seats for the 2 of us..and sometimes we had the additional 2 seats across the aisle…which gave us plenty of room to move about and go from side to side to see the sights…and make pictures…(I totaled out about 400 digital photos…so I was constantly moving from window to window), so the open areas served us well. At 9:50 AM, we left…and the train was late leaving, which is very unusual for these trains. Off we went heading for Innsbruck and Salzburg…and it was raining, which continued for the entire day. Still the trip east into the Austrian Alps was spectacular, and we did have periodic clearing along with rain and an occasional light snow. We were on an IR train, so once again, fast on most of the flat and straight areas…and slowing down as we went up into and along the mountainside. Again, spectacular. Along the way we passed through farmlands, rich and green valleys surrounded by the jagged peaks of the Alps. Something to see! We went through the small country of Liechtenstein, which is kind of 2 big mountains with 2 cities in the valley…and took us about 15 minutes to go the length of the country with 1 stop. From there we went into Innsbruck….known for the Olympics, of which some of the areas are still used. Reminded me of Aspen, CO, for the mountains surround the valley where the city is…ideal for the Olympics, but not terribly scenic at this time of the year with no snow. From Innsbruck, went up and over the Alps through the Ardhem Tunnel, and it was in this area as we went along the side of the mountain that we saw this bad accident on the road below..and as it turned out about a 15-mile back up in each direction….for there was a lot of traffic on this holiday weekend. Again, thankful that we were on the train. The track usually will go along the valley and follow the rivers, etc….but from time to time has to go along the sides of the mountains, and on a couple of occasions we were looking down about 1500 feet to the valley directly below. Quite exciting. As we came out of the Alps, the train would pick up speed, for we were still about 30 minutes behind…and a couple of times, it seemed like we were exceeding 120…we were “crankin”….but we made it to Salzburg at 4 PM…on schedule. We got directions to the Renaissance Hotel…and being 2 blocks from the train station, we walked over in the rain…and checked into this 5 star hotel. We walked around the area for awhile as we had been sitting all day…then had our first schnitzel at the hotel restaurant…and got to see our first Turkish wedding. About 1000 Turks in the hotel ballroom…all smoking, etc., but interesting. Got to bed at 10 PM after another full and interesting day.
