Was it a rat or was it a ferret?

That was the question for today.

As we drove into Frankfurt Sherry swore that she saw a large ferret like creature dart across the road in front of the car and that "it was a rat".

Perhaps it was because Frankfurt have their own designated exterminator


Back to the drive from Stuttgart to Frankfurt, just like our previous European holiday we were again struck by the number of trucks on the highway - in this photo there


are 9 of them and in this one, going in the same direction as us there were wall to


wall trucks in the slow lane on the right.

Another question for today was what is half of 33 - the temperature in Auckland


today -we have had excellent weather since arriving in Europe.

After booking in to our hotel we then, as has been our habit, hit the streets heading for the main city area. The first thing we came across was another superb car free shopping strip running towards Hauptwache which we meandered down and at the end of which we made our way to the old town area where there is some superb old buildings set around a square in Dom-Romer.





Nearby was the Eiserner Steg, a steel bridge over the Main River, and all along the bridge folk had left padlocks with various messages (mainly of love) in much the same way as we saw in Japan when visiting with Sam - we also have seen the something at other stops in Europe








In the short time we spent on the bridge it was amazing the number of different forms of boats that passed under the bridge














By now it was deep into the afternoon so we headed for the nearest Starbucks to rest the feet, get out of the heat and rehydrate!

On the way back through town we came across a shop solely dedicated to Maggi products which though one might think is a NZ product is a trademark now owned by Nestle but was a company founded in Switzerland by Julius Maggi in 1872



Tonight we ate at a local restaurant serving traditional meals and though the oversized pork knuckle on my plate looked obscene it was a very nice meal.

We have two further days to explore Frankfurt but the imperative for tomorrow is find an outlet that sells the Environmental Emission badge that all vehicles must display when entering many Germany towns - our vehicle is not displaying one, we are inside an environmental zone and are therefore subject to a 40 euro fine if spotted and I have to say the vehicle sticks out like a sore thumb as every other vehicle I have seen proudly has one affixed to the front screen.

The first day of driving...

...was completed without incident, well almost.

Mrs GPS is an exceptional lady and I don't think will give us any trouble on this trip


as she performed flawlessly.

We left Zurich around 8.45 and made our way out of town and soon we were travelling up a motorway towards the Germany border.

Sherry took us across the border and we "sped" on towards Stuttgart. While we


thought we were ripping along those in the fast lane were more of a blur as they made their way north in their Mercedes or BMW or Audi at a far faster clip.

Nevertheless we arrived at our hotel on the outskirts of Stuttgart around noon and booked in as our room was ready even though book in time was not before 3pm.

We were soon on a tram to the central city and after a quick bite at a kiosk near the station we went looking!

It was not too long before we turned into Koningstrasse which turned out to be a mall of around a kilometre or more and I have to say, much as I dislike shopping areas, that this was one of the nicest we have come across through our travels on this and previous trips.


At the end of the Strasse we climbed up to Karlshohe which is a park sitting above the city and which gave reasonable views of parts of the city, a city which sits in a valley


After relaxing for a while we then returned back down to the shopping centre and then walked over to Schillerplatz to look at the Neues Schloss and also the Altes Schloss (the old and the new castles)





before we went up the tower at the railway station, sponsored by Mercedes whose factory is located in Stuttgart, which gave great views across the CBD and


allowed a birds eye view of Koningstrasse and highlighted just how long the street actually is


Back on the tram we arrived back at Mohringen, dropped the backpack off and went out for a meal.

Stuttgart is the capital of the Baden-Wuerttemberg region which is also "home" to a group of people known as the Swabian and with that in mind we went to a restaurant serving traditional Swabian food, a meal which we thoroughly enjoyed in a delightful 300 year old building.

So ended a very enjoyable day - tomorrow we move onto Frankfurt.

Oops I nearly forgot to say what the almost was - as we arrived in Mohringen Mrs GPS advised of a turn in 100m but Sherry said to turn NOW so I did and forgot that I was driving on the other side of the road and I ended up driving straight towards a row of cars waiting at the lights!

We prepare to move

Today was our last day in Zurich before we start our driving tour.

We were scheduled to pick up the Peugeot at the airport at 3 pm so needed to fill in time this morning.

We decided to take a tram to a "suburb" around the lake and then walk back to the city - it is 79 kms around Lake Zurich in total - so alighted at Wollishofen and held our breath as we walked to the lake front that we hadn't bit off more than we could chew but as we looked back to the city visually it looked doable.

In fact 45 minutes later we were back among the crowds at Zuri Fascht.

It was an eye opener as we walked through the city looking at the mess thousands of people had made the night before.

The walk back gave pleasant views across the lake and there were some interesting


things going on, like these amphibious vehicles taking folk for a ride at a price





or this guy demonstrating his rocket machine





After lunch we took the tram to the airport and met up with the Peugeot we now owned for the next six weeks


It has to be said that we have had no luck with our Peugeots, the one on our previous trip was delivered without inbuilt GPS, while this one came complete with tape over the right side mirror and the guy told us that as he was driving it to the airport to handover the plate on the back of the mirror flew off and sailed down the road


A rather nervous drive back to the hotel as we got used to driving on the other side of the road was achieved with only a few more grey hairs added.

Unfortunately the day has been marred by the Warriors breaking their winning streak but from the reports I have read they played well and the video I saw of Connie's try was a beaut.

Zuri Fascht

After our meal of traditional sausage, potato salad etc. in the beer hall last night we walked around the riverbank among the many thousands of locals and other tourists - it was shoulder to shoulder stuff with most walking along eating a sausage or other local "delicacy" or holding a large glass of beer from one of the hundreds (that is no exaggeration as each stall has a number allocated to it and today I saw 1345) of food or liquor stalls.

There were stages set up with continual music by various performers, at least 50 parachutists landed on barges in the river and other forms of entertainment going on over the whole of what I would call the central city of Zurich.

This morning we ventured out again & caught the polybahn a funicular that rose from the station at river level to the University and gave a modest view across Zurich.





Down to the flat again and after walking along the river bank stopping to watch some dragon boat races we climbed the 200 steps within the Grossmunster, being


the Church built in around 1100, and had exceptional views from the north tower.





Looking down Lake Zurich towards the Alps...


...and in the other direction


We had lunch brought from one of the stalls I mentioned above sitting on the banks of the lake (along with 100s of others doing the same).

It is obvious from the number of stalls and the hoardes of locals that the Zuri Fascht is a big thing for the city and is very well supported.

Walking passed a pub on one of the beautiful side streets was attracted by the noise so poked my head in to see the Lions popping the champagne corks after their comprehensive win - one can only hope that Robbie's Christchurch home is habitable because I suspect that he won't require the one he has in Australia much longer!

Only a masochist...

...would sit in an aluminium tube with 300 others for 13 hours and at the end say that was fun!

6 this morning after flying through the night we arrived at Zurich a little the worse for wear.

Uplifted the bags, stopped at a kiosk for a coffee, stood in a queue for a quarter of an hour or so to purchase tickets for the train trip into town and then after a quick trip we alighted at the main Zurich station - "Zurich HB".

Despite having a map on the iPad showing the way to the hotel the construction work around the station confused and an elderly local saw our plight and took two other elderlies in hand and walked us to the main street and pointed us on our way.

After ambling approx. a kilometre up a hill (ok, a slight incline) humping two large and two small suitcases we arrived at our hotel at around 8.00am and as check-in wasn't until 3pm all we could do was drop the cases off and turn around and walk back into the city.

So began our look around Zurich.

We soon found that they were setting up for a 3 day street party - Zuri Fascht - which is held only every 3 years & not because of our arrival as I first thought.

There were marquees and beer tents going up all along the streets in and around the Limmat River and Lake Zurich foreshore - if the number of people they were obviously expecting arrive then Zurich town is going to rock over this weekend.

The downside from our point of view is however that these marquees hide some of the beautiful buildings but nevertheless the charm of the place is evident.









In a street side cafe we paid 5CHF i.e. approx $7.50 for two glasses of water with some breakfast!

A stroll down Bahnhofstrasse passed all the high end shops was an interesting excursion - this street (Strasse) is recognised as one of the top shopping streets in the world but other than a coffee at a Starbucks the wallet stayed locked away.



Showing the effects of 40 hours without proper sleep we made our way back to the hotel in the hope that we could checkin and rest up (& post this blog) before we venture out again for an early dinner - we have selected a beer hall in Bahnhofstrasse so that could be interesting.

Some photos from our last day in Singapore

Chinatown


The temple in Little India


The Sentosa Boardwalk

Singapore done and dusted...

... a bit like some of the places we went to today.

To fill in the day before our flight to Zurich tonight, having booked out of the hotel we ventured firstly to Chinatown.

An area much the same as Chinatowns around the world - plenty of food stalls selling cheap meals of every Chinese description and packed with local folk.

From there we went to Little India which was much the same - food stalls, people & not a little dust and grime.

The Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple which is one of the published landmarks was a disappointment being surrounded by construction fences & not that visible though some of the upper "spires" were visible but not as colourful as the last time we visited.

Back on the MRT we went to Harbour Front & walked along the Sentosa Boulevard which was a pleasant walk with good views of Sentosa as well as looking back to VivoCity another of the numerous/plentiful/multiplicity of the shopping malls here in Singapore.

Time was getting on, the feet were starting to swell so we travelled back to the hotel on the MRT on the way cashing in the "Octopus" type cards we had been using.

Was served by a very thoughtful customer services attendant who went to great pains to point out that if we cashed them in we would be unable to use them again - now that was the sort of advice we needed to have!

A meal in the same hawker centre as last night was highlighted by Sherry spotting a cockroach at the stall we were going to order from just before we placed the order - that was enough for her as she quickly moved to another stall well removed from where we planning to purchase from. If the locals can eat things we wouldn't contemplate I'm not sure why a roach was going to be such a big deal.

Picked up our bags from the hotel, jumped a taxi and are now sitting at the airport from where we are posting this blog.

Sorry no photos as the camera is packed away and gone through customs.

3 hours to kill & we will be away again - a 13 hour flight overnight which isn't being looked forward to!

Bye

The temperature rises...

...as we leave the hotel this morning on foot heading for the Marina Sands hotel & The Gardens on the Bay.

Changing from the air-conditioned hotel to the warm climate along the street caused the lens on the camera to fog up as soon as the lens cap came off.

The Marina Sands Hotel is a stunning three towered building with a roof across the three towers...




...and a classy interior



The chocolatier is clearly a very clever fellow (unlikely to be a woman :)) who has created a superb piano in honour of The Phantom of the Opera which opens in Singapore shortly.


We then walked over to and through the Gardens by the Bay which is dominated by 3 structures - 2 domes, one a cloud forest & the other a flower dome and the 3rd structure being a skywalk above another part of the expansive area.

The domes were awarded the world building of the year in 2012 - they are well worth a visit to see flowers and plants from various parts of the world and the Skywalk (22 metres above the ground) affords a good panorama of the area and the city and port beyond.








After the better part of the afternoon we dragged our tired feet back to the MRT & travelled back to the hotel.

Tonight we hope to find a typical hawker food centre & experience what the locals enjoy.

Tomorrow we leave Singapore for Zurich having to book out by noon but not flying out until 11 that night - access to the Internet will have to wait until we have access to our hotel in Zurich late on 5th July Zurich time.

Until then...

Singapore

After what could only be described as a poor sleep as the body clock tried, unsuccessfully it has to be said, to adjust we left the hotel in a balmy 30 degrees to orientate ourselves once again with Singapore.

We walked from the hotel up Bra Basah Rd to Orchard Rd which was much as we remembered it from our last stopover here some years ago when we were coming back from visiting Jodi in Amsterdam.

Unlike our holiday 2 years ago when we hardly saw any rain this morning there was a very heavy tropical downpour which caused us to shelter in one of the shopping mega centres for around an hour until it stopped.

Continuing on we walked up Paterson Hill, a mere pimple in the scheme of things and over to the river.




We then walked along the riverbank to Clarke Quay which looked decidedly secondhand but I guess would look the lively place it is reputed to be once the sun goes down.





After freshening up back at the hotel we caught the MRT out to the Singapore Zoo for a relatively quick walk around before it closed ...







...and then after a meal we moved over to the Night Safari which is a park that shows off the animals after dark.

It was well worth the visit.

Bus & MRT dropped a couple of worn out oldies back in the city around 10.15pm.

Caio until tomorrow!

We are on our way

After emotional goodbyes to family yesterday (I remained stoic but the same could not be said for she who must be obeyed) and to the gang at Mount Smart, this morning we were dropped off at the airport by Jodi & her little one Logan.

After the normal 3 or more hours killing time we boarded SQ286 & were greeted by the very nicely presented Singapore Girls for the 10 hour flight.

Unlike many other airlines the plane pushed back 10 minutes early & we were off.

Soon realised that watching the flight travel screen wasn't going to make the journey any quicker.





I can't help feeling that if Australia was smaller one would get to the other side of the world far quicker as one seems to spend most of the flight time over Australia.




On the flight had the traditional Singapore Sling so now don't need to outlay $25 at Raffles Hotel for one!

Arrived at Changi airport at 6.15pm, approximately 50 minutes earlier than scheduled and after clearing customs took a taxi to the Carlton Hotel which is adjacent to Raffles.

Booked in, dropped the bags in the very nice room and as Raffles City Mall was still open went out to find some fruit to have with tomorrow's breakfast - yes we are cheapskates as we had brought a pack of Hubbard's muesli with us for our Singaporean breakfasts.

Having been up for well over 19 hours the bed was too inviting to ignore.

Tomorrow we start our holiday in earnest.

The Home Straight

As I pen this post we have only 23 big sleeps to go.

The evening news every night this week has highlighted floods in Europe & each night a different city has been highlighted as being inundated and each of those cities is one that we will be visiting - e.g. Dresden, Prague

We can only hope that they have dried out before we arrive!

We had a long weekend recently & we enjoyed the three days away with the extended family at Whangapoua which is located on the eastern side of the Coromandel peninsula





It was a mini holiday before our big one.

All our planning has been done, it now only requires packing the suitcases & stepping onto the big bird on 1 July - we can't wait :)

Until next time

The trip gets nearer....

....it is now less than 5 months until D-day.

We are researching the potential sightseeing opportunities in each of the cities we will be visiting.

We salivate at the thought of what is ahead of us.