Entries tagged with germany

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Bavarian Road Trip - Day 4 Part 1, Passau and Into Austria

Yes, I continue to be very slow about posting pics from a trip that was nearly seven weeks ago now. (Earlier instalments here).

( Passau and the Austrian Lake District )

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Bavarian Road Trip - Day 2, Regensburg

Our last instalment had us setting of in the Beast from Munich with the GPS programmed to take us to Regensburg. Seduced by the snazzy head-up display of route information and speedometer, we cruised up the autobahn... until

darth_hamster became a little concerned.

"Didn't that junction back there have a turn for Regensburg?"

Hmm, GPS says carry on heading north. But there's a service station coming up, so we pull off and I check the main satnav screen. Then I look at the map. Then I swear a bit. The satnav seems to think that there are two Regensburgs, with one being a tiny village somewhere up near Numerburg. I admit defeat and put in the postcode of our hotel, and we're soon off in the right direction.

As we headed away from Munich (fairly flat) the countryside got more rolling. Something we noticed was that almost every field seemed to have a small wooden watchtower in it, like a little tree-house on stilts. Fire watch? Ubiquitous bird-watchers?

Regensburg itself is amazing; one of the best-preserved medieval cities in Germany. Imagine all the oldest and most impressive bits of Oxford and Edinburgh rolled together and given a Bavarian flavour, and you have some idea of why it's such a popular attraction.

( Regensburg Pics )

After a beautiful sunny afternoon and early evening exploring the old town we retired to our hotel for dinner in the beer garden. About half way though we got to test the table canopy, as the heavens opened (it worked). Hmm, Day 3 was meant to involve a scenic drive into the Bavarian Forest. I was beginning to think that fate might have been kind to us after all in swapping a sports car for a luxury APC.

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Bavaria Road Tour: Munich

I've been gently reminded that I am very slack at posting trip photos, to the point that I've still not done much with the vast number I took on our US/Canada trip nearly a year ago. So, as a start, let's get going with the Bavaria Road Trip that

darth_hamster and I went on last month...

Our plan was to fly in to Munich, take the train into the city and stay overnight before picking up our car on Sunday morning. Saturday evening we had a very pleasant wander around the city centre, culminating in what was to be the first of several very, very filling Bavarian meals. Bavaria's cuisine is great, so long as you don't mind having half a pig on your plate every meal. The following morning, before getting the car, we had another walk, this time getting a few pictures. (Click for bigger versions)

( Munich Piccies )

On next to pick up the car. Now, this was meant to be what

darth_hamster had dubbed my Mid Life Crisis Holiday, with me renting a BMW Z4. Alas, when we arrived at the rental centre they were most apologetic, as the car reserved for us had an electrical fault. No equivalent was available, so they offered us an upgrade.

To an X5.

Yes, we had BMW's spiritual successor to the Tiger II. The first problem was getting this behemoth out of the rather confined courtyard at the rental pickup and through an access lane about an inch wider than it was. Fortunately the Beast was equipped with BMW's system that stitches together the view from all-round cameras to give you a simulated overhead picture of your car, complete with colour-coded sonar-like proximity warning and computer-predicted turn circles. (Also, much to our relief, the rental staff had signed off a prominent scrape where someone else had had real problems getting out.) This first challenge dealt with, we programmed the satnav for Regensburg and set off...