Long Weekend Busyness

One of the lovely things about living in Germany in May are the holidays (Have I said this every year?). This year we have a three-day long weekend and two four-day long weekends. Unfortunately May 1st fell on a Sunday, so we missed out on that holiday.

Last weekend we had four days off, and I took full advantage of those days. In four days I managed to go to four different places, three of which involved softball :)

Thursday
My first trip was to Karlsruhe, to watch a friend play in the Bundesliga. A group of us went, and so luckily I got a ride there. We then spent the afternoon sitting in the sun, eating hamburgers and watching some really good softball. My friend plays with a team from Stuttgart, and they won the first game. Unfortunately not the second.

Marion at bat against Karlsruhe

Friday
The next day I headed back in the same direction, but this time by train. I took a train to Stuttgart, and then an SBahn to Ludwigsburg. One of my colleagues goes there every weekend to visit her boyfriend, and so we met up there for the day. I first went to the castle, and then met up with Allison. The castle is pretty special, as it has not been changed or destroyed since it was redone in the early 19th century. Not so common for this area. I took a tour, and then went through the fashion museum they have there.

The outside of one end. The castle was originally only one end, but was then expanded when it became a main residence of a newly promoted king.

After I met up with Allison and we sat on the Marktplatz for icecream, then did some shopping. For dinner we went to a traditional Schwäbisch restaurant. Still had Schnitzel, but with a Schwäbisch cream sauce and homemade Spätzle as a side.

The restaurant behind, it is actually a brewery

We sat out in the square across from the restaurant. Can you imagine Canadian servers crossing a street to serve people?

Saturday

Finally I got to play myself! Only our second game day of the season, in Darmstadt. I was playing 3rd base, as normal, and had a great time. We played two excellent games, and solidly won both. I was fielding well the whole time. It didn't hurt that a few times they practically hit it right into my glove. Batting was still a bit of a struggle for most of the time. I got on base with a walk and an error, but was still looking for my first hit. Then my last time up at bat it finally worked! I managed to hit the ball over the outfielders and get a 3 RBI triple :) And for that I was given the MVP of the game trophy for our team.

Sunday

And since I had not done enough driving, on Sunday I drove with some friends to Stuttgart (yes I had been there on Friday...). We went back to watch Marion again, this time at home against Freising. Again we had beautiful weather, and had to move into the shade for most of the afternoon. For the first time this season, Stuttgart won both of their games. A highlight was watching one of the Stuttgart players hit an out of the park homerun! 

Marion up to bat, having just hit to ball

After all that travelling and sunshine I was definitely ready to be home Sunday night. Though that was just to pack, as Monday the grade 2s at my school were off to camp for two nights!

April Update

After getting back from Portugal I had a long weekend in Frankfurt before heading back to school. Luckily it was a beautiful weekend and I had a visit from a good friend. Claire came with her husband and son from Vienna to visit. I met up with them for brunch, and then, since the weather was so nice, we ended up having a picnic on the Main. There another friend joined us, and was kind enough to bring down some snacks for us.

Enjoying our picnic, making sure no one ran into the water!

Frühling

Then, because I had nothing to do one Sunday a week after school started, I got on my bike and rode west along the Main. I started out mid-afternoon, so the original plan was to bike only as far as Höchst, but it was so lovely I continued.

Through the fields and past the blossoms

After 10 km I decided I was enjoying it too much to stop, so continued some more. In the back of my mind I had the idea to make it to Mainz, but at this point I thought I would not last that long.

Past the Tipi-dorf

But then I came to 20 km and then to 30 km, and the 41 km to Mainz-Kastell did not seem to far. And at about 6 pm I made it to the Rhein:

The Rhein, with views of Mainz across the river

From there I got straight on the SBahn for the trip home, and some much needed food (ya, I wasn't really prepared to bike that far ... all I had packed was a chocolate bar!)

Tour through Portugal

Over Easter I had 8 nights in Portugal. In that time I managed to see 5 different places (7 if you include Sintra and Belem as separate from Lisbon). Having been rather busy since that trip, I have only just managed to sort pictures to post. Here are some highlights of what we did:

Lisbon

The first 4 days I was in Lisbon with Teresa. We lucked out with our Easter breaks just overlapping, she ended just after I started. I also got to see a friend, Rita, in Lisbon. Rita and I had met in Frankfurt in a German course, when she was working here for 6 months. 

Arco da Rua Augusta - we climbed up to the top for a view of Lisbon and Praca do Comercio

View up Rua Augusta from the top of the arch

Praca Dom Pedro IV. Our hostel was just around the corner at the far end.

Our first full day in Lisbon we took a walking tour. We walked all over the centre area of Lisbon, learning a lot about different buildings, statues and history. The tour guide talked a lot about the earthquake of 1755. Almost everything was destroyed in the old centre, and so the style now comes from the rebuilding.

Teresa and I after the tour

After the tour we took some tram rides. We tried out a funiculars which goes up one of the steep hills in the city. Then we got on the popular-for-tourists Tram 28. It goes from one side of Libson to the other. We got on in Bairro Alto and took it to Alfama. It was not the ride I expected, given I love old trams. It was too crowded and standing up we did not really enjoy it. So we were happy to get off and walk around Alfama.

Tram 28

The view from Alfama, looking back over Lisbon.

The next day we took another tram out to Belem, which turned out to be my favourite area of Lisbon. We visited the beautiful monastery and cloister there, and then went for lunch at the famous Pasteis de Belem cafe. The pastries there are very similar to the Pasteis de Nata, but according to Michael Portillo are actually made from a top secret recipe and so are famous to Belem. They were delicious. We went back and got 6 to take with us, but they didn't last long as we ate them as soon as we were back in the hostel!

Mosaic map at Belem, showing the various world explorations that set out from here

Jeronimos Monastery

The most delicious food in the world!!

Teresa and I, with the Torre de Belem behind us

Our last day we went out to Sintra. It was an easy train ride, because the Sintra trains run from Rossio train station, where our hostel was. We first went to the National Palace and then to Pena Palace. The National Palace was okay, but with a large tour in front of us and another behind, we did not have the most relaxed visit. My favourite room though was in the tower. On the ceiling it has all the crests of the most noble families of Portugal. Quite interesting historically, but also interesting because I found my friend's last name!

The paintings above are the family crests.

I really enjoyed the gardens at the National Palace. Teresa and I found some cute seats.

Then we went to Pena Palace (see my previous post for a picture). It had been a monastery, which was then built into a palace by Ferdinand II, cousin to Victoria and Albert. It was fascinating and gorgeous inside. It also has a huge garden, but unfortunately we did not have time to explore. 

One of the rooms off of the cloister, turned into a dining room

Next my friend Rita picked us up with her car. We drove out to Cabo da Roca, the most western point in mainland Europe. The weather was not so nice to us, windy and cold, but at least the rain held off at this point.

As west as you can go in Europe!

Fighting with the wind

Great views of the water thanks to all that wind

We did a bit more sight seeing with Rita, but unfortunately the rain started and we couldn't get out in Cascais to see anything. So instead we met up with her boyfriend and his daughter and went for all-you-can-eat sushi. Different than in Vancouver, but delicious!

Evora

The next day Teresa had to go back to Munich, and I went out to Evora for the day. I went there because I had heard it was an ancient Roman town. Not much to see, besides the aqueduct and one temple, but I was pleasantly surprised by the city museum, which also happened to be free.

Walking around on the roof of the cathedral

Roman Temple

Just outside the old town of Evora, following the aqueduct

Coimbra

The next day I took the train to Coimbra, and then up to Porto. Coimbra is probably a lovely little university town. Unfortunately I saw it in the pouring rain and ended up soaking wet. The university is amazing. Better in the sunshine I bet though.

See the umbrellas? I didn't have one...

The old square of the university

Still used for defending theses and other official university functions

Finally the sun came out long enough to sit outside and eat a Pasteis de Nata

Porto

The weather luckily improved while I was in Porto. Since I was on my own, I treated myself to a nice hotel for the 3 nights. For Christmas I got a 1901 guide book to Spain and Portugal, so I used that to find a hotel. I really wanted to say in the Hotel de Francfort, but unfortunately that is no longer in existence (hotel, building and street I believe). I did manage to find the Grande Hotel de Paris: 139 years old and still running. Everywhere inside was decorated with old things from the hotel: furniture, telephones, key shelves.

My room

I had 2 full days of sunshine in Porto. I took a walking tour, visited the main sights, and enjoyed the sun.

Painted tiles in Sao Bento train station: King John I and Philippa of Lancaster

Livraria Lello, apparently an inspiration for Harry Potter

My favourite part :)

One of the highlights of Porto was the Palacio da Bolsa, the commerce palace. It was built in an old monastery and clearly they had plenty of money to spend!

Mosaic inspired by Pompeii

Gustav Eiffel's desk

Islamic room, which you can rent for weddings

I also went over to the other side of the Douro, Vila Nova de Gaia. I went up to the Monastery on the top of the hill. Now it is owned by the military, but you can still take a tour of the church and cloister. We also went up to the roof, with a soldier accompanying us.

View of Porto from the monastery roof

Old port wine boats anchored in Vila Nova de Gaia

Aveiro

After Porto I stopped in Aveiro on my way back to the airport. Dubbed the Venice of Portugal, it had some charm. After a quick walk around, with not so much to see, I read my 1901 guide book. According to it, the only thing worth doing was a tour of the canals, so that was what I did. Very enjoyable in the sunshine, and then back on the train to the airport.

The main tourist attraction

Touring the canals