A Travel Day to Regensburg, Germany

09 Oct 2009 Leave a comment

by jeannieadams in Uncategorized Tags:

Friday, October 9, 2009

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Yes, I am definitely in Germany now. Someone is drinking a beer. I am on my 2nd train, its 11:00 AM , on route to my first Germany destination, Regensburg. . It is also raining. But the grass is a beautiful bright green and the hill sides are the prettiest shades of dark greens, mixed in with the fall oranges and deep reds.

 

The German men look big and burly and , ohhhhh, I like that look. Much better than the squirrelly looking Frenchman. You have to understand, I’m riding on trains in 1st class and they are mostly filled with business men – so being a single woman and spending lots of time on the trains, I have plenty to look at and access .

 

It has been an eventful day on the trains. One my 1st train today , a young lady brought me breakfast, tray and everything , eggs, lox, bread, oj, coffee. I said no thank – ( I had already eaten). But she got rather angry , as the French do, and kept speaking irritatingly at me. Than a kind gentleman leans over to me and explains, in English, it was free with my reservation, to just take it and make her happy. So I took it and drank the oj. I probably wouldn’t eat eggs and lox if it were starving. I thanked him for the translation.

 

Then on my 3rd transfer and last train of the day, suddenly, out in the middle of no where it seemed, the train came to a screaching halt, and then an announcement was made. I , of course, did not understand the German announcement. But everyone was visibly upset by it. 10 minutes later and 4 more announcements, I finally asked the couple next to me if they spoke English and what had happened. Someone had jumped out in front of our train and was killed they told me. I was in the first car and it was quite a commotion. I hope nothing close to that happens again on this trip. Needless to say, my arrival into Regensburg was very delayed.

 

Regensburg, the little bit I saw of it tonight was beautiful. It is one of the towns that was not bombed in WW II – so its very authentic. Can’t wait to get up early and start exploring.
Tune in tomorrow for the best of Regensburg.

Strausbourg, France

08 Oct 2009 1 Comment

by jeannieadams in Uncategorized Tags: ,

Thursday, October 8, 2009


A 35 minute train ride from Colmar, also in the Alsace Region, is Strausbourg. But while Colmar is small town, Stausbourg is the big city. A beautiful Old Town area surrounded by the River Ill, full of half timbered buildings and outside cafes. Also in the middle of the Old Town and built in the 1400’s is the biggest church I have ever seen, Cathedral de Stausbourg. It doesn’t begin to fit in the camera lens and , to be honest, its not the prettiest I’ve ever seen, but its famous anyway – in spite of what I think.

 

Given the opportunity, I am always drawn to a boat ride, and the ride I took on the River Ill went thru 2 lock and dams that were originally built in the 1600’s. The prettiest spot I saw , by far, was Petite France, where all the old craftsman’s homes sat on the banks of the river.

 

Then magically I walk a few blocks any direction and I am back in the year 2009, modern day France with a bizillion places to window shop. Give me a week and a bag full of money. : )

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French Yorkies have tails.

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Half Timbered Homes on River Ill.

Colmar, France

07 Oct 2009 1 Comment

by jeannieadams in Uncategorized Tags:

Thursday, Oct 7, 2009

Colmar, in the Alsace region of France, looks like a Hansel and Gretel village. Buildings in the Old Town date from the 15th and 17th century, and evidently because of its historic value, it was spared from bombing in WW II. The narrow streets and 1/2 timbered houses speak for themselves as to the charm of Colmar especially the “Little Venice” area where I took a boat ride down the canals.   A nice place to wander for the day , take photos and / or sit at a side walk cafe and watch the world go by.

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Colmar’s Charming  Train Station

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Half-Timbered Homes

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What”s the French Word for “Duck” ?

Luzern, Switzerland, :)

06 Oct 2009 Leave a comment

by jeannieadams in Uncategorized Tags: , , ,

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October 6, 2009

Luzern is one beautiful city. It sits serenely at the foothills of the Alps and on the banks of Lake Luzern. I could live here. Any chance I could pack up all my family and friends and take you with me? It has it all. I loved it being so walkable – they have cross walks everywhere and the cars and the bicyclists actually stop at them for you to cross ! The water in all the decorative fountains is clean and drinkable and even tastes good! I could probably give up my Diet Coke addiction. All the ladies have on their boots and are wearing fur vests or cute little leather jackets – my favorite accessories! The clothes in the store windows are beautiful -( not like the garbage in the US that look like tablecloths). Like everyplace else I’ve seen so far, dogs are welcome everywhere in Luzern and their owners really do clean up after them. Everyone seems to speak English and people are friendly. There are markets set up every morning by the lake selling fresh flowers, fruits, vegetables, cheeses (it is cheese country), bakery goods and all sorts of other items.
Luzern is pictureque with its covered bridges, swans, outside cafes, beautiful churchs and old time squares with painted buildings. And guess what else I found? A bakery called the “Hug Bakery”. Plus Lucern has my favorite monument – the Lowendenkmal (the lion carved out of a cliff) – its breaks your heart – to see the pain in this lions face.

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Painted Buildings Everywhere

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The Lowendenkmal

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The Hug Bakery

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Mornings Markets by the Lake

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Fountains You Can Drink From!!!

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That’s me and the Lion.

Golden Pass Railroad through the Alps

05 Oct 2009 Leave a comment

by jeannieadams in Uncategorized Tags: ,

Monday, October 5, 2009

Today was a 4 train, 6 hour scenic train route thru (part of) Switzerland and the Alps. What beautiful country! Besides the Alps at the top and the lakes and streams at the bottom, there were waterfalls in the middle, picturesque Swiss chalets, steep inclines with sharp drop offs, lots of tunnels, LOTS of cows wearing cow bells, the leaves on the trees showing off their fall colors, goats ( high on a hill) :), sheep ( but none painted), and plenty of doe and deer ( makes me want to sing). Mixed in there was just a little bit of altitude sickness I do believe. But no enough to spoil the moments. At the  end of the ride I landed in Luzern, Switzerland which I look forward to exploring tomorrow.

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Mountains, Villages, Lakes, oh my….

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Look at these Crazy Looking Rock Formations

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This guy slept the WHOLE way –

I wanted to wake him up  and tell

him what he was missing!!

Geneva, Switzerland

04 Oct 2009 Leave a comment

by jeannieadams in Uncategorized Tags: ,

Sunday Oct 4, 2011

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Today was travel day to Geneva, Switzerland by train. Train travel, so relaxing, and this train especially ran along the Mediterrean just in time for me to watch the sun rise over the water. Yes, I caught a very early train. Can’t waste too much time sleeping – there are countries to explore! We also then rode thru the Provence countryside – I must be here at the wrong time

of year for the pretty purple colors, but it is also pretty in green!

Geneva has LOTS of stores. Stores everywhere and very expensive. I did stumble upon Lake Geneva, which is full of swans and I found their famous fountain and their more famous Floral Clock, which was a step above MoBots :). I bought a small OJ for $ 4.50SF so good thing breakfast was included in the cost of my room! And I also got very lost – which was bound to happen sooner or later, but the people in Geneva, unlike the previous country, are very friendly and always eager to help. So with the help of quite a few along my path, Irefused to give up and just jump in a taxi and I found my hotel again.

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Lake Geneva

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Doggie Fashion Shows

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Floral Clock

Monte Carlo

03 Oct 2009 Leave a comment

by jeannieadams in Uncategorized Tags:

Saturday, October 3, 2009

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Monaco was the  day trip destination of today – the Palace of a Prince, a harbor full of more big yachts that you can ever imagine and people who drive like its the Grand Prix everyday. The 40 minute bus ride along the narrow, curvy coastal road to get there was enough to make me a believer in God, if I wasn’t already. And, once again, it all sits on the edge of the Mediterranean Sea -the deep blue water is absolutely breath taking as the sun glistens across it. 
Along, with all the wonderful sights, – many of my travelings lessons are coming back to me – validate your bus ticket – EVEN IF the bus driver JUST sold it to you, don’t walk on bike paths, the Yorkies in Europe all come with real tails and if your hotel internet is free, that probably means it won’t work very well or …often…… and you can always count on McDonalds to have a restroom.

Tonight was one last walk around Nice as tomorrow morn, I’m off to Geneva…….

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These “smaller” yachts are kept in a secondary harbor.

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This yacht is bigger than my house!

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Even the dogs travel in style!

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Prince Albert’s Palace

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The young up and coming in Monte Carlo!

Nice , France

02 Oct 2009 Leave a comment

by jeannieadams in Uncategorized Tags: ,

Friday, October 2, 2009

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Well….. today was a beautiful, sunny day on the French Rivera. OMG, its incredible !! I’m really here , alll my planning paid off and everything went smooth as silk.

 

The 12 hours or so filled with hundreds of strangers in airports and jets were interesting as always . You can always bet there will be a few who surprise you with their lack of social graces but on the flip side, there was also the nice kid who jumped up to help me get my bag into the stow away compartment and the very elderly couple who sat beside me that held hands the whole flight. They restored any slip of faith I had in the human race.

But back to Nice, France……….palm trees, perfect weather, beautiful blue water, lots of people enjoying the beach and the water- some with more clothes then others….. and one beautiful building and outside cafe after another. Then, the Old Town section of Nice is like stepping back where time has stood still. Narrow streets and old tattered buildings with laundry hanging out the windows – like an old movie. It was wonderful to walk all over.

My hotel is great too- the lady who runs it is a hoot. She has 2 pet turtles that run loose sometimes and they love people. Wh en they see you, they come as fast as they can to you and stand at your feet. True! Maybe they want to be petted? Is that a turtle trait? I did pet the one and he didn’t even hide in his shell – guess he liked it. : ) And the lady/owner saw we reading the map in their common room and she comes in waving her arms saying “Don’t look at the maps! You miss too much that way – just go out and walk – if you get lost, you get lost!!” I also have a balcony and the doors are wide open – its great!

 

Well, I’m starting too ramble – jetlag is settling in big time .

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Think they are trying to tell us something??

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 Russian Church in Nice

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Beautiful Cemetary in Old Town Nice

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 Hotel Wilson Pet Turtles

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No Seashells in the French Riveria

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Church Door decoration for a Wedding in Old Town Nice.

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