Scott had bad news today! There is no McDonalds in Iceland. It was expected to be partly cloudy today with a maximum temperature of -6C with some wind. It was a good day to take a car trip.

I prepared for the cooler regional outing with the thick tights, fleecy leggings, warm boots, a polo skivvy, my merino wool sports jacket, my denim dress, a warm scarf, gloves and the green puffer coat. I needed all the layers today!

The Golden Circle is a tourist route that takes in some of the interesting natural beauty of Iceland.

There was a mobile phone inside the apartment with a designated number that operated the boom gate for our parking area. The car had sat in the car park for two days so a layer of ice had formed on the windows. They need to be scraped before you can drive anywhere.

The landscape is insane with white mountains and snow broken up with some black roads and horses. Heads up – there are a lot of videos in this post.

First stop was the Kerid crater. It was very cold and the little lake at the bottom was frozen over which took about an hour to reach this destination. We paid $12 each for the privilege of freezing while we avoided slipping over to see the frozen crater.

Back in the car, the next stop was about 45 minutes away to see the Geysir. There was a service centre here so we ate before walking across to see the Geysir.

Lunch was delicious fish soup with bread (that was more like a cake texture). Scott rescued the bread basket from a table beside ours set for tour groups. The place was teeming with tourists. We carefully navigated the icy paths to view the Geysir only to be sprayed with volcanic water on the second spurt.

Gullfoss waterfalls was about 10 minutes away by car and it was lovely. The temperature was -6 but felt like triple that with the wind chill, like -19C.

You can’t get the vastness of what we were seeing on film. The full moon was captivating.

It was really cool to see the wind sweeping the snow across the roads.

We really were so lucky with the weather, as cold as it was, we did not have to worry about blizzards or rain. Apparently Neil Armstrong trained out here because it is so like the moon landscape.

While driving, many signs are covered in snow so thank heavens for Google maps!

Someone summed up Iceland as uncomfortably cold and uncomfortably expensive, and they are right!

You don’t need a special travel card for financial transactions – all transactions are on my debit card so there is no need for cash. I have not had to go to an ATM to get krona for any transaction. The exchange rate is set by the bank . Even for Germany, I have only had to go to an ATM to get Euros for the hairdresser and this can be done once you are in the country. No need to load currencies onto cards… it’s just unnecessary.

We decided that it was time for fish and chips so we ate at the restaurant around the corner and then settled in for the night at our apartment.

G óða Nótt

The morning light revealed the white cliffs across the harbour that can be seen from the windows of the apartment. I think it is Engey Island where Puffins can be found, it is uninhabited but there are lights suggesting some sort of structures.

The sun does not rise here until about 11:15am but I could see activity at the apparent bus stop, for hotel connections and scenic tours, start early in the dark as a grader scraped snow and ice off the road.

Most establishments do not open until 10am so we took our time preparing for the day of exploring the city centre on foot. I layered up with my thick stockings and fleecy leggings, a wool jumper under my tunic, a warm scarf, gloves and my long warm lined boots from Krakow. The boots have a rubber sole so they are non slip, important when we might encounter ice on the journey.

We headed past the Christmas Cat sculpture and visited stores as we ambled along. The main reason for all the ‘shopping’ was to get out of the cold and warm up again. It was a crisp cold luckily with no wind.

We found the Rainbow Road which is on the way to the famous Hallgrimskir church. In the approach to the church, there is a statue of Leif Erikson also known as Leif the Lucky. He was a Norse explorer who is thought to have been the first European to have set foot on continental North America (Vinland) approximately half a millennium before Christopher Columbus.

The church is an imposing structure that dominates the skyline. There were many tourists milling around but not so many to make it annoying. We entered the church for warmth and knew that we could view the city from the top of the tower. Fortunately there is an elevator to take us up the 8 floors to the viewing platform. We marveled at the vistas of the city from the barred open windows. Visibility was excellent!

Time for some sustenance, so we decided to try the soup restaurant, Svarta Kaffið that Narelle recommended. They only serve two types of soup each day, one with meat and a vego option. We both chose the lamb, tomato, barley and vegetable soup which was served in a rye cob. This was washed down with a shot of Brennivin, an Icelandic clear herbal spirit. Very tasty and warming!

The waxing gibbous moon is very visible in the sky and will be a full moon tomorrow.

There are lots of souvenir shops and wool stores and it is true that everything is very expensive when converted into our currency.

We made our way down to the harbour and the impressive Concert Hall named Harpa. The building features a distinctive coloured glass facade inspired by the basalt landscape of Iceland.

It was warm inside and we admired the structure of glass ‘cells’ that captured the light.

We then strolled back to our apartment, intending to grab some hotdogs from the famous Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur (The City’s Best Hotdog) which is located on the corner of Tryggvagata (our apartment street) and Pósthússtræti. The stand reached global fame when former US President Bill Clinton visited Iceland in 2004.

The queue was too long and it was not worth the waiting in the cold. We bought some supplies at the Pósthús and took them to our apartment.

It’s like living in a postcard when I look out at our windows of our airBnB apartment.

The white cliffs morph as the sun makes it way across the sky. Sunset was at around 3:15pm.

Scott went out searching for a Christmas souvenir and then returned with hotdogs from the famous hotdog stand. They were tasty and the the fried onions were crunchy. We decided to stay in the warmth of our apartment for the rest of the evening.

G óða Nótt

It was raining constantly for the first time since I have been here. Today is the day that we are flying Icelandair to Reykjavik, with carry on only. It was also the day that the Christmas Tree was packed away and Scott’s lounge room was less festive.

The challenge is to pack under 10 kilo of warm clothing for a very cold climate. Sunglasses are apparently an essential item for Iceland in summer or winter … plus sun screen.

After careful consideration I packed the thick (140 denier) stockings, a couple of thick fleecy leggings (I bought from previous trips in Europe for cold weather), 2 long sleeved tops for layering, a merino wool fitness jacket, some warm scarves and some dresses. For the plane I just wore the stockings, with the intention of putting the extra leggings on at Reykjavik airport (which I didn’t until later). I wore a black wool jumper under my denim dress and took my new warm green jacket. I left the black euro coat behind as it is quite bulky. My warm long boots would be too hot for the plane, so they went in my luggage and I wore black sneakers for the trip.

We found a share car right outside Scott’s apartment so the rain wasn’t an issue. It was a nice Fiat, although someone had inconsiderately left their rubbish in the car.

The weather forecast for Berlin for the next few days is rain so we are escaping the miserable wet.

We drove to Berlin’s new Brandenburg airport and parked the car in the designated share car park. The trip took about 30 minutes from Scott’s place. It was a quick walk in the rain to the massive terminal.

We had a bit of a wait at security because of all the people leaving everything to the last minute (liquids etc). … and also the fact that you have to take off layers. Gate 35 was about 10 minutes walk from the duty free area.

We bought some supplies (alcohol is very expensive in Iceland) of Vodka, Hendricks Gin and Kylie Minogue Prosecco. Closer to the gate we saw a food outlet and decided to buy lunch since we had 20 minutes until boarding time. The food was supplied by one of our favourite food chains in Europe called Marche. The service here was frustratingly inefficient and took about 15 minutes to buy a couple of sandwiches.

We then followed the moving walkways to our gate. We did not board for a good 20 minutes after that, so we didn’t have to rush after all.

Scott was impressed with the seats I had chosen for us on the plane – row 5 seats were the ones with extra legroom, immediately behind premium class. They were an extra fee for this privilege.

Once in the air, Icelandair does offer WiFi but it is limited so I ended up using the option of paying 10€ for good Wifi while we were in the air. It was worth it.

In economy, you have to buy your drinks and snacks. Of course they have the ‘buy 2 bottles specials’ so I bought white wines and Scott bought beers. We didn’t need snacks because we had eaten before we boarded the plane.

My ZipZap charger was needed on this flight because my iPhone was draining battery for some reason.

We were offered to buy more drinks about an hour before the flight ended. I love that every airline has English speakers so it is easy to communicate with staff …. It is the universal language in these parts.

The flight took about 3 1/2 hours but because Iceland is one hour behind Berlin, we landed at 3:20 pm …. Just on sunset 🌅

While we were in the air, Aunty Irene turned a year older, so Happy Birthday to you, Irene 😘.

Flying into Reykjavik was awesome….. the snow covered mountains and the sheer cliffs of the ocean. We needed some sustenance before continuing onto the city. At the airport, you cannot buy food to eat until you have passed the border. The offerings were not as good as in the duty free area.

We ate at the only food outlet in the exit section of the airport, it had a very American feel about the food.

We decided that we could hire a car since the forecast is not too sinister. We do have an allocated parking space at our apartment so why not? It cost about 300€ ($468AUD) for the 4 days we are here. The airport is 50km from the city centre so it took 45 minutes to drive past snow covered vistas on the well maintained highway.

We found our apartment in Tryggvagata 13, Reykjavík, Hauptstadtregion 101, Iceland. The allocated parking space was across the road in a boom gated parking area which we did not have access to before we went inside. So Scott managed a creative manoeuvre to get around the boom to find our space. The thick snow obscured the plaques but we managed to find ours.

Narelle and Andreas are friends from my time living in Coffs Harbour. Andreas is a native Icelander and I am so excited that they are in Iceland while we are here. We met in a new food establishment in the old Post Office called Pósthús. It was a mix of different food outlets and bars patronised by the locals …. and some tourists (they are the ones who are wearing the matching Icelandic jumpers 😆).

Scott bought 3 rye martini cocktails which cost 55€($86AUD), unfortunately Andreas had a previous engagement so he had to leave us but it was great to see him.

We then sought out food choosing some chicken bites, spiced cauliflower bites, chicken tacos and a plate of fries topped with grated Parmesan. Every dish is accompanied by a different sauce, including the fries which Narelle pointed out as being an Icelandic habit. The meal cost around 60€($93AUD) and it was delicious. We also bought a bottle of Organic Prosecco which, when I checked my account, cost $100AUD (we were warned and it’s all part of the experience).

The local currency is the Icelandic Krona so 152 ISK is equivalent to 1 Euro or $1.55AUD. So we now know that basically you divide by 100 to get the roundabout Australian conversion.

Narelle then took us on a mini tour of the main street to point out where some good, and not so good places are. We met the Christmas Cat statue and marveled at the claw and teeth details. The temperature was -12C as we wandered around. Narelle also showed us the local supermarket where we could gather supplies when needed.

We finished the night with more cocktails in a swanky bar called Apotek. It was cosy and warm. It was absolutely lovely to spend time with Narelle and I so appreciated her advice about what to do in Iceland. We then said our goodbyes to Narelle and retired to our lovely apartment for a good night’s sleep.

G óða Nótt

It was promising to be cooler today but the sun came back this morning after the previous warm and cloudy days.

Another trip to the Friseur(hairdresser) was necessary before we went out to lunch at the Telekom Tower and the flight to Reykjavik, Iceland on the next day. While I was walking to the hairdresser I found a sign explaining about the history of Bouchéstraße, the street with Scott’s apartment.

Lunch was booked for 1:30pm so we took our time preparing for the day. It was terrible to see the helicopter accident at SeaWorld in Australia on the BBC news. They also talked about how travellers from any countries outside the Shengeng zone will have to apply for a visa waiver(ETIAS) from November 2023, including Croatia who only just joined the alliance. Lucky for us, we travel with Polish passports when we are in Europe.

Preparing for the cooler weather I chose to wear the 140 denier stockings with my dark blue suede boots (I realised that the stockings will not be enough on their own for the expected temperatures in Iceland) but it was cooler in Berlin today and I could feel the cold wind on my legs. I wore a long sleeved cotton top under my floral dress. I needed a scarf today and the new green coat kept me very warm.

We collected a Citroen car this time and drove back to Alexanderplatz which led us past the Eastside gallery and it’s painted walls and tourists.

The Platz looked different in the daytime and we walked past some awesome Soviet buildings from where we left the car.

The Fernsehturm (Telekom Tower) is a television tower with a revolving restaurant and observation deck at the top.

The tower was constructed between 1965 and 1969 by the government of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). It was intended to be both a symbol of Communist power and of the city. It remains a landmark today with its height of 368 metres (including the antenna) it is the tallest structure in Germany and the third-tallest structure in the European Union.

It is a popular tourist destination and I would always recommend booking the restaurant to really enjoy the view without having to bustle through crowds of people. There were queues at the bottom but we had a reservation and entered immediately. There is a foyer dedicated to selling souvenirs and you need to go up the steps, through a security scanning station (Scott was worried about my little bag of salt ) and we were ushered through without incident. You are then counted into the elevators of which there was no social distancing. The elevator is quiet and quick. The restaurant is then accessed up another flight of stairs so it is above the observation deck.

There is an a la carte menu available but our booking was for a 3 course set menu with some options which included a glass of champagne each on arrival plus 2 mini carafes each of red or white wine as we ate our meal.

Scott chose the Salad for his entree and I had the Pumpkin soup. For our mains, I chose the fish and Scott had the lamb dish which were all delicious. The service was attentive and the waiter spoke English. All the while we were slowly being beguiled by the extensive views of the city of Berlin. The first rotation took about an hour and we had great visibility but there were some clouds. For the second rotation, the clouds moved away and we had sunshine to enjoy before watching a lovely sunset on the third round. Visibility distance was about 80 kilometres.

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For dessert we chose the cake options, Apple cake for Scott and Black Forest cake was my choice.

We finished with a cocktail each and stayed enthralled by the views until our allocated finish time of 4pm.

We made our way home on the Ubahn train from Alexanderplatz to Hermannplatz and then changed trains to get to Neuköln Rathaus where we could walk home from. On the way we stopped at a small Turkish cafe to buy some food to have for dinner at home. We chose mini meat filled ravioli in a yoghurt sauce and a ratatouille type of vegetable dish. My personal cocktail waiter then created and served some variations of martini’s to complete the night.

Guten. Nacht.

The sun rose at 8:15am and we had organised to speak to Michele in Australia. We were pleased to video chat with her and Basil, her Cavoodle puppy (he mainly ignored us and chewed things and caused havoc). He is growing up so fast.

Scott left me in peace and went to the gym so I could finish the blog for yesterday’s adventures. Scott finally has data!!! Since his return from his trip to Cape Town he has not had access to data and could not use his phone. He’s only been trying to rectify the situation since last Wednesday. Telekom were not as efficient as you would expect of a German company.

Lunch was at home consisting of pickled herrings and soft cheeses with crackers plus my personal cocktail waiter was spoiling me with a variety of French Martinis 🍸

The weather was still mild with 15C being expected today with some wind. I decided to wear the 140 denier stockings with a high neck t-shirt, a light dress and cardigan with my red boots. I took the Europe coat with me because of the expected winds.

Scott having his phone data back meant that he could access cars again. He uses an app called Sharenow. You just look up a nearby car and use the app to hire it for as long as you need it for driving in the city. Our first car was around the corner from his place and it was a Peugeot.

Our destination today was West Berlin. I was amazed at how little traffic there was compared to driving in the heart of Sydney. At one point there were emergency vehicles sirens approaching from behind. When this happens, cars have to move out of the way.

We drove past areas that we had walked through yesterday and then we were on the other side of the Brandenburg Gate. Bundesstrasse is a very wide road which is bordered by Central Park and runs from the gate to Siegessäule – the Victory Column. You can go to the top of this monument to a deck that allows you to enjoy city views.

This place was pure capitalism! Every high end brand that you can think of is here. It is also the area where they have the Christmas markets that someone drove a truck through in 2016, killing and injuring many people.

We continued to drive past the Berlin Tiergarten and into the heart of West Berlin. We found a parking space outside the Zoologischer Garten (Berlin zoo) and that’s where we left that car for someone else to hire.

The area was also adorned beautifully with Christmas decorations and lights. I noticed a sign to the Bikini Hotel and was curious about the name. Scott mentioned that there was a bar around here that you could look over the monkey enclosure of the zoo. And there it was…. The Bikini Hotel housed the Monkey Bar! We arrived at a good time, about 4pm because this place can be very popular and there are queues. We only had to wait for a couple of minutes before being shown to the elevator which took us to the tenth floor and the bar. The Monkey bar not only looks over the monkey enclosure of Berlin zoo but also the city skyline of Berlin. They have tables and chairs as well as a sort of step system (bleachers) with cushions and small tables to make the most of the view.

Scott ordered two Mad Monkey Mai Tais which were garnished with mint leaves, pineapple slices and a very tasty and rich maraschino cherry. The food here was amazing too. It was made by the restaurant next to this bar, called Neni. The sweet potato fries were crispy and perfect, as were the Korean Fried Chicken Bites consumed with pita bread and the Babaganoush. We agreed that the food was amazing.

I noticed that the Victory Column was not lit up as would be expected of such a Major monument but this is a current strategy by the German government to conserve energy during these unstable times with Russia and the Ukraine.

Returning to the street, there were many people walking around and enjoying the atmosphere. There were pretty lights and lots of stores to entice the consumer.

KaDeWe is an enormous department store of 8 levels with Food Courts on the top levels. We wandered around observing the products, some quite quirky and very expensive.

It was time for oysters as Scott had heard that there was a very good Oyster bar in this building. The first bar we went to had staff doing their best to ignore you at the ‘Wait to be seated’ sign and there was a queue forming behind us. We could see many spare tables. After about 5 minutes, Scott got the attention of a waiter who had been ignoring the growing queue and told him how impolite it was to make eye contact and then look away and ignore people. We then found another place on the top floor with much more attentive staff. It is like an open food court with all types of food and drinks on offer, including alcohol.

The oysters were shucked as you ordered and they came from France. They were large and they were salty as oysters should be, washed down with Prosecco.

After this, Scott took me to the ‘adult lolly shop’ which stocked Gins of all types and Colours.

A glittery dress caught my eye and I thought maybe I could buy that for a party I am attending when I return home. It was quite an amazing garment but more suitable for a cooler climate and wealthier client.

Enough shopping, it was time to make our way home. The Sharenow car that was closest for us to hire was a lovely BMW. The drive back to the east was uneventful except for when Scott did not see the lights change to red at one intersection and luckily traffic had not started to move yet. Travelling speeds around these areas are only 30kmph.

It was another great day exploring Berlin.

Guten Nacht.

New Years Day saw a late start to our activities. The sun doesn’t rise until about 8:15am over here so places are not operational until later anyway. The Brandenburg Gate was on the agenda so we walked to the Ubahn station. While roaming around, there was debris from spent fireworks scattered everywhere.

The Bear is the animal emblem for Berlin. It is a pun on the city’s name – ‘little bear’ in German is Bärlein.

We navigated the Ubahn and Sbahn to arrive at our destination.We started at Rathaus Neuköln (Townhall) station. The train was clean and they have screens in each carriage that informs passengers about upcoming stops plus a screen displaying the latest news.

The Brandenburg Tor train station has an exit near the Russian embassy. It is an imposing building with many people congregating outside. One young man was seen to be doing the one finger salute into the air to express his opinion of the embassy. A tribute to Ukraine has also been set up on the land strip in the middle of Unter den Linden Strasse (Grand boulevard lined with Linden trees), attracting much interest.

The Brandenburg gate was obscured by a stage and cordoned off so workers could break down the structures. The place was teeming with tourists as expected.

I wore a high neck T-shirt under a light dress, 120 denier stockings and my green skirt. No scarf or gloves needed. Always take a warm coat in case there is a cold breeze. The expected temperature for today was cloudy and a high of 15C.

The Hotel Adlon is next to the USA embassy. It is the hotel where Michael Jackson dangled his son from the window.

We wanted to see if we could get a meal here but they were only accepting reservations. So further down the road we found the Lebensart restaurant and sat inside. It was busy but the wait staff were efficient and friendly. I chose the Currywurst which was served with chips and Scott ordered the Club Sandwich. Chosen beverages were beer and gluwein. An Apple strudel was also consumed.

The area attracts a lot of tourists so this area is maintained and kept clean.

A popular ice cream in Germany is called ‘Spaghetti Eis’. It basically is ice cream forced through small holes to form ‘spaghetti’ which is then topped with berry sauce to represent Bolognaise pasta.

The Ampelmann is an icon of Berlin. When the wall came down in 1989, the city was reunited and one of the items that differed were the walking symbols on pedestrian crossings. The Ampelmann was the symbol used in East Berlin.

After our meal we continued on foot to FriedrIchstrasse. We walked past the Galeries Lafayette where the Accenture Berlin office is located. Further down the road is Checkpoint Charlie which used to be a Berlin Wall crossing point between East and West Berlin. Of course the place is now surrounded by American fast food stores and souvenir shops. There was a tree decorated with Ukrainian flags erected beside the checkpoint.

It was evident that we were in the old east by the architecture in the area. We kept walking to Gendarmenmarkt which held the Christmas Markets but although they were lit up nicely, the markets were closed and being dismantled.

We continued onto Alexanderplatz which is where the Telekom tower is situated. There is an interesting clock sculpture that you can walk around and look at the location times around the world.

It was time for an early dinner before heading home. Scott took us to the Hofbrau Munchen Wirtshaus which is a Bavarian Inn serving Bavarian food. It is designed as one of the beer halls you would find in Munich during Oktoberfest. Scott chose the Goulash soup of beef with paprika, sour cream and fresh farmhouse bread. I enjoyed the Sausage plate with a dunkel beer. It was delicious and we had left overs to take home.

We travelled home on the Ubarn from Alexanderplatz and completed another day of a lot of walking.

Guten Nacht.

I awoke to the lovely tunes of sparrows congregating outside of my bedroom windows.

The expected temperature for today was 15C …. In the middle of winter!!!

We took a walk to explore Scott’s part of Berlin. We walked along the canal which unfortunately had rubbish scattered around and apparently is not collected by the authorities.

When we got to Hermannplatz there was even more rubbish scattered through the fencing.

First stop was the local Aldi. It was similar to ours in Australia but some of the products like the Nordsee pickled herrings are not stocked in Australia.

Lunch was a Dürum Dönet (doner kebab) at one of Scott’s favourite Turkish cafes.

We then went into the Ubahn to catch a train to the Eastside Gallery. The Ostbahn is the train station to alight from for this site. It is spacious and clean. The station is obviously maintained for tourism, a major contrast to the other stations used by locals. If you want to use the WC make sure that you have some 1 Euro coins ready. This ensured that the toilets were clean.

We walked out past the taxis and Police cars to join the throng of people admiring the artwork on the remnants of the Berlin wall. It was eerie standing in the death strip and reflecting on how tragic it was for the poor people. New information columns have been recently added to inform people about the history of this place. There were many tourists taking photos of the wall.

I always wanted to walk across the Oberbaum Bridge as it is an interesting structure once separated by the Berlin Wall. This was also in the direction we needed to go to walk back to Scott’s place.

There are lovely little trendy establishments selling drinks and food in this area, so we decided to get some Gluwein and watch the world go by as we ate a chocolate treat.

Görlitzer Park is an area that we had to walk through. It was bordered with people wanting to sell clandestine goods and did feel a bit intimidating but we were just polite and walked on. Of course there were people letting off fireworks in the park too. In this park was a small animal enclosure where we sighted goats, ponies, sheep and a donkey.

Once home, the Sydney Fireworks were on the TV and their New Year’s Eve was over, when we still had to prepare for ours. Sydney is 10 hours ahead of this time zone.

As is my habit I like to book a Friseur (hairdresser) to wash and style my hair when I am travelling. It means that I don’t have to pack any hair products. We had made an appointment a day earlier for 4pm today. She was a lovely Lebanese woman who spoke little English but we managed to communicate with a combination of our broken German and English. She gave me a book to read, while she was working, about Lebanon, in the English language.

So, salon ready, it was time to go to a friend’s place for dinner in Mitte, Berlin. The taxi ride was scenic for me and there were fireworks going off everywhere! Scott had marinated some chilli and garlic in olive oil in order to preserve them while he was away in Cape Town around Christmas. He decided that he would gift the oil to his friend who enjoys cooking. The poor cab driver was going to be smelling garlic all night because the container had a small leak and left an aroma in his cab 😬.

Our destination was Mitte which is in the old East Berlin. The home cooked meal was superb! The company, bubbles and conversations flowed while eating a French Endive salad for Entree, Beef Roulades served with Knödel (potato dumplings) and braised red cabbage for the main course and then a perfect Creme Brûlée for dessert. Thank you Sebastian and Kenny for a lovely night!

Still the fireworks continued and continued …. We took a taxi home and listened to the fireworks continue for hours after midnight.

Guten Nacht.

The sun was shining and calling us to get out and make the best of the day. Because of the 9C temperature expected today, I chose to wear 40 denier stockings under black jeans, my short sleeve green tunic with a singlet top underneath and my new green coat with the hood removed ( although I should have kept it on because at times we experienced a cold wind while we were walking). Sneakers were the best choice due to all the walking we eventually did. So to begin in Berlin, we walked to a small cafe where I tried some Gozleme.

Then we rode a train from Treptower Park to Ostkreuz where we boarded another train to Frankfurt am Oder, a town on the border of Poland. (this is another town called Frankfurt but it is on the Oder river, whereas the large city of Frankfurt is on the Main river further south west). Scott knew how to get the tickets using the machine on the platform as I would struggle to follow the prompts.

The train was very clean and new. It was well designed with lovely staircases that were easy to manage on the double decker carriages. I love how they announce the next station and whether you will alight from right or left of the carriage. The countryside was very rural with lots of woodlands and fields with windmills. The trip took an hour.

Once in Frankfurt am Oder the architecture was somewhat austere and I noticed a lot of Fast food outlets like Burger King, Subway and of course McDonalds! Scott knew the way to some authentic Polish cuisine across the border in Slubice in an area called Polenmarkt.

My watch kept losing a small pin that attached the band to the watch. Scott speaks German well so we went into a jewellers in Frankfurt am Oder and she agreed to repair it and we would collect it on our way back to catch the train.

You can walk (or drive) across this bridge and then you are leaving Germany and entering Poland. This is the first time I have walked between countries. There were many cars queued up in both directions, some being stopped and searched by people with Hi Vis vests that said ‘Zoll’ on them. They were choosing random cars that were crossing the border from Poland to Germany and thoroughly checking out all areas in the car and boot. Once across the bridge we headed to the right along a raised footpath. It looked like it was designed to deal with the flood plain if the river ever flooded.

I think a lot of German people come over the border because products in Poland can be cheaper. We walked along the riverbank for over 2 kilometres from the bridge to the area called Polenmarkt. This was a collection of buildings that sold trinkets, knock off designer clothes, small goods and Fireworks among some of the offerings.

The restaurant looked like the inside of a timber cabin and was fully decked out with timber furniture. When the Polish waitress approached us, Scott enquired about her choice of language – English or German … she preferred German. The menu was also in Polish and German. We ordered a Zurek soup each which were served in a cob rye bread loaf and packed full of Polish sausages and half a boiled egg. The soup can be described as a fermented rye sour soup. It was the best!!!!!!

After the soup we ordered Bigos (cabbage fried with polish meats) which also came in a bread cob and the Ruski Pierogi – cheese and potato filled dumplings. The pierogi were ok but we agreed that our homemade ones are better. There were many patrons here for a meal. We enjoyed a Zywiec beer each with our meal.

We then walked through the markets to check out the wares, there was a liquor stall that stocked Zybrowka white vodka in a glass jug of around 2 litres …. Pity that it was too heavy to carry back to Germany .

We then tracked back to Germany, the border checking was still being conducted with cars but at no time were we asked for our identification while we were walking. There were a lot of people walking back from Germany to Poland and I sensed that maybe a shift had finished somewhere and these were workers returning home. We collected my watch which cost 10€ ($17AUD) for the repair.

Once back at the Hauptbahnhof we just missed one train and had to wait another 40 minutes for the next. We grabbed a coffee in a nice little coffee shop and then went up the platform to await the train. It was much cooler up here!

There was a train at the platform that all of a sudden was terminated at the station so people had to alight. There was an announcement that the train we were waiting for was delayed because of a ‘police incident’. So a train finally arrived at the opposite platform and there was no information about it but we all just got on and anticipated that this would become the train to Berlin. It did! So this took about an hour travelling west to get to Ostkreuz station, Berlin and then one stop to Treptower Park station. It was now dark and we still had the 1 kilometre walk to Scott’s apartment. For dinner we finished the left overs from lunch. Just as good as before.

We could hear, and sometimes see fireworks being let off in random places. Even at 3 am in the morning there were still people letting them off.

So this was the end of a long day of much walking with many new experiences.

◦ Guten Nacht.

Today is the day that I see my baby since January 2020, just before COVID changed the way we lived.

I started the day with breakfast at the Flemings Hotel by ordering bacon and scrambled eggs. I grabbed a small seeded roll and asked for a milk coffee. The bacon was super crispy … perfection!

I then spent my time packing and preparing for the next leg of my journey.

Windows in Europe are designed to keep the heat in by using double glass panes. They are also designed to open fully or with the top ajar. I made a video to demonstrate how to use the windows…. Something that took me a while to master.

The ICE800 train from Munich had a platform change which I managed to navigate by following the crowd. After travelling light for my adventures for the last 2 days, this time I had to take my luggage with me.

I found wagon 6 and by the time I found seat 24, someone was sitting in 23 already, so I kept moving on until I could get to the restaurant/catering carriage. I got the last free table. Woohoo!! I was also able to store my luggage near me which was peace of mind. This was a good decision to get a seat in the catering car because when I went to use the amenities later I had to walk past a queue of people who were waiting to order food and drinks. By having a seat in the restaurant, the staff come to you.

The restaurant wasn’t open at first so I regretted not bringing a water bottle with me. Staff for the restaurant finally alighted at Nuremberg much to my relief! Also the carraige got very crowded and I had a man sit opposite me on the spare seat. The other seats were all taken. A staff member made the rounds and took orders. I chose the Currywurst and a Riesling.

The countryside was very green. No sign of snow, only sunshine.

The weather was still quite warm with a high of 12C expected. I noticed that many farms had solar panels as well as the occasional windmill.

The train finally arrived in Berlin Hauptbahnhof and there was my baby!

We then took the S Bahn, local train to Treptower Park station.

Scott lives in Bouchestrasse near a canal. He welcomed me with a bottle of Piper-Heidsieck which was very nice and appreciated. After settling in we walked to the restaurant for dinner while being surrounded by people lighting fireworks in random places. The restaurant was called the Breuster bar and the oysters were salty and fresh. Our mains were very modern cuisine.

It was lovely to walk around this part of Berlin after so many hours on the train. The best part was that I got to spend time with my baby boy 🥰

Guten Nacht

Why Augsburg? Mum has a lovely photo of her first holy communion taken on the steps of a building in Augsburg. When I noticed how close the town was to Munich, I put it on my list of places to explore. It is also close to Dachau but I won’t be visiting there today.

I use the Trainline app to book the train tickets around Germany. It is easy to use and I only booked my tickets for today at 1am. I chose to travel on the ICE (regional train) in first class so I can have a window seat guaranteed.

For some reason my iPhone drains its battery quicker when I am overseas, even in airplane mode (which is highly recommended to save excessive drainage) I bought myself a Zip Zap portable charger which is designed and distributed by an Australian University student.

I noticed yesterday that my iPhone was low after I finished my blog on the train. So I got an extra 3 hours power by using the Zip Zap before I started to get worried about the low life again because my return ticket was on there. I guess that’s a good reason to print a paper copy as a backup if you can. I walked past a store in Salzburg that seemed to have mobile accessories. It was called LiBRO. The female assistant spoke very good English and she said that they had 1 powerbank left but it was quite bulky. Because of my anxiety to ensure that I could access my ticket I decided that the 37.99€ Euro price was worth it. But I also had to buy a charging cable for the iPhone to connect to the new powerbank. (which I did not carry with me but now realise that when you are travelling always have one handy because there are many places where you might be able to plug into). The assistant found me a charging cable for 14.99€ which I was happy to purchase and the total cost came to 53€ or about $84AUD. Worth it for peace of mind! Back on the train, I realised that the powerbank had solar cells for recharging too …. Cool!

Luggage and packing tips – always check the dimensions of the carry on for each airline. I bought a really cool gym bag from David Jones Miranda Westfield that I intended to use to travel to Iceland with my son next week. I dropped into mum’s and proudly showed her my new purchase … only to have her question me about whether the dimensions were acceptable for a carry on. (Go figure …. She hasn’t travelled since the 90,s … bless her sharp cognitive function!) A few measurements later I realised that it was too big for Icelandic Air carry on. So back to Westfields to find the correct bag which I finally found at Myer. I also started packing my main bag a few days before departure. Each day I would then rationalise my outfits and cull! I ended up with 17 kilo in my main bag. Important because I will have to lug the bag around myself on trains and planes! I don’t pack for just in case anymore but I pack what I know that I’ll wear and if I need anything else, I’ll buy it!

For information about travelling independently the Rome2Rio website is very informative and highly recommended. I have found that I am often directed to the site in Google to answer questions I may have when planning my trips.

This morning I remembered that breakfast was included in the price of my room so I decided to check it out. The range of foods on offer in the buffet were extensive. Eggs done any way with ham or bacon was also on offer. I ordered the scrambled eggs with ham and added a croissant. I had a little taste of the cured fish and blue cheese…. It was enough. The young waiter told me that he could not go to Australia because of all the spiders and snakes. 😆🙄

Europeans are amazing, there was a family at breakfast who were speaking in a language that I did not recognise… maybe Croatian or similar but they easily communicated with the waiter in English, which was not his original language either.

It was also not a problem to bring some extra milk and another bottle of bubble water to my room from the restaurant.

I decided that I needed the Europe coat today as there was a chill in the air. I walked to Munich Hauptbahnhof and easily found my platform and where to stand for my carriage. There were less people out and about this morning compared to yesterday

The ICE train to Augsburg was very clean and spacious plus the wifi worked. I was in a very comfortable single row seat for the short journey. This train was ultimately on its way to Hamburg.

As usual, I had no idea where to go so I just started walking and observing the architecture that eventually led me to the older part of town. Augsburg isn’t a touristy town but has plenty of shopping and a TK MAXX.

There was a cold wind blowing at times today so the choice to wear my euro coat was a blessing!

I took lots of photos of the buildings and landmarks hoping that mum might recognise some from her time here in 1945.

They’re doing major upgrades to the roads and buildings around Augsburg hauptbahnhof which will lift the look of the town. You can also gauge how touristy a town is by the amount of English speaking staff.

I stopped for a bite at Peter Panes! The wait staff here were attentive but clearly not as good with English as they are in Munich. The loaded fries were ok but I mainly stopped in here because it was next to the hauptbahnhof.

So a little bit of stress because when I arrived I walked into the shopping centre straight from the platform that train had stopped at. So I did not look to see if there were other platforms. I realised that I had to get to platform 4 but there was no obvious way to do it. I asked a lady if she knew and she explained that I had to go underground. The station is having major renovations so the escalators were cordoned off because they were being built. So I just thought to keep walking until I found a sign to platforms 4-12 where they were accessed by stairs leading down into a walkway and up to platform 4. Phew! Made it with enough time to figure out that I had to stand in area A for my carriage. There was wifi here so I could work on the blog during the trip. They also were giving out complimentary DB chocolates!

A photo would not show how I could see the Alps on the horizon but it was awesome to see them in the distance. Windmills also dotted the landscape as Germany is committed to using green energy.

Once back in Munich I changed my black euro coat for the new one I accidentally bought at TKMAXX in Augsburg.

I then took off to explore Munich! Of all places to lose my sense of direction! I walked the sleazy parts, found an old cathedral only to find out that Marienplatz was back where I started from. I walked back and then decided that I had seen enough of Munich and I went to find some dinner and then go to the hotel to post my blog.

The Da Vinci Ristorante is down the road from my hotel so I thought it was as good as anything and very convenient after a long day of walking.

I am looking forward to the degustations that I will have with Scott in Berlin.

I chose the chicken schnitzel with a glass of white wine. It was ok but not the best that I have had. It was served with chips and salad but it needed a sauce or gravy. It was also disappointing to have no wifi which is unusual in my experience. When I went to pay the bill, it was the first restaurant that asked for cash since I have been here. When I paid by card he was also the first to mention a tip and that is what they do in Germany…. I declined… no wifi and cash expectation after COVID? Fail! I would not recommend this place if you are in Munich.

While walking around Munich I realised that I had chosen well for the area and hotel location.

I go to Berlin tomorrow and see my baby!! I am very excited to see him and spend some quality time together. I get to see his place in Berlin. He lives in an area that I have not explored in my previous visits to the city.

Guten Nacht