Travel Tripz » Rail http://www.traveltripz.com Travel to interesting and exciting places. Sun, 28 Sep 2008 00:58:08 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2 en We Pack the Bags and are off To Munich http://www.traveltripz.com/2007/04/01/we-pack-the-bags-and-are-off-to-munich/ http://www.traveltripz.com/2007/04/01/we-pack-the-bags-and-are-off-to-munich/#comments Sun, 01 Apr 2007 03:09:00 +0000 traveltripz http://www.traveltripz.com/2007/04/01/we-pack-the-bags-and-are-off-to-munich/ We caught the train to Munich and as we were travelling at night, we got a sleeper. Well sleeping on a lurching train is not my idea of a restful nights sleep, but added with the excitement of travelling through France to Germany made sleeping impossible anyway.

So here we are in Munich. We weren’t there for long as we mainly came to do a tour of the palaces of King Ludwig II, the fairytale king.
We went for a walk to downtown Munich and suddenly heard this chiming, so once we found the source we stood with a number of other tourists to watch the town clock (Glockenspiel) do its thing.

Has to be the most boring thing ever. When it was over we looked at each other and said “Well is that it.” Definately would not be on my list of must does when we return.

The Glockenspiel chimes each day at 11am and 12pm during the winter months and 11am, 12pm and 5pm during the summer months. Life-sized statues dance around each other .
Apparently the Glockenspiel will be closed for repairs during the summer of 2007. Don’t be too upset if you miss it.
There is of course, as there always is, some history behind the clock. It celebrates two events of Munichs past on two separate levels.

On one level there are the coopers or barrelmakers who are shown doing the “Dance of the Coopers” or the Schafflertanz. Apparently every seven years there is a live performance to mark the end of the plague in 1517. The dance is similar to Morris dancing with the bojangs and bells.

On the other level are jousting knights which depict a famous tournament that was held in 1568 to celebrate the royal wedding of Duke Wilhelm V in Marienplatz.

I did find this building interesting enough to take a photo of


Our hotel was lovely and the breakfast room was painted with softly coloured, subtle paintings.

]]> http://www.traveltripz.com/2007/04/01/we-pack-the-bags-and-are-off-to-munich/feed/ Next stop…Paris via the Eurostar! http://www.traveltripz.com/2007/01/29/next-stopparis-via-the-eurostar/ http://www.traveltripz.com/2007/01/29/next-stopparis-via-the-eurostar/#comments Mon, 29 Jan 2007 03:52:00 +0000 traveltripz http://www.traveltripz.com/2007/01/29/next-stopparis-via-the-eurostar/ Waiting to board the Eurostar.
After a great few days in London we hopped on the Chunnel Train to Paris. The Eurostar was a must for us. We wanted to travel through the channel tunnel so we weren’t too worried that it might be more expensive than a boat trip across. Wanda wasn’t particular keen on travelling by boat anyway due to sea sickness.

The Eurostar was comfortable but unfortunately our seats were situated in a spot where we didn’t have a complete window view and the people in front of us who had the full view up and went to sleep as soon as they sat in their seats. Still, most of the trip is spent in the tunnel anyway so we didn’t miss too much.

On arriving in Paris we made our way to the taxi rank and hopped in a cab. The taxi driver spoke not a word of English and we were the same with French but we figured out how to get to the hotel nonetheless. On leaving the cab I tried to give the cabbie a tip but he thought I was saying that he didn’t give me the right change so we all got confused. In the end, I didn’t give him a tip as it was just getting too complicated.

We had booked our hotel back in Australia and we ended up choosing the Hotel Louvre St Romain. We were very happy we did. The location was excellent being about 5 minutes from the Louvre. It was only a small hotel but very clean and tidy and reasonably priced for such a good location.

The breakfast bar was in the basement and the food consisted of ham, various cheeses, salami, tomatoes, cereal, fresh fruit, fruit juices and croissants. Vastly different from the fare we had left behind in London.

Having said that though, we didn’t stay long in the hotel room. As soon as we were settled we were out and about to see Paris!!

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