MALBORK CASTLE

Malbork was as far North as we went - just SE of Gdansk.

The castle we saw on our visit is absolutely enormous.

Of course it has been added to and rebuilt many times since September 1309 when the Grand Master Siegfried von Feuchtwangen moved the Teutonic Order's headquarters to Malbork, these were the sort of Knights we see in films - lots of blood and gore and fighting.























Inside much of the place has been repaired and improved but this ceiling was a bit special.











Check out this massive medieval portcullis - this would have made getting inside very difficult - if not impossible.








On our trip we saw fields and fields of so many different things growing - there certainly was no shortage of veg.

Here Suri checks out a tobacco plantation, in the background there are barns where the leaves were being dried out - fascinating.











Also fascinating was this plane on the forecourt of a petrol station - not sure how it got there and it certainly was not going anywhere now.

POLAND - POZNAN

Our first taste of Poland proper was when we discovered Poznan - a small town with a lovely square - Stary Rynek that had narrow colourfully painted gabled houses both within and around a large open square, which had lots of places to sit and have a coffee and watch the world go by, which we did.






Here is the old Town Hall or Ratusz, which is now a museum with some very interesting pictures, photos and memorabilia about the town and surrounding area.

We were followed around and watched by the staff very keenly - as if they were not sure what we were going to do.





Many of the houses had statues and other interesting carvings on the corners.

In and around the square were some beautiful churches, many restored after the bombings of WW2








We discovered that each town has a symbol with some sort of historical reference to it here in Poznan it is 2 goats and they are to be found on everything as souvenir items and also as here as statues in a small garden just a short walk away from the square - cute is the word I think Suri used.




Close by in the small village of Kornik is reputedly one of the great castles in Poland, it was very interesting, but a little on the small side, though it did have lots of antiques inside. Here I am outside of the castle enjoying an ice cream.




Most nights we did not have any difficulty finding accommodation - here is the view from the window of a Polish Motel that we stayed at in Gniezno - I think we were the only people staying there as we saw nobody else except the staff - it was very much the sort of place I imagined was all the rage in the communist years - very austere, dark and a little musty, I could visualise old men in uniforms sitting in corridors drinking vodka.

Berlin

We took the hop on hop off tour bus around Berlin, which I think is the best way as the sights are fairly spread out in the city, whilst there we saw this amazing bike being ridden by 6 people - wow is this what they mean by people power!!!


The previously divided city is now very much one city as such a lot of redevelopment has gone on and continues to do so.


Here we are at Checkpoint Charlie famous in so many films made about the cold war and its affect on Germany and Berlin in particular.








Check this out - is this the wall? Was I there to help pull it down.

No but we did see and touch a very small section preserved - sort of for us tourists - just a short walk away from here. Oh and of course you can buy a tiny section of it ... really - no I did not buy one.


This is apparently the last Russian flag left flying in he City - somewhat torn and tattered












The Berlin Cathedral is absolutely enormous we went up the stairs and were able to walk around the outside of the dome - where there were some fantastic views all around the city.

Inside was pretty good too.




On the recommendation of William, we went to the Babylon - Myths & Truths exhibition, which was fascinating though I am still not clear about the myths - or were they truths - you have to see it for yourself - highly recommended.

POTSDAM

Located just south west of Berlin - Potsdam is a truly historical place.

Set in the Neuer Garten the Schloss Cecilienhof is where Churchill, Truman and Stalin carved up Europe after WW2, it is a lovely house and as you can see they keep the geraniums in the garden as it was on the day of the meeting.

Just up the road is an enormous wooden windmill, now restored and in very good condition.










The Gardens of the Sanssouci Park are absolutely beautiful as is the Schloss Sanssouci and the Neus Palais.

We had a day here wandering around the gardens, and doing the tours of the 2 palaces and still there was not enough time to see and take in everything - the place is simply enormous.

There was lots of restoration going on and quite right too.

Here are a few pictures of our day there.

Antwerp - Belgium

Our first stopover, we stayed at a youth hostel in the centre of town as we really could not find many hotels in the area - very unusual.

Antwerp is a really lovely town with a magnificent main square just around the corner from the beautiful Cathedral and some very unusual building designs.

And of course Belgium Chocolates - who can resist them - we certainly could not

Our Europe Tour 2008

Just back from our driving tour around Europe - 3 + weeks on the road staying at a different place most nights.

Here is the Itinerary of the key places visited:

Dover

FRANCE Boulogne

BELGIUM Antwerp

GERMANY Kassel
Potsdam
Berlin
Frankfurt an der Oder

POLAND Poznan
Gniezno
Toru
Malbork
Warsaw
Krakov
Auswich

SLOVAKIA Barajevo

HUNGARY Kosice
Budapest
Balaton
Strombatherly

AUSTRIA Vienna
Bad Aussee
Salzburg
Innsbruck

GERMANY Augsburg
Wurzburg
Koblenz

FRANCE Le Touquet


Some photos out of the 800+ taken will be posted shortly

Some early photos of Thomas

Just 3 days old Thomas with Grandad, Suri, Geoff , Brod and his mum Sophie

He is gorgeous.

- don't know where his dad is - maybe some of Thomas with Daniel next time.

A day out at The New Forest and Hampshire County Show

This week we went to the show, it was a very hot day and there were many people visiting the show which is held in a few fields just north of Brockenhurst, it's held each year about this time in the year.



Outside of the show area was the usual fun fair.













Inside there were some great displays of livestock including cattle, horses and sheep, and in the tents were the rabbits and budgies and loads of craft stalls.

In the main arenas there were horse riding / jumping competitions and displays, and nearby we also saw some steam engines and old threshing machines being used.

And whilst we rested our feet we saw a short extract of Alice in Wonderland - supposed to be for the children but we enjoyed it too.


Apparently it rained last year - certainly no mud this year - at least whilst we were there.

Everything was well organised and good value for money, we intend to go again next year.

What a wonderful day for dinner in the garden

Last Sunday we visited Geoff and Brod and enjoyed a marvelous day in their garden, where we were treated to Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding - almost as good as mine ..... oops .. my compliments do go to the chef.

This was washed down with some delightful special beers that I think Brod had hoped would be for him alone ... aha no chance .

We took with us some new plants for them to add to their existing collection, which we hope to see flourishing on our next visit, whilst there we checked out their garden, Suri did a little watering whilst Brod finalised the meal, and Geoff did the serving ..... me , well I just sat back with a cool beer and enjoyed the lovely surroundings.

Brod and Geoff have a good size well stocked garden, which with their sandy soil can be a bit of a challenge.

After dinner we went for a stroll up to the top of Hengistbury Head, this on a very hot day was quite demanding.

Thanks to Geoff and Brod for their as ever ... wonderful hospitality.

Ann & Colin visit

It was good to have friends down from Potters Bar for the weekend.

We went to Swanage and Corfe Castle via the Swanage Steam Railway. We went to Upton and Sandbanks, where much walking was done, Ann and I even had a paddle in the sea.

And in the evening we played Bridge.

A very enjoyable time and the weather was kind to us too.