Schwerin und Wismar

Posted on by
Reply

So we arrived in Schwerin and contacted Kelly & Klaus by email as we couldn’t figure out what part of their phone numbers we no longer needed. We waited a bit, figured we wouldn’t see them until after work so we set off to a nearby mall. We went the wrong way and ended up running into Kelly who had some time between classes!
We went for coffee, picked up some groceries, then to the Hotel Fritz where Klaus showed up.
We popped over to a car rental and Michael is once again behind the wheel of an Opel.
All of us went to Wismar and wandered through the streets to the harbour. We also toured the Dom of St Nikolas and went up into roof for a tour. Kieran decided the height was too much and scurried back to the yard.
Later we ended up at Jack the Ribber where we tried to eat several animals’ worth of ribs.

Interesting times…

Posted on by
Reply

Well, we started out easy enough…
After catching a very nice train under the Chunnel, we ended up in Brussels. We got on the right train to Cologne but after that… let’s say we panicked and ended up on the wrong train. Our bit of luck was that Cologne has two stations within the city limits but by the time we returned, our train had left the station. We had had an eight minute time frame and we blew it.
Michael took charge immediately and found a very helpful Deutsch Bahn attendant who told us we could ask for our tickets to be switched to another train that was heading to Hamburg. We then took the new tickets to another attendant who told us she didn’t have to validate them – yes, there were two attendants in total for this procedure – but she would. We were obviously incompetent tourists and she took pity on us.
We boarded the next train without problem. We had a nice four hour ride to Hamburg. There we caught a regional train to Schwerin. We checked at least four times that we were on the right platform too. 
Just as we started to pull into the third last stop – Schwerin Sud – the automated announcement system cut out, leaving me frantic, and Michael stoic. We did get off at the right station and grabbed a cab to Hotel Fritz.
Then we hit a small snag at the hotel. As in “I’m sorry, you booked in for tomorrow night”… By weird luck, our apartment had been vacated early by the guests who should have been there and we moved in with the help of an angelic hotel staff. We are very pleased with the hotel and would recommend it to all.    

London calling…

Posted on by
Reply

We’re sitting in the pub of The Mad Hatter, having one last drink before a day of travelling. We managed to find the Imperial War Museum (London) about 11 this morning. It is a phenomenal museum with displays from WWI and up. Seems the wars never end. There an amazing trench recreation form the Great War – it even reeks – and because of the Battle of Britain anniversary, there’s a couple of exhibits from WWII home front. There’s a heart rending exhibit called The Children’s War which documents the kids in the cities, evacuated to the country or Canada, or just dealing with the end of the war. A quote is “Mummy, there’s a soldier outside with his kit. I think it’s your husband.”. They have guns and planes and tanks in the main hall. We also went into the Ministry of Food exhibit – showing those who stayed at home how to add to the table.
We noticed the rain here is very fine, and figured all the pollution filters it out on the way down. London is very dirty – you have a greasy feel at the end of the day, and I must say I am looking forward to Germany.
I had a couple stressful moments this afternoon when Kieran who was supposed to come back from the museum just after us had failed to appear two hours later. I, of course, went into considering what hospitals to phone while Michael, sensing my stress, headed out to hunt him down. He was still at the museum. So, after a couple glasses of wine, I am finally peeling myself off the ceiling.
We went for supper at the Pizza Express beside the Globe Theatre. Circumstances prevented me from going in (sore legs) but it seems quite a crowd gathers outside of it. There was also quite a view from the river side.

My Oxford Pints

Posted on by
Reply

Oxford pubs that I had a pint in:

The Folly Bridge* on St. Aldates Street by the Folly Bridge (very much a neighbourhood pub, great food)
The Crown Inn on Cornmarket Street (very little ambiance)
The Eagle and Child on St Giles (drank under the watchful eyes of cs lewis and JRR Tolkien)
The Head of the River on St. Aldates Street by the Folly Bridge (not bad, part of the Fullers chain)
The Kings Arms* on Holywell Street (great pub, good food, ales, and feel)
The St Aldates’ Tavern on St Aldates Street (one of the grimier places, but not bad)
The Turf Tavern on Bath Place (nice pub, lots of real ales, great feel to this place, very old)
The Wheatsheaf on High Street (they had Hobgoblin, and lots of ACDC playing)
The White Horse* on Broad Street (great pub, good good, nice and old)
The Isis Tavern on the Thames towpath (great location, but the food was bland)

*My favourites

for more info on oxford pub, check this site out:

http://www.oxfordpubguide.co.uk/allpubs.html

Sherlock!

Posted on by
Reply

Today was a little harder – Michael woke up with a very sore throat, and low energy. We had planned a number of outings but we had to downsize our day. We walked over the bridge to see Big Ben, the Parliament buildings and Buckingham with the Australia and Canada Gates.
After the gawking, we headed over to find the Sherlock Holmes Museum (and Gift Shop!). It was a replica of what a boarding room would look like in the 1890s. Not a nice as Dalnavert, but still a lot of fun. Along the way we found a Beatles Shop and Aleksander picked up a poster and badge – as he wanted, bought in London, and hopefully heading home in one piece.
We did try Covent Gardens but Michael faded just as we got there, so they watched a street performer show while I scurried about, looking for cool stuff.