Stripefest -Norwich

Yesterday was Stripefest day in Norwich  - a long day! We left about 7.30 am as we needed to be at Liverpool Street station by 9.30 and had to travel across London by train. When we left the hotel, one tube line we wanted to travel on was suspended so it looked as if we would have to change a few times to get there. Luckily by the time we reached Waterloo the Waterloo and City line was working and it only took us about 15 minutes to get from Waterloo to Liverpool Street station so we were there I plenty of time. We travelled with Abellio East Anglia trains for the first time, an interesting experience as the elderly train lurched from station to station, and worse still no Wifi!!!!

Doppel and lunch on train

Near Ipswich  

 Norwich was a wonderful surprise with some lively buildings. We were met by Brigid and Nigel who took us for a tour of their town :)

Norwich Cathedral

Norwich Cathedral

The cathedral has an interesting mix of old and new stained glass windowS

 

The cathedral also has a memorial for Nurse Edith Cavell who was executed by the Germans during WW 1

Edith Cavell

A stop at the pub and then some more sightseeing

 

Royal Arcade

Norwich Castlr

Flowers

The trip home was better, a more modern train with wifi. We arrived back in London about  9 pm after a busy but fun filled day of sightseeing and pub crawling...  

Rain

The rain fell constantly and here are some of the changes in the river

River near hotel

Waterfall after rain

The whitewater rafters were having a field day!

Raindrops keep falling on my head

Today we have spent inside as it has been raining. Can't complain as we have been lucky with the weather so far.  Some images from the hotel balcony

Cloud

Rain

Tan and Tas left the kids at the Kid's Club this morning and braved the elements to have coffee with us this morning. We are going to brave the rain and go down there for dinner!

I love to go a wandering....

The past couple of days we have spent most of the day with Tan, Tas and the kids at the Kinderhotel resort (fantastic place to stay if you have kids up to around 12) and the photos we have taken have been of the landscape around Unken as we amble down the 20 min walk from our hotel to theirs.   Today we decided to walk one of the many hiking trails in the area. The one we took was around 5 kms in length and follows the river   outside our room

River

Waterfall

Reith - neighbouring village

Wild flowers

Our accommodation - very traditional

 

How's the serenity

Arrived in Unken late yesterday afternoon after two trains and one bus trip. The scenery is spectacular and you certainly know you are in Sound of Music country. Unken is a small village with only about 2,000 people. Tan, Tas and the kids are staying at the other end of the village about a 20 minute walk. Some photos taken on our walk today...

River near our hotel

Unken

Unken

Doppelbandy admiring the view

The river is behind the trees, the only noise we hear is the rushing water :)

Nuremberg

Yesterday was a five hour train trip from Berlin to Nuremberg. We caught one of the ICE (fast trains) which was bumpier than the Eurostar. Our hotel is just down the road from the main train station and old city so nice and central. This morning we went to the Documentation Centre which is near  the CongressHalle (partially built during the Nazi era in the 1930's)  and Zeppelin fields. The centre chronicles the Nazi era until the end of WW2. 

Partially built CongressHalle designed to seat 50,000 people

 

Marble columns inside CongressHalle

documentation Centre

Next stop was the memorium Nuremberg Trials which included a visit to Court 600 where the Nuremberg Trials were held after WW2.

Nuremberg Courts

Court 600

It was then time for a wander around the old city - only a few piccies as it pissed down!

Nuremberg Tor

St Lorenz Church

Konigstrasse near St Lorenz

Off to Unken tomorrow, two short  train trips then a bus trip to get there!

Berlin Day 4

Our last day in Berlin :(. I’ve really enjoyed this beautiful city though we have only scratched the surface. This morning we called the hop on hop off bus to Checkpoint Charlie.  

Checkpoint Charlie

Checkpoint Charlie

Next stop was the Anne Frank Zentrum which provides an outline of her  life. The aim of the centre is to promote the memory of Anne Feank and her diary.  The building was a bit hard to find but the exhibition was good!

Anne Frank Centrum

Next stop was the Nicolai Church, a twin spired church near the centre of the city. The church was largely destroyed during WW2 and is now a museum...

Nikolai Church

Isn't the ceiling spectacular?

   

Taken from the organ level

 

We were going to visit the Reichstag but couldn't book online and the line to get tickets was 90 minutes long with little chance of seeing it today so fave it a miss.  Here are a couple of photos of the River Speer which is close to the main train station and our hotel. Tomorrow is Nuremberg :)

River Speer

River Speer

 

Berlin Day 3

Another busy day in Berlin. This morning we did a hop on hop off bus tour that concentrated on the Berlin War and East Germany era. We stopped at the Berlin War Memorial which has the remains of a stretch of the wall.

Berlin Wall

Berlin Wall

Berlin Wall  

Berlin Wall marker

Then off to the Pergamon Museum, well worth visiting. The collection focuses on Middle East and Islamic material.

Temple of Ishtar

Temple of Ishtar

Next stop the Berlin Dom ( Cathedral), well worth seeing.  

Berlin Dom  

Berlin Dom

Great view from the dome which is reached via 267 steps

View from Dom

View from Dom

View from Don

 

 Then off to the memorial for Europe's missing Jewish

Jewish memorial

Jewish memorial

Then final stop Reichstag before walking back to the hotel...

Reichstag