Entries about walking

We began once again with an earlyish start, grabbing breakfast, before dropping off our bags and checking out of the hotel. We then headed out to the central station, grabbing the S-Bahn train to Dachau. After half an hour we arrived in the suburban city, and changed to a bus full of other tourists all headed to the Concentration Camp Museum.

The Dachau Concentration Camp was the first opened by the Nazis, and is now open as a free museum almost every day of the year. We began walking the short path from the bus stop to the entrance gate, with the typical "Arbeit Macht Frei" (Work makes [you] free) sign, before entering the vast site, and heading towards the main building.

Inside the building, which was formally the administration, were many placards detailing the rise of the Nazi regime, many of which are still sadly present today, before going on to explain the history of Dachau more specifically.

Walking back across the roll call area, we entered one of the reconstructed huts, with different sections showing how over the course of time, the camp got more populated, and thus density of beds was increased.

Early Layout of Beds

Former Hut Sites

We then headed up the tree lined centre, past the site of former huts, to the chapels built within the site, before heading west to the crematoriums. These were built within an extension of the camp site, and were relatively underused for the extermination of prisoners, although still included the gas chamber labelled as "wash room".

Crematoriums

Stove

After a depressing morning we headed back to the city centre for some other sights.

Unfortunately Munich wasn't the easiest city to get across, as most of the metro system runs off the backbone of the central corridor, meaning seeing the football stadium from Dachau took an hour and a half by public transport, but just 18 minutes if we decided to drive...

We therefore decided to make the most of the inevitable trip back to the centre to get some souvenirs, before heading back out to the Allianz Arena. Whilst neither of us are particularly bothered about football, it is an icon of the city, and after having to transfer to a different train en route (and given gummy bears for the inconvenience), we could see the stadium from the station itself. As our legs were aching like mad by now we therefore had a quick look and headed towards the Olympic Park.

Upon arriving, we took a short walk across a bridge, overlooked by the BMW headquarters, and entered the landscaped park seeing the stadium and arenas from the 1972 Olympic Games. Again, as our feet ached we didn't explore too much, and we also knew that if we made it to our last site, the Zoo, before 3pm we could be in time for the Polar Bear talk.

Hurrying through the underground system across the city, we eventually arrived at the zoo with ten minutes to spare. I explained to the cashier in German which tickets we needed, but forgetting the word "auch" and using "as well" instead, she had me sussed... no matter how much more German I could use she would always talk back in English. Far too inefficient for her to be wasting time when she was better in English than I was in German.

After hurrying through I then noticed on the map that we had been wrong all day.... the talk was at 3:30pm! We therefore had 40 minutes to get to the other end of the park, and so didn't need to rush. Therefore we started to look at the animals en route, guessing what their German names were before arriving.

Getting towards the Rhinos I wondered what they could be called, as Rhino sounded like a Romance/Greek word not a Germanic one. However walking past the Café Rhino sign, I thought I must have been wrong. Then wondering how a German would say it in my mind, I said it to myself in a German accent just as a German lady behind said the same thing in the same accent... ?

However after going into the Rhino house, where a little child was shouting "Nashörner" at the animal I soon realised I was right at the start - Rhino was not the German word at all!

Carrying on the path, it was not long before we arrived at the Polar Bear enclosure. We had aimed to arrive for the polar bear talk for the simple reason that it would therefore be more likely that the 9 month old cub would be on show, and luckily he was. Jumping around copying his mother, watching the cub was a real experience. And then he ran to the side for a swim in the window-side pool. We therefore got to be less than a metre away from the animal, as he swam and used the glass to push himself down with his paw.

After sitting around for twenty or so minutes, we continued around the zoo with such diverse animals as baby orangutans, Steffi the elephant and cows... Yes, despite Bavaria being full of cows, they were inside a zoo enclosure - surrounded by a moat so they didn't escape....

After a while at the zoo we then headed back to the city centre having seen almost everything. It was thus time for dinner, bag collection, and the airport.

Grabbing food, I confused the lady with my English so much that she then proceeded to talk the wrong language and to the customer for the next five minutes. Sitting down was well needed, but when it came to getting back up this was such a struggle. Having walked 40 miles in the last three days, I literally had to struggle down the stairs as my legs had seized up!

Making it back to the hotel, we changed, repacked and set off with our bags towards the airport. Getting on the S-Bahn, we headed out of the city when our train developed a fault. The announcement told us to wait on the adjacent platform for a train to change to, yet despite the fault having only just occurred, as we stood at the platform we could already see our replacement train coming to collect us...

Making it to the airport in plenty of time, we headed to border control. However once there, we got stuck behind an Asian family who had no idea what they were doing, with their friend standing in the way in order to wave a goodbye. We got into the EU queue (whilst we still could), but as it was much shorter, the Asian family's friend told them to use that queue instead - despite them not being European Citizens. Luckily we had got ahead of them, and after easing through, it was their turn. Bad luck for anyone behind as they had a tonne of questions and needed a full on visa check...

Security was also pretty slow - lots of random checks as well as an incompetence to actually ease the now developing queue. Having been held back from going through security itself because of a slow family ahead, I took as much time as I fancied repacking my bits at the other end.

After a busy trip we were tired and ready to go home, and luckily with no delay it wasn't long before we boarded and eventually landed back in Luton.

The trip was incredibly busy, and could have done with an extra day, but nevertheless was great. The trip to the Neuschwanstein castle being a particular highlight, and I would highly recommend it if in the area.

Waking up at the disgusting time of 6:30am, we headed down for breakfast, before making our way to catch the 8:40 train to Füssen, not far from the Austrian border.

The border area is full of mountain backdrops, which although most of the peaks are in Austria, there are also some German mountains, and thus after yesterday's mild disappointment, we were about to embark on an Alpine experience.

Getting off the train with tonnes of East Asians, we raced to make sure we could get a place on the bus to the next village. Luckily two bendy buses turned up, and so there was plenty of room! 10 minutes later we were in the village of Hohenschwangau, home to the Neuschwanstein Castle.

After a bit of confusion, we took the bus up to the Marienbrücke - a bridge over a gorge with fantastic views of the castle, before we crossed over and walked up a bit of the hill opposite, where views above the castle could be seen.

The views were very good, but as it was quite steep we headed back towards the castle itself, past the bridge. Not long later we were at the castle itself.

We had decided not to go inside as the queues were very long and it didn't seem worth the wait, but we managed to get inside the courtyard itself anyway, and thus we still saw a fair bit.

Heading back down the hillside, we eventually ended back in the village, where we then headed towards the lake at the bottom of the road.

Surrounded by mountains with clear water, it was particularly beautiful, and after taking many pictures, we headed back into the pretty village and towards the bus stop to head back to the station.

Whilst Salzburg had felt very generic and city-like, this village on the other hand gave us that Alpine experience we were craving. After a two hour journey back through the countryside, we arrived back in Munich and headed back to the hotel.

Having a quick rest, we then headed back to the city centre, in time for the Glockenspiel performance at the clock tower, where at 5pm an old story about the city is told through figurines.

After grabbing dinner, we then headed for a walk around the city centre sights, heading towards the Englischer Garten - a large landscaped park along the riverside.

Englischer Garten

Chinese Tower

After walking as far as the Chinese Tower, we headed back towards the city past the university before our last stop, at the Theresienwiese, site of the Oktoberfest, where tents for this year's event were already being assembled.

After a long day of walking and exploring, we headed back to the hotel for a well earned rest, before our final day in the city.

Originally Bavaria and Austria were planned to be undertaken as a week's holiday, however after trying to combine them failed due to flight times we decided to separate them into two weekend trips. The first would be based in Munich, with day trips around, before visiting Vienna and Bratislava a month later.

We began by flying out to Munich airport on Friday night, getting to the hotel quite late and going straight to sleep before our first day trip the following morning.

Giving ourselves a bit of a lie in, followed by breakfast, we eventually made it on the 10:40 train to Salzburg, which was pretty busy. Although as it was a Saturday in summer I guess this was hardly surprising. We had bought ourselves a Bayern Ticket, allowing us travel anywhere within Bavaria, a well as neighbouring towns, for €31 for the two of us all day long, including on local transport. As Salzburg was the first place over the Austrian border, this meant our ticket was valid and thus after a two hour train ride, we entered the Austrian city.

Although Salzburg is renowned as the city of the Sound of Music, to many Austrians, this film is unknown, and the city is, well, a city. Much of the movie was not filmed in the city at all, and only based upon sights within it. Therefore, although some of the sights would be seen, it would for the most part not feel like being on a film set. In fact, the city initially did not evoke the Alpine image at all... crossing over the river and border, the first images were of logging and wood chippings, before factories and the urban city station.

Eventually walking into the city past many urban buildings, we arrived at the Mirabell Gardens - some beautiful landscaped gardens beside the Mirabell Palace, where many scenes from the Sound of Music were filmed. Although busy, we were still able to explore the gardens, before walking towards the Salzach River.

Walking past Mozart's home, we made our way to a bridge over the river for views of the city, and our first real Alpine views of the city.

We then walked past the old city towards the bottom of the Festungsberg, the hill on the south side of the river, separating the old city from the suburbs behind it. Attempting to climb up it, we eventually found the footpath much further down than we had expected, and after walking past some of the buildings built into the rock face, we made our way up the staircases to the top for views over the city.

After walking along the footpath we made our way back down, heading for the Petersfriedhof cemetery, where the end scene of the family hiding inside a tomb is based upon.

Heading out at the other end of the site, we headed for Residenzplatz, the main square by the cathedral, before walking to the Mozart Bridge, and eventually the house he was born in.

After having explored the city centre, we bought some souvenirs and then headed back to the train station for our return. Eventually getting onto the train itself after the driver stopped for a smoke, we made our way back past views of the Bavarian hills arriving in Munich two hours later.

After a quick rest at the hotel, we decided to go for a quick exploration of the city centre to seek out somewhere for our dinner tonight. Walking through the busy main street, past shops selling lederhosen, we eventually came across the LGBT event in the city this weekend, before returning and finding a restaurant for schnitzel.

Confusing the waiter with my (limited) German, we had a lovely German meal, before eventually returning to the hotel for the evening and tomorrow's adventure.

Although Canada has never been top of my list, it has been somewhere I planned to eventually visit, especially after having been just metres away at Niagara Falls in 2013. And with my friend Halina from my Erasmus time now living in Toronto, this was the perfect opportunity.

Getting a bargain deal on flights, we flew out the Friday before the May bank holiday to Toronto from Gatwick. Getting on the flight we were already overwhelmed with Maple Leaves literally everywhere we could imagine - the plane wings, the brochures, the plastic cups. I was sick of the sight of it before we'd even reached land and started flying over Newfoundland.

Having taken off at noon for the 8 hour flight, coming in to land it was now 3pm - the longest three hours of my life. Meeting us at the airport was Halina, who then took us via bus and metro to her home in the city that she was letting us stay in whilst she crashed with her boyfriend.

By this point it was already 5pm, and having travelled all day it now felt like 10pm, and thus Fara and I felt way to tired to do anything major today. We therefore went for a short walk around the neighbouring area, in order to get food, with Halina and her boyfriend joining us. Unfortunately not being in the mood for anything more exciting on a Friday evening!

And this is where jet lag became a problem....heading eastwards I don't get too affected, but travelling westwards is where I encounter issues. There are simply too many hours in the day! I therefore easily headed to sleep at 8pm, but was well awake by 5am!

Having been awake for around 5 hours, Halina and her boyfriend met us the following morning and we went for a Canadian breakfast at a local cafe.

We then walked through the city, arriving first at the city hall and Nathan Phillips Square, a modern complex compared with the Old City Hall next door.

After walking through the market buying souvenirs, we then headed over to the Distillery District - a gentrified former industrial area that now has many small artisan shops.

Originally having considered travelling over to the Toronto Islands, due to the bad weather in the city the previous few weeks they were flooded and therefore closed to tourists. We therefore stuck to Toronto, viewing the Islands from afar at the coastline on Lake Ontario.

After saying goodbye to Halina's boyfriend, we then headed to the CN tower - still the tallest structure in the Western Hemisphere, for views over the surrounding area. Unlike the Burj Khalifa, which took over the tower's height record, the views are impressive, being able to see a wide area as well as the ground itself, via the glass floor. This was a scary sight but once reassured that the glass is stable is an interesting experience!

Coming back down we headed to get some Poutine, before saying goodbye to Halina for now, and heading back to the house via the University. However having woken up early for a busy day, by now we were shattered. We had been invited to a party, but before 8pm we had both fallen asleep and ended up missing it. But at least fully rested for our day trip to Niagara Falls.