Four countries in one day

Posted on Wednesday, 26 July 2023, 0:41 by Alexandra

The end of our roadtrip is here and we are finally back home with our two cats where we belong. Mom has taken such gold care of them while we’ve been away, they were so soft and well-brushed! It has been a truly amazing trip, we have seen so much, been spoiled by Mikael’s family and tried world-class adventure golf at Die Rheinpiraten! But all adventures come to an end eventually, and this one ended now. I really do want to go on another roadtrip now though!

We had a long day ahead of us and left Amsterdam at around 9 in the morning and we touched down at home at 22:30. Several breaks and four countries (Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Sweden) later we are finally greeted by two cuties at home! The sunset on the way was so beautiful amongst fluffy clouds. And it was sad when we left Autobahn and were restricted with speed limits again, haha!

I’m sure we’ll meet again, Germany! I want to improve my German more. Surprisingly much came back after so many days there :).

Today’s numbers, excluding approx 1h of breaks.

The total numbers for this trip. Not too bad. I am not sure about the average speed though. It feels like we should have driven much longer stretches at much higher speeds. But there have been lots of city driving as well I guess

Duisburg

Posted on Monday, 24 July 2023, 1:23 by Alexandra

Ouch, our butts! They have withstood so much today, but what a super sweet day. It was our last day in Germany with Ina and Burki and we spent it in Duisburg where Burki’s mother lives, who celebrated her 85th birthday. The four siblings had arranged for a surprise party, including breakfast at her house, then a bike ride and dinner at a restaurant. Such a sweet family. We all had a great day, and Käthe was so happy that we had come all the way to Sweden and joined in on the birthday celebrations. Mikael have met her before and I got the introduction to the whole family. Lots of names and dogs to keep track of.

The pimped tricicle bike that Ina and Burki had rented for the day. Käthe rode in this one and everyone else had their own bikes.

Molly got her own cart and joined in. Ina had a really nice electric mountainbike, but had forgotten her battery. It must have been heavy.

We took a break at Egelsberger Mülhl and had peach cake and cherry cake bought in the Netherlands. Apparently, when Burki was young, they bought fancy cakes like this and took long bike rides. While we were resting here, Molly was picking blackberries off a nearby bush. Adorable!

We were told we were going on a bike ride. But we were not told it would be 22km and 2,5 hours. Haha! It was a beautiful ride along fields and lakes. My saddle was kind of soft, but it still made my butt sore, haha! Mikael had a very hard saddle and is also in a lot of pain. He also had troubles with his bike that he loaned from Burki. For the first 25 minutes after the windmill break, his rear tire got crooked somehow, it sounded and was grinding against the metal frame. Which made it so much tougher. Poor guy! It was supposed to be a leisure ride, but he was sweating like crazy when the rest of us were beginning to tire a little bit.

After the bike ride, most of us drove to a restaurant called Landgasthaus Sellner. It was not super special, and several people were not very happy with their food, but I really liked min. Pork filet with fried potatoes and mushroom sauce. Molly was adorable here as well. She picked up the bag of candies that is attached to the leash and tried to hand it to us, telling us that she wanted candies. She also came up to me and Mikael and tried to shake hands and pushed her head against our thighs. She is so sweet!

We didn’t stay too long, the tricycle bike had to be returned and we said goodbye to everyone and headed in the opposite direction to the border to the Netherlands.

It was POURING down some of the way. Like scary much! But after the clouds cleared a bit, the sunset was really pretty.

We reached the hotel, finally, but not without trouble. We came into the city very late and we are staying in the complete city center at Dam Square. There was a small road leading in to the hotel and the parking, but there was a taxi blocking the way when we arrived so we weren’t sure it was the correct way. So we drove on, put in the address again and called the hotel and they confirmed we were supposed to make a turn there. Oh well. 20 minutes later, because the city is full of tiny streets and one way roads, we arrived and the taxi was still there. We blinked, the taxi gestured for us to drive past. We insisted and he got mad at us and drove out eventually. Stupid!

We are here finally, super tired but will hopefully have energy for tomorrow’s sightseeing.

Bad Honnef

Posted on Saturday, 22 July 2023, 23:51 by Alexandra

Another slow and peaceful day in Bad Honnef with family. But today we actually spent time in the city of Bad Honnef. A few days ago we were in the Siebengebirge. the seven mountain tops but this time Ina drove us around and showed us where she used to live and where all the rich people live on the mountainside with amazing view over Rhein. It’s a cute little city with 25 000 inhabitants.

The first stop of today was the local chocolate store and manufacturer very close to where they live in Aegidienberg. Wow, they had so much! I may or may not have bought some things. Second stop of the day was at a flower shop where we bought an orchid to the birthday celebration tomorrow. And next up was Bad Honnef. We walked around the city center for a while (it was small so it didn’t take too long) and then we ended up getting milkshakes and coffee at an ice cream bar. Delicious!

We then drove to Bonn and Die Rheinpiraten to play another round of adventure golf. I got a better score with 2 than last time. Mikael decreased his with 7, but both of us got a hole-in-one.

Back home, we had barbecued fish (salmon forell?) with rice and a cold sauce. Really good. But I got so full! And then we had ice cream and egg licquer with strawberry cheesecake flavor from Coppeneur. We saw fireflies as well which was cool.

It was a really nice last day in Bad Honnef. Tomorrow we are all leaving for Duisberg and the celebrations and right after that Mikael and I are continuing our Eurotour to Amsterdam.

Siegsburg

Posted on Saturday, 22 July 2023, 0:51 by Alexandra

A resting day was needed today. Ina had to work a bit this morning, Burki all day. So we took care of Molly after breakfast and went on a long walk with her. Ina then needed to get to Siegsburg to hand in some documents to her accountant and we did a little stop in the city after that. We looked for a place to eat on the small city square and ended up at Fassbender. The spinach quiche was really good and so was the caramel latte. We were interrupted as soon as we finished by rain and thunder and took a detour to a chocolate store to buy a gift for Burki’s mother who we will celebrate on Sunday for her birthday.

We drove back to Bad Honnef, got stuck in some traffic on Autobahn and then took a nap back home. We were all very tired. Mikael slept poorly last night. And I was just tired.

We went for a walk with Molly and decided what to do for dinner. We chose to go out to the Chinese restaurant close by. Restaurant Lotus, a very nice place and the food was really good. The spring roll as an appetizer was almost a meal in itself and really good!

There is a small quarry of 17m behind their neighborhood.

Molly in the rearview camera when we came back from Siegburg. She was afraid of the thunder and had been outside while we were away.

Köln

Posted on Friday, 21 July 2023, 0:59 by Alexandra

Mikael’s aunt was working today so Mikael and I spent the day in Cologne (Köln), it was less than an hour drive and we got to see yet another new city on this trip. We had four stops in Köln and then another last event before this day was over.

First stop: Music Store

Mikael has been talking about getting a new guitar for so long now and he remembered that Köln hade a mega big music shop so we started our day there and he found his dream guitar that was a bit out of his price range the last time he was there. He noted it and will look it up back in Sweden once we are home. 1,5 hours felt not a single minute more than 20 minutes for this happy chap :).

Second stop: Früh Kölsch

The second stop was lunch at a very famous brewery from 1904 right in front of the Köln Cathedral: Früh Kölsch. Mikael hade been there before and knew what to order: Himmel und Äärd (black pudding, mashed potato and apple and roasted onion). I thought I was grown up enough to try and order something fun and exciting. But I made a mistake. I should have gotten the same as Mikael, the beef tartare was not to my taste buds liking. I have had beef tartar at Meet (a meat restaurant in Gothenburg) and it was so delicious), this was not quite the same. Even if I mixed everything like you were supposed to, I just couldn’t really find the charm. This is one of the first times I have been disappointed with what I have ordered. Like ever. So sad.

This place is also famous for the waitresses putting a new beer in front of you right after you finish the one you just drank unless you put the cover on top of your glass. And they just will continue to come until you’ve put it there. Not today though, maybe they were too busy?

Third stop: Kölner Dom (Cologne Cathedral)

We then went to the main attraction of this city, the Kölner Dom, the Cathedral of Cologne. It’s construction started in 1248 and ended in 1881 when it was inaugurated. 632 years of construction! Insane. But with 300 years of break when no one wanted to finance this monstrosity. It was a really impressive cathedral. I’ve seen my fair share of them while traveling but this one, with the two towers and immeasurable amount of details was in the top, for sure. The winner is without a doubt La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, but it’s competing in its own league. We walked around inside for a bit and then we bought entry tickets to one of the towers. 9 minutes later, we were up at the top, enjoying the view over all of Köln. Incredible!

Fourth stop: Chocolate Museum

We bought bubble tea on the way to the last stop in Köln and walked along Rhein. The chocolate museum was really great. It had a lot of focus on sustainability and covered many different aspects of cocoa farming. Poverty, child labour, deforestation and so on. I thought that was great.

They showed the process of making Lindt chocolate and then they had a store at the end. I bought a little for the way back to Bonn.

Evening in Bonn: Brothers in Arms (Dire Straits coverband in Biergarten)

The day ended at the golf course where we had a cup of coffee before heading over to the other end of the big park where they, every night during summer (except Monday’s) have a cover band in a biergarten and they serve food. Tonight was a band who played Dire Straits songs. It was great! They played all the songs that I really like. The currywürst was amazing and the company was really nice. Mikael and I were youngest by probably a couple of decades but I loved it. All the oldies danced along to the songs and it was such a great atmosphere!

Super tired now after a long and touristy day, but we experience so much on this trip.

Drachenfels and Bonn

Posted on Thursday, 20 July 2023, 0:56 by Alexandra

What a lovely day in Siebengebirge and Bonn we have had! Most of the time, it was me, Mikael, Ina (his aunt) and Molly, the dog. Ina drove around through the forested mountains (Siebengebirge) and it was so beautiful!

We started the day at Petersburg Spa and Resort on top of one of the seven mountain tops in the area. It used to be the place where politicians of high rank stayed, presidents and such. Now, it’s a very fancy hotel with incredible view.

The next stop was Drachenfels, the next mountain top where there is a ruin at the very top and a fairly new castle a bit further down. The castle was built in 1883 and is very young compared to most of the castles down here in Germany. Molly was unfortunately not allowed inside the castle, so she and Ina waited outside while Mikael and I walked around inside. It was a cool castle. But you could tell that it was new, and it had taken furniture from different eras so it was not consistent with the 19th century for example.

The third and last stop of the day was at Die Rheinpiraten in Bonn, the adventure golf course that Ina and her husband Burkhardt opened in April last year. We have followed their journey and struggles of putting this dream of theirs into reality and it was so fun to see the final result. It was incredible! So well done and the quality of the course was amazing. Pretty decorations and fun courses. And that’s not everything. They have a biergarten where they sell drinks and light food. For lunch today, we took part in their flamekuchen tasting. On Monday they have to decide what to order, so they had 10 different types that needed to be tasted and evaluated. I’ve never had that before and apparently it’s a French pizza with a very thin crust. It was really good! I just realized that I didn’t take any photos of them, but you could google if you don’t know what they look like.

We have heard a lot of stories from Ina and Burki about what has happened there in the past year. As a former employee of a service place (Liseberg amusement park), I can relate to all of these hilarious stories. People :).

Around when they were about to close, the four of us went on the golf course. They had of course done it many times before, but Mikael and I did pretty well for the first time. 18 holes and reasonably hard courses. Mikael and I ended up getting exactly the same amount of points, so Ina picked a course to do over. We both got 2. But then I won on the next course Burki chose.

Afterward, we celebrated with ice cream, locally organically produced, and talked to Henning, their best employee.

A really great day in this local part of Germany 🙂 I know I might be a bit biased to family, but for reals, if you’re on Bonn, try out Die Rheinpiraten. Honestly the best adventure golf I’ve ever done. We have lots of them in Sweden, but none of them are themed, and this was such a great and well done theme very close to the Rhein.

Petersberg.

View from Petersberg over Bonn and Rhein.

Molly did so good on the trolley up to the Drachenfels.

Bad Honnef and Rhein.

The Drachenfels ruins.

We walked down to the castle from the ruins.
Winterskönig on this side of the Rhein, Bonn on the other side.
Schloss Drachenburg.

From on top of the tower.

They even had a beach at the course.

Roadtrip layover in Leipzig

Posted on Wednesday, 19 July 2023, 1:11 by Alexandra

Today we started our trip west in Germany from Berlin to Bad Honnef. But we took a little detour to Leipzig, my father’s hometown. Our first stop was at his old apartment, where he grew up. Philip Rosenthal Straße 15. We went there, took a picture and sent to him and grandma. She replied instantly. So much fun!

Our next stop in Leipzig was die Mitte where lunch was waiting. We looked at Thomaskirsche, where Johann Sebastian Bach lies buried. It was an old church from 1212 if I didn’t misread.

We also looked at the old city hall building from 1556 and the new city hall building which was really pompous.

The second leg of today’s journey was 6 hours and in total we have been driving for almost 9 hours, all the breaks included. Not too bad when you share it.

We arrived in Bad Honnef at 19:30 and were greeted with an amazing barbecue dinner. We stayed up late talking about everything and therefore my post tonight is a bit short (and lacking pictures – I will update with pictures tomorrow!).

This is where my father grew up. According to my grandma, the window on the left was her and grandpa’s bedroom, and the window on the right was the living room. The kitchen and children’s room was on the other side, facing the courtyard.

Thomaskirche where Johann Sebastian Bach lies buried.

The new town hall in Leipzig was very pomupous.

And the old Rathaus, town hall was indeed very old.

Inner city of Leipzig was very pretty.

Berlin

Posted on Monday, 17 July 2023, 23:32 by Alexandra

22 000 steps was walked today. My feet hurt, my legs are tired, it was warm, but it was such a great day. I didn’t think it was too warm, but if you ask Mikael, he says it was, haha! I guess it was around 26C, but we were not out under direct sun most of the day.

We started the day by going to Brandenburg Tor which is the monument of peace. We also saw the Reichtag building right next to it. Our next stop was the Berlin Zoo via Voi’s. It was a little bit too far to walk.

I could have spent many more hours in the zoo. I love watching animals. But we left after 4,5 hours so we would have time to do other things. We didn’t get to see the red pandas or the tigers. Both were hiding in their dens when we walked past. Too bad. The polar bear was not there (do they move them in the summer?) nor were the otters there.

After the zoo we went to look at the Holocaust memorial. We saw so many taking “cute” couple pictures or “influencers” posing. So tacky! Show some respect.

Surprisingly enough, there aren’t any museums of WWII in Berlin. Mikael really wanted to see something about it but we had to do the next best thing. There currently is an exhibition called Roads not Taken which reviews 14 events in the German history in the past 150 years that led up to where they are today. We only got 45 minutes there before they closed, but it was interesting. I find it very hard to take in political information though, but I think Mikael learned a new thing or two.

Back to the hotel for a quick shower, then to Treffpunkt Berlin, a small restaurant very close to our hotel. The food was great, the service was great. And it felt very local and genuine. Can recommend.

This cute little desert cat was playing with a dead mouse.
There was this super chill kangaroo that was lying on its side and staring at us. Haha!

Californian sea lions kinda made me miss Cali a bit. They were jumping around in their wave pool.

There were hippos. It’s hard to believe that this clumsy animal is one of the world’s most dangerous.
We saw the feeding of the gorillas. The young one was circling around and was adorable. When the zoo keeper threw food in the proximity of the mother and the child, the mother bonked the young one in the head so she could reach the food first. How rude!

This 18-year old male looked at us all very suspiciously. But he was gorgeous with his silver back.

Meerkats are adorable!
Knacker mit sauerkraut at Treffpunkt Berlin. 80m from our hotel. Really nice service, really good food!
Apfelstrudel mit both vanilla sauce, whipped cream and vanilla ice cream. Insane!

Roadtrip to Germany!

Posted on Sunday, 16 July 2023, 23:08 by Alexandra

The alarm went off at 2am this morning. Does that even count as morning? I had, for the first time in a very long time, extremely hard to fall asleep, so I only got 2,5 hours of sleep. Good thing we decided to get a room on the ferry from Trelleborg to Rostock so we could get some sleep. It was so well needed. Mikael drove all the way from Gothenburg to Trelleborg and I drove all the way from Rostock to Berlin. It was fun driving on the Autobahn, I managed to get up to 160 kmh before the traffic hit. It was so slow for more than an hour. Completely still at times. It was hard, even with our automatic car.

We booked the hotel on Stena Line before we fell asleep. We decided to go with Maritim proArte in central Berlin. Everything seems to be within walking distance. We checked in, parked the car in the garage and got ready to leave. We had no idea where to go. City centre/downtown Berlin seems to be everywhere. We ended up looking at some old buildings and walking along Spree where we found a restaurant. Had dinner, walked along the river the other way around back to the hotel where a night of longed-for sleep awaits. It hasn’t been too bad today, but I do feel exhausted now. 15 hours traveling, only 5,5 hours of sleep divided into two sessions. Tomorrow will be fun in the sun! 🙂 Sweden has really bad weather now, haha.