Summer 2015 Bears, Fish eagles, beavers and painted ladies,,, Germany at its best.

Where you've been and what you done
africajim
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Summer 2015 Bears, Fish eagles, beavers and painted ladies,,, Germany at its best.

Post by africajim »

Summer 2015 Bears, Fish eagles, beavers and painted ladies,,, Germany at its best.

Fiona and myself decided our summer break this year would be to join our friends Pete and Debs on a tour of the Frankishche Schweiz area of Bayrouth, Germany. Peters parents live in Bamberg and his brother had went to university there so we knew local knowledge would prove to add up to a brilliant adventure!

Day one, Fiona and me headed down from Elgin, Morayshire in Scotland to Barnoldswick, Lancashire to stay over for the night with
our good mate Simon from the XRV forum. A few tinnies and a handfull of drams later, caught up with Simon and day gone!
Day two, travelled down to Essex to our friends Peter and Debs. So far, 630 miles and the Honda VFR1200X Crosstourer
is coping well. The night's entertainment involves going along to Chad's, a long time friend from the XRV forum. He came over for a
test ride of my Crosstourer then went on to buy a BMW 1150 GS? No taste! LOL!After a
guided tour of the latest projects in his workshop we sat down to a drink or two and BBQ! After a few drams (I provided a cask
strength whisky to liven things up!) Chad then demonstrated how to get real heat out of a cast iron chiminea!
The flames made at least 2m! Tee hee! A few drams and the night was over! Thank to Chad and Stevie for having us, a great night was had!
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Day three, I had to be up at dawn as we have to head off at 05.00 to catch the Eurotunnel train with Peter as Fiona and Debs were flying down. There were spits of rain so we risked not wearing the waterproofs but,,,, well,,, it rained, but at least no issues boarding, I must highlight the chunnel is one of the best ways of intercontinental travel from the UK I've come across, you turn up, you punch a few buttons at the terminal, ride on to the train and half an hour later you're riding through France!
A long day's ride across France, Belgium and Holland in the rain before arriving in Germany! Peter and myself spent the night at one of his friends dating back to school. I was apprehensive at first, as we all are when confronted with the unknown, but Uli turned out to be one of the nicest guys I have met. We dined with Uli and his family who turned out to be be lovely people, the food was gorgeous and I have already taken his advice regarding cooking on a BBQ! (No black scortched meat from now on!)
Thank you sir! A few drams led to a fantastic conversation regarding all the tabboos, religion, politics, music, all very intellectual
and proved Uli's English is very advanced.
Day four, a traditional German breakfast of coffee, sausage, mustards, cheese and brochen at Uli's before heading south to our
campsite at Bärenschlucht, on the outskirts of Pottenstein. This would be base camp for our tour of the area, the campsite is one of the best I have used in Europe. The pitches are large, they allow and supply firepits,the toilets and showers are right up there as the cleanest I've seen.
The staff were very helpful, although English is not the first language so be prepared to use German as much as possible! The site
being in the heart of a natural park, a major hunting region, this was obvious in the restaurant menu as venison and wild boar were
the main options on the menu which we sampled daily!
The barmaid was a stunning looking young woman with,,, well,,, I can only say she has the most remarkable tattoo's, which went further down her breasts than I can say but ask Peter! He allegedly had a damned good look at them! LOL!
The other outstanding point of the bar was a stuffed bear! as we were based in bear valley, this would turn out to be one of the
mainstays of the trip, that and John Lowflyer's experience with bears! (ask John!)
On the menu was a drink for "real mens"? Peter and myself decided we would try this Worsellsepp! It wasn't too bad, although, Fiona and Debs struggled with it! LOL!
The area is surrounded by steep cliffs, around 80m high which leads to the most popular pastime of free climbing! Brilliant to watch,
especially as I am now too old, unhealthy and obviously too heavy now to take part!
Day five, Peter and myself have a nice breakfast then set off for the airport to pick up Fiona and Debs and the holiday begins!
The weather took a turn for the better and the sun came out leading to the temperatures and sun we had for the rest of our holiday, averaging around the thirties c! Highest being 41C!
Next day Peter had planned a route of around 100 miles, taking in a couple of castles and caves. The roads were gorgeous, the tar
mostly black and sticky, made the lovely sweeping corners so much fun! Travelling around the area was brilliant fun and we had an
absolute hoot every day on what can only be described as excellent roads.
The spent the next week doing day trips in the area, visiting castles, Basilica's, cathederals and churches which were stunning.
The highlight for me was the caving! One cave was 1.4km into the ground, looking for cave bear remains, stalagmites and stalactites!
Absolutely stunning caves!
We had a special day where we rented a couple of pedola's, small paddle boats, our's shaped as a VW beetle, was far faster than Pete and deb's one, so we ran circles around them! We followed this with a visit to a dry toboggan run! These sleds were two person, towed up the hillside a few hundred metres then ran on rails down the mountainside! Much hilarity as Fiona wouldn't allow me to brake! This led to crazy speeds down the hillside! What a hoot!
Sunday was a very special day as we went to visit Pete's parents in Bamberg. It was great to see them again, I hadn't see them since 2010 but they hadn't changed much to me, older yes, but as nice as ever! Peter's father is a prominant man, a person I hold in high regard and always strikes me as a man of great values and whom I have deep respect for, brilliant to see them both. A lovely day was had and Peter gave us a lovely tour of the city, including it's buildings of interest.
More caves and castles were on the adjenda for the rest of the week and were very interesting, giving some beautiful photo opportunities and with the walks through the forests, along with the wildlife we saw made the whole trip an absolutely brilliant experience!
On the Wednesday we took Fiona and Debs back to the airport for the flight home, leaving Peter and myself to do a bit of exploring! We decided to head for the Czeck Republic for a look see and maybe a sticker and maybe a coke as damn it was hot! Temps hitting the high 30's, a drink would have been nice but due to only having Euro's we couldn't buy anything! Considering the amount of brothels in the city centre it was just as well we had no money,,,, could have turned out real bad! LOL!
We then returned to Germany and headed back to Uli's for our last night in Europe mainland. Pizza was on the menu, Uli's family and a few neighbours were invited along to join us,Peter and Uli seemed to be more interested in the dough recipe, I was only interested in eating the pizza! It was stunning, no denying that! The beer had been bought in especially for our visit as well, a local brew which was absolutely fantastic!
Uli's lovely wife sat with me after the meal and spent a couple
of hours trying her English on me as my German is terrible, I can order beer or food but that's about it for me!
The next day we said our goodbye's to Uli and his wife and headed back to the UK. The temps were still high in Holland and Belgium, high 30's, so much water was consumed and eventually we reached the Chunnel, completing our trip to Germany.
On Saturday Fiona and myself headed back north to Simons in the north of England, where we had a lovely meal at the local Indian restaurant
followed by a bit of live music and a nightcap,,,, this included Simon having a try of the Worselshnapps from the campsite! A cracking evening!
We arrived home on Sunday night, two weeks later, 3000 miles and with sore arses,,,,, BUT,,,, one of the finest holidays/adventures ever.

I would like to highlight a special thanks to the following people;
Peter and Debs Appel: for the excellent company on a wonderfull trip, Peter for translating and guiding, Debs for the absolute fun and lovely titties!

Uli and his beautiful family: for accomodation, food, beer,,,, and also being one of the nicest families I have ever had the pleasure to meet.

Simon Hudson: for hospitality and being one of my best friends in the world.

I have spent over a decade travelling across Europe and have always at some point passed through Germany, I love the country and the people.
Uli and his family especially have humbled me and I can only feel compassion for my fellow human beings after my visit to his house. I can only hope to be as good a person as him and show the same compassion for fellow human beings. Peter, Debs and his parents also reinforce this belief, lovely people, who I have nothing but respect for.

For me, this has been a quite a spiritual adventure, which I have really enjoyed. A small world for sure, but with a large heart! Seven countries, two weeks,
3000 miles, and a life experience I will never forget!

I've attached a few photos, out of 400+ I've picked out the best I can meantime! Enjoy!

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Re: Summer 2015 Bears, Fish eagles, beavers and painted ladies,,, Germany at its best.

Post by bond_yzf »

Looks a cracking trip mate
Lord Vader
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Re: Summer 2015 Bears, Fish eagles, beavers and painted ladies,,, Germany at its best.

Post by Lord Vader »

Thanks for you kind words Jim (thumbs)
Yes, I just say it was a brilliant trip. I didn't know the region beforehand so had to go by what my brother told me and he was sooo right. Stunning scenery and roads,brilliant cheap food and the beer.....
well it's Germany so the beer was proper :woohoo:
Thanks to you both for a great time

I will add the pics Jim forgot a bit later B)
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Re: Summer 2015 Bears, Fish eagles, beavers and painted ladies,,, Germany at its best.

Post by Alun »

Thanks for sharing Jim.
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Re: Summer 2015 Bears, Fish eagles, beavers and painted ladies,,, Germany at its best.

Post by Treadtrader »

Great report Jim.
Now lets see some more pics. (thumbs)
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Re: Summer 2015 Bears, Fish eagles, beavers and painted ladies,,, Germany at its best.

Post by Heff »

Nice (thumbs)

Post a few more of the 400+ photos :whistle:
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Re: Summer 2015 Bears, Fish eagles, beavers and painted ladies,,, Germany at its best.

Post by sprintster »

Looks great.I'm off to Germany and Austria for my first time on a bike on Friday.Staying in Bamberg on my second night.Can't wait! (thumbs)
africajim
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Re: Summer 2015 Bears, Fish eagles, beavers and painted ladies,,, Germany at its best.

Post by africajim »

Cheers folks, Sprintster, I hope you get the weather, it's a lovely area and can't rate it enough.
Here's a few more pics, hopefully Fiona will post up a couple as well.

Here's all the usual suspects from the trip
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More cave shots
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38c, that's hot! But hottest seen was 41c!
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Peter told me this is the rare fish eagle unique to the area?
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Fiona likes a bit of sausage! LOL!
Fionassausage.JPG
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Re: Summer 2015 Bears, Fish eagles, beavers and painted ladies,,, Germany at its best.

Post by sven »

Germany is very underrated for some reason - we had a great time to/from Switzerland and the Italian Lakes stopping in Cochem, Baden Baden, Fussen, Rothenberg and the Sauerland (thumbs) Great food, good roads, wonderful old towns and superb white wine (they keep the good stuff to themselves) B)
africajim
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Re: Summer 2015 Bears, Fish eagles, beavers and painted ladies,,, Germany at its best.

Post by africajim »

We've stopped in Fussen a couple of times, another fine castle nearby, Newschwanstein. Agreed, Germany is a very fine country with so much to see.
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