Yas Island (Abu Dhabi) - 29th to 30th of July 2011

Kinda because we found a good voucher package deal, and kinda because it was Warren's birthday, we cruised back to Yas Island near Abu Dhabi for some fun in the sun. We were good boys and girls and hit the gym when we arrived in the morning, before spending the day in and out of the pool, few cocktails in the swim up bar....

Our package deal included massages for two, so we were feeling nice and relaxed by the time we made it for a few drinks, and a good steak for dinner.

Saturday was more pool time for most of the day, until about 3pm when we headed across the road to Ferrari World (our package included tickets). Ferrari World has some "worlds biggest" as well, namely the world's biggest Ferrari emblem and world's fastest roller coaster (240 kph). Other than that coaster, the rest of the place is interesting as a Ferrari fan without being spectacular for a fan of theme parks. We finished up about 9pm for the 45minute drive back north to Dubai.

Munich - 8th to 9th of July 2011

Only an hour from Garmisch, we trained up to Munich mid-morning to complete our tour of Germany. After dropping the bags off at the hotel we went for a walk through town, via the main town square and rathaus.
Try keeping Ange away from the nearby markets...
...and me from the Hofbrauhous, the most famous beer hall in Germany. We both finished our steins, impressive for Ange who normally isn't a beer drinker.A walk through nearby Englisher Garten, a huge central park larger than Central Park or Hyde Park. It has a stream running through the middle of it, on which a standing wave has been created for the local surfers.
Our destination in the park was the Chineseturm, basically another beer garden. This one was huge, and very busy - we were very impressed by the way the Germans loved to sit outside when the sun came out and drink beer!
On the way back to the Metro we came across a cocktail and sheesha bar, so our last night on tour was spent re-aclimitising to Dubai life!

Having ticked off most things we wanted to the previous day, and with a full day in front of us before our late night flight back to Dubai, we took it easy. We made it to the northern 'burbs for a look around the BMW museum, since we hadn't gone to Stuttgart to see any of ther others. Unfortunately most of it was closed, but we still had a quick look around.Over the road to the site of the 1972 Olympics - pretty awesome construction considering they are 40 years old!Back into town to see the Beer and Octoberfest Museum. We were keen to do Germany around September so we could go to Octoberfest, but unfortunately the timings didn't really work for us, so this was as clase as we got (other than all the beer drunk of course)After chilling out in the park for a bit, we got the train out to the airport (just) in time for our flight back to Dubai. Holiday over :(

Garmisch Partenkirchen - 7th to 8th of July 2011

Nearly 2 hours on the bus around the base of the alps from Fussen to Garmisch Partenkirchen. Originally two towns, they were forced to join by Adolf Hitler for the 1936 winter olympics, and remain so today. Another town that you feel would be absolutely buzzing in winter - very much the place to be seen by well to do Munich-ers.

We arrived late afternoon and having had a very early and busy morning in Fussen weren't up to doing much. Thankfully there isn't much to do as such, other than wander around both town centres, stopping for beers along the way.
We ended up in an awesome German bar complete with oompah loompah band and dancing - we find the bars recommended in the lonely planet a bit hit and miss, but this one was top notch - it felt very German and we looked like the only tourists in there.

Fussen - 6th to 7th of July 2011

Travelling between small towns by public transport clearly isn't that easy in Germany, another 4 trains and 5 hours of our lives from Rothenburg to Fussen. We headed almost directly south, Fussen is on the edge of the alps, and has several ski runs that are open during winter. But it's main attractions are its castles, in particular the fairytale castle built in the 19th century by an eccentric king of Bavaria.

Arriving in Fussen early afternoon we checked into our hotel and hired some bikes for a cruise through the meadows and out to a cable car that goes up the side of the mountain.Back into town via a supermarket for a few drinks and a picnic dinner (more ham) to enjoy lakeside.A very early start the following day to make our 8am booking for the castle tours. There are actually two castles almost right next to one another, the first original one, Schloss Hohenschwangau, which the King grew up in, and his pet project, the crazy disney fairytale castle Schloss Neuschwanstein. We still had our bikes for the 20 minute cruise out of town to the base of the castles and a quick walk up to the first castle, Schloss Hohenschwangau, stopping off on route for a picnic breakfast next to the lake.Looking up at the fairytale castle from Hohenschwangau.A wander back down to the base before getting a minibus up to Schloss Neuschwanstein (very thankful for the bus!). We had little guided tours through both castles, which gave us some insight into the mind of the deranged king, King Ludwig II.
Quick ride back into town to drop off the bikes and pick up our bags before getting the bus out of town.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber - 5th to 6th of July 2011

What a mission! It took 4 different trains and nearly 5 hours to reach Rothenburg, but man was it worth it. Arguably our favourite spot in Germany, its a picture perfect town fully enclosed by walls. Similar to lots of other towns we've fallen in love with (think St Gimignano in Italy or Carcassonne in France), but distinctly German. We wandered through and around the town before finding some wine and sitting down with a book outside one of the town gates, an amazing afternoon.

Heidelberg - 4th to 5th of July 2011

An hour 40 minutes after leaving the Rhine Valley we were in historic Heidelberg - famous for its university, castle and old town. We had a quick look around the city before walking (ok geting a cablecar) up to the castle for great views of the city. We were pretty beat, so had an early wine and cheese night in our hostel with our books and got a good nights sleep.

The Rhine Valley - 1st to 4th of July 2011

Our friends took the Friday afternoon off work and so we picked up the hire car from the train station to set off south from Dusseldorf to the Rhine Valley. A few paperwork issues with the hire car company led to an unexpected bonus for Warren: he was the named driver, and so got to put the pedal to the metal along the famed AutoBahn. In surprisingly poor condition, the Autobahn we were on was basically a two or three laned highway, nothing special in the least, other than the no speed limits, and getting overtaken by Audis at 190 kph.

The main "Rhine Valley" tourist area is a 60km section of the river with castles around every bend. The northern point is a town called Koblenz, where we stayed on Friday night. Situated right where the Rhine River meets one of its main tributaries, the Moselle River, it has a great little old town overlooked by fort perched on the opposite river bank. We had a good look around and got a gondola over the river to the fort for a wine, sausage and views back over town. We happened to be in Koblenz when it seemed every man and his dog were there for some flower festival, that involved sound stages being set up in every square in the city. Couple of drinks later...
Nice late check out and great German breakfast of bread, cheese and meat, and we were on our way further south along the river. There are a number of cool little town perched on the rivers edge, and of course castles a-plenty. This one was Stolzenfels, one of the only castles we ended up actually visiting.
Next stop was a lovely little village called Boppard to stretch the legs.The days drive was only 30km or so, so nice and easy, and so we arrived at our destination, St Goar nice and early. A late lunch (pork schnitzel, still loving being out of Dubai!) and then a mini train up to the castle that overlooks the town for a few more beverages.
Turns out our friends are also big card players, so we found a good picnic spot for some wine and cheese and rocked out a few hands of presidents and 500.
With a whole day ahead of us, we picked up some hire bikes and headed south. Its about 30km from St Goar where we were staying to Bingen, the most southern point of this main touristy Rhine Valley section. We took our time, with plenty of stops along the way for wine tasting, beer, and sausages along the waters edge. Having finally made it to Bingen, we weren't going to turn around and do it all in reverse, so we threw our bikes on a ferry and cruised down river for an hour or so back to St Goar. Another great dinner and more cards and it was time to say goodbye to our friends. They left very early Monday morning for the drive back to Dusseldorf for work, while we jumped on a train south (via Bingen) to our next destination...

Dusseldorf - 30th June to 1st July 2011

Nearly 4 hours by train south and west to Dusseldorf. Friends of ours from New Zealand are currently living and working in Dusseldorf, so we dumped our bags at the train station and went for a walk around the city while we waited for them to finish work.
A great old town of cobbled lanes and beer halls spilling out onto the streets. Our designated meeting area right next to the Rhine, perfect spot for a pint and reading up of the guide book.Quickly back to our friends place before getting shown some typical German eateries - lots of beer, pork knuckle and roast beef, served with dumplings and red cabbage, now there's a hearty meal!
Following day walking around the local markets before picking up the hire car and heading south...