Author: kvnrowe

7 October 2018

Twenty seven days in China is about to come to an end and so I thought I would try to collect my final thoughts:

Personal Space in China

There is none, leave your personal space at home, you won’t need it in China.

The Rules of Queueing

There are none.  If you apply the behaviours you might use at home you will never get to the front of the queue.  Its just the way it is here.

Pace of Life

It’s hectic; the only Chinese you will see sitting quietly will be those in a massage chair, the rest are doing something or going somewhere.

The Great Firewall

Dont expect to use Google or Facebook.  The Chinese firewall is very effective.

Scenery

Stunning from the mountains to the vegetable plots and rice paddies, rivers to big cities.

Chinese Sense of Humour

It is there, you just have to break through that external facade.  A ‘hello’ or ‘thankyou’ in mandarin will always encourage a smile and a nod of encouragement.

Photographs

Be prepared to be asked to be in their photographs particularly if you have blond hair or at least not black hair.  Westerners are still a curiosity in some places.

Western Tourists

They haven’t discovered China yet but with the construction of 155,000 western toilets across the country it is expected they will come.

Food

Spicey out west, more like home style Chinese food in Shanghai.  Always very good.

Development

Lots of it and it’s happening at a pace.  No protests against mobile phone towers in China.  Everyone has a smart phone in their hand and no one uses cash or credit cards.  All payments are made by Internet transfers.

Police

Everwhere and not just to respond to crime.  These guys are just as interested in maintaining social order and good behaviour.

Cameras

Everywhere and I am pretty sure they all work and someone or something is watching and recording people doing the wrong thing.

Plumbing and Toilets

They are getting there.  Lots of western toilets being built (155,000 they say) it’s just the maintenance bit that hasn’t quite caught on.

Safety and the Nanny State

Not an issue in China.  Riding an electric motor scooter on the footpath without a helmet while on your mobile phone – no problem.

Crossing narrow bridges over a river or steep drop off and no railing – no problem.

The Bad Bits

Stinky tofu – it’s disgusting.

Spitting – I will say no more.

Toilets that didn’t flush.

The cacophony of load music emanating from shops, market stalls, restaurants and karaoke bars; the Chinese love loud.

The Chinese Firewall

Crowds on the National Day Golden Week.

This hasn’t been the most developed travel log series and I apologise to my readers for that result.  The internet speeds for me have been slow and somewhat frustrating not to mention the pace of this tour and the limited time available to compose and write one’s thoughts down.

7 October 2018 

Fast Trains

We travelled from Chengdu to Choncqing a distance of 321 km in less than 1hour 45 minutes in one of China’s modern high speed trains.  Choncqing is a city of about 34 million and we met everyone of them on the streets of old the city.  It was the national holiday and everyone was out – I do mean every one.

Choncqing

High speed train

This city is a manufacturing hub with an ability to deliver new computers into Europe in 11 days via trains crossing Russia and in 25 days to Pacific countries via the Yangtze River and the Port of Shanghai.  I kept wondering which of all those people I met on the streets of the old town assembled my iPhone.

Railways in Choncqing

Choncqing

Escaping Choncqing

Three days on the Yangtze river was the best way to escape the crowds of Choncqing; no traffic, no queues, no hordes of people.  Peace and quiet on the Yangtze, of course I am not referring to meal time in the ship’s restaurant.

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Great facilities, comfortable cabins and the opportunity to learn mahjong and the opportunity to take more pictures of the Chinese landscape.

A Very Big Dam

The trip down the Yangtze is only possible because of the Three Gorges Dam which has created a 600 km long lake, about 100 metres deep.

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Yangtze River Gorge

The Three Gorges Dam generates about 10% of China’s electricity.  It includes locks for the ships that transport goods to Shanghai and a ship lift for smaller boats.  And more locks are on the drawing board.  Prior to the construction of the dam teams of men in harness, manually hauled ships up steam against the flow of the fast flowing water in the gorges.

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Locks on Three Gorges Dam

Three Gorges Dam

Shanghai and Maglev Trains

Another city that eclipses the population of Australia.  If Beijing is about government then Shanghai is about the money.

Shanghai

Shanghai Police

Shanghai Market

Still it’s the National Holiday and the crowds are so great the army and police are directing pedestrian traffic on the streets and narrow alleyways.  You can only walk in the direction they set and no turning around, the sea of humanity just won’t allow for the free radical that wants to go the other way.

Shanghai Maglev Train

Maglev Speed

If the fast trains are very fast then the Maglev is ridiculously fast.   We reached a speed of 431 kph in 3 minutes from a standing start.  The train covered 30 km in 7 minutes.  I have never travelled so fast in a land based vehicle.  Wow!

Next Log will be the Epliogue to this trip and my final thoughts.

October 2, 2018

Our travels through provincial China continue.  We have traveled further west towards Tibet and the Himalayas although but not quite that far.  The scenery continues to amaze along with evidence of the pace of development in this country.

There are few western travellers this far west but the Chinese tourist is ever present.     Hopefully development won’t change what is uniquely Chinese before the western traveller discovers and enjoys the offerings of this part of the world.

Village and People of Shaxi

An old village built on the tea horse road that was once used to transport tea from the southern provinces of China to Tibet.

Village of Shaxi, tea horse road, Yunnan Province

Shaxi town square, Yunnan province

Shaxi village

Tiger Leaping Gorge

The awesome Yangtze River Flowing through a narrow gorge on the road to Shangri la.

Road to Leaping Tiger Gorge

Leaping Tiger Gorge, Yangtze River, Shangri La Province

Leaping Tiger Gorge

The new Road to Shangri La

This new road with its tunnels and elevated roadways caught my eye as illustrative of the development that is happening all over China.  I would love to come back and enjoy the road to Shangri la when the road is finished.

New road to Shangri La

New road to Shangri La, Yunnan province

The Pandas of Chengdu

A great way to loose many hours watching pandas as they sit back on their haunches, stripping the bamboo back to its core and gorging before they reach for that next piece of bamboo.

Pandas, Chengdu

Panda, Chengdu

Pandas, Chengdu

Panda devouring bamboo, Chengdu

The People’s Park of Chengdu

The ethnic minorities enjoy maintaining their cultures through singing and dancing in the public parks.  With 90% of the population living in apartments public parks and the only spaces where you can socialise with your friends.

Lady singer, Chengdu People’s Park

Ladies singing in Chengdu People’s Park

26 September 2018

I thought it was time for a quick summary of my observations so far of travel in China along with some of my recent experiences.

Hotel Beds

If you travel to China be prepared for hard beds.  The beds here  are consistently hard but I have to say I sleep very well and wake very refreshed.  I might need to go to a firm bed when I get home.  The Chinese tourists complain when they travel to the West that the beds are too soft.  So before you come to China practice by sleeping on your floor to get yourself prepared.

Electricals

In the past it’s been plumbing and shower systems that were a challenge to understand.  In China it’s the hotel light switches that require some time to understand. In one hotel the sensor lights came on every time I rolled over.  This required me to manually turn off the lights which off course caused me to move and hence the sensor lights were back on.  I seemed to be caught in a never ending loop.

Tourism In China

Imagine a David Attenborough documentary about the migrating wildebeest moving across the Serrengeti Plain.  This is tourism in China.  Amongst the masses of wildebeest are small herds of zebra and antelope.  We are those small herds amongst the masses of wildebeest.  On the side of the great herd are the predators.  These are the hawkers selling small trinkets.  They spot vulnerable prey like someone on their own and dart into the herd to surround their prey with offers to sell their tickets.  Their prey either succumbs and agrees to buy or with determination and commitment shakes off the hawkers.  And so the herds relentlessly move on.

Lijiang Street, Old Town

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Development

Its crazy the pace of delopment in this country.  Cities that 30 years ago had no cars and a population of 100,000 are now 4 million strong with cars everywhere along with excellent highways and railways, and forests of apartment buildings.

Along with the new China seems to be making great effort to preserve the past and some of the old towns including ancient trading cities dating back to the Tang Dynasty.  This is in spite of the destruction caused by the Cutural Revolution between 1966 and 1976.

Ethnic Minorities and History

As we travel west we see more of the ethnic minorities and less of the Han people.  These ethnic groups have histories all of their own and often can be traced back to Kublia Khan and the Mongol invasions of China.

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Traditional dancing in the park, Kunming

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Traditional costumes, Stone Forest Kunming

These ethnic groups have their own customs and unique local foods.  Their costumes  provide information on the marital status of the wearer avoiding any need for social media or internet dating apps.  In many instances the head dress worn by the women indicate whether they are single, have a boyfriend or are married.  Contact with parts of these head dresses by a male would indicate your intentions and would be interpreted as a commitment to the young lady.

Very little English is spoken out here and so a greeting in the local dialect or in mandarin will go a long way.  It is amazing what a translator app on a smart phone can achieve. The people are so friendly, always with a smile and often a request to be photographed with them.

21 September 2018

Our departure from Guilin was via a four hour boat ride down the Lipang River.  The river excursion was through a classic Chinese karst landscape of limestone pinnacles.  The view from the river is replicated on the ¥20 note.

Limestone pinnacles along Lijiang River

Lijiang River

Lijiang River

As in all popular Chinese tourist destinations there are many, many people also enjoying this river trip.  There is a long procession of river boats all full of tourists with their smart phones recording this amazing scenery in countless photos.

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Our destination was the town of YangShuo which until about 2004 was a small agricultural town, it’s only claim being the end of the boat ride from Guilin.

YangShuo

Moon Hill

Overlooking YangShuo

In 2004 a night time spectacular named the Impression Sanjie Liu was created and now what was once a sleepy town is home to some 300,000.  The show employs 600 locals and is set on the Lijang river with the limestone pinnacles as a back drop.  An amazing song and light show entertains 2000 people at each of two shows a night.

Pace of life

On another travel adventure a Cambodain woman  offered a comparison on the pace of life between Cambodia and Vietnam. She explained Cambodians were walking while Vietnamese were running.  If this analogy is correct then the Chinese are sprinting.

This was well demonstrated when we were warned the Chinese would leave the Impression Sanjie Liu show before it even finished.  Sure enough at that point when it looked like the one hour show was soon to finish the locals were up and heading for the exits.  They clearly had somewhere else to be and were not interested in staying to the very end of the performance.

Tai Chi for Travellers

After a Tai Chi lesson I have realised there is a more modern version waiting to be taught.  Tai Chi is based on the martial arts, this new version is based on international travel.  The following explains some of the Tai Chi for Travellers movements.

Security Scan

This movement will prepare you for the body scan process in all airports.

Spread your legs wide apart and extend your arms up and out from the body at 45 degrees and hold the position.  Repeat 10 times.

Stopping the Traffic

For those moments when you are trying to cross a busy street and there seems to be no rules.

Legs spread, head looking over right shoulder and right arm extended with fingers pointed up.  Left arm pulled back like an archer.  Stare straight ahead over your shoulder as you imagine the traffic stopping.

Checking Overhead Baggage Compartment

This will strengthen the body in preparation for checking the overhead baggage compartment to make sure there is nothing left behind.

Lift up on the tips of your toes and hold the position. Continue until you feel the stretch in the back of your legs.

Searching under the bed

A must do exercise for when you check the hotel room on your departure.

Bend the knees and bend  your back at the hips.  Move the upper body in a circular motion.  Continue until you find that lost item under the bed.

Holding a Backpack on Your Chest

This movement should prepare you for those moments when security tells you to wear your backpack on your front eg if you visit Harrods with a backpack.

Extend your arms out, forming a circle in front of you.  Hold the position.

Placing baggage in Overhead Lockers

This movement is similar to Checking Overhead Lockers.

Reach up with both hands, extend the reach, stretch and hold the position.

Attracting a Friend

An invaluable exercise for busy airports.

Raise both arms above your head and stretch as both arms move in a circular motion.  Continue as you search for your missing friend.

The Line for Immigration Check

This movement replicates the process of ensuring the traveller in front of you in the queue moves along toward the immigration check and doesn’t dawdle.

Bend the knees and extend the right arm in a forward thrust, open the hand, rotate the fingers and withdraw the arm.  Repeat with the left arm.  Continue as you imagine the person in front of you moving along in the queue.

Empty Your Pockets

A useful exercise for when security asks; do you have anything in your pockets.

Raise your hands above your head in a stretch.  Bring your arms down on each side of your body, down over your shirt, over your trousers and down your legs until your hands are touching your toes, and hold. 

Packing Your bag

Finally:

At the end of each movement clasp your hands together and push down. This movement replicates the process of compressing your suitcase so you can zip it closed.

19 September 2018

A 12 hour overnight train ride brought us to Xi’an the ancient capital of China.  The 1200km trip was taken in soft seat cabins.  In comparison the hard seat cabins must have been a plank of wood.  We all survived and the shared cabins with four bunks all added to the experience of travel in China.

Crowds at Beijing railway station

Beijing railway station

Lights of Xi’an

Lights of Xi’an

Bell in Pagoda gardens

Tang Dynasty horse

Pagoda

The terracotta warriors are something special.  There are about 2,000 restored so far and 8,000 to go.  I am guessing that somewhere down the track they will find more buried treasurer in what was once the capital of China.

There are a lot of people in China and I might be repeating myself but the numbers are a little overwhelming.  We are in a small city tonight; it’s only 4 million people.  The pervious cities were 24 mil in Beijing and 9 million in Xi’an.

Terracotta warriors

Terracotta warriors

Being the capital Beijing has restrictions on night time city lights.  That’s not the case in Xi’an (Shee Arn) which resembles a combination of Las Vegas and Times Square but over a massive area of the city centre.  There are 6 power stations surrounding Xi’an, probably powered by Queensland coal and their output is pretty obvious at night.

Street food markets of Xi’an

Lights of Xi’an

We are now in Guilin (Gwaylyn) a city surrounded by a limestone karst landscape.  Nearby are amazing rice terraces some 500 years old.  The countryside here is more like Asia but more ordered and clean in comparison with other less developed Asian countries.

Rice terraces of Longsheng

Limestone pinnacles Guilin

Limestone pinnacles Guilin

Recent observations:

Personal space in China – there is none just get over it.  How to walk through a crowd of people; in a straight line, no deviation.

Domestic travel is huge and you can be sure of massive crowds at any railway station, airport, tourist destination, pedestrian mall or shopping centre.  And all of these venues are overwhelmingly covered by cameras.

Rural village

Rice terraces of Longsheng

You can be confident all souvenirs are made in China, no foreign imports here.

Being a centralised government the newspapers are full of happy news.  No car accidents or shootings, no crime or political intrigue, no scandals or depressing news about the environment and global warming or the price of housing – it’s great.

September 15, 2018

Welcome Back.

Its been many months since I last wrote and that has been largely due to not travelling since October last year.  The travel drought has now broken and we are back on the road, this time it’s China.

Airport Design

I have to say something about airport design that we have all experienced.  Modern airports are amazing spaces accommodating huge numbers of people.  These public spaces are flooded with natural light through the expansive use of glass.  The downside is the early morning flight and the rising sun blasting through the airport. It’s like a death ray and it’s always where you are trying to enjoy a coffee or worse, deal with security.   The solution; between 6.00am and 8.30am everyone gets free disposable sunglasses.

Beijing

We have all heard about the air pollution and those stories are not exaggerated.  However apart from the air the city is very clean and well ordered.  No graffiti, no homeless people, no beggars, no litter.  The traffic is heavy but well behaved and no road rage.

This is a city of 24 million people, more than the entire Australian landmass.  And yet it is a very safe city with very limited crime.  The police don’t even carry guns.

How is this achieved I wonder.  It seems the answer is cameras, lots of cameras, thousands of cameras.  Cameras are everywhere from the tops of buildings, to poles in the street, on building corners, in hotel corridors and on traffic light poles.  Everything and potentially everybody is covered by a camera.

Beijing is a place where things get done.  In just twenty five years they have gone from 2 urban rail lines to about 38 commuter lines today.  Long winded consultation or community protest does not interrupt this city’s drive to modernise.

Beijing is a high tech city.  Everyone has a smart phone and yes chatting or texting when driving is as endemic in Beijing as in major city.

A cashless economy is reality for young people who are rapid adopters of new technology.

The streets are filled with VWs, Audi, Lexus, Range Rovers, Porsche and the majority of the motor scooters are electric which makes for relatively quiet streets.

In contrast to this acceptance of high tech is the China firewall.  This firewall is as great as the Great Wall with a similar philosophy behind its design, to minimise disturbance of the social order.

A traveller to China must be prepared for no Facebook, no Google and slow or interrupted email services.  Of course the upside is that you can enjoy the isolation like the travel experience of 30 years ago when daily contact with home was simply not feasible.

Beijing is a city of multi storey shopping centres filled with Prada, Gucci, Rolex and Cartier stores.

Final comment on Beijing:  I will be more understanding of Chinese signs in Sydney and Melbourne after appreciating the English signs in their capital city.
Continue reading “Log Forty Three – The Great Firewall of China”

16 October 2017

This is the twelfth and last log in the Europe series.  We have been on this odessey for some seven weeks and next it’s the long haul flight back to the antipodes.

I thought I would finish the series with a few awards for outstanding or memorable people or events.

Best Tour Guide

Our Austrian tour guide who directed the Eagles Nest tour managed to get 30 tourists through a very crowded tourist destination with Germanic precision and timing.  No one was lost, no one became emotional and we all got to see everything we needed to see regardless of the crowds.

The staff at our hotel in Split were fantastic and our host in Budapest was super helpful in arranging an apointment with a local doctor.

Taxi Driver Rip Off

A German taxi driver who thought what might have been our change would make a good tip.  Just another holiday expense.

We have felt safe everywhere we have been and were only approached once by a dodgy purveyor of red roses.

Most Memorable Social Event

Oktoberfest was a standout event.  So many people, all having a great time.  The company we were with, the German beer and the whole atmosphere of the day not to mention the snuff made for a lifetime memory.

Worst Roads

The only place we drove was in southern UK and the roads are all good except in Cornwall some looked more like my driveway, in fact my driveway is wider and you can see further than Cornish country lanes.

Most Memorable Sights

This is really hard.  Everything was memorable from old cities through to coastal scenery.  Seeing your bags on the carousel is always a pleasant experience, just knowing they weren’t lost.  Here are few standouts:

Dubrovnik

Split

Venice

Cornish fishing villages

Buckingham palaceBest Meal

There are a few categories here.  The roast duck in Budapest will be talked about for many years, it was the best.  The cream tart in Croatia is something to be enjoyed at least once in your life.

In the UK I am a huge fan of the Cornish pastie and clotted cream on scones.

I am a man of simple tastes and on this trip it’s been the local fare that I have most enjoyed.

Best Beer

German and Czech beer are exceptional.  The Reinheitsgebot or German purity law is 500 years old and it requires that beer can only contain barley, hops, yeast and water.  It’s a good law; no hangovers.

Best Wine

This is very difficult because we sampled wines from many countries and all were good.  The most unique would be GRK, pronounced gerk, which is only grown and sold on the island of Korcula.  It is supposedly from a very ancient Greek grape variety.

Worst Meal

Worst ever was a meal in Dubrovnik just outside the old city.  It’s always good to have a low end benchmark against which you can compare future meals; I now have mine.

Best Accommodation

This is also very hard as the accommodation was all good and so varied. It included cottages, apartments, bed sitters and hotel rooms.  The settings included cities, the grounds of country clubs and golf courses, through to the heights above Dubrovnik and in the garden surrounding Lake Bled.

If I was to consider the best room in terms of comfortable bed, quantity of shower and hot water, room temperature, size and value for money it would be the Premier Inn in Cheltenham.  Yes, that was a surprise for me too.

Best Trains

You can’t  beat the German trains.

Biggest Challenge on the Trip

You would meet a local who would give you a huge list of things to see in their town.  Explaining that you only had two or three days in that location would not dismiss their enthusiasm and in fact would only encourage them to list more ‘must sees’.  You would walk away with your head full of destinations that would require several weeks to accomplish.

Biggest Challenge on Return to Normal Life

Culling the photos I have taken down to a reasonable collection.

13 October 2017

The last two weeks of this odyssey is upon us and it’s hard to believe that we are suddenly running out of time.  In the last seven weeks we have spent at least one night at 16 different locations.  Our accommodation has been very different from 4 star hotels and cottages through to small one room bed sits.  We have travelled on planes, trains, ferries, busses, cars and by foot. The weather is becoming more like autumn as it gets cooler with showers a little more regular but nothing to stop our adventures.

Observations of Southern England

Town Planning

Port Isaacs

What has been most striking is the revelation that the town planners who designed Dubrovnik, and Split on the Dalmatian coast and the people who designed St Ives and Port Isaacs in Cornwall all went to the same town planning college.  The planning college I am referring to is the ‘narrow, steep streets, unsuitable for cars’ school of civil engineers.

Padstow

The old fishing villages of Corwall are wonderful for wandering about and discovering the back streets and quirky architecture of the small terrace houses that make up these villages, just don’t drive into town or expect to find parking.

TV Shows and Movies

Doc Martin’s Surgery

After visiting the locations for Game of Thrones, Star Wars and some of the Bond movies in Dubrovnik and Split we are now in BBC country for Doc Martin and Poldark.

In both instances you can understand the choices of these locations as the scenery is stunning.

Tourist Impact

Port Isaacs

I had a wonderful chat with a local in Port Isaacs.  She had lived in the village for 20 years and regretted the day the BBC arrived and made the Doc Martin series in her town.  Since that time Port Isaacs has become so popular the locals have started to move out and local homes are being converted to holiday rentals.  In her cul de sac she is the only local living year round, all the other homes in her street are holiday rentals.  It is sad to see these villages lose their local feel and their heritage as fishing villages.

Food

In Corwall it’s all about cornish pasties and clotted cream, not together of course; the clotted cream is for the scones.  Every bakery in Cornwall sells ‘world famous’  or ‘prize winning’ pasties.  This sort of food can only be good for you.

Preservation of History

HMS Victory

The Brits do preservation so well including the 500 year old Mary Rose and HMS Victory along with the villages and stone buildings you find throughout Cornwall and New Hampshire.   In many instances on quiet country lanes you will come around a corner and be confronted by a stone house, barns and other farm buildings that must be many hundreds of years old, still operating as a functioning farm.

Leaps in Technology

The view of the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth from Nelson’s window in HMS Victory

It is conceivable that a sailor from the Mary Rose from 1545, could 250 years later step onto HMS Victory and be able to function as a member of the crew.  Both ships were square rigged with muzzle loading guns.  However, for a crew member from the Victory to step on board the Queen Elizabeth in 2017 it would all appear to be black magic and way beyond comprehension.  Where to in the next 200 hundred years?

A Curious Anomoly

In our travels through Eastern Europe and Germany we enjoyed so many fine Czech, Croatian and German beers.  We assumed when we arrived in the UK these products would be available for purchase.  Munich is after all only 1.5 hours away in a plane and at this time everyone is part of the EU.

Alas we were shocked to find great quantities of Budweiser, Coors and other US beer with very little or no German or Czeck beverages on the shelves.  What is the UK consumer thinking or maybe they don’t have a choice; I despair.

The final log for this adventure will probably be written from an airport lounge as we face the long flight home.

October 5, 2017

Maß (pronounced mass)

I am not talking about a religious service but the beer glass that is served at Oktoberfest.  A Maß is 1 litre and there are over 7 million consumed over the two and a half weeks of the festival.  Some 6 million people visit Munich for the festival.

Of those 6 million visitors the largest group of foreigners are the Austrians; they are just over the border.  Next are the Italians; their numbers are so great one of the Oktoberfest weekends is referred to as the Italian Weekend.  The third largest group are the Australians.

Australians always want to strive to be the best and Oktobestfest is no different. In the 2.5 weeks of the festival there are 7,000 injuries that require hospitalisation and of those 5,000 were Australians. The Australian government even establishes a temporary embassy at the festival just to handle lost passports and other issues experienced by their citizens.

The beer is excellent,, the food perfectly matched, the company outstanding and the snuff perfect for blowing your sinuses clear.

To summarise Oktoberfest: there is the beer, lederhosen for the men, dirndl outfits for the women and large tents of inebriated people.  It’s the best!

Munich

Bike Riders

A guide said to us the bike riders are either suicidal or homicidal.  That pretty much sums it up.  If you have any doubts just get out of the way.

History

In Munich you can’t avoid the history of the Nazis and their time in this city.  What intrigued me is that the Israel embassy now occupies the site of Gestapo headquarters and Hitler’s offices are now occupied by a modern jazz ballet school.  I love the irony.

90% of Munich was destroyed in WW2 and the rebuild was only complete in recent years.  Some 3 million bombs were dropped on the city during the war and they are still finding ones that never unexploded.

The Germans are reliable credit risks.  In 2010 they paid off the debt that came out of the Treaty of Versailles which brought an end to WW1.  That’s 90 years after the treaty and after Germany was so destroyed during WW2.

Beer forms a major part of Greman culture.  (I would add the same applies in the Czech Republic and other countries we visited on this trip.)  Back in the days of the 30 year war Sweden invaded Munich.  Who knew the Swedes invaded anybody.  After being occupied for two years the Munich locals paid the Swedes to leave with gold and a thousand of barrels of beer.  Sounds like a good deal.

Munich is a city of history, museums including the BMW museum, art galleries, beer halls and magnificent gardens.

From Germany our travels take us to southern England which will the subject of the next log.