Friday 22 May. Nuremberg

I left off one layer of clothes this morning but ended up coming back for my one hot weather top. It felt much warmer than 25, especially walking in the sun. Today was HOHO bus day and I sat up top just under the shaded part where I could catch any breeze. The tour was very interesting and covered all the major parts of the city but I wasn’t tempted to hop on and off as it’s  a very long time between buses. Any photos I took tended to have window reflections so sorry about that.

The old town covers a very large area. I entered by the round tower opposite the station. Had a wander through the Craftsmen’s Courtyard and was able to get a map in the information centre. It has a suggested route through the town so I decided to do part today and more tomorrow. But first I felt the need for a late lunch/early dinner under a shady umbrella and the place I chose had that delicious asparagus on the menu so I opted for it again. Back on König Strasse to the Lorenz Kirche (church) and then across the Museum Bridge, along to the Fleisch Bridge and back through some minor streets to “The Way of Human Rights”. This is a sculpture with a gate and a row of white concrete pillars, each of which has an article from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Nuremberg wants to shake off its Nazi era reputation for party rallies and become known as a city of peace and human rights.

This brought me out at a gate in the wall just near the opera house and my building. I had seen an Aldi not far from there so I popped in for a couple of provisions before returning to my room to recover from the heat. Am now cool as a cucumber.

Thursday 21 May. Nuremberg

There’s not a lot to report as it’s been a travel day today. My first train was a regional train taking me back to Berlin Main Station so it was part two of Monday in reverse.

Once again I was bemused by “Brand Tropical Islands” railway station so I’ve done a little research and discovered that a shuttle bus takes you from the station to Tropical Islands Resort, a tropical themed indoor water park housed in a former airship hangar. 

It’s one of the biggest buildings in the world by volume and can cater for more than 8,000 visitors a day. It has an interesting history going back to WW2. I saw the building in the distance from the train and wondered what it could be.

For once I didn’t have a long turn-around in Berlin before my next train and I was getting very edgy as the noticeboard in our train said we’d be at least 5 minutes late. I was at the door ready to almost-run when we finally arrived. The arrival platform was on the highest level of the station and my departure was from the lowest level. I had about 10 minutes to get to my train. I opted for the slow to arrive glass lift instead of umpteen escalators and it was the right move. Got onto the train with a minute to spare before it quietly pulled out of the station.

Ever since I landed in Brussels, the landscape has been very flat but the topography changed on this journey and the further south I came the hillier it got. We went through a lot of tunnels. It’s pretty difficult to get a good photo out of a train going at 200kph so I’ve deleted most of my efforts.

It was an easy walk to my accommodation and nice to stretch the legs after so long sitting. I’m staying very close to the opera house and I passed a couple of gates into the old city. I’ve gone from one extreme to the other with my apartment hotel here. There’s a lift and it’s very modern. I knew there’d be something eye catching on the wall and I’ve got giant palm fronds to make up for the ugly view out the window. There’s no TV as their philosophy is that people should talk to each other. I won’t miss that because all I’ve been able to get is CNN news. There’s a self check-in where you make your own key card and the people checking in next to me were Aussies. First English I’ve heard spoken for ages.

I picked up a salad at the station so I’m set for dinner and starting a new book this evening. I just finished “Leonard and Hungry Paul” by Ronan Hession. A charming, gentle read. Loved it.

Wednesday 20 May. Cottbus

Took a photo of my horrible stairs and fancy front door on the way to the laundromat, which is just around the corner. While the washing was washing I went for a wander along the street and found part of the old town wall and one of its gates. There was also an amusing sculpture of a Cottbus postman whose mail had gone flying when he lost the wheel of his carriage. I found a little poem on the wall nearby but haven’t managed to translate it yet. Maybe it’s a tongue twister.

Washing sorted, I headed to the old market square, only about a hundred metres from my apartment, in the direction I hadn’t yet gone. Then I remembered that that’s why I chose this apartment, because it’s right in the middle of the old town. 

There are cafes all around the marketplace with Italian, Greek, Japanese and finally one that looked German. There was a board with asparagus dishes listed but when I tried to order that they either didn’t have any or didn’t serve it for lunch. So I opted for a tomato and feta salad, which satisfied my craving for vegetables. The sun was shining brightly when I sat down but there was a sudden change and I had to move under the umbrellas to get out of the rain.

Went back to the apartment for a while to wait out the rain and then set off to find the statue of Ludwig Leichhardt which was nearby. He went to school in Cottbus and there is a school here named after him.

The busiest cafe in the marketplace is the Eiscafe, so with memories of the lovely one in Offenburg I found a table (under an umbrella just in case) and ordered a latte macchiato and a strawberry sundae. There must have been a whole punnet of strawberries in it so I got a fruit as well as a veggie fix today. 

Tuesday 19 May. Cottbus

Well, I have to say I’m feeling pretty pleased with myself today. When I was planning this trip there was one place I wanted to visit that seemed just too difficult to get to, but I got there today!

I blame the internet for sparking my interest in the Rakotzbrücke. Getting myself and my luggage to the tiny village of Kromlau near the Polish border was not going to be a picnic. After much deliberation I hit on the idea of staying in Cottbus and doing a day trip there - no luggage involved.

Found the bus stop and bought a ticket at the ticket machine with my fingers crossed that it didn’t eat my card. Caught the bus to the Cottbus Hbf. Used the Deutsche Bahn app to buy a train ticket to Schleife and travelled there on a very small train with a handful of people who looked like they were going where I was going. Hopped off the train and followed the people around the corner to the local bus station where we all hopped on a tiny bus (cash not card) that dropped us in Kromlau.

A few minutes later I was walking through a rhododendron-laden forest with paths going in all directions. It was a Hansel and Gretel moment, which was funny because I’d already had a Red Riding Hood moment looking out the window of the bus at the rather dense forest and a path winding through it. The Brothers Grimm seem to be a feature of my current travels in Germany.

It was very satisfying to finally achieve my goal and I even asked someone to take my photo, which I very rarely do. There were lots of people at the Rakotzbrücke and wandering about the paths admiring the rhododendrons. I departed by what turned out to be the short route to a car park full of cars and even a bus.

I knew from Google Maps that there was a cafe on the corner so stopped for a photo of the yellow Kavalierhaus and the Herrenhaus before entering the cafe. Turns out it was an eiskafe, so no lunch but cake and an iced chocolate on the terrace instead. I’d earned it!

Did the journey in reverse and stopped for some provisions at the station before returning to 2 Berlinerstrasse and the horrible stairs.

Monday 18 May. Cottbus

Even though my train wasn’t due until about 10.45, I was packed and ready by 9.00 so walked to the station at a very leisurely pace. When I got there I noticed a couple of taxis, so “What the heck!” thinks I, and I ask the driver to take me to the Baumkuchen factory. He said he wouldn’t wait for me there but that they would call him to pick me up.

He didn’t actually take me to the one I’d asked for but it didn’t matter. I went in to the little shop and asked about seeing the cakes being made. (The other factory does tours I believe.) Max, the lovely young man behind the counter said he’d check with his father even though they weren’t baking today. Dad said yes, so in no time I had a paper hair net and gown and he was taking me right through the whole place and telling me all about it.

After thanking Max so much for his kindness I thought I’d better buy a cake, so I got the smallest one they have and shoved it into the top of my backpack. Max had called my taxi and back he came to take me to the station. I still had tons of time waiting on the platform, which was quite pleasant as the weather has been almost warm today.

The first train, a fast intercity, took me to Berlin HBF (main station) and the second was a regional train so much slower and that took me to Cottbus. After failing to get my first Uber, I took a taxi to my accommodation which is quite a long way from the station, in the older part of the town.

Broken glass at the front door didn’t impress me and nor did 3 huge flights of stairs up to my apartment. Fortunately I bought a ham and cheese roll for later while was in Berlin, as I’m certainly not going down and up those stairs again tonight. Once at the door I spent ages trying to unlock it with no luck and contacted the owner to that effect. A few messages back and forth and just when the owner was about to come here and help I got it open. I was deadlocking and undeadlocking instead of just unlocking.

A cup of tea, a piece of Baumkuchen and a good WhatsApp chat to Smith and I was revived. My apartment is huge with a bedroom, kitchen, bathroom and living room. The building must be really old as there’s a kachelofen (tiled stove) in the corner of the living room.