Germany, UK & Ireland 2006

Oktoberfest here I come!

27 September 2006

Now for the travel update! :) I never leave trips unplanned this long…we still aren’t sure what we’re doing in some places, and we only got the last two places to stay in Germany settled last Friday! I told you things had been busy, and it’s even worse when you’re planning the trip with someone in a drastically different time zone… 😉

I didn’t get home from work Monday until about 8pm since I was getting everything organized for being gone from work, then still had to do laundry & pack! I had most things done by 4ish, so I went to sleep around 4:45 & set my alarm for 8am, since Jeff was supposed to pick me up at 11:30 and I needed daylight to do some last errands. I did get my back lawn mowed, some cleanup yardwork done, plants moved to sprinkler range, 5 quince picked off the tree (see the garden update post) & put in the extra fridge for safekeeping, dishwasher emptied, litter box cleaned, and bought a new watch battery since all my watches were either dead or unusable for time changes!

We still got to SFO with plenty of time, the DIY checkin was smooth & quick again, and I was congratulated by security for having my questionables in a clear ziptop bag. :) When I did my online checkin I saw the row in front of me was empty so I switched in hopes of having the whole row to myself. That only lasted about an hour since the flight was empty enough just about everyone was changing seats, but I still ended up with my window seat plus the next one, so that was more comfortable to get some real sleep, which I sorely needed! The plane was so warm when we boarded that I promptly couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer, so it wasn’t until after a nice nap that I got out my laptop & caught up on about a month of Halloween email replies to strangers. I now have an “overseas until Oct 15th” vacation auto-reply on that adds “If you have a Halloween question I’m sorry but I can’t guarantee it’ll get answered this season.” I feel bad but at least they know this way. Since I was sleeping relatively well I didn’t even try to get my laptop out again on that flight.

What I still haven’t done yet is figured out what to see in Munich! The 24 hrs of wifi I already paid for in SFO doesn’t carry over to the UK, so I had to pay extra here in Heathrow so I’m going cheap with 5 GBP for 60 minutes total spread out over 24 hrs, so not much surfing time vs. my time waiting. When I get to my hotel this evening I’ll see what brochures & things they have. I was hoping to go with local suggestions, but when I asked Christian who lives there what he thinks everyone must see, he told me he’d take me to whatever I wanted to see…no help there! heh…

Here is the full itinerary, and there are some spots along the way I should have internet access, so I hope to update when I can!

Full Itinerary

made it to Munich

27 September 2006

Lufthansa planes are quite nice even though cramped for short-haul flights. They even gave us a little cheese & bread sandwich for our snack. I successfully figured out the train ticket system (would only take MasterCard despite the sign) and found my hotel! Still no cash yet, and the hotel wifi is broken but they have this one ancient Windows box in the lounge. I am exhausted & plan just to take a good shower, check out the maps & brochures I grabbed from the front desk, and get some sleep! Tomorrow will be my first real view of Munich! :)

Munich – Day 1

29 September 2006

Munich – Day 1

Munich – Day 2 – Oktoberfest

30 September 2006


Britta at Oktoberfest 2006

Munich – Day 2 – Oktoberfest

Munich – Day 3 – Oktoberfest continued

1 October 2006

Munich – Day 3 – Oktoberfest continued

Munich – Day 4

2 October 2006

Munich – Day 4

Munich – Day 5

4 October 2006

Munich – Day 5

Füssen to Rothenburg ob der Tauber – Day 6

5 October 2006

(If photos are broken that’s because I ran out of wifi time since it was uploading too slowly. As soon as the photos are there, the links & embedded photos will work so I’ll leave the links intact for now. Sorry!)

Castle Neuschwanstein – ah so schöne!

Rothenburg ob der Tauber to Koblenz – Day 7

6 October 2006

Rothenburg ob der Tauber – ah so niedlich!

Schlosstage = Castle Day! (Day 8)

7 October 2006

Castles, castles & more castles!

From Koblenz to Nürnberg via Rüdesheim – Day 9

7 October 2006

(FYI, photos are still uploading while I finally get some sleep…apologies for broken links but just be patient please! :)

Rheintal Revisited & Rüdesheim am Rhein

Nürnberg back to Munich – Day 10

8 October 2006

Nürnberg in Daylight, including an Orgelkonzert!

Bath & Newbury – Day 11

9 October 2006

Sightseeing in Bath

To Dublin via Winchester – Day 12

11 October 2006

Winchester Castle & Cathedral

From Dublin to Brittas Bay – Day 13

12 October 2006

(The free wifi here in Killarney is really slow, plus it’s only in the library & I don’t feel like risking my laptop alone overnight tucked behind a chair, so I don’t think I’ll be able to get full photos posted until I get back to Andy’s house…but you can still read the story so far! :)

Book of Kells, Guinness & Goodbye Dublin!

County Cork to County Kerry – Day 14

12 October 2006

Updated now with photos! :)

(The free wifi here in Killarney is really slow, plus it’s only in the library & I don’t feel like risking my laptop alone overnight tucked behind a chair, so I don’t think I’ll be able to get photos posted until I get back to Andy’s house…but you can still read the story so far! :) I will revise this entry when photos can be included… )

Full Irish Breakfast, Blue Irish Skies!

Tipperary, Limerick & Goodbye Ireland! – Day 15

14 October 2006

It’s a long way to Tipperary…when you have to go to Cork first! 😉

Lucky Friday the 13th! – Day 16

14 October 2006

Lucky Friday the 13th!

Last Day – Day 17

15 October 2006

Donnington Castle in Newbury, Salisbury Cathedral & around