Day 12 - Bad Schandau

Tuesday 7 June: We had good train trip to Bad Schandau, Germany a large compartment to ourselves and even safety belts to hold our luggage – until we realised we were in the ‘disability’ compartment and the belts were for people in wheelchairs!

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Bad Schandau is on the Elbe River in The Saxony part of Germany. The attraction here is the World Heritage Switzerland National Park (not in Switzerland) and the Konigstein Castle dating from 1241AD.

We are actually staying in Osterau, on the plateau above Bad Schandau where there are interesting rock formations. All the visitors are wearing hiking gear. Not the colourful Korean version, but the old style European version with the heavy cotton clothes and industrial strength hiking boots.

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Our BnB hosts said that all of the nearby restaurants in Osterau are excellent, so we chose Turmek nearby for dinner. They were very friendly and helpful, with little English, but we managed to order a Beef Roulade and a Weiner Schnizel.

 The beef roll was stuffed with fat and various vegetables and herbs which made it moist and tasty. It came with large dumplings that looked like potatoes. The schnitzel unfortunately, was dry and tasteless, but the mushrooms were delicious. It was very pleasant sitting outside in the balmy evening sipping a couple of white wines, including an excellent Riesling.

 After an evening walk around the village, with the rock formations in the distance, we returned the BnB where they told us we shouldn’t have eaten at THAT restaurant, after telling us they were all excellent!

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We discovered today that our BnB house is 100% Honka. Honka? It’s a type of log construction designed in Finland and the logs are cut with grooves so that they stack without shifting. This type of construction has been used in this region for some time. Even an old derelict house nearby was built on the same principle.

Day 13 - Bad Schandau

Wednesday 8 June Today we explored part of the Switzerland National Park. We walked from Ostrau to Bad Scahandau through the forest which took about 20 mins - it’s much shorter than going by road. The forest is mainly pine, with very little undergrowth, just a carpet of leaves and lots of seedlings, few of which seem to become trees. The path took us to Kurpark in Bad Schandau. From there we caught the National Park tram to Lichtenhainer Wasserfall, about 5km up into the park.

It’s interesting how context can change the experience of activities. It was just a tram ride, but because it was in a different country, and winding alongside a stream, surrounded by forest, it somehow seemed a bit special. Frances’ knowledge of German is proving really useful as well. At the end of the tram line, about 30 mins, we started walking through the forest, following other walkers towards the Kunstall.

We also felt completely under-dressed without the specialised hiking gear and sticks. After about 20 mins walking uphill, we arrived at an arched rock formation called the Kustall – translation, cow-stall. It was pretty impressive and we had a fantastic view across the valley – the Saxony version of the Blue Mountains – yes and there was a bluish tinge to the escarpment in the distance. So much for the unique vapour of the eucalypts trees causing the bluish tinge in the Blue Mountains.

There was an extremely narrow metal staircase to the top of the Kustall, but neither of us was game to try. After the photo ops, we walked another 30 minute trail to the Lichtenhainer Wasserfall (Waterfall). Well, the waterfall, was in fact at the tram terminus where we had gotten off the tram, and not terribly impressive! We ate our meager lunch of sandwiches plus a beer we’d brought, and headed back in the tram. The day was very pleasant and we had some energy left, so we decided to walk back to Ostrau. Thanks to Frances’ device, we knew we’d walked about 15,000 steps or 10km.

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On the way to the restaurant this evening, we saw a genuine Trabant 601 – The Eastern Bloc’s peoples car. It was the third generation of the model, built for the longest production time, from 1963 to 1990.

As a result, it is the best-known Trabant model and often referred to simply as "the Trabant" or "the Trabi". During this long production run, 2,818,547 Trabant 601s were produced and it was the most common vehicle in former East Germany. (Wikipedia)

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This evening we though we’d try a different café/restaurant in Ostrau, the Astrauer Hof. They spoke even less English than in the restaurant last night, so Frances had another opportunity to practice her German. The menu was limited, but we weren’t very hungry anyway. Frances had a Gemischter Salat mit Thunfisch (Tuna salad), and I had Wurzfleisch vom Geflugel mit Kase Uberbacken (Baked shredded chicken with mushrooms and cheese).

The salad was very good, except for the too-sweet dressing (caught out again! – we may have to ask for dressing without sugar). The Baked Chicken was quite tasty, but too salty. Again we had a nice dry Reisling, the kind I wish was easier to find in Australia – at a reasonable price. Walking back we were caught in a thunderstorm, the first in Bad Schandau. Early afternoon storms were a daily occurrence in Karlovy Vary, but this time, at around 7:30 pm, it was a complete surprise, although it did cool down the evening air.

Day 14 - Bad Schandau

Thursday 9 June After a couple of days of substantial walks, we had an easy day exploring Bad Schandau. About 10 minutes walk through the forest from Ostrau, there is a lift down to the riverside, that’s been there for over 100 years. A bit like Grandfather’s axe though, not much is left of the original structure.

It costs about $2 per trip up or down but worth it for the view and experience. We walked through some of the back streets where there were some nice shops, including a shoe outlet that had a fantastic selection of smart casual shoes for men and women – not cheap, but definitely good value. We could have bought half a dozen pairs each, but Frances settle on only one pair. From there we walked to the top of a hill with some castle ruins and had our usual packed lunch with a beer.

Our BnB hosts provide so much food for breakfast, we just pack some for lunch rather than waste it. The day has been fairly overcast so the photos are a bit dull.

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As you probably know, Frances loves water, so after a day trudging around the countryside, she needs to cool off. In Karlovy Vary it was in a fountain where some kids were playing. In Bad Schandau it was what looked like a water feature. The water was only about 30cm deep so she took off her shoes and socks and waded in – much to my embarrassment. However only minutes after she got out, having cooled off, other people, from children to adults did the same thing. It appears that this is what the water feature is for, or maybe she started a trend.

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This is some of the local peaches we haven't seen in Australia, and delicious. The manhole cover is a throwaway - not literally.

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For dinner tonight we went to the remaining restaurant in Ostrau, Ostrauer Scheibe. It’s a hotel and restaurant and had quite a good menu, including discounts for seniors. Frances got the discount too, so seniors must be a bit younger here.

Before eating we had to sort out the drinks. Frances couldn’t decide between the house white and a Riesling. The waitress brought a sample of each which were both good. On that basis I ordered the house red which unfortunately was only just drinkable. The only saving grace was the huge glass-full they supplied - 2.5 lit.

Frances ordered sauerkraut with dumplings which came topped with fried onions - an interesting touch. She thought it was great, but it tasted a little too vinegared for me. The dumplings though were delicious, firm with an interesting mix of vegetables and ham. I had a goulash (it's hard to make a goulash look good) with spinach and potatoes, and although the goulash was good with a red wine flavour, it was too salty to enjoy. All in all a very relaxed and pleasant evening in very amiable surroundings