Mercedes and Porsche Museums

While Kate was at uni one day I decided to catch the train to Stuttgart to see the Mercedes-Benz and Porsche museum, as she wasn't particularly keen. 

The Mercedes-Benz museum is at the enormous factory complex on the south side of town, and the museum is a big spiral inside where you start at the top and work your way down. The displays ranged from the first cars made more than a century ago up to the latest models. Definitely worth a look if you are into cars.

Here's a selection of pictures.

Next it was off to Zuffenhausen in the northern suburbs of Stuttgart to the Porsche museum. The building housing the collection was an amazing windowless structure on stalks with a mirrored bottom. It's not as big as the Mercedes-Benz museum but interesting none the less.

 

- Joe

Ingolstadt

On the way home from Regensburg we stopped off at Ingolstadt, which is the home of Audi. Kate wasn't keen to see the Audi museum so I might have to come back by myself while she's at uni. It was a hot day so the gardens were packed with people having a few drinks and kicking balls around.

The centre of town is typically German, with cobblestone streets, restored buildings and churches. Restaurants are the only shops open on Sundays here so it was pretty quiet walking around town.

There seems to be an endless supply of these sort of towns in Germany, just take a train in any direction and you will find an interesting place to visit.

- Joe

Regensburg

Two hours north of Munich on the train is the town of Regensburg. The old town was largely undamaged in World War 2 so it retains most of it's medieval streets and buildings.

It was a Sunday so we got chased out of the Cathedral pretty quickly because there was a service going on.

Of course the medieval stone bridge was covered in scaffolding for repairs....

We sat down next to the river for a beer and some sausages. There is only one thing on the menu and they've been serving them on this spot for 500 years! The ladies sitting next to us were from Bowen, going on a cruise up the Danube River.

- Joe

Heidelberg

Rick Steves

Another day, another day-trip,why not? We decided on Heidelberg this time. It's about a three hour train ride from Munich, but Rick Steves didn't include Heidelberg in Rick Steves' guide to Munich, Bavaria and Salzburg. 

Heidelberg is really great though, Rick Steves, so here's what you missed. Before we headed up to Heidelberg Castle we went up the hill on the opposite side of the river for a glimpse of the castle.  

It was a pretty scenic walk across the bridge where the town is divided by the Neckar River.

On our way, and through the more residential part of the old town we were met by this little fellow... He led the way for a short time, before we parted ways and continued up the hill. 

Along this strip were some pretty impressive houses overlooking the river and castle. 

The Heidelberg Castle is huge and very fairy-tale looking. 

The city has some lovely old buildings - the University cafeteria dates back to the 16th century! The city thankfully escaped bombing during WWII, although the bridge did suffer some damage during the war. 

The castle grounds were surrounded by gardens, fountains, and plenty of spots to take in the view overlooking the river.




It was interesting to see parts of the castle so exposed to the elements. Sometimes there was just a wall with windows and doorways exposed, or like in the picture below, an entire wall crumbling away in contrast to perhaps newer extensions of the castle that have remained intact.



We stopped for lunch and a few drinks in the main square which was right by the main shopping district. The castle had taken most of the day to get through and we didn't head home until about 7pm that night.

We also saw a cool old Porsche... and here's a photo of it...



- Kate

Ireland: Dublin

After driving around the countryside of the west coast of Ireland, we headed to the city to end our trip in Dublin. It was a long weekend so there were loads of people out and about. 

The Temple Bar area on the south side of the river is wall to wall pubs along cobblestone streets. Plenty of people was getting rowdy, spilling out onto the streets having a great old time.

Nearby is Trinity College which was like an oasis in the middle of the bustling city. It's a university campus with lots of gardens and grand buildings.

We needed a break from walking around so we headed to a pub for a few pints to re-energise. Kate has developed a bit of a taste for beer since we've been in Europe, but she still couldn't bring herself to order a Guinness, so she stuck to cider instead.

Our hotel was conveniently located above a pub, so we had yet another great traditional Irish feed and a few pints of Guinness for dinner.

We really liked Ireland and would definitely recommend a a driving holiday on the west coast. Hopefully we will be able to come back again one day.

- Joe