Berlin, Nuremberg & Bamberg

Berlin

Our 6th visit (in 12 years) to Berlin to visit our son and his partner, but this time we flew from London City Airport rather than Gatwick. The BA planes have more legroom than EasyJet planes, the airport is much, much nicer and smaller than Gatwick. Getting to London City Airport is a bit trickier for us.

We like Berlin a lot and I particularly like the bigness of everything – the big buildings, the wide roads. Berlin is a lively, lived-in city where everyone seems to have been born in the 21st century – I feel old there! Our son and his partner were with us for most of our 6-night stay in Germany. This made being in a foreign country so much easier than if we had been on our own. Thanks to them we saw and did so much more. Thank you, Rich & Nadine.

Nuremberg

After 2 nights in Berlin the four of us took the high-speed train to Nurenberg for a 2-night stay. Nuremberg is a most attractive city. On the two days we were there the centre was swamped with people visiting a huge flea market, the largest in Germany. We visited the location of the Nuremberg Trials where these is an informative and exhaustive (and exhausting!) audio-visual exhibition of that period in German history.

Bamberg

On the train back to Berlin we broke our journey to spend a few hours in the attractive town of Bamberg.

Holiday eating

We ate well in all locations! Germans like to eat white asparagus during the short season.

Churches

I’m not religious but I do like big buildings and I’m always on the look out for a picture!

Something else

A trip to Wales

A few days away to see my lovely aunt who lives in the tiny Welsh village Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant. On the way we stayed at The Bear of Rodborough, a rather delightful hotel near Stroud in Gloucestershire. The next day we visited Hay-on-Wye, renowned for its many bookshops, then on to Llanrhaeadr to see my aunt over the next couple of days. A visit to the nearby town of Llangollen threw up a surprise with an amazing second-hand bookshop Books Llangollen which boasts an amazing 100,000 books to be perused. I needed a day there, not just half an hour!

Wells-Next-The-Sea

A busy month – two funerals, flu and covid jabs, dentist and optician appointments, a car breakdown followed by scrapping and replacing the car. For a change of scenery we made a last-minute decision to visit the Norfolk town of Wells-Next-The-Sea. We always planned to travel there by public transport which took over 6 hours, involving a train, tube, two more trains and a bus!

A Monday to Friday stay in a rented house gave us three full days to explore and get in a couple of decent length walks. Wells-Next-The-Sea is a charming fishing and holiday town with magnificent sands (when the tide is out).

We managed long walks on two of the three days. The first day was sunny as we walked westwards from Wells to Holkham, catching a bus back to Wells. The second day was extremely windy and we caught the bus to Blakeney, walking eastwards to Cley before catching the bus back.

On the third day it rained but we were still able to revisit the magnificent sandy beach.

Fish and chips in the evening!

Sheffield Park, Uckfield

On our way home at the end of our seaside holiday, a stroll around the National Trust’s Sheffield Park and Garden at Uckfield. These attractive formal gardens should be worth a re-visit when the autumn colours appear.

Eastbourne (last day)

Strolls along the promenade on a warm morning and a misty afternoon were a gentle end to our 9-day stay in Eastbourne. We’ve been blessed with wonderful weather, including a couple of days of gales and dramatic seas.

Best memory of our stay? This one at the top of Beachy Head. On two consecutive days I walked up there – what an absolutely fabulous location!


Eastbourne marina (day 7)

Well we’re still on our pre-lockdown holiday (which is allowed!) but given the government instructions to not make unnecessary journeys we are limiting our excursions to where we can walk to.

Today, without looking to see how far it was, we walked to Eastbourne marina (it was 4 miles each way!). Walking into a bitterly cold wind on a sunless morning was not a lot of fun although on the return journey the sun had appeared and the wind was on our backs.

Without any impressive boats, the marina was just like any other marina. Fortunately there were a couple of places open where you could get takeaway sustenance and we were more than ready for a coffee and Danish pastry.

Having walked 6 miles to Beachy Head on the two preceding days and another 8 miles today, I think we may just have a couple of easy days before returning home.


Beachy Head (day 5)

On a glorious day (what a contrast to several days of gales) a walk to the end of Eastbourne and up to Beachy Head on the South Downs. An absolutely wonderful morning. Some great images – thank you Sony Rx100 camera! Click on them for bigger pictures.

A steep climb at the beginning
What a terrific view to end the walk

Hastings (day 4)

Today’s outing was a 20 mile drive down the coast to Hastings. It wasn’t as windy as the previous days but it was a lot colder. Hastings Old Town is interesting and well worth a visit though the crowded street-parking made it pointless to take photos. There are lots of small, independent shops and cafés which on a warmer day we might have spent more time investigating.


Eastbourne & Seaford (day 3)

On a sunny and windy morning, two more images of Eastbourne beach, taken from the pier.

Ten miles down the coast from Eastbourne is Seaford. I’ve never been a fan of Seaford but we were looking for somewhere to drive that was not too distant. There was a gale strong enough to blow us away so we headed briskly towards the inviting cliffs. There are some rather colourful beach huts on the promenade and a lot of activity as large trucks redistributed shingle from the end of the beach to further up. I didn’t envy the digger working so close to the water’s edge as the gale did its best to wash it away!


Eastbourne (day 2)

What a wonderfully, windy morning it was as we walked the long promenade towards the Beachy Head cliffs. These images give no sense of the violence as the waves crashed in and the wind blew a gale. On our return walk, with the wind now behind us, the sun briefly came out. In the town there were plenty of people shopping, and a solitary, heavily armed policeman protecting us (but from what?).