Adventures With Harvey

Gäubodenvolksfest!

Good morning one and all and welcome to the latest update from the Travelling Woodies. Starter for 10: How many of you have heard of Oktoberfest? I’m sure that would be almost everyone. Question #2: How about Gäubodenvolksfest? I’m guessing the list is perhaps a little shorter but for those inquisitive folk among you, read on and all will be revealed…

The last edition found us in Krakow in Poland however that was far from the end of our visit to this wonderful country. 150km or so up the road is the city of Wroclaw (pronounced Vratz-wav) and plenty of exploring to be done, however en-route we came across the delightful little town of Nikiszowiec. The entire place was built by the owners of the nearby coal mine as accommodation for their workers and every building is made from red brick. The town is beautifully laid out with everything a small community would need, shops, schools, a beautiful church and a feeling of compact efficiency. It only takes an hour or two to wander around a settlement like this, a stop for a coffee on the square and we were on our merry way.

What is Wroclaw famous for? Dwarfs, a major flood in 1997, significant destruction and rebuilding after WWII, and the fact that for 600 years prior to the end of WWII, the city wasn’t even Polish! In fact, the rebuild after the war was delayed because it hadn’t yet been decided which country the city would be part of… and the Poles certainly weren’t keen to spend their precious resources on rebuilding a city that may end up being part of East Germany. Finally it was decided that Wroclaw was to be Polish, the rebuild was completed, and the city was returned to its former glory.

What’s with the dwarves? Like much humour in life, students were responsible and on this occasion it all started with student protests against the communist regime in the late 1980’s. Of course you couldn’t protest against the government in countries like that however there was nothing to stop citizens organising a march through the streets for other reasons. Which the students did, however they all dressed up as dwarves – it was their way of discreetly protesting the ridiculousness of the government without any degree of overtness which would see them in trouble with the law. Everyone, including the authorities, knew what they were up to, and the response was as absurd as it was predictable – yes, some of the youngsters were arrested and charged with ‘pretending to be a dwarf or some such trumped up charge. The movement gained momentum and, when communism fell shortly thereafter, the dwarf protests became part of folklore. So much so that someone commissioned a little bronze dwarf in commemoration… which kind of took off, and these days there are almost 1000 little bronze midgets scattered around Wroclaw. It’s such a lot of fun to see if you can spot them as you wander the streets, each one is unique and they’re dressed up in different guises or occupations. You can find them up lamp posts, hidden behind bars as if imprisoned, and hiding in little nooks and crannies all over the place.

We loved our time in Wroclaw, the town square is alive with buskers, throngs of people, both locals and tourists alike and has a lovely convivial atmosphere. Like elsewhere in Poland, the population and tourism demographic isn’t particularly diverse – you see very few faces of ethnicity other than Caucasian. Also, it seems that Asian tourism still hasn’t recovered as there are virtually no tour groups and also very few independent travellers from that part of the world.

Our last stop in Poland was Ksaiz Castle which is very close to the border with Czech Republic. Built and rebuilt several times over the centuries, the castle is compact but beautifully laid out. The gardens were looking gorgeous in all their summer beauty and I think Anita was ready to move in! During the war the castle was taken over by the Nazis and pillaged/damaged/partially remodelled. No-one knows exactly what their intentions were however it is believed a hideout and base for Hitler himself was being constructed. This isn’t particularly evident inside the castle, although one bedroom is thought to have been remodelled with Hitler in mind. The main giveaway is what can be found 50m beneath the castle and grounds, no less than 3000sq/m of tunnels which have been connected with the castle itself via a lift shaft which was hidden right opposite the door to Hitler’s proposed bedroom. Were the Nazis preparing a secret hideout & bomb shelter or was there some other purpose? At ground level there was also a hidden railway entrance and rumours abounded after the war about a hidden train of Nazi gold. Of course this mythical train has never turned up however who knows, maybe it is buried beneath Ksaiz Castle.

Our next general target was Munich and there were 2 options to get there, either directly into Germany with a loop to the south-west from there, the other option being through Czech Republic. In the end it was an easy choice, once we’re in Germany we’ll be there for a couple of weeks – traversing Czech again was a chance to spend more time in a different country, and also to visit the town of Český Krumlov which several people had told us we oughtn’t to miss. This route took us back through Prague however we’d been there earlier so it was really only an overnight stop. However that didn’t mean some more exploring wasn’t in order – sadly Mrs Woodfield was feeling a little off-colour so your author booked himself a brewery tour and set off on his trusty e-bike. Did you know that the only country in Europe with higher per-capita beer consumption than Germany is Czech Republic and they’re particularly proud of their beer brewing traditions. Probably the most well known brand is Pilsner-Urquell brewed just down the road in the town of Pilzn (from where the beer variety got its name) – a really well done tour and I even had a nice half-hour chat with a local Czech man over a pint at the end of the tour. After that it was a further little explore around the CBD, it’s really quite large and I realised just how little of it we’d seen last time. Prague is a truly beautiful city, it was a pleasure to stop by for another brief visit.

What a brilliant recommendation Český Krumlov turned out to be! Apparently the town has managed to avoid the destruction of both the world wars that has beset so many other European cities, giving it a feeling of originality and authenticity. It is only small with a delightful little river winding it's way through, a castle up on the hill, and plenty of shopping and dining options. Our friend the Lonely Planet recommended one particular little restaurant that was described as being inside a cave – and indeed it was! Our table was right by the huge open bbq so we were able to watch the chef expertly prepare meal after meal – the ribs were divine and the mixed bbq platter also lip-smackingly good!

It was a gorgeous drive over the border from Czech Republic into Germany as we traversed between the ancient kingdoms of Bohemia and Bavaria. The scenery was very New Zealand-esque with plenty of rolling green countryside, the main difference being huge forests of spruce trees rather than the pine we get at home.

First stop was the little town of Plattling where we found a park over the back fence from the public swimming baths. It’s only a 20 minute train ride from there to Straubing so seemed the perfect place to park up but avoid the madness of a small town hosting a huge festival. Gäubodenvolksfest is the second largest beer festival in Germany, with over 1.4m visitors over 10 days. As I eluded to above, it was a brilliant experience, so much going on, it was a bit like a cross between a Christmas carnival and agricultural field days… but with 6 enormous beer halls added so plenty of choice and no shortage of fun. We did the rounds, stopping into three of the beer halls to experience the atmosphere, from oompah bands to more modern music. After a meal of rotisserie chicken (sometimes the simplest meals are the best!) we joined a table with half a dozen or so youngsters who we befriended and joined in the singing of Bavarian folk songs! Prost! Next day we were understandably a little slow and spent the afternoon at the swimming baths parked up under a cool tree in between swims. After a few coolish days in Poland and Czech Republic, it was nice to be back in the 30s again.

Munich is a town we were particularly looking forward to revisiting, although we had a couple of days there either side of the tour, we were delighted that our route took us right back through. What is the attraction? Hard to put your finger on it however we particularly enjoyed the atmosphere at the beer gardens so revisiting a couple of our favourites was definitely on the itinerary. Marianplatz, the magnificent Rathaus and the surrounding area have a real hustle and bustle with plenty going on to keep us interested. At one end is the enormous English Gardens, comparable to Central Park in size – there is a little river rushing through but at a couple of points some impediments have been added to make a mini central-city surf break. It’s quite the attraction with people lining both sides of the river to watch the surfers display their skills. As we were doing so the skies darkened, thunder began rolling and before we knew it we were about to get drenched. Despite a fast march to our intended destination (yes, a beer garden) we still managed to get a thorough soaking however it wasn’t cold so we dried out soon enough with no harm done.

The businessman in me doesn’t really understand how the seasonal business model works in Europe – there seems to be a massive infrastructure all built around the 3 or so months of summer, and sometimes even less. This includes beer gardens but also a huge variety of sea or lakeside resorts, camping grounds, tourist activities etc. We strolled some beaches in Italy in June when it was quite warm and we definitely would have stopped for a refreshment but often nothing on the beach had yet opened for the season. How do these places make money? What do the staff do the rest of the year? How do they pay their rent when there is no revenue for ¾ of the year? I’m sure it must all work somehow but quite how the math works is a mystery to me. The same goes with 6 day shopping – almost all countries in Europe have all shops closed on a Sunday which includes supermarkets and shopping malls. On balance, we think the European system is better, that pursuit of the almighty dollar (or should I say Euro) doesn’t dominate people’s lives – it can be a nuisance when you’ve run out of groceries and forgotten that it’s a Sunday, but for the general populous, it means even those working in retail get a proper day off and small business owners don’t need to employ extra staff just to keep the doors open.

Today the Travelling Woodies split tacks with your faithful author making the round trip from Munich to Berchtesgaden by train (supposedly about 2.5 hours each way but ended up being much longer due to track maintenance) to visit a rather famous remnant from WWII. Located within eyesight of the Austrian border is a place known as Obersalzburg which was the holiday retreat built especially for the Nazi hierarchy up to and including the war and includes the famous Kehlsteinhaus or Eagle’s Nest. There is much footage of Hitler meeting with his Generals and other world leaders there in the years leading up to the war – most of this occurred at Hitler’s house known as The Berghof which was part of a much larger secure complex. In many respects, this was the location at which the prelude to war occurred, most of the Nazi high command had houses, servants’ accommodation, bunkers and the like, as well as barracks for soldiers and accommodation for the thousands of workers constantly employed building and modifying structures, bunkers etc. Our tour guide was excellent and gave a full background of Hitler’s upbringing and what lead him to leadership of the Nazi Party, also the history of the site itself as well as where significant structures were or had been located. Hitler’s house was destroyed shortly after the war ended to prevent it becoming a shrine however we were able to stand on the very spot that the house was and look at the same view as those living in or visiting the house would have had. There are many miles of bunkers and tunnels beneath the various structures and hillsides however none were available to visit, some because the government has never opened them and others because they are beneath what is now private property. Luckily it was a reasonably fine day making the view from the actual Eagle’s Nest itself breathtakingly spectacular! This now means that your history-mad author has now visited both this site as well as Wolf’s Lair, Hitler’s Prussian base (these days located in north-east Poland) – what a treat!!

While all this was going on, the intrepid Mrs Woodfield found herself a Munich food tour. This started with a late breakfast (pretzel, pork sausage and beer) and continued for 3 hours of history, markets, food and beer gardens.

With that we’ll raise our glasses and say ‘PROST’… until next time from the Travelling Woodies.

cheers from the Travelling Woodies

en route to Wroclaw we stopped at this little gem of a town - around 100 years ago Nikiszowiec was entirely built by the owners of the adjacent coal mine as housing for their workers.

fountain on the town square at Wroclaw

photo showing damage at the same square at the end of WWII

check out the two little statues above the door of this very old pub - he's dragging his sorry drunken self home and she has her shoe raised ready to welcome him :-)

view of Wroclaw from the cathedral bell tower

the 'Angel of Death' memorial in Wroclaw marks the 1940 Katyń Massacre of 22,000 (yes, that's the correct number, I haven't added an extra 0 by mistake) Polish army officers, POW's and others by the Russian military on Stalin's direct orders.

note the bound hands and bullet hole in the head, a very powerful and moving memorial

Wroclaw town square and town hall

If you're ever visiting Wroclaw be sure not to miss the Racławice Panorama. This painting measures 15m x 114m and is housed in a permanent circular gallery. The painting depicts the 1794 battle of Racławice, an audioguide walks you through the whole event and explains what you are seeing on each section of the painting.

ancient Wroclaw town walls and entrance

Wroclaw dwarf #1

Wroclaw dwarf #2

Wroclaw dwarf #3

restaurant and boat hire on the Wroclaw waterfront

Wroclaw waterfront at night

Książ Castle, close too the Czech border.

view looking back to the gatehouse from inside Książ Castle

underneath are several km of tunnels dug by the Nazis for reasons not entirely known

a happy event is a brewery tour :-)

a whistlestop visit to Prague during an overnight stop (we toured the town more fully during our visit earlier in the trip)

we were advised not to miss Český Krumlov and what a good recommendation it turned out to be - quaint, warm and authentic (the horrors of both world wars having passed the town by)

Český Krumlov #2

Český Krumlov #3

Český Krumlov #4

inside a genuine working blacksmith shop, complete with smithy himself banging his anvil

our dinner table was adjacent to the bbq where the chef was cooking everyone's dinner - a real treat to watch the master at work!

we found a beer festival :-) this one is in the small town of Straubing, is named Gäubodenvolksfest and is the second largest in Germany with 1.4 million visitors over 10 days (check out the videos below)