Steam at Mellrichstadt, Germany

Well fellow bloggers, sorry its taken so long to get this blog together. Here is one for the steam train fans in our midst!

We were driving along the autobahn number 71 in Germany when we decided to look for somewhere to stop for morning tea. Dorothy mentioned that there was a service area ahead or there was a brown information sign on the autobahn showing interesting things in the town at the next exit including a steam engine. Without much hope I said “Let’s go into the town”. We stopped on the edge of town and whilst looking at the information board to see where the railway station was located heard a steam whistle. This caused us both to look up and comment.

Loco in platform with people (photo 2347)

We drove into the railway station and there was a little 0-8-0 standard gauge steam tank engine on a few carriages and lots of people on the platform. Apparently the train runs once a fortnight and Mellrichstadt is one end of the line where the train comes in and the loco runs around the train and returns. There is cross platform interface to the regional DB (German Railways) services, one of which came past just before the steam engine departed.

Photo number 407, loco 98-886 departing Mellrichstadt

Loconumber  98-886 departing Mellrichstadt (Photo number 407)

All the people got back in the carriages and at 11:10 the train departed for Fladungen, giving quite an impressive smoky and noisy display. Dorothy and Gary were the only people (Gunzels) left watching from the trackside in this nice little town.

 As well as this Rhon-Zugle steam train every two weeks, there was a good camping place for mobile homes so Mellrichstadt is quite well rated!

The Alhambra, Granada Spain

Apologies for the delay in posting new blogs, we have not had good internet connections to upload the photos. So here is one we prepared earlier!

Alhambra (Photo 278)

We visited Granada in Spain to see the Alhambra palace and grounds. The Moors from North Africa (first ruler Mohammad I al-Ahmar) commenced building the Alhambra in 1238.

Alhambra Palace from Generalife gardens (Photo 267)

Later Moor rulers built a palace on the Sabika hill above Granada in three separate periods from 1314 to 1391.

City of Granada from Alhambra (Photo 281)

The Moors colonised much of present day Spain. The building influence they left is epitomised by the Alhambra palaces. The Moorish influence is still left in the palaces and the Alcazabra fort. The fort is one of the oldest parts of the Alhambra

Alcabraz Fort (Photo 282)

The Alhambra has been re-built and added on by all the Christian rulers of Granada and Spain after the Moors were driven out on 2 Jan 1492. The Generalife was added by the Catholic Kings of Granada as a recreation area. Charles I (1500 to 1558) commenced construction of the Generalife palace. 

The Generalife – entrance walkway (Photo 266)

The extensive gardens are well presented and colourful.  The variety of roses is amazing in the various garden beds especially the long narrow walk way towards the Generalife.

The Generalife – Court of the water channel (Photo 274)

The court of the water channel is on the list of items not to be missed.

Some of the original frescos remain in areas protected from the weather (and tourists over the years!)

Generalife Frescos (Photo 270 )

The Alhambra is very popular with tourists, even this early in the season. Two of the five parking areas were full on the day in late May when Dorothy and Gary visited the site. Specialised parking was available for buses, caravans and motorhomes, but the parking cost more than our two admission tickets together!

Welcome to Portugal

We have spent a few days in the Duoro river valley (including Villa Real and Porto) and other areas of Portugal and really enjoyed our time here. 

During our travels in Portugal we found a number of very pleasant villages and town centres.

Our van and (empty) service centre in Portugal (Photo135) Sorry cant get this photo to upload

The road into Portugal from Verin in Spain is now a high standard motorway, divided carriageway with limited access and service centres just like the Hume Freeway in NSW/Vic at home. All it needs is a bit more traffic! It is definitely not like the old road of thirty odd years ago that Gary remembers.

Villa Real old town (Photo 143)

So the first town we saw in any detail when we got off the motorway was Villa Real in the Duoro river valley. This city is a mixture of an old town centre with modern add-ons like the ever-present hyper market shopping centre and petrol stations on the outskirts of the city.  From our campsite in Villa Real we were able to walk to the centre of town and the fresh food market. 

Porto from bridge (Photo 226)

Porto is the second city of Portugal after Lisbon and it is a beautiful city at the river mouth. It is built on the hills with a funicular in one part from the river level to the upper town.  We made a couple of trips on this funicular (1 euro per person per trip). We visited the Tram Museum after riding on the vintage tram.   On the Sunday afternoon all the cafes and public spaces were pre-occupied with the local football team Porto (blue and white jumpers) playing.  We found a quiet café without any footy fans and had a snack for dinner.

Photo of tower at Porto, (photo 2209)

On the first day in Porto we met some English people at the campsite who suggested we walk up the tower in order to get a good view of Port. It was quite some walk but well worth it for the views.

Bridge at Porto with metro train (Photo 216)

After we had left Porto, we travelled down Portugal towards Evora. When the campsite we were looking for was no longer in use in one town, the local volunteer firefighters suggested another campsite. This led us to discover a beautiful village called Castelo de Vide. We walked into town from the campsite, quite a strenuous walk with some fine views along the way.

Walking track from campground with cork trees (Photo 2227 )

Whilst in Castelo de Vide a kindly local family took our photo with the village in the background, just proving we are both still alive and well. (Photo 243)

Typical Electric wiring (Photo 2241)

This photo gives you some idea of the electric wiring in the township which is typical of the Spain/Portugal area.

Typical street in Castelo de Vide township (Photo 250)

All too soon the itinerary showed we needed to move on, so it was good bye to the villages of Portugal and on to the cheaper fuel and big birds (possibly cranes) of Spain, but more about Spain in another blog, soon.

Standing Stones of Brittany and the Iberian Peninsula - revised and extended

Everyone has heard of or seen the prehistoric standing stones at Stonehenge in England. What is not well known is that there are many more standing stones in Britain and continental Europe.

Photo of Carnac, Brittany, France. Many standing stones in a field or paddock!(photo 44)

In the educational portion of our tour of Europe (and you bloggers thought we were on a total holiday!) we have explored the standing stones near Carnac near the coast  in Brittany, France and later some Menhir (generic name for standing stones) and Dolmen (large single standing stone) near Castelo de Vide in Portugal, quite close to the Spanish border.  It is thought that the stones near Carnac are older than Stonehenge and probably those in Portugal are also older but all the informationat the museum is in Portuguese so we cannot read it!

Photo of Carnac stones in the forest (photo 34)

At Erdevan near Carnac, there are a whole series of Menhir (standing stones) spread over about 30kms along an old walking road or route, which is now mainly forest. They rest quietly in the forest waiting patiently for the tourists. It is a fantastic cycling or walking trail if you wish to follow all the sites. Individual stones are not tall however there are many of them.

Photo of Mehir in village of Locmariaquer, Brittany (49), near Carnac also

As well as standing stones there are burial mounds in Brittany. Some are now surrounded by housing and farming land, it seems incongruous to have a burial mound or some Menhir in the town behind some houses!

Photo of Menhir in Portugal (251). The lady tourist gives some perspective to the height of the stone

There are also many pre-historic stones in the Iberian Peninsula. We only found some in Portugal but there are also many in Spain nearby. The ones we found were off the beaten track and in the midst of working farmland. It was only the signs that lead us there and we were the only tourists to look at them whilst we were there.

Photo(258)  of standing stones  (anta in portuguese language) near Costelo de Vide in Portugal