Spring 2023 Travel Journal Part 1 - Germany

Rhododendrons, watercolour pencils

Blog 23

I am back from my trip to Germany and Italy. I have never experienced a vacation with so many obstacles. However, the reward was breathtaking beauty and inspiration for years to come that I will share with you in the upcoming blogs.


Before our trip started, we had so many problems with the original airline that we had to book a new flight less than ten days before our departure. We also had to deal with cancelled train tickets and the day of our departure, a flight cancellation. Fortunately, Air Canada solved the problem quickly, so we caught our connecting flight to Frankfurt. 

 

While we left in pouring rain in Ottawa, the weather system had left Toronto, and we saw a beautiful sunset and a fantastic view of the lit-up city when we departed.

Yellow Tulips, watercolour and watercolour pencil

We arrived on a sunny day with temperatures at 17 degrees. The trees were lush and lilac, hydrangeas, and the final tulips were blooming. My parents were waiting for us and had a big brunch set up. In the evening, we went to a restaurant with Bavarian cuisine. The food was fantastic, but each meal could have easily fed two people. I decided to take the rest of mine home. While taking the leftovers home would have been unthinkable years ago, it is more common now. However, I was surprised when I saw that you had to pay Euro 0.80 to take the doggie bag home (most restaurants let you take your leftovers for free). Not surprisingly, Germans have adopted the English expression, possibly because the translation Hundetüte sounds more like the bag you use to clean up after your dog.


Many Germans love their meat, and the vegetable portions are often small. After the first evening at the restaurant, I had eaten enough meat for the whole trip. Luckily, you find vegetarian and vegan options on menus nowadays that are more inventive than a house salad.


Many visits with my friends included a walk, and I am always envious of the many paths in the suburbs that quickly lead you to trails between fields and wooded areas. The most impressive area was the Bruchwiesen in Büttelborn, only minutes from my sister’s place. I have never seen so many stork nests in my life. For more information, check out: https://www.birdingplaces.eu/en/birdingplaces/germany/bruchwiesen-von-buttelborn.

Historisches (Altes) Rathaus (Old City Hall), Nauheim

Even though I lived for most of my childhood in Nauheim, I still love walking through the old part of the town with the beautifully restored half-timber houses and narrow cobblestone alleys, which always brings back memories of my elementary school time and wedding.

 

I met one of my friends at the Palm Gardens, which I had discovered during my visit last year - even though I had worked minutes from the botanical garden for seven years.

As I was early in Frankfurt, I checked out the art in the train station Taunusanlage and sketched a figure of the Marshall-Brunnen, created in 1963 by Toni Stadler.

 

 

 

 

At the botanical gardens, the rhododendrons and early peonies were blooming brightly. I also found the most fascinating tree, the handkerchief tree. During our lunch break, I drew a tree that seemed to have leaves that were white on the bottom. When I got closer, I realized that the white leaves were beautiful blooms in the form of handkerchiefs.

Despite all the stunning plants, the longest-lasting memory will be the frogs who gave an impressive concert from the lily pond:

https://youtu.be/u0lpF1AW8SA.

 

I continued to Kronberg, where I met my husband, his cousin and his wife. I was proud of myself for walking more than 6 km in the Palm Gardens, a new high. However, when we had to walk up the steep streets of Kronberg, I was frustrated with exhaustion and struggled to make it up.


I walked more than 10 km that day because we decided to stick to public transportation and had to walk the last 2 km to reach my parents’ house because, at the late hour, there was no other bus available. While the German public transportation system is much better than the Canadian, you are usually still much faster if you need to transfer means of transportation despite heavy traffic. However, when time is not a factor, taking the train is often a much more relaxing way to travel.