Feb 22, 2013

Online Booking and the Cheapest Days to Fly

If you reside in Germany, then the cheapest days to fly are Tuesdays (going) and Wednesday (returning). If you can do your booking 34 days in advance, this will save you some additional money.

In addition to watching your booking date and departure/arrival dates, we have found that the internet online travel agency Opodo is more straightforward than billigfluege.de .When we booked our son’s return trip from the UK with Opodo for euro 130,52, all that showed as an extra charge – just before you push “book now”- was the credit card surcharge of euro 4,09.

When it came time to book another flight for the same route Frankfurt – Birmingham, my travel companion forwarded another internet online travel agency link, because of an even lower price, and this time it was with billigfluege.de.

The same flight was advertised for euro 114, but just before you click “book now”,  the VAT of 19% and a credit card fee of euro 8 p.p. are added on the very last page.

Having entered all our information, we proceeded and in the end, we even paid euro 10 more per person. The slightly higher price is no problem, I just don’t like the way billigfluege.de got us on this one.

We will stick with Opodo from now on.

Oct 19, 2012

Notes from Germany

On Twitter, I discovered the link for Karen McCann’s book Dancing in the Fountain and it looks like a book I might just order. Just for dreaming about the things I have not done. For many years I had been plagued by the wanderlust, but this is slowly coming to an end.

I found the following comment on Nora Dunn’s website The Professional Hobo and quote the author, Karen McCann’s words about her book:

I want to demonstrate that living abroad isn’t as difficult as many people think. People often say they wish they could live the way I do. While some truly can’t, due to career, family or other circumstances, often the only real barrier is that they can’t imagine how to go about it. I wrote Dancing in the Fountain to give people ideas about how it can be done and what fun it can be.

At the moment, we are bound to stay where we are. Our income is fairly secure, which is especially important with a child attending a U.K. university and having to pay the tuition fee, accommodation, etc. Guess we are not moving anywhere anytime soon.

But on a different note, I might not pack up and move to Spain like the author did, but I have just booked a trip to Mallorca. Interestingly enough, last week Tuesday, my neighbor was telling me about her upcoming trip to Malle and I had to ask where that was. Nowadays, this is the common German term for Mallorca, or so I was informed. I had no idea I would be booking a trip there myself that very same evening… after I had gotten an e-mail reminder a couple of days earlier for a promise I had made in the summer.

Days before, I had been searching online for a suitable getaway location and price. What I had found online was quite expensive or let’s say nothing for less than 500 euro. With only 2 1/2 days to spare, I was hoping for something around the 350 euro mark.

I contacted a travel agent friend from my hometown, who was able to get us a return flight, two nights in a hotel with breakfast and dinner, and a single room for only 277 euro (per person). This seems to be an excellent deal!

She also informed me that flights have gotten rather expensive except for going to Mallorca. There are so many Germans going there – we often refer to it as our 17th German state – that there are less expensive, chartered flights almost year round.

I think I will order the book for my holiday reading on Mallorca. All I want to do there is read, take photos, walk, talk to locals, eat, and drink.

For your dreams of wanderlust, take a look at the book Dancing in the Fountain: How to Enjoy Living Abroad available from Amazon.de

Oct 14, 2012

15 Travel Sites in Germany

A while ago, the German ADAC listed 15 recommended travel sites around Germany. The emphasis was on traveling within the country for families in search of a local tropical rainforest, a ride in a Venetian gondola or nights out dancing to Caribbean music.

All this can be had in Germany.

1. Visit “Gondwanaland” (40 exotic animals and 500 kinds of plants) at the Leipzig Zoo.

www.zoo-leipzig.de  -> entrance 17 € for adults

 

  1. Reggae rhythm at Lake Chiemsee

Once a year, the city of Übersee at the Chiemsee becomes the capital of Reggae music. Every year, 30.000 visitors come to enjoy Caribbean nights and days.

 

www.chiemsee-reggae.de -> day ticket 52 €

 

  1. Hollywood at the Rheinau Port

 

There is an open-air movie theater at the Rheinau Port in Cologne. Check the website for the current movies.

www.openairkino.de/koeln -> 7 €

 

  1. The best view over Stuttgart from an ice cream parlor (26 flavors).

 

www.eis-bistro-pinguin.de -> one ice cream scoop for 90 Cent

 

  1. Rock climbing in the Elbsandstein Mountains

The Sächsische Schweiz (Saxon Switzerland) is famous for its rock climbing terrain, with walls ranging from 10 m to 90 m in height. Recommended starting place, e.g. Rathen.

 

www.elbsandsteingebirge.de

 

  1. The Amazon of the North

 

Turtles, cranes, deer, and more – there is much to see on the shores of the river Wakenitz. Because of its wild nature, it is often referred to as the Amazon Jungle of the North. Best to explore by steam boat from Lübeck.

 

www.wakenitzfahrt.de -> 16 €

 

  1. Lama rides in the Taunus Mountains

You do not have to leave the country to go on a lama tour. In Usingen, the lama tour owner, Tilman Richter, offers accompanied tours throughout the Taunus mountains.

www.lama-llamera.de  -> 70 €

 

  1. Romantic Gondola ride in Bamberg

Hans Riegler is your German version of an Italian gondolier when he takes you in his gondola down the river Regnitz in Bamberg. The gondala is an original one from Venice.

 

www.gondel.info -> 60 € for 30 minutes

 

  1. Camping in dunes of the Baltic Sea

The Regenbogen – Camp in Prerow at the Baltic Sea is the only place in Germany where you can camp right at the beach.

 

www.regenbogen-camp.de -> starting at 5 €

 

  1. The best lake for fishing, swimming, and snorkeling in Germany

About 80 km north of Berlin, the Stechlinsee promises tranquility. Recommended reading: Theodor Fontane’s novel “Der Stechlin”.

No website listed

 

  1. From Munich to Space

You may count the stars! The best time to visit is in August. Consider taking a tour of the Bavarian Volkssternwarte in Munich.

 

www.sternwarte-muenchen.de  -> tour starting at 5 €

 

  1. Amusement Park Phantasialand near Brühl

This park has six different theme park sections (Fantasy, Deep in Africa, Berlin, Mexico, Mystery and China Town)

 

www.phantasialand.de -> starting at 37,50 €

 

  1. Skyscraper Tour in Frankfurt

There is a reason why the banking section in Frankfurt is often dubbed Mainhattan (Main River).

Enjoy  a guided tour, leave your acrophobia behind and visit (among others) the Commerzbank Tower, the tallest building in Europe at 300 meters.

 

www.frankfurt.de

www.frankfurter-stadtevents.de

 

  1. Paddling on Lake Constance

At Lake Constance (in German known as the Bodensee), the Surf School Wasserburg offers courses in the trendy sport activity Stand Up Paddling (SUP).

 

www.surfschule-wasserburg.de -> course starting at 29 €

 

  1. Germany’s highest mountain – The Zugspitze

In good weather, you can see up to 400 mountain peaks in the distance of 250 km. Of course, there is also a Biergarten at the top. There is also a registrar’s office, yes, you can also get married up there!

 

www.zugspitze.de    -> mountain and valley ride 48 €

My personal favorites are 6 and 10. I do love the water, but tend to stay away from heights.

Frankfurt/Main

 

Aug 20, 2012

A Good Reason to Travel

He travels best that knows when to return.

– Thomas More –

Meadow in a flower box

Jul 27, 2012

Notes From Udaipur, India

This is Nobuko’s travel report. From India, with love.

—

July 2012 Udaipur: Second Round

—
So now a full circle has been made – I returned to Udaipur on 18 July. I took a night bus from Jodhpur which was by far the worst ride. Throughout my trip, the quality of taking the night bus with a sleeper kept declining. I don’t know why. It left Jodhpur at 10pm and I fell asleep despite the bumpy ride. But a fellow passenger woke me up around 1:30am and said that I had to get off the bus.
—
I looked around and everyone was gone. Seemed that the bus we were on had broken down and we had to wait for another one. We all sat around – about 2:30am another bus came with passengers on it already, but amazingly we were all able to get in. People made sure that I got a sleeper slot. Only after that, they sat on the floor in the corridor, where there was no seat. This was how all of us managed to stay on.
—
The temperature in Udaipur had dropped since I visited almost three weeks back. But this time I had to swat at mosquitoes! I stayed at the same hostel, Hanuman Ghat, run by friendly Babaji. Udaipur is well set up for us foreign tourists with bookstores that sell books in English, coffee shops that make great sandwiches (if you are missing western bread and good coffee), and zillions of money exchange outlets that offers a very good rate at 54 R, far better than Mumbai’s 51 R. I found the book Shantaram, a book recommended by many people.
—
I ran into the two Swiss girls I had met in Jodhpur, where we had been staying at the same hostel, then again here in Udaipur. They left for Goa the next day. After seeing them off, I went to a corner store to get toilet paper (no, I have not learned how to go without paper). The store keeper was a very friendly woman called Vidhya. She told me about a festival that went on by one of the lakes, and invited me to go with her on the day that was reserved specially for women only: No Gents!  Vidhya told me that it was done this way to prevent “gents going crazy”. Yeah, I understand and appreciate it 🙂
—
On the day of the festival, I arrived at her store and found her dressed in a very nice sari. Her mom, aunt, nieces and nephews came along too. The kids were so cute, and kept me in good company. The little ones swung from my arms and climbed on my back and made me into a playground jungle gym. I am glad that my body held up for such a roughing.
—
The festival was like a street fair lined with vendors, where people browsed and bought snacks, wind-up toys that made awful noises, and inflated dinosaurs, etc…. A garden, which normally charges an entrance fee was free on that day, and we picnicked there. Vidhya and her family brought home cooked food (aloo, bhindi, chapatti and sweets called sheel). Vidhya wanted to take a boat ride in the lake. We all stood in the ticket line, and maybe because I was with a big family, I was able to buy it at  Indian price (although I was ready to pay the foreign price). I like this kind of inconsistency.
—
Udaipur is my last stop in Rajasthan. All in all, it is definitely not a boring place to visit. And the forts and palaces are just so romantic. I thought many times that I would never come to Rajasthan again,but I now think that I will come again if I have a chance, hopefully with company to make it more pleasant.
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