Showing posts with label Europe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Europe. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Value-Added Tax (VAT) Refund in Europe


For those who travel and shop a lot, one important part of your journey, in my opinion, is being aware of the tax refunds you can get from all the shopping you've done (which you can use in your next travel holiday). You can do this through the Value-Added Tax (VAT) Refund Scheme in Europe (other countries also have their own tax-refund system).

During our travel in Europe, I didn't really plan on shopping but it was still worth the while to read on this topic. Lo and behold, it was useful.

continue reading.....
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Thursday, March 22, 2012

Day 21 - Farewell, Germany (2011)

Our last day in Germany, and in Europe. We still had to travel back to Frankfurt though for our flight back to Singapore. The others left early while we (me, hubby and the kids) left a few hours later. We thought of visiting the castle around 40mins drive away, but decided not to. We didn't want to drive to the airport in a rush.

 We packed our bags, settled the kids in the car, took a last look at the castle nearby (probably the last one we will see on this trip), and ventured north to Frankfurt. We passed by the autobahn again, and the speed demon in us wanted to test how fast we could go this time.
we've gone from 135... to 140...
then 150, and we thought that was it. We were running at 150 and cars still overtook us!
Final stretch and hubby put the pedal to the metal one last time. Then we were running at 175! Still we weren't the fastest on the lane. We were having adrenalin rush. But we weren't that crazy. We got to almost 180 and that was really it. We could say we were speed demons at the autobahn. It was quite an experience. And we're glad we exited the autobahn in one piece.

 After having traveled about 5340kms and covered 6 countries in 21 days, we really did have a vacation of a lifetime. 
 the first half of our Europe adventure (day 1 to day 10)
- from Frankfurt to Gelnhausen, Legoland, Heidelberg, Cologne, 
Luxembourg, Brussels, Amsterdam, Brugges then Paris....

second half of our Europe adventure (day 11 to day 21)
- from Paris to Versailles, Disney Paris, Thonon-les-Bains in France, to Montreux, Geneva, Lausanne, Bern, Thun, Interlaken, Luzern, Zurich in Switzerland, 
then back to Germany in the Black Forest region.

 Thanks to our very accommodating hosts (Tito Peter and Tita Ingrid, Ate and Volker) who made our stay really enjoyable and memorable. We will definitely miss them, and the places we have visited. They are all worth another visit (specially Switzerland).



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Monday, February 20, 2012

Day 20 - Black Forest, Germany (2011)

Full day of adventure yet again. This time to explore the beauty of the Black Forest. We expected to see the Black Forest, the cake and the cuckoo clocks.

our hotel for 2 nights at Germany's Black Forest area.
Privathotel Zur Freystatt am Wasserschloss
a 3 star hotel located just across a moated caste. We couldn't have asked for a better location. We booked this hotel because it was the mid-point of sorts to explore the Black Forest (97kms) and to visit the Hohenzollern Castle (38kms) as per hubby's request. Unfortunately, on this trip, we were not able to even have a glimpse of the Hohenzollern Castle. Proof that we really couldn't squeeze everything we wanted to see and do, even if we have a planned itinerary. Things will happen unexpectedly.

We just had to comfort ourselves with the fact that, upon getting out of the hotel, we were welcomed by the site of a moated castle just across the road. We didn't really notice the beauty of this place, and the castle across, since we arrived quite late last night.

Wasserschloss Glatt (Water Castle)
said to be one of the best-preserved castles within the land of Baden-Wurttemberg.One of the few remaining water towers in Germany. Also one of the oldest Renaissance castles in southern Germany.The castle has been opened as a museum and cultural centre since November 2001. - wikipedia
another view of the moated castle with a cross

our route for the day covering around 270kms of the Black Forest area

First stop was at Freiburg which was about 1.5hrs drive from the hotel. The city was the hub of the Breisgau region on the western edge of the Black Forest in the Upper Rhine Plain, famous for its ancient university and medieval minster. (wikipedia)


I didn't really expect to see the city as it is - booming with trade, a mix of the ancient times with it's architectures, and modern world (with the shops and restaurants surrounding the town centre).


We looked for a parking space and a place to have lunch. We ended up with a pizza place, grabbed a quick bite, and walked around the city.


approaching the medieval minster



Freiburg Minster
the cathedral of Freiburg
The last duke of Zähringen had started the building around 1200 in romanesque style, the construction continued in 1230 in Gothic style. The minster was partly built on the foundations of an original church that had been there from the beginning of Freiburg in 1120. In 1827 the Minster became the seat of the Catholic archbishop of Freiburg and thus a cathedral. - wikipedia
Surrounding the minster were several flea-market-sort-of-stalls (mobile booths). Some were selling flowers. Others were selling wooden toys. There was one which sold native woven bags. I was tempted to buy one, but I knew we still had a long way to go so had to give up that "want" :)


From the minster, we headed to the visitor information centre located at the Altes Rathuas. The kids stayed near the shops where there were benches, while the other adults shopped around for footwear (Birkenstock was cheap in this area) while my sis-in-law and I went to the visitor centre. We asked for a map and suggested itinerary to better explore the Black Forest. Even though we already have an itinerary in mind, it was still best to ask for the experts in the area.


this was a map given to us which highlighted the route we should take to see the best of Black Forest with the limited time we had. It was actually the same route we had planned, but additional directions from the tourist office people helped a lot.

The tourist information centre also sold some postcards and souvenirs. We bought several postcards and mailed them to our hosts from Germany, as well as to the grandparents in the Philippines.

There were some magnets and mini cuckoo clocks on display at the counter. I was particularly interested in this one:

a wooden mini cuckoo clock which really cuckoo. Cool! I was still wondering whether to take it or wait for another shop along the way where I may find a better one. But this looked too cute (and the cost was reasonable enough at Euro 6.95) to pass so I bought it.

We walked back to where the rest of the group was, had the kids write their messages on the postcards, mailed the postcards and headed back to the carpark to start our Black Forest expedition.

Second stop, Todtnau (31kms away) to see the falls. 

a few minutes walk from the carpark to the falls itself.

There was a path leading to the falls. You can choose to go the longer but flat route, or the slightly shorter but steeper, staircase.

Todtnau Falls
97m drop, the highest in Germany


what's good about this place was that there were several benches/sitting areas where people could take a break and admire the falls.

this bench in particular was a reclined bench. I had the chance to lie down, close my eyes for a while, and listen to the sound of the water falling.


the kids were brave enough to climb into the boulders to get closer to the falls





this was as closer to nature as you can get

happy, cold feet 

maidens of the waterfalls



After spending sometime at the falls, it was time to move on to the next leg of the Black Forest exploration drive.

 bidding farewell to a wooden statue at Todtnau

 had a chance to see a mountain goat while walking to the parking lot (which was just located along the highway)



we came upon this area with wind turbines

couldn't resist the photo opportunity

a glimpse into the Black Forest


Schlutsee
what a nice day to capture this mirror image from the lake

We actually just parked across the road.



Final stop of the trip was at Titisee-Neudstat. We were hoping to walk along the shore and then check out some shops selling cuckoo clocks. Unfortunately, we had to drive around, like 4 to 5 times, and couldn't find the exact spot where we should take a right turn to get into the town area. Once we took the left side of the road, we exited the town area into this vacant parking space and couldn't go back the same way since it's a one-way street. Somehow, after several tries, we were able to get the right turn and made it to town just before it got dark. 


a view of the Lake Titisee 

the town of Titisee

It was getting late, the breeze was getting colder. And we were getting hungry. It was time to find a place to eat. Most of the shops were already closed (one of the bummers in Europe cause shops close early). We walked around to check which ones were still open and ordered pork knuckles, pizza (yes, in Germany!), pasta and Black Forest cake (with rum).













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Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Day 19 - Trummelbach Falls, Lucerne and Zurich (2011)

Our last day in beautiful Interlaken. But before we bid goodbye to the beautiful Swiss scenery, we needed to go back to Trummelbach Falls to complete our Interlaken experience.

 We packed our bags yet again for the final leg of our trip, checked out from the bed and breakfast, and drove to see the waterfalls. While loading our luggage to the cars, we saw this shop across the street - something like a garage sale. Like instinct for most women, we (my sis-in-laws and I) went there to check out the stuff they have, and they did have A LOT of interesting things. I thought of buying some but later decided not to cause we didn't have that much luggage space anymore, and hubby wanted to rush to the waterfalls location. So we (hubby and the boys) drove to Trummelbach Falls first while my sis-in-laws stayed for a few more minutes to look and shop around.

We heard that around midday bus loads of tourists flock the area. So it was good that we arrived there quite early. There were only about 3-4 cars in the parking lot.


 
We walked towards the entrance gate where the tickets were sold. Good thing we brought along our hotel transpo pass, cause it entitled us to a discount on admission fees. For a family of 4 we only paid CHF 24 (originally CHF 11 for adults, CHF 4 for children).

photo op while waiting for the others to come

the Trummelbach Falls map
the steep ascent inside the tunnel lift which took us between the 6th and 7th waterfalls.
 From there, we had to decide whether we go up to the 8th to 10th chutes, or down to the 5th to 1st chutes.

Trummelbach alone drains the enormous glacial walls of Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau with up to a spectacular 20,000 litres of water per second. - http://www.truemmelbachfaelle.ch
closer view of one of the chutes




















passing thru built-in tunnels to get to the other chutes




finally made it out to get to the other chutes using man-made staircases

going down to the other chutes










view of the surrounding town from atop the mountain










the cork screw chute

look at how small the people were compared to the falling water






reaching out for the falls
the last of the 10 chutes

stopped by to see the map again. Were we able to see all of them? Yes, we were able to!

goofed around at the field before making the long drive to the last 2 cities of Switzerland en route to Germany
ready....
get set....
jump!

all the boys wearing their Brussels Manneken Pis shirts 
and doing the Manneken Pis "stunt"

When we were done jumping around the field, we headed off to Lucerne and Zurich, the final legs of our Switzerland trip. It was an amazing drive up north as we saw the alps and the many other water falls along the way.

reminded us of our trip to New Zealand where there were also waterfalls galore


took snap shots of the faraway falls while on a winding road up the mountains


snow-capped mountains

a great place to stop and admire the view



there were pretzel-like roads that we travelled 

farewell, Interlaken

we stopped by a gasoline station to pump gas and have lunch at the pizza place next to it.
Plus point for this area was the play ground for the kids.
very big playground the kids enjoyed the whole afternoon


We had lunch and had a good chat while the kids were playing. We almost didn't realize it was already very late in the afternoon and we still had to drive to Lucerne and Zurich before finally checking in to our hotel in Sulz-Glatt! So off we went.

When we arrived in Lucerne, we first wanted to see the Lion Monument. We followed what the GPS was telling us, and got lost! We were wondering why on earth it took us to a dead end, and at the centre of the city. Based on the pictures we saw, it should have been somewhere remote.

We asked around for directions. We didn't get accurate answers and so we decided to look for a parking place and walk from there. From the parking place, we looked for a local map (they have it on the streets) and worked our way from there.

First attraction we saw on the way was....

Chapel Bridge (Kapellbrucke) 
built in 1333, is a long and winding wooden bridge which spans the Reuss River in the centre of Lucerne. It includes the landmark Water Tower. -http://www.virtualtourist.com
Rathaussteg
overlooking the buildings at Rathausquai

that's me checking out the city map - we're kinda lost....
swans on the river

We walked over to the other end of Chapel Bridge and traversed the Schweizerhofquai, passing by a Hermes boutique (but didn't get into it) until we saw the church towers.
From there we turned left into Lowenstrasse until we reached Lowenplatz. There was a big parking place in the middle of the road filled with tourist buses. We knew we were already close to the Lion Monument by then.

 We took the smaller street of Lowengartenstrasse (to the right of Suva building) then to Denkmalstrasse until we reached the Lion Monument which was inside a gated park (so unexpectedly).
Lion Monument - the Lion of Lucerne
Helvetiorum Fidei ac Virtuti ("To the loyalty and bravery of the Swiss"). The dying lion is portrayed impaled by a spear, covering a shield bearing the fleur-de-lis of the French monarchy; beside him is another shield bearing the coat of arms of Switzerland. The inscription below the sculpture lists the names of the officers, and approximate numbers of the soldiers who died (DCCLX = 760), and survived (CCCL = 350). - wikipedia
we were actually expecting something bigger in size, based on what we've seen in travel books. We also didn't expect the water feature in front of the monument. We thought we would be able to get closer (again as seen in travel books).


a sculpture designed by Bertel Thorvaldsen and hewn in 1820-21 by Lucas Ahorn. It commemorates the Swiss Guards who were massacred in 1792 during the French Revolution, when revolutionaries stormed the Tuileries Palace in Paris. - wikipedia

Now that we've seen it, we were ready to walk back to the carpark, and continue our journey to Zurich.

the kids really enjoyed the huge ice cream cones in Europe

 It was already a bit late when we arrived in Zurich. We didn't really have any itinerary to explore the city. We just walked close to the lake, at Burkiplatz, and lingered for a few minutes, soaking in the atmosphere and how the locals spend their after 7pm time on a weekday.
Passing by Zurich

Bidding farewell to Switzerland, we continued our journey to our final hotel at Sulz-Glatt - Privathotel Zur Freystatt am Wasserschloss. We arrived at the hotel very late at night (yet again). We were definitely the last ones to check in. 
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