Hildesheim Germany

Last week we went to Hildesheim. Hildesheim is a very beautiful city in Lower Saxony in Germany. We stayed in Hotel van der Valk Hildesheim. which was situated at the very famous market square.

We had a beautiful, very big room. on the fifth floor, the attic I called it!

 

Our view from the attic on the historic market square:

They advise you to shop in Hannover, well I can tell you, you don't need to go to Hannover to shop, you can shop perfectly fine in Hildesheim! They have a lot of stores, a whole lot to be exact and nice streets to walk in, you don't need to go anywhere else. I love to buy Kneipp in Germany, because in the Netherlands a bottle costs 8 or 9 euros, here in Germany 2 or 3 euros and they have limited editions here we don't have.

We went sightseeing in Hildesheim, they have very old buildings and very beautiful churches! There is so much history here, you can just feel it by walking around here! In the Mariendom they have a rose-tree which is a thousand years old! We didn't see the rose, but we did see the church!

Nearby is also St. Michaels Church, also very beautiful.

If you would like something to eat, you would have to eat Jagerschnitzel mit pommes!! We eat this in Amadeus Cafe and Restaurant. If you see the restaurant you would probably walk by it, but just go in! The schnitzel is very good and very big and very cheap. We paid 10,90 euro for a big plate!!

And it had uns sehr gut geschmeckt!!

By the bar from the hotel, Stadtschenke, you can get the best cocktails in town!

After a very good night sleep in the hotel, it was time for breakfast! Breakfast is very good, very much and very tasty here! They make you freshly juiced orange juice, they make waffles freshly baked (stay away from the waffles, once you start you cannot stop eating them!). And they make you omelet with ingredients you can add like tomato, mushroom, cheese etc.

We enjoyed our stay here very much!

After checking out, we went to take a little drive to the Harz. That is not very far from Hildesheim and you have beautiful nature scenes here. I didn't want to go home, it was too beautiful!!

We loved every moment of our stay and one night is way to few to discover Hildesheim and its surroundings!! I thought it looked like a fairy tale already, but imagine Hildesheim in the snow, that would be a certainly a scene out of a fairytale book!

Edwins Facebook has more nice pictures of Hildesheim. Take a look there if you like!

Danke schon Hildesheim, wir kommen gerne wieder. Wir hatten viel Spass gehat. Hildesheim und the Harz sind sehr schon!!

Edinburgh Scotland

We went to Edinburgh, Scotland. The land of whiskey, bagpipes and haggis! Ans we loved every minute of it!!

We booked via D-Reizen and there was no transfer involved. So we panicked, what should we do? We asked our hotel if they could arrange a transfer and they pointed us to the tram. We hesitated, but finally we went for the tram and boy are we not sorry!! We downloaded this app on our phone, M tickets and with this app we could purchase tram- or bustickets. You need to buy tickets for 10 pound each, but you could share your tickets so you don't need to spend 10 pounds each. You need to have the app both, but one buys the tickets (a return to the airport costs 8,50 pound for one). In addition to this we bought a day ticket for the bus for 4 pound. With this we made our very own hop on hop off bus ;-).

We arrived at the airport, you walk outside and there is the tram! Is it really easy. You swipe your ticket, then it is activated and you show it to the ticket controller in the tram. In the tram there are luggage bins, really easy and with 30 minutes you are in the city.

Our hotel wouldn't check us in before 15.00, so we had the whole day to discover Edinburgh. It is gorgeous!! Great looking cabs, phone booths, double-decker bus and a great red bus.

 What you should go see is off course the castle. There are lots of them, but this one you just can't miss!

Further more you can't miss the pubs, most of them have live music.

And you have to pay Bobby a visit. Bobby is a little dog, who keep watch by his masters grave for 14 years, until he passed away himself.

He is buried at the cemetery behind the Greyfriars Bobby pub. It is very impressive to walk around there. I understand that story's like Harry Potter were born in Edinburgh, because all the buildings throughout the whole city speak to your imagination.

After a fish and chips with a Lager beer it was time to go to bed. The next day we would take a Highland tour with Grayline.

I would recommend Grayline because they pick you up from your hotel. Our driver was Dougie (Douglas official), you should get him. He is very funny, talks really Scottish and knows a whole lot of the history.

The first stop was in Callander, also known as the gateway to the Highlands. Here we stayed for 30 minutes to get some breakfast.

The next stop was at Glencoe. We stopped here for about 10 minutes to take pictures.

It is beautiful here. Ans to my surprise there was this wee boy, who played the bagpipes and very well may I add. I think it is wonderful that the youth learns to play this instrument, please keep it alive!!

Then we drove all the way to fort Augustus, beter known as Loch Ness. Be aware if you take this tour that the main objective is Loch Ness and the rest is extra. At Loch Ness we stop for two hours. You can do an additional boottour here for 13 pound each.

We didn't see Nessie so we went back to the hotel. The tour is twelve hours in the bus. You see a lot while you are in the bus, but they rarely stop. But we have seen enough, that meaning that we will definitely go back to the Highlands!!!!

The next morning we got up really early and went to Arthurs Seat.

One tip: go around the left of the mountain!! We went right and we had this very difficult, steap path to walk and when we thought we were there, we had to go down and then up again. When you go left, you don't have this problem! If you are finally up there, you have the best view of the town. On top of the world!!

We will certainly return to Scotland and to Edinburgh, because I haven't had the time to drink whiskey and listen to live music! We will not return to our hotel, hotel Piries. We travel a lot, but this was seriously the baddest hotel I have ever been to. There were stains on the bed, staff smoking under our window and when we returned from Arthurs Seat, we were 8 minutes late for breakfast and they didn't want to give a even a cup of coffee, because we were late. The male receptionist was very rude, he jawned in front op people, he grabbed cakes for the guests from the breakfast and ate them himself. After we couldn't have breakfast, he made himself a sandwich. No manners this guy unfortunately. I must say that Julia, the receptioniste, was very helpful, compliments for her.

We are definitely in love and we will return!!

When you think what a bad pictures, you are right, these are all mine. If you want to see really good, mind-blowing pictures please take a look at Edwins Facebook album Edinburgh and Edwins Facebook album Highlands

Weihnachtsmarkt Essen

Christmas Fair in Essen

It is time for the Christmas Fair!

Tough choice, there are so many nice places and markets to pick from. My personal favorite is Essen, Germany!

Essen haas a nice market, not to big. Dusseldorf for instance has a large market, but it is ready crowded. You don't need to walk, people will push you forward. In Essen that will not happen so soon. They have a very nice mall, so you will have a great day there!

And Essen had a large Primark (6 floors) and parking is easy and cheap, so why not choose Essen?

We start at the Mc Cafe for a good coffee and nice cake!

You should go to the market when it gets dark, the lights are the most beautiful then.

You can find lots of stuff at the market and the ambiance is great in Essen.

You cannot leave Essen without a ride in the big wheel.

 From all this you get angry, so you go to the market to get some food. There is lots to get, those Germans know what the good life is ;-). Flamkuchen, noodles and off course bratwurst mit pommes!

And Gluhwein!

So if you are looking for a Christmas fair to go to, I recommend Essen, Germany, cheap and easy parking, nice mall and great people and ambiance. Here is a link to their website, here you can find the times the market opens and closes etc.

Season greetings to you all!

Utrecht nice citrytrip

I write about city's en countries other than my own, but why not write about a perfect city trip to the Netherlands? This blog is about Utrecht!

Utrecht is a very lovely city and especially the "Gracht" is the place to be to eat and go out at night.

If you are looking for a nice place to eat at the Gracht and you like Thai, you should definitely go to Mahanakorn. You can eat here very good Thai and drink Singha beer!

If you like steak, you can also walk a little further and walk to Janskerkhof, here you will find Hofman Cafe. This is a very nice place, good food, nice people, take a look, you won't be disappointed!!

If you have a little budget, but you want to eat fresh and good, you can go to la Place. Here you can have breakfast, lunch and dinner for a small price, but always with fresh ingredients. You can find la Place in the big warehouse V&D.

Unfortunately I cannot recommend any hotels because I have never slept in Utrecht in a hotel. So I don't know what is a good hotel and what is not, I am sorry.

Utrecht is a very beautiful city, with very beautiful buildings, such as the Dom.

And the Muntgebouw.

If you like to get away from the city for a day, you have so many options in Utrecht. For instance you can visit Castle de Haar in Haarzuilens, very near Utrecht. It is a beautiful castle with very beautiful gardens surrounding it and there are planting a whole new forest nearby!

So you can see Utrecht is worth a visit!!