Augsburg Plarrer is magic

I walked 8 miles today.  A little over 1 mile to train station. Train to Munich about 45 minutes. Walked 6 miles in Munich. Then train back from Munich and mile back to hotel.

I would like some sympathy please....

Going from Vienna to Germany, there is a stark contrast. They feel as different as night and day. Vienna felt very fancy, opulent. In Germany, you come back down to earth from your lofty perch. Germany doesn't feel fancy, it feels practical. The architecture is distinct, but now showy. 

The people here in Augsburg like to have a good time, as witnessed by the folk festival (Plarrer)  going on next to the hotel. We went and listened to music in one of the beer tents last night and people were standing on the seats, singing along, shouting, clapping. It was really fun. Many were wearing their lederhosen and dirndl. 

The Plarrer has made staying in Augsburg really fun. Everyday, thousands of people go, taking their kids on rides, trying carnival games, drinking in the beer tents, listening to music. The German food is great. It's different every day. 

This place is where you see who German people really are, fun loving and proud. I am so glad we are staying in this smaller town (200,000) rather than a large city. It's a lot more fun.

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September 07, 2022 at 07:49PM

Augsburg renters pay 87 cents a year for an apartment

 Once upon a time there was a rich man named Jakob Fugger who was very rich and powerful and also a Count in the Holy Roman Empire. This guy is considered one of the richest guys ever. He lived in the early 1500's.

Now unlike some rich people, Jakob had a good side. He was a Catholic which is important to this story. In 1516 he built Fuggerai "as a place where the needy citizens of Augsburg could be housed". By 1523, 52 houses had been built. 

Eventually it expanded. A square and church were added. A wall was built around it with gates. It become like like a small medieval town. People were only charged what would have been equivalent to 87 cents a year, equal to one months pay back then. 

The main rule Jakob made was that the price would never go up and the place would exist forever. So the rent remains 87 cents a year for tenants to this day, 500 years later. 

It now consists of 67 houses, 147 apartments. About 150 people live there. There is a church. The rules he made were:

1) You had to be Catholic (they were a minority in Augsburg and lived poorly)

2) You had to have good standing in the community

3) You had to be poor.

4) You had to do some job in the complex part time. 

The houses have 2 stories, an apt on each level, consisting of a living room, kitchen, bedroom and small extra room. Originally they didn't have bathrooms but they do now. It was communal. The first floor has a back garden. The 2nd floor has use of an attic.

The gates close at 10 pm. Anybody trying to get in after 10 is fined.

If you visit there is a museum with a model of the original apartments. Then there is another model with the modern version. Both are very well done. It's obvious that he wanted them to live in quality places and that continues today. 

People of all ages live there and can stay as long as they want. There is a social worker to help. There is a resident council and administration. 

Nineteen generations later, the Fugger family still runs it and there is a foundation that supports it through investments. Jakob put money in an account for investment way back in the 1500's. His nephew set up a financial structure to insure the future of the community. Amazing!

The end.

Pictures: 1) street with homes

                2) All the homes look alike. People would go in other peoples places by mistake. So the made a door knocker on a string. Ever place has a different pull design. Problem solved.

  

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September 06, 2022 at 08:41PM

Travel lessons learned

Warning: Bit of a rant ahead. 

 How am I feeling about the trip? Good. I think we have made some mistakes in planning this month.

So originally we were going to go to France, to Paris, for the month of September. It is expensive in Paris. Too expensive. We’ll go to Paris in October we thought, less expensive. So let’s go to Berlin. Again still too expensive now.

Now what? How about a week in Vienna? Found a reasonable airbnb. Ok. Done. Let’s go to Munich for a week. Done. Then let’s go to Geneva for a week. Then to Lyon. That takes up the month we would have been in Paris and going there in October, it will be cheaper.

Can you see where we went wrong? What we’re we thinking spending a week here and there? Crazy idea. Not only too short of a time at these cool cities but running ourselves ragged with the transport.

We started this part flying from Dublin to Vienna. No problem. Figured out how to get to our air bnb easily. Transport to center easy. Too little time in a great city like Vienna. Then things get tricky. 

We took train to Augsburg, outside Munich. That involved 4 trains and a 20 minute walk to the hotel. Turns out Augsburg is 45 minutes away from Munich and it’s not a cheap ride there. Hotel is not really conveniently located even within Augsburg. We’re mostly walking. 

Next stop Lausanne, Switzerland, outside Geneva. One week. It will take us 7 hours to get there. Should actually be a nice place on Lake Geneva and there are mountains right near there.

After that Lyon, France. One week. Only two hours from Geneva. 

So the point of all this? We never should have stayed in these places a week. It’s too little time, too much travel time.  Another lesson learned.

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September 05, 2022 at 08:06PM

Are people from Bavaria lederhosen wearing beer swizzlers?

 This city we’re staying in, Augsburg,was founded in 15 BC by order of Roman emperor Augustus. It was conquered by the Huns, Charlemagne. Cant say I know much about them. There was war between the Catholics and the Protestants (who always seem to be fighting each other).

It is part of Bavaria and the area is led by a political party called the Christian Social Union. They have been referred to as “lederhosen wearing beer swizzlers”. They espouse family values based on catholic teaching but are forward thinking in many others area such as the environment.

Maybe the Christian part of the Christian Social Union explains why nothing here is open on Sunday. Grocery stores, most restaurants, malls, you name it. I guess everybody is in church.

After church they came to the Augsburg Plaerrer, a 2 week folk festival, and partied like it was 1999.  Many wore lederhosen and the gals wore traditional dresses and drank from huge beer mugs. There were jaunty hats.

They ate schnitzel (what a great word), brats and very large pretzels. There were six large horses hitched up to pull a wagon of beer kegs. Fun was had by all.

So are people from Augsburg lederhosen wear beer swizzlers? No. They are proud of their traditions and like to have fun.

Train travel sucks everywhere

 These train days are gonna kill me. So this morning we took U Bahn (sort of subway) to Westbahnhoff station to get on the West Bahn train to Munich. Found platform fine. 

We get on train and you can check in automatically with a QR code on seat in front of you. It takes you to the train site, you put your seat number in and you are checked in. No ticket check necessary. Pretty cool.

It’s a four hour ride . It is so quiet on the train. On Ireland and English trains it was party city with people drinking and carrying on. Beautiful mountains along the way. 

We get to the German border crossing and the police come on to check passports and IDs. Takes a long time. Put us behind schedule. 

On to Munich. Now we thought we could go to Augsburg, where we are staying, from that station. We buy the tickets and look for the platform. We don’t find it. Of course we don’t.

So we go to the information and are told we have to go to another station for that train about 6 miles away. We need to take the subway to the new station. So we find that. Get to the station, find the platform, almost get on going the wrong way. Get on right train and get to Augsburg. It is a 20 minute walk to the hotel. We could have taken the tram but who wants to try and find that at this point? 

So just before we get to the hotel we find a carnival going ona bock away. M refuses to go on a ride with me. 

Another travel day in the books and ten more grey hairs.

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September 03, 2022 at 08:25PM

Top ten highlights of year long journey so far

Here are top ten fun takes on the trip so far:

1) Best looking men: Dublin hands down and I’m not saying that because I’m Irish.

2) Best transport system: Vienna. Its fairly cheap, easy to understand, clean, rarely jam packed. 

3) Best Mexican food so far: Pablo Picante, Dublin. It has become our mission to find good Mexican food in every city.

4) Best country so far: …and the award goes to Scotland. Scotland is beautiful. It is moody and dark. It really seems to celebrate its culture. I mean where else does a street performer get himself out of a straight jacket and chains? I loved it. 

5) Most interesting place: Ireland. It has such an interesting history and the history is all around you if you look for it. It haunts Ireland.

6) Most surprising place: Cardiff, Wales. We hadn’t planned to go to Wales. It’s not a place you hear much about. I really enjoyed how down to earth the people were. Not fancy.  Wales is beautiful and has a rich history. It is unappreciated.

7) Most diverse: London. It is a city filled with all different kinds of people . It felt like more people spoke foreign languages than English. The neighborhoods are diverse and interesting.

8) Grandest city: Vienna. The architecture is beautiful. It has hosted Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart. It has 450 balls a year. This fills like a city made for rich people. If you have money, you can live the high life here.

9) Funnest place: London. From its packed underground to its grand palaces to its funky neighborhoods like Camden town, it is just a lot of fun. So much to see.

10) Where I want to go back to: Scotland. I would like to see the rest of this beautiful country. I would like to return to Litlingow and the gorgeous Loch there. I just love the culture, the nooks and crannies and stories in Scotland. 

The end.

Is Vienna too good for mere mortals?

 

Vienna is a place that leaves you awestruck. It is one beautiful building after another. Even the big apartment buildings people live in are elaborate. 

In the central part of Vienna there is an area called the Innere Stadt. It is a sort of oblong circle. It is the place where the Roman’s originally made a settlement. It was surrounded by stone walls, like many ancient towns, for defense. 

As the city grew outside the walls into the the mid 1850’s, the walls were destroyed but a wide boulevard remained now called the Ringstrabe. Elaborate buildings were built in the baroque style of architecture, many were museums, government buildings, libraries along the boulevard.

So many of the opulent buildings of central Vienna were built in the last part of the 19th century. Looking at them, you would think they are much older but they aren’t. The architects built them in old architectural styles like Baroque.

I had been wondering why so many buildings had statues along the top edge and this is part of the Baroque style. Baroque is dramatic, has elaborate details. Doorways are often embellished. Architectural details are added to even simple, practical buildings like apartment buildings. 

If you could use a couple of words to describe Vienna , it would be dramatic, opulent. Everything is bigger here and more opulent. Ordinary stores, apartments are in beautiful buildings. This place is so grand it feels too good for mere mortals.

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September 01, 2022 at 08:14PM