Lime Electric Scooters arrive in Prague, Czech Republic

17 Wednesday Oct 2018

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Lime green electric scooters have appeared in Prague over the last few weeks. People whizz past on them. You can spot them parked unattended in the streets and nobody seems to steal them. I decided to find out what the deal is with these scooters.

I found https://www.li.me/ – quite smart to use the .me extension to make the word lime as I’m sure lime.com would cost a lot more. It turns out that this US company has placed electric scooters across the US and now Europe.

I downloaded the Lime app from the app store, entered my details and looked for a scooter.

I’m amazed at how many scooters I could find, although several looked a bit low on battery.

I found a scooter and clicked ‘scan to ride’ – there was a QR code on the scooter. The Lime app linked with Apple Pay and took 25Kc. The app also warned that I needed to obey local regulations, be over 18 and have a full driving licence. It’s a bit surprising that I was able to get so far without anyone actually verifying my age or driver status. I also have no idea what the local regulations are for riding an electric scooter in Prague.

I decided to take the scooter to a quiet side street – it started beeping and I wasn’t sure what I was doing wrong. Then some guy appeared and asked if I’d rented the scooter and did I need some help. I was initially amazed that they had people around to assist – but then it turned out he was just some guy who wanted to rent the scooter and had pressed the bell button in the app in order to find it.

First issue with Lime: It doesn’t look like you can reserve a nearby scooter so it’s still there when you find it. You could see one on the map, walk to it, only to find that it’s been rented.

I rode the scooter – controls were quite easy, just accelerate and brake. The cobbled streets of Prague made the journey a bone-shaking experience.

Second issue with Lime: I don’t think they’ve considered the terrain in Prague.

I decided to park the scooter. This ‘How to Park’ Matrix-inspired video is pretty good, although it talks about cycles rather than scooters:

I left the scooter on a wide pavement and clicked ‘lock’ and ‘end ride’ in the app.

Within seconds, a couple, one on a Lime scooter, one running, had rented the scooter. They drove off and didn’t seem to mind being shaken about.

Well I have the Lime app now and I assume it works for any Lime scooter in any city. I’m not sure if I’d bother renting another scooter in Prague, unless it was to ride around a park that had smooth paths. But if I found myself somewhere else, I might use Lime for sightseeing.

https://www.li.me/

The Documentation Centre, Nuremberg, Germany

16 Tuesday Oct 2018

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Our visit to the Documentation Centre was part of our German Road trip (that page has links to all the hotels, restaurants and places visited).

I would say by far the most interesting places to the visit in Nuremberg are the old Nazi rally grounds (Zeppelinfeld) and the Documentation Centre. We were staying at the Hilton Nuremberg, which is walking distance to both – we visited the rally grounds first. If you are travelling from the centre, there is a tram that stops just outside the Documentation Centre – you then need to walk around the lake to the rally grounds.

The Documentation Centre has a modern entrance.

Admission is 6.00 € and that includes an audio guide – you enter the number shown on the area you are viewing for audio description in multiple languages.

The centre contains some harrowing historical scenes, some posters and memorabilia and a record of war crimes.

I thought this first picture was interesting as there was a small child calmly sitting next to it,  This despite the Documentation Center website advice: The exhibition at the Documentation Center is not suitable for children under the age of 14.

I suppose the history can’t be considered complete without this reference.

This art installation that shows the names (on cards) of those sent to concentration camps

All the installations are presented really well.

There is also a terrace where you can look out to the Congress Hall.

You exit the centre via a long sloping walkway.

We stumbled into a room behind the café with supporting columns and an alternate view of the sloping walkway.

But someone from the museum appeared and made it clear that this wasn’t open to the public. I’d love to take a tour of the hidden spaces.

If you turn left at the exit, you can walk around to the Congress Hall entrance – there isn’t any signposting and you find yourself walking along a deserted portico.

That leads to the entrance.

Inside the place is vast – the plan was to add a roof, but the war was over before that happened.

Here is a 360 video that I took while there:

We retraced our steps and returned to our hotel.

I would definitely recommend a visit but make sure you visit the parts that are unpackaged; Congress Hall and Rally Grounds.

Documentation Center
Bayernstraße 110
90478 Nuremberg
Germany

Admission 6.00 Euro

Monday to Friday: 9 am – 6 pm
Saturday, Sunday, holidays: 10 am – 6 pm
Last admission 5 pm

https://museums.nuernberg.de/documentation-center/

The Former Nazi Rally Grounds (Zeppelinfeld), Nuremberg, Germany

16 Tuesday Oct 2018

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Our visit to the Rally Grounds and Documentation Centre was part of our German Road trip (that page has links to all the hotels, restaurants and places visited).

I would say by far the most interesting places to the visit in Nuremberg are the old Nazi rally grounds (Zeppelinfeld)and the Documentation Centre. We were staying at the Hilton Nuremberg, which is walking distance to both. If you are travelling from the centre, there is a tram that stops just outside the Documentation Centre – you then need to walk around the lake to the rally grounds.

What is interesting, although understandable, is how the rally grounds aren’t part of any tour, nor are they signposted when you visit the Documentation Centre. Equally, the huge Congress Hall, that the Documentation Centre is attached to, is something you need to find by yourself.

From the Hilton Nuremberg, we turned right, under a railway bridge, then right again to reach the rally grounds.

At the front of the building, there was a sign that said ‘Enter at your own risk’. I suppose because the steps have been left to deteriorate and some are now broken and uneven.

The place was pretty deserted. The old rally grounds now sports fields.

 

It’s amazing how accessible the place is – you can easily stand on the main plinth and imagine looking out on the rallies.

There was a small information poster at the top of the steps.

An image on glass allows you to look back in history.

The building used to have a large swastika at the top – this was blown up by the allied forces.

On either side of the parade grounds are building that provided toilets and a place for the large lights that shone upwards.

Having past the rally grounds, we followed a path around a lake. The Documentation Centre and Colosseum on the other side.

The Documentation Centre review is here.

Valzner Weiher Restaurant (Nuremberg)

15 Monday Oct 2018

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Our visit to the Valzner Weiher Restaurant was part of our German Road trip (that page has links to all the hotels, restaurants and places visited).

We were staying at the Hilton Nuremberg – a hotel way outside the centre of Nuremberg and not many nearby restaurants to choose from. The Valzner Weiher looked like a good place, set in the middle of a picturesque park with a lake.

 

Inside was a classic German restaurant.

And outside was a great terrace, although we sat inside as the whole of Germany seemed to be plagued by wasps (August 2018) and we also wondered about mosquitoes from the lake.

The staff were friendly. A Bier Herrnbrau was 3.80 €. A Wiener schnitzel was 16.80 €.

Salmon 16.20 €.

The food was okay, nothing amazing – during our week’s road trip, I learned that German food is still trapped in the 1980s. It’s sort of quaint in a way.

If you happen to find yourself at the Hilton Nuremberg, then it’s worth a walk round to Valzner Weiher – but there’s no reason to travel from Nuremberg centre unless you’re desperate to dine by a lake.

Valzner Weiher
Valznerweiherstr. 111
90480 Nürnberg

Tel: +49 09 11 40 44 24
E-Mail: info@valzner-weiher.de

Open daily: 11:30 – 22:00

http://www.valzner-weiher.de/

 

Hilton Hotel, Nuremberg, Germany

12 Friday Oct 2018

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Our stay at the Hilton Nuremberg was part of our German Road trip (that page has links to all the hotels, restaurants and places visited).

The Hilton Nuremberg is one those classic out-of-the-centre, middle-of-nowhere, Hiltons – ideal when you are driving as the car park was large and parking free.

Let’s start by saying that this hotel shouldn’t be a Hilton – maybe a Hilton Garden Inn at best. If it had a twin, then it would be the Hilton Watford, England. However, the rates are very cheap – you can get around 75 € per night. For HHonors Gold/Diamond members, a snack, a drink and breakfast are free, making that 75 € good value.

The hotel is walking distance to the old rally grounds and what is called ‘The Documentation Centre’, but is 20 minutes by bus from the city centre.

Next door was a local football stadium and I could see their pitch from the windows at the rear of the hotel.

The check-in desk staff were friendly, helpful and spoke English. They gave us vouchers to redeem at the bar and the help-yourself snack bar. The snack bar was almost empty, with hardly anything left from the menu to choose from.

Our ‘upgraded'(!) bedroom was okay for one night. The bathroom was hot, tiny, drains a bit smelly with a noisy extractor fan.

The hotel bar/restaurant was mostly empty. The bar staff really inattentive – obviously bored to be there, but not bored enough to serve customers.

We ate at the nearby Valzner Weiher Restaurant. There’s also a Burger King (turn right out of the hotel to the next traffic junction) which is housed in an old generator building used to power the floodlights at the nearby rally grounds.

Breakfast was better, with fresh orange juice, sparkling wine, all the usual pastries and hot food, including local sausages. For those whose rate didn’t include breakfast, the price was 24 € – at that price, you’d be better walking to Burger King.

There is no direct bus connection from the hotel to the Documentation Centre – you’d need to head back into the centre and then back out again. It’s about 30 minutes walk, but halfway there you can see the old rally grounds and then walk around a nice lake.

If you are on driving to Nuremberg and your main focus is to visit the Documentation Centre then this hotel will be okay – otherwise choose something in the city centre.

HILTON NUREMBERG HOTEL
VALZNERWEIHERSTRASSE 200,
90480, NUREMBERG,
GERMANY

TEL: +49-911-4029 0

http://www3.hilton.com/en/hotels/bavaria/hilton-nuremberg-hotel-NUEHIHI/index.html

Jacob’s Restaurant, Prague, Czech Republic

11 Thursday Oct 2018

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Jacob’s Restaurant now occupies the space that used to be Oliva Restaurant. Oliva wasn’t a bad place but suffered by being too expensive for a mid-week night, not quite good enough for a Saturday.

Jacob’s seem to have remedied the cost element with a reasonably-priced menu – well except for the wine which is completely out of step.

The interior has been re-decorated – the old Oliva wallpaper replaced with fake brick wallpaper.

A Hubertus 0.5l beer (yes, I hadn’t seen this beer before in Prague either) was only 39Kč. It’s a pretty good beer.

Fish and chips was 210 Kč and was good pub food.

The flank steak with a slightly odd jacket potato good value at 290 Kč.

The cheapest bottle of red Czech wine was 360 Kč. The cheapest glass of non-Czech wine was 130Kč – I think that was Montepulciano. I have no idea why they have priced the beer so well but completely over priced the wine. On a really positive note – tap water is free.

Just like everywhere else in Prague these days, they offer a selection of burgers.

We’ll certainly return to Jacob’s and I think it has a good chance of survival – let’s just hope they make the wine affordable.

Jacob’s Restaurant
Plavecká 404/4,
Praha 2 128 00

+420 222 520 288

https://www.jacobsrestaurant.cz/

Open every day: 11:00 – 23:00

Lake Königssee, Berchtesgaden, Germany

10 Wednesday Oct 2018

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Our visit to Eagle’s Nest was part of our German Road trip (that page has links to all the hotels, restaurants and places visited).

Situated within the Berchtesgaden Alps, the Königssee lake is 7.7 km (4.8 mi) long and 1.7 km (1 mi) across at its widest point. The lake is similar to a fjord, being surrounded by the steeply-rising flanks of mountains. The lake is noted for its clear water and is advertised as the cleanest lake in Germany. For this reason, only electric-powered passenger ships, rowing, and pedal boats have been permitted on the lake since 1909.

We visited the local town of Schönau am Königssee at the Northern end of the lake. We needed to leave and drive to Nuremberg, so we didn’t have time to take the boat trip. There was also a cable car that we had to skip. Maybe next time.

The whole place is picturesque, although there were still plenty of wasps around (August 2018) doing their best to ruin things. I’d certainly recommend a visit, even if, like us, you only have time to stroll around.

Lake Königssee, Berchtesgaden, Germany

https://www.berchtesgaden.de/en/nature/lake-koenigssee

 

Eagle’s Nest (Kehlsteinhaus) Berchtesgaden, Germany

09 Tuesday Oct 2018

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Our visit to Eagle’s Nest was part of our German Road trip (that page has links to all the hotels, restaurants and places visited).

The Kehlsteinhaus (known as the Eagle’s Nest) is a Third Reich-era building erected atop the summit of the Kehlstein (1,834 m (6,017 ft) a sub-peak of the Hoher Göll that rises above the town of Berchtesgaden. Eagle’s Nest was visited on 14 documented instances by Adolf Hitler – he didn’t live there, instead had a house down the mountain near the Hotel zum Türken. Today, Eagle’s Nest is open mid-May to mid-October as a restaurant, beer garden and tourist site.

It was difficult to find information about the buses that take visitors up the mountain. If you search for Eagle’s Nest, you’ll mostly likely find https://www.kehlsteinhaus.de/english/ but this is a tour company selling tickets for 24.50 € and a minimum of 20 people. What you need is the website for the RVO-Bus company http://www.rvo-bus.de/oberbayernbus/view/freizeittipps/ausflugsbusse/eagles-nest.shtml – a return ticket is 16.60 € and that includes an elevator to the top.

We used Salzbergstraße 41, 83471 Berchtesgaden for the sat nav and parked in the Documentation Centre car park. It was just a few minutes walk to the bus station. There wasn’t a queue (August 2018) and we purchased tickets for the next bus.

 

The bus takes the 6.8km winding road to a bus parking lot. The views from ether side of the bus are impressive; right-side has the first views, then left-side has higher views.

When you arrive at the upper bus parking lot, you need to choose a return time and get a ticket for the bus you want. I’d say you need at least an hour and at least two hours if you plan to eat – that not including any wait time for the elevator (there wasn’t a wait when we were there).

Then you walk through a 124m tunnel.

That takes you to a lobby and elevator entrance.

The overly-ornate, mirrored, elevator then takes you 124m to Eagle’s Nest. Yes that’s me trying to take a photo in a mirrored room.

The views from the top were spectacular. There was plenty of snow up there.

A path lead to the summit.

But as I only had a pair of trainers and a sweater (I’d worn shorts and a t-shirt in Berlin just a few days before), I skipped that walk and headed into the restaurant.

The restaurant is busy. Many tables are allocated to pre-booked groups. It took about 15 minutes before I spotted a group leaving and I immediately grabbed the table – a complete mess of half-eaten food and beer glasses. It took a while before the table was cleared. I wouldn’t say the wait staff were rude, more coldly-efficient, dealing with a sea of visitors, none of whom likely to return – it’s amazing the service and food quality isn’t terrible. As it was, we had a decent beer and snack that wasn’t expensive considering the location.

There are other areas to wander around, including some information boards with some history. Then we took the lift down and the tunnel back to the bus.

Even if you have some misgivings about the Nazi connection, I’d definitely recommend a visit to Eagle’s Nest.

We used Salzbergstraße 41, 83471 Berchtesgaden, Germany to find the bus station.

Return tickets to cost 16,60 € for adults and 9,60 € for children younger than 14 years. The elevator ride is included.

Buses run mid-May to mid-October. The first bus runs at 07:40 am and the last one leaves the Eagle’s Nest at 4:00 pm.

The Obersalzberg’s Nazi Bunkers (Berchtesgaden)

08 Monday Oct 2018

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Our visit to the Obersalzberg’s Nazi Bunkers was part of our German Road trip (that page has links to all the hotels, restaurants and places visited).

There is a huge bunker system in the Berchtesgaden hillside. Sadly, most of the tunnels are now sealed off and inaccessible. There are two intact bunker systems open to the public on the Obersalzberg. One is under the Documentation Center and included in the museum entry – although that was closed when we visited. The other bunker is under the Hotel zum Türken.

There are no sign posts advertising the bunker – just a small office on the side of the Hotel zum Türken where you purchase a ticket and enter.

I can’t remember the entrance price, but it was only a few Euros per person. There is a sign warning against photography. I mostly ignored that as I can only think the reason is so they can sell post cards and books.

There isn’t a tour, you can just wander freely after climbing down stop steps into the bunker complex.

There is a really steep set of steps that lead down to more tunnels/rooms – the entrance to Hitler’s own bunker is sealed off and an alarm sounds if you walk too close to it.

It’s a really interesting place to visit. And while you’re parked at the hotel, you may as well walk down the street a little, then back up an un-made road to the site of Hitler’s house. Only one side wall left now.

Hotel Zum Türken
Hintereck 2
D-83471 Berchtesgaden
Germany

https://www.hotel-zum-tuerken.com/bunker.html

Opening hours
summer: Open until Sunday, 4th of November 2018 daily (except Tuesday) from 10 am until 3 pm
winter: from 26th December 2018 until 7th January 2019 daily from 10am  to  2pm
Closed from 8th of January 2019 until they announce a new schedule.

Group requests and reservation (15 people or more)
only by email: hoteltuerkenobersalzberg@t-online.de

Mount Everest Indian Restaurant, Berchtesgaden, Germany

05 Friday Oct 2018

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Our visit to the Mount Everest Indian Restaurant was part of our German Road trip (that page has links to all the hotels, restaurants and places visited).

We were staying at the Hotel AlpinaRos – Demming which didn’t have any food available in the evening. Despite the pouring rain, we left the hotel and walked up a hill to what could be called the High Street in Berchtesgaden.

There wasn’t much available, although we did almost go for a Greek Restaurant http://www.akropolis-berchtesgaden.de/ and now I wish we had!

The entrance to Mount Everest looked inviting with tables set in open-air corridor.

The interior was okay.

Beer was 3.50 € a bottle – the menu showed the bottles as being 0.5l but only the dark beer came as a 0.5l, the regular was something like 0.4l. I just ordered dark beer as my second beer. We also ordered a 0.7l bottle of water.

Papadums were 2.50 € each – we ordered three and they came with some pickles. Sadly the papadums weren’t good – really oily and we hardly ate any. We told the friendly, middle-aged German waitress about the papadums but they remained on our bill.

The chicken curry 14.90 € wasn’t bad – but really nothing special.

We paid the bill, which seemed a little high – I later realised why. The 0.7l bottle of water had been changed at an outrageous 6.90 €. I really hate it when restaurants inflate the prices of items that customers order without thinking. Even if the papadums had been okay, I’d never return here because of that sneaky rip off.

If you find yourself in Berchtesgaden, don’t climb this mountain ‘just because it’s there’!

Mount Everest
Kälbersteinstraße 4
83471 Berchtesgaden

Phone: 08652/65 77506

Monday: Closed
Tuesday Sunday: 11: 30-14: 30 • 17: 30-22: 30
In October and November 2017 open only in the evening.

http://www.mounteverest-restaurant.de/