Dresden is a “New” Mini-Prague

Dresden today has been rebuilt into a gorgeous, Baroque city.

They say that no one is building a city like Prague anymore, but that’s not quite true.  Most of the gorgeous Baroque, “Old Europe” city you see in the heart of Dresden, Germany today is brand new, even though it appears to look centuries old. 

From Medieval-looking back alleys to grand cathedrals, from an impressive Baroque opera house to beautiful bridges, from huge squares lined with colorful cafes to a river teeming with nine steamboats, central Dresden ranks for sheer beauty with any of the great cities of Europe.  While the historic center is smaller than Prague, street for street, Dresden has the same feeling.  Located midway between Berlin and Prague (just two hours from each city by train) it makes a romantic stopover city, but one that many North Americans have yet to discover.

Dresden after the bombing

Of course, the reason everything in Dresden is new is because the city was completely destroyed in World War II in one of the most horrific bombing raids the world has ever known.  At the outbreak of the War, Dresden was a university town, renowned for its architecture, art treasures, history and beauty.  Because of its celebrated status as one of the most elegant cities of Europe and because there were no military targets here, Dresden escaped bombing for almost the entire war.  Through the London Blitz, the D-Day landings at Normandy and the Battle for Berlin, life in Dresden was fairly normal.  But all that changed on the night of Feb. 13, 1945. 

British Lancaster bomber

Allied Air Marshal Arthur “Bomber” Harris had devised a plan to destroy the will of the German people to fight by leveling their cities.  Dresden, with its medieval wood buildings on narrow streets, gave Harris the target he was looking for to experiment with firestorms.

Just two months before the end of the war, some 244 British Lancaster bombers dropped 800 tons of bombs on central Dresden, including 10-ton mega bombs called “blockbusters.”  Each of these bombs literally blew the roof off an entire block of buildings.  With the roofs gone, the city had no protection when the second wave of 529 Lancasters filled the skies some hours later, dropping 1,800 hundred tons of phosphorescent “sticky” fire bombs that fell on the exposed buildings and began fires wherever they stuck. 

Dresden today.

A third wave of 311 U.S. “Flying Fortresses” came the next morning, when fire crews and survivors were on the street.   This third wave of bombs created a draught that united individual fires into one huge firestorm that swept across 75% of Dresden, using up so much oxygen that city dwellers were suffocated, even in their underground bomb shelters.  The horror of that night was captured by American author Kurt Vonnegut, who was a prisoner of war in Dresden and wrote about it in his classic novel, Slaughterhouse Five. 

When the bombing finally stopped, 25,000 civilians were dead and Dresden was an inferno – so completely, utterly destroyed that many questioned if it should, or even could, ever be rebuilt.  Ironically, the railroad through the city, the alleged target justifying the bombing raid, was hardly damaged. 

The Oper House in Dresden.

In the Cold War, Dresden was part of East Germany and there was little money for restoration so the city center remained in piles of rubble… or worse, much of the city was bulldozed and rebuilt with cheap, ugly cinderblock. 

The Frauenkirche church was rebuilt in 2005

But with the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany in 1990, millions of Euros poured in to the city and Dresden’s entire center was restored to its old beauty.  The results are simply incredible.  Dresden’s city center is once again an Old World marvel of towers and turrets, squares and arches, murals, churches, statues and theatres.  As you sit in a café sipping a beer, surrounded by a beautiful Baroque city teeming with young people and tourists, it’s impossible to believe this is the same bombed out ruin pictured in the postcards in every shop.  But look closely at all the “old” buildings.  The white stone used in them is new, but the black squares used here and there are bits of old stone salvaged from the ruins and put back in place, as if building a giant jigsaw puzzle. 

The Parade of Nobles

Other old things remain.  The Parade of Nobles, an amazing block-long mural of 24,000 tiles, is all original.  The ceramic tiles, depicting 700 years of Saxon history and clothing, were already fired twice when they were created, so the temperatures of the firebombing didn’t hurt them:  in fact, the firebombing temperatures were actually cooler than their original firing.

The city’s visitor center has walking tour brochures in all languages, and it’s possible to take guided tours by foot, by horse-drawn carriage or by boat along the Elbe River.   You could see the center in a day, but it’s even more magical at night when the buildings are illuminated.  Dresden also makes an excellent base for a series of day-trip adventures in the surrounding countryside. 

Munzgasse is lined with outdoor cafes

With 40 museums, there’s shortage of things to see; some of the “must do” Dresden experiences include:

·                   Have a beer in an outdoor cafe in the Newmarkt Square beside the Frauenkirche church with its towering bell-shaped dome.  The church dome was destroyed in the bombing in 1945 and lay in a pile of rubble for decades, a somber anti-war symbol.  But in 2005, at a cost of $100 million Euros, the church was completely rebuilt and today is an architectural marvel, inside and out, and a symbol of Dresden’s re-birth. 

·                   Walk through the Zwinger  Palace – a Baroque masterpiece with fountains, gardens and some of Germany’s grandest museums.  Once part of the fortifications, the palace was built by the city’s hero, Augustus the Strong (1670-1733), the famous king of Saxon who, according to legend, fathered 365 children and could bend a horseshoe by hand.  There are four art museums in the palace – the most famous is The Green Vault, which is a treasure-house of amber, precious stones and art objects (and requires advance reservations).

Zwinger Palace is filled with museums

·          Walk along the Parade of Nobles, a street-long mural of tiles depicting 700 years of Saxon royalty, uniforms and weapons. 

·                   Stroll the Balcony of Europe, the city’s old ramparts looking down on the Elbe River.  There are bike and walking paths along both sides of the river with gorgeous city views.

Steam-driven side-wheel paddle boats go up the Elbe River

·                  Have another beer on Munzgasse – a lively block of outdoor beer gardens and restaurants.  Or climb down into an old stone cellar for dinner at Sophienkeller, which is bit touristy, but fun with costumed staff carrying liters of beer as they re-create the days of August the Strong in a medieval setting of wooden tables and military shields.

The Elbe River from Saxon Switzerland National Park

Ride a river steamboat.  Dresden’s collection of nine operating steam paddleboats is the largest in the world.  The beautiful, sleek boats (some of them more than 100 years old) dock side-by-side in Dresden and sail 80 km up and down the river to 14 villages.  You can take a short excursion by boat one-way, and bike or walk back on paths that line the river. There are boats that travel to dream riverside biergartens in cute towns, like SchillerGarten, or you can sail 20 miles by steamboat to Saxon Switzerland National Park.  Trails from the dock in the village of Kurort Rathen climb steeply for a pleasant 45 minute hike to Bastei Bridge, which offers sweeping views of the Elbe River and unusual rock formations.

If you have a car, visit nearby Fortress Konigstein – the largest fortress in Europe occupying the top of a rock butte.  Surrounded by 200 foot cliffs and built into the rock, the fortress has fantastic views, rampart walks, canons and of course, another biergarden.

For complete information on Dresden, visit:

www.dresden.de/dtg/en/index.php

Biking and Drinking Beer in Berlin

Gendarmenmarkt, the prettiest square in Berlin (photo: Visit Berlin)

The best way to see Berlin is by bicycle. For one thing, the city of 3.4 million people is huge – 9 times the size of Paris – and, like any capital city, there are long distances to be covered between monuments and historic buildings.
But the best reason to see Berlin by bicycle is because that’s how Berliners see it. This is one of the most bicycle-friendly cities in Europe and there are bicycles everywhere: riding side-by-side with cars and trolleys on the main thoroughfares, bouncing on the cobblestone backstreets of Mitte and zipping along on bike paths that line the Spree River – the heart and soul of Berlin.



Spree River

 Most of the “must see” attractions are on or near the Spree, which meanders and twists west to east the entire width of Berlin. Use the Spree as your bicycle highway, and you can easily pedal the flat city from the Scholss Chalottenburg to Checkpoint Charlie, with stops at beer gardens along the way.

There are great parks, wonderful tree-lined shopping boulevards, amazing architecture, and everywhere, history. This city is fixated on its history, and no wonder. The events that led to World War II in Europe all started in Berlin. By the time the war came back and ended in Berlin in April 1945, one seventh of the world had seen fighting, 60 million people were dead, 50 million injured, and 80,000 towns and cities had been destroyed.

Among the destroyed cities was Berlin. More bombs were dropped on Berlin than any other city in World War II. Some 612,000 homes and one fifth of all buildings were destroyed. An army of 900,000 Russian soldiers eventually took the city, but by that time, one million people had been killed in the Battle for Berlin, including 125,000 civilians. And the horror was not over a long shot. In the vast sea of rubble that had been a city, the conquering soldiers of the Russian army raped 110,000 Berlin women.



Russians capture Berlin

 Stare carefully at any pre-World War II stone building in Berlin and you’ll see scars from machine gun bullets, tank shells and bombs. Human scars are harder to find. But there’s no forgetting. Every tourist postcard rack is filled with images of Berlin as a destroyed city, Russian soldiers waving flags from the top of bombed out buildings.

With the war’s end, Berlin’s nightmare kept going. Ahead were occupation and the Berlin Wall, which for 28 years ran a twisting 96-miles through the center of the city, cutting apart families and friends. No city can match a history like this, and there are museums, historic markers, and old bits of the wall, books and posters everywhere to remind you.

But of course, that’s exactly what young Germans don’t want. They’ve had enough of the war, Nazis, and East and West Berlin, and they’ve built and inhabit a wonderfully new, hip and chic city of cafes, restaurants and fashion…and, of course beer. You could live comfortably for a long time on delicious street vendor sausages that sell for one Euro, washed down with 3 Euro half liters of beer. All of this makes Berlin one of the cheapest and most fascinating European cities to visit.

Orientation & Bike Rentals

One of the least expensive and easiest places to stay is by the Zoo and beautiful Tiergarten Park. The central train station used to be here, but a new station has made this area kind of a backwater – it’s still easy to get connections everywhere, but much cheaper to stay here. There is direct bus service or S-Bhan service from the airports for 2 Euros (booths at the airport with English speaking guides will sell you the tickets and tell you where to catch the bus or train).



Brandenburger Tor (gate)  credit:  Visit Berlin

 The Zoo station has all three public transportations: the U-Bhan (the underground subway system) the S-Bhan (the streetcars and light rail) and DB national railway. Buy a daily pass from an easy to use machine with English instructions and your ticket is good on all of them.

Lots of inexpensive hotels are in the Zoo area along Kurfurstendamm (Ku’damm for short), which is one of Berlin’s main, tree-lined shopping boulevards. We booked the pleasant enough Hotel Boulevard am Kurfuerstendamm (with a rooftop bier garden) through Expedia for $65 Euros. http://hotel-boulevard-berlin.h-rzn.com/?lbl=ggl

Fat Tire Bike Tours also has an outlet at the Zoo station (and at Alexanderplatz). They rent big, comfortable cruiser bikes, useful for hopping tram lines. You can take one of their organized bike tours of the city or just rent a bike and go off on your own for 12 Euros a day. www.FatTireBikeTours.com/berlin
www.berlinfahrradverleih.com/

Around the Zoo: Walking Ku’damm



Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church

 It’s impossible to see all of Berlin, but in a couple of days of walking and biking around, here are some highlights. Kurfurstendamm was the main shopping street of West Berlin when the city was divided. Ironically, the shopping is now better in what was East Berlin, but Ku’damm is a still a great strolling avenue. Visit The KaDeWe, the largest department store in Europe, which has more than 2,000 employees. The 7th floor is like the Harrod’s food stalls and is devoted to every imaginable delicacy that can be eaten, including 1,800 different cheeses and 1,400 breads. The displays of food alone are worth a visit, but there are counters where you can sit and dine on everything from seafood to specialty meats, although it’s not cheap.

The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church hovers over Ku’damm as a grim reminder of the War. The tower was destroyed in a bombing raid in 1943, but the ruins were left standing as a memorial. Photos in the museum show the sheer, utter destruction of Berlin, making it all the more unbelievable when you exit on to the same street now and see it filled with cafes and handsome people busy shopping and living well.

Biking Berlin from the Zoo
Hop on a bike at the zoo station and it’s a pleasant three-mile ride along the Spree to Schloss Charlottenburg. Built in 1695, this is one of the major palaces of Europe and a one-time home of Frederick the Great (1712-1786), a name that will pop up all over Berlin. It was this Frederick who made the city one of the grandest on the Continent. There are better palaces in nearby Potsdam, but the grounds, gardens and lakes here are lovely to bike around.



Schloss Charlottenburg

 Back on the bike path, you can follow the Spree all the way to the Reichstag. The most important building in the city, it was built in 1894, destroyed in 1933 (its arson was used by Hitler to seize power), and rebuilt in 1990s with an amazing new dome to become the official seat of the German parliament – the capitol of a reunified Germany. It’s about a 40-minute wait to get through security for a free tour, but well worth it. The outdoor view from the top of the Cupola takes in all of Berlin. Walking up and down the ramp inside the glass dome (you can look straight down into the parliament floor) is one of the top Berlin experiences.



Reichstag interior

 The area around the Reichstag is one of the great places to have a bike because you can zip between top attractions that would take days to walk. Within a short ride you can be at the famous Brandenburger Tor (gate), the great symbol of Berlin that was right in the middle of the BerlinWall. The tree-lined Unter den Linden starts here. This is the most beautiful boulevard in the city. Combined with cross street Friedrichstrabe, it’s the Fifth Ave. of Berlin. The beautiful trees that once lined it were cut down by Hitler and replaced with Nazi flags, but people objected (one of the rare times they stood up to him) so the trees you see here today were replanted by Hitler. There’s a bike lane (never bike on a sidewalk…Berliners will let you know that is verboten) and it’s possible to zip along past cafes, and impressive old buildings now filled with shops.



German History Museum


Along the way are the impressive gates to Humboldt University (Albert Einstein was educated here) and the fantastic German History Museum, a must stop for anyone interested in the rise of Nazi Germany, World War II and the Berlin Wall. The museum covers all German history, so there are suits of armor and Napoleon’s hat (captured at one of one of the many Prussian battles with France) but the mesmerizing exhibits are on how the Nazis came to power. Not to be frivolous, but beer played a role. One of the great attractions of the big mass Nazi rallies was free beer and sausages. About a third of the exhibits have English translations, which is enough to follow the story.



Alte Museum on Museum Island



Mitte, Berlin’s old town with cobblestone streets and attractive squares (Gendarmenmarkt is the most beautiful) is just a few blocks south and fun to bike through (with less cars to compensate for the bumpy cobblestone ride). Unter den Linden also leads to Museum Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most important collections of museums on the planet, led by the Pergamonmuseum, with its great collection of ancient art. Even if you don’t have time for any of them, the layout of the island and the architecture of the museums are worth a journey. Just over the bridge on the other side of the island is Hackescher Markt, one of the most attractive squares for an outdoor café, sausages and a half-liter of bier. We watched a film being made on the bridge of a nude couple dancing, then witnessed a bike do a 180-degree flip when a rider’s front tire got stuck in a tram rail. Watch those rails!



Museum Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site

 Heading back to the Zoo, the Tiergarten is one of the great parks of Europe with lakes, biergardens, miles of tree-covered bike trails, statues and monuments, …all making a nice end to the ride.

Berlin After Dark



Mitte outdoor cafe

 Berlin’s famed nightlife is hard to find. For one thing, it allegedly starts very late with clubs opening at midnight. Hip neighborhoods change constantly, and you could walk by clubs in the day and not recognize them. But there are no end to nice neighborhoods lined with outdoor cafes and restaurants: Kreuzberg is the Turkish center (Berlin would be the fourth largest Turkish city in the world) and has a real international flavor. Prenzlauer Berg is an old East German neighborhood with literally dozens and dozens of restaurants built into what had been a neighborhood of uniform, boring, and Communist cinderblock buildings. They are now alive with people, colorful awnings and umbrellas. Mitte has restaurants and galleries built into old buildings and Savigny-Plaz has outdoor cafes surrounding a nice square park. Young Berliners are hip and nicely dressed, and the cafes and bars are always full with people in animated conversations. But it’s quite tame, and if you’re looking for a scene like Amsterdam, well, we couldn’t find it..though we asked enough people.

Most people would see Berlin on a trip around Germany or on a triangle trip with Prague, Vienna or Budapest…all of which are easily accessible by train in a few hours. It certainly ranks with those cities in interest, especially if you’re fascinated by 20th Century history. Another option is to stop in Dresden, a mini-Prague-like city just two hours away, (halfway to Prague) that was also destroyed in World War II and has been rebuilt into amazing destination.



Sanssouci

 BIKING IN POTSDAM
Berlin’s most popular day-trip is Potsdam (a half hour train trip: buy the A, B and C daily transit pass and you can travel there by train or slower tram). In the main station of Potsdam, exit towards the river, turn right and 200 yards down there is a bike rental shop. They’ll give you a map that guides you to one incredible 20 km bike ride past palaces, fountains, gardens and tree-lined lanes of Sanssouci. You’ll also bike to a wonderful pedestrian town of cafes and shops, on to the famous site where Truman, Stalin and Churchill decided the fate of Europe after WWII, over the “spy bridge” where East and West Germany often exchanged prisoners, and along a lakeshore to palaces turned into beirgardens.



A palace in the great park of Sanssouci

 Sanssouci (“Without worries”) is the Versailles of Germany – a UNESCO World Heritage Site of 700 acres filled with a dozen palaces, working windmill, and elaborate gardens and fountains, all with landscaped trees lining the roads. What a bike ride! No traffic, flat paths and something amazing around every corner. It was started as a summer resort by Frederick the Great in 1744. He is once again buried here (after being dug and exploited in a tomb by the Nazis) under a simple stone slab, that always has a fresh potato on it (Frederick introduced the potato to Germany).



Potsdam at twilight

 From the park, it’s an easy pedal to the quaint pedestrian streets of Potsdam. Walk your bike (or get stern glances from locals) past beautiful shops, flowers and cafes to the Dutch Quarter, a centuries old street with red tile roofs. The Allies chose Potsdam as the place to meet after the war, and it was here that Europe was divided into East and West. Fittingly, Potsdam was right on the line. The Glienicker Bridge was one of the most famous dividing lines, and a place glorified in Cold War novels where spies were often exchanged. Bike over this, and follow the lakeshore back to town.

IF YOU GO:   www.visitberlin.de/en

Rolling and Drinking Beer on New Zealand’s TranzAlpine Express

It’s not the fastest or most luxurious railroad in the world, but the TranzAlpine Express is certainly one of the most scenic. Slicing across the South Island of New Zealand, the 260-km rail line travels from the wild, rocky, glacier-studded West Coast of the island to the pastoral, rolling green hills of the east. In between are the Southern Alps – Lord of the Ring Country -- a stark landscape of jagged snowcapped peaks and strange rock formations that’s been a backdrop for the Lord of the Rings and Nardia films.

To traverse these rugged mountains, the train hugs riverbanks through narrow canyons and gorges, burrows through 19 tunnels, and rattles across high bridges and trestles. Incredible scenic vistas fly by and are gone in a second. But no worries, there’s another panorama just around the next bend.

As gorgeous as the scenery is, the main reason to take the train is that it links the two very different coasts of New Zealand’s South Island and is a perfect gateway to the wonders of this magic place.

Christchurch Reborn

New Zealand is roughly the same size as the state of Colorado, but stretched out into two long, thin islands. There are only 4 million humans living here, but they share the green land with 40 million sheep and 5 million cows. Most people arrive on the South Island (the wilder and more spectacular of the two) via Christchurch, New Zealand’s second largest city. And its most tragic.

All these buildings will have to be demolished.

Two earthquakes last year devastated this lovely city and a third good-sized quake hit as recently as December 22, 2011. The city experiences small quakes on an almost daily basis, and 10,000 people have found the strain too much and left town.

Strangely, only the downtown core of the city was damaged in the major quakes – the airport and suburbs show almost no signs of destruction.

But the downtown core was hit hard. The force was equal to 60 atomic bombs. Some 1,200 buildings were either destroyed or so damaged they will have to be torn down and 182 people were killed. The whole central city, called “the Red Zone” is fenced off and will have to be demolished. It includes the town hall, the convention center, sports arena and some 20 hotels. Today, it looks much like an abandoned urban area from a zombie film.

The new "pop up" city (white building will be torn down)

Despite the quakes, Christchurch is coming back. Around the edges of the downtown core, they have already built an amazing new “pop up” city – in truck containers. Dozens of 50-foot long steel truck containers have been stacked on top of each other. They are painted a palette of bright colors with large picture windows and serve as banks and bookstores, coffee shops and grocery stores. Mayor Bob Barker speaks for the city’s spirit, stating that Christchurch not only intends to rebuild (a 10-year, $30 billion project) but the city will become a model for the 21st Century as a green and sustainable, low-rise urban oasis – “a city in a garden” filled with bike paths and pedestrian areas. Maybe. But first those quakes are going to have to quiet down. In the meantime, Christchurch is still a fascinating tourist stop. Many major attractions survived and are open, including their gorgeous Botanic Gardens, punting on the River Avon, and the famous Canterbury Museum (with its town crier ringing a bell out front). Combined with the new “pop up” city, Christchurch is worth a visit, but accommodations are tight so you need a reservation in advance.

All Aboard the TranzAlpine

TranzAlpine Express

The train leaves Christchurch daily at 8:15 a.m., making a 4.5-hour journey across the island to the West Coast town of Greymouth. Because of the steep grades, this is a narrow gauge line; however, the windows are huge, offering magnificent views of the countryside. There is an open-air gondola car that is windy and rattles quite a bit, but is great for photos and the thrill of being outside, barreling through this wild country. Of course, there’s also a bar car for drinks and snacks.

From Christchurch, the 14-car, light blue train speeds along the Canterbury plains, flashing by green fields of sheep and cattle, until it reaches the foothills and begins the long, slow, twisting climb up river canyons into the jagged Southern Alps. The literal high point of the trip is Arthur’s Pass, where the train enters the 8,554-meter long Otira Tunnel, the longest tunnel in both the British Empire and the Southern Hemisphere.

From here it’s a long glide back down the mountains – the perfect place to grab a local Southern Island Speight’s ale, and listen to the soothing clickty-clack of the rails as the unending scenery rolls by.

Speight’s is typical of New Zealand’s “major” brewery products. NZ is big beer country, but 90% of it is pretty standard lagers and ales. On the South Island, Monteith’s and Speight’s are the big locals. Tui (named after a local bird) is a 120-year old brewery that has taken on a hip, new, sexy image with ads like this www.youtube.com/watch?v=dn7u5XvupSU. They do a fine East India Pale Ale, and if you can get a Tui, take it. There are a number of microbreweries producing IPAs and stouts, such as Epic Brewing, but they’re even harder to find.

The Wild and Wooly West Coast

Bordering the Tasman Sean, the West Coast of the South Island is the wettest place in New Zealand, and one of the most dramatic. Some 140 glaciers slip down from the snow-covered Alps, creating long, icy tongues that cut huge valleys right down to the edge of the rainforest, in some places ending just 250 meters above sea level. Just 90 minutes south of Greymounth, two of the glaciers, Franz Josef and Fox, are among the most accessible glaciers in the world. While easy to get to, the only safe way to venture on to them is with the services of a professional guide. Franz Josef Glacier Guides  offers half day and full day glacier walks, supplying all the equipment you will need including socks, sturdy boots, crampons, waterproof jackets and rain pants. They’re not kidding when they say “don’t wear jeans,” they won’t let you on the hike with them. You don’t want to think too long about where your “shared” wool socks have been before, and they load you down with more clothing than you need, but weather conditions can change rapidly.

The adventure begins on a rainforest trail that soon opens into a rock-studded moraine, waterfalls cascading down beside you. After a long climb, you are up on the river of ice itself, an out-of-this-world experience. Your guide will cut stairs into the glacier with an ice axe, helping you scramble up and down crevasses, enter caves of blue ice, and ascend to viewpoints. People must be in moderately good shape to do the trek, but no special skills are required and the guides will soon have you proficient enough with crampons to walk along ledges and ice cliffs you would never have dreamed of doing an hour earlier. For even more thrills, Fox and Franz Josef Heliservices offers rides in four and six-passenger helicopters that soar above the glaciers and land on snowfields, high up in the alps. The copters are a bit claustrophobic, (asked which was less claustrophobic, the four-passenger or six-passenger, the guide said, “Oh, they’re equally claustrophobic). But no worries -- the views soon take your mind off the thousand foot drops below.

Franz Josef is a great little town with a couple of neat pubs and glacier hot pools to soak in after the hike. Te Waonui Forest Retreat is surrounded by native rainforest. In the small one-street town, Speights Landing Bar has a fireplace, deck and local crowd. The Monsoon Bar is another cozy place, in the rainforest with a fireplace and young crowd.

The West Coast has a rocky shoreline.

Views dot Highway 6.

To the north of Greymouth, literally hugging the West Coast, is Hwy. 6, which Lonely Planet calls one of the “Top 10 drives of the world.” The snaking road parallels the coast of Punakaiki, cutting along a landscape of rainforest, jagged rock beaches, caverns with glowworms and strange geologic formations. Papaora National Park has many great walking trails, including those to Pancake Rocks, limestone boulders formed 30 million years ago that have been sculpted by pounding seas and rain into fantastic formations. There’s not much here in the way of towns (only 20,000 people live on the entire West Coast) but you could spend a lot of time walking the beach and exploring trails and rocks. Punakaiki Resort is a great place to stay, literally on the beach within walking distance of Pancake Rocks.

The Peaceful East Coast

Banks Pennisula looking down on Akaroa

You can return to Christchurch by train, bus or rental car. If by car, the town of Arthur’s Pass would be worth planning a stop for a hike to the gigantic waterfalls you can see from the road. Also Castle Hill, another Lord of the Rings filming site, looked fantastic from the road.

Back in Christchurch, for a completely different experience, venture 80 minutes east out to the green, rolling hills of Banks Peninsula. The peninsula was formed by the violent eruption of two volcanoes millions of years ago. The sea eventually worked its way into the volcano cones, forming protected, tranquil bays surrounded by high cliffs. The first European to see this picturesque bay was Captain Cook in 1770.

The French recognized its beauty and in 1840 started the only French colony in New Zealand, the town of Akaroa. Today, Akaroa maintains many French traditions and has the look of a village on the French Riviera with palm trees, seaside outdoor cafes, and flowers. The tricolor French flag flies on everything from B&Bs to bakeries and there is a great section of fine dining restaurants, including tapas at Vangionis Trattoria & Bar and European influenced dishes at Ma Maison.

The road stops in Akaroa, giving the town a backwater, end of the world quietness, but there’s plenty of adventure. You can swim with the world’s smallest and rarest dolphin – the Hector – and see seals and penguins on harbor cruises. There are many trails around the rocky coastline, or for a unique experience, accompany the local postman as he delivers mail to remote sheep farms.

It’s a peaceful opposite to wild West Coast. Riding the TranzAlpine, in a matter of hours you experience landscapes resembling Ireland, Switzerland, Scotland, France and Hawaii. Which can mean only one thing – you’re in New Zealand.

Franz Joseph sits at the base of a rainforest.

IF YOU GO: For West Coast tours: http://www.keatours.co.nz/ or http://www.westcoastnz.com/ ; for the train: http://www.tranzscenic.co.nz/; for East Coast: http://www.christchurchnz.com/ and http://www.akaroa.co.nz/

Tramping Around Wellington

Lonely Planet called Wellington the “coolest capital city in the world,” an accolade the town loved so much, they made it their official slogan. And why not? New Zealand’s capital city is a pretty cool place, and the 300,000 people who live here know it. More than a quarter of them walk or bike to work, many along a spectacular 2-mile long waterfront walkway that is lined with pubs offering views of boats, mountains and the skyline. Come 5 p.m., it’s almost dangerous strolling here as the wide walkway is packed with hundreds of bikers, joggers, roller skaters, and commuters heading home, while the harbor is filled with sailboats and rowing crews. It’s standing room only at the outdoor pubs on a sunny day.

Walking the Trail of America’s First Christmas

McKonkey's Ferry Inn, courtsey of Visit Bucks County

It is forever Christmas at McKonkey’s Ferry Inn. The dining room in this lovely tavern, located on the banks of the Delaware River, 42 miles upstream from Philadelphia, is always decorated as it would have been on Christmas night, 1776, when George Washington had his dinner here.

As Washington dined, 2,400 of his men assembled outside along the riverbank. They were a rag tag army, dressed like scarecrows and huddled in blankets against the cold and spitting snow. 

Re-enactment at McKonkey's Ferry Inn, Visit Bucks County

Their password for the evening told the story: “Victory or death.” This night, Washington was to gamble his army on a desperate stroke – an all or nothing surprise attack on the enemy across the river in Trenton.

What happened in the next 24 hours changed the world.

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Today, the setting along the Delaware River is remarkably scenic and little has changed from the fateful night that shook the British Empire and saved a young nation. Many of the historic structures have been preserved. You can see the spot where Washington crossed the river and enter the two ferry houses he used as temporary command posts.

Nearby, you can examine replicas of the boats he commandeered for the crossing and march in the footsteps of his men on the old Continental road. The natural starting point is Pennsylvania’s Washington Crossing Historic Park. A short film in the museum sets the stage.

1776 began well for the Americans in their struggle for freedom from Great Britain. Washington successfully forced the British from Boston and moved his army of 20,000 men to New York.

But then the Empire struck back.

Reenactment at the exact crossing site, Visit Bucks County 

In August, the largest armada the world had ever seen arrived off Long Island with a British army of 30,000 crack troops. They quickly routed Washington’s smaller force and drove the rebels south through New Jersey. Marching in the retreat was journalist Thomas Paine, who summed up the situation, writing “These are the times that try men’s souls.”

When Washington’s demoralized army reached the Delaware, he seized all the boats and retreated across, using the river as a temporary buffer. But the end was only a matter of time. Soon the river would freeze and the British could march over the ice. Congress fled from Philadelphia and even Washington confessed, “the game is pretty near up.”

Crossing the Delaware

After watching the film, the highlight of the museum is a digitally reproduced, full-size copy of Emanuel Leutze’s 1851 painting, Washington Crossing the Delaware. The original 12x21-foot masterpiece hangs in the Metropolitan Museum in New York.

The painting’s depiction of a stern, determined Washington, standing at the prow of a boat, leading an invasion of landing craft into an ice-choked river, is an American icon. Reproductions can be purchased in the gift shop on everything from kitchen magnets to mouse pads.

Wayne Henderek, Washington Crossing State Park

But from a military standpoint, the masterpiece has several mistakes. Most prominent is that Washington’s crossing took place in pitch darkness with the commander probably seated in the back of a boat. For another, the river depicted in the painting is the Rhine.

You can see the real river and crossing point just outside the museum.

The only building here at the time was McKonkey’s Ferry Inn, but today there is a picturesque village of structures lining a tree-rimmed road. At the Boat House, there are four reproductions of the Durham boats that were used in the crossing. Built to carry iron ore, the pitch black craft were 40 to 60 feet long and looked like long, thick canoes.

Wayne henderek, Washington Crossing State Park

Washington’s plan was to stop retreating and go on the offensive against a regiment of Hessians stationed across the river in Trenton. The timing was crucial. An aide wrote: “They make a great deal of Christmas in Germany, and no doubt the Hessians will drink a great deal of beer and have a dance. They will be sleepy tomorrow morning. Washington will set the tune for them about daybreak.”

The Delaware today is a placid stream with hardly a current, but on Christmas night 1776 it was a hellish scene with swift swirling waters and huge cakes of floating ice. The boats were manned by a regiment of fishermen from Marblehead, Mass., but it took these expert small boat handlers nine hours to ferry the 200 horses, 18 cannons and 2,400 men across the icy current.

Wayne Henderek, Washington Crossing

Fortunately, it’s much easier to cross the Delaware today. Leave your car on the Pennsylvania side and walk across a narrow 1933 steel bridge to New Jersey. There are pretty views of the river along the way, giving you time to think about the men in the boats below.

As Thomas Paine had written, the “summer solider and sunshine patriot” had long ago deserted. But the men who were left were special. Among the men crossing the Delaware were James Monroe, who would become the fourth U.S. president; Alexander Hamilton, who become the first Secretary of the Treasury; and John Marshall, who would become a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

On the other side of the river, you enter New Jersey’s Washington Crossing State Park. In 1776, there were dueling ferries here; today there are dueling state parks. Use the pedestrian overpass to walk to the Johnson Ferry House, which Washington’s staff used as a command post.

One of Washington’s aides recorded the scene in his diary. “Dec. 26, 3 a.m. I am writing in the ferry house…I (have) never seen Washington so determined as he is now. He stands on the bank of the river, wrapped in his cloak, superintending the landing of his troops….The storm is changing to sleet, and cuts like a knife. The last cannon is being landed, and we are ready to mount our horses.”

The historic trail they marched on.

You can follow in their footsteps on a short stretch of the old Continental lane, which today is a shallow grass depression between rows of trees that runs for a quarter mile to the Visitor Center. A Major Wilkinson remembered that the snow “was tinged here and there with blood from the feet of the men who wore broken shoes.”

At the Visitor Center, an excellent museum has exhibits, maps, paintings and artifacts that trace the retreat through New Jersey and the coming battle.

It’s about a half mile walk back to your car in Pennsylvania and then a nine mile drive to Trenton.

The Attack on Trenton

Not much of colonial Trenton has survived. It is a modern, confusing and not particularly attractive city, but the Trenton Battle Monument, marks the spot where the battle began. The 148-foot high column opened in 1893 and has an elevator to an observation deck.

The Hessian commander, Johann Rall, ignored threats of an American attack and stayed up all Christmas night playing cards and drinking. In the gloomy morning, the Americans advanced to the edge of town before the Hessian guard saw them. With cries of “Der Fiend!” -- “the enemy” – the guard tried to alert their men. It was too late.

The Battle of Trenton

Washington placed his artillery at the head of Trenton’s narrow streets, where they could fire canister -- tins filled with musket balls that exploded from the cannon barrel like a giant shotgun, sweeping everything in their path.

As the dazed Hessians poured out of their barracks, they were cut down by cannon fire. Rall ordered a retreat to an orchard and tried to make a stand, but Washington’s men surrounded them. When Rall was mortally wounded, the fight went out of the Germans and they surrendered.

The battle lasted less than an hour. Ninety Hessians were killed or wounded and more than 900 were taken prisoner; the American casualties were two men wounded.

After the fight, an uncharacteristically beaming Washington rode up to Major Wilkinson, grabbed his hand and said, “This is a glorious day for our country.”

And it was. From a military standpoint, Trenton was a minor raid. There were still five years of bitter war ahead. But psychologically, it was a turning point. Never again would American spirits or prospects sink so low.

IF YOU GO:

The dramatic crossing is re-created every year on Christmas day.  The Visitor Center on the Pennsylvania side is undergoing an expansion and is temporarily closed, but both parks are open, as is the excellent museum at Washington Crossing State Park in New Jersey.  For information:   www.VisitBucksCounty.com   or www.ushistory.org/washingtoncrossing

Best Book: The bestseller 1776 by David McCullough tells the dramatic story of Washington’s retreat from New York and the attack on Trenton, Washington's Crossing by David Hackett Fischer is the best book on the event itself.

BREAKING NEWS:   Historical artist Mort Kunsler has just released a new, much more historically accurate painting depicting Washington crossing the Delaware.  For a look at the painting and the story behind how it was created, visit: http://blog.mortkunstler.com/2011/12/abc-world-news-now-washington-crossing.html