# Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, France and Spain - Malyan´s Interrail travel through western Europe



## Malyan (Apr 2, 2011)

> Hamburg too...especially the HafenCity! It's such an amazing quarter! The architecture is just unbelievable plus they didn't forget to create parks and to plant trees.


I also think it is one of the most beautiful and most urban development areas in Europe. It was a hard contrast to come to Munich a few days later and to see all the crap that is being built there...



> Hamburg is amazing as well, although it's the third largest port of Europe; Antwerp is still bigger.


You´re right, I didn´t think of Antwerp.


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## Malyan (Apr 2, 2011)

-turning page-


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## Malyan (Apr 2, 2011)

*Brussels, Belgium*

Brussels is not only the capital of the European Union, but also by far Belgium´s largest city with a population of around 1 million. I was really fascinated by the city and can absolutely not understand why Brussels is often said to be a grey and boring city - in my opinion, it is a jewel of European art history and has the feeling of a large world city which is surprising when you keep in mind that Brussels is about ten times smaller than Paris, for example.


















































































































































































































































































































































































The city hall, 15th century:

















































































































































The gothic cathedral, 13th-15th centuries:















































































































































































































































































The late gothic church Notre Dame de Sablon, 15th century:


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## Malyan (Apr 2, 2011)

*Limburg, Germany*

Limburg is a nice town with a population of 30,000 in the federal state of Hesse. Its most important sight is the 13th century cathedral, an interesting example for the transition from late romanesque to early gothic architecture in Germany.







































































































































































































The cathedral, 1st half of the 13th century:


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## Buffalo Soldier (Jun 13, 2009)

I really like your pics of Brussels!


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## Malyan (Apr 2, 2011)

Thank you!


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## Malyan (Apr 2, 2011)

*Toulouse, France*

Toulouse is the capital of the region Midi-Pyrenees in southern France and the country´s 4th largest city with a population of 440,000 in the city and 750,000 with suburbs. It is also one of the fastest growing cities in France. Situated near the border to Spain, Toulouse already has a very Spanish atmosphere in its cityscape and architecture, and many street signs are already bilingual.









































































A late medieval church, an example of the "latin gothic" which differs very much from the classic gothic of northern France:





































The romanesque basilica St.Sernin, 11th/12th century, after the cathedral of Speyer the 2nd largest preserved building of romanesque architecture:




















































































































































































































































The Jacobine´s church, a masterpiece of latin gothic:































































































































The cathedral, mostly 13th/14th centuries:

















































































































































View to the river Garonne:


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## the man from k-town (Sep 8, 2008)

Malyan said:


> Today, I´ll stay in Germany with...
> 
> *Speyer, Germany*
> 
> Speyer is a small town with a population of 50,000 in the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate near the French border. In the middle ages, it was one of the largest and most important cities in Central Europe, but after the troops of Louis XIV. had destroyed the city in 1689, it became an unimportant provincial town.



It is interesting to see this town in a world forum. I experienced some facts I didn't know before , although I've been there many many times because my home isn't far away from that city. Nice documentation of Speyer and Frankfurt!


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## groentje (Apr 15, 2006)

The bilingual signs in Toulouse will probably be in Langue d'Oc or Occitan, the native language of the south of France. Divided into different dialects, but now on the verge of extinction. French is so much more useful...


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## Terpentin07 (Oct 3, 2009)

Toulouse looks charming. Looks like a great trip you made.


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## Malyan (Apr 2, 2011)

Thank you!



> The bilingual signs in Toulouse will probably be in Langue d'Oc or Occitan


I thought it was Catalan because it sounded very similar to what I saw in Barcelona.


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## Malyan (Apr 2, 2011)

*Barcelona, Spain*

Today a few pictures of Barcelona, centre of the region Catalunya and Spain´s 2nd largest city with a population of 1.7 million in the city and around 3 million with suburbs. As I arrived there during the easter holidays, the city´s atmosphere had something of a ghost town - I think I have to visit Barcelona again during a "normal" time of the time.


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## Joka (Feb 7, 2006)

Barcelona looking gorgeous as usual :cheers:


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## Urbanista1 (Sep 13, 2006)

Wonderful thread, so many pictures. I have heard many people say Lyon is so much better than Paris. Paris is magnificent, but it's almost like there is too much amazingness, too much grey/white and too many people - after a few days, everyone I talk to says they get depressed even though it is so pretty, it's almost like there is no relief from the architecture, yes, I think more parks are definitely needed.


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## eklips (Mar 29, 2005)

Interesting thread....

Thought I think you shouldn't post as many pictures in each post, there are just way too many per page and per city, I ended up skipping most pictures to get to the next city. And also, for older computers (I use a 2005 laptop that is still miracurously alive), all the pictures tend to freeze our browsers.

Pictures are interesting though, the transition from northern to southern Europe is quite visible in your pictures.


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## Minato ku (Aug 9, 2005)

He needs more reply. 
I love the fact that you don't take tourist pictures.
We see the life of the cities, not only the monuments and other tourist sights. kay:


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## Malyan (Apr 2, 2011)

Thank you!



> Paris is magnificent, but it's almost like there is too much amazingness, too much grey/white and too many people - after a few days, everyone I talk to says they get depressed even though it is so pretty, it's almost like there is no relief from the architecture, yes, I think more parks are definitely needed.


That´s true. Urbanity and density is a nice thing - but sometimes, there can be too much even of a good thing...



> Thought I think you shouldn't post as many pictures in each post, there are just way too many per page and per city, I ended up skipping most pictures to get to the next city. And also, for older computers (I use a 2005 laptop that is still miracurously alive), all the pictures tend to freeze our browsers.


You´re right - indeed I didn´t think of older computers that might have problems with so many pictures. Next time I´ll post only 40 pictures per post.



> I love the fact that you don't take tourist pictures.
> We see the life of the cities, not only the monuments and other tourist sights.


That´s exactly my intention. I think it would be boring to show only pictures of a few famous monuments everyone already has seen a hundred times in pictures of better quality. And I am more interested in how most of a city´s population REALLY lives everyday life than in taking photos of a dozen tourist sights that have hardly anything to do with the city today.


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## Malyan (Apr 2, 2011)

Today, I´ll take you back to a more northern part of Europe:

*Mannheim, Germany*

Mannheim is an important industrial city in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg. It has a population of around 310,000 in the city, but is the center of a pretty dense urban area of around 1.5 million people. Although Mannheim isn´t what I would call a beautiful city, I was really surprised about how urban a city of that size can be.


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## Malyan (Apr 2, 2011)




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## Malyan (Apr 2, 2011)




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## Dr.Mabuse (Jun 6, 2009)

like the pcs! especially Limburg:cheers:

how mayn pics did u do in whole?


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## Malyan (Apr 2, 2011)

Thank you!

I think it might be around 2,000 pictures. So I think I could almost call the thread a little portrait of Europe.


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## Dr.Mabuse (Jun 6, 2009)

Malyan said:


> Thank you!
> 
> I think it might be around 2,000 pictures. So I think I could almost call the thread a little portrait of Europe.


my goodness...how many memorycards did you needed? 2000 pics thats positive crazy!:banana:

you travelled by train through western europe yes?


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## Malyan (Apr 2, 2011)

Well, I cleared my camera´s memory card after every tour ;-)
Yes, I travelled by train with an Interrail ticket which is not only much cheaper than travelling by car (for around 500€ you can use almost every train in Europe a whole month) but also much more interesting (And, at least in countries with modern highspeed connections like France, Germany and Spain also much faster).
I think I´ll make a second Interrail travel in summer - Eastern Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Ukraine and Romania this time.


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## Dr.Seltsam (May 28, 2008)

Wow! I didn't expect to see Monnem (Mannheim) in this thread!
I like! Even Mannheim looks cool when the sun is shining!


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## groentje (Apr 15, 2006)

I can only agree with Dr Seltsam, Mannheim doesn't look that bad at all, in your photos.
In Eastern Europe, it might be cheaper not to use an Interrail, as domestic fares are so cheap. Also in other countries, Interrail might not be the best option, especially if supplements and reservations take a lot of money (in Spain and Italy, for instance, Interrail gives you a very limited discount due to the high supplements you have to pay for most long-distance trains, and you even loose the advantage of a pass, as you still have to make reservations for them). A good overview is given on the website seat61.com.


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## Malyan (Apr 2, 2011)

Thank you!



> In Eastern Europe, it might be cheaper not to use an Interrail, as domestic fares are so cheap.


That´s true, but I will start the journey with a stay of 2 weeks in Berlin and make some excursions in eastern and northern Germany from there - and normal highspeed tickets are so insanely expensive in Germany that I think an Interrail ticket might be the best option.


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## Malyan (Apr 2, 2011)

Today - back to southern Europe:

*Narbonne+Cerbere, France*

On my way to Barcelona, I made a stop in Narbonne, a city of 50,000 in the region Roussillon-Languedoc in order to visit the unfinished 13th century cathedral St.Just which would have been one of the largest buildings of medieval Europe if it had been finished.


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## Malyan (Apr 2, 2011)

More of Narbonne:








































































































































And as an extra - some pics of Cerbere, the last French village before entering the Spanish border where I had to change my train on my way to Barcelona. As I had three hours, I made a walk through the magnificent landscape around cape Cerbere:


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## hfocacci (Mar 10, 2011)

Wow! Magnificent thread, I've seen it as whole and can't wait to see more photos from Spain!

Next july I'll have a similar trip (not that gorgeous and large too) to Spain, France and Italy


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## Wapper (Feb 24, 2011)

One of the best threads ever. You really get an idea of what the cities look like by looking at the pictures. I hope there will be much more


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## JAVICUENCA (Dec 27, 2004)

Very nice cathedral and places!!!


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## Malyan (Apr 2, 2011)

Thanks for the comments!

*Aachen, Germany*

Aachen is situated in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia near the Belgian and Dutch border and has a population of 260,000. As the former capital of the empire of Charles the Great and with one of the oldest cathedrals of Europe, the city is of very high historic importance.



























































































The city hall, core 9th century, modified in 14th and 17th centuries:









































































View to the gothic church St.Foillan:










The cathedral, former palace chapel of emperor Charles the Great, 9th century with romanesque and gothic additions:














































Gothic house, 13th century:


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## Malyan (Apr 2, 2011)

Medieval city gate:


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## Malyan (Apr 2, 2011)




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## groentje (Apr 15, 2006)

Oops, bandwith exceeded. Great thread, though.


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## Malyan (Apr 2, 2011)

Well, as a photobucket-newbie, I didn´t know about this limitation and hope that the pics will be available again next month...

*Nantes, France*

Nantes is the capital of the northwestern French region Pays de la Loire and the country´s 6th largest city with a population of 283,000 in the city and around 500,000 with suburbs. Nantes is not a spectacular beauty, but it has a very nice and well preserved city center and with the cathedral and the castle two masterpieces of late gothic architecture of the 15th century (Though the eastern parts of the cathedral were added in 19th century). As I took the pictures on a sunday morning, there are not many people in the streets.


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## Malyan (Apr 2, 2011)




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## Malyan (Apr 2, 2011)

*Bern, Switzerland*

Bern is the tiny, but very beautiful capital of Switzerland and with a population of 132,000 the country´s 4th largest city. Unfortunately, I couldn´t take as much pictures of Bern as I would have liked to as my camera´s batteries went out of energy. So there are only a few pictures of the surrounding of the central station, a few of the magnificent old town and none of the cathedral.


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## Wapper (Feb 24, 2011)

Bern looks great. I'm waiting for more:cheers:
Pitty that you couldn't take more pictures. It also happended to me once that my batteries were empty when I was about to take a splendid picture


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## [email protected] (Oct 1, 2008)

Wow amazing thread! I like how varied it is. :cheers:


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## Andre_idol (Aug 6, 2008)

What a fantastic thread :applause:

Reminds I should do an Interrail soon too.


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## Malyan (Apr 2, 2011)

Thanks for the comments!

*Munich, Germany*

Munich is the capital of the federal state of Bavaria and Germany´s 3rd largest city with a population of 1.4 million in the city and around 2 million with suburbs. As I was only visiting a friend there and had just a few hours to take some pictures, there are only a few random photos, mostly outside the tourist hotspots of Munich.


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## Malyan (Apr 2, 2011)




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## Wapper (Feb 24, 2011)

No touristic hotspots => no problem. I never knew what the ordinary Munich streets looked like. well, now I have an idea. This thread is fantastic!


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## Andre_idol (Aug 6, 2008)

Another great bunch of pics!

Did you use the public transportations of those cities or you just wondered around walking as far as your feet (and time/weather) could take you away from the train station?  I assume Interrail pass does not give access to cities public transportation...at least when I checked I don´t remember it did. And as I don´t have a problem walking, or visiting museums (at least on the first time in a city) and usually this kind of train stations are in the city centre, wondering around walking sounds like a nice idea to me to explore the vibe and architecture of a city


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## Malyan (Apr 2, 2011)

Thank you!

Mostly, I walked through the city which is no problem for me as I am used to walk around 10-15 kilometres by feet every day. Usually, you can´t use urban transportation systems with the Interrail ticket, but in Germay, you´re at least allowed to use suburban trains.


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## Malyan (Apr 2, 2011)

*Le Mans, France*

Le Mans is a city in the northwestern French region Pays de la Loire with a population of 144,000. Most of you may know Le Mans for its F1-racings, but the city has much more to offer, especially its wonderful gothic cathedral.
































































The gothic church Notre Dame de la Couture:































































































































The cathedral - western parts 12th century, eastern parts 13th century:


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## Malyan (Apr 2, 2011)




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## Malyan (Apr 2, 2011)

*Oppenheim, Germany*

Oppenheim is a small town in the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate with a population of 8,000. In the middle ages, it was a pretty large and important city but became an unimportant village after it had been destroyed by the troops of Louis XIV. in 1689. Though, St.Catherine´s church, one of the most important gothic churches of southwestern Germany, is still preserved.
As I left the train one station too early and went to Oppenheim by foot, there are also a few pictures of the landscape around Oppenheim.
































































Medieval murals in a village church near Oppenheim, around 1420:




























View to Oppenheim:










Renaissance house, around 1590:






















































































































Gothic church St.Catherine, 13th-15th centuries:


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## Malyan (Apr 2, 2011)

The medieval bone house with the mortal remains of citizens of Oppenheim which died between 1400-1700:


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## Tiaren (Jan 29, 2006)

I loooove the pictures of the german and french towns. So quaint, charming and old worldly.


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## groentje (Apr 15, 2006)

Lovely! Danke, Malyan.


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## peteriralnadais (Oct 3, 2009)

wow amazing !!!!


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## Malyan (Apr 2, 2011)

Thank you!

Today, another German town:

*Darmstadt, Germany*

Darmstadt is a city in the federal state of Hesse with a population of 143,000. The city was almost completely destroyed in WWII - so there is not much historic architecture left. At least, the renaissance-baroque castle and some of the famous Jugendstil buildings have been preserved.


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## Malyan (Apr 2, 2011)




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## Spookvlieger (Jul 10, 2009)

Great pictues! Very nice!


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## Linguine (Aug 10, 2009)

Nice thread, and nice pics too....:cheers:


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