Thurs 31st August 2017
Instead of our normal dash to Dover, we are heading North, to Leeds, to look at a new motorhome we are considering. We have a ferry booked from Hull to Rotterdam next Monday.
By 2pm we are in the overnight bay of Vantage Motorhomes in Leeds, plugged in to their shore supply, and their WiFi. We spent the afternoon discussing features, being shown round the (rather small) factory, and getting ideas. Because it is a small concern, motorhomes are built to order, and tuned to customer requirements. They are very flexible, and most requirements can be accommodated at no extra cost except the costs of new items.
We are spending the night here so we can think overnight, and come back tomorrow to nail down details. We walked along the canal into Leeds city centre. Neither of us have been here before, and were amazed by the amount of Victorian architecture. I was impressed, in particular, by the ornate Victorian shopping arcades, which equal those we saw in Turin in the Spring.
Fri 1st September
Spent the morning nailing down details, and the part exchange value of Tilly (current van). We agreed a figure less than we might have been able to sell her for privately but without the hassle. We have signed the contract, paid a large deposit and expect to come Leeds in November to collect.
After lunch by the factory, we set off, in heavy rain, to a temporary Camping Club site just South of York.
286 miles
Sat 2nd September
The site is on a bus route into York, which is where we have spent today. We have never seen, anywhere, even Florence or Venice, such a concentration of eateries. It would be no exaggeration to say that 1 in 3 shop fronts contained a cafe, teashop, bar, bistro, sandwich bar, or similar. And fudge seems to feature a lot too! A very pleasant city, especially in the morning before the crowds you would think, then, with all the wealth being poured into the city by tourists, that the council could have provided clean and free public conveniences? But no, each wee costs 40 pence. Maybe I'm old fashioned, but good, free public conveniences are the mark of a civilised society.
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| York Minster |
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| York teashop (one of MANY) |
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| ...but walking out might be a challenge... |
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| Buy your wand here - Shambles becomes Diagon Alley |
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| ...maybe... |
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| charity collection |
Sun 3rd Sept
The temporary camp site closes today. We have made our way to Castle Howard, an extravagantly rich stately home. Two versions of Brideshead Revisited were filmed here.
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Castle Howard |
We are spending the night in the car park of the Windmill Inn, Linton, in return for an excellent meal, good beer and fine port. Lovely atmosphere, chatty barmaids, very friendly. We will be back.
Mon 4th Sept
Back to Vantage in Leeds for more ironing out. We met a completely different set of people, who were on holiday last week. Firstly the "secretary" Julie. She appears to be the person really in control, keeping track of customer requirements and builds. Secondly Dan, who has been with Vantage since the beginning, does most of the design, and really knows his onions - a real wizz on electrics. He made a number of excellent suggestions. As power is a major consideration, at his suggestion we are fitting 4 leisure batteries and a Sterling battery to battery charger.
Then a hour's drive into Hull. Our plan was to spend some time at the "city of culture" and get a meal, but parking was both difficult and expensive, and good places to eat almost non existent. They must all have moved to York! Didn't see a great deal of Culture - but there is a small and excellent art gallery in the city centre.
We are booked on the 20.30 P&O sailing for Rotterdam, arriving tomorrow morning. I really dislike overnight ferries - food and drink is expensive, cabins are small and grotty, all in all, quite unpleasant - however, needs must.
Tues 5th Sept
Heading through the Netherlands towards Berlin. We have stopped in a car park in Zwolle, a small town. There is a charge for parking, but could I get the machine to accept my credit card? It's card only. So far, (4 pm) I haven't been challenged. I do have a moderately feeble wifi connection, so I'm making the most of it by catching up on news etc, and writing this blog. It's too feeble to upload photos, though.
555 miles
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| tracker battery ran out:( |
Wed 6th Sept
Adjacent to our overnight spot is an old water tower, which is being converted to fancy apartments. At 6.15 they recommenced work, with pneumatic drills. Thanks guys!
Firstly, we have driven to the very corner of the Netherlands, to a little town called Bourtange. Not a lot here, and we carried on, in heavy drizzle, to Bremen. I came here in 1975 on HMS Bacchante, and have fond memories. There is a privately run aire here, a mere half hour walk from the city centre, where we spent the afternoon.
723 miles
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| The aptly named Rathaus (town hall) |
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| The Musicians of Bremen |
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| seen in Schnoor - the oldest part of Bremen |
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| a tactile sculpture |
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| A street in Schnoor, by the River Weiser |
Thurs 7th Sept
Bremen is a lovely city, but there's not really enough there to occupy more than a day, so we have moved on to our real target - Berlin. A long and monotonous drive, except when Sally (satnav) took us on a minor road diversion to avoid a long tailback on the autobahn. There appear to be no real hills between Berlin and the North Sea.
We arrived in Berlin as the rush hour was starting. Having battled through the traffic to our intended destination we found it was now a building site. Our secondary destination was an aire at Spandau, where Speer was kept prisoner for decades. More battling with traffic and worse, traffic lights designed to maximise emission pollution. Long queues of idling engines, and only 6 cars allowed through the lights each time. o more dead time, with no traffic moving at all, and increased emissions as you revved hard to get through the lights in the short time allowed. Not surprisingly, there is lot of light jumping.
The aire, €16 per night, includes electricity and wifi, so hopefully this blog will get published tonight.
968 miles
Fri 8th Sept
Getting about Berlin is fairly simple and inexpensive - once you have sussed out the system. That took us a little while. Spandau is quite a way out from the centre, and the journey takes an hour or more, with some changes involved.
We caught the M45 bus from just round the corner from the aire to the aptly named Spandau Rathaus (town hall). We paid €7 each for a day ticket that took us on all forms of transport in most of Berlin. From the rathaus we caught the overground train, S5 to the Zoological gardens. The overground proved to be useful, as it was always easy to find as it's usually on stilts above the city streets. We then took the number 100 bus, which gives a simple run past most of the major city sites and gives you a feel for the place!
The 100 took us past the Tiergarten, Reichstag, Brandenburg Gate, Staatsoper and Museum Island, ending up the far side of the town. After a coffee we went to see the East Side Gallery, the remaining 3/4 mile section on the Berlin Wall, probably Berlin's most famous monument now, and brightly decorated with murals, that reminded me very much of the murals on the Sparta road in Greece, and Checkpoint Charlie.
and my favourite picture of them all:
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| there are still quite a few Trabants about |
There is a bright new shopping centre in Friedrichstrasse, built in the former East Berlin. Maybe we expected too much from the guidebook description, but we were rather underwhelmed by this area, the exception being the new French department store, Galeries Lafayette. Good coffee, and toilets! Now rather knackered, we made our way back to the S5 overground, which took us right back to Spandau Rathaus, here to get on the M45 bus. Buses, trains and tubes are frequent.
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| A "just in time bride" |
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| Checkpoint Charlie |
Tonight our very own Nigel Farage is in Spandau, is giving a talk to the far right, anti immigrant, AFD party, led by the granddaughter of one of Hitler's ministers. The AFD is as close to being Nazi as the German law allows - so now we see Farage in his true colours - a neo Nazi.
There is a reasonable supermarket 10 minutes walk from the aire - and we have nearly exhausted the milk bought in Shaftesbury.
Sat 9th Sept
Getting in to the centre today was a lot easier, now we know the ropes. At Spandau Rathaus train station we bought 3 day museum passes, €44 each. This covers all the major museums, and 72 hours travel around the city. Hopefully it will be better value than the advance tickets we bought for the Uffizi gallery in Florence. The plan is to visit the museums tomorrow and Monday, and just use the travel element today.
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| Ka De We department store - Harrods meets John Lewis |
We spent some time in a very large, old, and plush department store, Kaufhaus des Westens, know affectionately as the Ka de We (Kay day vay). Imagine a combination of John Lewis and Harrods!. It claims to have the largest food department in the world - and it is difficult to believe they are wrong - it is HUGE, with fine selections of just about everything. Even their loose tea department is extensive. Mostly quite select and expensive, but there are numerous areas providing very reasonably priced lunches of a variety of styles.
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| Reichstag |
After lunch, we walked North (in rain) to see the Reichstag/Bundestag, and the Brandenburg Gate. You can pay to go into the Reichstag, but we just admired the exterior. There was a demo today, in the parliament area, and there were large numbers of police around, and barriers. I asked a policeman what the demo was about. He said it was an anti Mrs Merkel demo. I said we would happily swap Mrs May for Mrs Merkel, but he laughed and declined the offer. (I have just googled the demo. It was apparently in support of "save the basic rights", against surveillance cameras,snooping on Internet usage, and similar. I noticed an Amnesty International banner. ).
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| Brandenburg Gate |
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| a stretch Trabant! |
Also not to be missed in Berlin - the Brandenburg Gate, and the Holocaust Memorial' It seems the memorial proved controversial for some people because it commemorated the gypsies, gays and the physically and mentally unfit, as well as Jews who were exterminated. There is a museum beneath the memorial - we didn't think we could face that.
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| Holocaust Memorial |
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| a very touching memorial outside of a station that was used both by refugees and the Gestapo |
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| lost in Berlin - a sad and wet bear:( |
Sun 10th Sept
Into Berlin again - this time to visit some of the museums on Museum Island. Firstly the Old National Gallery - paintings and sculptures, not so much to my taste.
Secondly, the Neue Museum, mainly Egyptian and bronze age stuff. There is a fine bust of Nefertiti, looking very graceful. We had a very good and reasonably priced lunch in the museum cafe.
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| Nefertiti |
When I went t collect my bag from the cloakroom locker, I found I no longer had the key - and the keys to the van were in the bag. To make matters worse, I couldn't remember which locker it was, either. I returned to the cafe, but there was no sign of it where we had been sitting, and the waiter hadn't seen it either. Luckily, the waiter spotted it on the floor some yards away - phew!
Mon 11th Sept
Back to Berlin, primarily to see the Pergammon Museum, built to house the altar from the Pergammon temple, in Turkey. We have seen the temple when we went to Turkey a few years ago, and were keen to see the ornate alter that was taken to Berlin. Typically, that part of the museum is closed until 2020. What remains is rather thin. Prior to going in, we had a coffee in an old Jewish quarter.
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| Poignant, or what...? ...and Fascism is on the rise again in the US, UK, Germany, Poland, Hungary.... |
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| Ishtar Gate, from Babylon |
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| Market Gate, from Miletus (Roman) |
All transport in Berlin is barrier free, meaning there is no check on tickets, except for random inspections. We have had no inspections since we've been here, but today my ticket was inspected twice by inspectors who boarded the trains.
Tomorrow - just a few miles to Potsdam
Tues 12th Sept 2017
Now in Potsdam, in a motorhome and bus park on the outskirts, having driven just 14 miles from Berlin. We liked Berlin, a very pleasant city, and public transport is superb.
The parking is about a mile from the various royal palaces at Potsdam. We walked there - some dramatic buildings, and a lovely garden. We could have done with better weather, but it didn't actually rain. From the palaces it's about a 20 minute walk into the town of Potsdam. Like Berlin, very pleasant. And it has a C&A, which closed in the UK about 25 years ago. Was always good value, and I bought a few shirts.
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| Sanssouci Palace, Potsdam |
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| Sanssouci Palace, Potsdam |
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| Sanssouci Palace, Potsdam |
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| Sushi for 2, only €22, Potsdam4 |
Wed 13th Sept
Heavy rain & winds in the morning, so we stayed put in the van. No pleasure in getting soaked! But weather improved later, and we walked in again. Rosemary visited the Neue Palace, whilst I just looked at more of Potsdam
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| windmill, and another palace Potsdam |
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| Chinese tea house, in palace grounds, Potsdam |
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| Brandenburg Gate, Potsdam |
Thurs 14th Sept
2 nights here have cost €20, but there are no bunkering facilities. We have taken a scenic route (i.e longer and more difficult) to Bautzen, some miles due East of Dresden. We have been away 2 weeks, and the need for some clean clothes is becoming pressing! We are at our first campsite, Natur und Abenturecamping. It gets good reviews, and is actually very nice. Could do without the bitingly cold wind, though.
1053 miles
Fri 15th Sept
We caught a bus the 2 Km into Bauzen. In the nearby village we asked someone where the bus stop was. He explained it was some way away, and gave us a lift to a bus stop much closer to town, where, he said, there were more frequent buses. The bus dropped us at a bus station, some distance from the town, and it wasn't obvious which we had to go - but we found it eventually.
The town is largely unspoilt, having never been bombed during the war, with many fine old buildings. It has 17 mediaeval towers for defence, A very pleasant and interesting town. We made the mistake of catching a bus back just as the schools were chucking out (13.30). I HOPE (probably unrealistically) that British schoolchildren behave better. You have never seen such pushing and shoving to get to the front of the queue and get a seat. Even an elderly disabled lady was only offered the disabled seat reluctantly. British pensioners stood no chance!. I have to contrast this with Italy, when we have always been offered a seat (to be honest, I really don't need it, but it would have been nice to have been offered)
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| Bauzen |
Back at the site - a second batch of washing to be washed and dried. Reasonably strong wifi here - we shall miss it when we move on
Sat 16th Sept
Moved another 40 miles or so to Gorlitz., right against the Polish border. In fact the border - a river, divides the town. we walked the mile or so into Gorlitz,, which is absolutely delightful, stuffed with unspoilt mediaeval buildings - just lovely, although there are some areas that look like cold war era caricatures.
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| would that we could swap Merkel for May! |
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| Art Deco department store from 1905 |
We took a short walk across the river into Poland - no passport required - and boy, what a difference! You would never guess that this side of the river had once been part of Gorlitz - quite depressing. A really horribly decrepit block of flats looks over the river to the beautiful and huge cathedral the other side. I can inly imagine it was built like that as a deliberate insult.
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| over the bridge into Poland |
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| The view of Gorlitz from Poland |
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| the view of Poland from Gorlitz. Don't tell me those flats at the back weren't meant to be an insult! |
Today has been a day of brides. We had coffee near the town hall, and every half hour another bride arrived - in a variety of shapes and sizes. One left in a real US army armoured car, with a convoy of Harley Davisons as outriders. Between each wedding a man emerged with a vacuum cleaner to suck up the confetti, ready for the next batch - a never ending job.
We are staying on a private aire, in the grounds of someone's house, that Rosemary found on the web, only €8 per night, inc electricity, but it is a bit of a squeeze. You have to admire his entrepreneurial spirit
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| private aire in the grounds of a house - also a motorhome hire business |
N51.139 E14.9791, height 882 ft.
Sun 17th Sept
Weather improved for most of the day - very hot at times, cold at others, and some rain. I have been using Google Maps to give me directions for walking around a city, and very good it is too. To save battery I turn off the screen and keep the phone in my pocket. Every so often a loud female voice from within my trouser pocket says "turn right onto Gruberstasse", much to the consternation of passers by. We lunched at the "Rat Cafe", where the food was very tasty - not at all rat like...
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| Rat Cafe |
Mon 18th Sept
I was woken at midnight by several violent sneezes and and a sudden heavy cold. I've never had one come on so suddenly, or in the night, before.
Time to move on to Dresden. We came here 3 years ago and loved it to bits, We are parked where we stopped last time, directly over the Elbe from the Frauenkirche, adjacent to a bridge, so a 5 minute walk gets into the city centre. The aire - really a car park, with attendant, costs €18 pernight, and bunkering is expensive - but worth it for the easy access to a lovely city.
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| overnight in the centre of Dresden |
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| Frauenkirche |
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| Frauenkirche - destroyed in the Dresden raid 1945, left a ruin by the Communists, rebuilt after reunification. The black stones are original. A lovely church, inside and out. |
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| Dresden 1900 - our favourite cafe (and free wifi) |
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| Art gallery advert |
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| other adverts are pretty good, too... |
We have revisited our favourite sites, eaten the best chocolate ice cream ever, had coffee in our favourite cafe - Dresden1900, which has an old tram in the middle of it, and watched a performance of Manon, the ballet by Massenet, at the Opera House. We hadn't intended to go to the ballet, but Rosemary wanted to spend €11 each for a guided tour of the opera house, in German. We found we could watch an entire ballet for the same price, although the seats were right up in the Gods, on the edge. There were plenty of empty seats so we moved to some with a better view. That was the first ballet I have been to, and I have to say it will probably be my last - but the music was superb.
N51.0564 E 13.7428 height 512 feet. 1256 miles (Parkplatz Gosse Meissner)
Tues 19th Sept
In a flurry of emails and phone calls, we have sorted out the requirements spec and a price for "Molly", our new van. Some items, like a larger larder and an external power socket, seem too pricey to justify, but we do have a stack of other extras, including 4 leisure batteries.
I think I have my sudden cold under control. I normally use Contac as a cold relief medicine, and I thought I had some on board - unfortunately not - it is very effective. Mr Google found me a pharmacy, and the pharmacist located a substitute, and this seems to be working too.
Evening, just as we put our meal out to eat, 2 hot air balloons inflated and took off from right in front of us - we had a cold meal tonight!
We have walked in for the evening, to take some night photos, and update our blogs at Dresden 1900. Another joy of Dresden is the superb quality of some of the buskers. 2 opera singers, one soprano and one mezzo, were performing in the open air beside the Frauenkirche (and right outside Dresden 1900). A large crowd gathered, just as it did 3 years ago. I have a video which I will attempt to put on YouTube, when I have a decent connection.
Wed 20th Sept
Another pleasant day in Dresden. We visited the Oktoberfest, where we were amused to see scores of sparrows gorging on the sheaves of grain....and we have found another favourite cafe ...Kunst Cafe Antik, effectively a cafe inside an antique shop, antiques, paintings and other objet d'art around, all for sale. Very pleasant indeed.
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| Kunst Cafe Antik |
Thurs 21st Sept
Walked into the centre again, for breakfast at Dresden 1900. Very civilised - and just 80 yards from the Frauenkirche. I find it impossible to walk past the Frauenkirche without taking a photo,
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| Frauenkirche - seriously beautiful |
Now, 175 mile drive west into Bavaria. The weather improved, and got considerably warmer, the further west we went. We have stopped at an aire in Bamberg, on the river Main. Bamberg is simply glorious! Some wonderful mediaeval architecture, little shops and cafes, and market. No wonder it is a world heritage site. Of course, the bright sunshine was a welcome change, too! Our plan is to spend a couple of days here, then wander along the wine route along the Main. We did that 3 years ago, and it was so pleasant it just had to be repeated. And we're hoping we can find the lady selling seriously tasty Cox's Orange Pippins again. It was when we tasted those, 3 years ago, and they tasted just like apples always used to, that we realised how tasteless British apples have become.
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| Bamburg - the aircraft designer was born here |
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| Bamburg - the eyes have it;) |
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| a tradition that started in Paris. Write your and your true love's names on a padlock, lock it to a bridge, and throw the key in the water. I did notice some lovers hedged their bets by using combination locks. There was also a motor bike piston attached - not sure what that was about... |
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| Bamburg, town hall |
1430 miles, N49.8864 E10.9029 height 932 feet
Fri 22nd Sept
Yesterday's sunshine had us fooled - today started cold, grey, and touches of rain. Again we walked into Bamberg beside the Danube-Main canal (no barge traffic). By 11 am the clouds had gone, the sun shone, and we were way overdressed and very hot. We went for drinks near the centre in a 14th century pub that brews its own, very dark, beer - Wirthaus sum Schkenkeria.
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| Bamburg, town hall |
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| Victoria "pissoir" (in French!) and grafitti |
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| Bamburg |
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| Bamburg |
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| Bamburg - not Wedgwood pottery! |
If you are in the area, Bamberg is not to be missed, an absolute gem. If you are planning to stay on the aire, get there by midday, as it filled up quickly, even at the end of September, and you need lots of €1 and €2 pieces for the parking meter - €15 for 24 hours.
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| brewery cum pub - Wirthaus sum Schkenkeria. |
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| Bamburg |
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| Bamburg - if she feels sleepy she might just "drop off" |
Sat 23rd Sept
A gentle drive to the Main valley, to Isenheim, right beside the Main. Only €5 pn, and it is stuffed with motorhomes. The lucky few get a berth overlooking the river, the rest of us are in the second or third rank. Commercial barges do go past, but nothing is as good as barge traffic on the Rhine, battling against a strong current, or sweeping down fast with the current.
Isenheim is a tiny village, but has an Art and History festival under way this weekend and next. All nicely rural and local. Along with stalls of children selling their toys and books (I bought some good walking poles for only €5), and standard "craft" stuff, there was a charming family of Syrian refugees selling ayran (delicious diluted and salted yoghurt), Arabic tea, and similar.
1483 miles N49.888 E 10.1787 height 797 ft
Sun 24th Sept
It looks like the car park we are is gearing up for a veteran car rally, so we left before it got too hectic and we were hemmed in. Only a few miles, to Vorsach, which we visited 3 years ago. very touristy, but very pleasant. A jazz band was playing to a large audience in the market place. We have never seen a town with so many bakeries - and some lovely cakes.
We are parked in a large, but busy, aire right beside the Main, and we have a good view of the barges going past - some are huge!
Reading The Independent, it seems that the new Hard Left Labour party is going to nationalise everything again, when they get back into government (The new Hard Right Tories are surely doomed!). That explains Comrade Corbyn's antipathy to the EU - nationalisation is completely against EU rules, as unfair competition. So between Brexit and Corbyn, Britain's economy will be dragged back to those awful days of the 60's and 70's, when the IMF had to bail us out, and we were "the sick man of Europe". (I got a b******ing for my Italian blog for bring politics into it, but I remain a committed Europhile and John Major Centre extremist! "Decency above all" - seems to be sadly lacking these days)
N49.8645 E10.2209, height 843 feet
Mon 25th Sept
A few days ago we emptied one of our gas bottles, and as we have started using the heating, which rather hoovers through gas, we wondered about getting more. We thought it likely the closest would be Frankfurt am Main, which we should reach in 10 days or so, but we have an LPG POI on Sally Satnav, downloaded and installed just before we left, which gives us locations of LPG refill - and the nearest is just 600 yards away. What did we do before satnavs?! We are staying here another day - and buying more cakes:).
This afternoon a truly enormous barge went past, at least 400 foot long, bigger than my frigates of decades ago. You have to wonder how it gets round the bends, but it does, and at quite a speed.
Tues 26th Sept
Firstly, refill LPG and diesel, secondly, to an excellent nearby supermarket - Edeka, a Waitrose equivalent, to top up milk, meat, wine etc. But we forgot the butter:(
Finally, drive less than 5 miles to Nordheim, where there is yet another aire beside the Main. A small town, and stuffed with small wineries. The local white wine we have tried has been very nice.
Next to us in the aire is a Dutch motorhome, towing one of the oddest cars I have seen, a Czech made Velorex, made by a bicycle manufacturer and based on the Morgan. Made of tubular steel, it has 3 wheels, leatherette covers for the bonnet, sides and boot (where the 2 cylinder motorbike engine is) Only the doors are metal (and, I would guess, the floor). This one was built in 1952, and the Dutch couple have owned it for 15 years. It certainly attracts attention - numerous people came and took photos, and asked about it.
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| Velorex, 1952, based on the Morgan. Except for the doors all the covering is fabric, just clipped on |
N49.8595 E10.1769
Only 4 miles today, and a large chunk of that was getting LPG and groceries!
Wed 27th Sept
Drove the 3 miles back to Vorsach to the Edeka supermarket, mainly to buy butter and the delicious rolls with toasted seeds on top - just a pity we picked the unsalted butter:(. Then, a few more miles to Dettelbach, another small town beside the Main. This is easily the nicest Main side town we have been to, a charming gem. The town has provided a fine, well appointed aire right beside the river, only 5 minutes walk into town, for €5 per night. And a big Edeka supermarket is only 2 minutes.
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| Dettelbach rathaus. That is not a rat, but Rosemary, you can see in the centre |
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| Dettelbach |
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| Dettelbach |
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| Dettelbach |
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| Dettelbach |
Towards the evening Rosemary watched as a some fishermen in a small boat unloaded some enormous (10 foot long and 18 inches diameter) black fish, and a number of smaller, but still big, babies. A bit of googling revealed these to be Wels Catfish, which have increased in numbers and size in German rivers because the water is getting warmer. They are inedible, do nothing but lie in holes at the bottom, and prey on salmon and trout. Later, I watched the fishermen pull more out of the water, just scooping them from the bottom with nets on poles.
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| netting giant catfish |
N49.8006 E10.1686 height 758 feet
Thurs 28th Sept
Whilst Rosemary went into town to paint a picture, I used the new walking poles to storm along beside the river to the next town Main Stockheim. There is an aire here, too, but not nearly as nice as the one here at Dettelbach.
In the evening we went to La Strada, an Italian restaurant in town.
Fri 29th Sept
Dettelbach is so nice we are staying here for a third day. It rained for a good deal of the morning, but brightened up later.
Sat 30th Sept
We have progressed a few more miles to Frickenhausen (via the Edeka supermarket), to probably our last campsite of the trip. Ironically, it is more crowded and less well situated than the aires we have been staying on, at considerably higher cost. However it does have a washing machine, and wifi (but which costs €4 per day). These were the 2 main (only) reasons for coming here. The washing machine situation is laughable - just one domestic washing machine for a large and crowded site, so there is a queue of washing waiting its turn. Being a domestic machine, it takes 1 to 2 hours for each wash. Compare this with a site we stayed at in Italy, a smaller site, which had 2 commercial washing machines, which did a complete wash, well, in only 30 minutes. We then tried the tumble drier -rain and thunder were forecast for 6pm - and this took 4 hours to almost dry our washing. We took it out just minutes before the heavens opened.
I haven't mentioned the campsite's situation. Beside the Main - but also beside a large chemical works, with tall chimneys belching fumes, and a rather noxious smell. On the plus side, the staff are very friendly and helpful, and you can forgive a lot with friendliness like that.
N 49.6689 E10.0752 height 768 feet
Sun 1st Oct - Mon 2nd Oct
Well one day in this campsite is enough. We have now driven back a few miles to Kitzinger. A German we met at an earlier aire said we would like Kitzinger, a lovely town with an excellent aire right beside the Main - and he is right - it is indeed a lovely town with an excellent aire. €9, and I've found a free wifi connection too.
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| Kitzinger |
Soon after we arrived, we were assailed by a tremendous row - very loud, live country music - at 11 am! We found about 40 oldish people line dancing, on the road into the aire. The aire is quite busy, with vans coming and going, so there was periodic scuttling out of the road. I say "dancing", but it was all rather desultory and unenthusiastic - but as I've never done line dancing, that might be the way it is done.
Rain:( During a break in the rain we walked along the very pleasant path beside the Main, and into town. The path goes past an imaginative, and empty, childrens' playground with some small trampolines. Well I couldn't resist...
....it's not as easy as it looks Quite alarming, in fact...!
Late afternoon, a nearby wine merchant arranged a wine tasting session on the aire, under the road bridge. We must have looked like a bunch of winos! The organiser's daughter in law comes from Nottingham, and he had some good English, and another chap joined in, pleased to have someone to talk in English. Unlike a normal wine tasting, a fair amount of wine got drunk, and I bought 2 litres of a medium dry white.
I'd say Kitzinger is one of the most pleasant places we have visited - definitely worth a return visit
Tues 3rd Oct
More rain:( Nice as Kitzinger is, it's time to move on. First we went to Wurzburg but failed to find the aire, and there was so much traffic we couldn't stop to look at a map. Instead, we have moved on to Marktheidenfeld. For a short while we were on the "Romantic Road", which we have followed in the past, and takes you through some spectacular mediaeval towns.
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| Marktheidenfeld |
Today is a public holiday - Reunification Day - celebrating the unification of East and West Germany in 1992(?), although we have met some from both East and West who are not sure that was a Good Thing. Marktheidenfeld this morning was like a ghost town, hardly anyone about and just one or 2 cafes open. Compare this with the UK where, Rye for instance, being a similar sort of town, would be stuffed to the gun'ls with tourists on a public holiday. But Marktheidenfeld is indeed a gorgeous town.
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| public garden |
Later - in the afternoon the sun came out - and quite a few tourists did indeed emerge to savour the delights of Marktheidenfeld. We had the best ice cream we've had in Germany. By the way he said "prego" instead of "bitte", I'd guess he was Italian - which explains the excellence of the ice cream. NO ONE makes ice cream like the Italians!
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| bike stand after rain |
We are in a large aire, not many vans, and electricity, at only €5 per night, and right beside the Main.
N49.8488 E9.6001 height 614 feet
Wed 4th Oct
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| Marktheidenfeld |
Walk back into town, to see it with the shops open. We found a department store selling shower duckboards, hugely reduced, that are just what we were looking for for our new van, We also saw a beautiful carved and polished wine rack, only €99 (! but it was very nice!). However the shop it was displayed in was only open 3 afternoons a week, and although today was one of the days, there was an extra notice saying it was closed today (or so Google Translate told me), so it looks like our wine will remain a big heap in the garage.
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| so near, yet so far! Thwarted love... |
Next, a half hour drive along the Main to Lohr am Main, where there is another aire. These Main towns just get better and better. Lohr is lovely - bigger than we are used to and stuffed with 16th century houses.
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| Lohr am Main |
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| Lohr am Main - the main drag |
We came across numerous images and souvenirs of Snow White and the 7 dwarves, and eventually a fairy tale castle with a Snow White silhouette. The Tourist Information office was close by, and we asked within. It seems the Brothers Grimm fairy tale is based on a real story, around Baroness Maria Sophia Margaretha Catherina Frei-fraulein von Erthal (no wonder they called her Snow White!)
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| Snow White's castle. The dwarves were miners in the surrounding forest. |
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| One of these is Snow White... |
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| This mirror is a replica of the "Mirror, mirror, on the wall...."mirror. The original is the castle (seen reflected) |
Thurs 5th Oct
Autumn has arrived! Strong winds, leaves blowing horizontally, River Main decidely choppy. We have moved on again, cutting across a loop in the Main, to Klingenberg, going through a nature reserve of old broad leaved trees, We are parked on a privately run aire, rather like a small campsite but without the login hassle, called Sonja's Wohnmobil Hafen. €9.50 inc electricity. We have a prime spot just 6 inches from the Main (but several feet higher) near lock gates, so we have good views of barges as they come very close. For the first time ever I have had to use every inch of 2 electricity cables to reach the outlet. The weather is now so foul - heavy rain - that the solar panel stands no chance.
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| Sonje's Wohnmobil Hafen, Klingenburg. That's Tilly, closest to the camera |
We walked into town, before the rain began, and looked down on barges going through the lock. A tight fit - there can't be more than 6 inches gap either side of the standard barge, not much leeway when the barge is 300 foot long.
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| tight fit |
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| Klingenburg |
N 49.7843 E9.1775 height 499 feet - about the same height as home. Talking of which - we are due home in 5 days. Previously when we have arrived home in October the house has been cold right through. Even worse, the bed and mattress takes at least 3 days to warm up. Back in August we had a new boiler fitted, and it came with Internet access - you can control it via an app on your phone. The big test - I have just turned it on, and set the programme and desired room temperature. The app gives me feedback on the boiler state (on/standby), hot water state, and room temperature. Actually, the real test comes next week when we get home ....is the house warm and aired through
Fri 6th Oct
We had planned to move just a few miles to Aschaffenburg, but when we got there it seemed big and busy, and hassle, so we carried on 100 miles or so to the Moselle where, it seems, every village has an aire. We are at Reil, close to the Moselle, and there are many more barges going past than on the Main. Cost €9 including electricity, and there is a rather slow wifi connection too. The plan is to spend 2 days here before storming into France around Lille. Sally says it is a 4 hour drive, so probably 5 hours for us.
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| Add caption |
The BBC has reported that the gales we had yesterday caused some devastation across Germany, with a number of fatal casualties.
N51.2028 E7.1148, height 520 feet
Sat 7th Oct
We have agreed that whilst the Moselle is a prettier river, and more interesting, the Moselle towns and villages cannot compete with those along the Main. On the other hand, the Moselle is a lot closer to the UK. There is a good local shop here, and good walking too, with trains and a ferry so you could catch a boat along the river and walk back.
Sun 8th Oct
A long drive West today, to the Paschendaele Memorial Museum. We started off with the fuel tank 1/3 full, and the fuel warning light was on, and we were well into Belgium, before we found somewhere to refuel. 150 miles of motorway with no fuel stations. Of course, if it got desperate we could always come off the motorway and let Sally find one for us.
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| the Paschendaele battlefield, the British overview. There are similar maps showing the Anzac overview and the Canadian overview |
We wanted to visit Paschendaele now because it is almost exactly 100 years since Rosemary's great-uncle died there, in the closing hours of the battle. The Memorial Museum has not long been opened, and is very well done. Nearly half a million men died here, that is 5 bodies per square metre of battlefield - just enough space to bury them all upright if they were squashed together. Strident nationalism appears to be on the rise again - Trump, Brexit, AfD, Catalonia, Scotland, Russia, .....The proponents of nationalism should come here to see what it leads to.
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| Display of shells |
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| A "creation" by an Australian artist (the Anzacs were here too), in memory of those thousands who just sank into the mud and disappeared - like Rosemary's uncle |
We noticed a small arrow pointing to the dugout built under the church. (which was a complete ruin at the time). A guided tour took us down, dark, wet, smelly. It has been flooded for the last 100 years, and has been pumped out for the 100th anniversary. It will be open for just 100 days - the length of the battle, and closes on 10th November - coincidentally the day before Armistice Day. It will then be allowed to flood again, preserving the woodwork.
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| Memorial placed in the dugout by a visitor, in memory of a relative, a tunnel builder, who was buried alive whilst building a tunnel |
We are spending the night a few miles from the museum at Langmarke-Poelkappelle, beside a sports complex. It is quite pricey - €12, but that does include electricity, and I have found a wifi connection.
N50.9103 E2.9176 height 157 feet
Mon 9th Oct
We have toured the battlefield area, attempting to find the likely ridge where Uncle Edward went missing, but it is very difficult to match the old battlefield maps with either current maps or the lie of the land. It is mindnumbing to think that every building, every tree, is less than 100 years old. Everything was levelled in the battle. At one point, the British army alone fired over 1 million high explosive shells in 2 weeks - and after that - the German strongholds were still intact, the only things still standing.
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| Tyne Cot cemetery |
Tyne Cot cemetery, in the middle of the battlefield, is the largest Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery in the world. It is beautifully maintained - you have never seen such perfect grass. We came several years ago, and we had the place to ourselves. Now coming up to the centenary, there were coach loads of mainly Brits, although Australian and New Zealand accents were heard too. The staff, and a TV company, were busy setting up for a big New Zealand commemoration - the Kiwis suffered their greatest ever loss of lives at Passchendaele.
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| Great uncle Edward, died Nov 10th 1917, the last hours of the battle |
Now for our end of trip shop at the huge Auchan at Lille - except that this time we were unable to get in to the car park at all, and had to park outside. All the entrances have height barriers, and previously we have been able to press a button, talk to an operator, and the barrier would be slid out of the way. Not this time. He would not open the barrier. Neither my French nor his English were good enough to find out why. Looks like we shall have to find an alternative hypermarket for 2018.
This year we have book a Channel Tunnel Shuttle crossing, as there was a possibility of heavy seas being forecast. (But as of this evening, the sea is like a millpond). The Shuttle costs a fair bit more, and is not as flexible as the ferries, and not a great deal quicker, either, by the time check in and waiting times are accounted for. We are spending the night at an aire at Wissant, close to Cap Gris Nez, a few miles south of Calais. We need to check in by 0905 tomorrow, for a shuttle at 0950, which arrives in Folkestone at 0925 - the magic of time travel!
2105 miles
Tues 10th Oct
Left the site with plenty of time to spare to make sure we didn't miss the shuttle, and arrived early enough to catch the train an hour earlier - although that was half an hour late leaving. Security is TIGHT. We were even swept for explosives, and initial check in is done by soldiers armed with automatic weapons. The whole operation is much slicker than last time we used the tunnel, and may encourage us to use it again. Certainly disembarkation is lot easier and quicker.
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| The last leg |
And surprisingly there were no hold ups on the M25 or the A303 around Stonehenge. We were home at 1300 French time, 1200 BST, Total distance 2288 miles
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