European road trip

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Quiet day at the apartment
18. september 2023, Spania ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C
Went for a run to Lidl as they opened early (we needed milk). It was closed. Turns out I’d ran to Aldi. Ran further on to Aldi. Closed too! Sign saying not open for another 15 mins or so. What exciting adventures I lead in my life…
Anyway, Gary and I took Lucas to the nice park we found in town plus couple of bits we needed whilst we were there. Bit of food shopping later then hit the pool for the last time before everyone leaves tomorrow. Headed out for dinner at the regular place we’ve all been going, they do killer garlic prawns. Slow waddle back with mumma duck et al and played Uno again for the night. Gary still feeling a little under the weather, thinks maybe the air con? Once we hit the road again tomorrow hopefully it’ll clear.Les mer
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And then they went home
19. september 2023, Spania ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C
Apartment owner kindly let us not check out until we needed to leave today so we could take our time sorting out our shizz. Sadly, a cloudy day so no last minute sun bathing but took the opportunity to take Lucas to the beach park so he as he wouldn’t fry in the heat. He hates the sand but once through that he was happy to play. Back for lunch then did two airport runs to drop off - just as the storm began again. It tipped it down, blooming typical! I took a soaked family Cordell first shift and Gary took Matt next. It was eerily quiet in the apartment without everyone. Felt like we’d been there for ages. Had a lovely, quiet week though and so nice for everyone to get away, enjoy the break including Nana on duty all before bubba number 2 arrives. Missing everyone already.
We left the apartment through the rains to continue our journey on to Benidorm for our next overnight stop. The high rise buildings are a stark contrast to the lovely, quiet places we’ve been to up until now but this is more a functional stop than anything do we won’t be hanging about. We tipped over the 2000 mile marker on the journey too. Bucketed it down again whilst making dinner but hopefully the storm has passed as looks lovely and hot for the foreseeable, typical.
Gary felt a little under the weather again in the evening so nice early night knowing he’s getting up early to start back to work again, albeit remotely.Les mer
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Four weeks in!
20. september 2023, Spania ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
We have been away for 4 weeks now. Settled back in to the van again nicely.
Gary was up early to start work. Good to get up early too, helps to sleep the next night. He did a couple of hours then we hit the road to Valencia. I drove and Gary worked along the way. Not bad ‘office with a view’. The landscape changing again as we entered Valencia province, more rolling hills and orange tree groves. Oranges don’t appear to be ripe yet. Bet that looks nice when they are. I drove to a parking spot just on the outskirts of the city as a) didn’t want to drive through the city due to busy traffic or any ULEZ charges in a dirty old diesel van b) wanted to walk. Ironically the route it took me drove me right through the main part of the city anyway. After some crazy dangerous drivers later, we found the spot I was looking for. Nice walk to the L’Oceanografic Oceanarium I had booked. The district is quite arty and Uber modern designed buildings. The oceanarium was pretty good on the most part. We got there for dolphin feeding time which turned out be more of a show. It was a mix of how clever they are and can perform tricks for food and how clever they are and are cooped up in tanks when they should have more freedom. So that did start it a bit on a downer however the rest of the venue was great. Quite big considering it’s in a city. Lots of outdoor areas with crocodiles, flamingoes, some randy tortoises, seals, then the indoor buildings had the longest underwater tunnel and aquariums in Europe housing rays, tiger sharks, beluga, all types of marine life from different regions. It was impressive. I could’ve stayed there all day. Lovely day out in all. Carried on the drive to our next stop by the beach. A little town called Castellón a bit further north. Turns out they host a massive Harley Davidson festival every year with bands and events. Random. They obviously have their own ‘chapter‘ too. There are a lot of children‘s parks here. A lot. Apparently I commented quite a few times!
The beach was lovely and sandy and hot so hung out for a bit. Our park-up is right by the beach but very busy. We were lucky to get in. It’s free and by the beach hence so. All good though. In the evening walking to the bin, I happened to walk through the hunting antics of bats. There were probably a dozen or so of them swooping around after the bugs flying right past and around me. It was amazing! We stood there for ages watching especially as the sun was setting, it was beautiful. Really made my night! I need bats in the van - get rid of the mosquito problem. Research indicates they may be lesser horseshoe bat?Les mer
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Catalonia
21. september 2023, Spania ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C
Started the morning with a beautiful sunrise. As we were parked up right next to the beach, we walked over there as soon as we saw the sun rise. A couple of sun salutations and a walk later, we were off on our next stretch into Tinença de Benifassà national park on the promise of wild vultures. That never happened but we did stop at a random quirky garden (El Jardi de Peter) of a German artist called Peter Buch. He’s over 80 years old, according to my limited research, and has been constructing his mosaic home/garden since the 90s. What I thought would be a ten minute crazy arty curio garden turned into an immense, creative, incredible space with practically no surface untouched from the artist‘s creativity. He definitely has a unique style and the enormous amount of space and detail shows his lifetime’s work. It was brilliant. We were both blown away. We could hear him pottering about towards the back of his land on his next project. I was intrigued and wanted to meet the man behind the work so we went to find him. I ‘think‘ he was pleased with my contribution of a set of google eyes? My contribution from one artist to another. (We also donated too).
We drove back out, unable to locate a cave with old paintings that I’d earmarked. I’m sure there’ll be others.
We headed towards Tarragona and into Catalonia province, hoping to find a stop over in the area but they all seemed to not be rated too well. Stopped close by for a quick brew and another look online - gets a bit draining trying to find things to do and places to stay every day. It’s not all glamour and flouncing about on beaches ;0) Having said that, we headed to the beach for one last look at the Spanish coast before we headed inland/northbound with the plan to leave Spain within the next 24 hours.
We found a really quirky, festival style site to stay on called Himalaya, in Montgai, heading towards Andorra. The owner, Carlos is a bit of an alternative type with land behind his house that he’s converting to house campers. He has a climbing wall area and the camping section outside is set out very relaxed and lovely to hang out. The host was super friendly though the language being the barrier - good old google translate again. He has 2 friendly dogs free roaming but that did mean lot of dog caca. Sadly, it rained as we got there and over night so we stayed inside. Bit chillier overnight, temperatures cooling slightly as we head more north.Les mer
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Pyrenees
22. september 2023, Frankrike ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C
I went for an early morning run whilst Gary worked. Nice way to see the local area. Found a sign stating that the region is a starlight zone - an area of protected natural light. Great to stargaze when there’s no light pollution. It was cloudy the night before but the morning sky before sun up was beautiful and clear.
Whilst Gary worked I had my breakfast outside sat with the site owners dogs, a friendly pair. Then carried on with my crochet project - operation: crochet a ’rattle jacket’ for my new olive oil bottle! It rattles as we drive. Slightly annoying especially if I’m not allowed the music up high to drown it out.
When Gary was ready, we drove northbound out of Spain. We originally intended to drive through Andorra but realised that as it’s an independent country/principality it doesn’t abide by EU rules and therefore our phone data roaming would’ve cost us. This means no maps, purchases, messages etc. wouldn’t have been a problem if we were driving straight through but where we were headed, we would have had to turn around and come back a different way which would have meant using maps. Wasn’t that bothered. I’ll forfeit that country/sticker for now. Italy is the same but I think we can just pass straight through?
So we headed straight out of Spain though it was a much nicer drive then most of Spain’s motorways. Through the mountains. We headed towards France and the Pyrenees with our first stop being in a town called Llívia. Whilst it is in France, is still governed by Spain. It’s a mile in across the border and is completely landlocked by France. During the 1600s and the Franco-Spanish war, the Treaty if the Pyrenees agreed that the Pyrenees became the border between the 2 countries and all villages on the French side would be claimed by France. As Llívia was deemed to be a town, it kept itself as a Spanish enclave. Very interesting though nothing much to note here apart from a few abandoned cars and a very overpriced cash machine. Onward to our overnight stopover in a gorge. Gorgeous drive down through the mountains. Lots of weaving back and forth. Some spectacular views that photos never do justice. Lovely pitch up with some other camping cars (motorhomes) at the bottom of the gorge next to a stream. Temperatures have dropped considerably since we left Spain - from mid twenties to 0 degrees overnight. Had to change out of my shorts and sandals when we arrived. Public toilet is a traditional hole in the ground for the ladies. No different than squatting in a bush so I’m fine with that ;0)
We went for a good old hike up the mountain near us, hiked a mile upwards then back down, some precarious ledges and stunning views. A good work out too. Back for a fam chat (the guys all have covid!) and dinner.
We’ve been getting up quite early this week as Gary working so watched our go-to Blackadder and bed. Campers were arriving through the night. Considering how precarious the roads are around here in the day let alone in the dark, is some feat.Les mer
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Two châteaux in one day
23. september 2023, Frankrike ⋅ 🌬 22 °C
Was cold last night, down to 1 degree as expected. We are in the mountains after all. We were organised though, nice warm duvet and jammies back on. As we left our lovely Pyrenean gorge stopover, we saw masses of people parking up and ready to hike the mountains. Beautiful, sunny day for it.
Our first stop was at one of the many, many hundreds of chateaux in the region called Château de Puilaurens, remains of a medieval castle perched on a panoramic outcrop accessed by a steep footpath, their words. And it was striking indeed. The hike up wasn’t too bad at all, of course it’s subjective but a swift 15 minute walk took us to the ruins. Great views and a little history with our leaflet. We ambled about for a bit then motored on. Roads flattened out a bit as we came out of the Pyrenees though the towns all looked like ski resort towns. It must be a different scenery in the winter.
Our stopover was Carcassonne, a hilltop town famous for its medieval citadel. And another chateau. We parked up just outside of the town and walked in looking for some dinner. Most of the restaurants don’t open until at least 6pm so we hung about for a bit, found a Vietnamese cafe, ate some chow and decided to look for a rock pub as it’s Saturday night! We found an Irish bar which happened to be showing the rugby World Cup (England v Chile) so stayed to watch that. When it had finished we walked back via the castle and citadel which was gorgeous at sunset. It has been laid out so everyone has access to roam through with lots of shops/bars/restaurants. Really nice. Had a wander then walked back to the van for tea and ice cream. More planning for the next few days. Lots of heavy driving coming up.Les mer
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Driving
24. september 2023, Frankrike ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
Had a nice easy early morning before we head off on a very long drive through the best part of France towards Switzerland. We didn’t really factor in any visits as we wanted to make a bit of headway. We had to avoid Montpelier which was close to where we were. They have ULEZ charge so we couldn’t pass near. Gary had prebooked our campsite for that night which was around 5 hours away and wanted to be there for the 3pm footy kick off. That didn’t happen! I did the first section, just over 2 hours. We swapped. I managed to finish my rattle jacket for my oil bottle The town we drove through had lots of road closures so we got trapped, couldn’t get out. Exactly the same as last Sunday- must be a ’thing‘? There was us and lots of other cars just driving around in circles. The diversion signs weren’t helping either. Finally found out way out but this must’ve taken half an hour or so. A lot of time wasted. Cracked on but only for a bit as we had to swap again because the football was about to start. So I amused myself with the sights of the approaching alps and singing whilst Gary streamed the football to his phone. Not the most exciting of days but good to get quite a big hike of a drive (and France) out of the way. Arrived at our campsite for the night in La Ravoire conveniently just as the football finished. Made some dinner and went for a walk to the foot of the mountains to burn off some energy.
Bit more planning for the next few days crossing through Switzerland and the alps, a little bit of Liechtenstein plus Austria in to Germany by mid week hopefully.Les mer
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Switzerland
25. september 2023, Sveits ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C
Up early for a run and shower whilst Gary worked again. A bit of food shopping and fuel refill once we’d started our journey again, I’d read that Switzerland can be a bit pricey, Gary drove the first half and over the border hoping to be able to buy their equivalent of the toll fee by way of a sticker called a vignette. Apparently you can buy it at the border allowing you to use their motorways. A much simpler (and cheaper) way to pay for toll than the French toll points every few metres, it feels like. My toll charge in France is going to be huge I reckon. It was £60 coming down the first part when we first got here compared to Spain around £30 and we were there for much longer and more traveling. We seem to go through toll after toll after toll this last French section.
Anyway, as we approached the border, no new country signs or welcome. Just weaved in and out of a few cones and some unmarked buildings then we were through. Back on to the motorway. Very underwhelming. So, we panicked a little thinking we hadn’t got this vignette. I know their fine for not having one is a bit costly so we pulled over and found a petrol station outside Geneva to purchase one. Easy. 40 franks lasts the year (£36). Crisis averted, Gary drove a little further around Lake Geneva then we switched over and I drove to the stopover. As we approached the snow tipped Alps it was an amazing sight knowing we would be heading that way eventually. Our stopover is near Interlaken, next to lake Brienz (Brienzee). The approach was breathtaking. Such a turquoise looking water especially with the sun shining. We found it spot for the night and went for a walk in the area finding a very high, though not very wide, waterfall. Hiked up the woody mountain a little to see some more beautiful views before heading back for dinner. Gary attempted to fly the drone but we’re near an airport so restrictions meant he wasn’t confident. We walked down to the picturesque village as the sun went down and sat on a bench watching the sun set. Surprisingly quite busy there with Korean tourists. There’s a pier that was used in a Korean Netflix show recently. Bit of an attraction. Back at our stopover, just a large carpark, a couple other vans also turned up for the night. One, respectfully leaving a gap but another shoehorned himself right into our corner. There’s loads of room here, why do people do that? I could probably take a leap from my doorstep and land on his. Eyeroll.
Gary’s looking forward to driving the Furka pass next. A long, winding, scenic stretch through the Alps made famous by the Goldfinger movie. Move over Lewis Hamilton.Les mer
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Furka Pass
26. september 2023, Sveits ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
This journey was all about the Furka Pass, 37km of winding, weaving roads through the Swiss Alps. An elevation of around 2 1/2 km at its peaks traveling up and down. It was terrifying, breathtaking, butt clenching and beautiful all at the same time. We both took turns driving the stretch stopping regularly along the way to enjoy the scenery, gives the brakes cooling time and let the many sports cars pass. It’s those kind of roads where when you’re turning corners on the edge and there’s only concrete posts or not even that to guide you, narrow roads, steep hills and blind corners. Fair to say I were shitting meself on more than one occasion! The roads are well maintained and not as bad as some of the mountains in Spain but mucho concentration needed. It meant that although it was only a few km, it took pretty much all day as you can’t do much more then 20-30 mph. We stopped at the Rhône glacier that is huge at 7km in length, but has sadly reduced in size due to global warming. The primary source of Lake Geneva. There was also an ice ‚grotto‘ that you can go through. Made ourselves a van brew and chatted to a bunch of New Zealand lads in a UK van. There must’ve been about 10 of them crammed in. They’d flown from NZ to UK, bought a cheap van off a woman and were driving down to Lyon, France to watch the All Blacks play rugby. The van was apparently a wreck causing them trouble most days. Much joking about swapping vans for size etc then we were on our way. A little lower down the mountain we stopped at an infamous stop in James Bond, Goldfinger to get some shots. There were some cows by the side of the road so snapped them too. All cows here have bells so the farmers know where they are so everywhere, you can hear faint tinkles. Think Gary needs one so I don’t lose him!
A Brit plate Overlander van rocked up so chatted to them for a bit too. They are our age and sold up everything to go traveling. They’ve been all over, some great stories. I follow them now on Facebook. Again, said our goodbyes and carried on downwards. We stopped at a town at the end of the pass called Aldermatt as we spotted a cable car and felt the need to do one. When in Switzerland… not cheap but great views. Not as scary as the one we did at Alton towers years ago. It didn’t travel across a gorge or anything, just up the mountain. Had a swift lemonade and back down again. Wandered around the town, very Swiss and probably completely different in the winter what with it being a skiing town. Avoided the friendly police road stop when we left, they’d parked next to us, probably already checked out the van. They just said hello and off we went. On to our over night stop in Surcuolm. A campsite for a change (toilets/showers). More mountain driving but not too far. More beautiful views and so warm in the sun then a little chilly when the sun went down. Did a quick chat with die Tochter dann die Eltern though connection patchy later on.Les mer
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Three countries, one day
27. september 2023, Østerrike ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C
Getting packed up to leave and we noticed some hot air balloons flying over. On further inspection there were half a dozen arcing over the site coming from beyond the mountains coming in to land just behind us. What a beautiful view they must have had. One landed particularly close to our site - I’m assuming they’re a bit tricky to control? Great to watch though. Something calming about it.
We headed off on our trek to Austria passing through Liechtenstein on the way just to cross off another country.
Alex and Lucas called so they crossed the first border of Liechtenstein with us, quite exciting but turned out to be underwhelming. Barely a sign, just a couple of flags. We entered to the south at Balzers, stopped to shop at the Spar in Triesen then exited Liechtenstein border over the Rhine back in to Switzerland covering probably a quarter of the country in less than half an hour! We traveled a little further up then entered Austria and on to our campsite. There’s still a few mountains visible but getting to the end of the alps now. We stopped in Bregenz town, the very west of Austria. Just traveled over 3000 miles now! Quite a big campsite with donkeys and goats. Bit of down time today for a change so managed to get some washing done and catch some rays. Farmers bird scarer going off regularly. Thought we were being shot at at first! Went for a quick sunset walk to the local lake - a 63km natural Lake Constance (Bodensee) that is surrounded by Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Liechtenstein. Of course, where there’s water, there’s mosquitos so we didn’t hang about. We’ve not been able to sit out much in the evenings sadly as it’s either been too cold but mostly because of mosquitos. We already have a plan for the next day so nice to not having to be sorting that. To Bavaria!Les mer
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Oktoberfest
28. september 2023, Tyskland ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
We left Austria and headed in to Germany with Alex and Matt on facetime joining us. Again, a little underwhelming but another country border ticked. We arrived at the north part of Munich, our overnight stopover being the Allianz Arena, home of Bayern Munich football club. Nice parking area and facilities, better than some campsites we’ve stayed on! Great view of the arena too. Took the underground to the city and walked around for a bit of sightseeing before we headed to the bier festival. Lovely hot day too. Security wouldn’t let us take our bags in, had to be smaller than a bum bag or something similar sized so had to put them in the cloakroom area. Saved carrying stuff around, admittedly. It was quite busy and lots of people wearing traditional clothing, lederhosen, skirts, hats, braces etc. looked really good. We had a look around the funfair section then went to one of the Bierhallen. Decorated lovely inside but so loud. The band playing Bavarian music and everyone talking to be heard. Very busy. We got seated and ordered the litre sized glasses each (one alcohol free), they’re all a standard price €14.50 per litre. The waitresses can carry an immense amount of those glasses, so heavy. Such a workout! We shared a huge pretzel each. Got chatting to the people on our table, an American couple celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary and a group of Australian lads out on a bender. Great fun to watch the shenanigans. We moved on after finishing our drinks. Sat outdoors next, bit quieter. We did the ferris wheel (Riesenrad) and I had a gingerbread heart (Lebkuchenhertz), Gary had the bratwurst. We had a great time there, brilliant experience but so very expensive. We left there early evening and found a pizza place to eat then on to a rock bar which was great but I was feeling a bit stuffed and bloated by then. Got the underground back to the van/stadium. Went to bed full and merry.Les mer
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Dachau
29. september 2023, Tyskland ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
After leaving Munich, we traveled only a few miles up the road to Dachau concentration camp. The flagship camp for all of the others. Set up in 1933 eventually seeing 200,000 prisoners from all over Europe imprisoned here and in the numerous subsidary camps. At least 41,500 were murdered. On April 29 1945, American troops liberated the survivors. A fascinating and somber memorial. We hired audio guides and it took a good couple of hours to get around. We then drove northwards, coincidentally, to Nuremberg. Went for wander in to the town and treated ourselves to a curry. It was so warm over night that we had to have the fan going. Not needed it since southern Spain.
Crazy to think we only have a week left before we return home. Mixed emotions about that. Definitely been an adventure.Les mer
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More driving
30. september 2023, Tyskland ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
Bit wet when we woke up, quite unusual recently. Found somewhere local in Nuremberg for our Saturday morning breakfast and headed over. Got us our table, translated the menu, ordered and paid all in the lingo. Getting more confident.
Headed on our merry way. Today’s job being to travel north and make headway to our next goal, my birth town. We drove half each aiming for a camp site I had earmarked though sadly, they were full. Another family with a caravan were hoping to stay too, on the off chance. Bit of a gamble when you’re towing a massive caravan. Maybe that’s the norm here? Did a bit of shopping and headed on a little further to a lovely old town called Trendleburg in the Kassel district. A municipality park up in the countryside, very lovely. Phoned to book in my very best deutsch again though she did actually speak English. I tried. I rescued a little dog trapped in the bushes on an extendable lead. It had gone through the bushes then gone back another way, owner couldn’t it back. I unhooked the dog and sent it back through, owner very grateful. I noticed after that I had something in my eye which I could just not shift. Took quite a few hours to dissipate, thought I’d scratched my eyeball. All clear this morning though. Bloody dogs!
Gary managed to stream the footy then we walked in to the town to look for a cash point. Lovely stroll. Made dinner whilst chatting to Alex and Lucas then watched a bit of catch up tv.Les mer
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A personal pilgrimage
1. oktober 2023, Tyskland ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C
Got up nice and early, went for walk around the countryside and back for a full English at the van, yum.
Off on our travels again, first point as we’re passing through anyway was Hamelin, as in the pied piper of - the town where the rats (and subsequent children) disappeared. Apparently based on fact? Must read Grimm fairy tales… Very pretty city but we didn’t stop. Onwards to the first stop, my birth town. Found the building that used to be BMH (British medical hospital) Rinteln, closed in 1997 then converted to a care home for elderly and special needs schooling. We walked around the back path still with old fencing and barbed wire, quite military looking then drove to the entrance. Nicely modernised but still with elements of military, looks a little like a prison! Interesting opportunity to see where it all began nearly 50 years earlier.
Then on towards Cologne but, again, stopping along the way to Iserlohn, my maternal grandmother‘s home town. Again, a lovely looking old town but we headed to the cemetery as Grandma had mentioned that the family were buried there. Sadly, the only name I have is her maiden name, Schwarz. She keeps everything close to her chest! We had a wander. A massive, beautifully maintained grounds. We didn’t find any Schwartz however not surprising as in Germany, you only rent the burial spot usually up to around 30-50 years. After that point if you don’t want to continue paying, the grave is cleared and reused for the next burial! A German friend of ours went and reclaimed his father‘s headstone. It’s now in his garden! Apparently you’re not allowed to scatter ashes either, they have to be buried in a cemetery too?
We paid our respects anyway and drove to our stopover by the river Lenne in a town called Altena. Another lovely looking town with a castle on the hill. More walking, dinner then whilst we were gaming, we thought it was our music first but heard a loud siren, opened the door and there was definitely a siren from out side, very loud. V scary. The same as an air raid siren. It sounded for 3 rounds then stopped. Few minutes later we heard lots of vehicle sirens go past. Apparently a few towns in Germany still have a warning system which was tested recently (similar to our mobile phone alert we had but theirs was sirens too). The alert we heard was for the fire brigade calling to warn them of an incident so not an alert for the public. There are different alerts that we should listen out for, though.Les mer
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Köln
2. oktober 2023, Tyskland ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C
We made it through the night without any more sirens going off! Never did find out why. Gary began working but quickly ran out of laptop charge so we had to pack up sharpish and head out to somewhere where he could plug in. Those Monday morning emails won’t write them selves! Found a close by service station to charge/brekkie/coffee/loo so he could crack on and I just hung out.
Once work was done, driving via Leverkusen (twinned with Bracknell), we headed over to a park and ride outside Cologne (ULEZ so no getting close in a stinky diesel van). Just a swift short train ride into the city centre. The cathedral is just outside the station and is very impressive. It’s huge, imposing and so intricate. Third tallest church in the world taking over 600 years to complete! Inside is just as impressive and detailed as outside. We climbed the 533 steps up the bell tower which was a good workout around a narrow winding staircase. Great views from the top.
Had a little wander around the city, had a pitstop then got the (delayed) train back to the van.
After a bit of food shopping later, we arrived at our next stopover in Jülich, our last night in Germany. A nice camping pitch next to a sizeable park/lake/animal enclosures. May have to check these out. Gary swears he heard wolves howling in the distance! So warm last night, not dropping below 21 degrees though I believe there is a storm coming?
Gary enjoyed his bratwurst dinner then we went for a walk at the perimeter of the park (fenced off, you have to pay). All lit up with colourful lighting. Looks lovely.
Played cards in the evening referencing Kalooki on a number of occasions ;0) (ask Gary).Les mer
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Netherlands
3. oktober 2023, Nederland ⋅ 🌧 17 °C
Last day in Germany before we truck further onwards. Squeezed in a run in the countryside whilst Gary worked. He put €2 in the electric meter the evening before, get everything charged up, by the time we left that morning there was still €1.93 left, hehe. You live and learn. Germany are celebrating their German unity day. A public holiday celebrating their unity between east and west in 1990, a year after the wall came down.
Drove over another border into the Netherlands and to our first stop in Vaals, three countries point where Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands meet. Quick photo at the point then around their labyrinth just for fun. Made sure I kept my eyes glued to Gary all the way around. We made it to the middle, whoop. Gary did exclaim at one point “we’re gonna be in here for ages” but we made it through in not bad timing in the end.
Rained a bit on and off through the morning but started to clear as we approached our next stop in Valkenburg. A nice little town with a castle on the hill. We had a short wander but we’re keen to move on to Maastricht, a short drive again. Arrived at our campsite, a 30 minute walk from the town so headed in. Again, had a little wander around, quick look for a van sticker (a flag from each country we’ve visited) and some sightseeing then pizza. Very cold and windy sitting out. Found the oldest pub so went there too, Café In den Ouden Vogelstruys, dating back to the 1400s. Ye olde inside though slightly marred by euro trash music playing! Took a slow wander back to the van. Trying to make some strategic travel plans for the last couple of days plus factoring in a certain birthday.Les mer
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In to Belgium
4. oktober 2023, Belgia ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C
Headed in to Belgium in the morning as the laundrette we needed was not far from us in that direction, (Maastricht on the border). Shame to leave Netherlands so soon but we’re on a tight schedule. Did some last minute essentials washing to get us through whilst Gary worked for the last day this week. I went for a walk to the local park.
After a spot of shopping whilst chit chatting to Alex/Lucas it was my turn to drive southwest to our first proper stop in Dînant. An old town by the river with a citadel on the hill overlooking. We stopped at the the top of the hill to observe their small military cemetery commemorating French/Belgian WW1 soldiers plus Commonwealth graves of WW2 soldiers retreating from Dunkirk/shot down/crashed/strategic Germany raids. We then headed down into the town and walked along the river. Very pretty town but not much in the way of shopping - hoping to find myself a birthday gift. We walked to Notre-Dame de Leffe, a small abbey built in 1152. From the 1200s the canons started to brew beer for their visitor which turned out to be safer than drinking the water. This tradition has continued on and off over the years though now Leffe beer is brewed at a larger distillery with the abbey still being funded through the profits. Of course, we had to stop for a Leffe whilst we were there.
Dînant is also the home of the inventor of the saxophone, Adolphe Sax. There are 60 saxophone ‘statue’ tributes around the town.
Spent a couple of hours here then went on our merry way to our overnight site overlooking the hills (and cows) slightly north east. Lovely last day of my forties.Les mer
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It’s my birthday!
5. oktober 2023, Belgia ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C
50 today! Yay! Had a lovely, leisurely breakfast, eggs of course and fizz plus tea ’n cake. We then packed up and drove off to our last day/night on our epic road trip.
I was recommended to visit Kortrijk as it’s on our way to Calais.
A nice little town, easily walkable with usual historic buildings. Gary bought me a pair of birthday earrings and we had a mooch ending up in an Irish bar of all places for dinner. Decided we wanted to do something fun so went bowling afterwards. Nice little bowling alley and it was good fun then walked back towards the van.
By the river we’d seen someone earlier in the day setting up some stuff but didn’t know what. On our way back we could see there was a small machine in the water spraying fine mist of water into the air in a fan shape. It turned out it looked like they were rehearsing a light show (possibly students?). Images/video was projected on to the water mist creating a visual display visible from all angles/sides. They played atmospheric music to accompany. It was beautiful. A fitting end to my birthday. Almost like it had been planned…
Slept well on our last night. The van has been great to us. New mattress topper has come into its own, no sore hips and we haven’t really been under each other’s feet. All in all a very memorable trip that has both felt like we’ve been away for ever yet it’s gone so quick.
Up bright and early to get the ferry back. If only we could get out of the car park! (We did, finally).
Thanks for reading my blog. I’m pleased I kept a record.Les mer
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Home
6. oktober 2023, England ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
After a v long drive and ferry, we finally made it home. Phew!
4318 miles, 8 countries and lots of memories made.
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Reisens slutt
6. oktober 2023