Libin

We headed off around 9.30 without breakfast intending to eat somewhere on the way. We filled up with Diesel for about 1.1 euros – so much cheaper than anywhere else, think the cheapest was 1.4, but it was 1.7 in France. Our Justgo facebook page suggested filling up there, but we didn’t expect it to be that much cheaper. It was really lovely just driving around through countryside, forest and weird little towns which had about 3 buildings in them. We stopped just before 12, and had bacon eggs and tomatoes for breakfast beside the river. While we were there I was wondering what was over the other side of the river – odd little structures in a paddock. When we drove off, we realised it was a really long campground, and the structures were power hookups for motorhomes. There were really lovely campgrounds everywhere. We had bought some bread rolls yesterday but they were a bit disappointing – turns out they were chocolate brioch type of things which weren’t very nice. Then we drove a bit further and found the German border. We drove over a bridge into Germany just because we could, and the back to Luxemburg. We drove a bit further to Echtermach which looked so pretty that we took the bikes off, and went for a spin. Some of the shops were closed because it was Monday which saved us! We biked through the town, then on a path beside the river, and then found a bridge. So once again we went over the bridge to Germany just because we could. We hadn’t found any bakeries or supermarkets open in Luxemburg so we bought some bread and water in Germany. Of course when we went back to Luxemburg we found bakeries and supermarkets – never mind.

So after biking back to Nico, we were off again. It was around 2pm by that stage and because Anke mentioned it, we headed to Viaden where there was supposed to be a great castle. There was a town every few kms, and every one had a campsite next to the river. Rather tempting to stop, but we didn’t. We got to Viaden and went up a narrow street – what fun, Jody was out again stopping traffic so I could do a you turn. We nearly gave up on the idea of visiting the spectacular looking castle, but then found a 3 hour parking spot for Nico. We walked to a chairlift which we thought would take us to the castle, but nope, it took us quite a bit higher. Jody had been keen to take pics on the way down on the chairlift, but after about 15 mins of walking down a very rocky steep path to get to the castle, we thought we wouldn’t try walking up it again. The castle was very interesting, and the tour round it was easy to follow. I found an art competition at the end really good – focus was on time and death by the looks of it, and many of the pics were quite thought provoking.

Luxemburg really is a very lovely place. The country has a population of around 600,000. The main city has some great things to see, but the country is a bit like NZ in terms of there not being many people around, lots of farmland and forest and great mountain biking and tramping. Lots of the country roads had paved bike paths alongside them. It would be nice to spend a bit more time here, but Nico needs to be returned.

After walking down the hill we got to Nico around 5.30, and headed off. We had no idea where were going to stay tonight, but just kept driving. We had no cell phone coverage, but googlemaps was great with the little blue dot, so we knew where we were. At one stage we intended to head for this town, but while travelling noticed the town name had a red line across it on street signs. Finally we got to a detour, so realised we couldn’t get there at all. So it was off to Germany again as that was somewhere we could go. We drove for quite a while on varying quality of roads. Around 7.30 we started looking for somewhere to stay, and have ended up at St Vith in Belgium. We couldn’t work out where the reception was for this campsite, or even where the entrance was. So after 2 u turns, an odd looking man turned up who didn’t speak english. We managed to make our wishes known, and for 16 euros have a pitch spot. We will be off earlyish tomorrow planning to make it to Ghent and maybe Bruges. Not long now until we have to give Nico back which will be a bit sad. What is more sad is the thought of having to pack bags – yikes that will be a mission and a half!Read more