Week 2 – July 28th to August 2nd – Getting schlossed!
Day 8 – TUESDAY – We had a leisurely start because we essentially had a whole day to kill. Lenny’s flight was not until the evening and we had perhaps miscalculated a little. We set off for Lenny’s last trip to Jumbo in Zwolle. I offered him a souvenir Jumbo baseball cap – bright Yellow with a red J on it. For some strange reason he declined. I bet he wishes he’d accepted now, because he left his favourite baseball cap here!
While we’d been shopping, Paul had been getting the bikes out so that he and Len could have a cycle ride to explore Zwolle. As there are only two bikes, I stayed behind with the boys and stowed the groceries. Once they returned. we nipped to Decathlon for some tent pegs and I also bought a Petanque circle (to stand in when you throw) and a souvenir t-shirt for Lenny to remind him of his first time in the Netherlands.
Interesting fact about Zwolle – it hosts a very large Bird Fair twice a year. Bird fanciers flock to it (ahem) and it’s mainly for Parrots – according to Parrots Daily News.com. I’m not joking here! I’m not at all keen on a caged bird, personally. I’d prefer to see them flying free. We humans are weird aren’t we?
Our next stop was a motorway services for lunch – hitting the high spots again for the kid. We spoil him rotten! And then it was Arnhem Centraal Station, where he’d catch a direct train to Schipol. We found a handy parking space, right by a bus stop into town and Paul went with him and saw him to the station, with a ticket and details of the platform he needed to be on. He’s a savvy kid and made it safely home to London, much to our relief. We will miss him.
Paul jumped back on the bus and returned to the van and we set off towards our night spot for the next couple of nights. In Germany – Country 4. It was about 35 miles and the slowest part of the journey was crossing the manned border into Germany. We thought Europe was border free?
We rang ahead and explained we were on our way and eventually rocked up around 7:30pm. The lady was out shopping and would be back soon. We waited – not in a hurry and Paul wasn’t much fancying the tight turn – which would have been easier if a car hadn’t been badly parked.
The lady returned and didn’t seem particularly bothered about the parked car and intimated that we’d get round. Well we did, but I had to get out and assist Paul (right a bit, left a bit style) and it was a bit of a squeeze. The site (Strandhaus Sonsfeld) is on the old course of the Rhine and offers access for swimming, fishing and boating. There is also an on-site Vietnamese restaurant PapaMi.
We were pretty tired and ate a scratch meal of bread and cheese before flopping into bed. The last day of Paul’s holiday. He’d taken the week off so we could both spend time with Lenny. But tomorrow he’d be back to the grindstone.
WEDNESDAY – back to work for poor Paul – I did some washing, which dried almost instantly. It was almost unbearably hot (mid 30s). Another degree hotter and I think I would have expired. The boys spent the day panting and looking at us with beseeching eyes. Not a lot we could do though. Both fans helped out, but it was not pleasant.
Rather than cook, we decided to eat out at the Vietnamese restaurant, which was delicious. We started with a refreshing cold beer – truly wondrous – and spent the time discussing where we’d go from here. We came to no firm conclusion. Just South. We decided to ask if we could stay one more night, thus completing Paul’s work for the week. We’d travel on tomorrow. Everything dirty washed – even the bedding – so we were in good shape for the weekend. And boy – it was a very hot night. Difficult to sleep, even though we were really tired.
Day 9 – THURSDAY – another hot day. And another non-moving day. I used the time to get fully up to date with sorting photos and notes for the blog. I also did more washing as it was so convenient. We’d leave with everything clean again. Slightly cooler for sleeping – with a very welcome little breeze.
Day 10 –FRIDAY – we set off with no real plan – other than to stop off at the next small town to go to the Post Office. I had agreed to post Len’s baseball cap back to him, having found something to put it in for transit. There was a handy Penny (supermarket|) to top up with drinks. Before we could send the hat off, we needed packing tape. Once it was all packed up I set off to the PO. I’m finding Google translate a godsend – in between the fact that most folk speak pretty good English and that app, communication is possible. I’m slightly embarrassed by my lack of German, but it can’t be helped.
I managed to make the guy understand my needs and he explained that the package was too big for post and would need to be sent DHL. He gave me the cost – €30! I’d need to take advice from a higher authority for that spend!
Shopping done, we set off South with coffees and breakfast goods in hand. While we were driving I was researching stopping potential for that night. The site on the outskirts of Köln (Cologne) looked like a good bet, and a quick call secured us a spot for the night.
We find that German roads are not quite as good as those of the Netherlands – but still there are no potholes. GB wake up! We were travelling along the old A3 – an old motorway with tired service stations, by the way.
We arrived in Cologne early afternoon. The campsite, on the banks of the Rhine, was well organised and we were soon all hooked up. It was called Campimgplatz Stadt Köln and was well equipped for our needs. Most campsites have a bread service and we quickly ordered some before the cut-off time.
My American friend Lisa (whom I met through singing in the US) informed me that the shrine of Three Wise Men is in Cologne cathedral. I was moved to ask how on earth they had ended up there. Research told me that they were brought to Cologne by Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in 1164. Don’t even ask me how they got to Rome! But their shrine is mighty impressive and actually “one of the largest reliquaries in the Western world”. The heathen in me wonders how much good all that gold and jewels could do to help those in need. But I guess that would be vandalism and probably blasphemy too?
We settled down for a nap – both finding the heat quite enervating. The plan was to cycle in to have a look round Cologne – heavily bombed by us in WW2 – for a look round. There was direct access to the tow path from the campsite. Sadly we did not make it to the City centre, A combination of heat, distance (further than it looked) and the fact that Paul had forgotten to charge up his bike battery, spiked our guns. As did the thought of the return journey. Essentially – we gave up. A cold beer was waiting for us back at the site.
We had stopped by at the Poller Fischerhaus, both for a drink and dinner – in that order! Being a Friday evening, it was heaving, but a friendly German chap alerted us to a spare table, which we quickly nabbed. The restaurant was renowned for serving beer in stoneware mugs. The mugs are chilled in the freezer and then filled with chilled pilsener. The beer (Bitburger, brewed in Frankfurt) actually had tiny ice crystals in it and slipped down a treat for my weary cyclist husband! You can actually buy it in Waitrose – minus the ice crystals!
We both chose to dine on Kibbeling – actually a Dutch dish – for our supper. Kibbeling consists of battered chunks of fish (traditionally Cod), seasoned with a mix of spices and, in this case, was served with a delicious aioli. Think of it as a cross between fish and chips and KFC! I actually prefer it to British style Fish and chips – heresy I know! What we did notice at dinner (which was outside) was the number of people smoking. Not pleasant.
Despite the afternoon nap, we were both tired again and slept very well thank you. Luckily it had cooled down a bit. And we’d definitely recommend the site as a good stop over.
Day 11 – SATURDAY – we collected our bread order and breakfasted before setting off, further South. Again, without a real plan. As a lifelong planner and daughter of a planner and sister to a planner, this is a little hard for me! I need to let go and go with the flow more. I’m sure I will, but it’ll take a while!
The part of Germany we had been in, was equally as flat as Belgium and the Netherlands, and we were quite excited to spot some hills in the distance. Paul had selected a route that followed the River Rhine – the B9. A route which took us straight through the heart of Bonn and ever southwards. We glimpsed our first “castle on a crag” fairly early on and were quite thrilled. But it seems that everyone was at it – on every crag. We were soon all schlossed out! A friend told me that, whilst on a Rhine cruise, they had started to use the term ABC – Another Bloody Castle! Well we weren’t quite that bad, but getting there.
We had phoned ahead to our next nightspot – a campsite entitled Campingplatz Loreleyblick, in Sankt Goarshausen. Blick means view, by the way. In this case, a view of the statue of Loreley (which I always thought was spelt Lorelei, but went with local convention) and also of the Loreley rock, a 32-meter (433-foot) slate cliff.
The story of Lorelei/ley is of beautiful maiden who threw herself into the Rhine River in despair over a faithless lover and was transformed into a siren who lured fishermen to destruction. The legend has some foundation in fact as the stretch of water is difficult to navigate and one of the deepest and most dangerous points of the River Rhine. The song attributed to the Lorelei was probably based on a combination of sounds – the currents, a nearby waterfall, and the fact that the rock creates an echo – leading to the “murmuring” or singing, rumoured to be the dangerous song of the siren. You can read more here.
All the “front row” pitches were gone but we found a nice spot with a little shade in the 3rd row. It was a good place to watch the cargo vessels chugging up and down river. The Rhine is noticeably low on water and many large barges are forced to sail perhaps only 20% to 25% full to keep their draft shallow enough to avoid going aground. And Rhine cruises are also badly affected, with big tour operators, such as Viking, being forced to swap ships or use buses to transport tourists past shallow stretches. I am agog at the size (length) of the vessels. And the size of a the river. I would not want to take a narrowboat along there!
The campsite is in a classic valley – rail, road and river – and the train line was very frequent with both passenger and freight trains. Luckily they stopped running about 11pm and we had a good night’s sleep, with a refreshing breeze off the river. It was a great stop and I’d happily have stayed longer. The boys liked the beach and had a good frolic!
Day 12 – SUNDAY – once again we set off with no plan – but in the vague direction of Würzburg, of which more next week. Today, our route took us through Darmstadt – where Pompey had played the previous day. A 0-0 draw. I noticed that one of my ex work colleagues – an avid Pompey follower – had been there – we had just missed each other.
We had decided that we’d try a “Stellplatz that night. These are like the French “Aires de Camping car – basic facilities but no frills. And there’s one in almost every small town. Specifically for motorhomes or “wohnmobiles”, there are over 6,800 sites nationwide in Germany. They offer an affordable, legal alternative to traditional campsites and wild camping, and usually feature a motorhome road sign so you know where they are.
The one we had chosen was on the banks of the River Main (on which the city of Frankfurt stands) in a little town called Kleinwallstadt. It’s best to arrive no later than about 3pm at these sites, which is what we did. We found a very nice spot, with hook-up, fresh water, elsan and grey water disposal. All for €5 a night, which they come and collect. We paid for 2 nights. Electricity was extra (€1 for 6 hours) and drinking water was €1 for 5 minutes usage. What a great find. The only downside is that you cannot pre-book in most cases, so it’s a bit of a thorn in the side of my planning gene!
It was also a lovely spot with nice dog walks and somewhere to paddle or even – perhaps – swim? The next few days were expected to be in the mid to high 30s, so we might swim out of desperation for a bit of cool! You’ll have to come back next week to find out if we did!
Thanks for the kind feedback, by the way. We are delighted to have our regulars travelling along with us. Some have been with us since our first blog, RV-ing in Canada, back in 2012. Great to hear from you all. Vielen Dank dass Sie dabei sind. I think………….
| Period | Miles | Cumulative |
| Week 2 | 284 | 969 |