VIANEN

Wednesday 5^th

After a kerfuffle getting Frau Jobsworth to unhook our cable and then settle our bill, we left about 10.15 in bright sunshine for the 90 miles to Vianen. We arrived at Camperplaats Ons Splekske by 12.30, and a very lovely place it is too. Bowling green grass, toilet, shower, wifi, hot water and a Dutch couple that speak English. It was very hot again so we just chilled out in the afternoon and decided that we might stay more than a couple of nights. So at 8.20 pm I am sitting outside on a picnic table in the sun doing some catching up with blog and emails.

Thursday 6^th

Warm and sunny again, so I did just a few bits of washing and then we lazed around and chatted to folk. We have decided to stay put here until Sunday and then drive to Hook of Holland to meet up with Lorna and Mike as planned. The Dutch schools have now broken up and everywhere is getting busy, so as we have a lovely spot we think we will hang on to it!

We have got 2 nights booked on the campsite at Hook of Holland with Lorna and Mike before travelling back on the ferry on Tuesday ready to go to Debenham on Wednesday so our trip is drawing to a close. We have loved all of it, but it will be quite nice to get back to being able to understand the language and know where we are going rather than constantly map-reading or having a fight with Emily and her re-calculating moments.

STROMBERG and ERFTSTADT

Sunday 2^nd

Although it had rained most of the night, at least it had stopped when we left, leaving a load of mud and puddles behind for us to drive through. We got back on to the motorway and travelled 64 miles to Stromberg, where we found a stellplatz right next to the fire station, Lidl, Aldi, Rewe and a petrol station. Needless to say as it was Sunday everything was closed, so we are now parked up alongside a Dutchman and 2 Germans waiting to go shopping and re-fuelling tomorrow morning.

Monday 3^rd

Popped in to Lidl for croissants for breakfast, then later drove to Rewe for shopping and then Ed for diesel, finally got under way about 10.00am. It was 92 miles to Erfstadt where we found Camping Liblarer See. We planned on stopping a couple of nights in order to catch up on washing and showers. It has a sort of beach on a lake where folk were swimming and canoeing, quite a few youngsters as the schools have now broken up for their holidays. We went to the bistro for a meal in the evening, quite nice and very reasonable.

Tuesday 4^th

Warm, sunny and cloudy, so I invested in a washing machine for 3 euros and chucked everything in. Then festooned Juliette with hangers etc. with it all to dry. Brian had a good sweep out and refilled water containers, now we are all clean and tidy we can relax for the afternoon before showering and dinner. No wifi here so don’t know when I will get this posted online.

ASCHAFFENBURG

Friday 30^th

We spent about half an hour dumping waste and toilet and filling up with fresh water as all the points were in a different place along the stellplatz.  We knew that the next town we were headed for had no facilities at all so like good boy scouts we needed ‘to be prepared’. It was about 65 miles to Aschaffenburg where we planned to spend a couple of nights and meet up with our eldest son Andrew who lives in Darmstadt. Although dry it was very windy and there were loads of road works, so a few hairy moments with large lorries. We arrived by 12.00, relaxed for a while, had some lunch then set off back over the bridge in to the town to find a supermarket….an hour later we came to a large shopping mall with REWE at one end so got some milk and a few other bits, then sat for a while with a drink before heading back down to the stellplatz, which only took about 15 mins when you know the way. Later it started to rain again so tucked ourselves in for the night.

Saturday 1^st July

As it was a grey and gloomy day we got up later, had a tidy-up and sat around until Andrew arrived about 11.30. He brought Darmstadt beers with him so we had a drink and a chat until about 2.00 then went up in to the town to find somewhere to eat. A good choice was the Faust brewery as the restaurant was full with locals eating, usually a good sign. We had a very nice meal with drinks all for 40 euros for the 3 of us and carried on chatting for a couple of hours. Then went for a wander around the Schloss Johannisburg gardens and through the newer part of town as he went back to the train station to go home. We strolled back down a different route directly to the river and back along the Main promenade to the stellplatz, rushing the last part as it had started to rain again. Got back around 6.00pm and chilled out for the rest of the evening.

KITZINGEN

Tuesday 27^th

It rained hard overnight and was still lashing down in the morning, forecast said light rain and showers, I dread to think what they call heavy rain. We left around 9.30 and drove 106 miles slowly in the murky conditions along with all the lorries, to arrive at Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz by about 12.30. We stopped at a service station for some lunch and fuel and then went to find the stellplatz at the Fritz Berger caravan dealers. Only 5 minutes off the motorway so easy peasy for once, it was vast and with loads of flags flying we could not miss it. After parking up and chilling out for a while we went for a mosey around the camping store and managed to get a replacement for our shower head, so maybe we can now shower without getting the whole of the bathroom wet! We could have spent a fortune on other lovely things but we resisted temptation and settled for coffee and cake instead in their café. Now the sun had come out, so we put umbrella, wet coats, wet mats etc. outside to dry off. Later I cooked ham and eggs with saute potatoes and tomatoes!!!! Lorna would be proud of me. It is free to stay here overnight, even includes electricity, there are 6 other vans here as well.

Wednesday 28^th

It was raining again this morning when we packed up and left around 9.30, so it was drive in the rain time once more. Slow going in places but we made it to Kitzingen on the Main river (81 miles) by 12.00, Emily even took us right to the stellplatz without any re-calculating moments. All the vans are parked along the river bank facing the water, where we can watch the big boats, little boats, canoes and rowers going past. The sun came out after lunch so we went for a wander to see what we could find..a lovely park, old bridge, football ground and a map of what looks to be quite an interesting town. We have paid for 2 nights so tomorrow we will go and check it out.

Thursday 29^th

It rained most of the night and also most of the morning, we did not venture out until about 2.00pm. We walked across the old bridge in to the market square where there were lots of old buildings to admire. We found a confectionary museum which was fascinating, There were moulds for making marzipan figures from the 1800’s as well as sugar icing figures that we just as old, and some really old tools for icing and decorating which hardly look any different from today’s. We went up and down a few streets, bought a couple of bits in a euro shop (equivalent to Poundland) and then found a lovely coffee and cake place so had our evening meal dessert in advance. Back at base it soon started to rain again so we rescued all the bits that we had put out to dry and stayed in for the rest of the evening and planned our next few route stops.

EGING AM SEE

Sunday 25^th

We were up bright and early and on the road by 9.30am. The road was reasonably clear but only just wide enough for vehicles to pass each other, quite scary when something came speeding up on our outside and overtook just as another car was coming the other way. It was very uphill and down, winding through the forests, reminded us of the story of Dracula, even though we were in the wrong country. We stopped just before the border as there was a Travel Free shop, just like the ones you find at airports, so we had a look around and then changed the remainder of our Czech Korunas back in to Euros to use for the rest of the trip.  We arrived at Bavaria Kur and Sport Camping  at Eging am See shortly after 12.00 and as is not unusual for German campsites it was closed until 2.00pm, nothing for it but to park up, eat some lunch and wait along with about 6 other Dutch and German caravans. Dead on the dot the barrier lifted and we all scurried in to find a pitch, of which there were many free so no problem at all. We had a stroll around the park and then cooked dinner and planned our next few days.

Monday 26^th

We had thought that we would visit the Pullman City Western town, it was about 4km away, too far to walk so we went in Juliette, cost us 4.50 euro to park for the day. We were there by 10.00 and it was only just opening. Basically it is a theme park with all saloons and western gear stores, everyone dressed accordingly and music playing constantly. We sat and watched a magic show for about half an hour and then later a gent playing the spoons, saw and a number of other strange instruments. He was quite good and we enjoyed it even though we could not understand much of what he was saying. We had a late lunch in Scarletts Saloon and then had a wander around all the log cabins and tipis and craft stores.

By 3.00pm it was scorching again as we made our way back to the site, just stopping off at the supermarket to do a bit of shopping on the way. It is back up to 33’c today and we are now quite frazzled.

CHVALSINY

Wednesday 21^st

It has been another sizzling hot day. We started off with a shopping trip to Kaufland and fill up with cheap diesel, then headed off in to the countryside to find Holasovice. This was listed as a world heritage site and sounded interesting, nobody told us it was up steep hills on narrow lanes with no road markings and signs we could not understand. Emily was no use at all so we reverted to paper map and Sue’s best map reading. In the 12^th and 13^th century it was a homestead and 23 dwellings have been preserved, but all their facades have been restored and repainted.  They are all set around a village green with a pond and no vehicles can drive around it, so we parked up and went for a hot wander. It was so interesting, we sat for ages under a tree with an ice cream and just soaked up the atmosphere (along with our perspiration!). 

Then it was off to find the campsite we had earmarked, we got lost again, called in to a garage where a man was filling up, used a lot of sign language and once more played follow-my-leader with him until we were on the right road. The Czech people are so helpful and we think must be used to showing folk the way, because otherwise driving can be a nightmare. Camping Chvalsiny is a beautiful, Dutch-owned site by a lake, with every facility you can think of including a restaurant and a swimming pool, so we are going to have a couple of unwind days here, catch up on washing and emails and blogging etc. before starting to head back towards Holland and the ferry.

Thursday 22^nd

We did not do much apart from some washing, tidying up, showers, emails, blogging and chat to an English gent who was on his own. Again it was very hot, but we had some rain and thunder during the night. Typical really as we had left our chairs outside!

Friday 23^rd

As we were not going very far, only 19 miles to Horni Plana, we moseyed around quite a bit and left around 10.30. A very scenic drive a lot through woods and then alongside a lake on a decent road meant that we arrived soon after 11.00am. We found Autocamp Jenisov signposted from the road for a change, booked in for a couple of nights and found a spot under the shade of some trees but overlooking the lake. It seems to be mostly German caravans here, with lots of quite large folk wandering around in bathing costumes! We did a bit of cooking in the Remoska as it was a bit cooler and we had power, so I have now re-filled the freezer with a few more meals. A lot more vans started arriving in the evening including some little people and some who appear to know nothing at all about setting up a caravan, so we are just sitting watching all the action and it is better than the tv any day. One man near to us in a very large Concorde has moved his van about 5 times in order to get his satellite dish working, and a Czech family with a caravan have gone backwards and forwards so many times we can now smell his clutch!

Saturday 24^th

A day for relaxing in the sun, watching all the people and boats in the lake, showers and a salad dinner. Tomorrow we start off back in to Germany.

CESKE KRUMLOV

Saturday 17^th

We had to put our hoodies on this morning! It was much cooler and cloudy when we left. We started off with a good run down the main road, then eventually missed a turn, drove miles in the wrong direction and got held up by an accident. We spotted a sign to a camp site and headed off down a small track over a level crossing and ended up in a small village in the middle of nowhere. We pulled on to the ‘camp site’ along with loads of cars, parked up whilst I went to negotiate. A very helpful young man who spoke English informed me that we could not stay there today as they had a wedding taking place. He did however give me the right directions back to where we were originally headed and even phoned them to check that they were open and had space. So…back we went past the accident site, to a bit of new road with no markings and the road sign crossed out. No wonder we had missed it! We found Camping Kovarna at Cervena Recice shortly after going through the village and booked in for just 1 night. It is in a very densely wooded area, somewhat hilly, but pretty all the same. After some lunch we went for a wander in the woods, then back to sort out tonight’s dinner…I am actually cooking tonight. Then it started to rain again so we are now inside catching up on the diary and playing Free Cell etc.

Sunday 18^th

Left around 10.30, luckily it had stopped raining and we made good time down the motorway until we got near to Ceske Budejovice, where we had planned to stay and make a visit to the original Budweiser brewery, more roadworks and a complete diversion. Once more we resorted to my phone to find the campsite behind a motel, as Emily was not playing ball. We found it alright…closed for renovations! So we parked up, ate some lunch and consulted our books. There was another campsite within 300m or so it reckoned, we got out and walked with my phone on and ended up if a rather lovely park with a barrier, but no campsite. By now we were both rather disenchanted with the place so decided to carry on towards Ceske Krumlov which was next on the list. On the way we passed a sign to Camping Paradijs and it showed up on the phone looking OK, so off down the beaten track we went winding and narrow, but eventually came to a few houses, cabins, retro caravans all alongside the river. As we pulled up a young lady came out to speak to us, in English (she actually spoke 7 languages) and we booked in for 3 nights (£44) It was so peaceful and every so often rafts or canoes came floating down the river which made sitting on the bank watching really entertaining. There was 1 Dutch van already on site and later another English van turned up, but they were Australian and they came in and joined us for a drink in the evening.

Monday 19^th

Although it was chilly during the night, it was nice and sunny when we got up. Around 10.00am we donned our boots and set off along the path by the river to a place called Zlata Koruna where there is a monastery worth looking at. It was about 3km and took us an hour and half, we found the village but the monastery was closed as it was Monday…the story of our life. Luckily we found a small shop with seats outside selling drinks and ice creams which were most welcome.

 Our Australian neighbours had also just turned up for coffees and we sat and chatted for quite a while. Then we headed back the way we had come, a very pretty walk but somewhat overgrown and full of nettles. By now it was stinking hot and we were flagging, we were glad to get back and sit out under the awning, the van was a no-no at 31’C. It is now 8.45pm and still 29’C, but there are too many mozzies around to sit outside.

Tuesday 20^th

Today has been even hotter! We had planned to walk 20min up the hill to the bus stop in to town for 11.30 as the buses are only every one and half hours, but our friendly Australian neighbours knocked around 10.00 and said they were going to drive in to the town, did we want a lift? It is only about 10mins down the main road but too far to walk. We parked nearest to the castle as that was what they wanted to see, then went our separate ways. We strolled through the beautiful grounds, but dibbed out on climbing the hundreds of steps up to the castle. We stood and watched a couple of chaps getting changed under a big green bag thingy and eventually they emerged as one of those amazing statues where one is holding up the other one, but you don’t know how. Onwards over a small foot bridge at the weir where we again stood and watched canoes coming over and on down the river (we seem to spend a lot of our time standing and watching things!) Then we were in to the little cobbled streets and alleyways that make up the main part of town. There were some really pretty buildings as well as the normal souvenir shops and tourist tours. Wandering around we came across the St. Vitus Cathedral, absolutely gorgeously decorated but we were not allowed to take photos!!! Managed to sneak a couple in though. Ceske Krumlov is situated on about 3 sort of islands so you are constantly crossing the Vltava river and is a most interesting place to visit. After a sit with a cold drink we carried on over to the Eggenberg brewery (as we had not managed to get to the Budweiser one in Ceske Budejovice) we weren’t particularly interested in a guided tour in Czech so just had a look around and then headed off to their restaurant to have a nice, albeit late lunch and my birthday treat. At 3.00pm we were so worn out we asked the waitress to arrange a taxi back to the campsite for us, we could not face trying to find the bus stop, maybe waiting over an hour, as well as the 20 min walk back down to the campsite. Cobblestones are very hard going, even more so when it is up and down hill in 30’C heat. We have sat outside as long as we can, but again are getting mozzies so have come in to catch up on the diary..still 33’C inside. Tonight Juliette has a twin on site, another English couple have arrived in a van just like ours. Later on we all joined the Australians for a drink, sitting outside watching the fireflies, as well as getting eaten alive by gnats, no a good move.