Two Drifters

Europe2017

What goes up ...

Well an exciting start to the day. This was our view from the van window when we woke up Definitely a CSI crime scene and looking the other side of the van there were several other police vans parked up, some with riot type shields. Now I know I've joked

Europe2017

Walking on a wire

10 points if you recognise today's title as a Richard & Linda Thompson song! We knew as we pressed on eastwards we would have more problems. Today it was buses. An English speaking guide at the museum pointed us in the direction of the bus stop but when we got there

Europe2017

We built this city on rock and coal

Another one of those "driving days". Three and half hours or so of driving doesn't sound much but it is strangely tiring. Not sure whether it is the concentration on foreign roads, signs, speed limits etc. or whether it's the bright sunlight. My eyesight is such that if I wear

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Slavic River Cruises

A terrible attempt to mimic Viking River Cruises who used to advertise in the midst of ITVs crime thrillers. Anyway the campsite here is adjacent to the river Svratka which meanders for a couple of miles before being dammed to make Brno Lake which abuts the northernmost suburbs of the

Europe2017

A (UK) Bank Holiday Sunday

There are always going to be days where there just isn't much to write about. Today is such a day. We left the jolly boaters and popped into the local co-op store (yes it surprised me to to see a co-op brand over here). Liz and I had some difference

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Swallows and Amazons (Czech style)

Another hot day. 32°. In fact the van min-max thermometer recorded an internal temperature of 40°. Hot! Fortunately we don't have a lot planned so a gentle stroll into town. The camp is emptying this morning. We think the idea is that there are several camps like this, each a

Europe2017

Another day, another brewery

It's gonna be a hot one today, 28-30°. Got us a little 100 mile drive due south to Cesky Krumlov in South Bohemia.  We will miss Camp Drusus, its excellent food and beer making meal choices so easy. And the cheery staff. Still onwards and eastwards (OK southwards today). The

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All good things come to an end.

Our last day in Prague and our last night at the Trebonice brewery. Liz and I discussed where we really wanted to go today. The castle was mooted but neither of us felt we had the energy to take on hordes of American and Italian tourists. So my choice first,

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A two monastery walk

Another walk from the excellent free guide books today. This one starts at a monastery, Sv Votjēch (St Adalbert) monastery in Brevnov and 3 miles or so later finishes at the much better known Strahov monastery.  Now I'm sure some of my readers may be wondering whether I've had ecstatic

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Vinohrady

One thing I forgot to mention yesterday, Czech and Prague Tourist Information. In Berlin the Tourist Information desk wanted €1 for a basic map. In Dresden it was over €2 (we found a sightseeing bus brochure that had an adequate map for free). Here in Prague you do have to

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Avoiding the umbrellas

Sometimes you just strike lucky y'know. When planning this holiday I Googled for campsites close enough to Prague to be accessible by public transport. Camping Drusus stood out because it said a bus was just 5 minutes walk away and also because it had a brewery and restaurant on site.

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Campsite with a micro-brewery

Not going to say much as Liz's blog will have all the good photos but a quick summary of today: * Early alarm for 8 * Fill up with fuel * Detour to Saxon Switzerland to visit the Bastei Bridge * Back on the A17 towards Prague * Stop short of the border to buy

Europe2017

An incomplete Czech list

Aaargh, a panic last night. Looking through driving requirements for entering the Czech Republic, as well as needing a motorway vignette we are supposed to have our V5 and certificate of insurance. We have neither. We tend not to carry the V5 in the car, I read once that is

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More European thoughts

Did you know lorries don't travel in Germany in Sunday's? Shops are closed too, including large supermarkets. The only exceptions tend to be tourist centres. In fact most small shops in most towns and even cities close at Saturday lunchtime. Shop workers get to spend much of the weekend home

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A good noose day

Some random stuff today.  A good start in the fact that the rain stopped late last night and, despite the lakes around vans, most had drained today. Good job not too many vans were moving or the site would have been a quagmire. Anyway, in to town, changing at the

Europe2017

Random thoughts on Germany

There's no doubt that Britain shares many similarities with Europe but here's a few differences.  Let's get the negatives out of the way first Drains - there is no doubt that the continent, including Germany suffers from drain odour more then we in the UK. Strange, because public toilets over

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A note on the Esszet

A  quick linguistic diversion on the 'esszet' character ß. It is used where there are 2 separate 's' sounds together, a long 'ess' and the shorter 'ze'. For English speakers it used to be used in words such as Essex. Try pronouncing 'Essex' and there are two distinct syllables 'Ess'

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Dad, should I apologise...

To the people of Dresden on behalf of yourself and all the others who worked on bomber command. You weren't aware that Air-Marshall Arthur "Bomber" Harris was a proponent of area bombing, i.e. bombing everything in sight in a city rather than selecting targets of military and strategic value.

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Miles out of the way, just to see a door!

Trundled in some to Dresden today. Almost a change of plan, Leipzig seemed an interesting alternative but campsites were easier at Dresden. See, this holiday is on a total whim. It's an easy drive but we have decided to make it a little more work by diverting to Wittenberg. You

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Beam me up Scottie

A wet start. Still chance to do the important van stuff, toilets don't empty themselves y'know.  Liz has set part of today's agenda. A trip to an art gallery!! Why the exclamation marks? Liz enjoys a lot of art but gets bored in galleries and doesn't have my tolerance for

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Up on the roof

Not a good start to the day here. Raining steadily (and we didn't put our little drying tent away last night) and I've just learned that another of the IBM club stalwarts, Bobby Elliot has died. Sad, he was part of the fixtures of IBM Hurley Club for decades. Anyway,

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Thoughts

This is good. We leave the campsite, the buses are on time. Google optimises our journey, tells us where to get off to connect with the next transport. Routes change by the minute as transport is updated.  Take this morning for instance, we walked the 50m (if that) from the

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I've stolen ze secret plans ...

Simple plan today - do the weekly wash then into the city, check out a couple of shops, do a museum, eat and back to the van early. Shopping, the goal was to look in at the Käthe Wohlfahrt Christmas shop and possibly pick something for Christmas. Some fantastic pieces,

Site News

All is not well with the world

Typically this site has performed flawlessly for 2 months. We go away and within 2 days the router hangs. It's been (manually) rebooted so all should be well but we won't take the risk Blogs have been moved to a hosted service so should be OK. See: twodriftersbrian.wordpress.com

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Itchen Valley East

Public transport in Germany is good, in Berlin it is very good. Almost too good. Ask Google Maps how to get from the campsite to, say, Berlin Central Station and it offers several alternatives. You could get this bus to here, then an S-bahn (overground) train to somewhere to connect