Germany

A collection of 29 posts

Europe2017

Back and forth in France

First port of call this morning had to be a supermarket. We need a few supplies and yesterday's trip to Lidl's totally failed to source them. There's a huge Auchan not too far off our route. That must be good.  Problem #1 - Satnav wants to go a different way

Europe2017

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

Europe2017

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

Europe2017

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.

Europe2017

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

Europe2017

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

Europe2017

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,

Europe2017

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

Europe2017

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,

Europe2017

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

Europe2017

Ich bin ein Berliner

Well we've made it to Germany's capital. Another 190 miles drive makes it a long day. One of our correspondents suggested that such journeys were commonplace but like Robert Frost, we hope taking the road less travelled will make all the difference. So rather than 3 hours or so banging

Europe2017

Nothing to see here, move on

There really is nothing to report today. It started raining just before midnight last night and hasn't really stopped since. It did ease right off at about 9 this evening and we ventured forth as far as the local pub but on our return a few minutes ago it is

Europe2017

"Bread of Heaven" v "Bland of Hope and Glory"

When did we English lose our love of bread? When did we consider bread to be something without taste, without texture, a product of Chorleywood that balls up on the pallete and does little for our fibre-loving bowels. Here in Germany the bread has character, even the bread in supermarkets

Europe2017

Thoughts on Maschsee Fest

Tired last night so didn't really comment on Germans at play at Maschsee Fest. The Fest itself does have live music, acts for children, local radio station special events etc but the main thrust seemed to be eating and drinking with lots of stands around the lake. Food was obviously

Europe2017

George Lucas meets Sir Terry Pratchett

Today's title speaks for itself: Statues on a church in Hanover seem prescient of 20th century sci-fi. A few other architectural features but my phone doesn't really do them justice, Liz's blog hopefully has better photos So you've probably gathered we've wandered into Hanover today, an easy bus ride from

Europe2017

Objects in the mirror are faster than they appear.

Again, mainly driving; striking West to Berlin. Today's destination is Hanover where we'll take a break for a couple of days. But first the simple matter of getting there! The first problem is that Münster is in the way. This would not be a problem if the main B51 road

Europe2017

All together now, "Gelderland, Gelderland, Gelderla-a-and, GEL-DER-LAND!"

No photos today, it's a driving day. 288 km, 180 miles, getting on for 4 hours going the scenic route and taking a stop. A first this morning, showering with dirty clothing laid on the shower floor and stomping around like a Burgundian grape treader to force body-rinsed soap and

Europe2011

Sometimes I wish we had a bog-standard VW van conversion

Two days of Friedrichshafen was wearying on the feet and we didn't think there were enough bargains in the flea market to stay and haggle closing down prices, so Sunday morning we set off for home. A ruler drawn between Friedrichshafen and Calais would suggest setting course for Luxembourg or

Europe2011

Campsite Photos

Space was a a premium, so some had to camp atop their car Or half over the pavement An interesting mag-loop That's quite some capacitor

Europe2011

Campsite craic

On of the highlights of the hamfest for us was staying on the campsite. It was as if a multinational band of gypsies had coalesced for a weekend. The Romahome was the object of interest to almost everyone. Everytime we looked out of the window someone was looking at it

Europe2011

Hamfest 2011 - organisation

Messe was busy but not overcrowded. The 3 halls did take a good, tiring day to get round and occasionally it was a squeeze to see things but nothing like the UK rallies. Everything was well spaced and easy to find. The main hall which housed the traders also housed

Europe2011

Hamfest 2011

The whole point of this trip was to visit Friedfrichshafen Hamfest, albeit via the circuitous route involving Switzerland. To non radio amateurs a hamfest is a combination of trade stands, electronics car boot sale and in the case of the larger ones, technical lectures. Of course, the problem with going

Europe2011

Zeppelins and Fronleichnam

I day say - close! An early wake up call - just what is that hellish loud drone outside the van so early in the morning? It's a Zeppelin! Having left our home in Eastleigh where the Spitfire was built and tested, we find ourselves in the home of the