Leaving the Rhine

Time to put in some miles and head towards the black forest and Lake Constance. While we were shopping the heavens opened making the autobanns around Frankfurt a very unpleasant experience. We pulled of into Offenbach until it stopped before continuing along the River Mainz and then the Romantica Strasse route to a camping cheque site near Rottenburg. Not a very pretty site, needs a bit of gardening, but very friendly and helpful owners and plenty of nice facilities.

Bingen and Rhine cruise

Rosemary bonded with a german lady who married a chap from Portsmouth and had lived in Hinckley for six years. This platz had electricity and water on every platz, bread available to order and an ice cream van visits. Some people stay here for weeks on end apparently - 7.5 euro per night with electricity!

We walked the 2 miles into Bingen in order to find a cruise up the Rhine. We managed to get half price pensioners rates on a 5 hour afternoon round trip on a 900 seater cruise boat as far as the famous Loreley rock, passing all the castles and landmarks we had driven past. They do look much better from the water. It was a very hot day so we did not spend too much time on the open top deck. It was much cooler walking back and we arrived back just before dark.

Driving down the Rhine

Left our castle on Sunday morning to drive down the East bank of the Rhine. Stopped at Assmannshaussen, a small wine village, which had a Dutch jazz band playing and lots of stalls selling snack type meals and local wine. It just happened to be lunch time on Sunday so I had a German style pizza called Flammenkucken, Rosemary had grilled prawns and we shared a glass of local reisling. The 'pizza' base is much thinner and crisper than Italian/English and smothered in creme fraishe before the toppings are put on. Very tasty.  The oldest guest house in Germany, the Krone, is here too.

Stopped again at Rudesheim which is the southernmost point of the middle Rhine scenic route and a popular cruising terminal and tourist trap. Many nationalities here frequenting the ice cream and coffee shops. It was childrens day in Rudesheim and there were many activites for kids, many of which would have been impossibe in UK with 'elf and safety'.

We carried on as far as Weisbaden to cross the Rhine and drove back up the west side as far as Bingen to a really good Stellpaltz. We probably could have saved ourselves some time by taking a ferry over the river. There are many of these but not so frequent on Sundays.

Oberlahnstein - over the Rhine

This site is high up on a hill overlooking the Rhine and and Lahne rivers and right next to Burg Larrech, a fine old castle with restaurant attached. We were pitched on the lower terrace looking out over the Rhine, with Koblenz and Lahnstein below and a fine view of a fully restored castle on the opposite bank, which was beautifully floodlit at night.

Sitting up here one of the Rhine's shortcomings became immediately apparent. It is the busiest railway route in the whole of Europe and has trains thundering down BOTH sides of the river until late at night.

With such a wonderful position we didn't move much over the weekend. Just walked over to the castle, which was closed for a wedding, then chilled in the sunshine whilst counting the barges and trains. Had a BBQ and watched Man Utd be humbled by Barcelona on the satellite, which is still bringing in a surprisingly good signal on Astra 2D.

Koblenz - Rhine and Mosel

Koblenz is a large town with light industrial outskirts and an old part where the Mosel meets the Rhine. This is known as German corner and is dominated by the statue of Kaiser Wilhiem mounted on a horse and is a huge monument to German unity (could do with cleaning up a bit!) Most of the Rhine cruise boats stop here so it was very touristy. As it was Friday we had a fish and fried potatoes lunch in a Nordsee restaurant on the main shopping street. Its a good quality fast food chain specialising in fish dishes.  

Only stopped for a few hours, crossed the Rhine, on one of the big bridges and moved on to an Alan Rogers recommended site at nearby  Oberlahnstein for the weekend.

Cochem

Moved on to Cochem today the most lively and touristy town on the Moselle. Went the 'back way' ignoring the steep hill, narrow road and 2t limit sign and ended up in the pedestrianised square in front of the Rathaus (old town hall). Entertained the customers of the pavement cafes turning round in the confined space and retreated back up the winding hill.

Eventually found a spot on MH parking strip by the river and walked into town. Lots of tour buses including English ones and a centre for picking up cruise boats, which we did later. Topped up the Euros and had a typical German lunch of Bratwurst (for him) and a slice of roast ham (for her) in a back street cafe, much cheaper than on the front. The river levels are very low due to the drought and cruises are very restricted especially on the Moselle where they have closed all the locks for a week (to do some maintenance). We could only do a 1hr round trip around Cochem but it was nice to get out on the river and a photo opportunity for the castle which towers over the town. We had a koffee and apple cake in the square, where we had provided the entertainment earlier and left for an overnight stop en route to Koblenz.

Wedding Anniversary in Senheim

vineyards right down to the waters edge in places

Stopped in another lovely spot by the river in an ACSI campsite with free WiFi. Had time to do some washing and showering yesterday  after 2 days on stelplatz's. Today its our wedding anniversary so walked into village for a celebratory lunch and yet another big glass of local Riesling. Portions of food and wine are generous in Germany and prices lower than Netherlands.

This site has Dutch owners so it is like being back  in Netherlands apart from the scenery. Its also hot, sunny and strawberries and ice cream for tea. What more could you want.

Bernkastel - another day, another wine

the square in Berncastel

Second day we travelled further down the Moselle, through more wine villages and stopping some time in Bernkastel for coffee, a very photogenic wine town and popular cruise boat stop. Then a picnic lunch by the side of a vine yard and on to another stadplatz for the night at Enkirche. This one is huge (200 places) and good value at 6 euros with a view and by the side of the river. Very odd German couple stopped about 6 ft away from us. Seems we were in a favoured spot under a shady tree. Its been very hot the last two days. One of the villages enroute holds the record for the hottest temperature ever recorded in Germany!

Piesporter and Mosel wine

We left Saarburg on Sunday morning and popped into Luxembourg to 'tanken' up with deisel. Its only 1.15 euro compared to 1.45 in Germany so queues at the pump every Sunday morning. We are now a short way down the Moselle at Piesport(er) in a very comfortable Reisemobile Stelleplatz right by the river. These are effectively small campsites for motorhomes rather like the French aires and there are plenty of them on the tourist routes.  Met some Brits there, first ones for a couple of weeks - they were from Wales.

waiting for lunch 

Enjoyed our first wine country 'dish of the day' for Sunday lunch with the excellent house (literally) Reisling. The Moselle route could take some time, but it is about 100 miles to its junction with the Rhine and there are lots of wine list places to stop off and try!

Very slow winding river with dams, locks and river boats. Some big commercial barges and other cruise boats. 

Saarburg - nice intro to Germany

view of Saarburg from bridge over Saar

We walked the river path into Saarburg and went into an Antique Market (or German junk depending on your point of view) for an hour. Rosemary bought an old English postcard with Nottingham Castle on it.
It was a very picturesque place with ruined castle, river boats, waterfall and many old churches and buildings. We saw a few of the sights including wedding photos in the castle (not from Leicestershire this time) and took lots of photos. Our German friends had bought us a nice bottle of Saar Reisling for helping them and we finished it off with the first real BBQ of the holiday.

Germany - the pretty way

Today we spent most of the day travelling to our first stop in Germany. We were only 10km from the border at Gulpen but the GPS decided that Belgium was the way to go! The first 80Km of the 10Km was actually through the Ardennes region so it was actually a nicer way to go than the autobahn. Stopped for some weekend shopping near Trier, the oldest town in Germany, before reaching our destination ACSI site in Saarburg. Bought 2 packets of 'Shaun das Schaf' biscuits in the supermarket!

We pitched next to a smart German motorhome with a very friendly retired teacher, his wife and Monty the dog (after Monty Python not Field Marshall Montgomery!) We had a brief but sudden thunder storm that evening with hail that brought down the Germans sun shade with the weight of water. Made even better friends helping him remove the broken support arm and get soaked in the process.

Maastrict

East bank of  Maastricht

typical pavement cafe in old quarter

Next day we took the bus into Maastrict from the top of the road, a bus every 15mins! Its the oldest town in the Netherlands having been established by the Romans on the banks of the Maas. We bought a walking tour leaflet and wandered round the interesting old buildings many of which are expensive designer shops now! Also many pavement cafes and bars and plenty of well off people to fill them. Rosemary treated herself to her first English newspaper from the station and we bought a portion of very cheesey pasta salad to have back on site.

Mountains in Netherlands?

campsite in the mounains

Arrived in Oirshoot to find that reception was closed at both ACSI sites but we eventually squeezed into one of them for the night. It was very quiet. We havent seen, or spoken, to any English folk for over a week now. Only seen about 6 all holiday, thank goodness the Dutch speak good English.

compulsary applecake

We drove up a hill today. Yes really!  The small appendage in the south of the Netherlands between Belgium and Germany is actually quite hilly. Its known as 'Netherlands Mountain Region' but that is a gross exaggeration. It it is rather pretty, like Derbyshire, so we are staying here for 3 or 4 days. We are on a terraced site midway between Maastricht and Aachen, to visit them, and to chill out before invading (sorry - entering) Germany.

The weather has improved again and we are cooking and eating outside once more.

Walked into Gulpen, the local village to the Osebos site where we are staying. Did a bit shopping and had some tapas Netherlands style. The Dutch are very serious about walking and cycling round here and there are no less than 7 waymarked routes past the site. Managed an 'appeltart and koffee' again.

Middleburg - middling weather

Well the Dutch prayers have been answered cos the weather has turned. The last two days have been mostly cloudy with showers and a cool wind off the sea. Which is why we are now 50 miles inland in a wooded site near Einhoven.

 We left Domburg on the west coast on Sunday and parked just outside the old city of Middleburg. The place was almost deserted except for the restaurants in the square. We stayed long enough for a wander round to the quay, where we moored the last time I was here (sailing) and had lunch under the gas heaters in a pavement cafe. Then on to Scheldeoord via supermarket for a brief overnight stop.




The big (empty) site overlooks the sea with its shipping traffic to Antwerp. On Monday we drove around a bit spotting windmills before taking the motorway east to Oirshoot, for another overnighter, before heading south into Limburg the 'mountainous' region of Holland for a few nights.        

Domburg and Eurovision

Our first weekend destination is a busy ACSI site near the village of Domburg where we were allocated a cosy pitch, sheltered from the stiff NW wind. Its always windy here we are told. We walked in to the attractive village and spent a short time on the windy beach before retreating for coffee and a fishy lunch. Missed the cup final sitting in the sun, but set up the satellite dish for Eurovision song contest.

Our first week has been sunny and warm by day, but rather cool at night although it has remained dry. Netherlands like UK needs rain (but only during the night of course). PS Discovered appletart flavoured yoghurt - nice!

Zeeland - Netherland seaside

Friday the 13th and we moved south around Rotterdam and through the Benelux tunnel and huge Europort area to the Zeeland region of the Netherlands. This collection of islands suffered a disasterous flood in 1953 and as a result a flood barrier was constructed linking the islands to the mainland. This created a number of inland seas, or Meres and is very popular for sun, sand and water sports.

We drove all the way down the A57 and over a massive sea lock separating the Oosterschelde from the North sea. Mike and I had sailed through the lock a few years ago on a 37ft yacht whilst we doing the RYA day skipper sailing course.

We stopped a while near the canal from Middleburg in the picturesque village of Veere, on Veerse Mere, for coffee and more appletart before choosing a site on the coast for the weekend.

Another day in Delft

We walked into Delft again to visit the market. Had a guided tour round the canals,
a coffee, an applefelcake (again) and a fishy takeaway from a market stall. Walked back to site again with some flowers and cheese via a lovely little children's farm by the campsite entrance. Lots of cute animals to see and it was absolutely free. Not even an ice cream stall - what a refreshing change.

Getting the hang of avoiding bicycles now. No accidents to report!

Chatted to friendly Scottish 'neighbour' with Dutch wife. Been living in Netherlands for 30 years!

Definitely Delft

Yesterday we arrived in Delft, the picturesque small town best known for its blue pottery. Its a very comfortable site in a wooded park on the edge of the small town. Today we walked into town which is very pretty with canals, old buildings and the church where the Dutch royal family are buried - and bicycles. Bicycles are everywhere, Rosemary is going to cause a huge pile up, or fall in a canal, or both! We had a nice lunch in the market square, in the sunshine and visited some of the historical sites. Its market day tomorrow - so guess what!    

Keukenhof Gardens

These are magnificent! Huge gardens, with various pavilions for indoor displays but open for just 2 months a year from mid March to mid May. Despite the good weather all around, the gardens were still full of every conceivable variety of spring bulbs in a rainbow of colours. The pavilion of orchids was the most impressive as the biggest hall was being replanted with a display of lilies for later in the week. The gardens themselves were set out in various themes, with real canals and an old windmill. A photographers delight.

We headed for the coast, after lunch and found a campsite near the dunes. As reception was closed we went for what turned out to be a long walk to find the sea. Should have followed the cycle path, the footpath took the pretty route! Seemed to be going uphill all the way to the coast - no wonder Holland is afraid of floods.    

Tulips must be in Amsterdam

It was our first day in the Netherlands. The crossing from Harwich was very civilised, boarding almost 3 hours before  sailing allowing us to settle in and have something to eat. The new Stena ferries are very grand and comfortable, almost like cruising. Disembarking was not so civilised as we had to get up at 6:00am, after also losing an hours sleep and being discharged into the rush hour traffic.The traffic around the port was very slow so we found the motorway north and went to the world famous Keukenhof gardens which are right in the middle of the tulip growing area. The weather has also been very sunny and dry in Holland and as a result all the tulips were early - now just green deserts of foliage are left - what a shame.