Jeff

The next morning we headed back to the park up to service the van before we headed off for a nearby town called Bad Wildbad. We parked up and got some food in before we headed to the local spa which is a Moorish spa. Many of the Moorish pools were closed for renovation but we knew that before going. All of the saunas were open as were many of the larger pools. We headed in for a couple of hours, which turned out to be about 4 hours and we went into 5 aufguss ceremonies which is basically when someone comes into the sauna and adds ice to the heater and waves it around the room till you boil. Its fun but man its hot!

After all that relaxing we headed a little north to a town called Karlruhe where we parked up for the night on the edge of a large green park area. The town is really weirdly designed and seems to flow in circles from the palace in the centre and has a lot of green space, which was what we wanted.

The next morning we both did longer runs now we are both uninjured and once back and showered we headed on the bikes into the centre. It was only a couple of km but its quicker than walking. We headed for a vegan café for a breakfast treat before we walked around the town and to the huge palace. We didn’t head in as we have a busy day so finally we headed back to the bikes and back to the van to continue the journey. We finally arrived at Merzig, following a little stop to do some shopping, where we are parking up at a wolf centre. This centre started up as a way to understand wolves and they have expanded the park to give the wolves more space to be as natural as possible. It’s a free park and owned by the whole village so we walked in and had a quick look around, even though it was closing 15 minutes later. Once back at the van we chilled for the evening and listened to the wolves howling at the moon before we headed to bed.

The next morning we headed back into the park and the wolves were more active, partially because from the look of the carcasses on the ground they had been fed but also because it was cooler than yesterday. We walked around the park for a short time before we headed to the van and on to Luxembourg where we headed straight for the city centre and parked at the park and ride. Luxembourg’s public transport is all completely free which was crazy to us but we thought we should test it out. We jumped on the bus and headed into the city before jumping on another bus to head to a different part of the city to have some food before exploring. It was on this bus that a man kicked off and was shouting as he had missed his stop and wanted to get off the bus but the diver wouldn’t let him until the next stop. It was quite an experience and while some people came to the drivers defence we were all glad when we finally got off and walked away.

We managed to get some lovely vegan brunch before we headed back on the bus to the main centre and we walked around the centre which is spread along a green luscious valley with several bridges crossing it and the valley is enclosed by the old city walls, some of which contain miles of tunnels. We walked along the valley taking, went up in the panoramic elevator, took the funicular to the top of a hill and headed in the cathedral. It was a very small but interesting city and before long we had seen all the major sights so we grabbed some dinner and headed back on the bus to the park and ride where we chatted to some brits (now we are getting closer to the UK we are seeing more and more Brits) and we headed to a little town called Assesse in Belgium. This little town was very quiet and we parked up with a great little view of the castle/chateau down the hill and we walked to a very weird and spooky grotto which was built in the 1900s for St Anthony and is a cave like structure with creepy statues in and lots of nooks and crannies. You can walk all the way through it and up stairs at the back. In each area there are different statues, including a man on his death bed, a winged devil type statue a group of men looking at/for something. It was very odd indeed!

The next day we headed to Ghent for the day as we haven’t been since 2017. We parked about 10k outside the city and cycled in. it’s a nice city and slightly less busy than Bruges but still have some beautiful architecture. We wandered the town with not too much direction but managed to see most of the sights including the cathedral and the town hall as well as more modern ones like graffiti street, where there was someone working on a piece of work. We grabbed a nice vegan pizza before we headed back to the van and we drove not far to a stop near Gavere where again there were more Brits to chat to for the evening. We also got to watch an interesting sport taking place, vertical archery. It involved people shooting straight up into the air to hit targets off a large green pole and when they hit the targets they fell to the ground. It seemed like a dangerous sport as you have to be sure where the arrow is going to land and make sure you aren’t below it. Several hit the roof of a little structure which is probably there to keep people safe and under cover and it didn’t half make a racket when it did hit but most just came crashing back to the ground and landed in the grass. We watched it go on for quite awhile as it was interesting and entertaining.

The next morning, our final morning, we headed out for a run next to the river we were parked up near and once done we had a shower and breakfast before we headed off. We were on a mission today to buy some vegan Nutella which has been released in France, Italy and Belgium but wont be released in the UK till next year. After 5 supermarkets we finally found some, and it does taste really good, and we headed to our stop for the afternoon/night as we have to get ready for an early boat tomorrow and hopefully no showdown with the border police.

The next morning, after not enough sleep we headed to the boat and the border police didn’t even want to see our marriage certificate, just waved us through and we got on the boat back to the UK!

Vertical Archery

Ghent Castle

A street in old Ghent

Graffiti street artist

Piano playing in the central square in Ghent

Ghent chuch

A cool mural in Ghent (there has been less of them this trip)

Ghent river side buildings

Ghent castle

The Grotto of St Anthony

The Castle/chateau view from our camper stop in Assesse

The valley in the centre of Luxembourg

Luxembourg view from the city walls

Luxembourg Abbey

The lovely river in the heart of the valley of Luxembourg

The Bank Museum in Luxembourg

Luxembourg city view from one of the bridges

Wolves in Merzig park

They were very interested in us

tired wolves

The next day we had planned to move on but the temperature was due to get to mid 30s and where we were parked had a swimming lake and some shade so we decided to chill for the day. We swam in the lake, had cold showers and generally relaxed while trying to keep cool. it got to around 36 degrees so we know we made the right decision just to stay put rather than try and explore or do any activity in the heat.

The next morning we got up and headed off south to a town called Cesky Krumlov which was a really cute little town. The weather has massively changed and now its drizzling but a lot cooler. We parked in the forest and walked down the hill into the town where we soon stumbled upon the biggest activity in the town, canoeing down the river and over 8 weirs. The first weir we saw was the hardest and several people capsized into the water but that was the fun of it and there were people there to help (plus it wasn’t that deep there). We watched the people going over the weir for awhile and it was entertaining before we walked into the town which had some lovely buildings, many of which bordered the river which seemed to snake through the town. We then walked up to the castle which had a huge arched bridge with views that took in the whole town. We walked around the huge gardens, saw the spinning stage which has festivals on. After a long walk we headed back into the town for a bite to eat on the river edge watching some more rafts/canoes going down the river before we headed back to the van and carried on the drive.

We found a little park up near a lake in Huka which is not far from the German border. We did originally go to one park up but we weren’t keen on it was it was slanted and small so we headed to a wide open space for the night which was quiet. The next morning we headed out on a run before getting going for the day and we headed to the border and crossed over into Germany.

We needed some shopping so we had to stop at the supermarket before we finally made it to a town called Dingolfing. We stopped at a green camper stop but we didn’t stay long as there were a whole load of caravans parked up next to the stop with their diesel generators running. So we headed to another one in the same town which also had better services. The only issue with this one (and probably the other one) was the sound of church bells which ring every 15 minutes 24 hours a day! Its something we will probably get used to as it happens in a lot of Germany but it did effect our sleep as we just aren’t used to noise at night.

The next morning, even though we were a little sleep deprived, we headed into Munich for the day. We parked about 30 minutes on the bike out of the city and cycled in which was a nice flat cycle. Once there we had to tie up the bikes then headed around the city. We have been here before so we just wandered around for a bit, seeing the glockenspiel on the town hall chime at 11, walking to the weird Michel Jackson tribute, seeing the cathedral before we got some lunch, do a bit of shopping and then decided to call it a day in the city. We headed to the English garden which is next to the city centre and we really like it there. We cycled around the park, stopping to see the surfers on the river and watch people jump into the river to swim/be dragged around, despite the signs that say do not swim, danger of death. We continued through the park and out towards the van.

We drove south to a town called Peiting and to a nice looking park up but it only had 5 bays for motorhomes and when we got there all were already taken. We decided to just park up and cook dinner and decide what to do after that. We reckoned we could stay in the other part of the car park anyway. Soon after we got there another van pulled up and did the same so we thought it would be fine (they were German so if they think its okay it must be). However soon a man from one of the vans headed over to have a chat with them and they moved but squeezed into a space next to the end and that seemed to pacify the old man (who we guessed didn’t speak English and therefore wasn’t coming to tell us off). While I was cooking dinner a space opened up as someone left so I put everything into the sink and we quickly moved into it and settled in for the night (with a beer and dinner as we wont get moved on from here).

The next morning we headed out to Fussen to finally see something Rich has promised we would visit every trip. It’s the fairy tale castle called Neuschwanstein castle and its perched on a hill overlooking the town. It was built by Ludwig the second and was designed after castles were needed so was just there for its beautiful looks and views (before Ludwig was arrested for being crazy and died in mysterious circumstances). We parked up a short cycle from the bottom of the hill then cycled to the bottom and then up the hill. Well I should say I cycled up and Rich ended up pushing his bike up most of the hill. The issue was not only was the gradient in the region of 20% but it was a gravel path so it was far more difficult to get any traction. We finally made it to the top and tied the bikes up before we walked to the Marienbrucke bridge where there are great views of the castle and the lake in the background however there were a lot of people there so we weren’t there too long before we headed up the last of the hill to the castle.

We had paid for a tour of the castle as I have waited so long to see inside and you cant just go in without a tour. However the tour is a 30 minute fast walk around the castle but we are glad we got to go inside as the rooms were stunning. There was a throne room shrouded in gold, frescos/paintings covering every wall depicting different stories/operas and ornate carved furniture. There was even a cave lit by electric lights created in the castle which was ahead of its time. It was probably one of the prettiest castles we have ever seen.

Afterwards we headed back down the hill, as slowly as possible to avoid skidding off the side of the hill and back to the van for some lunch before we headed off to Garmisch-Partenkirchen (locally known as GAPA). Soon as we parked up we paid for a parking ticket for 24 hours and headed off to the nearby gorge for a gorge walk. it wasn’t too far there and we soon started the walk which was a sheltered path running for about 1km through many different tunnels next to waterfalls. It was a lovely little walk and not too busy at this late hour and once at the end we turned around and walked back instead of doing the longer hilly alternative. We headed back to the van and settled in for the evening, We were parked next to a train line but as it was a passenger line we thought it would be quiet over night. We were partially right as there were no more passenger trains after about 10.30 but at 2am there was a really loud noise like a huge train or tactor right outside our van. I poked my head out of the sky light to work it out and it turned out to be a huge work train which had men on a platform cutting trees. They stayed near the van for at least 30 minutes and it was way too loud to sleep through. Finally they moved on and we got back to sleep but we aren’t liking the noisy Germany!

The next morning we got up and did a run before heading into the next town called Grainau to a thermal pool and sauna. We spent several hours relaxing in the sun between swims and saunas before we headed east to Rohrdorf for the evening. We parked up in a little village and as we pulled into the place we were parking we spotted an English van with a dog! We jumped out to say hi and got chatting to them and playing with their dog for awhile. They haven’t seen many English vans and it was good to chat. They are new to travelling and are struggling with issues on the van so I’m not sure how long they will manage to keep travelling for.

Early the next morning we headed out to a lake nearby called Chiemsee where we parked up and got the bikes out. We cycled the circumference of the lake which was around 55km and it was fairly easy and flat. On one of the many bike paths we did pass a police car and a couple of ambulances so who knows what was going on. While not all the path was next to the lake we did get some good views of the lake and the island in the middle. We managed to get back to the van without getting lost and then got our swimwear on and got the paddleboard out. You can guess where we are heading, straight to the island in the middle of the lake. It was about 3km from where we got into the lake and while the lake is easier than a sea to paddle on we had to avoid the many boats and ferries. We got to the island and then had a little swim in the lake before we decided to walk to the middle of the island to see the palace that is there. It was quite far and given we were only in our swimwear and swim shoes we were not dressed for visiting the palace but we managed to see if from its impressive gardens before we headed back to the paddleboard and started the long paddle back to the van.

Once back at the van we headed to the park up from last night where we spent the night as its near where we want to go tomorrow and it was nice and quiet. The next morning we managed to get a run completed around the area before we showered and headed to Rosenheim which is a place recommended to us by a German couple back in Bovec, Slovenia. There is an autumn festival which is the lead up to Munich Octoberfest. We parked up at a small village outside the city because we think it will be quieter for the evening and our plan is to have a beer or two at the festival as that’s partially what it all about. We cycled in and everything seemed quite quiet until we rounded the corner and saw the festival. It was packed and there were so many people everywhere. There were two large beer tents which both held around 7,000 people and they were full with queues outside and then there were other little alpine house restaurants (built for the event) which were also full and had queues. There were fairground rides and rollercoasters, food stands and arcades. It was manic and after walking around for 10 minutes to explore we headed into the town for a bit of a break and to let the lunchtime rush die down a little. We found lots of very pretty buildings including the town gate and church before we headed back for some beer. There was 1 size of beer – 1 litre – for 12 euros and they came in huge glasses which were heavy. We enjoyed the cold beer (its really hot again) and watching the people happily drinking, singing, dancing on tables, eating and just socialising. We spent a little more time walking around the festival eating snacks before we headed to a nearby irish bar for some vegan burgers and another, albeit smaller, beer before we cycled back to the van for the night. We were glad we called it a night when we did as you could see a lot of people who were worse for wear and the festival just seemed to just be getting busier and there were empty beer bottles littered all around the entrance.

The next morning we headed out of the area as we have been in this area for awhile now and we have booked our ferry back to the UK in 6 days so we plan a day of driving to give us more time in the rest of Germany. We finally made it after several hours of driving to a town called Reichental where we tried to park up but there was a sports festival on so we went out for a walk (which turned out to be a hike) in the hills before coming back to the van and moving just out of the village into the woods for the night.