Germany 2007, Day Ten

Day ten 12th June

Back on the train again tday, this time to Calw, one of the towns we had gone through the day before.  I thought we may be able to pick up an older copy of AutoRoute in a small PC shop, so I was on the lookout as we walk around sightseeing.  A very helpful lady in an art supply shop drew me directions on a map, of how to find a computer shop. Calw in another very pretty town and we had a good walk around the shops until we found the large department store where the PC shop was.

They only had one routing program, very reasonable price but it didn't have a GPS feature, so not what I was looking for. By now we are a bit peckish and the smell of food from from the department store restaurant was just too much for us and we have to get something.  After being served we sat outside to have our meal in the sun but it is was far too hot, but we just put up with it as we could not be bothered to move. We also had a nice beer with the meal, so that helped cool us down slightly.

We were a bit short of cash (its in the safe in the van) but there is a bank with exchange rates in the window so we pop it to get the £40.00 in my wallet changed. "Have you got your passport with you" asks the cashier, "sorry no" I say (its also in the safe in the van), "we need a passport don't we" the cashier asks another assistant, "no" replies the other assistant, "you don't need a passport" the cashier tell me, "that's good" I reply. It was good, a good exchange rate and no commission.  Before going to get the train back to Bad Liebenzell, we sat outside a bar for a beer in the sun but the waiter game out and said that they had just closed, where are we, England.

By the time we got back to the site was still only 16:00, so it was off to the pool for a quiet couple of hours, cooling in water, before heading into town for something to eat on our last night night in Bad Liebenzell.


Before eating, we had a nice walk in the park and then by the river for one last time. Later back at the van we had a few more beers.

Germany 2007, Day Nine

Day nine 11th June

Spent the whole day at the pool, what a difference with the kids back at school, not a sole in the family pool and just a few in the adult pool. We had food and drinks from the pool cafe, we read our books, we sat in the sun, we went down the slid numerous times, we put on suntan lotion when it was too late, we got sunburnt.

 

About 15:00, around the time the kids were arriving at the pool from school, the rapid started working for 15mis ever hour, on the hour, as I said before loads of fun.

That night we had the steak we got in Netto, did it in the George Formby grill (we got it in Wigan, no we didn't), it was like leather, one inch thick very tough leather but the pork we got and ate yesterday was not half bad, so go figure.

Germany 2007, Day Eight

Day eight 10th June

Walked over to have a word with the reps from Eurocamp, just to get it straight on just what we could do with the free transport pass we had, there was a map with the pass and apparently we can go by public transport anywhere within the boundary on the map. I also asked if he knew why Lidl had closed early on Thursday, he informed me it had not even opened as it was a religious holiday that even they had had no knowledge of, not even the German rep as it was a regional thing. He also informed me that it had been school holidays this week, now I would never dream of going on holiday in the UK during the school holidays (noting to do with kids but more to do with overcrowding), so imagine my surprise to find I have chosen to be in Germany during a weeks school holidays. I thought I had done my research well for Germany but this was something that hadn't even occurred to me but in future, I will use the following website to check before going to Germany again http://www.holidays-info.com/.

Just as we were about to go out for the train the rain started again, I used the time in-between showers to adjust the sat to get ITV working better for the F1GP that night.

As soon as the rain had gone we headed for the train station and got there 30seconds too late, that's one problem with public transport running on time and as its Sunday the next train is in one hour (not 20mins as during the week). We walk back to the cafe we used the first night and had a pizza and drink to pass the time until the next train is due.

The train arrived spot on time, it was new, well designed and spotlessly clean. We were heading for Nagold according to the timetable, this was as far a you could go, without changing to a bus. The line follows the river along the valley floor and passes through several picture book towns and villages, some we note that we can come back and visit another day. As the train pulls into Nagold an announcement tells us, that because of track work all passengers must change to the bus to go around the works to a station further down the line but this doesn't concern us as we are getting off there anyway.

At that moment the sky turns back again and we start to think it could be a good idea just to stop on the train and go straight back to Bad Liebenzell. So when everyone gets off and heads for the bus we stop on, another young German gets on and sits, so ask if the train goes straight back to Bad Liebenzell, "no" he replies "this train goes to Horb", "no it doesn't" I tell him, "that bus over there, the one that's about to pull away does", I say pointing to the bus, I think he may have been related to Linford Christy, he couldn't half move fast. We get off and I knock on the drivers window and ask him if this train is going back to Bad Liebenzell, the answer is yes but in half an hour. The weather is too unpredictable to walk into Nagold so we have a drink in the station bar and get the same train back.

Night in the van, bit cool outside.

Germany 2007, Day Seven

Day seven 9th June

This is a note on church bells in Germany, if you don't like church bells do not come, it seems that for any reason someone will start ringing and then the others seem to join in, not just here but everywhere we went in Germany.

We walked into town via the back gate and riverside path, much quicker than by the road, had a look in the tourist info office but got sick of being ignored and left with no info. Walked through the park and back to town on the other side of the river, looked into the thermal baths but didn't try them, then went off to see where the train station was.

 

 The sky started to turn black and we headed into the town centre, we know what rain can be like on the continent. We made it to the bakers just as the heavens opened, but I wasn't getting stuck at a bakers in a rain storm again, see Dijon France 2003 so we continued on to an ice-cream shop/cafe where we could get a couple of beers while we sat out the storm.

As soon as the rain stopped we headed straight back to the van, later in the afternoon when it brightened up, we walked the other way along the river and got some fantastic looking beef stakes and pork chops from Netto. Did I mention there's a Netto on the other side of the campsite to the Lidl, there's supposed to be a shop on site but what's the point, although on the Eco Camping website it states "Daily sale of fresh fruit and vegetables during season" so maybe the shop opens in high season. As this site is an Eco campsite, you can be asked to leave if you do not recycle properly and they take it very seriously there are separate bins for everything.

On the way back to the van, we stopped off at reception to get our passes renewed, we had only booked two days for definite but with the option of staying for a week (all to do with some pitches being prebooked).

On the evening we had a walk into town, then up the hill a way towards the castle, there were very pretty houses and a lake up there. We then stopped off at a very nice restaurant for a couple of drinks and on the way down, we also found an Indian restaurant but it was not open.

Germany 2007, Day Six

Day six 8th June

Early morning we pop over to Lidl and today it is open, we get the usual provisions, bread, beer a lasagne you know the stuff, the beer, Grafenwalder, is in 500ml plastic (PET) bottles so we just get a couple to try it out, it is a weissbier after all.

Then over to the pool for the day, it was very full, the slide is fun and the thing referred to as the rapids is even more fun, if a bit small. The Adult Pool was full of adults swimming lengths, the Family Pool is much more fun and there are also two more pools for toddlers.

 

On our return to the van we have new neighbours over the hedge, two Dutch vans and they are arguing about satellite reception, part of the augment is the direction that my dish is pointing, I eventual have to point out, yes my dish is pointing in that direction but that I am not getting anything either. To cut a long story short, between us we manage to get all of our satellites working (albeit with one of the Dutch dishes on our pitch), the panic for them had been one of the wives could not miss the tennis from the French open. I can not however get any of the BBC or ITV channels.

The beer from Lidl is very good, so I take my backpack and set off back for more with a request from Dot for a bottle of Vodka (something we do not usually drink but the Smirnoff was on special offer) and some citrus flavoured beer by the same people as the weissbier.

On my return and checking the bill it seem to be a lot more than it should have been and I begin to think I have been ripped off. To cut another long story short, after checking back at Lidl its the deposit on the PET bottles, and you get it back via an automated system, you stick the empty bottles in a hole in the wall and get a chit back for redemption a the till.

On a map of the campsite Dot notices a side gate from the site to the river Nagold and to the river side path, so I tell her I will check it out, as it is just at the end of our row. Anyway, I manage to get myself locked out (its a one way turnstile) I do not have the key for the back gate so have to walk the long way round to the front entrance, it took ages but I am sure that Dot didn't even notice I was missing.

Sat out on the night, good beer (not the ones I got for Dot though it was just like lime and lemon) and listened to VH1 on the sat.

Day Seven or Day Five

Germany 2007, Day Five

Day five 7th June

All ready to go nice and early, went to reception to pay and ask for the electrics to be disconnected only to be informed that I can not pay until after the electrics are done and the meter read. So that is when I discovered that you pay for the electricity separately. Next it was over to the Motorhome Service Point and had to wait ages for a caravan to fill his water tank it took him forever but Dot used the time to pay at reception, €45.00 total €15.00 per night. On the good side the GPS appeared to be working, we had worked out a route anyway, it was written down and stuck on the windscreen, we had also walked the way to the main road to get over the bridge on our second day.

Well as soon as we set off the GPS froze and we set off the wrong way along the dual carriageway but that was no problem, we just turned off and got back on the right way. The intention is to follow the B9 along the west bank of the Rhine to Bingen then join the A61, so all we have to do is cross the Mosel from the site find the Rhine turn right and drive south. We cross the Mosel ok, this takes you into the middle of Koblenz where the road signs are useless (to me anyway) and we are soon crossing the Mosel again heading back towards the site (on another bridge though). We pull over and recheck the route, we can either do a U turn and get back on the right road, or carry on, along the road we are on and join the B9 outside the town, so that what we do, go straight on.

The above does not happen, we do not get to the B9 but see the signs for the A61 and just head for it, we had seen the Rhine the day before and without GPS we decide just to get where we are going.

So its the A61 to the A5 then A8 to exit 43 onto the B10, here there are signposts for Bad Liebenzell, we should now get onto the B463, the road the site is on. But as we are now in a big town the road signs stop, and we get (did you guess it) lost, the GPS in a brief moment out of its coma suggests we head down a dirt track and then goes back to sleep. We by sheer luck, get on the road we want and even though it is rather narrow in places we eventually get to the campsite

Campingpark Bad Liebenzell

Pforzheimer Str. 34, D-75378

Bad Liebenzell

Web Site

Reception ask us to wander round the site and to pick out two or three pitches while they complete the paperwork, the site is fuller than I though it would be but there are still plenty of large marked pitches to choose from, we choose one with a view of the castle. Back at reception I ask for ACSI discount and that's ok, it isn't always, then drive to the pitch and wait for the electrics to be connected.

Its now that I notice that the new leisure battery isn't fully charged and make a mental note to check the connections with the charger. Electrics connected, I decide to check the leisure battery connections, I unplug the charger and plug it back it and it starts charging ok. So then I think (or don't think and this is where the mental bit comes in), I will splay the connection ends to get better contact. So I get a knife and force the first one open slightly, then do the same for the second one, on to the third and suddenly the knife is flying through the air and my hair is stood on end. My left arm is also in a lot pain and on top of this I have to walk back to reception to get the electric reset. They ask if I know why it tripped and I had to admit with a red face (and smoking hair), it was my fault.

Note, with electrical connectors, the male side is usually not live whereas the female side usually is, so do not poke pointy bits of metal into electrical connections, it hurts and can cause embarrassment, not to mention death. By the way the charger is now working as it should.

We were given a pass for the pool complex next door, which you have to produce for entry at the connecting gate behind reception, this pass also entitles you to free transport on the local trains and buses. We also got a key to the back gate, which makes it a shorter walk into town and there is also a Lidl just outside this gate, open 08:00 to 20:00, very handy indeed.

It's early evening by the time we are sorted, we leave the site by the back gate for a walk into town and a quick look in Lidl but even though it is not long after 19:00 the Lidl is closed, not so handy after all. In town most places are also closed but we can smell chips and as we haven't eaten we set of in hot pursuit. In the distance, there is a queue on the opposite side of the road, outside a small kiosk, must be chips we think and make a beeline for it. Imagine our disappointment to fide it selling ice-cream, so our search continued back over the road. Down in a small dark arcade, Dot spots a kebab shop and we go to have a look, it is in fact a small cafe, and when we walk through it opens out into a modern town square. We sit outside and order a margarita pizza, two portions of chips and two hefe weissbiers. The place is quite full and children are playing in the water of the rill that runs the length the square, all very pleasant.

Back at the van, even though it doesn't look possible to get reception, I have a go at setting up the satellite anyway but to no avail, I can only pickup the wrong satellite. Eventually I give-up and we settle down for a couple of drinks by the van, the big bugs are here but do not bother us much this time, we do have the citronella candles on though.

Day Six or Day Four

Germany 2007, Day Four

Day four 6th June

Up early and down for the ferry to cross over the Mosel for the Rhine trip, the ferry was on the wrong side of the river but we had plenty of time before the sailing.  The trip we had chosen was by paddle steamer and we where informed when we got the tickets that it was an extra €1.50 each for the Goethe, collectable onboard (it was in the brochure as well) but no one ever mentioned it.  

I got a nice seat over the port paddle but Dot wanted to sit in the bow, so we moved, it was not a bad seat but there was young Englishman, with questionable hygiene and opinions, sat next to Dot, so we moved back to the original seats. 

Back on our original seats we had we had some breakfast bars we had brought with us as we hadn't have time for a proper breakfast before we set of.   The boat was bigger than than it looked but there where several larger tour boats travelling in the same direction, one floating hotel seemed to be in such a hurry to pass, it almost took our bow off as it swung back in front of us.

Our boat was a daily scheduled service with stops all along the Rhine from Koblenz to Rudesheim but to fit in with our needs we were only going as far as Bacharach.  This was a four and a half hour cruise to Bacharach, with one hour forty five to look around and have something to eat and then a two hour fifty five cruise back.  Its quicker going back as that's the way the river flows and it flow really fast.

The scenery was amazing and there were too many castles and villages to put all of the photos on this site but I will give you a flavour of what can be seen. There were also many campsites and motorhome parking places right on the river banks.

  

I even had a beer on board, a Franziskaner Hefe Weissbier, one of my all time favourites, how good is that good beer and fantastic views.  I didn't get as many photos along the river as I should have as I was trying to take video.  I still have the photos I did take, I have no idea where the video it.

Bacharach is a very pretty village, we had a walk around and had a look at the Stellplatz by the river (it was very crowded but as I have said before these places do not appeal to me anyway), before looking for something to eat.  

    

Thought about a pizza from a takeaway but settled on a sort of bier garden in a courtyard, we weren't very hungry so only ordered a couple of starters, sort of dip things with bread and pretzels and a couple of beers.  They only brought us one meal which was lucky as there was far too much for one person and you could have as much bread as you liked.

As soon as we finished it was straight back to the ferry landing as by this time it was getting close to the ferry arrival.  A few people were milling about waiting for the boat and it wasn't long before it arrived, on time.

The ferry MS Jeverland, was a lot smaller and a lot newer than the one we had arrived on, it was also very crowded and seemed to be full of Japanese tourists.  We were very lucky and got a seat together, we were even luckier to get that seat on the same side of the boat as we came on and therefore got to see the other side of the river on the way back.  Again we ordered beers to have along the way, Erdinger Hefe Weissbire, this time another favorite.

A couple of drop-offs later, all of the Japanese party disembarked and once more we had plenty of room to relax and enjoy the journey back to Koblenz, with another beer.

Back in Koblenz we got food at a place near the big monument, it was a sort of open-air self-service restaurant with excellent meet dishes, we both got pork with chips, caramelised onions and sauce (a very nice gravy).  Drinks had to bee ordered separately from a bar around the corner form the serving counter and then all paid for at the till, with the deposit for the bottle and glass. 

 

Must say the food was wonderful (could be because we hadn't had much to eat all day) and the views were good as well, it was a great place for a very cheap and enjoyable meal.  Then, after getting our deposit back from the bar (actually you get a chit from the bar to cash in at the till), we headed for the ferry back to the campsite.

We got back in time to see England win (for a change) and then made plans for travelling the next day.  We did have provisional plans for sites and route but as we had been in Koblenz for a day longer than we had planed and as we had already had a Rhine cruise (something we were going to do as the next stop), we made the decision to miss out the next stop and go straight to the third place on the list, Bad Liebenzell, in the Black Forest.

Day Five or Day Three