taraabit

Sunday 4th June 2017

Ferry docked early and we were on our way at 6.40 am, the local supermarket/ petrol station didn’t open until 7 so we missed out on a cheap fill up.

On the way home, Homer made us very aware of the terrible state of English roads, we crashed, rattled and vibrated our way home, the only comparable time that happened was on roads through a forest area in Belgium.

It’s possible the senior navigator pressed the lesser of the straight forward routes home and we ended up enjoying the delight of the M25 and M1 instead of M11 and A14. 

The sat nav has been very useful if at times a little slow at warning us of turnings etc, we more and more realise the need for some detailed maps as with the Sat Nav you travel along in the little bubble it covers and there is no larger vision of the route. We took with us large fold out maps of Holland, Germany and Luxembourg but these are difficult for the short arms of the senior navigator to hold and when open do limit the forward view through the windscreen. We will also invest in a few lonely planet type guide books to give info on towns etc which will be useful when we cannot get any connection to the internet, all part of the learning curve.

Our first European trip saw us drive 1,050 miles and spend nights in Germany , Holland and Luxembourg, so much to see and experience, looking forward to next time.👍🌞😊

Saturday 3rd June 2017

As soon as we got up this morning it began to rain heavily, thankfully it only lasted about half an hour and later the sun re-appeared and it was a beautiful day.

We left the camp site at 10.30 am which was throwing out time, most sites it’s either midday or 2pm. We drove 100m and then parked up outside a nature area, locked up and walked back into Delft to enjoy its Antique Market with stalls alongside the canals. Michelle bought a small leather rucksack style bag, her other bags aren’t quite the right size or don’t fit on the shoulder correctly when sight seeing. I bought two wooden printing blocks a D and a G, wonder why?

We also bought a T shirt each as a souvenir. We found a food/ flower street market and bought some picnic items to share for lunch, strangely someone other than myself who lives in Homer ate it all, and expressed surprise that I wanted some! Never mind I’m sure I’ll survive on my cheese straw.

Love the laid back nature of the Dutch people we have met, last night on the way back there was a group of approx 6 people in their twenties, sitting on bean bags having a bbq by the side of one of the canals, they were enjoying beers and had music playing quietly . No trouble to anyone, if that had been England they would have been moved on.

It’s also hard to come to terms with how tall many of the Dutch people are, I’m developing a theory, it’s natures way of dealing with things. Should Holland suddenly flood, all the tall people will survive because their heads will be above water,their  survival will ensure the continuation of the nation who will as a consequence breed even taller Dutch people.

We had originally thought to spend the afternoon travelling to Dordrecht and then back to the port, a round trip of at least 100 miles, but the warm sunshine and lethargy have taken hold and we are instead staying put. We are going for a walk in the nature park and later driving to the port.

We found a large beach quite close to the port with a large free car park, beach cafes etc so we had our evening meal there. We drove the 2 kilometres back to the port and straight onto the ferry, no fuss no bother, passport control etc very pleasant.The ferry sailed at 10 pm European time.

June 2nd 2017

We knew today’s journey would be a tiring  one, and it turned out to be so. The first quarter or so was through Luxembourg and Belgium, it was very much an up hill and down dale route through some beautiful scenerey, but a lot of use of 3rd gear on the hills.

We eventually hit the autoroute system  south of Leige and stayed on a number of these all the way up to 500 metres from the campsite, they were very busy, sometimes a four lane car park as we ground to a halt due to road works, grass cutting, car on fire plus others where there seemed no reason why.  I tried to fill up with diesel at a services whilst still in Belgium as it was only 0.98 euros per litre, however I couldn’t find out how to get the pump to work. The instructions I believe gave the option to pay by card or pre pay by cash in the shop. However there was no card point , I didn’t know how much fuel it would take so i didn’t want to prepay, I ventured in for help but all i got from the response was a long sentence where the only words I got were plastic card and a wave towards the pumps. So believing that retreat is sometimes the only way, I replaced the pump and drove off.

Thirty miles further on, now in Holland I filled up but paid 1.28 euros for the privilege, we had a break at these services and brewed up and tucked into a ciabatta for lunch.

We eventually arrived at this campsite Delftse Hout which I had prebooked, this site costs 30 euros per night, plus 3.50 for electricity and 1.6 for local taxes, it’s a large very professionally run site with many facilities, swimming pool, playground, restaurant,supermarket etc, the pitches are small however. One bonus is that wifi is available across the site. Having said that our allowance soon ran out and I paid 5 euros for an extra 10 gig.

After a shower we walked into Delft, about one mile away, we walked along the canals into the centre square. We found a restaurant which had a floating platform to eat on, the woman on reception sent us on ahead and Michelle tried to unbolt a door to get out and would have gone feet first into the canal had I not stopped her! After the meal we moved back into the main square for a drink at a street cafe and watched the numerous bikes whizz past. A slow walk back saw us return to Homer at 10 pm.

Delft is swiftly becoming one of our favourite places.Its a year to the day since we were here last year.

June 1st 2017

This is a good quality camp site, each pitch is flat and generous in size, most come with electric hook ups, our pitch over looks the River Sure with its swans and ducks, last night there was even someone fly fishing. The facilities are first class, obviously very new, toilet and shower blocks cannot be faulted. The cost per night is 23 euros but we had it for 19 euros as we are ACSI members.

This morning we walked to Diekirch, the route from the campsite is along the river that runs in front of Homer, the path is paved and super smooth, superb for walking and cycling, a part of the walk passes through a memorial park which has 13 granite columns and on each one is a metal plaque showing the suffering of the locals during the second world war. Just past that a new footbridge had been constructed and a part of the river diverted to make a water course for canoeing.

Diekirch looks a prosperous town, we enjoyed a walk around its pedestrianised streets and then sat and had a coffee, we walked back a slightly different route and called in at Lidl to stock up again with some essentials. Altogether I would estimate we walked five miles. It is again as it has been every day since we left home very sunny, the current temperature is 29 degrees.

We spent the afternoon on domestic duties, firstly sorting out some of the items in Homer, we have decided there are a few small items we will leave behind in future, we try to keep the weight down. I’ve tightened a few screws in the locker/cupboard doors as they seem a little loose, the interior vibrates considerably on rough roads. We have a long journey tomorrow and will pack up this evening so that we can get off early.

Access to the internet is very difficult, at most sites you have to sit near reception/ bar, maybe a cunning plot to get you to have a drink whilst you wait 30 mins plus to get downloads, phone signals haven’t been too good either, I’m contemplating buying a gizmo you fix to the roof which boosts the signal and allows access to a number of devices.

Today we visited the historic town of Monschau, it was a 2 km walk, part of the way along the river bank the rest along the road.

It’s a fantastic place, once you reach the outer limits there are no new buildings at all, every thing is old and in many places beautiful. The river flows  through the town and the streets are narrow and wind their way through the town, many of the walls and rooves of the buildings are covered in slate which are shaped often placed on in such a way to create a herring bone pattern. There are ornate doors and door furniture, different windows etc and what shops there are, are small and in keeping, sadly for the shopaholic partner most of them didn’t open until 1 pm and others only on a Saturday and Sunday, and as we arrived by 11 am it did cause some angst.

However by the time we had walked round, including going up and down a long flight of steps to a view point, had a coffee and pan a chocolate it was 1 pm and we were able to look into a few of the shops. On the way out of town there was a large car park and a modern building which housed a glass museum/shop and a craft centre, as we walked out of that a few large spots of rain began to descend so we did a quick dash across the road into a brewery museum, very lucky it was there! For a few euros each we were able to look around the display of how they had made the beer, then into caves underneath and behind where they had kept it cold, there was room completely full of over 1,000 beer bottles from around the world, I had a quick look at the uk display, pleased to say I knew many of them.

Outside they had a cafe and it seemed only right that we sample a local beer, very enjoyable.

We chilled out back at the camp site, every one is friendly and greets you with a cheery hello or hi or guten tag etc, whilst we were sitting there a Dutch couple came to ask us if 

“weem off tara a bit” was an Irish saying!! We explained it’s meaning and they thought it was great they walked off up the campsite shouting taraabit.

After another bbq evening meal we walked up to reception to do battle with a very weak wifi signal, both that and the mobile signal are very weak.

We left the camp site about 10am and after a few kilometres found ourselves driving through Belgium, the road surfaces were atrocious it certainly shook the contents of Homer around. After about 20k we were back in Germany and on the whole the roads improved, today all our travelling was on smaller roads that wound its way through forests, scenic countryside and small villages, every where looked as though the inhabitants weren’t short of money.

Eventually we reached our stop off point Vianden, here there is a historic chateau/ fortress that has been restored to a high level. We started our visit by catching the telesiege(chairlift) to the top of a high hill outside town, have to say I don’t like them but on a brave face as we swung over the river and looked down onto people’s chimneys. At the top there is a cafe so we sat on the terrace looking out at the chateau and had a drink and a snack.

From there we descended 400m down a narrow path through woodland to the chateau entrance, it cost 15 euros for our entrance fee, a one euro deduction for me being a senior citizen. We had a good look around and was impressed by the way it had been renovated to make it look as it would have done centuries ago, there was a connection from its historic owners to the UK through William and Mary.

We wandered down into the town and had a coke by the river before the last 13km drive to the camp site, Camping Gritt at Ettelbruck. we travelled 79 miles today.

We were up early this morning, Bedia Arzu’s daughter had to catch the 8 0’clock school bus and Wolfgang and Arzu wanted to get to Aldi early as Monday is special offers day. We also needed to stock up our fridge with food for the next two days. When we got back we packed Homer and said our farewells and left at 10.45 am.

First problem was the mirrors on the left hand side of Homer had been moved by someone/ something and we had to stop to readjust them asI couldn’t see traffic on my left. Then after about 10 miles the rear left hand side indicator bulb stopped working, we pulled into some services and with the aid of some insulation tape and a blob of blu tack we fixed the problem hopefully until we get back to the uk.

We got to the camp site ” Camping Perlenau” at Monschau in the Eiffel Natur park at 2.30 pm a distance of 120 miles. We filled up with fuel outside Monschau and since the last fill we have managed an average of 31 mpg.

The camp site is in the bottom of a valley, it is linear and follows the banks of a river, it is surrounded by hills covered with both deciduous and fir trees. There’s a lot of room on site for tents, caravans and motorhomes, but today only about 20 units are parked up. It costs 24 euros per night, there are a range of good facilities and there is a restaurant/ cafe on site, the wifi is free but you have to be next to reception to pick it up. The people on site are a mixture of German, Dutch and English.

We found a spot with very few people near us and quickly set up, within 20 mins we were settled and had opened a cool beer each. We were just relaxing when the site owner decided to mow the grass, when he reached us he mowed around our outside ground sheet and around Homer, we were covered in grass! Very bizarre.

We had a bbq for tea and I was just writing up this blog when an English couple stopped to chat, they are staying for two nights and are  on a circuitous route to Croatia, they have done a lot of travelling over the years, we chatted for quite a while and it turned out that they were from Stone, not far from us.

The end of the evening was spent sitting out with a glass of wine with a new moon and stars in the sky.

After the late night last night it wasn’t too early a start, a little exercise was called for so after breakfast/ brunch  we went for a good walk around the country lanes of Gahlen which were virtually traffic free. The terrain is very flat and there are many cyclists enjoying the easy safe cycling, a peaceful and pleasant walk.

Wolfgang and I then drove to a local strawberry farm where he purchased some lovely strawberry cake to have as mid afternoon snack, delicious.

We then got changed and drove to a town called Marl, where we went to an Asian Fusion restaurant, it’s a one price eat as much as you like buffet deal, very nice indeed. We were back at Wolfgang and Arzu’s at a reasonable hour, but following two bottles of Moselle wine it was decided we would meet up in the Moselle valley in October for a wine tour.

A lazy start to the day, after a large breakfast we travelled to Dorsten a few kilometres away. 

Dorsten is a pleasant town with a good mixture of old and new buildings, it also has a wonderful ice cream cafe which of course we have to visit.

There was a good street market selling mainly fresh vegetables and fruit, and of course because it’s in season,  Spargel – asparagus .
Early afternoon we drove to Bocholt close to the Dutch border, here the majority of buildings are very new as it was bombed heavily towards the end of the second world war, as always many street cafes and we had to sit in one and try some apple cake and have coffee.

From there we drove to a restaurant  Zumm Pitt which had a function room attached, Wolfgang had bought tickets for us to see a Status Quo tribute band so after a good meal we were entertained until 11.30 pm, an excellent day celebrating our 8th wedding anniversary.

Had a good crossing very smooth and quiet, as we were one of the last onto the ferry  we were one of the first off! Must rememember next time to select the left hand lane when approaching the passport booth, as the two right hand lanes merge into one, that made it slow going.

We left the port at 8.40, everything  went smoothly at first until we approached the motorway network, the Sat Nav used road numbers that didn’t correspond with the road signs and due to that confusion we ended up on the longer route the A15. We stopped in the services at 10.30 am and had a quick break, brewing up a coffee and cleaning the windscreen of the insect debris. 

We followed the A15 to Arnhem and then chose to take an A road for the last 40 or so miles, travelling through Rees and Wesel until we arrived at Gahlen at 1 pm. Journey of 159 miles.

We were very warmly greeted by our good friends Arzu and Wolfgang and went up to their very nice second floor apartment, after a light lunch we spent the afternoon in their garden, the weather is superb, very warm and sunny.

The evening was spent in a local beer garten where we had a meal and a few beers.