The Swan Whisperer would have liked to have gone for a run this morning, but I pointed out that if he did, it would mean that breakfast wouldn't be until about 09:30, and we both wanted to go out and do different things during the morning. So he didn't, and we got straight up and I, for one, was ready to go out by 09:00.
I had a lovely morning! I caught the bus up the the shopping mall we had seen the previous day (I could have walked, but having had horrendous cramp in the night, possibly because of walking too far yesterday, I didn't want to), and pottered round DM, REWE, Kik and Tedi to my heart's content! The bigger shops didn't open until 10:00, so there was no way I was going to make it back before my 24-hour bus ticket expired, but a "Kurtzstrecke" (short-distance ticket) isn't expensive!
I bought some more rude rolls for lunch as, rude or not, they are delicious. I got some more travel toiletries in DM, and one of two bits in Tedi, including a birthday card for The Boy, who turns 16 on Saturday. But why were about half the birthday cards in English, do you suppose? Obviously I got him one in German as he has just taken a GCSE in that language!
But the purchase that pleased me most was in the local department store, which was 3 bottles of 4711 shower gel, which I haven't been able to buy for ages and am nearly out of. I could have got 4 bottles, but decided that would be greedy.
I then got the bus back to the campsite and sat down with a cold drink until the SW came back from wherever he had been - into the city, but I'm not sure what he saw. Anyway, he also had a cold drink, and then we had to slightly hurry to get away by noon. We just about made it!
First port of call was the Getrankemarkt (drinks market) across the road to stock up on beer and soft drinks and so on, and then I popped into the Norma on the same site to get some yoghurt, which we were almost out of, and they had some lovely cherries, and also marrows! Then we stopped at a petrol station as the tyres needed air, and then in a random rest area for lunch. And then non-stop until we arrived here in Magdeburg, where we are parked up along the Elbe.
Last time we were here, in 2013, we came by train, so hadn't appreciated what a very industrialised city it is! I do remember that the Old Town was lovely, though, and we may well be able to explore in the morning.
Editing this to add a couple of things i'd forgotten. Apparently, the reason German petrol prices have risen so alarmingly is that in May and June there was a tax amnesty to help motorists cope with the price rises, and this has now expired.
On our route today we drove past the service area which, back in the day, was the place where Western vehicles, particularly Army ones, had to check in and out of the only road that linked West Berlin to Federal Germany! I saw a video about it once, which was fascinating.
The vast majority of the lorries on the A2, the motorway we were on for most of our route today, were Polish, as were a fair few of the cars! Apparently it is the major corridor between Poland and the Ruhr, but also France and Belgium. It is known as Warsaw Alley!
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