German Fairy-Tale Tour, Tuesday 13

My parents' 64th wedding anniversary - they are on a cruise on the Rhone, and Mum says it is very hot there, too.

After breakfast we went for a walk in Fritzlar, which was just as lovely by day, and visited the Cathedral and the tourist office, where I found a map of the Fairy-tale route.

So we wandered along it to Hann. Munden, calling at all sorts of pretty little towns en route, and wonderful countryside in between.

Then we arrived in Hann. Munden, where the plan is to stay for two nights. The campsite isn't very nice, and at first we thought it was going to be awful, but realised they'd misunderstood what we wanted and put us in the motor-home side, which was foul. So we moved into the campsite proper, which is much nicer, although not brilliant.  I expect the one near Berlin will be worse, but the weather will have broken by then we won't mind so much.

The SW went for a walk, and I sat out and read, and we both sat out until it got too cold and midgey, and then came back into the van for supper. We have drunk rather more than was necessary, but not, I think, enough that we will regret it later. 

I am looking forward to visiting the town tomorrow, and getting some washing done.  And relaxing.

The German Fairy-Tale Tour, Monday 12

Oh, it's hot!  Unbearably hot. Even now, when it's been dark for a good hour, it's hot.  Forecast is for another two days of this, then the temperatures tumble before the weekend.

We went shopping this morning, and then drove to Marburg, which was nice, but a bit of a failure as we had parked a bit out of town, and although we found the Elisabethkirche

, which was lovely, we then decided to walk down a street called the Pilgrimsstein, which we thought would be nice but it wasn't - all modern, roadworks all the way along, and a horrendous concrete block for the university library. So we went back to the motor home and had lunch, and then drove to Schwalmstadt, but it was too hot and I couldn't cope with it so stayed in the van while the SW took a brief look.

Final stop of the day was Fritzlar, with a nice aire, and I'm looking forward to seeing more of the town in the morning, before it gets too hot. We had a bit of a wander this evening, and then a meal in a not-very-nice pizzeria, and so back to the van, which is horribly hot.  But the joy of this holiday is all the little German towns we didn't know existed.... So pretty, most of them.

The German Fairy-Tale Tour, Monday 12

Oh, it's hot!  Unbearably hot. Even now, when it's been dark for a good hour, it's hot.  Forecast is for another two days of this, then the temperatures tumble before the weekend.

We went shopping this morning, and then drove to Marburg, which was nice, but a bit of a failure as we had parked a bit out of town, and although we found the Elisabethkirche

, which was lovely, we then decided to walk down a street called the Pilgrimsstein, which we thought would be nice but it wasn't - all modern, roadworks all the way along, and a horrendous concrete block for the university library. So we went back to the motor home and had lunch, and then drove to Schwalmstadt, but it was too hot and I couldn't cope with it so stayed in the van while the SW took a brief look.

Final stop of the day was Fritzlar, with a nice aire, and I'm looking forward to seeing more of the town in the morning, before it gets too hot. We had a bit of a wander this evening, and then a meal in a not-very-nice pizzeria, and so back to the van, which is horribly hot.  But the joy of this holiday is all the little German towns we didn't know existed.... So pretty, most of them.

The German Fairy-tale Tour, Sunday 11

The Swan Whisperer went for a run this morning, so it was nearly 10 before we set off to find the Park'n'ride to take us into Hanau.  Bring a Sunday, the buses only ran once an hour, but there were two going into town from where we were, and we didn't have to wait very long to catch one.

Hanau itself isn't very beautiful - it's mostly modern, although the statue of the Brothers Grimm, which is what we had gone to see, is older.  Also the Rathaus, just behind it.  We took photos and wandered around a bit, and then caught the other bus back to the van.

Our first port of call was also in Hanau, the Philipperuh palace, now a museum and restaurant.

   We had a look at that, and then drive to the town of Steinau, also associated with the Brothers. There was some kind of festival going on there but we finally found somewhere to park and wandered about the town a bit until we got to hungry, whereupon we went back to the motor home and had lunch.

Then we had a lovely drive cross country, along the Fairy-tale route (even the Satnav knew it was that!) to this place, called Alsfeld, I think, where we are in a proper aire, and have been able to empty the loo, which was getting urgent!  We also have electricity, and can fill up with water in the morning before we head on.

Gernan Fairy Tale Tour, Saturday 10

I suppose we still haven't really started on the Fairy-tale route, but today was all about Aachen. We got up early and caught the 09:14 train, which was of course late, to Aachen. We would have liked to have caught a bus up to the Cathedral, but we weren't sure which one or which way, so in the end we walked - it wasn't far. We stopped en route at the spa, where there is a display of the archaeology found around the area, from Roman times onwards.  When we got to the Cathedral it was closed for worship until 10:45, so we went and had a cup of coffee while we waited.  Slight disaster as we had sat in the seats outside one café and when we asked for Eiskaffee, the waitress explained that this was the café next door!  Oops!  So we had hot coffee instead.

I didn't really like Aachen cathedral, if I'm honest. Too ornately Baroque, or do I mean too Baroquely ornate, for my taste.  And it was too hot - I like my cathedrals to strike chill when I go in!  We couldn't see Charlemagne's tomb as it is upstairs, which you could only go to with a guided tour, and there weren't any just then. So we came away, and the Swan Whisperer said he would like to visit the Treasury, which was fabulous and I saw the reliquary holding Charlemagne's arm, which is what I really wanted to see!

Then we looked for a bus back to the station but just missed one, so walked, and then there wasn't time to buy a sandwich before our train back to Düren. This, for once, was on time and was a double-decker!

Once back at Düren we went to Also to pick up supplies for the weekend, including a not very nice sandwich each. Then we had another three hour drive to Hanau, or rather, Steinheim, on the outskirts, where we have parked up for the night. Tomorrow we visit the Brothers Grimm memorial and the start of the fairy tale route proper.

The German Fairy-Tale Tour, Friday 9

Today was more of a nightmare than a fairy-tale. It started off well, with a lazy start and I nipped over to Carrefour to buy bread for breakfast.

We set off at about 10:30, with the Satnav blithely telling us we would arrive by 14:30. Ha, ha, ha!  Belgian traffic is not like that, and we were stuck in jams for hours and hours, even being diverted through Holland (which didn't look any different to Belgium except a bit less traffic).  It was too hot to knit, so I mostly dozed.

We arrived in Düren two hours later than scheduled, although a lunch break helped with that, and decided it was too late to go into Aachen. We can't stay there as it is in a Green Zone and our van doesn't qualify for that.  Instead of the very nice aire we went to in the summer, we found a car park near the station, €3 for 24 hours and no prohibition on motor homes as far as we could see.  The SW went for a walk and an explore, and when he came in we had a cup of tea, which showed him we needed milk.  So we went out to find a supermarket, but the first one we found didn't have fresh milk. However, there is an Aldi (and a Netto) the other side of the station, so we went there.

Back to the van to eat butternut squash with tomatoes, corn and feta (and a little pesto that wanted eating), served on bulgur wheat. I only cooked the usual half cup that I do for rice or couscous, but it seemed to make masses more and I had to give the SW, who was hungry despite having had a slice of fruit cake with his tea, half my helping.  It was good, though.

The Swan Whisperer points out that, as it was after midnight, European Time, before we left the UK, we have technically been in five different countries today!

The German Fairy-Tale Tour, Thursday 8

Really, I suppose, today is Day 1, but we set off last night after a minor panic when the boiler valve came open and we had to re-top-up with water (all sorted now!), and had a very easy, and incredibly dull drive to Folkestone. It was too dark to knit, I was too cold to sleep, and I can't read in a moving car!  So I sat there feeling bored. The Swan Whisperer said he was bored, too.

We got to Folkestone at last, and were summoned through without too much of a wait, but then we had to wait ages in the holding area, and even longer on the bridge down to the platform. A man came round and said we wouldn't actually be loading for another ten or fifteen minutes, which meant, rather obviously, that we were going to be late. And, indeed, it was gone 11:00 pm when we finally got on the Shuttle - midnight, European time.  So I got ready for bed and then got comfortable and tried not to go to sleep - I didn't want ten minutes' sleep to then keep me awake all night. The Swan Whisperer, who had no such qualms, went to sleep anyway

At long last we reached Calais, and it's only a five minute drive from the terminal to Cité Europe, parked, turned on gas and fridge, opened windows, closed curtains, and bed within ten minutes. And now it is a lovely morning, and I'm going to get up and go to Carrefour for some bread and fruit juice, and maybe some biscuits as we seem to have forgotten them. We do have a fruit cake instead, though!  Then we will set off about mid-morning, I expect, to drive through Belgium, which will be very boring but at least I can knit, and I expect we will listen to music.