Oberstdorf 2023, Friday 12 May

Weil der Stadt, near Stuttgart

(That appears to translate as "Because the town", which  makes me wonder Because the town what!)

So today was All About Speyer. Our first stop was the Technik Museum, which has been on the Swan Whisperer's bucket list since we visited the sister museum at Sinsheim some twelve years ago now. He and I have learnt, over the years, that we enjoy museums more if we split up and arrange to meet at a given place and time. There was a coffee bar just at the entrance, so we agreed to meet there at 11:30, it now being 09:45.

I did rather love the museum - I knew I would - but, sadly, many of the exhibits such as the inside of the 747 or any of the other planes, for that matter, we're up terrifically long flights of steep and/or spiral metal stairs, which I knew I couldn't manage. You couldn't expect them to put lifts in everywhere, but one or two would have been nice!

However, I had a very happy time pottering around mostly on the level, although I did go up to one gallery to see a model railway. The main hall was arguably the most interesting, although one couldn't not visit the space exhibitions with a Russian space shuttle

and so on. But what I really loved was outside, with trains

and boats

and planes.... And inside, a "proper " Paris bus of the kind I used to use regularly  when I lived there, 50 years ago! 

When I was done, I went to the coffee shop and waited for the SW, and when he had had his coffee we walked on into the town, across a park, and visited the Cathedral. Then we looked up local places to have lunch, and found a very nice café that did us a do good light meal,

and then a rhubarb cake for the SW, and an ice for me.

After which we walked back to the WoMo, used the services and headed on south to this aire in Weil der Stadt, which is in an Edeka car park, and we were lucky enough to get the last place! I did some shopping, and now have enough food for the weekend (I didn't use that sauce last night as the veg had made so much gravy it didn't need it), so, except perhaps for la for lunch and maybe a bottle of wine, I won't need to shop until Monday in Oberstdorf!

Oberstdorf 2023, Thursday 11 May

Speyer, Germany

We had a really lovely morning at the Thermapolis spa in Amnéville. We went there last year, and will definitely go again! Well worth the detour. My smartwatch said I had swum 600 metres, which of course is ridiculous - it was mostly being carried round the lazy river. And getting a wonderful water massage on thighs, legs, bum, back and shoulders! Brilliant.

After which, it was quite a comedown to have to shop, but I hadn't shopped since we left home and we were running low on staples. We ate in the supermarket car park, including delicious Gariguette strawberries and cream,

and then drove here to Speyer. Roads not at all bad, although there was one horribly bendy bit - I had  been asleep, and it woke me up!

We are parked up in a motorhome site next door to the museum,

which we have long wanted to visit, and will do in the morning. We loved the one at Sinsheim, years ago now, and this has been on the SW's bucket list for a very long time. The aire is quite expensive, but all-inclusive, which is nice.

Sadly, the aubergine pasta I had planned for supper can't happen, as the aubergine had gone mouldy, so we are having a clean-the-fridge vegetable stew with a sauce I happened to buy in the supermarket to see if it was nice! 

Oberstdorf 2023, Wednesday 10 May.

Amnéville, France

Oh dear, what a day! Last night I discovered that the bag with things like my dry mouth spray and favourite essential oils had been left at home (fortunately not my medication, and I did have spares of the most important things). Then this morning the Swan Whisperer said we must have left the eggs at home as there they weren't! I said I knew I'd packed them (I remembered doing so), but I couldn't see them, either! So the SW said he would look in the boot. But where were his keys? Again, they weren't anywhere he expected to find them. Last time he'd used them had been when he turned on the gas, but they weren't in the lock and they weren't in the locker with the cylinders, either - he borrowed my keys to check. Finally he found them in the container beside his bed, and then remembered that he had accidentally emptied his pockets when undressing last night!  Whereupon he did look in the boot for the eggs, and there they were!

It was far too wet to go for our planned walk along the canal, which was disappointing, so we set off on the next leg of our journey instead.

The first part of our drive was incredibly stressful as it was pouring with rain and the Belgian motorways were as rammed as usual, so incredible amounts of spray! But eventually the rain stopped and we decided to call in at the Euro Space Centre, which we had some trouble finding! We had been before, some 11 or 12 years ago now, and it was not as nice as we remembered. There had been a small visitor centre and you didn't have to go into the (eye-wateringly expensive) museum to see anything of interest. We did look round the gift shop, and while there was some stuff we could have bought for the grandsons, we were not sure whether they are "into" space and astronomy and that sort of thing, so we didn't.

Then we drove on through gradually improving weather through the rest of Belgium, and then through Luxembourg, where we stopped for (relatively) cheap diesel, and into France. We are parked up in a Camping-Car park in Amnéville, where we have stayed before, too go to the Thermapolis spa baths. We thought of going this evening, but the OAP discount ends at 16:00, which it then was, so we decided to wait for the morning. 

Technology hates me today! They're is a tai chi Zoom class on Wednesday evenings, which I wanted to join, so the SW kindly said he would get supper. But as he didn't know how to make the planned asparagus risotto, I wrote out the details for him and posted them to my recipe blog. But Facebook, when I linked it, decided asparagus risotto must be some kind of weapon or something rude, and gave me a warning! And my Bluetooth keyboard isn't working properly! 

Then I couldn't get my tablet to get the sound right for my class, so had to join on my phone, which was not ideal, and then my smartwatch didn't record the class although I could have sworn I'd set it to! Truly, technology hates me! But the risotto was delicious! 

Oberstdorf 2023; Tuesday 9 May

We are not yet, of course, actually in Oberstdorf; in fact, today we have only gone as far as Maurage in Belgium, where we are parked up beside the canal. 

We got up at sparrowfart this morning, had a quick breakfast and then loaded the car and were away before 7:00, arriving in Sussex at about 08:45. We unloaded the car into the WoMo, and put away the things that really had to be put away, leaving clothes and bedding for later. We then drove it round to No 6, only to find that my sister was doing her Pilates class so the family weren't ready to take us round the woods. We should have walked... 

Anyway, I helped my mother make salad - we had leftover cold chicken and Coronation dressing, which we shared with them. When my sister was ready, we went for a drive round the woods to see the bluebells and other wild flowers. There is a lot of comfrey - boneset - but I didn't take a picture of it.

 

Lunch was early, as my mother and sister were going out, and we needed to get on, so after the meal we said our goodbyes and headed off to Folkestone. I slept through most of the motorway bit. 

Quite unlike last time, we were offered a crossing half an hour earlier than scheduled, and got through Passport Control with no delays at all. After that it was a very easy, if dull, run to our overnight place, although at the last minute we had to divert due to a road closure. It was pouring with rain, although this has now stopped, and we were hungry, so supper was the end of the chicken hotted up in some stock, baby new potatoes and tenderstem broccoli, and very good it was, too. Followed by yoghurt, and now a cup of tea with biscuits and cheese! 

On the Buses

Today, 29 April, was All Change on many of London's bus routes.  Three of the routes involved went through Brixton, so it was a no-brainer to travel on them and see what had changed.  The Swan Whisperer did a parkrun, and I did tai chi, and we met up outside Brixton Library at 10:30 to catch our first bus of the day, the no 3.

Now, the 3 used to go to Horse Guards (back in the day, it went further, up Regent Street, I think, but can't really remember), but from today it goes to Victoria Station.  It really wouldn't be the sensible option normally, as it is a lot longer than the 2, which is the main bus between Brixton and Victoria; however I can see that it does provide useful links once you are in Kennington.  Instead of turning left after crossing Lambeth Bridge, it goes straight on up Horseferry Road and Artillery Row before turning left into Victoria Street, and so to Victoria Station.

Our next bus was a no 11.  This used to be the best bus in London, running from Chelsea all the way over to Liverpool Street Station, and it was the route you recommended to tourists as a great way of seeing many of the sights without having to take an expensive tour.  I believe much of its former route - up Whitehall, along  Fleet Street to St Paul's Cathedral, and so on, has been taken over by the 26, which we need to explore sometime.  Anyway, its new route after Victoria was very dull - straight down Victoria Street, over Westminster Bridge, and so to Waterloo.

The next bus that interests us is the 59, on which I used to commute to Russell Square when I was working in the area.  Alas, no more - if I want to go to that area by bus in future, I'll have to change at Waterloo on to a 68.  However, the bus does now go over to Smithfield and St Bartholomew's Hospital, turning right at Holborn and going along High Holborn, Chancery Lane and Newgate Street to get there.  Our journey was slightly spoiled by the driver's forgetting that the bus stop at Waterloo had changed, so we had to run to catch it, and then the driver, presumably annoyed with himself, was grumpy.

By the time we got to Smithfield, it was about 12:00, so we decided to walk back along the route to Red Lion Square where the rerouted 133 now starts.  It, too, used to go to Liverpool Street, but now goes to Holborn instead.  It was a lovely walk along a part of London we really don't know at all.  With distant views of St Paul's Cathedral

north from Holborn Viaduct

and distant views of the Post Office tower (now, I believe, known as Telecom Tower):

When we were nearly there, we stopped and got some lunch in a nearby Prets, and then found the first stop for the 133.  Unlike the 3 and the 11, not all the bus stops have been updated to reflect the new routes.  This one had, though: 

but in fact, the 59 and the 133, which both start in Streatham and go through Brixton, are going in opposite directions along the route!  The 133 now goes past St Paul's Cathedral, which will be useful as and when we want to go to that area.

We had great fun this morning, but in many ways I'm not impressed with TfL's route changes.  So often now one has to change buses instead of a route going directly.  TfL will say it's not a big deal since you don't have to pay another fare, but that's not really an issue for people with passes, etc, which I think a majority of  people have, except tourists and those who no longer commute regularly.  But really, it means that one will have to allow a good ten minutes longer for a given journey, and what about those with mobility issues, heavy luggage, or small children?  What if it's raining?   Fares are not the only issue!  

Still, we had fun, and maybe one day we'll do the trip in reverse - starting with the 133, walking back to Smithfield and taking the 59 as far as Waterloo, then the 11 back to Victoria and the 3 back to Brixton!

Another day on the river

 My family have developed a very nice habit of giving the Swan Whisperer Experience vouchers for Christmas, which we then like to redeem around the time of our wedding anniversary.  This year, my sister gave us tickets to the Abba Voyage concert, which we went to last week and both thoroughly enjoyed. It was amazing, and I do recommend it if you ever get a chance.

Meanwhile, my mother gave us the treat of a champagne afternoon tea at the Courthouse Hotel, Soho AND (it came as a package, but was two separate Experiences really) a day trip on the Thames with City Cruises.  We redeemed the afternoon tea on Friday, which was our anniversary, and very good it was, too! 

Then today we went on the river.

We didn't actually profit very much from the Hop-On, Hop-Off, as the cruises only stop at 2 places between Westminster and Greenwich, which are the London Eye and the Tower.  But we went down to Greenwich, which was a lovely trip in itself. 

We were hungry when we arrived, and there is a branch of Zizzi just by the pier, so went in there for lunch.  I had Chicken calabrese 

which was delicious, followed by an ice-cream sundae.  Also delicious!  Then we went for a walk around the Cutty Sark

and the old Royal Palace (now a university and the National Maritime Museum),

and then back to catch the next boat back upstream.  There were superb views,

but oh dear, the live commentary was dire - almost the same jokes as going down, but badly delivered, and he was totally patronising about the women (who he called "ladies") who built Waterloo Bridge.  I was very unimpressed, and even if I'd had any cash on me would not have left a tip.

We had planned to get off at the London Eye, but it didn't stop there on the way back, so we got off at Westminster Pier, and then walked up to Whitehall through the public subway at Westminster Station, and then eventually - it was rush hour by then - on a bus home!

Early spring holiday, 8 March 2023

Sangatte, Pas-de-Calais. 

This holiday is very nearly over. The drawers, which less than two weeks ago were bursting at the seams with clean clothes, now have just one or two sad garments lying around on the bottom - clean clothes for tomorrow, and the "spares" that have not, thus far, been needed. 

It began to rain last evening while we were parked up at St-André-de-l'Eure, and rained on and off all night. I do rather love lying in bed listening to the rain on the roof! 

I decided to go and buy the bread and croissants for today's breakfast, enjoying such sights as St-André-de-l'Eure had to offer en route.

Sadly, the first bakery I came to, the woman greeted me pleasantly enough but then absolutely refused point-blank to take a "foreign" credit card, and was really rather rude. The French have this image of being rude to their customers, but until now I have never found this to be the case. So I went across the road to the local Spar, which had lovely fresh baguettes (still warm) and the croissant and pain au chocolat I wanted, and the young man who served me couldn't have been nicer. 

After breakfast, we used the services and then drove on for what seemed like ages up to Abbeville, so I could do a Last Shop in the Hyper-U there, getting various bits and pieces for my mother to enjoy sharing with my sister as well as stuff for us. By the time I had done that, lunch was really rather late! 

After it, we set off up the motorway in the pouring rain, but just before we turned off to Sangatte, we saw that the ground was covered with snow!

We quite thought we had left all that behind in the Massif Central! We knew, of course, that it had been snowing in the UK, but didn't realise it had also crossed the channel. Fortunately the roads and so on were clear, so no problems. 

And so tomorrow we will be packing up and heading home. Unlike our holiday this time last year, we didn't find the spring. It is much later this year, and I regret not having packed warmer clothes! But eventually the spring will come, and in May we hope to be off again to Oberstdorf.