Oberstdorf 2023, Monday 15 May

The skating started this afternoon, although there was nothing we wanted to see until about 5 pm. So this morning I went for another walk around Oberstdorf, and this time did a bit of shopping. I had given myself  permission to take the bus back, with a fairly heavy bag, but I just missed one by the skin of my teeth, and the next one wasn't for another 15 minutes and it was raining, so I walked back.

Had I known the weather was going to be glorious, i'd have saved my walk until this afternoon because, contrary to all the forecasts, the sun came out and it was positively hot! The forecast for tomorrow and Wednesday is still dire, though. Anyway, the Swan Whisperer did go for a walk, and when he came back there was time for a cup of tea before we head to to the rink. The mountains were looking lovely in the sunshine,

although there were clouds descending on one of them.

We enjoyed catching up with various friends and acquaintances in the rink, and watching some of our friends skate. We are all getting old now, though, and more and more of our friends have given up - there are  younger ones coming along all the time, of course, but few that we know. Still, always enjoyable to watch those we do know! Even if we didn't always agree with the judges in the artistic category.

Once we had seen all the skaters we wanted to see, we came back to the WoMo and ate cold chicken and salad, followed my melon, followed by cheese and biscuits! 

Oberstdorf 2023, Sunday 14 May

I am not sure whether it was the church bells or the cowbells that woke me this morning! Could have been either, as I'm so deaf I could only hear them faintly! But very much the typical Oberstdorf alarm clock.

After breakfast it was lovely not to have to hurry to get ready to leave or to go and do something before leaving! We do have to keep very tidy, though, as the living space is so small. But I enjoyed my coffee slowly, feeling no pressure to finish it!

When I had finished it, we went over to the new bakery to get rolls for lunch and a Sunday cake each.

Then we went our separate ways - he used the services and, I think, went for a walk, while I went down into the town to remind myself where things were - almost all the shops were shut, of course, this being Sunday, but it was good to see where they were. But in all the years we've been coming here, I don't remember Oberstdorf liqueur and/or chocolates.

Nor a shop selling soap made from the milk of Oberstdorf cows!

Anyway, I walked in up to the rink, delighted to find I didn't even want to take the bus, never mind need to, and went in to say hello to loads of friends - I'd met one lot as I set out and we had stopped to exchange news. Then back to the WoMo in time to listen to our church service. We tried to listen together, but it worked better in the end to use our respective bluetooths on our phones.

Then lunch, and then I went to sleep while the SW had another walk, in the rain this time, and then a quiet afternoon reading until it was time to get supper. I found I wasn't very hungry, and rather wished I'd only had half my cake at lunch. Ah well. 

The competition starts tomorrow; I expect I shall go and watch quite a lot of it, but not all! I have bought my ticket, though. 

Oberstdorf 2023, Saturday 13 May

Oberstdorf Allgäu

I don't know whether I was overtired, or what, but I slept very badly, and today started horribly early as the Swan Whisperer wanted to do a parkrun some 35 km from where we had spent the night. We parked up there, rather on a slope, which made having a shower rather difficult as the water pooled on the back of the cabinet.

I decided that toast was too ambitious for me with that slope, so had a fried egg sandwich for my breakfast. When the SW got back after what he said was a very hilly run (25'44", and a new course record for his age band), he did make toast to go with his fried egg.

We decided that, as we were less than 3 hours' drive from Oberstdorf, and had nothing planned to do at wherever we had planned to spend the night, it was silly not to go straight there. So, after stopping to do a small shop at a convenient ReWe, that is what we did. We stopped for lunch at a random rest area, and again 20.minutes later to do the washing up, as the used plates are rattling so loudly. Then we stopped at Memmingen to get diesel and then straight here, even if the Satnav did take us the pretty way! We assume it thought it was quicker.

Anyway, just as we got here the rain stopped, so we parked up and had a cup of tea before the SW went into town to get cash and I popped into Norma to see what they had, which turned out to be a pair of blue canvas shoes, which I wanted anyway, and some potato salad. Also, there is a new bakery between here and Norma, which will be open tomorrow (bakeries are about the only shops in Germany that  open on Sundays and public holidays, although the tourist shops might). So looking forward to getting tomorrow's lunch rolls from there.

It hadn't rained since we arrived, but it's not exactly sunny, and the forecast isn't good. Oh well, that's what you get in the Alps in May. 

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!