Late spring holiday 2024; Saturday 18 May

Düren, Nordrhein-Westfalen

We hadn't actually planned to end up here today. But there was a parkrun in Esslingen, on the outskirts of Stuttgart, so of course the first thing we had to do was drive there. I cleared off my nightstand, but didn't shower and dress, as I could - and did - do that while the Swan Whisperer was parkrunning alongside the Necker.

So the first 25 km or so of today's journey was done with me in dressing-gown and slippers, with a rug over my knees! However, by the time the Swan Whisperer came back I was clean and tidy, and had had my breakfast. He had his, and then we set out, finding a ReWe to do a Last Shop in Germany, and a cheap petrol station to fill up with diesel. 

I had not been quite happy with where we had planned to spend the night, in France, as it had been a horribly long run last year, and although we hadn't planned to be in quite the same place, it had taken far longer than we thought to get back to the Calais area. So I thought I'd ask What's Halfway for its opinion, which was somewhere around Cologne, so the Swan Whisperer said We Might As Well Go To Düren. I said it would be a horribly long drive, but hey. 

But what with one thing and another, it was past noon before we got properly under way, and with a stop for lunch and another stop for the SW to have coffee, roadworks and pouring rain, it was nearly 19:00 before we got here and parked up. Luckily it is fine here (for now) and there was a space available, so we parked and plugged into the electricity, and then I went to Lidl for a last Last Shop in Germany while the SW got supper. He has just been for a loosen-up walk. 

There will be no possibility of shopping tomorrow, as shops in Germany aren't open on Sundays, and in France they close at noon, but Carrefour will be open in Cité Europe on Monday, even though it will be a public holiday - it has reduced hours. Tomorrow will be a long, long drive again, but I hope we will get away a very great deal earlier. 

Late spring holiday 2024: Friday 17 May

Kircheim unter Teck, Baden-Württemburg, Germany

I slept really well last night - I think I must have dozed off about 11, then woke at 12:30 and then didn't wake again until 3:30! And then woke properly around 6, to "proper" Oberstdorf weather - it was raining! As we had to be away by 14:00, when our exit ticket expired (this is new; last year they had a token for exit, but I don't know what you did if you wanted to exit and re-enter. This year, it is a far more sophisticated system! But they keep on improving that place, year on year). 

We got up early, and the Swan Whisperer went to the place where you can get unpasteurised milk, and then got rolls for breakfast from the bakery. Once we had had breakfast, we used the services and got the WoMo all ready to leave, returned our Kurkarte and got our deposit back, and then went up to the rink. 

I am delighted to say that I have gone back and forth to the rink at least twice a day, except today when it was only once, and never once have I had to stop for breath part-way there! This has never happened in all the years we have been coming here in the WoMo, and in the Van before it, so I am very, very pleased! 

I was very sleepy, and may have dozed off during the free dances, which is a pity. I did manage to watch the Bagets, who say every year that it will be the last time, but I think they mean it now they are in their 80s! They were, gratifyingly, Not Last in their class. 

After the free dances, some of which were more watchable than others, it was the Silver Ladies III and IV Free Skating, in which we had several friends competing. But, sadly, after that class it was time for us to leave if we were to have lunch before our longish drive. We said goodbye to various friends, and returned to the WoMo by way of the bakery, where we treated ourselves to filled rolls and a "last day" raspberry strudel, which we shared. 

We called in at the ReWe to return empty beer bottles and buy leeks and mushrooms, and there was a miniature watermelon.... and then we set off to this little town near Stuttgart. We came here last year on our way home, too - it's only a car-park, but there are dedicated motorhome spaces, and it is free. I gather there is a parkrun not far away, so the SW is planning to do that. When we arrived we were both tired and hungry, so I regret to say we ate cheese on toast and a bit of fruit. This means our supper - chicken casserole - will be late, but cooking it will warm up the WoMo, which feels dank and chilly tonight! 

Late spring holiday 2024; Thursday 16 May

Oberstdorf, Allgäu, Bavaria

Competition day 5

This is being written in two halves, as I have had such a frustrating morning! All due to factors outwith my control! First of all, something seems to have gone wrong with the 5g signal here, which, although never great, at least worked. Now we seem reduced to 3g, and barely that! This also applies to the Swan Whisperer, so it's definitely them-not-us. Anyway, not realising this, I bought a cheap book on Amazon, all of 99p, and can't now get it to download to my Kindle. It is on my Fire, so I can read it there, but the Kindle will neither let me sign in to the free WiFi here on site nor connect to the hot spot! I tried rebooting my phone, I turned it off and on again.... 

Anyway, this morning's very large class had a friend skating first, then a couple of others towards the end, a couple of hours later. So I went up to the rink to watch the first skater, and then went to catch the bus into town as I wanted to go to Lidl.

The bus didn't come, and I had to wait for the next one. I got to Lidl, but of course had almost no signal, but luckily I remembered that it has free Wi-Fi in store in the UK, and decided to check to see if it does here, which it does. So I did my shopping, and then just missed a bus going back. The driver saw me running and pulled away, in the fashion of bus drivers all over the world.

So that was another 20 minutes to wait - I went over to Muller to see if they had any 4711 shower gel, but they didn't. Then I went back to wait for the next bus which was, of course, late. And by the time I'd gone back to the WoMo, put the perishable in the fridge, grabbed my rucksack and gone back to the rink, one of the skaters I'd wanted to see had already been! And no sign of the Swan Whisperer, who had gone on a hike with W this morning. Anyway, I saw the other skater I wanted to see, and then came back here, very frustrated at having been up to the rink twice to watch one skater each time. It is now lunchtime. 

Later: So, after lunch I went to sleep for a bit, and when I woke up, I found my insides had gone back on me, and Immodium was rather necessary. I hope it was because I scored a free iced coffee drink in Lidl, only I don't think the coupon worked, and I was thirsty so I drank it - my insides aren't used to all that milk. It wasn't even very nice! Anyway, I took some Immodium and also some oil of peppermint, which helped. 

Went back up to the rink to watch the rhythm dances, which were very good, and stayed on to watch some of the Gold and Masters Women who are friends. There was than a gap between them and the Masters III men, who are always worth watching. However, I really didn't want to go up and down to the rink again today, so decided that, regretfully, I would have to watch them on livestream. The SW, tireless as ever, has gone back to watch them live. 

Meanwhile, just before we left, there was a small presentation honouring Sissy Krick, who is retiring as a judge, but who has been an integral part of adult skating, and a significant part of setting up the ISU competitions. She is very popular and always gets a cheer when announced as judge and/or referee - she will be missed! 

Tomorrow our exit ticket for the Wohnmobilstellplatz expires at 14:00, so we will have to be all ready to leave before then, probably missing several skaters we would have liked to have seen. Oh well. As well we checked, or we might have had to pay for an extra night! 

Late spring holiday 2024; Wednesday 15 May

Oberstdorf, Allgäu, Bavaria

Competition day 4

Really didn't feel at all well this morning, so stayed quietly in the WoMo, other than a quick trip to Norma. Had hoped to go to Lidl, but that simply wasn't happening. I did make salad for lunch, though. 

Went to the rink for about 12:15 to watch various skaters, and then came back to the WoMo for lunch as it was going to be Pairs, and I don't like watching pairs. 

Had a good kip after lunch, and then back to the rink at 4:00 for a marathon session, interrupted only by dinner at Zorans, above the rink, and even then we were watching some of the pattern dances on the livestream! 

The pattern dances didn't finish until nearly 10, by which time we were both stiff and grateful for the short walk back to the WoMo, a cup of tea, and:

Late spring holiday 2024; Tuesday 14 May

Oberstdorf, Allgäu, Bavaria 

3rd day of competition 

There's always one day when one doesn't want to watch all that much of the competition, and today was that day. The first people we wanted to watch were not going to be on much before 11, so I walked down to Woolworths to buy a flat cushion to sit on in the rink, having not thought to bring an inflatable one. There wasn't going to be a bus for another 5 minutes, so I decided to walk up to the rink via the tourist part of town, which I had not yet seen this year. In hindsight, this was a mistake.

The class we had wanted to see finished very early for some reason, and as there would be half an hour before the one and only skater we wanted to see in the next class, we decided to go back to the WoMo the long way round. This, in hindsight, was also a mistake - or, rather, one or other of these walks would have been fine, but both of them was not a good idea. Especially as we then went up to the rink to watch more friends, and also the Masters Elite Women's artistic, starring Midori Ito. She was brilliant, but many of us thought another skater was actually better and should have won. But that's skating.

Anyway, we came away after that, and another couple of thousand steps back to the WoMo. But that was not the end of it, as the Swan Whisperer wanted to eat out, so although the restaurant we finally went to is marginally nearer than the rink, I have still done >11k steps today, which does not bode well for tomorrow. 

Late spring holiday 2024; Monday 13 May

Oberstdorf, Allgäu, Bavaria

The weather forecast for today was absolutely dire, prophesying rain all day, but in fact, although there were a few showers through the night and into the early morning, the sun came out at lunchtime and we have had a lovely afternoon and early evening.

The competition started at 10.00, and our friend W was skating in the first class, so we made our way to the rink to watch her, and then stayed on to watch several other friends skate, many of whom ended up on the podium. We came away at lunchtime and bought filled rolls from the café next door, which we brought back to eat in the WoMo. The Swan Whisperer treated himself to a very large apfelstrudel, too! 

After lunch, he went back to the rink to watch a couple of friends of his, and I went to Norma and did a shopping, including a tubful of prepared fruit salad, which I had intended to share with the SW, but ended up scoffing the lot! I had hoped to go down to Woolworths to buy an inflatable cushion, as the seats in the rink are not exactly comfortable and are apt to induce severe chapelbottom (although doing a qi gong warmup during one of the resurfaces did really help), but ended up falling asleep, as per usual, and only woke up to get back to the rink in time to watch a few more friends skate, but after a bit I'd had enough, so I asked another skater to please throw my soaps to the various British skaters yet to perform, and we came back to the WoMo.

The sun was out and it was a lovely warm evening, so we sat out and read with a beer for about an hour, until the sun suddenly went behind a dark cloud and it was supper time, so we came in and ate. But the cloud had a silver lining.... 

Late spring holiday 2024; Sunday 12 May

Oberstdorf, Allgäu, Bavaria 

Today was the first day of competition, but it didn't start until 12:00, so the Swan Whisperer went for a run before breakfast, and I didn't get up until he got back. This was a mistake, as when I came back from drying my hair - my new hairdryer is great, and works very well - our friend E had joined us. She had already breakfasted, but accepted a cup of coffee, and we enjoyed chatting to her until she had to go to the rink where she was volunteering, and I went over to the little café-cum-bakery across the road to buy rolls and Sunday patisseries.

We arrived at the rink in time to watch the first class, in which we had friends skating. Unfortunately, G's music didn't play properly, which upset her quite badly, but nevertheless she skated well. In a gap when there was nobody we particularly wanted to watch, we came back to the WoMo and ate far too much lunch (in hindsight, we should have shared a patisserie between us), which made me, for one, very sleepy. So I had a nap, and thus missed a skater I'd quite wanted to see, but we went back to the rink and watched until almost the end of the day.

Neither of us wanted the stew that was waiting for us, so we had cheese on toast, a couple of cherry tomatoes, and a peach instead. I don't know how some people manage to eat a patisserie every day while they are here; I certainly couldn't!