Two Go Back in Time (1 Viewer)

[Garfields]

If you are into engineering this place is worth a visit
https://speyer.technik-museum.de/en/
Campsite next to museum

 

[hilldweller]

I think that's about where we might finish tomorrow. Thank you!

You'll have to forgive my spelling.......

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place...x422d4d510db4160!8m2!3d50.0604184!4d7.7681136

 

[Wagoneer]

We stayed at Bacharach last weekend at the ACSI site, they also have a stelplatz attached. Nice washing machines too, haha !!! Quite a bit of train noise but you are in the Rhine gorge, so only to be expected. Front row place costs an extra 2 Euro but well worth it.

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[carolyn]

Perhaps a little late for this trip but this is a very good site for searching for War Graves.......

https://www.cwgc.org/

Thank you for that, one of my Uncle's was murdered in Sachenhausen towards the end of the war by the Nazis, he was one of the early Commandos and caught spying in Norway which is why he ended up in a concentration camp. His name is on the memorial there but I have discovered there is also a memorial near London as well called Brookwood.

 

[DBK]

We did a few hours of driving today, following the Mosel downstream, past Cochem, which was pretty but packed, then crossing over to the Rhine ending up on the stellplatz attached to the ACSI site at Bacharach. There is no shortage of places to stay and many thanks for all the suggestions but we can't visit everywhere so we plumped for Bacharach on a whim.

We intended to do some light shopping on the way but everywhere we stopped the shops were closed. It was either very extended lunchbreaks or this was a public holiday - and it was the latter because the 3rd of October is German Reunification Day.

Bacharach is a typical town of these rivers, backed by vineyards and stretched along the river bank.

And with its quota of timber framed houses.

We explored some of the paths above the village. Mrs DBK inspecting the map pictured below.

In the background and to the right you might just see an arch over the path. The arch is so low you have to crouch to pass through it and above this is a covered walkway going to a tower.

We are going to leave the Rhine tomorrow but may find it again later. To be honest we are "rivered out" and want to find something different. We saw a couple of stellplatzs this morning with hundreds of MHs on them and every other vehicle on the road seems to be a MH.

The Mosel and Rhine are attractive but it is all a bit too busy and manicured for me though I don't regret coming back here. We've enjoyed our time but the urge to move on is strong.

 

[hilldweller]

The Mosel and Rhine are attractive but it is all a bit too busy and manicured for me though I don't regret coming back here. We've enjoyed our time but the urge to move on is strong.

Here speaks a man crying out for Morocco - get the juices spicy and flowing.

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[DBK]

Here speaks a man crying out for Morocco - get the juices spicy and flowing.

It's certainly an option. I've lived in the Middle East but apart from one flying holiday to Morocco I don't know that bit of North Africa well.

 

[DBK]

Very short update tonight. We left the Rhine and after a while joined an autobahn only to be diverted off almost immediately. With the road ahead completely closed (I'm guessing a bad accident ) we did a big detour to arrive at the stellplatz in Neustadt.

The big picture is we are now near the top right corner of France, shown by the blue blob near the middle of this map.

And in close up.

We will drive slowly south from here along part of the Deutsche Weinstrasse to see what we can see, which will include the castle where Richard the Lionheart was imprisoned.

And on a totally unrelated link we have finally discovered how to solve the problem of never having the coins required for water etc.

Get them from a bank!

Here in Germany they are called a "rollen" and at the Sparkasse Bank where I got the 50c coins they charged me 40 cents commission but the €2 and €1 coins from the Deutsche Bank today were free other than the face value of the coins of course. But I did think the cashier took pity on me as her first question was to ask if I had an account with them.

Which leads me on to the belief this is a very honest country. The cashier's desk was just that, a table with nothing between the money she had in a drawer except her smile.

At the large stellplatz in Trier bicycles were not normally locked at night but just left leaning against a tree. We've also stayed at a place where you left the money in an envelope.

 

[bellabee]

We too have youthful memories of Germany. We love Germany, but prefer the south - Bavaria/Baden Wuerttemberg. For us, the Mosel and Rhein are good for stop-overs, but not as destinations in themselves.

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[DBK]

We too have youthful memories of Germany. We love Germany, but prefer the south - Bavaria/Baden Wuerttemberg. For us, the Mosel and Rhein are good for stop-overs, but not as destinations in themselves.

Thank you, we are heading off south but probably won't reach Bavaria.

 

[DBK]

We drove part of the deutsche weinstrasse this morning , missing out the beginning and end of the route. It barely took an hour but was slightly challenging in places as the road was narrow in the villages and the route wasn't well signposted. The dashboard compass was useful at times!

As has been suggested on another thread today, these routes are artificial. The wine route just links a number of undeniably pretty villages but it was worth the drive.

We have ended up tonight at a first for us in Germany a FREE aire just like you get in France. Well free to stay but water is one euro a squirt. CC7752 and a good spot.

We came here to see a castle.

This is Berg Trifels where Richard the Lionheart was imprisoned for a while as this inscription describes.

The date is 1193 but Richard was captured at the end of 1192 near Vienna on his return from the Third Crusade. Why he was here is complex and I don't begin to understand the detail but it seems after his capture and a ransom agreed he was passed from stronghold to stronghold. What is known is he was kept here in some comfort.

A path leads up to Berg Trifels from just above the stellplatz. A good half hour of walking through the forest brings you to the top.

Our first glimpse was of the buttress to the right of the castle in the first image. There is a climber on the face if you look carefully. I'm not sure of his route but if going straight up he had some very steep bits to overcome.

My guidebook describes this as a grim ruin. In today's sun it certainly wasn't grim and if it is a ruin it is hiding it well. I suspect extensive reconstruction has been undertaken.

No dogs are allowed in the castle so we were spared the €4.50 entrance fee.

Just below the castle was a cafe where we revisited memory lane by having the sort of meal we ate often when we lived in Germany 40 years ago. Currywurst and chips for me and Bratwurst and chips for Mrs DBK!

But it wasn't all pleasure. There was a geocache near the cafe I couldn't pass over. Another of the fake nest boxes and with the skeleton of a pterodactyl in it I think.

We are off south east tomorrow.

 

[DBK]

We've had a gentle chill at a campsite this weekend, CC 51414 and also in ACSI which gets us in for just €15 a night.

We are on the edge of the Swabian Alps and while I am sure the Swabian part is correct these a very small alps! The countryside around here is wooded hills with the odd limestone cliff. The trees on the hills are now firmly thinking of autumn.

The town in the photo above is Münsingen which is a stop on a long heritage railway starting from Ulm. From what I could work out it doesn't often run steam trains but mostly uses old diesel rolling stock and incorporates vintage buses as well. Perhaps @Cleve has been on it?

This is where we are on the map (the blue blob just right of centre).

I had thought of travelling on down south to the Bodensee but we are going to head south west and head for the Black Forest and then back into France.

The campsite we are on has a wide variety of options for spending the night here.

Yurts.

Teepees.

And a very large number of huts on wheels!

One of them had a maker's name on it which gave the game away - they are all modern - but not cheap, tens of thousands of euros each. A schäferwagen is a shepherd's hut.

The man who runs the campsite is a character, driving around the site wearing a top hat this morning giving children rides on this tiny single cylinder 1956 Wahl tractor.

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[jumartoo]

We've had a gentle chill at a campsite this weekend, CC 51414 and also in ACSI which gets us in for just €15 a night.

View attachment 260193

We are on the edge of the Swabian Alps and while I am sure the Swabian part is correct these a very small alps! The countryside around here is wooded hills with the odd limestone cliff. The trees on the hills are now firmly thinking of autumn.

View attachment 260195

The town in the photo above is Münsingen which is a stop on a long heritage railway starting from Ulm. From what I could work out it doesn't often run steam trains but mostly uses old diesel rolling stock and incorporates vintage buses as well. Perhaps @Cleve has been on it?

This is where we are on the map (the blue blob just right of centre).

View attachment 260197

I had thought of travelling on down south to the Bodensee but we are going to head south west and head for the Black Forest and then back into France.

The campsite we are on has a wide variety of options for spending the night here.

Yurts.

View attachment 260200

Teepees.

View attachment 260201

And a very large number of huts on wheels!

View attachment 260202

View attachment 260203

View attachment 260204

View attachment 260205

View attachment 260206

View attachment 260207

One of them had a maker's name on it which gave the game away - they are all modern - but not cheap, tens of thousands of euros each. A schäferwagen is a shepherd's hut.

View attachment 260208

The man who runs the campsite is a character, driving around the site wearing a top hat this morning giving children rides on this tiny single cylinder 1956 Wahl tractor.

View attachment 260209

We stayed in a hut similar to one of those, not in Germany, but in New Zealand.

We had our Christmas lunch there in 2008!

 

[Abacist]

Thank you for that, one of my Uncle's was murdered in Sachenhausen towards the end of the war by the Nazis, he was one of the early Commandos and caught spying in Norway which is why he ended up in a concentration camp. His name is on the memorial there but I have discovered there is also a memorial near London as well called Brookwood.

Brookwood Cemetry is well worth a visit. It is near Woking in Surrey. Brookwood has a railway station and is also near to Bisley the National Shooting Centre and various Army training establishments like Pirbright. The cemetery has a large military section but there are also sections for other faiths and it was where Dodi Al Fayed was initially buried before he was taken home and the graves face Mecca.

It is the largest cemetery in Western Europe. The website itself is a mine of information.

http://www.brookwoodcemetery.com

 

[MyrtleGuru]

This is Berg Trifels where Richard the Lionheart was imprisoned for a while as this inscription describes.

View attachment 259835

The date is 1193 but Richard was captured at the end of 1192 near Vienna on his return from the Third Crusade. Why he was here is complex and I don't begin to understand the detail but it seems after his capture and a ransom agreed he was passed from stronghold to stronghold. What is known is he was kept here in some comfort.

No doubt the inspiration for the Blackadder "rewenge" episode.



Your posts have inspired me to plan a visit to Germany, by the way, which I have not visited post re-unification. Maybe the German tourist board should be paying you a commission

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[DBK]

No doubt the inspiration for the Blackadder "rewenge" episode.



Your posts have inspired me to plan a visit to Germany, by the way, which I have not visited post re-unification. Maybe the German tourist board should be paying you a commission 

Thanks, loved the Blackadder clip, and yes, now you mention it we were last here pre-unification. 

 

[DBK]

We travelled south west yesterday through the Swabian Alps which for sheer manicured prettiness would take some beating. I was convinced by the end of the day the farmers must use scissors to trim the edges of their fields.

We stayed last night at a free aire in Tuttlingen, CC3196, which I chose mainly because it is beside the Danube or Donau as they call it here.

The river by the aire was full of fish which looked like chub but might not have been. The Danube has some odd species including of course, if there are any left, sturgeon near its mouth.

The town has an odd looking bridge.

It has the date 1914 written on it and is an early version of the Thames barrier. The towers contain the winding mechanism which raises a barrier up from the bed of the river.

As I walked by the cycle path beside the river I saw a blank tombstone. Peering round to view it from the river I saw this.

I can only guess it is a kilometer post. The length of the Danube is around 2,850 kilometres and we were close to its source here.

The cycle path runs all the way down to the Black Sea if you have the legs and time to do it although the lower stretches of the path are not as organised as here but a signpost gives suggestions for what I thought initially were destinations on the route. But they aren't.

Königsberg is in Russia and is now called Kaliningrad. It was formerly in Germany so this signpost may be trying to tell us something as the next on the list is Stettin, another former German town now in Poland where it is known as Szczecin. Breslau is another former German city now called Wroclaw and also in Poland. Eger was always part of Hungary from what I can discover but it suffered during and after WW2 but otherwise I'm not sure why it is listed but the coat of arms on the post suggests it must have been considered German at some point.

A curious thing to find. Nazi memorabilia?

When we left Tuttlingen this morning we drove past a siding full of unrestored steam engines. An amazing sight but sadly nowhere to park as we were on a busy main road.

Our destination today was the Black Forest, so named not for its colour (it's green ) but for the darkness below the trees. The Romans started it all, referring to it as a gloomy place.

We are now stopping at an ACSI site at Simonswald (CC 58560) for a couple of nights to do some walking. There are aires around but with the sun so low in the sky now it helps us to have EHU.

I went for our first walk this afternoon, the area is criss-crossed with paths and has a very Alpine feel.

This being the Black Forest we are looking forward to some of the eponymous cake but I wasn't expected to find any in a wood.

It has a cherry on top but I thought it needed a Charlie as well.

 

[MyrtleGuru]

Eger was always part of Hungary from what I can discover but it suffered during and after WW2 but otherwise I'm not sure why it is listed but the coat of arms on the post suggests it must have been considered German at some point.

Eger could refer to the Czech town of Cheb. It was called Eger by the Germans and was in a German speaking area of the Czech Republic by the border with Germany. I think the Germans got kicked out after the war. Would the distance make sense?

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[CazPaul]

Great thread, just reminds me of our music with the same backbox on. Germany is a great touring country.

 

[DBK]

Eger could refer to the Czech town of Cheb. It was called Eger by the Germans and was in a German speaking area of the Czech Republic by the border with Germany. I think the Germans got kicked out after the war. Would the distance make sense?

Many thanks, there is an Eger in Hungary but as you say Cheb was called Eger and has an interesting history. This Wiki article suggests it was the birthplace of German National Solicialism. The distance looks correct too so this must be the place.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheb

 

[DBK]

I forgot to mention on our way here we made a quick detour via Lichtenstein, or to be accurate Burg Lichtenstein which is built on a dramatic position on top of a cliff.

We took the road up to the schloss but I wouldn't recommend doing it on a weekend. This was Monday morning, traffic was light and fortunately the only bus we saw arrived after us. The road is only about a kilometre long but it is narrow and has no passing places and the verges are very soft looking. We were able to get past a few cars coming in the opposite direction but if we had met a bus it would have been tricky.

Parking costs €2 which we paid but we didn't go into the building (€8.50 each) but wandered around the outside with Charlie.

The first castle here was built in 1180 (by a knight with the family name of Lichtenstein) but almost all you can see now was built in around 1840 in what I would like to call the Mad King Ludwig school of architecture but it predates by at least 25 years the building of the famous Neuschwanstein castle.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuschwanstein_Castle

I should also point out if you come to the Swabian Alps and surrounding parts do try and observe the speed limits. I have never seen a place with so many speed cameras - and they are of the stealth sort being painted matt green. You will know if one gets you, they are all forward facing and the two lenses, one the camera and one the flash are the best things to look out for. The frequent changes of speed limit are also something to watch out for as they don't seem to have heard of repeater signs. You might enter a 70 limit then not see another sign until several kilometres later one changing it to 80 or down to 60. The speed changes can be quite small and the radar cameras watch over them all.

We've also driven on a couple of unrestricted sections of the autobahn recently. Traffic was reasonably heavy but whenever a clear section opened up so did some of the cars. A Porsche shot past us doing at least 130 mph and I soon realized it was impossible to overtake a lorry without holding vehicles up. Even if there was no traffic behind us by the time I was past a lorry, even flooring the throttle there would be a queue form behind me. It used to be illegal in Germany to hold up faster traffic but either the law has changed or no one obeys it - which sounds very un-Germanic. On this trip I've often seen cars and even trucks pulling out and forcing traffic behind to slowdown.

We did a circular walk today of about five kilometres which took us past a couple of watermills. Dissapointingly, the path took us past the mills but not to the mills. Both were on private property with no public access. The Curse of the Campsite Map struck again too. The route was very well marked until we reached one point where the marks suddenly vanished. I could see the mill we were heading for so we just winged it over a field, ducking under an electric fence which was probably switched off as there was no stock in the field but we didn't take any chances. I must carry in my pack in future one of those electrical screw drivers with a neon bulb.

But there were other attractions on the walk apart from the shy water mills so we spent a little time foraging and adding to our nut collection.

It is a good year for holly berries too.

But the most interesting encounter with nature was yesterday when these animals wandered into view from under the trees.

They are on the outside of the fence you can see, which went around a field. They came out of the forest, which was unfenced.

I'm 99% sure they are Ibex but this doesn't look like their normal habitat, which is high crags and peaks but they are known to enter pastures and forests at certain times of the year. I've posted it on Twitter to see if anyone can confirm or otherwise my identification.

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[DBK]

After our walk there was only way to take in calories in the Black Forest. €2.50 a large slice from the local backerei. It was very light with a notable tang of kirsch.

 

[DBK]

I've had confirmation it was Ibex I saw. Once virtually extinct they have been widely reintroduced. A first for me.

 

[DBK]

This is our last day in the Black Forest and for a change - we went for a walk and like yesterday's walk we went off piste for a section. We were on the hunt for another geocache and I was using the geocache app for navigation. This uses OpenStreet maps and one of the overlays you can choose is called "Trails" which I've only recently started using but it shows more paths than the default view. Sadly it also shows paths which don't exist on the ground. We weren't lost, I could see exactly where we were and where we were was initially staggering up a field with about a 45° slope then we walked through some fortunately well spaced trees on a mythical path. The geocache itself proved illusive. When I checked it hadn't been found since last year so I think it has gone missing or more plausibly, buried under a pile of cut timber, because that was what we found when we reached the spot.

When we returned to the valley we came across two watermills.

But they are not quite what they seem as the water isn't touching the wheel but it was still rotating slowly. I suspect an electric motor just may have been involved.

We have seen several small chapels in this region and just below the mills we came across another, with the door open.

They are hofkappellen or yard or court chapels and were traditionally erected to celebrate a safe return of a soldier from war or a serious illness overcome.

The day wasn't a complete geocache write-off because I found another this afternoon and dropped off a travel bug.

There is a lot to see around here. The source of the Danube is tempting and not far awat but I still hanker driving the length of the river starting at the Black Sea so I don't want to spoil the ending by cheating now!

There's also the Deutsche Uhrenstrasse which is the "Clock Route", a 320 km circular drive through some attractive places with clocks as a common theme. They really do major on cuckoo clocks here, there are at least two clock makers in Simonswald and on the footpath where we came across the giant slice of cake they have also placed a clock. It has a button you can press to make it produce a cuckoo sound - to the surprise of Charlie.

We should be in France tomorrow night but only just inside if things work out as planned.

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[DBK]

Well things didn't quite work out to plan. We did drive into France but when we reached the coordinates of where we were heading there wasn't anything there! We were aiming for the Camping Car Parks site on the Île de Rhine but we simply couldn't find it. Even their app showed we were in the correct spot. In retrospect I think we had to drive through some open gates then double back but there were no signs to help us.

So we drove all of a kilometre or so back to the German side of the Rhine, which is the border here, and the slightly cheaper but considerably busier stellplatz, CC 289.

A big and impersonal place with only a few spots left at midday when we arrived but at €6 a night from the ticket machine it is good value.

The stellplatz is on the edge of Breisach am Rhine which is a popular stopping off place for the Rhine cruisers. However, the town itself we found remarkably lifeless for a Friday night but I did enjoy a large beer. It didn't touch the sides so I think I might have been a bit dehydrated.

The town does have an impressive church overlooking it.

Restoration work is being carried out but through a closed gate we could glimpse an interesting carving. Note the skeletons with helmets.

Nearby we found another war related carving.

The words read Victim, Peace, Freedom. It was made in 1955.

Also nearby was a very good bar with wonderful views of the sunset but sadly it was packed. The stellplatz is below and off to the right.

You can see our route over the last couple of days on the map below. We started a little east of Feiburg then drove to Breisach just west of it on the Rhine. The journey should have taken about half an hour but including a stop at Lidls it took three times that.

As we approached Freiburg we were diverted off the road because of a bad accident which we could see just beyond the junction. A DHL articulated truck was on it side and a car was lodged against the cab. Bits of car bodywork were scattered all over the road. I suspect other vehicles were also involved but we couldn't see them for the truck.

The diversion took us at literally a walking place through Waldkirch where I've since learned there is a good stellplatz. If you come by this area give it a try as the town was pretty and stuffed with places to eat and drink. Just drive carefully.

But the day was not over for accidents. Before we left the motorway to drive into Breisach we saw the opposite carriageway of the autobahn was completely blocked with perhaps three big trucks lying all over the road.

After the night by the Rhine we let the tag take the toll and drove for nearly three hours to Seurre in the Côte d'Or department near such wine centres such as Beaune and Nuits St George. For us the journey was relatively painless but not so for vehicles going in the other direction. I can only assume the accident we had seen the previous day had damaged or even closed the autobahn because one of the biggest queues I have ever seen had formed. We drove past it and I doubt it was less than 20km long. This bit of road is a major route for trucks.

Our spot in Seurre is on a Camping Car Parks site we had no problems finding. There is an apple fête here tomorrow which we will visit.

And on the barge below which went through a lock near the aire you might be able to see a boxer dog just above the wheelhouse. It barked at some people on the bridge but when it spotted Charlie it stopped and wagged it's tail. Charlie responded likewise.

 

[Lenny HB]

I did enjoy a large beer. It didn't touch the sides so I think I might have been a bit dehydrated.

You are back in Germany that is a small beer.

 

[DBK]

You are back in Germany that is a small beer.

I've had bigger ones. Beer I mean.

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[MyrtleGuru]

Maß/Stein/Stiefel from my youth misspent in Germany.

 

[DBK]

Maß/Stein/Stiefel from my youth misspent in Germany.

Thank you, I'd forgotten about the word Maß! I blame my loss of memory on a visit to the Munich Beer Festival!

 

[Abacist]

No good having a huge glass unless you fill it with beer, not froth!

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