Tuesday 1st November - Home

We heard this morning on BBC Radio 4 Long Wave that there had been a serious accident on the M25 and that they had closed a section of the motorway to resurface it. The queues were 27 miles long and it was on our route. The problem was confirmed by an announcement by the ferry captain who told us that the M25 clockwise was a “no-go area”. We set off on the M20 joining the M26 and eventually the M25 by which time local radio was saying that the queues had reduced although the delay was still two hours. We stopped briefly at the near-deserted services before leaving the M25 at junction 5.

Travelling on the pre-motorway route of the A25 made us appreciate how much time the M25 saves, when it is open. It was very slow but we eventually reached the M3 at Hook and the rest of the journey to Somerset was uneventful.

We joined out friends Ann & Nick and Les & Les for a meal at a local pub with real English beer. What a lovely way to end another great holiday.

Photos: None.

Monday 31st October – Licques, France

When we walked around the Hondshoote yesterday, we found a tourist information board that showed the surrounding area and we realised that an interesting town, Berques, would be on our route today. The map showed it as a walled and moated town but we didn't know anything about it.

At the edge of the town we stumbled on an aire that was not in our 'All the Aires of France' book. There were no motorhome facilities other that the ability to park for up to 48 hours but the parking area is next to the moat and walls, an excellent position to investigate the town. When we walked in we discovered that we had timed our visit for the day of the large Monday market. It was mostly clothes, household goods and fruit and veg stalls but there were a number of cheese and meat stalls, most of which had long queues. There were at least three stalls dedicated to horse meat and associated products. We saw some French parents slicing off some horse sausage and feeding it to their young daughter – can you imagine the reaction of a British child? We bought some excellent local cheeses from a cheese shop and then moved on to see the ruins of the 17^th century Abbey of Saint Winoc. At 11:00 the Berques bell tower started ringing a tune. At ten past eleven it was still playing and we thought that anyone who lived near the tower must curse if they played the bells like this every hour. When we arrived at the bell tower, which also housed the tourist information office, the bells were still playing and I had to ask for more information about it. Apparently it chimes on every quarter but only a simple chime. On Mondays at 11:00 a bell-ringer comes and plays a series of well-known tunes for an hour and we just happened to be there at that time. So, if you are in the area on a Monday morning, pay a visit to Berques.

The rest of the day was spent in shopping, first at Majestic Wine in Calais and then on to Carrefour in the Cite d'Europe. Lots of wine, beer and French delicacies are now stored in Henrietta.

We drove on to Licques and the Pommiers des Trois Pays campsite and settled in for the night.

Photos: The walls of Berques; The bell tower rises above the market.

Sunday 30th October – Hondshoote, France

This aire is a haven of peace compared to Gent and we had an excellent night's sleep. It was overcast but dry in the morning so we decided to investigate the area. First on the list was the windmill next to the aire, which turned out to be a modern (1993) reconstruction of the Spinnewyn Mill that dated back to some time before the 18^th century. We then walked into the town wandering around the centre and then out to another windmill on the other side of the town. The Noordmeulen Mill may be the oldest mill in Europe, according to the information board. This is based on the fact that they found a beam in the mill with the date 1127 carved on it. Perhaps they should use dendrochronology to confirm the date of the beam. Anyway it is a very impressive windmill. We were amused that we were staying in a French village with two windmills when, despite seeing many lovely windmills when we were driving, we didn't manage to get a close-up look at any Dutch windmill.

We thought that we might move on to a campsite today but the aire was good and tempted us to stay another night.

Photos: Hondshoote's Town Hall – ghosts, warlocks and witches were streaming out of here when I passed it last night. It was very frightening, although I suspect that it might have been a children's early Halloween party!; The Noordmeulen Mill.

Saturday 29th October - Hondshoote, France

The motorhome parking area is almost directly below an elevated section of a busy motorway and the noise during the night was continuous. This was not conducive to a good night's sleep and we decided not to stay a second night. However we didn't have to leave until later in the afternoon so that gave us time for another trip into Gent's old town.

Our main target was the Castle of the Counts that we had passed but not visited yesterday. It also gave us the opportunity to wander through more of the streets not covered by the tourist information trail.

The castle, once hidden behind a mass of mediaeval houses, has been fully restored and the tour allows exploration of the whole building. It is a very strategic position at the heart of the city and the confluence of the rivers Scheldt and Leie. Some of the rooms are dedicated to instruments of torture used in the castle and elsewhere but on a brighter note, the views of Gent from the walls are very good.

Emerging from the castle we had a beer sat outside at a small bar in the square that sold a variety of Belgian beers and, rather surprisingly, Mythos a Greek beer. Talking to the owner it became apparent that he is a Greekophile and has a house in Crete that he visits regularly. Pictures, road signs and other Greek memorabilia adorn the bar – ouzo and retsina are also available!

Next stop was a small café for our last opportunity for chips with mayonnaise, although I must admit that I have bought some Dutch mayonnaise so that we will be able to have the odd treat at home.

On then to France, just. Hondshoote is only a handful of kilometres from the Belgium border and here we found an aire in a much quieter position than the one in Gentbrugge. I walked into the town centre to find a supermarket for bread, eggs and pasta before we decided to have just bread and cheese for tea – those chips with mayonnaise were very filling.

Photos: The Castle of the Counts; The fish market square as seen from the castle; The Belgian beer was excellent!

Friday 28th October – Gent, Holland

The map showed a long tunnel to take under the tidal inlet of Westerschelde and given that this saved us a long trip round via Antwerp, this is the option that we chose. We were somewhat taken aback when we found out the price – a car and caravan was €7.30 but a motorhome was €17.85, the same price as a lorry. I find it very difficult to justify the difference – does a 3.5 tonne motorhome damage the road more than a car and caravan? It was however an impressive tunnel – 6.6 km (4.1 miles) of it.

We were soon at the Gentbrugge park and ride identified in our German Stellplatz book. There are no motorhome facilities here, only a place to park over night but it is ideally positioned for visiting the centre of Gent. Luckily a Belgian couple had arrived just before us and greeted us when we got out of the van. They were able to tell us that tram 22 would take us into the centre and explained where the historic centre was in relation to the Kouter tram terminus. Equally important, they told us that ticket machines were available at the tram stop.

After a quick bite to eat, we caught a tram and walked up an up-market shopping street to the old town. The Tourist Information Office staff were very helpful, providing us with a map of the city and a walking trail leaflet that described the major sights of the old town. We followed the trail and enjoyed the architectural gems. The walk was well designed with built-in surprises such as walking around a corner to find the 12^th century Castle of the Counts towering over a square in the middle of the city. Another memorable site was the beautiful buildings on Graslei, Gents first trading port.

When we visited St. Nicholas' Church we found a soprano and a violinist practising for a concert and it was great to be able to listen to them, accompanied by an organ in the lovely setting and excellent acoustics of the church.

We really enjoyed the city and decided that, proving the weather was good, we would come back in tomorrow.

Photos: Two views of Graslei Street.

Thursday 27th October - Oostkapelle, Holland

Moving on south towards Gent we decided to take a look at some of the more remote parts in the South-West of Holland. This meant taking the motorway past The Hague, Delft and Rotterdam and we were amazed at the size of Rotterdam's port and industrial areas. The petrochemical works are enormous and densely packed and we only saw part of it. Beyond where we turned off there were miles more of port and industry including the massive 'Europoort' area.

As we crossed to the area known as Overflakkee we had our first sight of the 'Deltaplan' a massive flood prevention scheme created after the disastrous floods of 1953 that killed nearly 2,000 people and flooded 150,000 hectares of land (see http://www.deltawerken.com/Deltaworks/23.html for details of the scheme). We drove over the Haingvliet Dam and sluices and a short drive across a peninsular brought us to the Brouwersdam. The main road was below the dikes and we couldn't see the sea but I noticed a sign to the North Sea Road and decided to follow it. Immediately we came to a vast area of beach with lots of people and all sorts of activities going on. We parked up and went to investigate. Families were flying kites, a group of land yachts (three-wheeled karts with a sail) were completing a circuit and parakarts (three-wheeled karts powered by the driver flying a large kite) whizzed past us at great speed. Meanwhile many people such as us watched the fun.

After crossing another peninsular (originally an island) we came to one of the main installations of the Deltaplan – the storm surge barrier of Oosterschelde. Rather than a dike or dam, this is a 3 km long series of sluice gates, 65 of them, each 40 metres long. The tides are allowed to flow through the barrier but it is closed during storms and extra-high tides. Completed in 1986, it cost over 2.5 billion Euros – a vast amount of money at that time. It is a very impressive feat of engineering and it was great to see the tide rushing in through the barrier as we drove over it.

We headed for Oostkapelle where we had identified a stelleplatz and found that there were three farms next to each other offering 'Mini Camping' as the Dutch call aires or stellplatzen. We found the one that we had selected, Pomona and parked up. At €12 per night and with electricity, toilets and showers, it was good value.

Photos: Land yachts with parakarts in the background.

Wednesday 26th October - Noordwijkerhout, Holland

We were told that the forecast for today was better but it was grey and overcast over breakfast and it was soon raining again. As I write this in mid morning, it is definitely getting brighter and it hasn't rained for some time so we hope that we will be able to walk later as planned.

We set off in the late morning walking the short distance to the path into the woods. There is a very wide area of sand dunes here, a natural barrier that protects the land from flooding – our campsite is a few metres below sea level. We struck out in the direction of the sea and after crossing many dunes we walked up a final high dune to be faced by the sea and a very long stretch of beach. This is obviously very popular for bathing in the Summer but there were also plenty of people here now, walking, riding horses or cycling.

We walked into a strong breeze all along the beach until we reached the large resort of Noordwijk. We had been told that there was a Chinese restaurant here and we soon found it. Their special lunch menu was Nasi Goreng so we headed on in and ordered it. It wasn't the Indonesian Nasi Goreng that we remembered but it was very good and the pot of China tea went down very well with it.

After buying a selection of Dutch cheese from a very good cheese shop in the town, we walked back on the land side of the dunes. A very pleasant walk and excellent lunch.

Photos: The beach at Noordwijk.

Tuesday 25th October – Noordwijkerhout, Holland

It was only a relatively short drive over to the Dutch coast but we wanted to stop at the old city of Leiden on the way. It had rained overnight and was very overcast in the morning – not very auspicious for a walk around a city.

We had no map of Leiden nor we did we have any idea of where the suitable car parks were. On the journey we passed many windmills that had been used for pumping water from the land into the canals above. They looked very pretty but you will have to take my word for it as there was nowhere to stop to take photographs. We headed for a camperstop that Jane had found in the Europe Stellplatz book that came with the one that we used throughout Germany. This turned out to be a park and ride car park (Haagweg), ideal for us. We got on the shuttle bus (included in the parking charge), which acted as a taxi and dropped each person off where they requested. It was then that we discovered that we were so close to the centre of the city that we could have walked in within 10 minutes.

Unfortunately, the weather forecast turned out to be correct and it was cold and raining most of our time in Leiden. We both liked the city with its many canals, bridges and pretty architecture. There were even two windmills, one of which, a museum, was shrouded in scaffolding and plastic sheeting. Our only regret was that we didn't see the architecture above street level because the ever-present umbrella blocked the view. We will have to return in better weather – strolling around the centre in warm sun would be lovely. We tried to have Nasi Goreng for lunch but failed to find anywhere serving it so we opted for another Dutch speciality – Pannekoeken. There were three restaurants in the main square specialising in these pancakes, one of which offers 100 options – sweet and savoury. We were both feeling savoury so Jane had apple, bacon and raisins and I had apple, bacon and cheese. The pancakes are thicker and larger (over a foot across) than those in France and they were both delicious and very filling.

The car park cost €6 for 4-6 hours and for another €5 we could have stayed for 24 hours but we decided to move on to the coast. The De Duinpan campsite is just outside Noordwijkerhout in one of the famous bulb field areas. Obviously there aren't any fields of tulips at this time of the year but we did pass a few fields full of flowers.

By the time that we arrived, it was getting close to dusk so we found a pitch in the surprisingly busy site, connected to the electricity and hunkered down with the fan heater on.

Photos: Bikes are very popular in Leiden as this multi-storey bike park shows; Jane in heaven enjoying a Pannekoeken – only the one nearest to her is hers, honest; Space was obviously at a premium when this house was built.

Monday 24th October - Otterloo, Holland

Another frost this morning but the forecast suggested that it was going to be slightly warmer today and still dry and sunny. Definitely a cycling day.

The map that we had been given had no scale so I wasn't quite sure how far I was going to get but a plotted an approximate route and set off. It soon became clear that there are miles of excellent asphalted paths criss-crossing the whole area and, in addition, even more compacted sand tracks that can be used by walker, cyclists and horse riders. After a while I came across a map board showing all of the routes in the area and showing numbered locations where other map boards were located. This made it very easy to plot a route and to ensure that I stayed on track.

On the early part of the cycle I passed a number of rather good sculpture installations, next to the path and in the middle of nowhere. It added interest to the trip and many people were stopping to look at them. I had noticed a number of towers on our walking map but couldn't understand exactly what they were. I had passed a mother and daughter (who seemed to chat continuously whether on riding or not) earlier and they passed me and then turned off the path. There was an observation tower here and they cycled up its spiral ramp to the top. I followed and looked at the view over moorland and the forest that I had cycled through. The orientation table showed me where the Otterloo church tower was just peeping above the trees in the distance.

I was heading for two archaeological features marked on the walking map – 'Celtic fields' and an unidentified site. When I got to the 'Celtic fields' I was amazed to find a very recently built reconstruction of an 800BC farmhouse. Turning left to the other unidentified site, I eventually found the 'Germaanse Put' in a small copse in the middle of a field just of the track. It became clear that this was an 800BC farm and well and that the reconstructed house was based on an excavation on this site. Returning to the Celtic Fields I found that they had been protected and the field boundary banks were still preserved.

In this area I passed a large number of thatched houses, far outnumbering those with tiled roofs. I confess that I expect to see thatched houses in Somerset but I didn't expect to see them in Holland. Although when I thought about it, this area is low lying and has many wet areas, which, like the Somerset Levels, are ideal for growing the withies used in thatching.

Photos: One of the sculpture installations on the cycle path; The observation tower; The reconstructed 800BC farmhouse.

Sunday 23rd October - Otterloo, Holland

The alarm clock radio was tuned to a channel that was playing lots of 60's and 70's music last night but this morning it was a deep discussion programme. We realised just how different Dutch is from English, French and German and how little of spoken Dutch we could understand. In 20 minutes we understood the words 'socialist', 'liberal', 'Nederland' and 'okay' – we tuned to a music channel!

We are right on the edge of satellite reception of BBC channels and our 60cm dish couldn't pick it up. This is a disaster as we won't be able to watch the Rugby World Cup Final. I checked the Internet for possible coverage but couldn't find any. Next attempt was to find radio coverage. The BBC are not covering it but TalkSport are so we listen to the build up and at the kick-off, they announce that commentary is not available outside the UK! Getting really desperate now. Eventually I find live text feed on PlanetRugby.com and give Jane a commentary as details are displayed every two minutes or so. Shortly before half time, I switch on the radio tuned into BBC Radio 4 long wave, expecting to hear commentary on the India v England one day match. However I am too early and Broadcasting House is on air. The presenter is talking to Henry Blofeld, who is shortly to be commentating on the cricket, and bizarrely asks him to commentate on the Rugby World Cup Final. Henry, it appears, is in India watching the rugby on a television and his commentary is full of Blowerisms such as 'My dear old thing' although there wasn't any mention of buses or pigeons. He only has a brief slot and it is clear that his cricket knowledge is better than his rugby knowledge! However we did learn that in his opinion New Zealand were well on top.

Back to the second half on the Internet – it is tense just reading the updates. And it was tense right up to the end. I'm glad that New Zealand won – the whole country loves rugby and they have been waiting a long time to win again. They were certainly the best team by far all the way up to the final and France did very well to come so close to winning.

There was a very hard frost this morning but the sun warmed everything up and by early afternoon it was very a very pleasant temperature, especially in the sun. The friendly campsite owner gave us a walks leaflet when we arrived and although it isn't very detailed, it gave us some ideas as to where we could walk. We set off towards the village and had a quick look around it before heading off into a park on the other side. The whole area is very sandy but the moorland of the park is on deep sand and walking on the sand paths was like walking on a beach. The park also had hills - a very rare thing in Holland although it must be said that they were very small – 20 metres at the most. We subsequently discovered that the hills were actually sand dunes.

The last time that we visited Holland was 37 years ago, before we were married, and one of strongest memories was of the food. Being students with very little money (we stayed in segregated dormitories), we looked out for cheap food. Two dishes that stood out were chips with mayonnaise and Nasi Goreng (an Indonesian dish very popular in Holland). The former is known as 'friets met' (chips with) – they don't even mention the word mayonnaise, that is taken for granted. Apparently, if you want chips without mayonnaise, the phrase translates as 'chips without the with'! We asked the campsite owner about the local availability of both delicacies although we probably won't be able to try both here. It turned out that there was a restaurant that produced very good 'friets met' just down the forest track. We managed to include this on our walk and felt very decadent, but very happy, tucking into chips and mayonnaise at five o'clock in the afternoon.

Photos: A typical foot and cycle path through the forest at Otterloo.

Saturday 22nd October – Otterloo, Holland

Although the journey to the National Park north of Arnhem was through flat land is was prettier than we had expected. We started by crossing the border at Oeding and if it hadn't have been for the signs, we would not have known. The border was between two houses on the outskirts of the town and there was no indication that a formal border had ever existed.

We were soon travelling on tree-lined roads and sometimes beside tree-lined canals. There was a great deal of deciduous forest that was very pretty at this time of year. Our target was the ACSI approved t'Schinkel campsite near Hoenderloo. When we arrived it seemed very quiet and there was a note in Dutch on the reception window. I walked down into the site to find it deserted and when I got back, Jane had deciphered some of the words on the note. It appears that the bank pulled the plug on the campsite and it closed on the 1^st October this year.

There were a number of others in the area so we plugged in a couple of coordinates into the sat nav and set off. We decided that the gods were against us as the road to the first site in Otterloo had a 'no entry' sign on it and an incomprehensible sign in Dutch. We turned away initially but then discovered that the campsite was only just beyond the sign and there was no other route to it. We ignored the signs and ploughed on. The last section of the road was dirt track but when we got to the Beek en Hei reception there was a warm welcome and the campsite is very pleasant. It is surrounded by forest and has footpaths and cycle tracks running past it. We settled down in a very sunny pitch and sat out to enjoy the warmth of the sun.

Photos: Beek en Hei – parked up under the WiFi mast.

Friday 21st October – Darfeld, Germany

We plotted a route through the Harz mountains bypassing Braulage and driving through the pretty town of Clausthal-Zellerfeld. There were many opportunities for walking all along this route and the campsite just east of Clausthal-Zellerfeld looked to be in a very good position for walking. The weather was lovely, sunny and clear, and that made the scenery ever more attractive. One of the main reasons for visiting the Harz was to decided whether we would want to return for a longer visit at some time in the future. The answer to that question is a definite yes, preferably when the weather is warmer. In addition to the walking there seems to be quite a lot of this to do in the area. Goslar is a beautiful town (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) and there are silver mines and museums to visit.

As we travelled through the mountains we saw much evidence of mining although it appeared that most of the mines were closed. Leaving the national park at its north-west corner, the autumnal colours suddenly became much more vibrant and we passed many areas of woodland blazing in vivid reds, browns and yellows. In fact the scenery for the whole of the morning was lovely right up until we joined the motorway just south of Bielefeld. After that the land flattened out and lost much of its interest.

We arrived at the stellplatz in Darfeld, west of Munster, and the architecture and the number of people riding those sit-up-and-beg bicycles told us that we were close to the Dutch border. It was only mid-afternoon so we had time to investigate the town. This turned out to be fairly uninteresting with the exception of a schloss (country house) on the edge of the town. It is a private house so it is not possible to get too close to it but it is very attractive and its position on a small island in the river makes it quite unusual. On the edge of the moat is an old mill that still has its mill wheel.

Darfeld is obviously a very religious town with large wooden and stone crosses and the stone sculpted stations of the cross scattered all over the town.

Photos: The schloss in Darfeld.

Thursday 20th October - Hohegeiss, Harz Mountains, Germany

When we woke up this morning, it was raining and very cold. By 11:00 it was hailing and the temperature had not risen above 5°C and it was looking as though we would be spending the day in the van reading and watching DVDs. However after lunch the sun appeared briefly and the temperature rose to the heady heights of 6°C. We decided to take the risk and, putting on lots of layers, hats and gloves, we set off on a short walk around the village. We were very lucky – the rain held off and the sun shone most of the time, so we extended the walk to include some of the lovely countryside and views over the Harz mountains. Then it was back to the campsite and put on Henrietta's heating to make it cosy.

There was a red sunset, so we hope for better weather tomorrow.

Photos: View from the centre of Hohegeiss, the foreground is a ski slope in the winter; A view over the Harz from Hohegeiss with its highest point in the distance.

Wednesday 19th October – Hohegeiss, Harz Mountains, Germany

After queuing to empty waste water and fill with fresh water, we set off from Berlin. The Berlin-Mitte stellplatz worked out very well for us and it extremely well positioned for visiting Berlin. Our pitch, backing on to the sports field and on the side furthest from the road, was relatively quiet but a pitch next to the road would have been very noisy. The site was either full or very nearly full every night that we were there so if you want to stay here, don't leave it too late in the day.

Our journey took us mostly on motorways and dual carriageways until we approached the Harz mountains. We diverted slightly from the direct route in order to drive up the Bode Valley. Exposed rock stacks stood high above Thale and minor roads took us to Treseburg where we took the extremely pretty route up the valley. From this point on we saw lots of walkers, it is obviously a very popular area, and they were enjoying the sunny weather.

Just before we turned south to reach Hohengeiss we passed a sign that stated that we were passing the old East German border. This explained why the minor roads that we had been travelling on had been in such a poor state and in the villages it was clear that the cobblestoned streets had simply been given a thin coat of asphalt.

As we approached the Am Barenbache campsite, the weather deteriorated, the temperature dropped and it was soon raining.

Photos: Treseburg in the lovely Bode Valley.

Thursday 13th to Tuesday 18th October - Berlin, Germany

Equipped with 7-day travel tickets we explored Berlin using S-Bahn (surface railway), U-Bahn (underground railway), buses, trams and a great deal of walking. We were incredibly lucky with the weather, especially considering that it rained on our way to Berlin on Wednesday. It was cold, sometimes as low as 8ºC, but we had wall-to-wall sunshine and beautiful blue skies until about two hours before Ann and Nick were due to leave when the clouds gathered and we had gentle drizzle.

Highlights of the week for me, apart from being with Ann and Nick, were the Reichstag Dome (wonderful views over Berlin, excellent Norman Foster design and a very good audio guide), the Pergamon and Altes Museums (archaeology) and the Berlin Wall Memorial Site. The latter is an outdoor exhibition between the Nordbahnhof and Bernauer Strasse U-Bahn stations and includes a section of original Berlin Wall. The Michelin Guide only makes a casual mention of it but it is essential viewing for anyone who is interested in the Berlin Wall. I suspect that it has been improved and added to over the last couple of years and consists of many installations all along that stretch of Bernauer Strasse. Nordbahnhof station has been left as it looked when the wall was built as it was closed during the whole life of the wall, becoming a so-called 'ghost station'. An exhibition in the station takes about the other 'ghost stations' some of which, were passed through every day by West Berliners travelling on lines that briefly dipped into East Berlin. East German police guarded the station platforms to ensure that the trains didn't stop.

Just outside the station is a visitors' centre (we didn't visit this due to lack of time) and this is then followed by a modern church marking the site of one demolished by the DDR when they reinforced the wall. A section of the wall has been restored complete with the second wall on the DDR side and the so-called 'Killing Zone' between them overlooked by a control tower. A Documentation Centre has been built opposite here and has a tower attached that allows visitors to climb to a height where the walls can be viewed. All along the road there are installations that give information, in German and English, about the history and construction of the wall, the buildings around it and the escapes that took place in that area. This includes photographs, voice recordings of the stories of the people and even a number of videos – all in the outside installations. This free exhibition come highly recommended. More detail is covered in the Checkpoint Charlie Museum but reading, hearing and seeing the stories in the place where they happened made them so real.

Some of the other sights that we saw were: The East Side Gallery (sections of the wall painted by many artists); Brandenburg Gate and Unter Den Linden (architecture); The Holocaust Memorial (very well presented and heartbreaking); Potsdam; The Checkpoint Charlie Museum (very busy, chaotic layout, not cheap at €12.50 but absolutely fascinating and worth the money).

Our favourite restaurant was Max & Moritz in Oranienstrasse (recommended by a friend of Ann's niece – thanks Kate), which has excellent traditional German food, a good atmosphere and lovely beer (especially their unfiltered house beer).

Photos: One of the many paintings on the wall at the East Side Gallery; A view of the wall from the observation tower on Bernauer Strasse; A small section altar frieze of Pergamon, an ancient Greek site in Turkey; There were a number of multi-person peddle-power tours available of the city centre – this one allowed you to drink beer whilst peddling away. I doubt whether much sightseeing was done but it looks like great fun; The mirrors under the Reichstag Dome designed to reflect light into the parliament building below; It was the Festival of Lights whilst we were there and many buildings were floodlit.

Wednesday 12th October – Berlin, Germany

Rain overnight and a wet start to our journey to the big city – Berlin. We plotted a route via the castle at Stolpen and saw it but declined to stop and investigate further.
We filled up with fuel at an agricultural merchant that only sold diesel – quite an experience – and we were soon on the motorway north of Dresden. Driving was easy despite the A13 being reduced in many sections to two narrow lanes with a 60 or 80 km/h (40 or 50 mph) speed restriction. In England, due to the volume of traffic, this would have caused chaos and long delays but here it really didn't cause a problem. On many sections of the motorway there are no speed restriction at all and a minority of drivers took advantage and passed as at huge speeds, well over 100 mph.
The Berlin-Mitte stellplatz is true to its name, it is in the middle of Berlin, just two minutes walk from the Reinickendorfer underground railway station. It might not be as close to the centre as the Dresden stellplatz is but it is the best position for exploring the city. The reception office is closed on Wednesday afternoon so we found a pitch ourselves, backing onto a sports ground and well away from the road. As a city stellplatz, we weren't expecting spacious pitches and we didn't get one but it is quite acceptable. The site is advertised as having toilets and showers but there is only one of each for men and women and with 45 motorhomes on the site (and it is full as I write this), the facilities could get quite busy!
We having been looking forward to tomorrow for some time. Our great friends, Ann & Nick are flying out from England to join us in Berlin, staying in an hotel just a few tube stations down from our stellplatz. We are meeting up with them in the morning and will probably spend the morning catching up on news and planning for the week ahead.
Photos: The cosy Berlin-Mitte stellplatz – Henrietta is in the far corner..

Tuesday 11th October – Sebnitz, Germany

We had decided to stay for two days in Sebnitz to give us an opportunity to see the town but after hearing the rain all night, we were beginning to doubt whether it would be possible. Fortunately, the rain started to ease and by 10:30 it had stopped although the skies were as grey and low as ever.
The stellplatz is on the side of the town that we approached from, so we hadn't seen anything of the town centre. It was a five minute walk down and there we found a pleasant centre with many more shops that we had seen in similar sized towns. It was clear that this was a market town for the area and it was also a tourist centre. The tourist information centre was based at a silk flower factory – Sebnitz is famous for its silk flowers and there are many factories producing some high quality, very realistic flowers. The tourist office was positively busy, which was a surprise and it was obvious that Saxon Switzerland was a very popular tourist destination for the Germans.
We wandered around the town and nearly walked past the church as it looked like yet another German church. However a sign said that it was open and we were tempted in. Much of Germany is Roman Catholic but Saxony is largely Protestant and this church, Peter-Pauls-Kirche, was Lutheran. Very plain pews contrasted with the beautifully painted wooden galleries – two storeys of them! The wooden ceiling was also covered in paintings, each square naming a family that lived in Sebnitz or the surrounding area. All of this carpentry and painting dated to 1619 and appears not to have been restored. The pulpit was even earlier, dating to 1564 although this had been renovated in 2001. A wooden statue of the Madonna (mid 16th century) and crucifix (late 16th or early 17th century) were also very impressive. This church is a real treasure and well worth a visit.
We arrived back at Henrietta after our circular walk without getting wet. Needless to say it started raining again in the evening.
Photos: A display of Sebnitz silk flowers; Three views of the Peter Paul Church – the nave, the ceiling and one of the painted panels.

Monday 10th October – Sebnitz, Germany

On this trip we have visited Switzerland, Franconian Switzerland and we are now off to Saxon Switzerland.
The weather is absolutely appalling – it rained all night and rained on all of our journey south of the Elbe river, crossing at Bad Schandau and travelling north to Sebnitz. There were probably some lovely views on the way but with the mist and low cloud, we didn't see any. However, just outside Bad Schandau we took the minor road signposted to Hinterhermsdorf and suddenly the journey became much more interesting. We past the terminus of a tram line and found ourselves in a narrow river valley with the tram line taking up the right side of the road. There was a 50 km/h (30 mph) speed limit on the road and this was very sensible as you were quite likely to turn a corner to find a tram coming directly towards you. Fortunately I had anticipated that and when it subsequently happened I was ready for it. However, Jane did find it a little disturbing! The valley was really beautiful and we would love to walk in it some time when it is not raining.
After a brief look at Hinterhermsdorf we stopped for an indoor picnic before travelling to Sebnitz. Here we found the stellplatz, plugged into the electricity and settled in for the afternoon. At about 16:00, the drizzle finally stopped ....... that was when the rain started! It was certainly not a day for exploring the town.
Photos: When the weather is this bad, there is only one thing to do – play Scrabble.

Sunday 9th October – Dresden, Germany

Another thought behind staying outside Dresden last night was that the drive in on a Sunday morning should be easy and indeed it was. We arrived at the stellplatz (Dresden-Centrum) before 09:30 and within 5 minutes were in the very centre of the historic centre. That was the good news, but it was absolutely freezing – about 6ºC and windy. The temperature drop over the last few days has been huge – only three days ago we were wearing T-shirts but now Jane was wearing five layers!
In February 1945 the British carpet bombed Dresden, totally destroying the historic centre and creating a fire storm that killed more than 35,000 people. It is a testament to the German people that they have rebuilt the city and so many of the beautiful buildings, the latest of which, the Frauenkirche (Church of our Lady), for long a ruin representing the destruction of Dresden, was re-opened in 2005. When in these buildings it is very difficult to believe that they are not old, so faithful has been the reconstruction.
We followed a walking tour in the Michelin Guide, diverting into the new town on the other side of the river at one point. It was here that we popped into a café for a soup (me) and a coffee and cake (Jane) to warm up. I had fish soup, which in true German style had lumps of smoked bacon in it – it was delicious.
After getting very cold again we were glad to get back to the van for a hot drink. We then attempted to find an Internet connection, something that we have failed to achieve since leaving Switzerland. It turned out to be much more difficult that we expected. We started at the hotel connected with the stellplatz that we were staying at. They had previously confirmed that they had wireless Internet and that we were entitled to use it, they had even issued us with a username and password. I tried to get on but although the laptop recognized the network it couldn't connect. The Hotel receptionist lent us the hotel laptop and spent a good ten minutes trying to get it to work. Eventually she thought that she had succeeded but although it displayed the BBC home page, it wouldn't access anything else. The receptionist, in an apologetic way, recommended McDonalds. Now it is against my religion to visit McDonalds but the only time I make an exception is for the greater good i.e. Internet access. We walked into the city centre and found a seat in McDonalds with a power point nearby. Jane enquired about Internet access and was given a leaflet in German explaining how to use it. She got us two milkshakes (very tasty and very rich) and I attempted to get on to the Internet. After some time we discovered that only the first hour was free (not a problem) and you had to have a password sent to your mobile phone by text message. When we entered our phone number, it complained that it wasn't a German phone number. When Jane asked one of the staff, they immediately confirmed that we had to have a German mobile phone number in order to use the Internet. We finished our milkshakes and left. Finally we found a Starbucks and that allowed Internet access without the need for text messages sent to mobile phones. Most of the customers were using laptops, which was encouraging but I decided to ensure that we could get on before we bought a coffee. The laptop recognized the network (BT Openzone!!!) but would not connect. It might have been due to the number of people using the Internet but after a number of unsuccessful attempts, we gave up and went back to the van. Very frustrating.
Photos: Ehemalige Katholische Hofkirche (Dresden Cathedral); There are many ways of seeing the sights such as a variety of horse-drawn carriages, vintage buses, bicycle tours but our favourite was this stretched Trabant; The gilded statue of August the Strong in the New Town; The Frauenkirche.

Saturday 8th October – Zschaitz-Ottewig, Germany

Our reason for staying in the area was to visit Colditz Castle, used in WWII as a POW camp for prisoners of many nationalities who were either very important (e.g. related to Winston Churchill or the Queen) or most commonly were officer rank POWs who had been involved in escape attempts from other POW camps. As a child, I obtained a copy of the book Colditz by Pat Reid and it caught my imagination as it did with many other children, especially boys, of my generation. The tales of escapes and attempted escapes were quite incredible and I really wanted to see the castle for myself. This feeling was reinforced by the film and television series that came later. Some friends, Tim and Mary, visited Colditz earlier this year and Tim especially sung its praises and he also lent me another Colditz book. By coincidence, the digital television channel Yesterday recently screened all of the Colditz television series and a documentary. We watched a couple of these at home and I brought the others with us on DVD. Given that Berlin was definitely on our itinerary and Colditz is only a little way south, we decided that we had to see it.

Driving the short distance to Colditz, we parked in the Lidl's car park and walked up to the castle. Entry was only €3 but we knew that the hour-and-a-half guided tour at €7 would be well the extra money. It was before 11:00 but we were told that the next guided tour would not be until 13:00. We set off to find the railway station, in view of the castle and a very important part of many escape attempts. Although we had crossed the railway line at a level crossing on the way, it was obvious that the station had been closed for some time and saplings were growing well between the train tracks. We subsequently found out that the line had been closed for 10 years. Back to Lidl's for some shopping and a quick bite of lunch before we set off again for the castle.

There we met another English couple, living on a boat in Northern France, and these were the only other people on our exclusive guided tour. The guide was excellent, explaining the history of the castle and then taking us around the outside and inside of parts of the castle to show us where and how famous escape attempts were made. He had a good sense of humour and was happy to answer questions. One of the highlights was seeing the French tunnel from the chapel to the wine cellar and being told that the British officers drank most of the Colditz fine wines kept in the cellar. They replaced the bottles after they had drunk the contents, replacing the contents with “something unmentionable”. Another highlight was seeing the area where they kept the V.I.P. prisoners and being told the story of Michael Alexander. He was in a special unit and was captured behind German lines whilst wearing civilian clothes and, considered a spy, he was told that he would be shot. He told the Germans that they shouldn't shoot him because he was a nephew of Field Marshall Alexander. He spent the rest of the war as a V.I.P. prisoner but was actually no relation of the Field Marshall.

The museum was very good, holding many original items from the escape attempts such as forged documents, home-made sewing machines and cartridge cases, gun holsters and even a rifle made from cardboard. It also explained the role of MI9 who sent much escape material such as money, maps and documents hidden in books and records in Red Cross parcels. MI9 even sent plans of Colditz Castle that they discovered in the British Library and these were shared with the French to help them with their tunnelling.

I could go on for hours about Colditz, I haven't even mentioned the glider that they built, but it would be much better if you could go yourselves – start planning now!

We woke this morning to pouring rain that drowned out (sic) the radio alarm but we managed to avoid the rain in Colditz until we walked back to Henrietta. It was only a short walk of less than 10 minutes but it started to pour down and then to hail. We got rather wet!

We were planning to go to Dresden tonight but time was getting on and we decided to aim for a stellplatz at Zschaitz-Ottewig. Our Stellplatz book showed this as being on a small lake and given that it was only 45 minutes from Dresden, it would be a more pleasant and cheaper place to stay. As you will see from the photograph, it was indeed very pleasant.

Photos: Colditz Castle dominates the town; These photographs were taken by the Germans after the attempted escape by a Frenchman (left) disguised as a German worker (right). The escape attempt failed only because, unknown to the POWs, the Germans had changed the colour of the passes the day before; The French tunnel in the wine cellar; The radio room hidden in the attic. It was built by the French from parts smuggled into Colditz and was handed over to the British when the French were transferred from Colditz. It was never discovered by the Germans; A typical room for two officer POWs; After the rain at the Zschaitz-Ottewig stellplatz.

Friday 7th October – Bad Lausick, Germany

The Stadtsteinach campsite was very pleasant and there are plenty of walks to keep people occupied. Opposite the site is a very good heated public swimming pool and it looked as though it had been open until very recently. A good place to stay and we will certainly bear it in mind when we are in the area again.

We headed north today, climbing onto the Frankenwald plateau in good weather. However that did not last and the rain started – short showers at first but rain for much of the journey. The route to the plateau took us up part of the pretty Rodach valley where forestry in the main trade and where the dangerous skill of rafting was used to get the timber down from the higher forests to the sawmills. In the valley we saw another restored water-powered sawmill identical to that at Stadtsteinach.

Some our journey was spent on the 'Castles and Beer' route but, as I was driving, I wasn't able to enjoy the beer. We did however stop at a supermarket and I bought a selection of beers – the choice is huge and the prices very reasonable at between 30 and 70 pence for half litre bottles. This compares very favourably with England where it is difficult to find a half litre can of beer for less than £1. Many of the beers stocked are local which is a bit of a problem for me as, by the time that I have established that I really like a particular beer, we have left the area.

The sat nav took had a funny five minutes when it decided to take us on a section that was neither main road nor the shortest distance. However we were quite happy to follow it as it took past a series of lakes, part of a large hydro-electric scheme just outside Kaulsdorf.

We arrived at the basic stellplatz at Bad Lausick in the rain. There are no facilities here but it is quiet and there was plenty of space in the car park.

Photos: An unidentified castle on the 'Castle and Beer' route.

Thursday 6th October - Stadtsteinach, Germany

Yesterday Jane spotted that the town square was to be closed from 07:00 this morning although we couldn't establish why. Thinking that it would probably be a market, we decided to investigate. We arrived to discover a very small funfair under construction – quite a disappointment! However that gave us the opportunity to start our walk a little earlier than anticipated.

There were two walks and two maps of the locality on large boards in the car park of the campsite and on the way into the town there was another board detailing a mill walk. This looked interesting but the complete walk, in a figure of eight, was very long so we opted for the bottom circle of the figure of eight. Packing a picnic and wet weather gear (it was warm but still grey and threatening) we set off. We climbed the hill of Hainberg (524 metres) behind the campsite and found a small ancient monument on the top. We had been getting withdrawal symptoms from lack of archaeology so it was good to find some. The walk then took us through the forest and a riot of fungi. In England it is quite unusual to see the pretty Fly Agaric fungi, also known as the Magic Mushroom, but we saw many hundreds on this walk. They look very pretty with a colour that can vary from a deep red-orange to almost a buff and every shade in between. There are often a number of them in a group in varying stages of development – an orange, white-speckled ball bursting through the forest floor to a fully open specimen often nibbled by slugs. Given that the mushrooms have an hallucinogenic effect on humans, I wonder whether it has the same effect on slugs? I took a look at at few but it is difficult to tell a spaced-out slug from an ordinary one! There were lots of other fungi including a lot of edible boletus mushrooms and there was evidence of discarded stalks from fungi hunters. These can command quite a high price and we have seen many for sale in greengrocers.

On the stretch on the walk from Having we caught a glimpse of the quarry through the trees. It was quite large but in a very confined valley and with very high, steep faces. It had the advantage of the quarry where I worked, Torr Works in Somerset, in that it is well hidden, making it much more acceptable to the local community. Having walked over another small rise, we descended to the river Steinach at Neumuhle (New Mill), well named due to the mill of the same name (it was new once). This, like many of the mills in the area, has become a guest house and restaurant. It was interesting to see that the mill had been converted to small-scale electricity generation, something that I have always been surprised is not done more often with watermills that are not appropriate for restoration.

We found that we had joined a geology trail that had boards that appeared to tell the story of the earth's rock formation with some reference to the geology of the area. It appeared that we were walking in an ancient volcano and we soon came to a large volcanic rock outcrop, known as Steinachklamm, that diverted the river and towered high above it.

We had expected to follow the river on its gentle descent to Stadtsteinach but, as we left Steinachklamm we immediately climbed high above the river and continued for some time before we descended to river level again. A little later we came across another mill 'Waffenhammer' a hammer mill apparently used to produce weapons. There was a small drift mine entrance just by the mill and we passed another a little later in the walk that had a sign explaining that it was a former copper mine.

Ascending again we reached Burgruine Nordeck, ruins of a 16^th century castle that defended the valley. If our translation is correct, there was a castle on the site from the year 1000 but this was destroyed in 1528 during some sort of peasants revolt.

After descending to the river again, we approached Stadtsteinach and came across our third mill. Schneidmuhle is a sawmill built in 1865 and restored in 1982 and it was good to see that the waterwheel was not only in position but was running.

We had only had a brief and very light shower earlier in the walk but it now started to rain and it looked as though it wasn't going to be a short shower. We increased our pace on the final leg to the campsite passing a large modern sawmill with that powerful and lovely smell of freshly sawn pine.

A little soggy after a most enjoyable walk of about 10 miles, we decided that today was the time to try some Bavarian cooking and the campsite restaurant was the best place as it didn't involve a long walk in the rain! We ordered two beers and discovered that we were drinking beer brewed in Stadtsteinach and very good it was too. We were handed that night's menu which consisted of a choice of four main courses and we set about attempting to translate them using a German-English dictionary. The only word that we could find was 'knuckle'. The waitress didn't speak any English but one of the other customers suggested that the last two dishes (including the 'knuckle') were “beef”. She also showed us her plate, at a distance, but that didn't help much as it just appeared to be a sea of white. She also told us that it was “quite hot” and we assumed that this wasn't the beef. So I had the 'knuckle' and Jane had the other one. Our Bavarian guidebook tells us that the traditional Bavarian food is heavy and is usually meat (lots of) and one veg. It also says that “meat” invariably means pork as the average German gets through 56 kg (123 lbs) of it every year! The book was quite correct. Jane's dish was indeed the same as the other lady's – two large slices of gammon and two large white semolina dumplings all set in a huge amount of white sauce so that the thick gammon was completely submerged. Mine was exactly the same except that the gammon slices were replaced by a huge gammon hock. I must say that the gammon was very nice and the sauce tasted good, if a little spicy and then I breathed out through by nose, which was suddenly on fire. I don't know how much mustard they put it the sauce but it would have kept us going for a year of roast beef Sunday dinners. Jane acquired a rosy complexion and beads of sweat were breaking out on my brow but I was not going to be defeated. The meal did require another large glass of beer on my part but I got there and enjoyed it in a masochistic kind of way. Oh, I nearly forgot to mention the little surprise – in the middle of the dumplings were some pieces of pork fat, like soggy pork crackling. We decided that, if we ate like that on a regular basis, our like expectancy would be dramatically reduced!

Photos: The ancient monument at Hainberg, which demonstrates a connection with Ireland as they obviously have 'Little People' here as well!; A selection of fungi from the walk – Fly Agaric top left, bracket fungus bottom left, and two types of boletus mushrooms on the right; A wonderful jester sculpture outside the Waffenhammer mill; Burgruine Nordeck.