We caught a tram from our campsite north of the city and headed into Dresden. It was only one tram so there was very little chance of getting lost today 🙂
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Dresden is an amazing city. It was completely flattened by bombs where there was only rubble left and has been completely rebuilt with help from fundraising in Britain.
The inside of the Cathedral
Many of the old charred stones have been left in the rebuild as a reminder of a terrible time in Dresdens history.
The outside of the cathedral. Note the dark stones on the left. The rest are new!
One of the most significant rebuilds has been of the 18th century Protestant Church in the main square. It is simply stunning. We were lucky that we could get inside and have a look there and it is just beautiful.
The ceramic mural of past Kings and Queens
The outside of the cathedral. Note the dark stones on the left. The rest are new!
Dianne and Fiona along a terrace with Gary taking pictures
Through to the main square. We had a cuppa at the café on the left corner with the chairs outside.
Looking across to the south side of the river
There are some new buildings in Dresden. The shopping malls are something else.
There is a also a Ceramic panel of all the previous Saxon Kings and Queens along a road by the Rathaus which is the Town Hall.
The Ceramic mural of Kings and QueensClose up of the mural
Its an amazing city and its nice to see it rise to be the centre of Culture in Germany again.
We arrived in Berlin pretty knackered as although it is only 3 hours driving from Hanover, it is all on the Autobahn and is very boring driving. The only break in the steady lines on the road flashing by and lots of trees was when we spotted a car upside down on the other side of the Autobahn. Its amazing how quickly the traffic builds up. When we passed it going the other way, it must have only just happened and within a few minutes, the queue was about 8 k’s long! With us averaging about 85 K’s an hour, cars were zooming by as if we were standing still!
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Dianne, Gary and Fiona opposite with Harry
We were about to have our first experience in a Stellplatz. This one was in Tegel which is one of Berlins north western suburbs on the end of the underground line. It was about 20 minutes walk to the underground from the Stellplatz so was very handy.
Ralph behaving himself in the corner
Stellplatz are quite different to what we are used to in NZ in that you are charged for every single thing you do, usually resulting in a cheap stay but this one was expensive by the time you added everything up, and for its money was pretty scruffy and unkempt.
One of the nice things about it was their setup of both the Black water disposal and the Grey water. The Black water was done on a stainless steel bench where you stuck your cassette neck into a flexible 4 inch pipe and out it went. You could then rinse it out but being at a bench height, you didn’t have to bend down and murder your back! It was almost like the good old days at school doing a science experiment 🙂
The Grey water was done with a stainless bucket on the end of a hose which you unclipped from a post and stuck under your grey water outlet and then let rip. All very easy.
The Grey and fresh water tower at the Stellplatz
After a good nights sleep, we were up early and onto the undergound to do the round and round bus trip. We figured this would be the best way to see heaps and then we could go to what we really wanted to see after that.
Fiona, Dianne and Gary waiting for the train back to Tegel
The Berlin Library where they burnt the books
The old Reichstag
Checkpoint Charlie
A Chunk of the wall
Tourists br the Brandenburg Gate
The Brandenburg Gate
One thing that really stuck out was seeing the Wall and Checkpoint Charlie. To see all this was quite sobering and seeing Berlin as it is now, you can only imagine how awful it must have been for so many having the wall up and everything that went with it.
The wallCheckpoint Charlie
The next day, Fiona and I caught the train back into town to see the Jewish Memorial which is a huge area down by Brandenburg Gate with several hundred big concrete boxes.
You can see a persons head popping up through the concrete blocks at the Jewish Memorial
Its an amazing thing to see and you can walk among the boxes and get lost in them. An awful reminder of a truly awful time in our history and with the current generation of Berliners being so helpful and nice everywhere, it is quite amazing to think that this could have happened here.
Fiona at the Jewish Memorial
As we left the Stellplatz the next day and headed towards Dresden and as we were just around the corner from one of Europe’s bigger motorhome accessory shops, it would have been rude not to stop by and peruse the shelves of this great store called Berger. You can find it here at www.fritz-berger.de
A happy Wurlitzer player at the Brandenburg Gate
A lovely city, the weather wasn’t up to much while we were there but we saw the essentials and we’ll be back.
Thats the name of the Motor camp we stayed in in Hanover and is about 4 k’s south of the City.
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It is a huge area surrounding a lake of Chalets and parking areas for Motorhomes Caravans and tents and is fully equiped and even has its own restaurant.
The View
In Germany, everything is priced separately including “Strom” which is power and is charged by the KWH but actually works out to be pretty reasonable.
A happy wee RalphFiona and Gary at tea time
Some caravanners just along from us seemed to spend quite a bit of time in the water and it looks nice.
Our view at Drinks time.
Stepping back a wee bit … As we approached the border into Germany from Holland, the motorway suddenly became a parking lot and everyone was redirected off into a parking area and separated into lanes by the German Police.
We were selected for an extra look and presented our passports and our smiley faces. After answering a few basic questions of where we’d been and where we were going, the nice older Copper waved us through. I think he was more excited about seeing some NZ passports for a change 🙂
It seems they were quite stressed about the G20 summit that was on in Hamburg as he advised us not to go there as it was “difficult”!
Drinks time
Needless to say, we were relieved to be sitting down under Gary and Diannes awning having our first glass of wine that afternoon in a very nice Camping Ground 🙂
Ralph the Renter is from Milton Keynes in the UK. He’s a 1992 Hymer with a 2.9 litre, non turbo, 5 cylinder Mercedes Diesel with Auto Transmission with not too many gears 🙂 He’s not a speedster but can quite easily do 90 k’s without too much stress and with the fills of diesel, seems comparitely competitive with Harry in terms of fuel economy.
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A happy wee Ralph
He’s got a drop down bed and you can drop the table and make up a double there too. We prefer to use the drop down bed as you simply flick it up out of the way fully made up and its quite comfy.
Our Boudoir
Ralphs galley
The front end of Ralph
Ralphs living space with the Niesmann and Bichoff brochures on the table.
Looking forward in Ralph
Fiona and Gary at tea time
There is a loo and a shower at the back and the Galley is across the back with the habitation door on the opposite side. Ralph also has air conditioning too which has been great and we’ve pressed that into service a few times.
The View
Hot Water, Truma heating a 3 way fridge (under bench model) and it all seems to work.
Our little spot in Germany
Harry is a 2004 B654 Hymer. It was owned by friends of Gary and Diannes in the UK who had it from new. Gary and Dianne bought about 5 years ago and now store it just out of London. It has a 2.9 litre Turbo diesel and gets along quite nicely.
Harry all set up
It comes fully equipped including Air conditioning and Gary being Gary, has everything you could imagine hiding in its huge garage 😉
Harry’s living area with optional drop down bed for overstayers 🙂
Harry’s bedroom
Harry’s galley
Gary and Dianne setting things up
Drinks time
They’ve had lots of fun in him and with this tour with us, has been hugely helpful for us being European Bunnies and them leading the charge 🙂
And it is Amsterdam. Dianne found a great camping ground just on the edge of town surrounded by Canals. The campground sold 3 day tickets where you could swipe on or off the tram as much as you liked. This worked really well.
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Ralph and Harry in Amsterdam
The first night we went in to have a bit of look around and ended up having tea in the town and checking out the red light area.
Fiona, Gary and Dianne trying to find somewhere to eat
Day two we got up early and headed in so Fiona could check out the Art in Rijksmuseum.
A Famous walk bridge
One of the oldest foot bridges over a canal
Bike mayhem
The car accident on the bridge
A Dethleffs in the campground 🙂
Lots of young people in tents in our campground.
Gary, Fiona and Dianne at a cafe
On the way there was a car accident on one of the bridges so that was as far as the Tram could go. One of the downsides of Trams of course is they can’t go around the obstruction so we walked the rest of the way.
We stopped at a pub on the first night by the Cathedral for a beerOne of the larger canals where the accident was.
While Fiona was at the Art Museum, Gary, Dianne and I got on a Hop on Hop off round and Round open roof ferry. For 19 Euros, we could go right around the city by Canal with an audio commentary which was fantastic. Not great for taking piccies as you could only shoot out of the sides.
During the Hop on Hop off trip
One of comments which came across was that the canals are 3 metres deep. One metre of Water, One Metre of Mud and another Metre of bicycles 🙂
Madame Tussauds in the Dam square
On our third day there, Fiona and Dianne were keen to check out a Diamond Factory. I didn’t think I’d like it but I found it quite interesting. It was quite tourist tatty and the free coffee was awful but great to see.
Fiona with a big sample Diamond
One of the curious things I found with Amsterdam is Bikes have right of way over EVERYTHING!
One of the oldest foot bridges over a canal
The Bike lanes are everywhere and they go like the clappers and they simply ring the bell if you get in their way. It is quite intimidating. Also in the bike lanes are scooters and small cars and they go even faster. Often there is only a few inches between the edge of the footpath and a scooter doing 30-40kph! .. Its not uncommon to see people speeding along on bikes on their cell phone with a child strapped on somewhere.
Bikes rule !
So much history.. most of the buildings are centuries old and some have a lean either forward or sideways 🙂
Next to the campground.
Amsterdam is a really interesting city. Next were moving on to Germany.
In Arnhem, we met a friendly Dutch Motorhomer who told us about this wonderful little village called Zaanse Schans and that we must pop in for a nosey. So thats exactly what we did and it was stunning.
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Old Buildings on the other side of the riverFrom the Bridge
Original old buildings and Windmills all restored and many open to the public. It is very touristy but done very well.
Charming houses
We looked for the Motorhome parking but couldn’t find it so parked a few blocks away at a railway station parking area but it was an easy walk to and fro.
Crossing the bridge to Zaanse Schans
The Windmills at Zanse Schans
Barrels in the windmill
The inners of a Windmill
People taking photos of each other
Dianne and Gary with Big feet!
The Clogs being shaped on a machine
Clogs being hollowed out
Clogs on the wall for sale
Many of the houses were set up as museums and all offered something different. We had a nice Latte and one house, and then a Waffle at another and checked out the inner workings of a windmill.
Fiona and Dianne share a pair of Clogs !
There was a great Clog making display with all the machinery and you could buy almost anything with a windmill or clogs on it 🙂
Zaanse Schans
We spent about 3 hours here and then headed about 20 minutes south for Amsterdam.
Just north of Amsterdam is a charming little coastal City of Alkmaar. The central part of the town is basically on an island ringed by canals.
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Ralph and Harry. Gary getting his bike ready
We stopped at Alkmaar Camping which is just on the edge of town but an easy 20 minutes into town by bike. It is supposed to take 10 but as usual, we got lost but we got there in the end 🙂
The Campground is well set up but for what it is, I thought it was a tad on the expensive side at 32 Euros a night for two but its very easy to get into town and a nice relaxing spot to stop.
Fiona on a mission
After we arrived from Arnhem, we got the bikes ready and headed off into town. As I said earlier, yep, we managed to get lost on the way but quickly found our way into town. We locked our bikes together at the big church in the middle of town and then headed off down the narrow streets. Its a charming place and being a Sunday afternoon market day, the place was chocker. It was alive and kicking!
The main “shoe shop” street with the Church at the other end.
About about an hour or so, after the girls had checked out nearly every shoes and clothes shop down the main street, we made it to the canal down the other end. It was just a great sight. Everything you see in the tourist brochures and some.
The Canal by the coffee shop
People enjoying a cuppa in outdoor cafes by the canal, people in boats and it seemed to be all about people watching and shopping, drinking and eating! Way to go:-)
People getting together
We eventually ran out of shoes shops and started heading back to the bikes and made our way back to the camp, nearly getting lost a second time !
Dianne and Gary in the main street
By the canal
People watching
Apparently there is a beach on the North Sea only 15 minutes bike ride from here but we’re heading towards Amsterdam next.
We arrived in Arnhem mid afternoon after 2 easy hours driving on Motorways from Brugge. You don’t even know you are crossing the border. Its amazing.
Harry and ralph at the Arnhem campground
In Europe, it pays to book ahead with the campgrounds but we took pot luck and there was plenty of room. Great campground with all the facilities and reasonably priced I thought at 26 Euros for two per night.
Outside the campground figuring out the buses.
The next day, the weather was miserable and it was drizzly and threatening to rain so we caught a bus into Arnhem Centrum and then another virtually straight away out to Oosterbeek where the Airborne Museum is for the Battle of Arnhem.
An Allied tank outside the Museum
This was one of the battles the Allies lost in the final push towards Germany towards the end of the war.
In Arnhem city.. Dianne and Fiona navigating
The Allies Headquarters during the war but now the Airborne Museum
Dianne and Fiona arriving back with food
Outside the Airborne Museum
Its a great tribute to the Allies involved and there is lots of memorabilia there. Its a must do if you’re in the area.
Shopping at Arnhem
One the way back, between buses, we checked out the town and then headed back to the vans at the camp. A really interesting city and one worth checking out.
We had sorted out a spot to stay in Brugge and entered it into both GPS units and we were on a mission with Gary leading the way in Harry.
Where are we. Fiona, Dianne and Gary looking for clues
Brugge is going through a huge road rebuilding and new motorway system and what we hadn’t counted on was that both GPS units were totally confused. It all adds to the fun!
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The Brugge canal
After going round and round and eventually ending up opn a dirt road on a farm in Holland an hour or two later, we headed back to Brugge and found a campground and its fantastic. All the mod cons and it was 27 euro’s a night for 2. Pretty good really.
Fiona and Dianne at the Market
Our first day in Brugge was fun. We got on a bus outside the campground and headed into the centre of the city. About 20 minutes later, Google maps suggested we’d been through the middle and were heading out the other side 🙂 .. Time to get off and we found another bus to take us to Town where we stopped in to have a cup of coffee. The Markets were on in the Market Square and it was huge. Some amazing food and the cheeses and Nougat cakes were something else too.
Brugge
In the market. Check out the cheese
Market .. The Nougat
A happy Busker
Looking into the square
Lunchtime
Where we had lunch
Brugge is amazing. The buildings are sensational and they’re all very friendly here too, even the bus drivers. We walked around the town looking at the shops and eventually ended up in a Gourmet Burger Restaurant which was fantastic. I’m not a big Beer drinker but the Stella on tap was great. I even had a second one 🙂
We spent the day looking in shops. Fiona bought some shoes, some trousers, a top and a scarf and I bought some shoes and a shirt.
Visitors enjoying the Canal
After a full day in the city, we headed back to the camp on the bus and chilled.
Fiona in a Chocolate Shop
Brugge is a neat city and although their Motorway system is currently “Non GPS Compliant” it is still pretty easy to get around with a great transport system.
Ralph in his cornerDianne, Gary and Fiona with Harry opposite
The end of the day came and we caught a bus back to our campground and had a laugh or two over a glass of wine.
After checking out the new Niesmann and Bichoff at Telford, we all piled into Gary and Diannes, Harry the Hymer and headed to Milton Keynes through the traffic to collect Ralph the rental Hymer. We arrived just before 5pm and Peter the proprietor, gave me a run down on Ralph. Where the hoses were, the camp chairs etc and how everything worked.
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Ralph is a real hard case machine. Its a 1992 Hymer with a 5 cylinder 2.9 litre Mercedes with automatic trans. It starts first pop everytime despite its 250000 miles on the clock. Its a fun wagon.
The Hymers in the carpark at Bearsted
We stopped at a Caravan park in Bearsted after battling the M1 traffic for a couple of hours and we arrived 3 minutes late at 8.03pm. The sign said no admittance after 8pm so we spent the night out in the carpark but still had to pay what I thought were extortionate fees of 34GPB (NZ$70!) without power and not much else. What a welcome .. Dianne rang and we were basically told “Rules are Rules !” .. not a nice welcome…no wonder the other Caravan Association calls themselves “the friendly group”.
We were close to the Channel Tunnel for the next morning and that was all that mattered.
We were away at 8:30 to get on the Chunnel Train. We arrived quite early and clocked in through both borders and parked our car in the C lane and went to get a cup of tea and look at the duty free stuff.
Fiona and Dianne with the Hymers waiting to board the train.
Gary and I stumbled on this amazing deal for internet for roaming all over Europe with a prepaid card from 3. All the Truckies use it apparently but its great.
After an hour of cups of coffee we were asked to line up Harry and Ralph Hymers and get ready for the train. Its was amazing how quiet and how easy it was.. very streamlined. Dianne even got a wink from the French immigration man with his “lovely accent”!
Dianne and Fiona at the Duty free terminal waiting for the boarding signal.
About 10 minutes early, we were asked to move the Hymers onto the train.
Our view of Harry on the crossing
We drove up over a small bridge and then straight down a ramp and the sideways onto the train. You drive through the carriages until you get as far forward as you can then they chock your wheels.
Harry leading the charge off the Chunnel Train in France
Fiona while we were crossing the Chunnel
The nice French chaps helping us off
Sideways off the Chunnel Train
20 minutes later with what was a very easy smooth ride and we were in France. It only took about 10 minutes and we were cruising up the carriageway to Belgium.
The Chunnel station in France with Harry on the ramp
Fiona & Chris, two empty nesters put their dreams of doing something different into reality… Now back in a house, they were living in their Motorhome, come along for the ride.
Dresden is an amazing city. It was completely flattened by bombs where there was only rubble left and has been completely rebuilt with help from fundraising in Britain.
Bugger It, we are off - www.buggeritweareoff.com 
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