Late spring holiday 2024; Wednesday 8 May

Zeulenroda-Triebes, Thuringia

Monday's excesses finally caught up with me, big-time - exhaustion, brain fog, aches and so on, you name it! Oh well, it was worth it! 

I did manage to get out of the van to go shopping and make sure we have everything we need for tomorrow, as it's another bank holiday (Ascension Day) so the shops will be closed. I hope we can find rolls for lunch, but it doesn't matter if we can't, as we have plenty of bread. 

Apart from that, I have just stayed in the van, dozing and enjoying the scenery and very pretty towns we passed through. We are parked up in a pleasant, if rather expensive, aire by a reservoir, and were lucky to get what was then the last space. The Swan Whisperer went for a walk and wants me to admire the photos he took on Strava, so I will do that in a minute. 

Late spring holiday 2024; Tuesday 7 May

Bad Düben, Saxony`

We are now on our way to Oberstdorf, although it will take several more days to get there, pottering about and seeing what there is to be seen. 

I took a couple of paracetamol before I went to bed last night, which helped to the point that I was not fit for nothing today, although I have spent a lot of it resting. However, after breakfast I went to the local Lidl to stock up on nice bits from their coupons, plus some very nice frozen Pacific salmon fillets for supper. I I must remember that shops will be closed on Thursday, so to make sure we have enough food to do us. We probably already do, but I like to get fresh rolls for lunch each day, and we have now finished the potato salad! Anyway, talking of potatoes I remembered that we were out of them, and there was no way I could carry everything back, plus I didn't have a large enough shopping bag, so had to telephone the Swan Whisperer to come to my rescue. Which he not only did, but took all the shopping back to the WoMo for me, leaving me free to have a potter around the local Woolworths! 

Once I got back to the WoMo, it was time to get organised and head on, so we used the services and headed south towards - well, I was going to say this little town, but we are parked up for free in the car-park of a local swimming pool, which is closed. You pay for electricity and water, and possibly to empty the loo, but we don't need water, and the loo can manage if we can empty it on Thursday, so we'll see. Anyway, we have seen nothing of the town as yet, but the Swan Whisperer has been for a walk in the nearby woods, which he thoroughly enjoyed. 

However, before then, we stopped off by a museum called Ferropolis, which had attracted the Swan Whisperer's attention.

We had lunch, then he went off to walk to a nearby viewpoint over a lake - a former mine - and I just walked up and down the path towards the museum to complete my step count for the day and enjoyed listening to the birds shouting the odds - a cuckoo, and my app tells me there was also a blackbird, a blackcap and a chiff-chaff. By the time the SW got back, I had remembered that I'd actually seen a video about Ferropolis, so I looked it up and we watched it, and then drove up to the car park of the actual museum but didn't go in. I did take some photos of the machines I could see, though. 

Late spring holiday 2024; Monday 6 May

Berlin-Gesundbrunnen. 

I rather think that I will regret having walked quite so far today, but it was worth it! The Swan Whisperer added a bucket of water to our tank so that we will have enough for our showers in the morning (we will refill before we leave), and, once we had both succeeded in buying day-tickets on the app BVG provides for the purpose (not that anybody checked, not even once), we set off.

Gesundbrunnen station is just round the corner from this "Wohnmobile Oase", as it calls itself, and from there we caught the S1 down to Potsdamer Platz, which the Swan Whisperer wanted to see. I am never terribly impressed by it - just a large station and a load of skyscrapers, but there was quite a lot about the history of the Wall, and a bit set into the pavement showing where it had run.

We walked up to Leipziger Square, rather tempted by a couple of museums en route - especially the Espionage museum. But we only had a day - and I rather suspected that, in my case, it wouldn't be much more than half a day - so we pushed on. We wanted to see a watchtower from the old days, which is I think Listed, but they are doing building works round there and the tower is sheathed in protective cladding while this is happening. So we walked back, and up Ebertstrasse, passing the Jewish Memorial en route, towards the Brandenburg Gate. I wanted to see the Soviet War Memorial, which is a few yards away in the Tiergarten, so we walked down there. But there are Works going on in the area, and all the roads are blocked off. We could perfectly walk into the Tiergarten, but what we couldn't do was cross the road to the memorial, so had to content ourselves with taking pictures through barbed wire!

So we came back and walked on to Unter den Linden, where we had hoped to catch a bus down to Alexanderplatz. However, the next bus wasn't for some minutes, and I needed a break, so I suggested to the SW that we took coffee in a convenient café, which we duly did. After which, of course, we had just missed another bus, and then the next one suddenly announced that it was Delayed, so we ended up taking the U-Bahn down to Alexanderplatz.

We had a good look round, and then found a café to have lunch - the SW had currywurst, and I had nachos, which weren't really terribly nice, but still. Then we decided we would go out to look at the Schloss Charlottenburg, and decided to go by bus.

We had to change buses at the Zoo station, but didn't have long to wait. Then we walked the length of the castle, and were going to walk on down to Westend S-Bahn station, but another bus came along at the right moment, and then the right train was waiting in the station. It didn't take long to get back to Gesundbrunnen, and I nipped into the local Rewe to get a bit of shopping (mostly bread, but also salad and fruit juice) and then back to the WoMo, which I have no intention of leaving again until tomorrow morning, when I shall do a quick trip to Lidl before we head south.

The SW has gone out again - he went down to the park at Tempelhof, and is coming home via Checkpoint Charlie. How he can find the energy, I do not know - but I do envy him, as I should have liked to have done that, too. Oh well. Photos on Facebook, as per usual. 

Late spring holiday 2024; Sunday 5 May

Berlin, Germany

Today was the sort of day that always seems to happen at least once a holiday, when best-laid plans go a bit wrong. The Swan Whisperer wanted to visit the museum at Peenemunde, which was not that far from where we were staying. But we knew we had a long drive today, so wouldn't have long at the museum, and, after a spectacular thunderstorm at dawn, it was wet on and off. We were held up leaving the Stellplatz as the retractable handle for the loo cassette broke, and wouldn't retract, so we had to take it off. Fixed at last - we will almost definitely be able to get a new handle - we were able to check out, which also took ages as there was some discrepancy between the start of our use of electricity and the end of the previous person's. I meanwhile was making friends with this rather fat, furry person.

However, we got away at last and headed off to Peenemunde. We had planned to call in at a bakery en route, but had trouble finding it, but finally got our lunch rolls and Sunday patisseries. Of which more later.

By the time we finally got to the museum, it was raining again, and really, we could only spare about 20 minutes, and you'd need a lot more than that to see it properly, so the Swan Whisperer had a quick look round the outside and we headed off again. 

We had asked the Satnav to take us the length of Usedom Island, but it said there was a huge hold-up and offered an alternative, which would probably have worked if I hadn't decided to give it more freedom of choice by removing the waypoint, whereupon it promptly wanted us to retrace our steps.

So, just for fun, I asked it to take us via Sczeczin in Poland - and we discovered it would be quite do-able and still get us to Berlin at a reasonable time. 

So off we went, but, alas, the main road was being rebuilt, and it was nothing but roadworks and speed limits. The Sat-nav would have taken us on a diversion to miss the worst of it, but we missed the turn-off and spent the next 20 or 30 kilometers crawling along, often at a standstill. I ended up moving to the lounge seat and making sandwiches for us both with the rolls I'd bought (I remember doing that in France once, many years ago!), which we ate on the move. 

Eventually we came out of it and were able to stop at the nearest rest area to spend a penny, but didn't want to take to long as we gathered there were more holdups ahead. The main one was caused by the authorities deciding to funnel all traffic off the motorway and through the border control area. I thought we might have to show our passports, but no one was stopped, just looked at.

We then decided we would stop for the SW to have some coffee (why does it keep him awake in the afternoon, but not at night?) and we could both have our patisseries.whuch were very nice, but it turned out the woman in the shop had sold me a custard tart instead of what I could have sworn she said was rhubarb and custard... so we each had half of it and half of my plum crumble.

I had got out of the WoMo and done some qi gong exercises while the coffee was being ground, and was more comfortable after that. We then headed on to Berlin and found the Stellplatz here without too much difficulty. Fairly typical big-city place, but nothing wrong with it. The SW went for a much-needed leg-stretch while I got supper, and we are now full of pork chops in a fresh tomato sauce, asparagus, new potatoes and peas, followed by raspberries and cream. We are here for two nights, so will explore tomorrow. 

Late spring holiday 2024; Saturday 4 May

Mölschow, Mecklenbrurg-Vorpommern, Germany

 I think I overdid it rather yesterday, with nearly 10k steps on record - I know that for many readers of this blog it's normal, or even derisory, but I find if I do many more than 5-6k steps per day I'm apt to pay for it. And pay for it I did, with a very bad night and a very tired and sleepy day today. 

However, I eventually hauled myself out of bed and we had breakfast, used the services, and headed on. First port of call was a Rewe in Bad Doberan, where I shopped for today and tomorrow (although I hope I will be able to find a bakery open for rolls and Sunday patisseries), and then we drove on, stopping for lunch and then later for diesel at a garage that sold it considerably more cheaply than anywhere else we have seen so far.

We drove across a very splendid swing bridge, called the Peenebrücke Wolgast (the article is in German but you can use a translator to get the sense of it) and on to this island in the North-Eastern corner of Germany. Our aire is lovely - we are by a small marina, and everything is included.

We do not pay until the morning, so that they can determine how much we owe for electricity - you take a photo of the meter when you arrive and another when you leave. Everything else is included, except if you want a 4-minute shower it's €1. But one can fill up with water and empty the grey and the loo, so no problems having one in the van. The woman who owns the place is extremely nice, and even complimented me on my German, which is increasingly awful, I find! 

The Swan Whisperer went for a walk - if you are wondering why he hasn't been going for his usual morning runs it's because he had a bad fall on the ice a week or so ago and hurt his knee quite badly, and it's taking its own time to recover. He can walk fine, but not run. Anyway, he went for a walk, and I had a nap, and then it was supper time. 

Late spring holiday 2024; Friday 3 May

Wittenbeck, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. 

Today was all about the Mollibahn. Actually, not so much, because we have been on it before, in August 2022. At that time, we had only booked for one night in the Wohnmobilstellplatz, and we had to leave by 11:00 next day, so it was a matter of going to Bad Doberan on the first train of the day and coming back on the second! But I realised, too late, too late, that Bad Doberan was in itself a town well worth visiting, and wanted to come back one day. Which was today. 

We started by going down to look at the sea, but there was a sharp wind, so we came away. The local station, Steilküste, all of two minutes from where we are parked up, is a request stop at this time of year, so when the 10:49 came in we waved vigorously at it and it duly stopped for us. We arrived at Bad Doberan Mitte about half an hour later, and followed the signs to the Münster and the old cloisters. The Münster was fascinating - naturally, it was having Works done to it, so a lot of it was cordoned off, but we managed to see most of what there was to see. It became Protestant at the Reformation, and remains so until this day.

After the Münster, we began to walk back towards the town centre, but discovered the museum was free, so we went in there and enjoyed learning about the town's history as a spa - and, indeed, we walked past the spa centre (I am not sure it is still in use) on our way back to the station, in time to catch the 12:38 back to Steilkuste - I jumped off at Heiligendamm where there is a passing loop and the trains wait for each other, to ask the driver to please stop, which he did. 

Back to the WoMo for a slightly late lunch and a flop, and then we went out again to catch the train to the further end of the line, Kühlungsborn West, where there is a tiny museum about the history of the line, and a café where we had hoped to get Kaffee und Küchen, but they didn't seem to have any cakes so, after looking round the museum, we walked into the town and found a café which did!

As we walked in, there was an ominous rumble of thunder, although the sky at that stage was still pretty clear. But neither of us had macks with us, so we decided to go back and catch the 16:35 back to Steilküste before worse befell. 

We just got back to the WoMo in time! A massive thunderstorm has been going on and off, but mostly on, ever since, and it has been pouring with rain! Accuweather says it will go on for at least another hour, so I think we will turn in very soon after supper, which is now being dished up. Loads of photos on Facebook, as per usual.