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Published: July 31st 2013
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As we awoke this morning we almost thought that the fine, sunny and warm days had deserted us, as our first look at the early morning sky over Zwolle was one of heavy grey overcast.
However, the weather was just fooling us as although the clear skies had been replaced by overcast the temperature was still very warm. There had been thunderstorms in Britain over the past 24 hours and that weather usually finds its way to Holland so we can expect to get some rain on our way south to a half way, overnight stop, to a longer stay we have planned for a location on the Moselle River about 50km from Koblenz.
We had had a very relaxing and enjoyable stay with Wim and Diny but it was time to move on.
We enjoyed another breakfast outside before ‘the family photo ‘and it was time to hit the road with an ibis Budget Hotel on the outskirts of Dusseldorf in the town of Willich as our destination.
When you drive the Autobahns there is not a lot to report on the drive for although the road travels through farmland and close to towns and cities
you are always just that too far away to take anything specific in. And that is especially so for the driver concentrating on the road, traffic and trucks at 120kph!
Our journey was mix of highways in Holland and Autobahns in Germany all inter linking with each other so seamlessly that it was usually only necessary to reduce our speed to around 100kph to take the slight turns and merge onto the next numbered road.
In Holland we travelled south on the A50 and then the A73 near Nijmegen crossing into Germany and onto the Autobahn #61 and finally turning eastwards to Willich. The 200 odd kilometres we had cut out in a little over 2 hours and we were soon at the PIN controlled door of the ibis Budget Hotel and ready to do a self check in.
It is a way of course of keeping costs down not to have reception staff on duty other than for a couple of hours in the mid morning and then again late afternoon. And once you get the hang of remembering or finding your booking reference, putting your credit card in the slot to pay and getting back a printed piece of paper with your room number allocated and a six digit PIN to use to open the main door and get into the hotel and then your room.......you are in! Woe betide you if you leave the hotel without your six digit number and there is no one on reception!
The room was basic but comfortable. It is a little different having the toilet in a small separate room with no window and at first we thought no light, until we turned on the right switch. The shower is a cubicle that tucks into the corner of the room and when you have finished with the shower you step out into the room to dry yourself. The room had very good ventilation and air conditioning which was welcome as the sun had broken through the overcast we had had while we were on the road and the afternoon was warming to temperatures like yesterday in Zwolle, mid 30’s.
We would employ the microwave tonight and so set off for the small town a kilometre or so away and found another supermarket chain we had not used before in Rewe (sounded Maori to us but we don’t think you would pronounce it as you would in Maori).
We were very impressed with the wide range of choice available at good prices. They also had a bakery opposite the supermarket entrance and we indulged in some local pastries for lunch/afternoon tea.
With no sightseeing in the area we spent the rest of the afternoon and into the evening on administration, something we hadn’t done for a few days and made some forward bookings into Italy including 3 days in Milan. It was going to be another warm night which had the potential to make sleep difficult but for the ‘luxury ‘of a good size window which we could leave open as we were safely on the second floor.
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