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Published: August 1st 2013
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Woolly says – I was up and ready early and even though I was puffing and chugging round the tent the two lazy bones ignored me.
We knew that Woolly was excited about today’s visit so in the end we roused ourselves and set a course for Dampflokomtiv Museum one of Germany’s best tourist attractions. Finding it proved a feat in itself and finally after driving up and down the same road twice, following a tractor down the smallest lane possible and asking a local postman we got there.
Woolly says – I do like a steam train and to be fair Jo is also a bit of an anorak when it comes to ‘choo choo’s’ having spent a lot of her childhood visiting them with her Dad, meeting Carys and Les with a very small Zoe for a special day on King Steven and having been on every track in England and Wales bar two I think she was also quite excited. We paid our 7 Euro each (approximately £5.80 GBP) and then a 10 Euro deposit for a card that we could program for English and off we went. The Museum was started
in 1977 when the German Steam age was replaced completely by diesel engines and was then refurbished in 1984 to its current state. The locos are set out in the old engine sheds and boy did we have a shock, EVERY train was BLACK!
Being used to the beautiful livery that the UK trains used to sport it was quite strange to see all classes and types in the same colour. In 1920 it was decided that all trains would be painted black so the soot couldn’t be seen with scarlet wheels and lower body casings so they could be seen in the dark, strange but true. We toured round the engines on display and were thrilled to find English translations on everything as well as using our card for the interactive displays.
Woolly says – Once I was over my shock I could see the differences in engine type and class, we were able to go under one of the trains to see the workings below which was a first. Upstairs was a huge model railway based on the tracks in the 1960’s unfortunately it wasn’t working which was a shame. Reading the
information provided Jo had a chuckle at the fastest recorded German steam train having reached 84mph and that it was only beaten by a ‘small amount’ by an English engine, the engine was the Mallard which reached a speed of 126mph! Having viewed everything inside we wandered round the outside area where some steam trains were displayed along with a range of small shunter diesels, one of which was giving circuit rides. I looked longingly at Jo and Ian but before I could count my tusks it had arrived back again, not worth getting on and sitting down for that trip.
Having spent an hour and a half we were done and having decided to wait for coffee we jumped into Ollie and programmed James for our next destination, Konig otto Hohle near to Velburg. Thinking to make life easy we pulled into the camp site to find that it was lunchtime and closed until 3pm so the Hole came first. Easily found we parked up and left Ollie dozing under the trees before following the signs to the reception.
Woolly says – A hole!!!! I have holes in my socks and nobody comes
to visit them, Ian explained that this was German for Cave which made much more sense. We spoke to the man at the desk and bought our 3.20 Euro each tickets (approximately £2.80 GBP) and were told that we would have to wait for the 3pm guided tour – oh no a guided tour!!!!! While we waited we thoroughly enjoyed watching the aerial obstacle course of zip wires and bridges which were being attempted by a range of people of different ages, it looked awesome, I would have loved to have a go but they didn’t have a hard hat of my size and mine was somewhere in the back of Ollie.
A young lady called us over for our tour and explained in excellent English that the tour was in German, oh well we would manage. We weren’t allowed to take pictures in the caves and as we entered we were glad to be wearing our sweat shirts, it was cold…….
Woolly says – it was very very cold but quite interesting. The first caves were discovered in 1898 and the last ones in 1987 and like others we have seen they hold
a constant temperature and humidity all year round. With mites and tites everywhere we looked, we spotted an owl, lions, monsters, a witch’s hand and many more delightful images. Then the lady took us to a display case full of skulls and bones explaining that all these MAMMOTH bones had been found there. I was shocked to see my ancestors and very sad that they were in a glass case but I suppose it’s the only way most people will see a mammoth. The tour only took 30 minutes and we found ourselves back in the sunshine again. Thanking the tour guide we wandered back to Ollie and headed back to the camp site.
Camping am Hauenstein on the edge of Velburg is a medium sized site with immaculate pitches and facilities, costing 19.30 Euros (approximately £17.00 GBP) for the night we were soon settled for our last night in Germany.
Woolly says – I quite like what we have seen of Germany, although lots of it looks like England but with more forests the roads are fantastic and Ollie has really enjoyed the driving. All of the sites have been good and the
places visited have been worth finding. Only thing I haven’t enjoyed is the bread, even Jo who loves seeds and nasty stuff like that wasn’t impressed and called it dense, well I think it was the bread she was discussing and not me or Ian! Tomorrow brings a new country and another flag for the blog, let’s go!
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