Today Germany, Tomorrow the world

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Well, its been a while since I last made an entry, but only because I have been busy. Having changed my mind on the direction of travelling around Europe, I have now been through northern France, Southern Belgium, Luxembourg (so small I did it all) and am presently working my way across Germany.

My campervan is performing well giving me no problems yet. One of the things i planned whilst doing this trip was some mountain biking. I have not gone off road too much, but did find an ausome downhill track in the citadel at Namur in Belgium. I have, however, done lots of cycling as there are some brilliant cycle tracks over here.

Also whilst in belgium i completed a 21km paddle down the river Lesse, in a kayak. i would recommend this to anyone. Unfortunatly. The campsite i stayed in was run by some strange swamp family, with strange goings on in the middle of the night (including a gang of skinheads arriving and having a party (fascism is alive and well, and camping, so it would seam).

Moving on, I spent a couple of nights in a place called Han-sur-Lesse (free of charge, in a car park) and took a tour of the caves there. Spectacular, is all i can say.

Luxembourg is one of those places that if you blink, you will miss it - so keep your eyes peeled. A city well worth a visit, with a magnificent fortress and underground defence system. The city is on several levels and is quite hard work, but well worth the effort, with a good tour signposted. I went along the river for a bit as well, which is nice and peaceful.

From there i move into Germany, for the city of Trier. A lovely city that most people have never heard of. Quite compact and well worth the visit. Camping was again free, in the car park in a little town called Thalfang, along with a group of carnival folk and their trucks.

Next stop was planned to be Heidelberg, but on the way i got a little lost (roads closed and detours), and went through a town with a nice church built into the side of a mountain (i kid you not). I also passed through the village of Frankenstein (with a monster traffic jam) and ended up in a place called Waldorf (had some salad days here). The town or city (im not quite sure which) had a man-made lake that had a beach, 4 swimming pools, volley ball courts etc, where i spent some time getting a tan and swimming. Also the local football club was having a 3 day party (just the same number of days that i stayed, by coincidence), with live bands and cheap beer (much fun).

Departing for Heidelberg, i found my next destination to be dissapointing. There was nothing wrong with the place (except for a load of pretentious students), but it just was a bit of a let down, from my expectations. Enough said.

Wurzburg, on the otherhand was a delight. old and new mixed together, with some stunning architecture, all crammed into a small city. The river, deep and wid is crossed by a fantasticly old bridge, complete with statues and there are more nice churches than you can shake a stick at.

Moving East, towards Nuremberg, i stayed in a small rural town, where i met some very interesting people canoeing (they offered to take me out in the canoe, but i was ready to move on so declined). I managed to get some proper off-roading in on the bike too.

Nuremberg, is another one of those cities that is a bit of a let down. Again, nothing wrong, just not what i expected. Anyway, moving on now, next stop Czech Republic.

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Photos

Luxembourg city
A view from part of the wall

Comments

[Tony]

Hi David
sounds like you are having a fantastic time, glad the van's doing well, looking forward to your next post. Tony