Well, we finally managed to get away! Now how do you put lots of travel, sights, experiences into a few lines of writing? I’ll try!
Down to Dover early and put on the midnight boat instead of 4a.m. (unsocial hours do give cheaper prices!) and once across the channel we pulled into an aire, parked amongst a good number of lorries and had a few hours kip.
First camp stop was Rodenkirchen just outside Cologne, on the banks of the Rhine and a few days watching the variety of barges and hotel boats going up and down the river and seeing a glorious sunset one evening.
Moving on things don’t always go according to plan and an overnight stop at a site at Gieselwind didn’t happen because the campsite was closed! Don’t know why and as campsites didn’t seem too plentiful in the area we decided to spend the night at a Rest Station – in amongst lorries again – but felt quite safe, locked in and with the gas alarm on (you do hear a lot of stories about things that can happen especially if you are negligent).
On our way early next morning to Lake Chiemsee where we had a beautiful view over the lake and with snow covered mountains in Austria in the background. Beautiful weather and a chance to do a bit of cycling – all very good and flat (I have a bike that doesn’t do hills!).
On the move again after a few days and to the next stop at Ljubljana in Slovenia, via Austria where a vignette costing €7.90 allows travel on all autobahns for 10 days – pity we can only make use of it for 1 day.
Change in the weather and traveled for some miles in pouring rain but after coming out of one of the long tunnels through the mountains the sun was shining again. Stopped for coffee and delicious Austrian cake and apple strudel – well we are tourists now – and fortified again were on our way once more.
Found the site without any problem with the aid of the Navigator programme on the lap-top – something that was well worth the investment, but really only helpful if there is a second person to navigate, not one person driving alone (something like a Garmin or Tom-tom is better for that but doesn’t give such detailed information).
Now to spend time exploring Ljubljana so next installment in due course!
