Not this time as we have visited it before.
Just off for dinner and on return will post pics and an update.
Lord and Lady Snooty's European Wanders in a MB SLK
- Thread starter Lord Snooty
- Start date
Not this time as we have visited it before.
Just off for dinner and on return will post pics and an update.
Fussen and onwards to Biersdorf am See
I was unable to do an update last night at Oppenau in the Black Forest after arriving there from Fussen. The reason is that we were on the top floor and there is not internet connection in the room. So this update comes from Biersdorf Am See.
We left Fussen just before 10am, the drive was only 214 miles to Oppenau but with the exception of two short autobahn hops it was all on single carriage roads. Although once again we were treated to some magnificent scenery, the going was slow at times. First thing I did was fill up at €1.80 a litre. I nearly screwed up on navigation early on as I almost went down the slip road for the A7 heading back to Innsbruck – ooops! A quick U turn and I managed to correct my idiocy.
We were off the A7 in short time and heading on the B roads. The temp was 0.5C, heavy snow covered the landscape in a pristine blanket and we had fog. The ETA on the satnav said about 14.00 but I knew we would not be anywhere near that time.
There were some standout roads, the B308 was one and we did the fabled B300. We hit the B31 which takes you across Lake Constance, it is a pretty road in parts but it is heavy with traffic and a lot of it HGV. I would not recommend it. Some of the roads were very twisty with hairpins, overtaking opportunities were few and far between, once again I so wished I was on two wheels and would have been despatching the lorries with ease.
The fog started to lift around 11.00 or so and the sky became blue, the temp rose to about 2.5C and later hit a mighty 6.5C. The further west and north we went the more the snow lessened. We arrived in Oppenau at 15.15hrs, we’d averaged 40mph. It had been an enjoyable drive due to the fantastic scenery but required a lot of concentration due to the traffic and the winding roads. Ours is the only car in the car park and I assume that we are the only guests.
Here are some photos of our last day in Riva Del Garda and the scenery the next day as we went north through Austria and into Fussen in Germany. As you can see there is a stark contrast in the weather and we truly arrived back in Winter on the north side of the Alps.
Me: We are arriving tomorrow for two nights and I just want to clarify that you have parking
Ibis: Yes we do have an underground parking but it is limited, did you book parking?
Me: I did not know I had to
Ibis: Let me check for you, yes, we can provide you with a space on Friday night but not on Saturday so you will have to move your car to a public parking area. I have to tell you that the public parking gets taken up very quickly on Saturday as Ghent is always very busy. I also need to give you written instructions on how to find the parking as your satnav will not find it. (She then proceeds to give me the directions which I hastily scribble down)
Me: How far away is the public parking.
Ibis: Only 5 minutes’ walk
Me: (I’m now thinking 5 minutes can be a bit of a way when you are carrying luggage when leaving, starting to have a few doubts about this.) Ok, can you book the car in for Friday and I will move it on Saturday.
Ibis: Ok sir, have you registered the car for the Low Emissions Zone?
Me: No, I didn’t know about that either.
Ibis: When you enter the city you have to register the car or maybe incur a €150 fine.
Me: (Now going off the idea of visiting Ghent totally as it seems to be a right pain in the arse). Ok thank you for your help.
A quick chat with Her Ladyship and we both decided that it was just turning out to be too much hassle. Driving into a busy city, trying to find parking using scribbled instructions, moving the car out the next day to public parking with no guarantee of a space, possibly ending up a good distance away and having to carry luggage, the icing on the cake was having to register for the LEZ. We’ll scrub it thanks.
I retreated to the stairs landing (the only place I could get an internet connection) and cancelled the booking, Ghent can wait another day. I looked at Biersdorf am See, a place we have stayed at twice in the past. Located on a lake, a lovely and relaxing place, easy to get into and out, no parking issues. A quick browse on Booking.com and I found the Hotel Theis-Muhle which we stayed at before €79 including breakfast (in contrast the IBIS was €123 per night and I don’t think it included brekkie).
Place booked, do the route and it is an easy drive of 211 miles, happy days; I will book us in to Ypres for a two-night stay before we return to Blighty. We love Ypres and always make it our last stopover before returning.
While I am doing this Alena goes to a supermarket and comes back with some goodies and a selection of four local beers. One is a lemon beer at only 2.5% ABV, I very generously let Alena have that one while I make a grab for the 5.4% brews. I’m all heart me! We drift down for dinner about 7, there is one other couple in the dining room who turn out to be local and then a more elderly couple rock up and they are also local. This confirms my suspicion that we are the only guests. We try and chat with them and I do my best not to mention the war, I did once but I think I got away with it!
So, we are now into the last few days of our Winter adventure. Tomorrow we will bust the 4000 miles barrier for the trip, I fully expect the final amount to be over 4500 miles.
I was unable to do an update last night at Oppenau in the Black Forest after arriving there from Fussen. The reason is that we were on the top floor and there is not internet connection in the room. So this update comes from Biersdorf Am See.
We left Fussen just before 10am, the drive was only 214 miles to Oppenau but with the exception of two short autobahn hops it was all on single carriage roads. Although once again we were treated to some magnificent scenery, the going was slow at times. First thing I did was fill up at €1.80 a litre. I nearly screwed up on navigation early on as I almost went down the slip road for the A7 heading back to Innsbruck – ooops! A quick U turn and I managed to correct my idiocy.
We were off the A7 in short time and heading on the B roads. The temp was 0.5C, heavy snow covered the landscape in a pristine blanket and we had fog. The ETA on the satnav said about 14.00 but I knew we would not be anywhere near that time.
There were some standout roads, the B308 was one and we did the fabled B300. We hit the B31 which takes you across Lake Constance, it is a pretty road in parts but it is heavy with traffic and a lot of it HGV. I would not recommend it. Some of the roads were very twisty with hairpins, overtaking opportunities were few and far between, once again I so wished I was on two wheels and would have been despatching the lorries with ease.
The fog started to lift around 11.00 or so and the sky became blue, the temp rose to about 2.5C and later hit a mighty 6.5C. The further west and north we went the more the snow lessened. We arrived in Oppenau at 15.15hrs, we’d averaged 40mph. It had been an enjoyable drive due to the fantastic scenery but required a lot of concentration due to the traffic and the winding roads. Ours is the only car in the car park and I assume that we are the only guests.
Here are some photos of our last day in Riva Del Garda and the scenery the next day as we went north through Austria and into Fussen in Germany. As you can see there is a stark contrast in the weather and we truly arrived back in Winter on the north side of the Alps.
Me: We are arriving tomorrow for two nights and I just want to clarify that you have parking
Ibis: Yes we do have an underground parking but it is limited, did you book parking?
Me: I did not know I had to
Ibis: Let me check for you, yes, we can provide you with a space on Friday night but not on Saturday so you will have to move your car to a public parking area. I have to tell you that the public parking gets taken up very quickly on Saturday as Ghent is always very busy. I also need to give you written instructions on how to find the parking as your satnav will not find it. (She then proceeds to give me the directions which I hastily scribble down)
Me: How far away is the public parking.
Ibis: Only 5 minutes’ walk
Me: (I’m now thinking 5 minutes can be a bit of a way when you are carrying luggage when leaving, starting to have a few doubts about this.) Ok, can you book the car in for Friday and I will move it on Saturday.
Ibis: Ok sir, have you registered the car for the Low Emissions Zone?
Me: No, I didn’t know about that either.
Ibis: When you enter the city you have to register the car or maybe incur a €150 fine.
Me: (Now going off the idea of visiting Ghent totally as it seems to be a right pain in the arse). Ok thank you for your help.
A quick chat with Her Ladyship and we both decided that it was just turning out to be too much hassle. Driving into a busy city, trying to find parking using scribbled instructions, moving the car out the next day to public parking with no guarantee of a space, possibly ending up a good distance away and having to carry luggage, the icing on the cake was having to register for the LEZ. We’ll scrub it thanks.
I retreated to the stairs landing (the only place I could get an internet connection) and cancelled the booking, Ghent can wait another day. I looked at Biersdorf am See, a place we have stayed at twice in the past. Located on a lake, a lovely and relaxing place, easy to get into and out, no parking issues. A quick browse on Booking.com and I found the Hotel Theis-Muhle which we stayed at before €79 including breakfast (in contrast the IBIS was €123 per night and I don’t think it included brekkie).
Place booked, do the route and it is an easy drive of 211 miles, happy days; I will book us in to Ypres for a two-night stay before we return to Blighty. We love Ypres and always make it our last stopover before returning.
While I am doing this Alena goes to a supermarket and comes back with some goodies and a selection of four local beers. One is a lemon beer at only 2.5% ABV, I very generously let Alena have that one while I make a grab for the 5.4% brews. I’m all heart me! We drift down for dinner about 7, there is one other couple in the dining room who turn out to be local and then a more elderly couple rock up and they are also local. This confirms my suspicion that we are the only guests. We try and chat with them and I do my best not to mention the war, I did once but I think I got away with it!
So, we are now into the last few days of our Winter adventure. Tomorrow we will bust the 4000 miles barrier for the trip, I fully expect the final amount to be over 4500 miles.
Attachments
Biersdorf am See
Just the two of us were at breakfast confirming that we were the only guests; I asked Edith the owner when she will get busy and she replies from Easter onwards. We were rolling by 9.25 with a fairly straightforward drive of 214 miles with the majority on autobahn but still making our way through the Black Forest area so the scenery continued to be quite splendid. On the autobahn I set the cruise control between 65-70mph, we were in no rush so may as well enjoy the views. Temp was in low single figures.
We were set to come off the autobahn at Jct 48 at Karlsruhe Sud but as the signs came up on the gantry there were big red crosses over them. Jct 48 was closed - bugger! Ok, do I take the next exit off or just let the Garmin do a recalculate?, coming off at the next exit might commit me to having to go through the city so I let the satnav do its thing and it told us to continue another 25 miles and exit at Jct 40. The satnav proved right and the new route only added another 10 miles on to the distance so that was not too bad at all.
We crossed the Rhine and as we approached the Moselle Valley area heading for Trier we were treated to some fantastic views from high up over the valley and the river. We continued towards Saarbrucken and Luxembourg eventually coming off with 30 miles to go. The last leg was completed with ease over the rolling countryside and we arrived in Biersdorf Am See about 13.30.
This is the third time we have stayed in BAS, the first time was when we were on our K1200LT whihc was a few years ago now and we stayed in a hotel that is just up the hill overlooking the lake. The second time we stayed in the Hotel Theis-Muhle which is down at lake level and we were staying here again. I can thoroughly recommend the hotel and BAS as a stopover if you are touring this way. The hotel is comfortable and has a delightful garden full of water features; there is a stream that runs next to the hotel and they have diverted to drive a waterwheel and various animated garden features such as puppet carpenter sawing logs.
The location itself is dead easy to get to, parking is available in front of reception, it is a perfect base to go out and explore the surrounding countryside and excellent flowing and curvy roads and it is very close to Luxembourg. The first time we were here we had a day trip to the castle in Vianden. The lakeside is a very pleasant walk, both of us noticed how low the water level was compared to the last two times we were here, apparently they have had a pretty dry Winter. There was still some ice on the lake, we walked to the weir and the water from the higher lake was only just breaching it in a few places due to the low levels. I took a photo which i hope will show that, I noticed that the catkins were out on the trees, a sure sign that Spring is upon us. We walked back to the town; there is a cafe on the lakeside with an extended verandah that goes over the water and is surrounded by a sheltering glass wind break. We had coffee on the verandah and it was quite warm as we basked in the sun.
All in all, BAS and the Theis-Muhle Hotel gets a big thumbs up.
Tomorrow we head towards the Eiffel region and onto Ypres, I have managed to book an apartment just a couple of hundred metres from the main square and the Menin Gate. Two nights and then the Eurotunnel back to Blighty on Monday March 6th just in time for the blast of cold weather forecast to be coming in from the East, perfect timing.
Just the two of us were at breakfast confirming that we were the only guests; I asked Edith the owner when she will get busy and she replies from Easter onwards. We were rolling by 9.25 with a fairly straightforward drive of 214 miles with the majority on autobahn but still making our way through the Black Forest area so the scenery continued to be quite splendid. On the autobahn I set the cruise control between 65-70mph, we were in no rush so may as well enjoy the views. Temp was in low single figures.
We were set to come off the autobahn at Jct 48 at Karlsruhe Sud but as the signs came up on the gantry there were big red crosses over them. Jct 48 was closed - bugger! Ok, do I take the next exit off or just let the Garmin do a recalculate?, coming off at the next exit might commit me to having to go through the city so I let the satnav do its thing and it told us to continue another 25 miles and exit at Jct 40. The satnav proved right and the new route only added another 10 miles on to the distance so that was not too bad at all.
We crossed the Rhine and as we approached the Moselle Valley area heading for Trier we were treated to some fantastic views from high up over the valley and the river. We continued towards Saarbrucken and Luxembourg eventually coming off with 30 miles to go. The last leg was completed with ease over the rolling countryside and we arrived in Biersdorf Am See about 13.30.
This is the third time we have stayed in BAS, the first time was when we were on our K1200LT whihc was a few years ago now and we stayed in a hotel that is just up the hill overlooking the lake. The second time we stayed in the Hotel Theis-Muhle which is down at lake level and we were staying here again. I can thoroughly recommend the hotel and BAS as a stopover if you are touring this way. The hotel is comfortable and has a delightful garden full of water features; there is a stream that runs next to the hotel and they have diverted to drive a waterwheel and various animated garden features such as puppet carpenter sawing logs.
The location itself is dead easy to get to, parking is available in front of reception, it is a perfect base to go out and explore the surrounding countryside and excellent flowing and curvy roads and it is very close to Luxembourg. The first time we were here we had a day trip to the castle in Vianden. The lakeside is a very pleasant walk, both of us noticed how low the water level was compared to the last two times we were here, apparently they have had a pretty dry Winter. There was still some ice on the lake, we walked to the weir and the water from the higher lake was only just breaching it in a few places due to the low levels. I took a photo which i hope will show that, I noticed that the catkins were out on the trees, a sure sign that Spring is upon us. We walked back to the town; there is a cafe on the lakeside with an extended verandah that goes over the water and is surrounded by a sheltering glass wind break. We had coffee on the verandah and it was quite warm as we basked in the sun.
All in all, BAS and the Theis-Muhle Hotel gets a big thumbs up.
Tomorrow we head towards the Eiffel region and onto Ypres, I have managed to book an apartment just a couple of hundred metres from the main square and the Menin Gate. Two nights and then the Eurotunnel back to Blighty on Monday March 6th just in time for the blast of cold weather forecast to be coming in from the East, perfect timing.
Attachments
Blacklab10
Registered user
Hi ,loved reading your adventures,looks like your having a great time .We're off to Riva del Garda in July,I wondered which toll tag you used for France/Italy toll roads .There seems to be loads advertised but not sure which one to go for ,also do you need the clean air certificate if your not going in the cities. Thanks again for telling your experiences. ��
I got the Mango tag, they have since rebranded to Fulli, I didn't bother with any clean air certificates, although I did keep out of major cities.
If you need a clean air cert you can get it on line and it’s cheap as well. I got one for the car in 2021. Good job to as road works forced us into Grenoble and the police checked every foreign car.
Ypres
We departed BAS about 9.30 with about 215 miles to get to an apartment I had booked in Ypres for two nights. After a few miles enjoying the rolling undulating road through a pine forest we took a road which ominously had a barrier halfway across, was the road closed? Wish my German understanding was better. Sure enough after passing some plant machinery the road completely disappeared, it had been dug up. Alena got out and had a walk beyond it to see if we could effect a way through but nothing doing. I turn back and after going around a left hander I spot a road on the right and decide to take it, obviously the satnav starts grumbling and is asking us to take the next left but I can see it is only taking us back to the road we have just left. I zoom out on the screen and take another right and let the fun begin. We get to a junction and the Garmin says turn right, I also give the car satnav a shot at doing its job and it wants us to turn left! I zoom out on both screens and the left option seems best as it is taking us to the A60. Left it is, and a few extra miles added to the journey.
The first part is through woods and forests and even when we get onto the A60 the scenery is still eye catching as we traverse the Eiffel and Ardennes region and cross into Belgium. However, when you are through the Ardennes region the journey gets quite mundane, after all we are crossing Belgium on a motorway, nothing to get excited about and the motorways are busy.
We head for Brussels and I discover another hole in the Zumo mapping, if you recall there is one in the Italian mapping and as we approach Brussels I get a message saying that the route cannot be calculated and the screen goes blank. The mapping returns after we go north and then west around Brussels on the ring road and exit for Gent. Although the last map update was successful clearly there are a few gaps and I wonder what other surprises I may have in store in the future?
Our ETA at Ypres is about 13.15, I have told the apartment owner that we expect to arrive about 14.00 as I have planned a stop at the Lidl in Ypres to get some scoff and beer for the next two days. It is only half a mile from the digs and there is a petrol station also. I decide to fill up, we have used a quarter of a tank on the journey and I have no doubt the three quarters of a tank I have left would be enough to get me back to Snooty Mansions but I decided to fill up anyway and it was just €1.65, the cheapest we have had so far. I settle for some 6.6% ABV beers and shopping done, we go across the canal through an arched entrance into Ypres onto the cobbled streets and the convoluted one-way systems but we arrive without drama. I manage to do a parallel park about 40 metres from the digs, a ring of the bell and Bernard the owner lets us in. It is called Skyline Apartment, we go through a lobby full of pushbikes, back outside and up a series of flights of steel steps to the entrance, It is a well appointed place, decent kitchen/diner, shower and bedroom, this will do nicely thank you. We are about 300 metres from the main square and can see the cathedral spire from where we are.
We grab a bit of lunch and then go for a walk. We have been to Ypres several times, it is a favourite stop over for a last night before crossing the ditch back to good old Blighty. We head for the main square and as always there is something going on in Ypres. There appear to be lots of scouts and guides around and there is a funfair in the square with lots of music blasting out and the smell of candy floss, burgers and all those scents you associate with these events and of course lots of brilliant flashing coloured lights and associated squeals from excited kids on the rides.
There's a bunch of bikes parked up by the restaurants, a number of GSes, a K1600 and sundry others, I check out the plates, all UK. As we walk past one of the bars I spot them all, I wonder if any of them frequent this forum. We cross the Menin Gate and turn right, I have never walked down this side of the canal before and a few hundred meters further on there is a footbridge which takes us back through an archway in the walls back into town; we go to the cathedral, the door is open but there is a service in progress, we show respect and decide not to disturb their worship. It is a bit chilly so walking done we head back to the warm.
Today the trip meter clocked 4300 miles so far, with another 60 to Calais and 190 miles to home then 4500 miles will be achieved.
Back at the digs I book the Eurotunnel for Monday at 12.20 for £138 one way, is it me or have the prices gone up markedly? I ease the financial pain with a tasty blonde beer. Alena cooks us a meal of burgers, new potatoes, broccolli and salad. We have eaten in the hotel restaurants for the last two nights and I enjoyed schnitzels and plate full of fries on both nights so back to healthy food.
Tomorrow I will take a few pics of Ypres to share and will attend the Last Post Ceremony which is always a must do when here.
We departed BAS about 9.30 with about 215 miles to get to an apartment I had booked in Ypres for two nights. After a few miles enjoying the rolling undulating road through a pine forest we took a road which ominously had a barrier halfway across, was the road closed? Wish my German understanding was better. Sure enough after passing some plant machinery the road completely disappeared, it had been dug up. Alena got out and had a walk beyond it to see if we could effect a way through but nothing doing. I turn back and after going around a left hander I spot a road on the right and decide to take it, obviously the satnav starts grumbling and is asking us to take the next left but I can see it is only taking us back to the road we have just left. I zoom out on the screen and take another right and let the fun begin. We get to a junction and the Garmin says turn right, I also give the car satnav a shot at doing its job and it wants us to turn left! I zoom out on both screens and the left option seems best as it is taking us to the A60. Left it is, and a few extra miles added to the journey.
The first part is through woods and forests and even when we get onto the A60 the scenery is still eye catching as we traverse the Eiffel and Ardennes region and cross into Belgium. However, when you are through the Ardennes region the journey gets quite mundane, after all we are crossing Belgium on a motorway, nothing to get excited about and the motorways are busy.
We head for Brussels and I discover another hole in the Zumo mapping, if you recall there is one in the Italian mapping and as we approach Brussels I get a message saying that the route cannot be calculated and the screen goes blank. The mapping returns after we go north and then west around Brussels on the ring road and exit for Gent. Although the last map update was successful clearly there are a few gaps and I wonder what other surprises I may have in store in the future?
Our ETA at Ypres is about 13.15, I have told the apartment owner that we expect to arrive about 14.00 as I have planned a stop at the Lidl in Ypres to get some scoff and beer for the next two days. It is only half a mile from the digs and there is a petrol station also. I decide to fill up, we have used a quarter of a tank on the journey and I have no doubt the three quarters of a tank I have left would be enough to get me back to Snooty Mansions but I decided to fill up anyway and it was just €1.65, the cheapest we have had so far. I settle for some 6.6% ABV beers and shopping done, we go across the canal through an arched entrance into Ypres onto the cobbled streets and the convoluted one-way systems but we arrive without drama. I manage to do a parallel park about 40 metres from the digs, a ring of the bell and Bernard the owner lets us in. It is called Skyline Apartment, we go through a lobby full of pushbikes, back outside and up a series of flights of steel steps to the entrance, It is a well appointed place, decent kitchen/diner, shower and bedroom, this will do nicely thank you. We are about 300 metres from the main square and can see the cathedral spire from where we are.
We grab a bit of lunch and then go for a walk. We have been to Ypres several times, it is a favourite stop over for a last night before crossing the ditch back to good old Blighty. We head for the main square and as always there is something going on in Ypres. There appear to be lots of scouts and guides around and there is a funfair in the square with lots of music blasting out and the smell of candy floss, burgers and all those scents you associate with these events and of course lots of brilliant flashing coloured lights and associated squeals from excited kids on the rides.
There's a bunch of bikes parked up by the restaurants, a number of GSes, a K1600 and sundry others, I check out the plates, all UK. As we walk past one of the bars I spot them all, I wonder if any of them frequent this forum. We cross the Menin Gate and turn right, I have never walked down this side of the canal before and a few hundred meters further on there is a footbridge which takes us back through an archway in the walls back into town; we go to the cathedral, the door is open but there is a service in progress, we show respect and decide not to disturb their worship. It is a bit chilly so walking done we head back to the warm.
Today the trip meter clocked 4300 miles so far, with another 60 to Calais and 190 miles to home then 4500 miles will be achieved.
Back at the digs I book the Eurotunnel for Monday at 12.20 for £138 one way, is it me or have the prices gone up markedly? I ease the financial pain with a tasty blonde beer. Alena cooks us a meal of burgers, new potatoes, broccolli and salad. We have eaten in the hotel restaurants for the last two nights and I enjoyed schnitzels and plate full of fries on both nights so back to healthy food.
Tomorrow I will take a few pics of Ypres to share and will attend the Last Post Ceremony which is always a must do when here.
Mike,
If you go to the cholate shop just down from the Menin Gate, its run by some good friends of mine, who will see you right on a good selection of the finest Belgian chocolate
If you go to the cholate shop just down from the Menin Gate, its run by some good friends of mine, who will see you right on a good selection of the finest Belgian chocolate
Thanks Neil, I'm sure Her Ladyship will want to take home some of Belgium's finest when we leave.
Last day
We woke up to a damp, cold day, such a shame as it is our last day on this side of the ditch before going homebound tomorrow. We had a lazy morning, a large late breakfast. ?her Ladyship stayed in her PJs watching Youtube stuff in bed while I did things on the laptop. About 15.00 we went out for some fresh air and we needed to get some more milk and a couple of other things for breakfast tomorrow. There is a Spar just a couple of minutes away so shopping done we proceeded to the main square. The funfair was still in full swing - no pun intended. We walked towards the Menin Gate and decided we could do with a coffee. We stopped at a bar which I have been in before, the sign outside said Soup of the Day, in we went. Inside I abandoned the idea of coffee and ordered a max strength beer, Alena ordered a tea and soup, I really fancied a plate of chips with mayo Belgian style but they don't do them, bugger, I ordered the soup also. This was a good choice, it is a large bowl of thick vegetable soup with plenty of bread, just the job on a cold day.
Three Belgian guys sat next to us, their wives were shopping so they decided to sit in the husband creche and indulge in a beer or four. When their beers arrived they each had four different beers on a special wooden tray with recesses for the glass bases, what a brilliant idea! A chance to try out a selection of these fabulous beers and all of varying strengths, they seemed quite happy that their wives were giving the credit cards a good thrashing while they settled in for the afternoon.
After complementing the lady owner on her soup, she actually made it we headed back out towards the square and the apartment. I am now sat here listening to Johnny Walker Sounds of the 70s, bliss. After dinner we will head for the Last Post ceremony at 8pm, the last time until we next find ourselves in Ypres which is one of our favourite places.
So tomorrow we intend to leave at 9.30am, we should arrive in plenty of time and who knows we might get onto an earlier train and then it is the tiresome drag around the M25 and home.
Once home, I will post a summary of the whole trip and my thoughts on what we have done and where we have been during the last six weeks.
We woke up to a damp, cold day, such a shame as it is our last day on this side of the ditch before going homebound tomorrow. We had a lazy morning, a large late breakfast. ?her Ladyship stayed in her PJs watching Youtube stuff in bed while I did things on the laptop. About 15.00 we went out for some fresh air and we needed to get some more milk and a couple of other things for breakfast tomorrow. There is a Spar just a couple of minutes away so shopping done we proceeded to the main square. The funfair was still in full swing - no pun intended. We walked towards the Menin Gate and decided we could do with a coffee. We stopped at a bar which I have been in before, the sign outside said Soup of the Day, in we went. Inside I abandoned the idea of coffee and ordered a max strength beer, Alena ordered a tea and soup, I really fancied a plate of chips with mayo Belgian style but they don't do them, bugger, I ordered the soup also. This was a good choice, it is a large bowl of thick vegetable soup with plenty of bread, just the job on a cold day.
Three Belgian guys sat next to us, their wives were shopping so they decided to sit in the husband creche and indulge in a beer or four. When their beers arrived they each had four different beers on a special wooden tray with recesses for the glass bases, what a brilliant idea! A chance to try out a selection of these fabulous beers and all of varying strengths, they seemed quite happy that their wives were giving the credit cards a good thrashing while they settled in for the afternoon.
After complementing the lady owner on her soup, she actually made it we headed back out towards the square and the apartment. I am now sat here listening to Johnny Walker Sounds of the 70s, bliss. After dinner we will head for the Last Post ceremony at 8pm, the last time until we next find ourselves in Ypres which is one of our favourite places.
So tomorrow we intend to leave at 9.30am, we should arrive in plenty of time and who knows we might get onto an earlier train and then it is the tiresome drag around the M25 and home.
Once home, I will post a summary of the whole trip and my thoughts on what we have done and where we have been during the last six weeks.
Attachments
That is a good table of drinks enjoy you deserve it.
Blacklab10
Registered user
Thanks for the information on the toll tags and also the clean air certificate,much appreciated,thank you
Deleted account 230523001
Registered user
I thoroughly enjoyed your exploits in every way.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Back home - the denouement and final thoughts
We arrived home yesterday, just about 24 hours ago, from Ypres to our front door, via the Eurotunnel and the M25 (which we surprisingly sailed around) was a final leg of 248 miles. I will try and summarise our trip with, hopefully , some advice and some personal thoughts.
First of all, wherever you go in the world, you can't beat that comfortable feeling of returning to your own home and bed, I think it is a primeval instinct that has developed in us as our species has evolved. It represents stability, shelter and security, somewhere where we feel safe, I'm sure those of you aware of Maslow's theory of human needs will understand this.
Our final journey was uneventful, we had a bit of a rabbit warren making our way out of Ypres to travel the 14 miles to the A25 from where it is a total doddle with Calais and Tunnel Sous Le Manche superbly signposted. We left at about 9.15 to give us plenty of time in case of traffic issues, our scheduled train was 12.20 and we arrived so far ahead of time the machine at the barrier gave us the option of the 11.20 train at no cost, naturally we took it. We followed the many signs for Boarding, Embarquement or Grande Bretagne, did both passport controls and found ourselves sat in sunshine in the queue.
There was a blip, I reminded Alena to have the house keys available for when we arrived at the front door. After six weeks she had forgotten where she had put them! I told her that when we were on the train she had better use the crossing time to find them. This involved going through every single bag in the boot, I was told to bugger off as I "wasn't helping" with my typical husband comments along the lines of "you had one f*cking job to do", were not welcomed. Who knew eh?
To avoid a major domestic I sat in the car listening to music while she emptied luggage bags for the world to see until eventually success. Ten minutes later we emerged into daylight and we were off - I had to remind myself to drive on the left after six weeks of being on the opposite side of the road. With the hour we had gained from coming back to GB the ETA showed just before 14.00.
The house obviously felt cold and had a slight musty smell, on with the heating and also the kettle for the first decent cuppa since leaving in January, something I sorely missed. During our absence a neighbour had been collecting our mail and keeping an eye on things, I also told him to use our drive to park his car as he only has on street parking, this would give the impression that the house was not empty. We have bought his two girls some Belgian chocs and I've got him a decent bottle of wine for his trouble. Before leaving we had emptied the fridge and the two fridge freezers, turned them off and given the food away. I proposed we order a Chinese meal for dinner but Alena volunteered to walk to a local Asda and get some bits and bobs, TBH I was a bit disappointed as I quite fancied a chicken and mushroom curry but hey ho.
We emptied the luggage bags and, given the amount of clothes that went back into the wardrobes that we never wore it was obvious we had taken too much. I took some shorts and summer shirts but it was never warm enough to wear them, and there was other stuff that never saw the light of day.
A novelty was watching TV last night, apart from some six nations rugby this was the first time I had tuned in since we left home.
Onto the trip
Mileage
Door to door was 4656 miles, I was amazed at how frugal the SLK is when on a motorway in cruise control between 70-75mph, often returning low to mid 50s mpg. This is not far off a year's driving for us, all in just six weeks. Diesel is cheaper on mainland Europe than the UK.
Accommodation
We used a combination of AirBnBs and hotels. When booking an AirBnB I set the filters for Wi-Fi, heating, kitchen and free parking. It is fair to say though the free parking was sometimes not quite what it seemed especially in some of he ancient Italian towns with scarily narrow streets. I also found that it was possible to book an fully contained apartment on Booking.com, our last two nights in Ypres being a very good example. We used hotels when we just wanted to enjoy a breakfast prepared by somebody else and to eat dinner in the hotel restaurant when we couldn't be arsed ourselves. It was all about balance and I think we got it about right.
Food
Food is more expensive on mainland Europe, even in Lidl and Aldi. As an example, when we arrived in Ypres we went to Lidl, a single shopping bag full of food cost us €45; I have just been shopping this morning to Lidl and paid just £63 for three shopping bags full. Even with the price rises we have seen over the last few months it would seem that we are still better off than the EU countries. I must admit that this did surprise me but it was a continuing theme throughout our travels.
Kindness of Strangers
I have mentioned this previously, on many occasions we were the beneficiaries of the kindness of strangers when needing help in a number of instances. People, regardless of race and ethnicity, are in the main kind hearted and often see it as their responsibility to help a guest or stranger to their country. We were always grateful for their help and Alena now has a new Russian friend Alla, who we met in Cefula on Sicily who let us use her secure parking slot at her apartment for the week we were there. I believe that you can attract kindness by having an open, friendly and approachable demeanour. We always make a point of saying hello and smiling to complete strangers wherever we are, you'll be amazed at what interactions develop from such a simple human act and you never know who you end up talking to. They say travel broadens the mind and if you are prepared to make an effort you reap the rewards.
Local plod
As described earlier, we had two encounters with local plod in Italy and both times we were treated in a very fair and friendly manner and also given assistance - it is all about passing the attitude test and again a friendly smile and an apology for causing inconvenience goes a long way.
Scenery and Ancient History
We were privileged to see some fantastic scenery, even when travelling on motorways. Italy in particular is festooned with ancient history, from incredibly old towns whose foundations go back to Iron Age times to amazing places like Pompeii and the Valley of Temples at Agregento on Sicily. It made us realise just how much there is to see on this earth and what incredible feats humans can achieve collectively when they are motivated and driven to create something special.
Travel Fatigue
At times I had what I can only describe as travel fatigue on a few occasions; I found myself yearning to be back home and I was finding living out of a suitcase becoming just a little tedious. It made me think of these round the world travellers such as Itchy Boots and our own Sam Manicom and Simon and Lisa Thomas and I did wonder how they managed to find the drive and resolve to keep moving on constantly. I guess i am not cut out to be an RTW traveller or maybe it is something you need to tackle when you have the youthful drive to take on the challenge.
Alena's Travel Anxiety
Many of you are aware of our bike accident last September when we were taken out by a driver changing lanes. It has not affected me in anyway, I was back on the bike as soon as I was able to but it is obvious that mentally it has impacted Alena. Often on difficult twisty roads she was obviously not relaxed, she visibly tightens up and her hands involuntary reach out for the dashboard (the Amalfi Coast in particular) and she is constantly telling me things like car approaching, sharp bend, solid white line, lorry on the right, car overtaking and so on, Despite the fact that on several occasions I told her that my eyes are not painted on and I did not need her to give me a commentary. This is clearly indicative of her state of mind when travelling and has become significant since the accident. I have asked her if she will ever get back on the bike again and she is totally non-committal, my feeling is that when it comes to crunch time that the answer will be no. This will be a huge shame as for the last 20 years touring on the bike has been a massive part of our life; we toured Scotland on honeymoon and have since returned, and have also travelled to Ireland, Wales, France, Portugal, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Morocco and South Africa.
Payments
I paid for the vast majority of things using a Halifax Mastercard which I took out especially for travelling as it does not charge commission on Euro to Sterling conversions or on taking out Euros at ATMs. I used it for fuel, food and booking accommodation. If I booked anything in sterling such as the Eurotunnel I sued my Tesco Mastercard and I always had my Co-op Current Account card as a final backup. The toll charges were paid automatically from the Wise card I took out which offers payment options in many currencies. Having a TelePass toll tag was definitely one of the best things I have done and I recommend it.
I need to replace the GS that was trashed very soon as Spring approaches, I might well find that in future I am going touring with my mates for shorter periods while Alena does something else. Who knows.
Tomorrow the SLK will get a good clean as I try and remove the grime that it is encrusted with during the journey. Time to get the pressure washer out.
Thanks for reading all, hope you enjoyed it, even my philosophical rambling and sharing my thoughts. It's a big world out there, go out and enjoy it, just waiting for the credit card bill to arrive.
PS. Sorry no pics this time
We arrived home yesterday, just about 24 hours ago, from Ypres to our front door, via the Eurotunnel and the M25 (which we surprisingly sailed around) was a final leg of 248 miles. I will try and summarise our trip with, hopefully , some advice and some personal thoughts.
First of all, wherever you go in the world, you can't beat that comfortable feeling of returning to your own home and bed, I think it is a primeval instinct that has developed in us as our species has evolved. It represents stability, shelter and security, somewhere where we feel safe, I'm sure those of you aware of Maslow's theory of human needs will understand this.
Our final journey was uneventful, we had a bit of a rabbit warren making our way out of Ypres to travel the 14 miles to the A25 from where it is a total doddle with Calais and Tunnel Sous Le Manche superbly signposted. We left at about 9.15 to give us plenty of time in case of traffic issues, our scheduled train was 12.20 and we arrived so far ahead of time the machine at the barrier gave us the option of the 11.20 train at no cost, naturally we took it. We followed the many signs for Boarding, Embarquement or Grande Bretagne, did both passport controls and found ourselves sat in sunshine in the queue.
There was a blip, I reminded Alena to have the house keys available for when we arrived at the front door. After six weeks she had forgotten where she had put them! I told her that when we were on the train she had better use the crossing time to find them. This involved going through every single bag in the boot, I was told to bugger off as I "wasn't helping" with my typical husband comments along the lines of "you had one f*cking job to do", were not welcomed. Who knew eh?
To avoid a major domestic I sat in the car listening to music while she emptied luggage bags for the world to see until eventually success. Ten minutes later we emerged into daylight and we were off - I had to remind myself to drive on the left after six weeks of being on the opposite side of the road. With the hour we had gained from coming back to GB the ETA showed just before 14.00.The house obviously felt cold and had a slight musty smell, on with the heating and also the kettle for the first decent cuppa since leaving in January, something I sorely missed. During our absence a neighbour had been collecting our mail and keeping an eye on things, I also told him to use our drive to park his car as he only has on street parking, this would give the impression that the house was not empty. We have bought his two girls some Belgian chocs and I've got him a decent bottle of wine for his trouble. Before leaving we had emptied the fridge and the two fridge freezers, turned them off and given the food away. I proposed we order a Chinese meal for dinner but Alena volunteered to walk to a local Asda and get some bits and bobs, TBH I was a bit disappointed as I quite fancied a chicken and mushroom curry but hey ho.
We emptied the luggage bags and, given the amount of clothes that went back into the wardrobes that we never wore it was obvious we had taken too much. I took some shorts and summer shirts but it was never warm enough to wear them, and there was other stuff that never saw the light of day.
A novelty was watching TV last night, apart from some six nations rugby this was the first time I had tuned in since we left home.
Onto the trip
Mileage
Door to door was 4656 miles, I was amazed at how frugal the SLK is when on a motorway in cruise control between 70-75mph, often returning low to mid 50s mpg. This is not far off a year's driving for us, all in just six weeks. Diesel is cheaper on mainland Europe than the UK.
Accommodation
We used a combination of AirBnBs and hotels. When booking an AirBnB I set the filters for Wi-Fi, heating, kitchen and free parking. It is fair to say though the free parking was sometimes not quite what it seemed especially in some of he ancient Italian towns with scarily narrow streets. I also found that it was possible to book an fully contained apartment on Booking.com, our last two nights in Ypres being a very good example. We used hotels when we just wanted to enjoy a breakfast prepared by somebody else and to eat dinner in the hotel restaurant when we couldn't be arsed ourselves. It was all about balance and I think we got it about right.
Food
Food is more expensive on mainland Europe, even in Lidl and Aldi. As an example, when we arrived in Ypres we went to Lidl, a single shopping bag full of food cost us €45; I have just been shopping this morning to Lidl and paid just £63 for three shopping bags full. Even with the price rises we have seen over the last few months it would seem that we are still better off than the EU countries. I must admit that this did surprise me but it was a continuing theme throughout our travels.
Kindness of Strangers
I have mentioned this previously, on many occasions we were the beneficiaries of the kindness of strangers when needing help in a number of instances. People, regardless of race and ethnicity, are in the main kind hearted and often see it as their responsibility to help a guest or stranger to their country. We were always grateful for their help and Alena now has a new Russian friend Alla, who we met in Cefula on Sicily who let us use her secure parking slot at her apartment for the week we were there. I believe that you can attract kindness by having an open, friendly and approachable demeanour. We always make a point of saying hello and smiling to complete strangers wherever we are, you'll be amazed at what interactions develop from such a simple human act and you never know who you end up talking to. They say travel broadens the mind and if you are prepared to make an effort you reap the rewards.
Local plod
As described earlier, we had two encounters with local plod in Italy and both times we were treated in a very fair and friendly manner and also given assistance - it is all about passing the attitude test and again a friendly smile and an apology for causing inconvenience goes a long way.
Scenery and Ancient History
We were privileged to see some fantastic scenery, even when travelling on motorways. Italy in particular is festooned with ancient history, from incredibly old towns whose foundations go back to Iron Age times to amazing places like Pompeii and the Valley of Temples at Agregento on Sicily. It made us realise just how much there is to see on this earth and what incredible feats humans can achieve collectively when they are motivated and driven to create something special.
Travel Fatigue
At times I had what I can only describe as travel fatigue on a few occasions; I found myself yearning to be back home and I was finding living out of a suitcase becoming just a little tedious. It made me think of these round the world travellers such as Itchy Boots and our own Sam Manicom and Simon and Lisa Thomas and I did wonder how they managed to find the drive and resolve to keep moving on constantly. I guess i am not cut out to be an RTW traveller or maybe it is something you need to tackle when you have the youthful drive to take on the challenge.
Alena's Travel Anxiety
Many of you are aware of our bike accident last September when we were taken out by a driver changing lanes. It has not affected me in anyway, I was back on the bike as soon as I was able to but it is obvious that mentally it has impacted Alena. Often on difficult twisty roads she was obviously not relaxed, she visibly tightens up and her hands involuntary reach out for the dashboard (the Amalfi Coast in particular) and she is constantly telling me things like car approaching, sharp bend, solid white line, lorry on the right, car overtaking and so on, Despite the fact that on several occasions I told her that my eyes are not painted on and I did not need her to give me a commentary. This is clearly indicative of her state of mind when travelling and has become significant since the accident. I have asked her if she will ever get back on the bike again and she is totally non-committal, my feeling is that when it comes to crunch time that the answer will be no. This will be a huge shame as for the last 20 years touring on the bike has been a massive part of our life; we toured Scotland on honeymoon and have since returned, and have also travelled to Ireland, Wales, France, Portugal, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Morocco and South Africa.
Payments
I paid for the vast majority of things using a Halifax Mastercard which I took out especially for travelling as it does not charge commission on Euro to Sterling conversions or on taking out Euros at ATMs. I used it for fuel, food and booking accommodation. If I booked anything in sterling such as the Eurotunnel I sued my Tesco Mastercard and I always had my Co-op Current Account card as a final backup. The toll charges were paid automatically from the Wise card I took out which offers payment options in many currencies. Having a TelePass toll tag was definitely one of the best things I have done and I recommend it.
I need to replace the GS that was trashed very soon as Spring approaches, I might well find that in future I am going touring with my mates for shorter periods while Alena does something else. Who knows.
Tomorrow the SLK will get a good clean as I try and remove the grime that it is encrusted with during the journey. Time to get the pressure washer out.
Thanks for reading all, hope you enjoyed it, even my philosophical rambling and sharing my thoughts. It's a big world out there, go out and enjoy it, just waiting for the credit card bill to arrive.
PS. Sorry no pics this time
Myke Rocks
Registered user
I will celebrate my 50th wedding anniverary next month. For the last 50 years, by beloved has behaved like Alena only mucccch worse every time we go anywhere in the car. Look out, be careful, there is a car in front. These phrases leave her mouth every few seconds. Holding onto the passenger grab handle or hand on the roof at all times.
She is an excellent driver herself, but trusts no one else.
Strangely, when we hire a car abroad and are on the "wrong" side of the road, she is much quiter and less figity.
German capucinno prices
One thing I forgot to mention is the price of a cappuccino at German autobahn service stations - €3.79! and that was for a small one, a regular is €4.79! A shock to the system after the relatively cheap prices we were paying in Italy.
One thing I forgot to mention is the price of a cappuccino at German autobahn service stations - €3.79! and that was for a small one, a regular is €4.79! A shock to the system after the relatively cheap prices we were paying in Italy.
And I bet it tasted shite too !
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