Visiting Paul and Jacky

We have spent the last 2 days with Paul, Jacky, Marcus and Darcy and what a great time we've had.

I haven't seen Jacky for close to 5 years and it was great to catch up and finally meet the kids - it's always been via Skype!

Time was spent with the family by just joining into their family routine, train tracks were built, marble runs were created and lots of snuggling!

Timm spent a bit of time with Marcus teaching him how to cycle, I promise he wasn't as grumpy as he looks on this photo

Training in Sweden

Hotel: Sky Hotel Apartments (Linköping, Sweden)

As I mentioned earlier, Timm and I were invited as guest lecturers on an Advanced Trauma Course to be held in Linköping, Sweden end of January

Our flight booking to Stockholm was via Oslo and to make matters worse, our Munich flight departed late which meant we ended up missing our connecting flight.... With all the resultant rebookings of flights and trains, final arrival time at our Hotel Bed was at 1:30am the next morning!!!

The Trauma Course was held for a group of specialised Military & Police operators, designed to prepare and revise the essential skills of arresting catastrophic bleeding and treating traumatic injuries. 

While only 3 days in duration, days were intense and long, barely enough time to have a shower in the morning and catch a few hours of sleep. Quite a culture shock for us having lazed around for the last few months :)

One thing I did enjoy was the enthusiasm of the students as well as the Instructors. We had experienced military & civilian medics as well as a few surgeons and the idea interchange and the learning curve (even for me) was great

Unfortunately we didn't take any pictures but we're off to the UK now for 5 days....

Gotta Love The Germans

Hotel: Ibis Budget Munich Airport

The only way I can describe today is the (sometimes) funny clash of cultures.

It started with breakfast with Timm selecting "Cafe Crema" on the machine, expecting Coffee with Cream. Not so, Cafe Crema is an old term for 'espresso'.

The Coffee without Cream

While at breakfast I had a bit of a blonde moment - trying to visit the bathroom I, for the life of me, couldn't open the damn door. It didn't seem to be locked but it just wouldn't open. Defeated I walked to the breakfast counter and enquired as to why the door wasn't opening. In typical dry german-ess, I was informed that it was a sliding door, and not a push door. Ooops!!!
Timm, having watched his wife embarrass herself, drily commented to the guy that clearly his "wife hadn't had enough breakfast if she was so weak that she couldn't open a restroom door".
Feeling insulted, the reply came back "Our breakfast is an open buffet, there should be no complaints that someone left hungry". He was decidedly unamused ......

Timm couldn't let it go (as usual) and had me draw pictures in German of the Inselaffen's attempt at a joke - he eventually got it and all was well in Deutschland again!

Escalator Protocol:

Everyone stand to the right, so people can pass on the left

At least we found a Laundromat (a real one ;-) and got some washing done. It was quite a dodgy one though with one guy blatantly stealing the toilet paper roll from the laundromat bathroom!!

Goodbye Felix & Unplanned Adventures

Stellplatz: Therme Erding

Do I have to get out of Bed?

Today is the day. Felix is being returned and for the first time in just over 6 months, Timm and I don't have our house on wheels anymore. I must admit it feels quite weird - I don't have to think about where we will be staying tomorrow or what interesting place we want to drive to!

We did, however, manage to sell the rest of our stuff to Roberto, a Spaniard who was here in Germany having just bought a Motorhome to take back home. Such is the life of the motorhome community.

Handover went well, Tobias (our rental agent) was great as always and they were happy with the condition of the vehicle so a big sigh of relief!

I must admit though that I did shed a tear or two....


But no time to pine. Back into Munich where I had booked a little studio flatlet with AirBnB for the weekend. Our Host met us, we got settled and Timm ended up watching german TV :-)

Then, at 8:30 pm (4 hours after checking in) our Host's Boyfriend phoned us, wanting to find out how many loads of washing we were planning on doing and that they had a sneaky suspicion we had rented the flat only to use it as a laundromat. Hugh???

I tried to (as politely as I could) tell the guy that if he had an objection to the washing machine / tumble dryer being used then he should not advertise it as such and then accuse his guests (who had barely moved in) of excessive use. This is not the way to deal with guests and I was keen to look for a new place.

Two minutes later he phoned back - as I was still absolutely fuming Timm answered. He eventually lost his cool when he got told that "Our host had bought and carried the tumble dryer up the stairs himself; that he had been to South Africa and he knows what goes on there and he didn't want his newborn infected with diseases!". Timm shared the wisdom with him that it would probably be a good idea for them to never meet .... Right. Time to move out.

He took Timm's advice and sent his girlfriend to fetch the keys - What a chicken!! (Timm's comment: Weichei!!)

So at 9 pm, we packed up our stuff and moved out again. We are now settled into a Holiday-Inn type of airport hotel and trying to get some sleep....

Goodbye Bikes

Stellplatz: Therme Erding, Munich

The last two days have been mundane. We've been slowly sifting through all our stuff and I'm amazed how much we managed to accumulate, despite us bearing in mind that we would need to get rid of all of it when the time comes!

Below some pictures as we slowly worked our way from front to back, emptying each cupboard. What a mess!!!

As you can see, Timm is desperately trying to evade the process ;-)

Today was also the day to drop off our Bikes at the dealership and with a heavy heart we said goodbye!

On a side note - Hansi sent me some lovely photo's from our visit in Leipzig, have a look!

Mel's Travel Agency

The Stellplatz: Monheim Stadthalle

I missed my calling. I should have become a travel agent!

In the last 24hrs I have planned, confirmed and booked the following:

• Accommodation this coming weekend (Felix is being dropped off on Friday, our flight to Stockholm only leaves on Monday) - trying out this AirBnB thing...
• Rental car for above time period
• Flight to Stockholm, train to Linkoping (confirmed)
• Accommodation in Linkoping (confirmed)
• Linkoping to Gatwick, UK (Train & Flights)
• Rental Car for our time in the UK
• Accommodation in the UK
• Flight from Gatwick to Malta
• Flight from Malta back to Cape Town

Yikes! As you can see from above we still have a little bit of world-travelling to do before we head home:

• We've been invited to teach on an Advanced Trauma Life Support Course in Sweden
• We will be meeting with some Educational Bodies & Ambulance Services in the UK

So there will be some more posts to follow!

Stellplatz - Closed :-)

Stellplatz: Stadthalle Monheim (Monheim, Germany)

It wasn't the plan to stay at this Stellplatz. We had our eyes set on another one with a Therme but upon arriving in the afternoon, it turns out the Stellplatz is closed between the 10 January and the 28 February.......Grrr!

So we're here in Monheim now and it turns out that this is a little hidden Gem! 

Free Stellplatz with free wifi - what more can you ask for? Only thing we pay for is electricity which is 1 Euro for 8 hours

Today is also one of the coldest day's we have experienced so far - despite antifreeze in our windscreen water, I am having to stop every so often to de-ice the spray nozzle as well as mirrors. The joys of winter :-)

Having sat in the car the whole day, Timm and I took a stroll through the village in the evening to drop off a few sold items with DHL. It is cold....try -12 degees cold and dropping to -17!

Snow, Snow and more Snow

Stellplatz: WellMobil (Bad Schönborn, Germany)

Oh boy did it snow during the night. Thankfully we made the right decision to choose a different Stellplatz last night so moving off this morning wasn't a problem.

What was a bit of a challenge was moving through the little villages and out of this hilly area and we nearly ended up using our Snow Chains for the first time!

Good old Felix didn't manage to make it up the one hill in a village so I ended up having to reverse back down and take another route, much to the amusement (or frustration) of the queue of cars in front of me. Thankfully no one came up behind us!!

We managed to drop off our Chairs & Table with Sebastian, now the new proud owner!

Some seriously woolly cows....

A cosy house.....

Snowy Roads.....

Visiting Family in Leipzig

Stellplatz: Freizeitservice Heintz (Nimritz, Germany)

As promised we left Dresden today :-)

First part of our trip was to head north-east of Leipzig (Bad Düben) to visit some of my Family where we had a great afternoon spending time with Hansi, Gudrun, Pauline and later on Philipp. Unfortunately we had such a great time we forgot to take pictures!!! Thankfully Hansi sent me some that he had taken...

Pauline having fun with Timm

That morning we also managed to sell our Camping Table & Chairs and the plan was to drop them off on our way back to Munich. So as the afternoon came and went, we got back on the road direction Frankfurt. A huge coldfront had also started to come in with massive snowflakes, wind and the ensuing chaos....

By the time we reached our Stellplatz for the night, it was now dark, the snow was falling and the sign on the road leading up the hill to our Stellplatz said "Eingeschränckter Winterdienst" i.e. limited road clearing. No way Jose, not for us.

So, time to find another Stellplatz and head there. We both were also ravenous by now so quick park up and a 600m walk down to the one and only local restaurant. As luck would have it, they were completely overwhelmed and unceremoniously threw us (and another couple) that had just arrived out.......Okaaayyy.

As it turns out, this was a Stellplatz I had visited before with Anya :-) Talk about coincidence.

Picture below, early the next morning in the snow

It's All About the Attitude

Campsite: Camping Mockritz (I promise we will move on tomorrow)

I must admit that I have found the last few days quite difficult. What do I blog about? It's depressing, everything is closing down now, we are not seeing much, spending lots of time at the computer and generally winding down things ready for our departure in 10 days time.

And then something dawned upon me. Everything has a beginning and everything has an end. I know..... that's quite insightful isn't it? And as much as I blogged about the beginning of our trip, the planning, the searching, the shopping etc; so too am I going to blog about the end of our trip. Our sales, our flight bookings back home etc etc. Nothing to be sad about - it's just part of the cycle and rest assured, we have some exciting new plans for the future!

So in that spirit, today was spent finding a dealership that will take our E-Bikes (just in case we don't get them sold beforehand) as well as putting the last of our household contents on eBay!

Duvet's have been partnered with Duvet Covers; Pots & Pans have been advertised as one Set, snow chains, 12V inverter, you name it, it's all up on eBay now :-)

And I must admit - this shit is addictive!!! Every 30 minutes I find myself logging in to see if someone has bid... The winner at the moment is.... Our Camping Oven!

Can't wait for tomorrow though when the first auctions end :-)

The winning Oven below (sofar)

Dresden Properly

Campsite: Stellplatz Mockritz

I know, I know, we've been in Dresden for close to 48hrs and we haven't left the campsite!

So today we caught the bus into town to go and climb abroad our Red Bus again and see a bit of this famous city.
Already when driving in two days ago, Dresden appealed to me and our bus tour today confirmed it again - I really like Dresden!

No rain but yikes the day went past quickly so most of our pictures seem to be at sunset even though it wasn't late in the day :-(

Timm is convinced the guy in the picture is an undercover Stasi Agent.

Beautiful old buildings

The three Palaces

Just got over your Christmas Dinner? Good, cause now's the time to think about booking your Easter Buffet!!

Dresden

Campsite: Mockritz (Dresden, Germany)

The weather forecast for today was rain and rain it did. That cold, sleety, rain that has both of us chilled to the bone.

We didn't do much today except stay inside and go out shopping once. I spent my day putting all our "household" contents on Ebay - holding thumbs that this stuff sells!!

The plan for tomorrow is to actually go and visit Dresden and do a bit of sightseeing :-)

P.S. Slightly off the topic - today was Jade's first day of High School! Time is flying... And that dress is too short!!!!!

Nice dress, where is the rest of it!

Prague - Closed

Stellplatz: Camping Mockritz (Dresden, Germany)

Wow what a day today was.

Upon waking up this morning we found it had snowed and what was green yesterday was completely white this morning :-) Thankfully we had parked Felix in such a way that I could just let him run down the slippery driveway and up the slope towards reception.

Our "Good Morning" greeting of our hosts consisted of the owner complaining that we had given him an expired ID card and that "if he had been here yesterday he would have never accepted it, yada, yada, yada...." Grumpy old fart.

But it's okay. Today is the day we are heading east again and going to visit Prague. Can't wait :-)

Border crossing went well but by now it's snowing, the roads aren't cleared and Felix is slipping and sliding his way up these mountain passes. I don't think Timm took a single breath the entire 20km stretch of road ;-)
There were a few close calls with trucks overtaking us like crazy people and I must admit - there were a few choice words that left my mouth as we got showered in snow and I had to brake as I could't see ANYTHING through the windshield

But as we descended from the mountains, the snow abated and the scenery got really beautiful - Czeck is lovely!

The 200 odd km to Prague took us close to 4 hours to drive and by the time we arrived I was exhausted. Well, no rest for the wicked as it turns out that EVERY SINGLE campsite in Prague and in its 30km surrounds were closed. I kid you not. We phoned, we drove, we rang doorbells. Nothing.

By now it's starting to get dark, Timm and I have both had enough of trying to explain to non-english people what we are trying to do so we cut our losses and travel back into Dresden in Germany - arriving late in the evening....

Only in Europe can you take a fay trip to a country and out thenother side!

So that Ladies & Gentlemen was Prague!

Bike Shop - Closed

Campsite: KNAUS Campingpark Lackenhäuser

Of Course. Of course our Bike Dealer would be on Holiday.  So on we drive and I'll have to email or phone them in a few days time.

So, how do we know that we're back in Germany? By the lack of Internet..... It amazes me every time. We have just come out of Austria where I had UNLIMITED cellular data regardless of where we were (mountain, valley and anything in between).
Now back in Germany, I don't have cellular reception on the Autobahn, let alone the Stellplatz on top of the little rise... We had to get a few emails out so we decided to move on to the above Campingpark.

The weather here is quite cold and sleet is coming down. The owner isn't too friendly and everyone seems to be just a tad weird. Can't quite put my finger on it

Back to the Freestate

Stellplatz" Der Freistaat

Well, after our Davos experience and staying another night in Austria we are now back in Munich at our - very familiar - haunt of "Der Freistaat". It always ends up to be the Stellplatz when heading into Munich as it is free and has free unlimited Wi-Fi.

We're back in Munich as we are going to go past our Bike Dealer tomorrow and try and get our bikes sold before we move onto Czech Republic

To Davos and Beyond

Campsite: Alpencamping Nenzing (Nenzing, Austria)

Well, today was the day we decided to leave our Camping Arlberg and head onto Davos in Switzerland.

Having been stationary for the last 10 days and not clearing ANY snow, our work was cut out for us!

Timm below hacking out our "Chockkies" (the leveling blocks) from the Ice! 

Clearing the snow from the roof (As a true South African I would have just left it to fall off while driving but it is illegal to do so for safety reasons. Bummer)

Once into Switzerland, we had to use the Vereina Tunnel Train to cross a mountain range. What an experience! Felix got driven onto a train, which then drives the 19km through the mountain, only to drive off on the other side.

Tight fit!!!

Davos came and went. Interesting but in true swiss style, quite expensive and as we had time, we decided to drive around the big mountain range, back into Austria. Go figure!

No more Snow but plenty of Rain :-)

We now have 14 days left of our trip (where did the time go?) and we are going to try and visit Prague before finally turning south, back to Munich. So stay tuned while we cross Austria and head into the Czech Republic!

P.S. Anyone want to buy the contents of Felix? They are now officially for sale - from Cutlery, Crockery, Toilet Chemicals, Egg Cups, Camping Table to his Thermal Shields. It is all available as one package :-)