Day 99 – Friday 15th June 2018
Up early, packed and off to Freidrichshafen. Outside of Freiburg the countryside got very alpine very fast but unlike Italian mountain roads the German mountain roads are absolutely fantastic. Soon we were through the mountains and we arrived at the campsite for lunch.
Freidrichshafen
The campsite is on Lake Constance and we bagged a lakeside pitch.
View from the pitch
There is a fabulous old Hymer on the site
the lady who owns it says it is 38 years old
While we were having lunch by the lake an airship flew past. Turns out Freidrichshafen is where they used to and still do make Zeppelins.
We got on Zippy and motored into town.
Freidrichshafen from the harbour
Graf Ferdinand v Zeppelin
we found the Zeppelin museum easily enough but there wasn’t a single guitar in there!
they had replicas of the accommodation on board
and the khazis
a burnt out engine pod. not too sure but think this was from the Hindenburg
I asked the girl behind the desk at the museum if they did flights. They do and it’s only €240 for a half hour flight over Freidrichshafen or if you want to float over to the other side of Lake Constance €455.
if you can’t afford a flight on a Zeppelin then you can always treat yourself to a Zeppelin fridge magnet
Day 100 – Saturday 16th June 2018
100 days since I retired! It’s been great fun and I’m going to celebrate tonight with pizza and chips washed down with some very cold larger. I have to say the people who retiree then 3 months later are back working are completely bonkers.
100 days is a long time in a motorhome and I think Julie deserves a treat for putting up with me in a motorhome for so long so we are going to have lunch in Lindau, an island in Lake Constance connected to the mainland by a short bridge.
We got on Zippy and headed in the direction of Austria. Julie didn’t like the main road, she doesn’t like travelling on Zippy much over 40mph so we got off and looked for a slower road. We came across the pretty little resort of Langenargen which had a tower we could climb for €2; excitement and VFM!
the tower at Langenargen
Langenargen from the tower
We managed to find a nice quiet road to Lindau. I really am struggling with German menus. We settled for a couple of nice salads and some chips.
Lindau
After lunch we set off to find Austria. There was a huge traffic jam going into Bregenz and the German and Austrian bikers patiently waited in the queue. They really should have a few days in Italy.
Bergenz
I’d only been in Austria for a few minutes and they let me have a play in a polizei van!
We only really stumbled on Lake Constance by chance but it really is a beautiful part of the world and we’ve had a wonderful few days here.
Day 101 – Sunday 17th June 2018
Overcast morning as we left Lake Constance. The drive to Munich was easy enough but can’t say I’m too impressed with the suburbs of Munich, looks a lot like Manchester. The campsite is a bit grim too, parts of it are a bit a bit Mad Maxish.
I’m sure this seemed a good idea…. on paper
The dangers of drink
This weekend is a celebration of the founding of Munich so they have closed off some of the city centre for a fair. We nipped into town on the bus & underground. When we arrived the main square was full of Germans doing what they love to do – drinking beer and eating bratwursts & pretzels.
beer, sausages & pretzels in Marinplatz
the Germans do love their traditional dress
look at the ‘socks’ these guys are wearing. The tour guide told us laden-hose should never be cleaned. Yuk!
I knew there was a reason we’d come to Munich
After a nose around we went back to the camp site to watch the Germany Mexico game.
by the time I got there Germany were losing 1-0 and some of their fans seemed to have lost interest
Full time and the master race have been beaten by a bunch of sombrero wearers
Just discovered the third highest rated tourist attraction in Munich is Dachau concentration camp; think we’ll be giving that a miss.
Day 102 – Monday 18th June 2018
It hammered down last night, overcast this morning. We travelled in to Munich town centre and hooked up with a free city guide.
The new town hall in Marinplatz
Marin
Like most city guides this was full on historical detail which was a little dry but we did get to see the Michael Jackson shrine.
Just outside the Bayerischer Hof where Jacko used to stay when he was in town
And we learnt a couple of other things; beer is very important to the people of Munich. The Oktoberfest started out as a 16 day celebration for wedding of Ludwig I and Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen in 1810. The whole city was invited and the beer and food was free so naturally they enjoyed themselves and decided to make it an annual event even if they did have to pay for their own beer.
Also Hitler started off his political career in Munich. In 1923 he organised an unsuccessful putsch. He led a march, from a beer hall naturally, but armed police halted the march, his body guard took six bullets and he was later imprisoned for the attempted coup. While he was in jail he dictated Mein Kampf.
The tour over we coughed up some cash then went to the Hofbrauhaus for lunch.
this is the most famous beer hall in Munich
I had the veggie option which was delicious and, even though the tour guide had told us that the Bavarian word for a big gut is kndelfriedhof – dumpling cemetery, Julie had the pork with a dumpling.
hot & noisy inside
the regulation um-papa band
Larger, larger, larger
Beer stein lockers, apparently it is a huge honour to have one of these
After lunch I climbed to the top of Sankt Peter’s tower.
All 306 steps.
the view from the top. Nothing in Munich is allowed to be taller then the twin towers of the cathedral
Then it was on the the Englischer Garten
While out and about in Munich I’d seen a few lads with surfboards and I wondered what on earth they were doing. The answer was in the Englischer Garten where there is a standing wave.
We were told the Englischer Garten is bigger than Central park in New York.
very nice but we’d done enough walking for the day
Back to the campsite for the England game. We won but I think Stevie Wonder was the VAR tonight.
Day 103 – Tuesday 19th June 2018
We were going to head north through Germany but we’ve decided to head to Prague instead.
The motorway from Munich to Prague was great, even the Czech section but the Prague orbital and the local roads are shocking, even worse than Italy. Getting a Vignette was a bit of a pain, they’d only take cash and as we had no Czech money I had to swallow a dreadful exchange rate.
The campsite we had planned to use was full. I didn’t expect that in June but I could see that the vans were parked ridiculously close to each other and we really wouldn’t have enjoyed staying there.
The campsite we ended up at, Triocamp, is great. Big pitches and super helpful staff.
Nelly at Triocamp
At the campsite snack bar I got a pint of beer and plate of chips for just over £2!
Day 104 – Wednesday 20th June 2018
Up early and into Prague for a tour of the old and new town.
The guide certainly knew his stuff the trouble was his stuff was the political history of Prague. All well and good but we hardly saw any of the sights as he regaled us with details from the 30 year war and who got thrown out of what window and when.
To cap it all the famous Astronomical clock was being renovated and it was covered in scaffolding so we never got to see the show.
For lunch we were taken to the ‘Excelent Zephyr’ cafe. I ordered a Caprese Sandwich and it was absolutely disgusting.
gave them a stinking review on Google
All in all not a great day out; glad to be back in Nelly with the aircon on.
Day 105 – Thursday 21st June 2018
Boiling hot this morning. We set off for a guided tour of Prague castle.
the cathedral at Prague Castle, you can see this from miles away, very impressive
the front
inside it’s tourist central
this is what most of the castle looks like, not very castley at all
The day got hotter and hotter.
the old castle main gate augmented with apartments and offices for the use of the President
The guide told us the present President, who she says is an alcoholic, divides the whole country and a few years ago some protesters took down the presidential standard and replaced it with a giant pair of red underpants.
the Presidential standard
Since then red underpants have become a symbol of rebellion in the country and they are waved at protest marches. So when you enter the castle grounds not only are the guards searching you for bombs they are also on the look out for red underpants!
The President had the last laugh; he was re-elected earlier this year and a couple of weeks ago he called a press conference where he burned the offending red underpants.
of course being a tourist town you can buy your fridge a magnet, cheap here too
or why not treat yourself to a Hitler mug
The day was now ridiculously hot and any breeze just collected the heat from the buildings.
Charles Bridge across the river Vltava
there really are a lot of tourist in Prague
We’d had enough now and headed back to Nelly and the air conditioning
N.B. this is a 500 Czech Krouna note worth about £17
and this is an old 500 Belarus rouble note worth about 19p