So this was our final destination where we have left the boat for the winter. It is quite a pretty part of the German coast with long beaches and plenty of coffee shops etc. As with many things German, they have taken the concept of a sea side resort and done it right. We were here for a few days before our Van was delivered so we split the time between a bit of sight seeing and packing up the boat. The marina itself was one of the largest in Germany and very well equipped.
Not our Marina but a very small one in TownJenny on her trusty Brompton. We cycled on a couple of days along the coastal paths. As you can see from the puddle, the weather was not always like thisQuite taken by the roof on this restaurant. Never really seen anything like it before. A bit like a layer cakeThe centre of townThey had a few of these along the coast. Legless Crabs. Not sure I really get it if I am honestNice beaches. Clearly well maintained and segregated by use. There were water sport beaches, children’s beaches and dog beaches, all spotlessly clean.
We noticed this a lot. They decorate the power distribution boxses. We think that a) it makes them look nicer and b) it is designed to stop further spray paining artists. Look at the next photo to see the view that is in the picture. This village was all about the expressionist artist depicted on the electric box (Karl Schmidt-Rottluff) and his painting of this view. The box is just out of shot to the left.Always time for a bit of forragingWalnut TreeIt was the end of October fest season and look what we found in Aldi. Yep, your very own Octoberfest outfit. Mike Pringle, I nearly bought you it to go with your hat.
Packing Up
Sorting out the useful Locker. This is a bit like the draw in the kitchen but larger scale. This is purely Andy’s domain, I’m much too scared to go into this particular locker!Meanwhile below decks Jenny starts to check what needs binned before we leaveTaking the sails off
Always time to bake a cakeJenny undertakes some flag repair
A Day Out In Lubeck
Lubeck is a large town between Hamburg and Neustadt. It was right on the border between east and west Germany. It is most famous for its marzipan and has lots of brick Gothic buildings dating from the Hanseatic League.
This is the Holsten Gate and is the entrance to the city. It was built in 1464. You can really see the effect of subsidence on the structure. Bit of a testament to the skills of the builders that it hasn’t fallen down yet.Popular Spot for a pic. Again, from the other side you can see the movement in the building. The brick work is brilliant. The Black bricks are glazed Black. I wonder what it looked like 500 years ago? Being a city of Guilds they have some nice old buildings (I think Terry Pratchett must have had some inspiration from here). This is the Merchants Guild
Next year I may have a wee side line in photos of doors, we have seen so many truly spectacular doors and I’m a bit annoyed not to have kept an album of them.This is a model of Marienkirche (translation is St Mary’s Church). I could not get a good picture of the outside as it is massive. Built between 1250 and 1350. Largely destroyed during WWII and then rebuilt. This set the standard for many other churches in the region.
Jen spotted these fantastic door handles. Could not find out anything about them – I love the fact they don’t match.
It is really hard to get a good picture that shows you the scale of this building. This is the tallest brick vault in the world with the nave being 126ft tall. And was built of brick over 500 years ago. Quite incredibleSome awesome stained glass windows. All new as they did not survive the war. The church has always had a Chapel of the Dead which is where these window are set.
I think this is a very moving monument to the destruction that happened during WWII. After the war when they undertook this staggering restoration , the bells were left where they fell. This is what they restored it from. IncredibleNow here is another clock. Now let me tell you all about it…….You can see why the town is a world heritage site.Now for the MarzipanAnd MoreAnd More …. Yes I did go in and buy some
Bongo Arrives and we Visit Hamburg
Antony and Susan did a brilliant job delivering the Bongo for us. Checking out the back of the BongoEvery Bongo needs some glow in the dark cushionsAh, that’s better. OK , so maybe I should leave the interior design to JenOff to Hamburg. The book says it should fit in a 2.1M garage . And it does ….. JustWe went to this brilliant car museum. Started by a couple of collectors. It was dedicated to porotypes and innovationFantastic collection . I hate to imagine the insurance bill
As you would expect there was a bit of a Porsche themeView of the River. Some interesting accommodation.One of the things that strike you about Hamburg is the architecture. It is outstanding. It is as if to get planning permission, your building must look nothing like those surrounding it. I try and keep the blog light hearted but I need to say that there is very little of old Hamburg left after the RAF bombed it with such intensity that it created a fire storm that absolutely destroyed the city and 20,000 people lost their lives in one night. The loss of life was comparable to Nagasaki. It was the single most devastating air raid in Europe. Lest we forget…
More architectureI really liked this oneFountain in the centreMe picking up some blondJust liked the sun coming through the cloudsView from the hotel. I would go back to Hamburg.
Boat out and Setting Off
We had decided by now that the plan would be to take the boat out and drive down to southern Italy in the Bongo for a few weeks before heading home at the end of November. As you will know things did not go according to plan
Well that is the inside packed… Oh , and the outsideFeath waiting in the queueMast off
Winterising the water systemAnd the lift out
Tucked up for the winterOn the road. OK, so lets see how this awning goes up. As it turns out fairly easily . It is an inflatable awning and dead easy to put up.Nice evening . All sorted (or so we thought………)Very cosy.
At about mid night the heavens opened on this first night of camping. A 2 hour full blown thunderstorm. We got up in the morning to 3cm of water in the awning. In the middle of it was my rucksack of all of the clothes I had. Capillary action is a bitch!!! Everything was drenched. To be fair some of Jenny’s clothes where wet as well and some food had to be binned. Simple error. We were so tired when we arrived and it was such a nice evening we never ensured the tent was pegged out beyond the ground sheet. The rain came down the side and was carefully scooped up and deposited inside the tent. As it was still pouring down all we could do was pack up and try and find a better camp site further south where it was forecast to be drier.
In search of a drier camp site
We found a really nice camp site and set up (with a well pegged tent). We spent the first day occupying the drying room, before setting off to do some sight seeing. By now we were just North of Nuremburg. Lots of limestone gorges and caves.
Visiting the caves. Here are some pictures from out 1 km subterranean wander.
They did find the bear skeleton in the caves when they were first explored.
We also went to the other extreme and visited a sky walk (those of you who know me will know that heights are not my thing, but I have to say it was beautiful at this time of year. We also spotted Nessie on a small lake on the way to the sky walk . Must of been on her hols… Under the sky walk was a couple of slides that you could go down is a kind of go kart/sledge . Also not my thing, but fun to watch from above.
And it was all going so well. We had just filled up with gas, yes, I do mean gas, Bonnie the Bongo runs on LPG, having covered 500km for around £40, we were well chuffed. The van was finally sorted and packed properly after a wee trip to Ikea for some pots and stuff and I (Jen) was having my first taste of driving on the autobahn and Andy was just about to press ‘send’ on his text to Anthony to tell him how great it all was when……
…… after an hour of driving …
Broken Cam Belt ( as we found out later). To get to the high vis jacket and safety triangle, we had to unpack everything from the rack on the back and rake through all the stuff in the boot while cars were flying past at 120 mph, this being Germany and the autobahn. A couple of infants in a police car stopped to check on us, I have, honestly, taught kids in the nursery who looked more mature than these two did but, maybe , that’s just showing my age!? They were lovely and had a laugh with us and made sure we were safe and then suggested, if we didn’t get rescued they could come and help push the van off the road and we could just set up camp for then night! Fortunately, rescue arrived…Never a happy picture (but have to say the garage were great, they let us camp out in the showroom while we tried to get the insurance company sorted and booked a motel for the next few nights, drove Andy to pick up a hire car and, generally, just took great care of us )
After doing battle with the insurance recovery company for a day, it was agreed that after the weekend we would make our way back to the UK and the Bongo would follow. So we found a nice motel and spent a day in Nuremburg ( mainly sorting train tickets ) and a day having a pleasant walk through some Bavarian countryside,
A very colourful market stallA rather fantastic fountain in the centre of NuremburgSome of the locals dressed up. We never did find out why.Nuremburg leaves you in no doubt, you are in the heartland of Germany
I just like this shot of the railway going through the countrisideMany FungiSome beautifulAnd some interesting ( I have no idea what this one is)
The Trip Home
Jenny carrying all her possessions after 7 months away ( the rest are spread across Germany in the van or in the boat)Remarkably awake afer a 4 am startThe trip form Nuremburg to London was 8 hours. And despite some detours and late trains, German Railways did a grand job and got us back to the UK.And of course, on the way up the road we needed to get a run around to keep us going until the Bongo was back on the road…..
Bonnie the Bongo arrives back in the Uk around the 13th November and is being delivered directly to a Bongo specialist, hopefully, he can work his magic and she’ll be home safe and well by the end of November. We have a few wee trips planned before we go back to Neustadt in April to get Feath back in the water and the adventure will continue. Thank you for supporting us this year and we hope to have lots more stuff to share next year.
Feath 
Fab-u-lous❣ Sorry the bingo bungled, but a wonderful first chapter & a bit of adventures!
Jen, like you, I absolutely love doors & door handles – fascinating.
It will be lovely being home, but I am looking forward of learning about chapter 2 of adventures, when all is ready.
Take care. Iluska x
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Great to see you are back safe and well. An MX5 in Scotland in the winter. Really.
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History really produces good viewing. Yours visits bring back fond memories.
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