The Owl & The Pussycat: Travelling

Showing posts with label Travelling. Show all posts

Thursday, 18 December 2014

Poland Part One... North & West

We wake up feeling slightly worse for wear after spending the night exchanging travel tips and stories with Simon and Amy, a couple we met at our wild camp in Rüdersdorf. We make an early start and begin our drive to Poland. We travel 80 miles east across the border and into Poland. It's a miserable day and as we cross the border the unfamiliar surroundings paired with the gloomy weather are unwelcoming. We drive for miles and miles along an eary deserted road lined on both sides with trees and farmland as far as the eye can see. We pass the odd house that looks as though nobody's lived in for years but oddly there's smoke coming from the chimney. We reach a deserted village called Ownice, drive down a dirt track and reach a large lake where we decide to spend the night. There is nobody at all around and the only noise comes from a Rotwieller standing on top of his kennel barking loudly at us. Jac has a productive afternoon re-sealing our leaky sky light and kitchen sink. It's pitch black outside by 3:30pm so we spend the rest of the afternoon and evening in the camper ready for another early start tomorrow.

Our noisy neighbour

We are awake early after a silent nights sleep and I spring out of bed like an excited child. Today is Friday 21 November, Jac's 26th birthday. No banners and balloons this year, but there is a little pile of cards on the table next to his sugar puffs. After a number of unwanted photos and insincere smiles the birthday boy, who is still half asleep decides we should head off towards our next stop. We are aiming for a place called Hel right on the tip of a peninsula in the far North of Poland 645 km away.

The Birthday Boy

We drive for around 7 hours before stopping in a busy town called Koscierzyna, 248 km South of the northern peninsula. There are no campsites open at this time of year and Poland doesn't have many camper van stopovers so we settle for the next best thing. Tesco car park. Feeling right at home, we spend the night cooped up in the van huddled around our tiny heater trying to keep warm. The temperature is reaching around 1-2 degrees at night which is far colder than anything we've been used to since we left the UK. After a noisy night in the car park we are awake early ready to set off on our last stint before we reach Hel. Hoping to find Kettle Chips and Tesco Finest Chicken & Chorizo Pâté we excitedly bounce through the doors with a list of 'essentials'. Approximately 6 minutes later we skulk back out with a loaf of bread and a bottle of Cherry Vodka and head off.

Trying to get comfortable

The majority of the journey is along dual carriageway and through fairly large towns and villages until we reach Władysławowo, the first town on the peninsula. For the next 45 km we travel along a quiet road lined on both sides by the sea. The Baltic Sea to be specific. A train track follows the course of the road although we don't see a single train. We pass run down army barracks, a military museum and dozens of closed campsites. We finally reach Hel which looks like the ghost town of a former seaside resort and huge tourist hub. It's uninviting but we're told there's lots to do here so we find somewhere to park and set about exploring. We'll worry about where we're going to sleep later.

We visit Hel lighthouse set in the middle of dense pineforest used to guide ships into the bays of Gdansk and Puck and take a walk along the white sand beach. The water is crystal clear and earily calm, there is a single boat sitting on the beach in which Oscar finds a fat cray fish wriggling about on its back. We pass a seal enclosure on the beach and watch the seals diving around playfully after a ball before wandering back through the quaint little village to the camper van. We fail miserably at finding somewhere to stay for the night so eventually give in (after 216 nights in the van) and check into Hotel 77 in Kaperska. We justify it as a 'Birthday Treat' and treat ourselves we do!! We pay 150 zloty (around £30) for one night, full use of the spa and breakfast. Bargain!! At such a steal we decide to stay for two nights. Later that evening we head down to dinner and enjoy a three course meal and a bottle of wine. We ordered a prawn salad and baked Camembert to start, pork tenderloin wrapped in Parma ham and Stilton and steak with Gorgonzola sauce together with real roast potatoes and steamed veg with almonds. We topped it off with a raspberry cheesecake to share (total cost 230 zlt, about £46).

Hel Lighthouse

Oscar at Hel Lighthouse

Hel Beach

Excited was an understatement

Heading down for dinner

We wake the following morning after a warm, cosy nights sleep (in a proper bed) and fight over the shower. Today is Sunday 23rd November, my birthday. I open some cards and presents before heading down to breakfast. An impressive display of fruit, meat, cheese, and an unusual egg arrangement is on offer. After gorging on 2nd, 3rd and 4th helpings, making full use of the facilities we drop our laundry (3 weeks worth) at reception and leave the hotel and head back along the peninsula to Hel to spend the day exploring old military bunkers and spooky underground passageways. Jac's inner child (and Boy Scout) takes over and he's straight in with a torch dashing in and out of pitch black rooms whilst Oscar hurriedly trots behind. I however tip toe slowly and silently along the corridors terrified of what might be down here. Such a baby.

Struggling to get up

One of the bunkers in Hel

Disused Military Land in Hel

A disused lookout tower in Hel (notice the noose)

That night we eat in the restaurant again, another beautiful meal but I won't bore you with the details. We spend the evening skyping family and catching up with some blogging. We've been slacking a little recently as there's been a serious lack of wifi. Poland is probably one of the best places for wifi so far. Every lamppost has a wifi point which is great for a quick look at Twitter or Instagram but sitting under a lamppost on my laptop is pushing it a bit, even for me. The following morning we enjoy another giant breakfast and walk Oscar along the beach on the other side of the train track for a couple of hours before setting off for our next stop, Gdansk.

A cold dog walk along the beach

Dog walk along the beach

The weather here is really starting to turn and night time in the camper is becoming more and more difficult. After stocking up on 7 fleece blankets in Germany we decide dressing gown and slippers are in order (living the glamorous camper life) and call into a retail park en route. Probably the most exciting stop we could have made. I come away with a new dressing gown and slippers (as intended). Jac on the other hand purchased two new pairs of Adidas Gazelles. Not really practical for sub zero weather but an absolute bargain all the same. He splashed out 80 zlt/£16 on one pair and 120zlt/£24 on another. Pleased with our purchases we continue our journey and arrive in Gdansk 96 km South East of Hel. We park the camper and head straight out in the city centre. Quite possibly the prettiest city so far. We spend hours window shopping and admiring the beautiful old buildings before stopping for dinner. We escape the cold in Neopolana Pizzeria. A large pizza and three beers set us back 64 zlt/£12.80. We watch a band in the main square before walking along the canal back towards the camper.

Gdansk

The following morning we are up and out bright and early to make our way 450 km south to Poznan, we stop halfway and spend one night in Ciechocinek on a brand new campsite where we are the only ones staying before continuing to Poznan the following day

Wednesday, 17 December 2014

A Week With The Clay's - Wachtberg

Whilst we were exploring Amsterdam I got a call to say my Auntie Julie was in Germany visiting her brother and sister in-law who recently moved over from America. I've not seen her for months so accepted without hesitation when she invited us to visit them. We drove 368 km across Holland and just over the border into Germany. We arrived at the Clay residence in Wachtberg, approximately 25 km outside of Bonn mid afternoon. We were greeted by Nigel, Auntie Julies brother and Murphy their Labradoodle. Not long after we arrived Auntie Julie, Michele, Nigel's wife and their 5 year old daughter Natalie returned from a girls shopping trip. We caught up over an amazing finger buffet of bread, cheese, meat and olives for lunch before heading out with the dogs across some farmland behind their beautiful house. In the distance Nigel points out seven hills on the other side of the Rhine known as the Siebengebirge and an impressive collection of castles adorning them. This makes for a pretty impressive view in the morning.

It doesnt take long for us to settle in, Auntie Julie kindly gives up her bedroom in the basement and moves into Natalie's room with her. Michele insists we make full use of the laundry room to get all of our washing done whilst we are there. Clean bedsheets and towels should help to make returning to the van just about bearable in a few days time. Jac is on bedtime story duty and Oscar and Murphy are sleeping on the sofa worn out from an afternoon of playing together. We enjoy hearty home made toad in the hole for dinner and spend the evening catching up. The prospect of a proper bed for the first time in 7 months is just too much, we are tucked up and sound asleep by 11. I'm not sure who is more excited, us or Oscar.

Jac, Natalie, Gavin & Murphy enjoying a bed time story

Auntie Julie & her brother Nigel

Murphy & Oscar asleep after playing together all day

Its the little things

The following morning Nigel and Michele take us to visit Rheinfels Castle in St Goar. The castle dates back to 1245 and is the largest and most imposing on the River Rhine it also ranks in the top three castles in Rhineland. We start a walking tour around the castle from the clock tower. The castle is huge and in 1692 withstood an attack of 20,000 French troops. We spend the afternoon exploring caves, tunnels and staircases before heading back to the house to see what Oscar and Murphy have been up to. Jac cooks poached salmon, steamed vegetables and new potatoes for dinner and we open a couple of bottles of wine. We spend the evening watching Justin Timberlakes SNL videos and share some of our travelling photographs.

A view of the Rhine from the castle

Gavin at Rheinfels Castle

Rheinfels Castle

A view along the Rhine

A view from the castle

L-R Gavin, Michele, Natalie and Nigel

The following morning we are up early and ready to make the most of the day with Auntie Julie as she flies back to the UK tonight. We head to a town called Linz, about 20 minutes from Wachtberg. We drive along the Rhine before catching a quick car ferry to the other side, it takes less than 5 minutes and costs 3€. We spend the day popping in and out of the quaint little shops in the town and looking at the beautiful little houses. We find a small pub to escape the cold and sample some local beer and some currywurst. Later that evening we drive Auntie Julie to the airport and wave her on her way.

Natalie kindly lends me her sweat band....

Linz, Germany

Saying goodbye to Auntie Ju

We return to the house where it's my turn for bed time story duty. I begin reading Natalie's book of choice, Puff The Magic Dragon. Less than 2 pages in she informs me I should be 'singing' the story not just reading it. After a slightly embarrassing 10 pages we are finished and Natalie attempts to comfort me by telling me my singing 'isn't that bad'. Next it's Gavin's turn, he's picked an equally challenging read, Dr Suess. A book of rhymes and riddles and although I dont have to sing this one it saw me tongue tied after only a cupple of pages. I muddle my way through to the end and Gavin seems satisfied with my attempts and happily goes off to bed. We spend the rest of the evening watching a film with Michele and Nigel.

The following day is a relaxed and slow paced as both the children are full of a cold. Michele takes me to the local shopping centre where I stock up on fleeces and blankets for the camper whilst Jac walks Murphy and Oscar and Nigel watches the children. By mid afternoon the children have perked up so Jac and I take them to the park whilst Michele spends the afternoon preparing a traditional Amercian Roast. Later that evening we sit down to dinner, a slow cooked beef joint roasted with chunky vegetables and red wine served with potatoes and bacon and butter brussel sprouts. For afters we sample four small desserts. Absolutely incredible!!

Gavin at the park

Ready to try our first American Roast

Those cakes...

Today we are up early and preparing to leave. We gather our things and try and restore some order in the camper. It's going to be hard to settle back in after a few days in a spacious house with unlimited hot water and a washing machine. Our time with The Clays has been brilliant, we've had some much fun and they've been the best hosts. They've filled us with amazing food, shown us some beautiful sights and given us the most comfortable nights sleep we've had in months. We can't thank them enough.

Saying goodbye to The Clay's after an amazing stay

Monday, 24 November 2014

Zipping Through Benelux

A couple of geeks all dressed up for winter in Benelux

Benelux, otherwise known as Belgium, Netherlands (Holland) & Luxembourg earned its name when they joined Germany, France and Italy to form the European Coal and Steel Community, then the European Economic Community and today the European Union. We start our tour of Benelux in Shwebsange in the far south of Luxembourg and spend a grand total of three nights in Luxembourg travelling just 95 miles from bottom to top. The first night we spend wild camping in a marina on the Moselle River, a busy waterway that sees row boats, fishing boats and tug boats passing up and down at all hours of the day and night. We take a walk to Wellenstein, the next village along, a busy agricultural area that used to be popular for wine production. The locals have kept a lot of the old grape press machinery as focal points around the main square. The main road into the village is lined with allotments housing all sorts of vegetables carefully guarded by giant rabbits and guinea pigs. The village offers an interesting mix of houses, some coverted from old farming buildings and others modern blocks of marble with floor to ceiling windows making it an interesting walk. The locals certainly make the most of their land, selling homemade jams and preserves, wine and fresh fruit & veg at the end of each drive. There's a real sense of independence here and certainly no need for a village store, they have everything they need right in their back garden. Or their neighbours.

The following morning we are woken early by two men repairing and cleaning a boat right next to the camper, not that it matter as we intend to head into Luxembourg City for the day. We eventually manage to find a car park without height restrictions and Jac, after a few attempts negotiates the van into a rather tight spot before we skip off into the city. Its a bustling city centre like many others although here the streets aren't lined with delicious smelling cafes and restaurants and people aren't meeting socially to chat over coffee like many other European city's. Here the atmosphere is serious and professional and we are carried in a sea of business men and women heading to and from work with bulging briefcases. Strangely, at times I kind of miss the formality.

We walk to Luxembourg Central Station and along the high street fighting temptation all the way from one end to the other. The high street here, like most others is lined with shops all advertising a sale and I just cant help myself. I whizz in and out of a few looking for a new coin purse after I managed to loose mine at Oktoberfest, thankfully Jac had managed to spend all of the money in it prior to this. Jac manages to drag me away and we leave the high street to get some sight seeing under our belts. We cross the Passerelle Viaduct over the Petrusse River Valley and head for Place Guillaume where a large food and flower market is held every Wednesday and Saturday. There are stalls upon stalls selling local produce and an impressive collection of fresh flowers is on offer. After making our way through the old town we come across the Houses of Parliament linked to the Palace of the Grand Dukes. The whole place is patrolled by armed guards pacing up and down along the perimeter, some of which barely look old enough to be out of school. Further along our route we reach the Luxembourg City History Museum, the entrance is lined with metal bollards and these are dressed in brightly coloured knitted woollen warmers as part of the current exhibition.

Shwebsange, Luxembourg

Passerelle Viaduct

Luxembourg City

Place Guillaume Market

Palace of the Grand Dukes

Luxembourg City History Museum

We head back to the camper and out of Luxembourg towards Belgium. We cross the border and its noticeably different, firstly the quality of the roads are much better here and somehow driving a 22 year old van suddenly isn't so bad, Jac even likens it to a Range Rover (it's the little things). They also take great pride in the appearance of their houses here which has us both gawping out of the windows. 99 km later we reach our first stop in Belgium and our first opportunity to try actual Belgian chocolate. Being avid chocolate eaters this is pretty exciting.

Bastogne, a Walloon municipality of Belgium located in the Ardennes, a region of forest and rough terrain around the Ardennes mountain range and the Moselle river basin. Bastogne is best known for its WW2 history, something which we have learnt a great deal about in the last few months. Bastogne was attacked by German forces when Hitler was looking for control of the Ardennes, it was later liberated by English and American allies, evident by many memorials placed around the town. We leave our wild camp (a car park in the centre of town) and head out on a walking tour that takes us to 17 points of interest around the town. The tour takes us around an hour although we struggle to understand the significance as all the information is in French and German. We pass the 101st Airborne Museum, the Bastogne Barracks and the Bastogne War Museum before taking a slow bimble around the numerous chocolate shops the town has to offer.

Our next stop is Barrage De La Gileppe, otherwise known as Gileppe Dam. An arch-gravity dam on the Gileppe river built in the 1870's to supply water to the wool industry in a nearby town. We consult the map and agree on a 3.2 km walk around the National Park. We spend a couple of hours walking through the forest before heading back to the camper for lunch. We hadn't planned to stay here overnight but after seeing the dam and exploring the national park we decide we'll walk here again tomorrow and settle in the car park for the night. After an incredibly quiet if not eerie night in the national park we decide to head off to another in search of some more dried leaves for Oscar to roll around in.

105 km north we reach the Hoge Kempen National Park, the first in the Flemish Region in Belgium. The park opened in 2006 and covers 5700 hectares of woodland and heathland, just about enough space for an adventurous, disobedient little Beagle. We embark on a 7.7 km walk which takes us though woodland, farmland, equestrian land and a couple of quiet residential areas. This walk is a sure sign autumn is here, the ground is thick with golden brown leafs, the air is crisp and the sun is doing its best to shine. The warm cosy feel of autumn is soon shattered as we make it back to the camper just as the heavens open. We pay 5€ for water and electricity and spend the rest of the evening shouting over the torrential rain which makes being in the camper sound like the inside of a baked bean can.

Another day another nature park. In case you haven't realised, at this point we are living on our last few euros for the month and are awaiting a care package containing the next months budget from home. We stop at a recreational park in a town called Boom 16 km south of Antwerp. The park is home to the Tomorrowland Festival, the largest electronic music festival in the world. Since the start of Tomorrowland there have also been other editions of the festival created in America and Brazil. Arne Quinze, a Belgian modern artist created a bridge in the park 600 metres long with a central statue symbolising freedom. The bridge is imprinted with thousands and thousands of messages from Tomorrowland festival goers so we spend a considerable amount of time here reading them whilst Oscar waits impatiently.

WW2 memorial, Bastogne

Barrage De La Gileppe

Always making friends

Even Oscar is feeling the cold

No.1 priority, keep warm. Even if you do look like a red grape!

Tree warmers, Boom (Tomorrowland)

Boom, Belgium

The Arne Quinze Bridge

After a week of outdoor activities, cheap food and free accommodation we head into The Netherlands and our first campsite in a long time. We spend two days in Oosterhout making our way through weeks and weeks of dirty laundry and enjoying hour long showers. After a couple of quiet days we begin to make our way north towards Amsterdam. We make stops at Oud Beijerland, Vianen and Huizen. Four days later we check into a campsite in Amstelveen 10 km outside Amsterdam. Later that evening we catch a bus to Schipol Airport to meet my mum and Sophie who have booked last minute flights to spend a week with us.

The following week is spent making almost daily trips into Amsterdam city centre, we do a crazy amount of sightseeing, eat a disgusting amount of fast food and spend a silly amount of money considering our aim is to see as much of Europe on as little as possible. There is far too much about Amsterdam to fit into one post so I'll make it short and sweet and summarise the best bits.

We arrive for our first morning in the capital, the streets are crawling and the smells are amazing. The pavements must be 8 people deep for a far as the eye can see and we run the risk of losing someone. Probably Sophie, at 10 years old she is far wiser and more aware than I ever was. its worrying and I hold her hand so tightly she asks me to let go. We make our first mistake by stopping for lunch at a pizzeria. Next to the Amsterdam Sex Museum. Sophie is unable to eat due to her hysterical laughing fit so we quickly finish up and head on. Next we reach Dam Square lined on three sides by the Royal Palace, Madame Tussauds, Nieuwe Kerk (15th century church) and THE largest H&M I have ever seen. Dam Square is popular with street performers drawing large crowds, we arrive to a brass band and stand taking it all in for a few moments before heading down to the Anne Frank House.

Conveniently Sophie is doing a module on WW2 at school so she is desperate to see the Anne Frank House. After queuing for around two hours we eventually make it inside. We spend hours making our way around each room reading all of the information and watching every video guide there is. Sophie answers every question I have and I can tell she is feeling pleased with herself for being so knowledgeable. Next we head to the Amsterdam Cheese Museum leaving mum and Jac in a bar whilst Sophie and I try every kind of cheese known to man. Sophie pockets a few squares and saves them for Oscar.

We decide to take a boat trip along the North Sea Canal. We pay 8€ each and excitedly jump on to find our seats. Sophie's half term homework is to research a waterway in England and another elsewhere in Europe. Naturally she choses the River Amstel so this is fitting. This is more of a field trip than a holiday!! The boat trip lasts around an hour and we are shown the smallest house in Amsterdam (2 meters wide), the smallest canal in Amsterdam, the dancing houses of Amsterdam, the Mayors House, an entire street of houses owned by one wealthy Italian family and the Seven Bridges.

Amsterdam is probably the most vibrant city we've experienced yet. The 'aromatic' coffee shops, the X-rated window displays and the availability of absolutely any kind of food you could ever wish for puts it first on my list of places to revisit. We've been invited to visit extended family in west Germany so after waving goodbye to Mum and Sophie we begin our drive to Wachtberg, 268km east of Amsterdam.