Day 39 - Mosel Valley, Germany

16/07/2016

First thing I collected my freshly baked bread and returned to the van to treat myself to beans on toast. I'd had cereal everyday after the first week so it was a refreshing change. After slowly packing and getting ready to move on I paid at reception. My next stop is 'Burg Eltz' or 'Eltz Castle'. It was only a short drive towards the Mosel Valley. As I arrived I paid €2 to park and the attendant pointed in the direction of the castle and said '3 minute walk that way'. When I actually started walking the signs said 15 minutes and I can confirm it definitely wasn't a 3 minute walk.

Burg Eltz, Germany

The castle looked spectacular appearing through the trees sticking out in the middle of the dense woodland all around it. I walked around the grounds and enquired about entry to walk around inside but it cost €10 and then I had to knock on a door around the corner and request an English guide. I would then have to wait 30 minutes, I decided its probably not worth the wait so I wandered around taking pictures and slowly headed back to the van. I met a couple from America who took my picture next to the Castle.

Squinting at the non-existent sunshine!

My next stop was the Mosel Valley which was going to be exactly like the Rhine Valley but I like the surroundings so why not? I found a campsite on an island in the river which was pretty cool but the woman at reception wasn't helpful at all. Reeling off loads of German when she knew I was English and I found we were irritated by each other, I assume because my German is very poor or I'm only stopping 2 nights. It costs €40 for 2 nights which is a bit much and then even worse I still have to pay €3 for a shower! Even then I realised I need to prepay the money onto a fob I was given but I hadn't gone for my shower until 11 pm so the office was shut. Another bloody sink wash, great!

Mosel island Campsite

Day 38 - St. Goar, Germany

15/07/2016

I woke at 9 am feeling horribly ill. I headed over to the campsite shop to pick up my freshly baked bread, when I got back to the van I just sat there slowly eating the bread feeling awful. I spent the morning reading and tidying the van until 11 am when I decided to cycle into Oberwesel which was only 5km away. I felt good for the cycle and wandered around the town for a while.

Leader of the pack! Crammed in pretty tight on this site

I spotted a lidl so once I finished walking around the town I cycled over to restock the van. After the shop I headed back to the van to continue reading and backing up all the photos and videos I've taken. It took ages as there was over 20 GB between my slr, GoPro and phone. On the evening I wandered into St. Goar which looked beautiful at that time with the lights reflecting off the river and the pitch black valleys towering behind. When I returned to the van I did more research on the AA map planning where I'll be going and staying the next few days.

St. Goar at night!

Day 37 - Mosel Valley Germany

14/07/2016

This morning was another chilly and wet one from heavy rain and thunder through the night. After breakfast I packed up the van and set off for St. Goar in the Rhine Valley. The German motorways are very confusing as they were still being built and changed meaning speed limits changed often so if I was in doubt I decided to stick with a lower speed. When I reached a sign for Mannheim I noticed 3 police cars pulled up at the side of the motorway parking. As I flew past I imagined them all launching out and chasing me. Funnily enough a few miles down the road a police car pulled in front of me flashing a message on a board set on the roof between its sirens. The first few messages were in a different language so I planned to ignore it until I read 'Follow me'. I thought oh crap, what have I done!

Parked up in St. Goar, Germany

I followed them into the next services and pulled behind the patrol car which had also pulled up by another patrol van. I opened the door and luckily they spoke very good English. I asked to turn off my fridge as I didn't want the battery to go flat and I didn't want to look suspicious! Once I flicked off the fridge I hopped out and as I looked in the van I remembered my hi vis jacket so I quickly grabbed it ripping it off my chair and threw it straight on.

The male officer made me aware it was just a customs check which was a relief. They asked the usual questions and had a look in and around the van. The female officer checked the bike was well secured and requested my passport to run checks. I was questioned about my journey and the officers seemed suspicious that I was travelling alone. They also seemed confused where I had entered Germany without them knowing as they asked multiple times where I had come from and about my whole route. I knew I was fine, the only thing I was smuggling was cupboards full of chocolate!

Rhine Valleys, Germany

 They returned with my passport and said all was okay so I started the van and drove off. They seemed a little disappointed all was okay. I caught them watching me pulling off the slip road, I was a little concerned they were going to stop me again! I arrived in St. Goar a couple hours later. I hadn't done much research here and couldn't use my phone to google the area so I used the satnav function to take me to the closest campsite. This brought me further into the town and tried to send me on the ferry across to the other side again. Annoyed I followed the river a couple minutes ignoring the satnav and came across a sign for a campsite in 500m, perfect!

Rhine Valleys, Germany

I followed the sign and found the campsite on my left with views over the river. It was very packed but the location was ideal so I went with it. I parked up and made lunch, nearly falling asleep I got ready and cycled back into St. Goar for a look around. There isn't much to do here but the valleys look amazing with castles purched on the hillside. I cycled back to the van and decided to go to the restaurant over the road and ordered a beer, burger & chips and ice cream with warm chocolate dressing.

Choccy fiends heaven!

I felt real ill by 9 pm and I noticed a large guy jog past the van which reminded me of a few years back. I jumped up and got changed, dug out my ipod and went for a jog into St. Goar. I felt even worse when I got back after the run I thought I was going to throw up in the shower. I was awake until 2 am trying to get to sleep with the sick bucket at the ready!

Day 36 - Stuttgart, Germany

13/07/2016

Last night was another filled with torrential rain and deafening thunderstorms. They seem to be following me!! I shut the roof at 3 am as it feels more comfortable shut in such bad storms. By morning the rain calmed down so after breakfast I unhooked the bike ready to cycle to the Porsche Museum which was five miles each way. Three miles in and the rain began, I tried to find somewhere undercover but didn't succeed for a good half a mile. Luckily I remembered to pack my coat but even with that on I was soaked through in minutes! I stopped under trees and bridges between the heavy showers and eventually made it.

I HAD to stop and ride the pump track on route to the Porsche Museum!

It turned out I actually made it to the Porsche apprentice building after speaking to a couple of lads who were sat outside having a smoke. They spoke good English and directed me further down the road to the Porsche museum. The museum was actually very interesting but near the end I was a little bored of hearing the same slow voice on the audio guide so I read the plaques of information instead. The entry was €4 as I was a student which wasn't too bad.

Porsche Museum, Stuttgart

Porsche Museum, Stuttgart

I cycled back to the van for lunch which seemed to take far less time than the journey there. After lunch I headed back out for the Mercedes Benz museum which was only a mile away from the campsite. This also cost €4 and I walked straight past the official entrance and ended up wandering around the shop at the end. I didn't realise the only way up was via the lift! We had to leave bags and coats in the cloakroom at this museum which I found a little unusual.

Mercedes Benz Museum, Stuttgart

After wandering around I headed back to the van to relax, cook and begin to plan my next few days as I decided against going into Frankfurt. I think it would be far busier than Stuttgart so unnecessary stress, I've had enough of busy cities.

Day 35 - Stuttgart, Germany

12/07/2016

Last nights sleep was up there with one of the worst. I woke up about 8 times through the night due to the rain pounding off the van roof and the thunder was so loud it kept making me jump. I considered dropping the roof at 4 am but decided not to bother, I was too comfy in bed. In the morning I packed up the can and prepared to drive deeper into Germany towards Stuttgart. The plan was to find a campsite as close as possible however being a big city I knew this would not be easy. I followed the satnav to a location where one supposedly was but I could find it although I did notice signs. I parked next to a couple other motorhomes and I assumed this was what the signs were for but after a quick check around the signs directed past the big fair ground/circus parking away from the Porsche Arena.

Porsche Arena parking Stuttgart, Germany 

The campsite was closed when I arrived but it was due to open in 10 minutes so I sat in the back of the van and put my feet up. After 5 minutes the owner arrived and let us in, it was unusual as I followed the other motorhomes who flooded the campsite to get a pitch straight away. I was glad to be at the campsite so I could have a shower and head into Stuttgart.

Stuttgart, Germany

As I cycled off over the bridge I nearly hit another cyclist as he held his position and I slammed on the brakes. I knew straight away what happened, I was on the left hand side of the path when really I should be on the right. I threw the bike over to the other side and apologised. I proceeded to cycle deeper into Stuttgart trying to follow my printed maps which were very faint to read and not enough detail. I brought my cycling Garmin which let me enter the exact addresses of the landmarks and made it much easier and quicker to find.

Stuttgart, Germany

The owner of the campsite was very friendly and funny, she also spoke very good English which made things easier as the only German I know is Danke and Sprichst du English - thank you and do you speak English? I threw together a big pile of pasta for tea as I was starving. It's never a good idea to prepare portions when you're starving and I ended up so full I could barely breathe. It took a while for the dishes to be done and I finished reading my book by the evening.

Piling on the pasta!

Multitool burst the can of monster, Emergency vodka came straight out!

Day 34 - Konstanz, Germany

11/07/2016

Today was another day packed full of exciting blog updates and reading. By lunch time I had enough so I unhooked the bike and explored Konstanz and bought a few bits to restock the van - this ended up mainly being chocolate and cake.

Konstanz, Germany

Konstanz, Germany

I finished the day at the leisure centre swimming and diving, I then found steps that lead down to the lake where I hopped in for another swim. I headed back to the van after for a shower, cook some food and do more blog updating with a Swiss beer and a side of choccy. 

Konstanz, Germany

Day 33 - Zurich & Konstanz, Switzerland/Germany

10/07/2016

Today was time to leave Lac de Chalain and continue my journey back through Germany, James and Luke left by 8am but I was only just waking up. After breakfast and a hefty €207 bill I hit the road and headed for Zurich, Switzerland. I set the sat nav to take me straight to a camperstop by the lake but the problem was being a Sunday and amazing weather the parking spaces by the lake were rammed so I could barely get onto the car park. There was a campsite just over the road which I pulled onto but it was so tight it and it looked so busy I just span it round and headed straight for Konstanz. I set the satnav to take me to another camperstop but I had exactly the same problem so I decided to try the campsite and managed to get a pitch.

Once I parked up I organised the van and began catching up on the blog and with my reading. After a couple hours I headed over to the pool which was awesome. It was a proper leisure centre separate to the campsite but I was given a pass, the pool was huge with a separate deep pool with three diving boards - good job I learnt to dive! The one was a bit too high for me to try diving off but it was still fun jumping off it.