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!