Lincoln


Greetings from the ancient Cathedral city of Lincoln.  We've come a bit east and a bit south, across the mighty Humber Bridge to get here and we've made an interesting discovery ...

It's possible to have the odd night in a hotel or B&B even on a camping/caravaning trip!  In fact, we find, you can pay GBP40 a night in a fancy caravan park (but with no hot water) and then find accommodation for GBP45 a night in the heart of Lincoln with breakfast included, free WIFI and free parking.  (Actually for 45 you get a shared bathroom, but not shared with as many people as in a caravan park.    We paid 55 and have a modern ensuite.)  So we're cosy and comfortable despite the typically English weather that has now returned, and we're 4 minutes walk from the incredible Cathedral (which was the favourite of Judy's mum).

The photo shows us 'taking tea' at No. 1 Castle Hill, right by the Cathedral.  Rob thinks this is a pretty impressive-sounding address.

We're starting to settle in to a slower pace.  At this rate it could be several days before we get back to France.

Regards,

Judy and Rob

Cumbria
Sunday 26 May

 We're "aboard" at last.  In beautiful sunshine too.  And things still going pretty smoothly.

Our short drive from Bruges to Calais was easy and we returned the car early (which was lucky because with the effort to navigate to the place, I forgot to fill the tank; but I had enough time to go out again, find petrol and get it right on the second go!).

It was a bit different being foot passengers on the ferry from Calais to Dover.  We learned from fellow passengers that it was the day before a huge football match between two German teams, but to be played in Wembley Stadium.  60,000 German fans were crossing for the match!

Our car was waiting for us in Dover, but the "300 yards or so" from the terminal to the Hertz depot was a bit optimistic.  We even had time in Dover to find a UK phone simcard with good internet allowance.

Our Dover car-hire man recommended Sandwich, a small town nearby where we stayed at Bells Hotel for our last night of luxury.  Sandwich, we are told, is the best-preserved medieval town in Britain.  We'd never heard of it, but it was fantastic.

Interestingly, Sandwich is on the river Stour.  But we already knew that Dedham, near Colchester, is on the Stour.  So how could the Stour be both south AND north of the Thames???  We googled the Stour and it seems that most rivers in England appear to be called the Stour.  What an interesting country!

Most of yesterday was spent driving north.  And of course we arrived on a long weekend (we did that in Dresden too) so a LOT (!) of England was driving north with us.  It's a small country but that seems like a long way, and avoiding London is a big part of that.

By the time we'd paid for and picked up the van, visited Margaret and Martin (who usually house it) and set off, it was really late so we've only come a few miles to a caravan park in Appleby.  We've left the hire car in Brough and will be able to return it tomorrow, only because we phoned them Saturday morning and have arranged for the manager to come in specially at noon on her holiday Monday.

Meanwhile, we're a little entertained here.  They made "Fawlty Towers" about a Torquay hotel, but missed a great opportunity to set it in this caravan park.  When we mention that there's no hot water in the (press button) showers, we hear that it's been a problem for a long time.  When the washing machine gobbled Judy's money but didn't start, the staff seemed most accustomed to that.  And when there was no hot water in the laundry (mind you a different block to where the showers were not working), the staff told Judy that it'd been like that "for months" (!).  And it's GBP40 a night!

So we're getting ourselves sorted out, stowing our gear and will soon move on.

Here's Judy amid the chaos, contemplating one of the huge bottles of duty-free gin we bought on the ferry across.

Regards to all. We're having a ball and would like to hear news from home.

Judy and Rob

In Bruges
Thurs 23 May

Greetings from beautiful Bruges.

Our last postcard was from Prague on our last evening; a few days ago but it seems like we've come a very long way since then.

Almost everything has gone perfectly.  Our train to Dresden was smooth, comfortable, scenic and easy and our hotel, about 200 metres from the station, gave us a room up on level 12 with an outstanding view across to the old city.  Our car was waiting for us exactly as per plan the next morning - a little Mercedes Benz that we've come to love.  It has brought us easily across Germany and now Belgium. 

We're now old hands at using Booking.com at the last minute and finding great hotels at reasonable rates and in sensational locations.  Our overnight stops have been in Bamberg, Fulda, Aachen and now Bruges.  There have been a range of hotels from very basic to quite luxurious, but there isn't one we wouldn't happily go back to.

We've used a mix of motorways and (where the map indicates a scenic route) small local roads through tiny little villages.  Many of them look as if they should be on Ravensberger jigsaw puzzles (and perhaps they are!).

After our beautiful warm sunny days in Prague we had hot weather in Dresden (which had a holiday long weekend complete with international 'Dixieland' festival), and increasing cloud and chill as we've come west.  The last few days have been showery and there is currently a very icy breeze outside.  Our car reported an outside air temperature of 7.5C around midday today.

We'd thought of this part of our trip as being a quick transit from Prague to the UK to pick up the van, but have found that it's much more.  We've discovered how easy it is to drive around Germany without pre-booking.  We've also discovered that we should have allowed much more time for this part, but that's okay, we can come back.

Here we are beside one of the canals this afternoon....if Rob looks more rotund, it's not just the layers of clothing (it's freezing here) but more a reflection of the good, solid German food (and Chinese and Italian, etc.) and the Belgian chocolate!!

Tomorrow we'll enjoy another continental breakfast (but not like the ones in Australian motels) then drive the short distance to Calais.  If all goes well we'll return the car, step aboard a P&O ferry, cross the Channel and pick up another car waiting for us in Dover.  Fingers crossed that there are no delays or other problems.

We have email access on and off and love to hear from people at home.

Regards to all from Judy and Rob

Prague, Saturday 18/5/13

It's Saturday evening on our last day in Prague. We've had sensational weather and have walked our feet off for the last three days.  There's no way that we've seen everything, but we've done pretty well for two aging travellers.

Here's two shots of our little home for the last few days...

Doorway to our balcony

Kitchen (hardly used!)

 We won't try to post any photos of Prague itself, there are plenty available elsewhere (have a look in Google Earth if you need a starting point).  But maybe these will show you our response to this beautiful city...

This coffee (on Wenceslas Square) cost us nearly as much as an evening meal in a restaurant!!

There are impressive gardens surrounding the Czech Republic's parliament.

Tomorrow we'll take the train to Dresden.  It's a short trip, only a couple of hours, but is reputed to be very scenic.  Then we pick up a car and head west, across Germany and Belgium toward Calais.

But we'll keep you posted about that.