A change of plans

The plan today was to travel to Buhlerhöhe and walk the Luchspfad (Lynx Trail) in the Black Forest National Park but as we did some final checking this morning we found that this trail was temporarily closed so it was back to the drawing board.

As we flicked through tourist brochures in our accommodation we found one which highlighted the Altes Schloss Hohenbaden which sits some 410m above Baden-Baden in the Black Forest so that is where we headed today on foot from the apartment.

On the climb out of the city centre we passed Neues Schloss which sits just below the start of the tree line

and after around 45 minutes of further climbing through the forest

we reached the Hohenbaden Old Castle, which is majestically surrounded by dense forest and is one of the oldest properties of the Margraves of Baden and its history dates back to around 1100.

The view from the castle over the city of Baden–Baden is quite spectacular 

In the lower left of this photo is the Neues Schloss

After enjoying lunch outside the ruins we did a 3km or so hike around the Battert (567m above sea level) over very rocky terrain before returning to the castle and slogging it back down to the valley floor, through the city and back home.

Overall it took us 6.5 hrs to cover the 14kms and while that is slow going, the steepness of the slopes and the roughness under foot is our excuse!

A great day!

Some observations after nearly a week in Germany

Despite the sun not many wear hats

The suicide method of choice still remains the cigarette as vapes are almost non existent 

Unlike previous visits dog droppings on the street are nowhere to be seen

Cars do not display either the equivalent of a WOF or a Motor Registration sticker which raises the question are either required in Germany 

Kms now driven 547

Kms now walked 80.7

Country Hopping

Today was forecasted for thunderstorms so rather than do what we had planned to do we decided to head into France and have a look at Strasbourg - the French/German border is only 17 kms away and Strasbourg is 65 kms give or take from Baden-Baden.

Having arrived in Strasbourg and parked the car we ventured into the city. Our first impressions were not that great as everything looked drab and/or dirty but as we moved away from what was the central tram stop for the city we came to the main pedestrian shopping strips which were decidedly more attractive 

There are surprises around most corners and here it was coming across a lock used by the sightseeing boats

and a building (Tannery building but now a restaurant) constructed in 1572

Standing on the bridge straddling this waterway we had an excellent view of which we think is the old town area

and adjacent to the bridge is a Christmas Shop absolutely filled to the gunwales with all manner of Christmas decorations

After walking around the city for a few hours it was back to find the car and return to Baden-Baden which should have been a breeze but not unsurprisingly for us turned into a mission as we tried to follow the GPS instructions to get out of Strasbourg and onto the A35.

We ended up going around in 1.5km circles as when we came to the motorway junction the GPS was not precise enough to get us on the correct on ramp and we did a circle around part of the city before trying again and failing!

On the 3rd occasion we got it right and got back to BB in one piece.

It takes some getting used to the fact that you can be in a country first thing in the morning, drive a short distance and be in another before returning to where you started all in the space of a few hours.

Both this unplanned day trip and the Black Forest disaster of two days ago may well have played havoc with expected mileage and spend on diesel.

Kms now driven 547

Kms now walked 62.7

Parked Up

After yesterday’s excitement the 308 was going nowhere today and so we spent the whole day in and around the centre of Baden-Baden.

Our accommodation is an apartment in a very nice residential area and is about a 12 minute walk to the centre through a pleasant park area, Lichtentaler Allee which was developed over 350 years ago and stretches over 3kms running north south on the western side of the centre

Towards the end and at the end of the park there are numerous buildings mainly of a cultural nature 

Museum Friedrichsplatz Burda

Internal entranceway of Kurhaus which also gives access to the Casino

Trinkhalle with its Corinthian pillars and built in 1839

Heading slightly east one comes to Leopoldsplatz, the pedestrian zoned area we drove onto when we arrived 

Why someone would think you could drive a car through here is beyond me!!

The shopping strip is also delightful with pedestrian only areas running from the square and housing cafes, restaurants and a wide range of shops similar to the quality of a Newmarket.

A pleasant day (31 degrees 🔥🔥) getting to know Baden-Baden.

Kms now driven 406

Kms now walked 50.2

A good day goes Bad

Today we left Baden-Baden on a day trip to see a couple of Black Forest towns, Calw and Bad Wildbad, with an expected round trip of approximately 115kms and 1H15mins on the road for each direction.

As Calw was the furthest away we headed there first shopping in a quaint village on the way for morning refreshments. Calw was a very picturesque town with a large town square (I had read that it is the largest in Germany but I can’t find anything to corroborate that).

Like most towns that we have seen on our various trips the main shopping area is pedestrian only and so one can amble up the road window shopping to one’s heart’s content.

The buildings surrounding the square are quite stunning at least in comparison to those we have at home.

Early afternoon we moved to Bad Wildbad on the way stopping to take a couple of pics of a signpost we had seen earlier in the morning 

BW isn’t the most exciting town we have visited but there was a funicular which takes one high above the town and gives a great view of the forest and how villages have been settled in the valleys

(Why is it called the Black Forest when everywhere you look it’s green? Perhaps an early settler was colour blind, just a thought!)

We left BW around 3.30 to return to BB which should have had us back by 4.15ish. Following the GPS route it took us through a 2k tunnel and then on various highways supposedly to BB however soon the fun started.

In NZ if a road is closed there will be a detour sign and you follow those signs to get around the obstruction, not so here!

A few kms out of BW I pointed out to my co-driver that the road sign we had just passed had a Red Cross over BB and thought nothing too much of it so pressed on. About 10kms further on there was a barrier across the lane in the direction that we were travelling but as the other “lane” was open it was quite easy to drive around the barrier and continue on.

When we got to another similar barrier we stopped in front of it and got out Google Translate and worked out that it was saying there was no access to the highway that our GPS was directing us to, so we turned around and started heading back, but realised we had no clue where we were going to. We stopped and accessed Google Maps on a phone and worked out another route to BB which didn’t use the obstructed highway, so with Sherry navigating from the phone we set off, but 15ish kms later we came to a dead end as this highway was closed as they were clearing some trees from the forest.

Having seen some younger workmen back down the road we went back in the hope firstly that someone spoke some English and secondly they could point us in the right direction. Luckily we were grateful that they could do both and we were told to take the road adjacent to where they were working and follow it to Besenfeld and “your nav will take you from there”

Long story short, the road was no better than a one lane cattle track and it was not mapped on the GPS nor did we get to Besenfeld, though we did get on a main highway so we decided to set the GPS for BW, get back there and go back to BB in the reverse direction that we had come this morning.

About 3kms out from BW there was a sign at a corner indicating the way to BB so we decided to follow that however another 10ish kms up the road we came to a screaming halt as came to the same signpost with BB crossed out - we had gone around in a very long circle!!

With tail firmly between the legs we turned back around and went back to BW, found the signpost that is in the blog above and then now knowing we were on a road that was open (or was this morning) headed back to BB arriving here at 6.37pm some 2.5 later than we had expected having covered an extra 105kms!!

I called the day “frustrating” whereas Sherry described it as a “f..king disaster”

Kms now driven 406

Kms now walked 40.2

Book Ended

Today was a day that was nicely book ended.

We left Mannheim this morning heading further south to Baden-Baden however as we left Mannheim we were closely followed by a Mannheimer who didn’t like the fact that we were keeping to the speed limit on a single lane road. He showed his frustration by literally sitting on his horn until he was able to get passed us!

Thankfully he didn’t give our Peugeot 308 a nudge.

En route to B-B we detoured to Heidelberg, got the car safely tucked in a parking building and went sightseeing.

Having found the main street (Hauptstraße) we started walking down it looking at the many shops. It is a very attractive shopping area and it became apparent as we went along that this street was not going to end anytime soon, in fact it went on for 1.8 kms until the Heidelberg Castle which sat above the town came into view.

Having got to the end then there was only one thing to do and that was to walk back again! One shop that did catch our fancy was one selling Schneeballs (Snowball) which is a sweet short crust pastry which originated in Rothenburg ob der Tauber in the early 1700s.

The shop assistant gave us a in-depth description of how they first came into being

Also there were numerous shops selling pretzels most with a good number waiting patiently to be served.

There are many sayings that one sees on t-shirts but this one really caught my fancy

Don’t like me?

Fuck off

Problem solved

If only I had one I could have waved  it at that Mannheimer!

Into the afternoon we left Heidelberg to drive through to B-B but finding our accommodation was a challenge. The difficulty was that the GPS kept directing us through Zentrum (the very centre of the city) however this Zentrum is a car free zone so imagine the locals surprise when 2 oldies arrive into the pedestrian zone not once but in two occasions & they most certainly weren’t on foot!

On the second occasion we had had enough so I rolled down the window and started talking to a local who luckily could speak quite good English and asked how do we get to where we were wanting to go. He soon realised that giving us directions was not going to work so he jumped in the car with us and directed us to the accommodation.

Now that is what I call giving your city a good name and this Baden-Badener book ended the day in a rather more pleasant way than the aggressive Mannheimer started it for us.

We haven’t seen too much of B-B yet but it gives an impression of being a wealthy area if the quality of the housing in the area we are staying is any indication 

Kms driven in total: 217

Kms walked since arrival: 32.3

Mannheim

Mannheim which is located in southwestern Germany, is basically a university city and today we had a good stroll around most of the recommended sights.

It is a very walkable city being almost flat and is bordered by two rivers, The Rhine and Neckar

The Mannheim Water Tower, or Wasserturm, is an iconic landmark and is regarded as an architectural gem. This historic tower stands tall in Friedrichsplatz and features a striking Jugendstil (Art Nouveau) design. The surrounding area includes beautiful gardens, a fountain, and a lively square with cafes and shops.

The Mannheim Palace, or Mannheimer Schloss, is an exceptionally large Baroque palace that serves as a symbol of the city. The palace now houses the University of Mannheim. The names of the city streets start at the Schloss so that the street directly in front of the Schloss is A and the next street over is B and ….

Excuse the formatting today as hit some technical issues

A pleasant experience

Last night we went to a fish restaurant run by a very nice ethnic gentleman (Muslim we assume from the attire of a lady who was filming a “marketing” video while we were there).

Having enjoyed a very nice meal of Dorade and also Sea Bass we went to pay only to find that it was a cash only establishment and we only had a credit card with us.

Witnessing our predicament the owner said “it’s ok, next time” and handed me the bill. With him being closed the next day (Sunday) and us leaving Mannheim on Monday I explained that there would be no next time and he implied that the meal was complimentary. We told him we would go back to the hotel and get some cash & return.

On the way to the hotel I looked at the bill and noticed that he had failed to include the side dish we had ordered so when we returned to pay pointed it out to him - he was grateful for that, as well I guess as the fact that we had returned.

Not sure that there would be many restaurant owners that would allow guests to walk out without paying!

Note to self: Ensure that we always carry cash

A long …

…day or more correct to say couple of days.

Travel is enjoyable but only once you get to your destination as a flight of 10 hours followed by another of 12.5 hours after a transit stop of 2 hours is tiring no matter how many hours one gets to sleep on the plane.

The flight from Singapore to Frankfurt which left Singapore just after midnight Friday Singapore time was a little like the first sector with head winds giving the plane some decent shakes for extended periods.

We crossed over numerous cities or towns that I had never heard of, or if I had they were long blanked out of the memory

but there were some good sights no more so than the city of Baku which stood out like a beacon

and also the sunrise which commenced around 4.30 am local time

We landed around 6.30 am and had a quick trip through Customs etc. getting to stand outside the terminal by 7.15 and then the fun started.

On the plane I had loaded a European sim card into my phone so that I could ring MDS who supply the car. Numerous failed attempts followed before I replaced that sim with my ONE.nz sim which worked a treat and arrangements were made to be picked up in 15 minutes.

The pickup service duly arrived and took us back to their depot where our new car waited for us. Having been this way before I knew that we required an Umweltplakette which is a green sticker that goes on the car to show that it is environmentally friendly and so you can take that vehicle into any of the German cities that have mandated areas where only low emission vehicles can access and those areas tend to be the city centres.

Our vehicle supplier said no problem , he can supply the sticker so I handed over my credit card but it was no go as only cash and as (bad) luck would have it we hadn’t brought any cash. Again no problem just drive down to the nearest shell service station and you can draw some cash out from there, so off we hopped in the 308 and very gingerly drove the 1 or so kms to the service station and after overcoming the language challenges, drew out some Euros and returned to the car yard.

Having paid the €10 we then started our trip to Mannheim about 73 kms south of Frankfurt. Leaving the car yard we pulled to the side of the road and tried to put the address of our hotel in Mannheim into the GPS. Now one would think that that is an easy task but this GPS is not very intuitive so after wasting 10 or so minutes it was back to the car yard with a request that we get some instructions.

Again, no problem our man says and he jumped in the car and started “playing” with the GPS until he realised that this GPS System is unlike others that he has been familiar with. Nevertheless after playing around for a little while he got it programmed and off we went, even more gingerly as most of the drive was on one of the unrestricted speed limit autobahns and I needed quite a few kilometres to get used to the vehicle and also driving on the other side of the road.

Arrived in Mannheim around 9.30 am and then had to negotiate, with the assistance of the GPS a road system that was somewhat foreign as blocks are designated by Letters and then a number - our hotel’s address is F4, 4-11, Mannheim. It was so confusing we ended parking the car and asking a local to point us in the right direction.

Long story short we got the car into the hotel garage and then had a walk around the city centre, doing no more than passing the time before we got access to our room at 3.00pm.

Being a Saturday not unsurprisingly there was a wedding group in the centre of the city

A long time since we last slept properly, the eyes are on the ends of matchsticks however our European holiday is underway.

Kms travelled to date 76

We are on our way

We pushed back from Auckland almost on the scheduled time and as I write this part of the blog we are approximately 1/2 way to Singapore with another 5 hours to go.

We are crossing over the top of Australia in buffeting winds on the nose of the plane, (the headwinds have been up to 225kmph) so it is a slightly uncomfortable ride at the moment.

Have been following the Crusaders v Blues semifinal and that hasn’t made the trip any more pleasant!!

Our holiday is well planned out, so I thought I would record in this blog some of the expected numbers and at the end it will be interesting to see how the reality matches with the expected - we take ownership of a Peugeot 308 S/W in Frankfurt and drop it off 71 days later in Rome:

Kms driven                                 5200

Spend on diesel                          €479

Tolls paid.                                   €103

Arrived in Singapore 1.30am NZT and made our way through Terminal 3 to find out which gate our connection to Frankfurt departs from and as luck would have it, it is a fair walk through this behemoth of a terminal.

With 2.5 hours to kill we spent sometime in the Silverkris lounge before heading back out into the mass of humanity in the terminal and heading for gate A11

Only another 12h50m flight before we get to Europe! Tiring but no complaints.

Once again

Just before Covid struck in early 2020 we were planning our 2021 European holiday but it quickly became obvious that travel was not a sensible option until the pandemic had if not passed, at least had the worse behind us. A few months ago we got our draft itinerary out of the drawer and started to get serious so much so flights are now booked, accommodation sorted and the final piece of the puzzle (availability of lease vehicle) needs to fall into place and we will be totally committed. 70 odd days in Germany and Italy is the plan and we now wait until lift off in June 2023.

Update - lease car secured

The only thing that will stop us now is bad health, Putin or a Covid lockdown