Day 9 - Prague

Today's mileage and total mileage still the same. No driving today!

Today we headed out from our campsite to explore Prague.

Before that though, it would be wrong not to mention the tiny frogs that covered the ground at said campsite. When we got there last night we were lucky to get a space, the campsite being one of the only ones near Prague and certainly the only one in any of the campsite guidebooks we have with us and it was explicitly recommended for it's "European-style" toilets. We were allocated pitch 143, which seemed pretty nice, shady, nice view across a field etc. However after parking up and getting out the van, we noticed the ground seemed to be moving...it was, it was jumping up and down and literally covered in tiny frogs. I suggested they were probably frightened of us and would soon move away, but Jojo was having none of it. She high-leg marched back to reception and 5 minutes, and a couple of frog impressions later we had been reallocated a different frog-free pitch.

So into Prague. We caught a bus and a tram into the city centre and headed straight to our first planned stop - The Museum of Communism. This was a fairly small museum with a few exhibitions and quite a lot of written information. I was unsure whether it was going to presented simply as a nostalgic look back at a former life showing some of the artefacts and history, or whether it was going to be more political and look into the struggles to break away from communism etc. It quickly became apparent that it was very much focussed on the political aspects, and probably more interesting and shocking for it. No trendy hammer and sickle T-shirts in the gift shop here.

The museum followed a timeline from World War 2 and the Soviet seizure of power through to the Velvet Revolution. Memorable exhibits were the mocked up interrogation room showing how the secret police worked, the propaganda posters explaining how well the state and the workers were doing (even as they hung outside empty shops) and a documentary video with footage of the protests in 1989 & 1990 and the savage behaviour of the police trying to repress them. It was a very interesting museum and a somber counter point to the rising commodification of Sovietism as a brand. It opened my naive eyes a little more to the brutality of life in a communist state.

After the museum we went to a place called CountryLife for lunch. A vegan buffet attached to a health food store. Loads of choice and some great food.

Next was to wander through some of the old squares and see some of the famous architecture. Prague is undeniably a beautiful city and Wenceslas Square et al lived up to expectations. At the risk of sounding like a broken record (a skipping cd?) the number of tourists was truly staggering. Some of the squares were almost impossible to walk through - think Oxford Street on a Saturday afternoon - simply due to the mass of tour groups congregating. The sights were impressive, but nothing felt very alive, it very much felt like tourists had taken over and we were looking at long abandoned relics whereas Prague's citizens were lurking somewhere else. I think we would need to explore some of the areas not in the guidebooks to get a proper feel for the city.

By this point the heat and humidity were reaching their customary oppressive levels and Jojo and I decided to head back to the frog-less shade of our campsite. Besides, I'd read all the warnings in our guidebook, campsite signs & official tourist guide about pickpockets in Prague, and by this point my keys, wallet, phone, passport and money were all beginning to chafe my feet a little...

Day 8: National Park to Prague (part 2/2nd attempt)

Today's mileage 130. Total mileage 1005

We got out into the countryside today and took in some stunning views. But before that a quick mention must be made of the campsite we stayed at. It's in Cool Camping as I said, and it's called Thorwaldblick. We arrived there at 7pm on a Sunday night, and were met by a man who checked us in and allocated us a space in a jovial and friendly manner. He then asked us if we wanted "rolls". Jojo and I looked at each other confusedly and explained to the man that our german really isn't very good. He repeated his question: "Do you want bread rolls? In the morning. To eat." The penny dropped. He was asking us if we wanted bread rolls, in the morning, to eat, presumably as breakfast. Yes we did want rolls kind sir. What a dude, found us a spot at 7pm on a Sunday and then offered us bread rolls. We like him a lot.

We were informed by our guidebook that in the national park we stayed in there was a place called Bastei which it describes as "one of the most breathtaking spots in the whole of Germany". A pretty bold claim and one we decided to test out.

When we arrived the omens weren't great. Coach upon coach of tour groups and signs pointing us to the lookout point as well as the gift shop and Panorama Restaurant. Hmmm. (I'm not sure why I expect all tourist sights to be empty apart from me and get annoyed when they're busy. Probably something innate within me to do with Britishness and empires).

Once we got there, even despite the crowds it really was breathtaking. Like a german version of the grand canyon. I sadly found it more breathtaking than most, the combination of lots of steps and a fairly severe fear of heights (over active imagination, what would falling off feel like, my legs wobbling & various other manly traits) rendering me slightly useless. So I sent Jojo off to conquer the bridges and gullies alone while I made my own pilgrimage up a much smaller set of steps and sat on a rock thinking about how long you have to sit on a rock before you get piles. Still I hope the photos (I've learnt how to add more than one!) give some idea of the place. I'd recommend a visit if you're in the area.

Here's a shaky 18 second video of the view!

http://www.youtube.com/v/LdLMHqQUXvk

After the breath taking views we headed in the van towards Prague. We camped just south of the city and spent our first evening relaxing and planning what to czech out in Prague tomorrow (sorry, I had to). More on that next time...

Day 8: From the National Park to Prague

A View from Bastei

Day 7: From Berlin to Sachsische Schweiz National Park

Todays mileage 156 Total mileage 875

No photos of Germany today, just some photobooth shots of us honeymooners!

We got up and got out of our hotel in good time today. Wanting to make up for a late start yesterday and the call of a buffet brunch dragging us from our bed.

Despite check-out being midday, the hotel were kind enough to keep the van parked out front, meaning we could make the most of our final day in Berlin and explore some more.

We'd heard good things about the vegan brunch at a place called Cafe Vux. It was a bit of a trek out of town into the suburbs, being as it was just off Karl Marx Strasse (east or west of where the wall stood you reckon?!). A few U-Bahn trips later we made it there, only to find all the tables full, the staff surly and the whole place reeking a little too much of attitude. So sadly we didn't get any brunch there, but managed to substitute it with yet another burger at a place called Roots.

We made our way slowly back to the hotel to our van taking in a few shops and a couple more sights (The World Clock, an impromptu exhibition in the square) along the way. Then with a mixture of excitement to be back in the van, and sadness to be leaving Berlin, we set off to the countryside.

We aimed for a campsite we found in the book Cool Camping. It was located just on the German side of the border with the Czech Republic in a national park some 50 miles south if Dresden. The park was amazing, stunning scenery of hills, pine trees, rivers and valleys. A really beautiful place. I can only imagine how amazing it must be in winter covered in snow.

We arrived at our campsite at about 7 after Dermott and I had had a brief spat. He'd given us good directions the whole way, but announced our destination when we were clearly at the wrong campsite (the cool camping one in fact being our second choice). I was a little annoyed that Dermott had just randomly chosen a different campsite and vocally let my feelings be known. It was only after a couple of minutes that I realised that I was perhaps more to blame than my good Irish friend. I'd used the Cool Camping campsite's address to get a rough idea of the distance while we confirmed the location of the site we actually wanted. It seems that perhaps I never updated Dermott with the new address. Sorry mate. Still, the best thing about Dermott is that he doesn't hold a grudge and we all went to sleep on good terms.

Tomorrow we explore the park some more and then head to the Czech Republic.

Reichstag

Day 6 - Berlin!

Today's Mileage & Total Mileage both still the same, no driving today as we explore Berlin...

Our day of sight seeing got off to a late start. I think we both enjoyed the space of a hotel room bed a little too much, and lamely didn't get out of the hotel until midday!

In our defence, the humidity from Cologne caught up with us in Berlin and our lie in was slightly justified as it meant we'd ridden out yet another nasty thunderstorm indoors. By the time we emerged the sun was breaking through the clouds on a nice day.

Our plan was to hit the sights, (should it be sites? Anyone who knows please tell me!) then have lunch. But after our late start we swapped it round and went straight for lunch at a place called Hans Wurst. Burger and chips for me, Seitan Steak for Jojo. Not a whole lot of healthy eating going on on this trip, but plenty of yummy food. Our lunch was slightly elongated when we discovered the cafe had free wifi, allowing us both to feed our Internet habits. It's been eye opening on this trip to see just how much I've come to take having the Internet in my pocket for granted. Having to write things down to google them later rather than on the spot has been an unusual but revelatory experience. I've had to use real maps made of paper, and guide books printed with ink. I feel very retro.

After we finally finished our long online lunch we headed out to the traditional Berlin tourist spots. First stop was the Holocaust Memorial, a field with over two thousand concrete "stelae" arranged around it. The stelae (big slabs of bare grey concrete) vary hugely in height and width and this combined with the undulating ground creates an illusion from outside that they are all uniformly waist height, but as you walk amongst them you quickly get overwhelmed by them and inevitably a little lost. I'm no art critic, and plan to do some googling (it's on the list) to read more about the artists intentions etc. I found the experience of wandering through the memorial disorientating and despite it heaving with other tourists, you often found you could see no one else and were seemingly alone. The area is open to the public in a square in the middle of the city, and I was also surprised to find no graffiti or litter anywhere. Either they take great care to keep the area clean and tidy, or more optimistically, people simply treat the memorial with the respect it deserves.

We wandered up the street from the memorial to the Brandenburg Gate, one of the world famous symbols of Berlin. After taking a few pictures (including one with a lovely young German gentleman who posed - uninvited - with me and even showed us his nipples!) and walking through from west to east and back we headed to the Reichstag for some more touristy snapshots. It was great to see these famous historical landmarks, but sightseeing with huge throngs of other tourists is never going to be Jojo's or my favourite thing. Maybe it makes us philistines, I'm not sure, but I think we'd agree we are more interested by people and neighbourhoods than historical buildings. One benefit of being awkward vegan eaters is that it forced us to move outside the centre of Berlin into the neighbourhoods to eat. It was these bits of Berlin that I enjoyed the most, and I know we only scratched the surface. Berlin and its Berliners seem lively, friendly and interesting and my favourite part of our trip so far. We will be back for sure.

Tv Tower (Hotel far right!)

Day 5: Arrival in Berlin

Todays mileage 162. Total mileage 719.

We arrived in Berlin at about 3pm. Once again Dermott was invaluable, his route was perfect and he really takes the stress out of driving in a foreign city, something I was slightly nervous of. At the risk of becoming some sort of tedious ambassador of Tom Tom, the difference a competent sat nav makes is pretty remarkable. Instead of Jojo map reading and me inevitably shouting at her as I take the wrong lane, or we simply go the wrong way, Dermott keeps the team intact. It's us against him. If he sends us the wrong way we can get cross with him, not each other. He is single-handedly helping our fledgling marriage flourish by removing all potential navigational arguments. Thanks Dermott!

We also managed to get ourselves a Low Emissions Zone sticker. A prerequisite if driving in many German cities. This was achieved by visiting a German AA (ADAC) centre. Where we met a very nice man who helped us out and spoke perfect English. I continue to be shocked by how good everyone's English is throughout Germany. I feel slightly embarrassed to be so inept at speaking anything other than English.

So to Berlin! We decided to treat ourselves and stay in a hotel in Berlin, rather than commute in from a campsite outside the city. We stayed at the Park Inn Hotel, Berlin's tallest hotel, which is in Alexanderplatz, opposite the famous TV Tower (photos to come!). Das Van was too big to park in the underground car park, so we were given a "Limo" space right out the front of the hotel where the van has been resting throughout our stay in Berlin. It felt a bit mean abandoning our trusty van, yet also fantastic to have so much space in a hotel room.

Our plan for Berlin was to explore a mixture of the famous sights and take in a few of the famous (amongst vegans anyway) eateries too. Our first trip was to Kreuzberg an area in the south east of Berlin's centre which is apparently Berlin's answer to Brighton's North Laine, or London's Camden. Certainly the areas we explored seemed to have the requisite number of dreadlocked, tattooed and pierced individuals to suggest this is an accurate label. The whole area had a very laid back and scruffy feel to it, and also allowed me to experience my first ever vegan doner kebab. Yes, a voner kebab. Like so much fast food, it was amazing at the time, but not something you'd be able to eat too often!

Later in the evening we headed out to walk alongside the East Side Gallery on our way to dinner. This is a section of the Berlin Wall that remains standing and is now something of a tourist trap. Despite it having been repainted with peace murals, and therefore considerably more colourful & less unfriendly than it was when heavily guarded, it was still a pretty stark experience. It would be too much to say it offered an insight into what living in a divided city would be like, but certainly with the River Spree running just behind it & the views across to the other side it was possible to see just how artificial, strange and repressive it would have been. It's interesting to note that almost all of Jojo's and my time in Berlin was spent to the east of where the wall once stood.

We ate dinner at a place called Yellow Sunshine. Vegan fast food of a different nature - burgers, not kebabs this time. In my naivety of having never visited Germany before, I was surprised by how (in Berlin at least) it shares "cafe culture" with other places I've been in Europe, mainly the Mediterranean or Paris. Every street had a number of cafes with people occupying the tables and chairs outside sitting, chatting in groups, and in a huge range of different languages. Some were drinking alcohol, some coffee, some water but it was all very civilised and relaxed. It made me wonder what a Berliner visiting London or Brighton would make of some of our nightlife with it's rowdiness and vomiting! And where in the UK could you get ice cream after midnight?! Yummy.

We got back to the hotel late, and shattered. I barely had time to enjoy swinging a cat in all our new found van-free space before going to sleep.

Day 4: Cologne to Hannover(ish)

Today's Mileage 197. Total mileage 557

Today we set off to the countryside on the way to Berlin! All in all a fairly uneventful day of driving, eating and sleeping.

We set off fairly early from Cologne so that we could enjoy the afternoon in some more rural surroundings. After 11 miles of our 195 mile journey, Jojo declared that she needed to stop for a wee. So we stopped, but Dermott and I rolled our eyes!

We got to Ingenensee campsite (near Hannover) at 3ish after a good motorway drive, i.e. totally uneventful. Although the van's ability to comfortably do 100mph on the autobahn is worth a mention.

The campsite had a lovely lake, so we went for a swim, cooked some dinner and settled down for an early night.

Tomorrow we reach Berlin!

Fog on the Rhine (is all mine all mine...)

From Gent to Cologne. Today's mileage 180. Total mileage 360.

After a breakfast of beans on toast (courtesy of our new 4 berth camping toaster!) we packed up and headed out on the road to Germany and more specifically Cologne (or Koln).

Dermott once again came up trumps leading us without hesitation or question. Is it wrong to develop a crush on an Irish satellite navigation system whilst on one's honeymoon? I fear it's happening.

We entered Germany with minimal fanfare. Having only travelled Europe by plane before, we're both used to all the customary borders, security and customs that entails. As such, the road borders between countries are a surprising non-event. Leaving Belgium and entering Germany was simply a question of passing a sign welcoming us to Deutschland. No passport check, no customs, nothing. In fact Jojo and I are yet to have our passports looked at since leaving the UK. Even Dover - Dunkirk was accomplished with nothing more than a cursory glance at the front covers of our passports.

We got to our campsite in Cologne and were greeted by a stern german man who looked at Jojo's tattoos and asked her if she was a sailor. Which was, at least, original. He booked us in, directed us to our pitch by the river & informed us that all other questions could be answered by his (frankly useless) noticeboard.

We headed from the campsite into Cologne. As our van did not yet have a Low Emissions Zone sticker it was banned from the city centre. So we took a tram (my first tram ever!). Things didn't get off to an auspicious start in Cologne. As we crossed our first road junction I looked down to see the road was strewn with at least a dozen used needles. This was made worse when I looked across to see Jojo's flip-flopped feet. Not nice. Luckily, more by chance than anything else, we avoided any needle-stick injuries and continued on our way. Jojo decided to look on the brightside & chose to blame the whole thing on a "clumsy diabetic". I decided not to allow myself to descend into a paranoid spiral of feet-checking, ignore it and hope for better sights and experiences ahead!

We checked out the Dom (cathedral) & some other Cologne landmarks before moving on to the inevitable vegan eateries. In this instance this entailed an ice-cream serving cafe and a vegan shop where we stocked up on loads of fake soya meats for the miles ahead.

As we left the vegan store, the skies darkened and the wind started picking up. Within 5 minutes it was almost dark (think Independence Day all you bad film lovers) and blowing a gale. The wind whipped up sand from the base of the trees lining the streets straight into our eyes and before long the city was inhabited by zombies - everyone eyes shut, moving slowly, arms out feeling their way ahead. It was a bizarre experience, but not totally unexpected after the humidity of the day. As the rain started pouring the darkness was joined by a wet fog, which fortunately coincided with us reaching our tram stop for the journey back to our campsite. The tram was not straightforward however, as the sudden change in weather meant our line was closed, and our shocking lack of any german meant we didn't understand the announcement telling us this and happily sat on the tram going in totally the wrong direction. A few phrase book searches and tram changes later we made it back to the campsite to find several branches had fallen from the trees and we had been lucky to be out and thus avoid any branch/windscreen dramas.

Our final task was to get some food for our dinner. A mundane trip to Aldi was made more entertaining by the checkout lady randomly heckling us as we wandered round. It was only as the lights went out that we realised this was because they were closing. Unfortunately our bemused shrugs & continued slow reading of bread ingredients (the joys of veganism) hadn't done much to endear us to this lady. She recommenced her shouting with more hostility as we finally reached the checkout. Even letting her know we were English and had not understood her earlier shouting did not appease her. She simply shouted some more. She was great. I named her Hilda. Jojo named her Aldi-Bitch.

Tomorrow we start our two day trip to Berlin.

Photos - bye bye Dover

Totally out of sequence photos I know...

Photo - Gent 2

Photo - Gent

Gent

Day Two - still in Gent

Mileage - still 180, no driving today.

Waking up at half seven, Jojo and I had a driving-free day ahead of us in Gent. A chance to acclimatise to Le Van and being abroad.

After a sausage sandwich and a yoghurt for breakfast (not together & not as gross as it sounds) we grabbed a bus to Gent. Our campsite was in the middle of a huge sporting complex, and it was about a 20 minute bus ride into Gent. We passed through a few neighbourhoods, mainly high rise flats, before reaching the historic centre. We looked at some of the sights, before the inevitable happened when travelling with Jojo - we explored the veggie/vegan shops/cafes that Gent had to offer. We had a great lunch at a little place called Avalon, then wandered the canals etc some more. Having not adapted to being in Europe, we had headed out in the hottest part of the day, by 3pm we were both melting and a little cross, so headed back to the campsite for some shade and some ice cream. Our bus journey back made far more amusing by some cool Belgium kids playing very very bad euro techno on their phones at the back of the bus. I think they were shocked to have two "old" people sit near them in the back row.

Back at the campsite we had a magical and revolutionary experience watching Whale Wars in our van, before getting some sleep.

A good day finding out feet abroad and getting used to the heat. Off to Cologne tomorrow, where we got stuck in a storm...

Day One - from home to Gent

So Jojo and I have found wifi for the first time since leaving the UK, so here come a couple of blogs in a row...

Day One - Mileage 0-180 (by van, plus probably about 30 by boat)

After loading up the (still nameless van) we got to Dover by 12.30 and onto the ferry in fog and rain at 1.50. Set off at 2 bang ontime, and if I'm honest we were expecting some rough seas with the wind & rain in Dover. Luckily it was flat calm, & despite much worrying neither Jojo nor I threw up.

Travelling by ferry feels more "real" than travelling by plane. It's a slow stately pace and you see one place disappear into the horizon & the new place appear out of it. It appeals to me a lot - and not just because in an anxious plane passenger.

On arrival in Dunkirk we fired up the Tom Tom for the first time. I've never used sat nav before and not really trusted it, thinking that a man should use a map. However our sat nav speaks in a gentle Irish lilt which renders him pretty friendly, so Jojo and I have decided to trust him, & named him Dermott. He guided us to Gent, and - a few missed exits and u turns later (my fault, not Dermott's) - we made it to Blaamersteem Camping.

After wrestling with the back seat, we popped up the roof, fired up the gas, and ate an awesome dinner of sausage and pasta. We christened the in van loo (no details spared here ladies and gentlemen) and clambered "upstairs" into a surprisingly comfy bed, for a blissful 7 hours sleep.

A pretty good start to our honeymoon voyage, all members of the team - Dermott, Le Van and Mr & Mrs H doing well. Onwards and upwards...

Our Carriage and Home.

Take a look at that! It's a little bit "A Team" and quite a lot awesome. Very excited that this is our new home for the next couple of weeks.

It's beautifully kitted out with fridge, cooker, bed, wardrobe, sink and most importantly for me - air conditioning.

Many more pictures to come, seems I can only post one picture at a time, so might have to do a series of posts with more van pictures.

The only thing he/she is lacking is a name. Possibilities so far are Starr Wolf and Kiwi. Each sitting at the opposite end of the range of possibilities. Any more suggestions very welcome, we'll have to settle on something pretty soon.

Now breakfast, drive then ferry...

The Day Before

So my wife Jojo and I are setting off on our honeymoon. We're off for a trip around Europe in a Campervan.

First time "captaining" a van for either of us (driving is too mundane a word for the fun ahead). First time on a road trip for both of us.

It should be a lot of fun...

Just getting up after a very late night. Lots to do today, packing, sorting, writing lists.

But most excitingly today is the day we pick up the van! Pictures to follow...