So we're back from our first 'bigger than ever before but not that big really' break away in Dora and it was great. It's just confirmed what we already knew and we're now really, really looking forward to the big off.
It also confirmed some minor alterations / additions that we could do with to make life that bit easier; the first of which is a shoe rack, which Pete has just finished this evening. He has yet to enter anything on his tech page; even more of a procrastinator than me I'm afraid, but I promise I'll post some pics at some point. I think we must be the worse possible people to have a blog, but I'm hoping it will help to improve my home admin. I'm convinced it's because I work in admin and spend my days being organised, so when I get home, it all goes to pot.
But anyway, here it is, part one of the first big break; the next part may be some time...
Day 1 –
Friday
The first
day of our 10 days of freedom! After
finishing work as early as possible and packing up the last bits and pieces
into Dora, we set off for our first overnight stop. After 3 hrs of not great traffic, we arrived
in Braunschweig and located our free stopover.
As it was already early evening by the time we were sorted, we decided
not to go into town; as it’s within 100kms of our house, we figured we could
come back any time. Instead, we wandered
around the Burger park with Powell after his patient wait to get here and
settled in for the evening.
Day 2 –
Saturday
Magdeburg
to Leipzig – Stopped at a stellplatz in only to find out that it’s closed on
Sunday for the fishmarket. Thinking we
would end up getting trapped in by the fishmarket and be stuck until late
Sunday or early Monday, we moved on. Had
we been away indefinitely, it wouldn’t have been a problem, but we wanted to try
and make the most of the few days we had on leave. We also decided we could leave Magdeburg for
a long weekend as it’s still fairly close to our current base.
Having been
slightly disappointed by the Magdeburg
issue, we decided to get the bulk of the driving out of the way and
headed straight to Leipzig – arriving late afternoon at a lovely spot in Markkleeberg,
approx 5 miles from Leipzig city centre, in the middle of Agra
Park.
We took Powell for a wander around the park,
then chilled with a couple of drinks for the rest of the evening, ready for a
day of exploring on Sunday. For €7.50 a
night, it was really quite cheap for a city location and such a lovely green
spot.
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Fresh water was available and although
we didn’t need any at the time, we did need to empty our grey and black
waste. For a fee of €2, the manager /
owner directed us to what we expected to be a Sanistation, but wasn’t
quite. It turned out Pete was guided to
a drainage grate on a lesser used part of the road outside the stellplatz and
after a squeeze of a 3 point turn and (possibly not quite legally) emptying the
grey, was then lead to another part of the road and a sewage drain...guess
we should be glad we could empty at all, but I’m a little sceptical about just how
legal it was, especially in such an environmentally friendly country as Germany…and
as for the cost…a Sanistation normally costs less, although I don’t know what
the going rate is for misusing drains, so maybe that’s what the fee was for.
Day 3 -
Sunday
Leipzig
We decided
it was a good day to explore and not be tempted into any retail therapy, as
with all towns in Germany, shops are closed on a Sunday. We rode the 8 km into town with Powell in
quick pursuit (I haven’t seen better cycle networks in any other country yet –
they’re amazing – even after 6 years in Germany, they never fail to impress!),
locking the bikes next to Lutherkirche on the outskirts of the city park. We discovered
that we’d arrived in Leipzig on the day of the Leipzig marathon; having
completed Frankfurt marathon in 2012, I knew how pained people would look
towards the end, so we stayed and watched the runners for a short while,
clapping in support of their efforts (and it is an effort towards the
end!). One my emotions had got the
better of me, we headed off for a wander around the city.
It was in
Leipzig that it dawned on us just how much our lives have changed. Once upon a time, a dogless, childless Sue
and Pete would have spent a fortune on a city break, splashing out on U Bahns,
museums, theatre tickets, meals out, nights out, without even giving it a
second thought. Now, we're riding into town and packing sandwiches to save money on lunch and buying the cheapest beer / wine we can find in the supermarket!!
We realised
there seems to be a lot less to do in big cities if there’s not a lot of cash available
and you have a furry friend in tow. Luckily,
the cities we’ve visited in Germany have a good amount of green space, so we’ve
tended to head to the parks more often than not and to be honest, being in
Germany, a lot of places are dog friendly.
But of course, if all else fails, there’s always the architecture
(something that I think entertains me far more than it entertains Pete) and
there will always be bakeries for cheap treats(!!) but I think maybe we’re just
not feeling the city vibe anymore; I don’t think Pete ever did, to be
honest! We can’t escape the expense
involved either; generally, we’re finding city stops tend to be more expensive
and I personally don’t feel as secure in a city as I do in a smaller town –
maybe we’re just turning into country bumpkins...! I think it’s safe to say, unless it’s
extraordinarily beautiful, cities aren’t really our thing. That doesn’t mean we’re going to Boycott them;
I think we’ll just have to be selective about where we go when we set off on
the big one.
Well, after
that little digression, back to Leipzig. You’ll see from the pictures, that we didn’t
really see a great deal of the city itself but managed to see some of the
important bits;
the Rathaus (Town Hall), which in most towns, including
Leipzig, is a work of art in itself,
the Bundesverwaltungsgericht (Federal
Administrative Court)
and the old
Rathaus (which is now the museum of city history).
The highlight for me though, was our visit to
the Volkerschlachtdenkmal,
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| Giant Sue & Monster Powell! |
the monument to the Battle of the Nations, the largest conflict before World
War 1 and the biggest battle of the Napoleonic Wars. An imposing structure at 91 meters high, it
is one of the largest memorials in Europe, which was completed in 1913 to commemorate
the 100th anniversary of Napolean’s defeat and celebrating the unification
of Germany. Having had a look on the ‘net
for info about this memorial, I noted that some have called it nothing more
than a nationalistic monstrosity, but I personally found it rather
impressive. We should remember that
Germany has a long and complicated history that goes way beyond 1939 and just
because Hitler had a few meetings in a building, doesn’t mean that everything
else that building stands for, should be forgotten.
After our
journey to the memorial, we made our way with an extra pooped pooch, back to
Dora. We covered in the region of 15
miles over the entire day. Needless to
say, he was out like a light for the rest of the evening, while we chilled
outside, making the most of the glorious sunshine and longer evenings and
deciding on our next stopover.
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