ManVanNoPlan Visits Gouda, Minden, Schwerin & Wismar
ManVanNoPlan Visits Gouda, Minden, Schwerin & Wismar
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Friday 4th of July.
Hello and welcome back to another ManVanNoPlan motorhome road trip. We plan to be away in Europe for the full three month Schengen allowance and push the boundaries by visiting four new countries, but more of that later…
You may be wondering why we are only making one foreign trip this year and I’ll spare you a rant about the state of the health service in Scotland as I suppose there are waiting lists in every part of the UK. So what went wrong I hear you ask? It’s a long story, but in a nutshell, The Navigator has had a cataract in her right eye, which over the course of the last year became so bad that she was effectively blind in one eye. A SNHS consultant put her on a waiting list in March 2022 but by April 2023 there was no sign that she was anywhere near the front of the queue so we bit the bullet and had the operation done privately so that we could get on with our lives and back on the road again. And here we are, about to set off for pastures new…
A relatively simple fifteen-minute operation has made such a difference for The Navigator and after waiting a month for the all clear we could now start to plan our only three-month trip of 2023 so the pressure was on to find new and interesting places to visit. I have at least three trips I would like to do in the coming few years and I weighed up the pros and cons of each of them before settling on the one I will be describing over the next three months.
Once The Navigator had her four week eye test following the operation in late June we were ready to go almost immediately. In preparation for the trip we watched loads of YouTube videos on each of the countries we are going to visit, as well as those made by fellow motorhome / campervan owners which were a great help, not only on where to go and what to see, but also the best places to park overnight. When we found somewhere to see or stay, the coordinates were pinned on Google Maps which then more or less dictated the route we should take.
Bessie had passed her MOT in March with no issues and we had been on weekend trips to Beecraigs Country Park near Linlithgow, Kirkcaldy and even locally on the Kintyre Peninsula to keep the batteries topped up and make sure there were no problems with Bessie being in storage over the winter months. One of the issues that these little breaks highlighted was that the leisure batteries were not charging to their full capacity so they will have to be replaced in the near future, but we ran out of time before we set off. Bessie had her fifth birthday recently so the leisure batteries are overdue to be replaced but it will have to wait until we return from this trip.
The above pictures were taken a few weeks ago at one of my favourite wild camping spots on the Mull of Kintyre where you can park on a spur of the old section of road overlooking (on a good day) the islands of Gigha, Jura, and Islay along with Rathlin Island off the coast of Northern Ireland, which can also be seen in the distance. It was a bit overcast where we were there this time but at least it was dry and we managed our first barbecue of the summer.
As I said, the final box that had to be ticked before we could get everything booked to get off on this next adventure was on Monday the 19th of June when The Navigator had to head up to Oban to Specsavers for her eye check up to confirm everything was as it should be. After a spell of really great, hot weather, we set off in heavy rain and were about half way to Oban when the car ground to a halt!
Very long story short, it happened on a rare straight piece of the road so the traffic could get past us easily enough. Our faith in human nature was restored by the amount of people who stopped to see if they could help. One was a couple of tradesmen in a van who kindly took The Navigator up to Oban leaving me to wait for a tow truck.
The tow truck driver informed me that it can take up to two weeks for a garage in Oban to look at a car but he had a “mate” who would look at it right away and diagnose the problem. Another long story very short – the “mate” took a week to fix it and a sizeable chunk of our holiday spending money had gone in the process!
With The Navigator patched up again, we could now get Bessie ready to go, and we eventually set off from home on Friday the 30th of June. The first stop was our usual first overnight stop in the Kingstown Industrial Estate, Carlisle. (54.923762, -2.950427).
We then headed on to Pool Bank Farm, (53.894543, -1.628444) a Caravan Club CL near Otley, Yorkshire and we stayed there for two nights. This CL has seen better days, but it’s the nearest to daughter Emma and partner Adam, so we spent some time with them including a walk around Roundhay Park in Leeds.
The next two pictures were taken in Roundhay Park and the eagle eyed among you will spot a penthouse flat over Adam’s right shoulder which was once owned by Jimmy Saville, and is allegedly still empty!
We set off on the Monday morning to head for our ferry port of choice now, Harwich. Our sailing to the Hook of Holland was at 9am on Tuesday morning so we had all day to get to Harwich and took out time getting there. The last time we had an early morning sailing we wild camped on the seafront (51.942139, 1.290673) a short distance from the Stena Lines terminal and enjoyed a good night’s sleep before our early rise.
Day 1 – Tuesday 4th of July
Harwich to Gouda – 131 Miles (52.010755, 4.717218)
It was a dull, grey morning as the alarm sounded for our early start as our ferry, the Stena Britannica, was departing at 9am. We were showered and had breakfast in record time before we set off just before 7am to head for the nearby Asda where I topped up on fuel before heading for the port. A few vans and caravans were there before us and once we had our passports stamped, Bessie was given a cursory search by Port Security. You wonder what was the point of it is as they only looked in the toilet compartment and garage, I suppose to see if we were subsidising this trip by smuggling people out of the country.
Last year The Navigator was frisked, but I’m not sure if she was disappointed or not as she was not patted down this time!
The ship was not any where near full and it even left the berth ten minutes early. This is our fourth crossing on this route and, as on previous occasions, the crossing was smooth and uneventful. Because it’s a seven hour crossing there are not the bus loads of excited school kids that you get on the much shorter Dover – Calais route so it is a relaxing experience.
As you sail out of the River Stour between Harwich on the starboard side and Felixstowe on the port side it is time to put your phones and / or tablets on aircraft mode as once you lose the land based signal your device picks up the ship’s maritime satellite signal which is horrendously expensive so you have to endure a seven hour digital detox, unless you want to pay for wi-fi, which we passed on.
It is surprisingly entertaining just looking out of the large windows as there is always a ship to be seen, but no whales or dolphins this time. In fact, as we neared the Dutch coast The Navigator started to count the ships at anchor, but she got bored after thirty five, so I can’t tell you how many we saw in total. I had downloaded a two part documentary from Netflix called The Girlfriend Who Didn’t Exist, which was well made and passed a couple of hours, and in the course of it we learned what catfishing is!
We treated ourselves to lunch and the fish and chips were excellent, and, to be fair to Stena, the food is good and fairly priced and we’ve not had a bad meal onboard yet.
As well as the usual selection of vehicles that made the crossing, one stood out, a Dutch campervan towing a trailer containing a rowing boat. I do it a disservice by calling it a rowing boat as it is much more than that and is built and equipped to cross the Atlantic between the Canary Islands and Antigua, all of 3,000 miles which must be a punishing ordeal for the four person crew. Thirty crews will make the crossing in December, brave souls that they are.
On arrival, the Dutch Customs Officer asked us how long we were on the continent for and where we were going and The Navigator rhymed off all the countries we hoped to visit in the eighty seven days, but she only heard the ‘seven days’ and looked bemused at the thought if doing all of that distance in a week!
After clearing customs we nipped into a nearby Lidl for some of our favourite Dutch treats before setting off for Gouda, some forty five minutes away and two hours later we duly arrived at the Klein America motorhome Aire in the centre of this pretty little city. There were no accidents or road works en-route but for some unknown reason Google Maps decided to take us on a massive detour before depositing us in Gouda. Usually Google Maps takes you on the shortest route possible, but on this occasion it did the exact opposite!
Day 2 – Wednesday 5th of July
Gouda – 0 Miles (52.010755, 4.717218)
The Aire has been upgraded since we were last here in October and there are now thirty designated parking spaces for motorhomes / campervans but even with the welcome additional spaces, it was full. We parked on a car parking space and held our breath as a police patrol car circled the Aire a little later but we were not asked to move on so we had a quick snack and settled down for the night after what had been a long day.
‘July 2023, (Oh What A Night)’ does not have the same ring to it as the Frankie Valli classic hit, but what a night it was! Torrential rain battered down on the roof of the van and strong gusts of wind shook Bessie although I managed to sleep through most of it, unlike The Navigator who didn’t fare so well.
We had a relaxing morning watching and listening to the rain batter down, but, as if by magic, it went off as predicted just after noon so we headed off for the short walk into the centre of Gouda. If you are a regular reader of these blogs you will have a good idea where we headed for first, yes you guessed, the fish shop / takeaway, Monkfish, where we enjoyed two generous portions of kibbeling, which at only € 5 each is a fantastic bargain.
After lunch we wandered about the town centre which had come to life after this morning’s downpour and visited the shops we usually visit here, especially The Navigator’s favourites, Hema and Flying Tiger.
Day 3 – Thursday 6th of July
Gouda – Minden – 203 Miles (52.287000, 8.924300)
Today we set off into the unknown. From here on it will be pastures new for us until we return to our usual Dutch haunts in just short of three months time, which is both exciting and daunting in equal measures!
First stop today is the town of Minden in northern Germany, a three and a half hour drive away, but before that, we paid for parking until 11am then walked into Gouda as today (Thursday) is market day in Gouda, and it’s not just any old market, it’s the world famous Gouda cheese market which has been held in the central square since the 14th century.
It was a surprisingly lovely, warm morning after all the heavy rain of the past few days and when we arrived in the square the scene was set for the ‘show’ to start at 10am. We were lucky enough to get ringside seats and watched the spectacle that unfolded for about an hour before walking around the various stalls, buying some cheese as we did so, well it is Gouda after all. By the way, Gouda is pronounced How-da in these parts, although we Brits pronounce it with the hard G.
Tall Dutch girl or shrinking Navigator?
A few spots of rain fell but we were heading back to Bessie anyway to service the van and get on our way into Germany. The route was straightforward enough and Google Maps guided us to Minden in just over four hours with a quick pitstop for lunch on the way.
Minden was chosen at random for our first stopover in Germany as it looked an interesting town just off the motorway with a riverside stellplatz within walking distance of the town centre. The original thought had been to get parked up, plugged in, and head off for a walk into town but it was so warm the chairs were extracted from the garage and we sat watching all the activity in the field in front of us and the river.
We were surprised at how busy it was for a Thursday afternoon as families had picnics, barbecues and played games. It has to be said that most people were of Arabic descent and none were speaking German. That said, they were all enjoying the afternoon and one group in particular seemed to be celebrating the birthday of one of the children, which was confirmed when they played ‘Happy Birthday’ with the words in English but the music had a funky Arabic beat behind it.
A few minutes later the little boy of about four or five carried a paper plate over to us with two pieces of a delicious chocolate cake which we had later after our dinner. He spoke to us but we told him we didn’t understand him as we were from Scotland at which he ran back to his family shouting ‘Scotland, Scotland!’ Later we ate outside and polished off a bottle of wine before retiring indoors, just as the light was beginning to fade.
Day 4 – Friday 7th of July Minden – 0 Miles (52.287000, 8.924300)
Minden was only meant to be a one night stopover but we decided to stay over another night after our relaxing afternoon yesterday. Once we caught up on some van admin it was time to explore the town of Minden.
“Minden sustained severe damage from Allied bombings during World War II. These attacks were minor during the early phase of the war. The raid on 26 October 1944 on the canal aqueduct damaged the wall of the Mittelland Canal, and numerous workers in a nearby air raid shelter were drowned. The last and most devastating air raid was conducted by United States Army Air Forces Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress aircraft on 28 March 1945 and destroyed great parts of the town centre, including the town hall and cathedral, and resulted in the death of over 180 people.”
The result today is a town that looks fairly modern because of the post war reconstruction. The town centre is pedestrianised and this gives it the opportunity to have many outdoor seating areas to eat, drink and relax.
Running for most of the main shopping street is the massive department store, Hagenmeyer, which makes a John Lewis look downmarket by comparison. Germany is suffering economically at the moment and many stores had sales on with huge mark downs on their ranges.
One of the shops we had a walk around was a Woolworths where we purchased an Italian bottle of white wine for all of € 2.00 (£ 1.71) and it was surprisingly good and didn’t last the afternoon. We had a currywurst sitting in the sun, which was baking hot, so hot it forced us into the Cathedral to sit in the cool for a while. As you will know from previous blogs, we tend to visit most Cathedrals as we find them but this one was nothing to write home about, so I won’t!
Inexpensive Birthday Gift Ideas…
Titles for the four nations also include, Best Wife, Best Mum, Best Son, Best Dog, Best Golfer & Best Cat!
See the full range of titles HERE.
Minden town centre is on the other side of the river Weser from the Aire so we headed back over the nearby impressive footbridge where Bessie was waiting with much needed cool drinks. We sat outside in the shade of an impressive chestnut tree for the rest of the afternoon, people watching the many groups who were having barbecues and enjoying cooling off in the river.
If you look carefully you can see Bessie parked beside a large chestnut tree, which The Navigator called a coconut tree at one stage. Wine may have been consumed by this stage. You will also see a bar on the riverside which was popular and although a hundred yards or so in front of us, the music they were playing did not disturb us at all.
After dinner outside we sat out until just after nine o’clock which, were we back home we wouldn’t be doing as there has been heavy rain and some flooding around Mid Argyll.
The tables and chairs etc were stowed away as we are making a relatively early start to head for Germany’s second biggest city, Hamburg. In doing so we are breaking one of my golden rules which is not to arrive anywhere new on a Saturday as most places are busy, if not full with both holidaymakers / tourists like us, but also people escaping in their vans for the weekend. Fingers are crossed that we will find a place to park for the next two nights and that’s why we are heading into Hamburg before lunchtime to hopefully get parked.
We’ve enjoyed Minden, and would certainly return if we were ever in this area again. It is a functional town, and certainly not the prettiest we have visited in Germany. The stellplatz is on the riverside with lots to do, especially if you have a family with children who want to run about and let off steam after a long drive. That said, of all the twenty odd vans that have been here on the last two nights, all were ‘mature’ campers like us!
Day 5 – Saturday 8th of July.
Minden to Hamburg to Schwerin – 219 Miles (53.629911, 11.420349)
The day that didn’t go to plan!
Minden to Hamburg. Two and a half hours on mostly dual carriageway and motorway so what could possibly go wrong I hear you all say!
Well, what we didn’t know was that Hamburg was celebrating the Festival of Love: The Number 1 among all European Schlager spectacles, called the Hamburg Schlagermove.
“You can’t stay 17 forever”, but that’s not true at the Schlagermove in the heart of Hamburg, when the Festival of Love is celebrated once again on the 7th till 8th of July 2023 on the streets of Hamburg between Heiligengeistfeld and St. Pauli-landing bridges. Up to half a million Schlager fans dance around the 45 colourfully decorated music trucks. “If the Sun shines in your heart”, you’re between Kiez and the harbour. The colourful Schlager Parade sets off at 3pm and makes its rounds until evening. Schlager fans from all of Germany and neighbouring countries meet with sunflowers in their hair, fancy shoes, flouncy hems and miniskirts, to have a great time and frolic away the afternoon together.
So, apart from an accident which held up traffic on the motorway and a massive queue to get off the motorway and into the city centre, the above festival was happening in the very district the stellplatz we were heading for was located. We made it to within less than a mile of the stellplatz before we encountered a police road block. A very helpful police officer gave us another name to put in the satnav and that should take us there by another route.
Google maps is not easily fooled however by a German police officer, no matter how blonde and how pretty, so Google re-routed us back in a loop to where the road was blocked. It was obvious at this point that we were not going to beat half a million people dressed as if they were at a hippy festival in mid sixties San Francisco!
I admitted defeat with Hamburg and re-routed (again) to Schwerin, which was the next planned stop after Hamburg so we would be getting there a couple of days before we originally should have. The journey took another hour and a half, including a lengthy detour off the motorway to search for cheaper diesel than an expensive service station. We eventually made it to the marina / stellplatz more than a little frazzled with the heat and the long journey only for the lady in charge to tell us every pitch was taken!
It turns out the German schools have closed for the summer holidays and that, coupled by the 85 degree heat, had filled up all the campsites for the weekend! She told us about a car park in town where we could park for the night at the princely sum of € 30 with no facilities so we had no choice but to head there. We did, and the one thing in its favour was the proximity to the lovely town centre and the magnificent Schwerin Schloss.
After dinner we had a walk past the Schloss which looked magnificent in the evening sunlight.
“Schwerin is known for Schwerin Castle, a neo-Renaissance palace with ornate rooms and elaborate gardens. The castle sits on an island in Lake Schwerin, one of several picturesque lakes.”
We walked through part of the old town and had a soft eis or a Whippy cone as we know them. Suitably refreshed, we headed back to the sauna known as Bessie for a refreshing cup of tea. We Brits know how to cope with a heatwave abroad!
Today, we had driven for the best part of seven hours in baking heat without achieving too much, so after catching up with the latest episode of Who Do You Think You Are, The Navigator was fast asleep at nine thirty, bless her, and I got peace to type up today’s episode.
Day 6 – Sunday 9th of July
Schwerin – 5 Miles (53.647716, 11.428049)
Even though we were in a car park close to the centre of this busy tourist town, we both had a good nights sleep and woke to yet another blistering hot morning.
Although we were parked only 100 yards from a Lidl it was closed, as are most German supermarkets on a Sunday so we walked into the town centre to find a small tobacconists that had bottles of water in a fridge. We were running low on drinks to quench our thirst due to the intense heat.
A long lie and this walk into town passed the morning before we moved on to the marina stellplatz we booked yesterday. The expected € 30 overnight car park price turned out to be only € 10 which was a good start to the day.
Our pitch at the marina was ready for us and after servicing the van we plugged into the electricity supply and spent the rest of the afternoon sitting out in the shade. We didn’t have a view out onto the lake, but we did have shade, which was more important today.
Our elderly Dutch neighbours warned us that it was due to rain during the night and continue for much of Monday before drying up by mid afternoon.
Day 7 – Monday 10th of July
Schwerin – 0 Miles (53.647716, 11.428049)
As predicted, it did rain during the night and some of the morning but it had cleared up by lunchtime. The Navigator paid the helpful lady in charge and found out the times of the busses into town, so after lunch we headed off to explore more of Schwerin and the Schloss.
Our Dutch neighbour had explained that the unified German Government had spent billions of Euros restoring Schwerin to its former glory after years of neglect under the post war communist rule and that it was well worth seeing.
We wandered around the shopping area in the centre of town and were impressed with the quality of the shops, if not the prices. That said, there are a fair few bargain shops although we resisted the temptation to buy another € 2 bottle of wine from Woolworths again!
There is a large square in front of the Cathedral and we spent some time watching two street performers entertaining a sizeable crowd before we headed to the Schloss for a walk around the gardens.
As well as an incredibly impressive building, as you can see in the photographs, the gardens surrounding the Schloss are equally impressive and the rest of the afternoon was spent walking around the grounds. It had cleared up to another beautiful afternoon, but because we were beside the lake, there was a lovely breeze that we’ve not had in the past week.
Day 8 – Tuesday the 11th of July
Schwerin to Wismar – 27 Miles (58.893077, 11.445815)
Schwerin was a place we had never heard of before researching this trip and it should be on everyone’s ‘must see’ list of places anyone visiting this area of northern Germany should visit. Booking in advance would be advised though…
Today’s drive was less than forty minutes via a Netto where we stocked up on some essentials. Netto never really became established in the UK due to the dominance of Aldi and Lidl, but here in this part of northern Germany they are numerous, and the one we were in was new and had loads of bargains, including the ‘essential’ wine!
The stellplatz in Wismar was easy enough to find, thanks to Google Maps and it was one of the biggest we’ve been on in Germany. We didn’t know that much about Wismar but if this many motorhomes are here the town must be worth the effort to get here.
After lunch we set off for the short walk into the centre of the town and we immediately saw why the stellplatz was full – it was architecturally stunning with many of the buildings dating from the 1600’s and, like Schwerin, all beautifully restored. At times you can be forgiven for thinking you are in a Dutch town as there are similarities in the architectural style.
There was a market on in the main square but by mid afternoon it was on its last legs by the time we got there. From the centre of town we headed down to the harbour which was busy, and again, beautifully restored with what were once warehouses, now converted into desirable apartments.
We took the opportunity to relax and take it all in with a latte, tea and a rather delicious shared cherry cake. Later, back at the van, we sat out in the shade and relaxed before having our meal outside. Although we were in the shade, thanks to Bessie, it was still very warm and we sat out until well after nine o’clock.
The one and only British couple on the site came to chat for a while and we had to marvel at their ambition in coming this far from Lancashire on a two week holiday, but then again, they were much younger than us, and not retired yet!
Another person we chatted to was a Dutch man from a campervan opposite us who had owned a yacht that had sailed around the west coast of Scotland and had also cycled along the Crinan Canal to Ardrishaig. Small world!
Between 3am and 4.30am we were wakened by an almighty thunder and lightning storm with a tremendous downpour of rain. It is better these conditions happen during the night rather than spoil the daytime sightseeing, but it does hinder a good night’s sleep.
Day 9 – Wednesday 12th of July
Wismar – 0 Miles (58.893077, 11.445815)
Yesterday marked a week on foreign soul and we both feel that it has been much longer than that since we arrived in the Hook of Holland last Tuesday.
We are trying to get into the routine of two overnights in each town or city which will give us at least one full day to visit the sights in that place. Yesterday we arrived earlier than we usually do in a new place so we had a look around Wismar in the afternoon, but that was only a scouting mission for a more detailed visit to the harbour area today.
That was the plan anyway, but first we had a walk around to the next door Netto for a few things, then, when we got back to the van, we sat and relaxed outside watching all the comings and goings of the other vans around us. Although it was warm today, there was a welcome breeze which made it more comfortable to sit outside, rather being frazzled in the baking heat of the last few days. We are tanning nicely but when you expose more flesh than you would back home you run the risk of being bitten by almost invisible insects, and we have both succumbed to their bites!
Before we knew where we were, it was lunchtime and that was the morning gone! Suitably refreshed and rested, we set off for the nearby marina and harbour area before heading into the main touristy bit of the harbour are where we walked about before finding ourselves back at the bakery we frequented yesterday and had a refreshing cup of Assam tea which The Navigator preferred today instead of the coffee she usually has.
As you will know, The Navigator loves her fish snacks and meals and in Wismar we saw for the first time a novel way of selling fish. In the harbour there were three converted trawlers moored and selling fish, both fresh and cooked, as well as all kinds on bread rolls and they were all doing great business. It struck me that if some enterprising soul did this down the road from us in Tarbert it would be a great hit with tourists and locals alike!
This is the end of our first week and we hope you have enjoyed seeing the places we have visited. As I type this we have been to another three places and each one is better than we could have hoped for. You won’t want to miss the next blog…
We (I) have also been busy working on new ranges for Fyne Editions and one such new range is the 2024 Week-to-View Diaries There are over 50 published so far with more to come soon. You can see a small sample of titles below but check out the full range HERE.
This map shows the approximate route we have taken so far on the 2023 Road Trip…
Some of the links above are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn a small affiliate commission from Amazon if you click through the link and finalise a purchase.
COMING SOON ON THE NEXT BLOG...
The next blog will start off in Germany then progress into Poland, and what a massive surprise Poland is already, our first time in Poland and this far east in a motorhome.
We will also bring you up to speed on a dilemma for us that could totally affect this trip!!
Stay tuned, and if you are not already SUBSCRIBED sign up to be notified of the new blogs when they go online.
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