It's not over, until it's over

I didn't say anything while things were still happening because I didn't want you to worry about me. But now everything is fine and I can tell you.                                                    

You remember that I had my left ABS sensor changed, right? Well, the right one felt left out and now demanded to be replaced as well. One can drive without a problem, even if the warning lights for the sensor are on. Unless you are in Greenland. Or Russia in winter. Or anywhere with snow and ice, then it's less fun. The main problem for me was, that the speed control didn't work anymore. And all of you who have done their kilometers on the highway know, how handy that little function is.

And with a friend of my cousins being a mechanic, it would be easy, right? Wrong! On my way to Cologne I passed by his garage to get the part changed. He had ordered it for me from his local dealer and twenty minutes later I was on my way again. I sure was, but the lights came right back on! U-turn back to his house. He took the part back out, called his dealer to check the serial number was correct. Turns out a couple of numbers have been transposed and that's why my system would not accept the part. 

The correct one could be ordered, but only for the next day around noon. There went the highly anticipated soccer evening in Cologne for my human. Instead, we drove to a nearby town called Hennef. Never heard? It's right next to Müschmühle and Lauthausen. See, now you know.

We stayed on a nice, quiet parking lot for hikers right next to the river Sieg. While I came to terms with the fact, that I'm getting on in years and that things will just break down and have to be replaced once in a while, Carmelo and my human hit the town and found a place to watch the game. But let's just not talk about that. It wasn't so pretty.

The next morning, after a nice run along the river (guess who of us did the running), we drove back to the garage, got the correct sensor installed and were on our way to Cologne. 

The weather wasn't that great, but after settling in on a parking lot right next to a couple of schools, the ones with legs walked into the city to check out the sights. My human has been here before, but it's been quite a while. From where I stood it was a 30 minutes walk along the river Rhein, across the Hohenzollern bridge. This is the most heavily used railway bridge in Germany with up to 1.200 trains per day. It leads right to the heart of the city, the cathedral. This huge, gothic structure was built from the 13th to the 19th Century. I know I'm slow sometimes, but that surely tops it!

As I mentioned, not the best weather, but dry

Guarding the Hohenzollern Bridge, Friedrich III

The whole bridge is covered with locks. Estimates are that they weigh around 45 tons

The very impressive cathedral of Cologne

Contact free holy water, the modern church

Nevertheless, unlike me, the cathedral now is a World Heritage Site and one of the most visited sights in Germany. It almost sounds like a miracle that the building was hardly damaged in the second world war, compared to the surrounding city, which was reduced to rubble.

After visiting the Belgian Quarter, probably the hippest area in Cologne with a multitude of restaurants, bars and cafes, and having dinner at a Vietnamese place, the two of them got back to me and planned the next day. There would be yoga in the morning, then a visit to the Agrippabad, a swimming pool with an extensive sauna area, and then a 3h sightseeing tour on a river boat. And for me, chilling!

Traveling in style

All these river boats are normally out doing tours, not in Corona times

Carmelo enjoying the sightseeing tour on the Rhein; he had never been to Cologne

When they came back in the evening they had also had coffee and cake at the Chocolate museum and had chilled on some steps along the Rhine, watching the sun set behind the cathedral. 

The next day we inched closer towards the boarder to the Netherlands, but stopped for one more night in Germany, just 10km short of Venlo. We parked on a large area, also designated for hikers, in the middle of a large forest, surrounded by a number of lakes. That's why my human chose this spot over others. Well, turns out the whole area is a nature reserve and you mustn't swim in any of the lakes. There was a large water park just a few kilometers away, but with great weather and it being Saturday, we figured it wasn't a great idea to go. There would be children, many of them!

Instead Carmello and my human went on an extensive bike ride to check out the surroundings. They found a large garden, which belongs to the Naturschutzbund, a non-profit nature conservation group.  There were beautiful flowers, a herb garden, fruit trees, a little pond and a few sheep and goats. All very nice and shady.

Along the way they had seen a large wooden structure which looked like a viewing platform. Of course now they couldn't find it anymore and so rode around seemingly in circles, looking for this tower. After what felt like a couple of hours (and probably wasn't much less), they finally found it. The views from the top were very nice, but by now it was rather hazy and the air wasn't very clear.

On their search they also passed by this old mill, which turns out to be the first provisional televison tower in Rhineland and served as a relay station for the first ever live transmission in German TV, which was the crowning of Queen Elisabeth the second in 1953.

And these are the last impressions from Germany for now. There is a lot more to explore, but for now we are going to check out the Netherlands. Initially we wanted to head straight for the UK, planning on spending the summer in England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. But at the moment you still have to quarantine when you enter the country. And for reasons unknow to me, my human isn't very keen on spending ten days stuck with just me and Carmello for company. 

Therefore we will spend some time in the Netherlands, visit some people there and eat a lot of cheese! Fine by me!

Oh, one more thing. I'd like you to get a better impression of what day to day camper life looks like. So once in a while I will show you a photo of something very ordinary, under normal circumstances. But slightly different when you live in a van.

In case you were wondering what it looks like at shower time