Monday 25^th July

Our taxi to the post office to post off our parcels of books, brochures and magazines arrived quickly this morning and the parcels were despatched without much ado but with much cash. While it cost 220E, which makes these items very expensive, they are the souvenirs David treasures the most from our trips and he will not throw any out. Of course, you have to wait in a queue; all post offices around the world seem to be the same. The taxi driver was helpful, although we suspect he deliberately took us on a long way round. I asked him what he thought of all the English words appearing in Germany and he just shrugged. It was a phenomena of the last 10 years he said and some people hate it but he realises it will probably get worse.

We bought fresh bread rolls and once again did the long trip back to the camping ground. The trains run about every 5-7 minutes on a weekday. Fantastic service! That’s the advantage of a small relatively modern city where most people appear to live in units. At least, I suppose, the walk back to the camping ground gave us some exercise before sitting in the van for several hours to Frankfurt. However, I had not slept much last night. I was woken, just as I was drifting off, by loud fireworks in about three spells. Then my painkillers wore off and my poor knees would not let me sleep except in short spurts. Two days walking around for hours on hard surfaces in Nuremberg, on top of all the walking done these last three months, had taken its toll. So I was rather tired when we left Nuremberg and spent a lot of the trip dozing.

It was, however, basically a good run on the motorway but road works were a bit of a nuisance. Luckily, we were not travelling in the opposite direction where road works in one spot caused a huge traffic jam lasting 15km. Before leaving Nuremberg, we detoured via the Nazi Parade Ground I had seen in so many WWII newsreels. It doesn’t look so impressive with all the weeds growing up and around the concrete structure, nor too attractive without all the Nazi flags and banners. It is a sad reminder of how easily people are lead and the power of oratory to whip them up.

We had no difficulty finding the camping ground at Frankfurt. This was the one we had intended to use for our fist night in Germany but were talked out of it by the McRent people. Yes, we have discovered, the owner is very rude and abrupt. Firstly, when we arrived the reception was closed between 1 and 5pm! We could not be bothered translating the sign and someone told us to get a site even though we think we were supposed to call a telephone number first. When David went to pay at 5pm, the owner told him to go away and come back in 20 minutes, as he was busy! Great customer service! Later, when David inquired about bread for the morning and Internet, he was told to go and get them in town, as it was only 10 minutes away!

We had just walked to the local shops, scattered as they are through the suburb of Heddernheim, to fill in the afternoon and get some more exercise. They do not seem to have the concept here of the main street. We had hoped to find a bakery but the only one we came across did not have anything that appealed. Instead, we went into two supermarkets of the unattractive variety and got some dusting cloths, for tomorrow’s clean up, and some Pringles. We purchased some more wine on the way home to have with dinner and reward ourselves after the cleaning is done.

We don’t like cleaning day but usually go to considerable effort. In Canada, they were amazed how spotless the van was when we returned it to them. However, that will not be possible here. There is nowhere to wash the vehicle and what’s the point with the overnight light rain we are having. We have been told that a vacuum cleaner is available at some service stations so tomorrow we will go in search of such a station. There are two nearby but they may not have a vacuum cleaner, which would make our job a more difficult hands and knees affair. Basically, we have to leave the kitchen and bathroom clean, which means the stove, sinks, fridge and cupboards. I would like to vacuum the front cab carpet, although a good beating works ok, and wash the small floor area. So we have chosen a heavily gravelled site to reduce the amount dirt we track into the cleaned van and will eat tea out tomorrow night so we can turn off the fridge after lunch and defrost it.

There is a restaurant here where we hope to get salad and sausage; it is the best we can hope for. Otherwise, the site does not inspire. It was wet and boggy in places with lots of puddles and reminds me of the ground at Garmisch –P., near the Zugspitze. The facilities are worse inside here except for the laundry area. The showers are token showers and all you get for 1.10E is 4 minutes of hot water. David says it is at least hot although they are the most expensive showers we have had, I think. Two nights here, on top of the last three, is not a particularly good end to the holiday but it will make the hotel seem like heaven. In addition, this ground is the closest to Friedberg where we have to return the van by 10am on Wednesday.

Another advantage of here is that it is only a very short walk to the train into town, although you are a fair way out, and we won’t be taking advantage of this facility. The trams and buses are a deep teal green, by the way, – not my favourite colour. The local area, despite some trees and greenery, is not particularly attractive. It is like working-class suburbia with lots of the same style of basic, bland two storey houses or three storey blocks of flats. The walls have none of the old decoration or ornamentation. The windows are just punched into the walls and the walls rendered and painted pale colours. I guess there was a drastic need for houses after the Second World War and they put up these shells. It is not somewhere I would be tempted to live.