Sat 5th July – Rottenburg Am Neckar
A very nice and easy drive to meet up with Fran an old colleague of
Tina’s. We found her mum’s apartment no problem and Fran appeared just as we
finished parking. Good timing! We were very generously given an open house and
immediately loaded the washing machine. In Germany there is a communal laundry
area in the basement where each person has
a space for their washing machine & dryer. All very organized with even
all the pipes and valves labeled. Teutonic efficiency at its best. We were made
most welcome and felt very at ease. That evening we went out for a traditional
meal. I had bratwurst and potato salad. Very filling. The beer was very good of
course!
Sunday 6th
After a good nights sleep (in a proper house – sooooo quiet) we
headed out for a cycle ride to Tubingen, Fran’s university town. It was very
hot so the very steep diversion to Wormlinger Kappelle, a lovely little church
was hot sweaty work – but worth it.
come on girls!
worth it for the views
After a pause to enjoy the views we
continued along the ridge down into the very lovely Tubingen. Fran was our
guide and she led us through the town to an ice cream shop. What a shame. We
ate it down by the river watching the punts go by. There was even one with a
brass band playing onboard. The cycle back was into a very hot wind. Definitely
a storm brewing. That evening we enjoyed a take away curry German style on the
balcony but had to rush indoors when the wind and rain arrived. Spectacular and
much cooler.
Tubingen
brass band on a punt!
curry before the storm (!)
Mon 7th
Our first big problem to resolve with the van – the fridge was not
working on gas. A quick scan of the internet back in the flat found us a
Dometic dealer 12km away. We drove over and the fridge was looked at almost
straight away. The service guy was a bit stressed but fitted us in. The
mechanic tested all the connections, blew the burner out and declared it
working on manual only. No problem we
thought, we can cope – wasn’t to be quite so easy! He said the pcb was at fault
- €200 plus. Ouch. Still it would be covered by our warranty. Turned out the service guy was an old hippy who had travelled to Nepal in an old London bus!
So on Tuesday morning we
moved to a free stellplatz in
Stiltach. What a find. Full of
enchanting old buildings and streets that had been beautifully restored. The
stellplatz was right in the centre by the river. Lovely setting. We had plans
to explore all the free museums the next day………….
Stiltach
free stellplatz
Weds 9th
Dam – fridge not working on gas again. An internet search revealed a
couple of Dometic dealers in Strasbourg, so plan B. We eventually had the
burner jet replaced at the second dealer who had it in stock – the others
quoted 2 days to get it!! Success at
last? Not quite as it still would not work 100% properly. We arranged to return
the next day and headed for Kehl across the river in Germany to a stellplatz
with electric hookup.
Thurs 10th
After a walk about in Kehl in
the morning rain we returned to Mena Alsace to have the next part replaced.
view across Rhine to Strasbourg
help!
No
need as the fridge now was working perfectly!
He concluded that the gas valve had been jammed and by simply taking it
off and cleaning it up it was healthy again.
Total bill €20 which was amazing for the work he did. He even told us
where to go for our next stop – Munster.
Munster aire
storks on roof?
50mins later we were settled on a nice new aire behind the train
station. Fridge working perfectly. A pre
meal stroll around the town revealed lots of storks nesting on the roofs. Lots
of them. We celebrated the fridge repair by going out for steak frites!
No comments:
Post a Comment