Castle Route Autumn 2002

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Across Germany to the Rhine.

The short crossing to Dunkirk led us across Belgium to Germany.

At a lunch stop alongside the Rhine at Boppard Dot found time to do some sketching while Jim caught up on his sleep.

The city of Heidelberg was our next stopover as Dot had been here before-in 1960 on her Matchless.

She claims that nothing much had changed.

Heidelberg castle was the first of many along our route to Prague.

It is the river Neckar that flows underneath the bridge at Heidelberg.

The campsite was alongside the river and we could sit and watch the pleasure boats and working barges pass by slowly as they approached the locks.

As often happens a fellow traveller told us about a place not to miss. This usually causes our planned route to be altered and many more kilometres added to the journey.

However the flying display at the German Raptor Research Centre at Burg Guttenberg was worth the visit. Even the antics of the vultures who did not want to fly were amusing!

At Sinsheim we parked the bus under the TU144-well not exactly-the Koncordski is on the roof of a museum building.

We spent the whole day admiring the exhibits and rested our feet as we watched the 3D IMAX film about the International Space Station.

As the Speyer museum has a camping area for motor homes we trundled back towards Hockenheim.

Once again another day soon passed as we wandered around.

On display is the bike that Patricia Sheck rode to the finish of the Paris-Capetown Rally.

The next castle was at Langenberg where we managed to find a parking place to have our lunch-

unusual in old towns.

Outside the castle the members of the Jaguar Owners Club of Germany were meeting for a rally.

Jim walked along the lines of beautiful cars wishing he still had his Jag-once a Jag man always a Jag man!

The town had some typical architecture of the region and a lovely bakers shop. We had to sample some of the local cakes!

In the Czech Republic again-after a gap of 20years.

Our route took us past more castles and we had time to visit many old towns like Bamberg and Bayreuth as we headed towards the Czech republic border. The crossing was easier than last time in 1982 when we had to negotiate the 'no mans' land whilst being watched from towers by soldiers holding machine guns.

The Czechs are busy building new houses and many are driving expensive cars as the enterprising enjoy the rewards of the free economy.

Prague had suffered terrible floods when the river Vltava burst its banks and we had to negotiate the traffic and avoid the trams as we tried to find the campsite up on the hill above the city.

It was a pleasure to see the old city restored to its former glory-last time we passed through the buildings seemed to be falling down due to neglect.

The famous clock near Wenceslas Square is difficult to photograph due to the crowds of tourists.

We also took time to explore the castle up on the hill which is such a fine landmark, especially as evening falls.

The busiest place in Prague is the King Charles Bridge where artists sell their work and musicians serenade the passers by.

Then it was time to stock up at with food at the Tesco supermarket! On our previous visit the lack of good food had been a real problem.

Along the motorway northwards we stopped for a lunch break and found the cafe was inside this old Ilyushin.

The ISDE was based at the stadium in Jablonec nad Nisou-the paddock was a bit small and crowded with the Trophy teams separated from the club teams.

This was a problem for the USA support crew so the Brits did a deal so they could have more space.

We soon had the bikes out and just as twenty years ago we were stopped by the police and fined for not having the correct documents.

Not everything has changed-even the hot dogs were un-appetising!

Despite the conditions team Merriman could still smile.

The weather was awful and riding in the cold wet rain was not our idea of fun-especially when the snow fell in the mountains.

The competitors from Mexico always bring their fantastic somberos to the event and enjoy the attention of the crowds.

Next year they won't have quite so far to travel.

Roll on next years event in the warmth of Brazil

Touring around the old towns.

Before we left Liberec we had to ride up to the TV tower which is a symbol of the area.

There we met some friendly local trail riders who led us on a lovely ride around the forests.

Driving through Bohemia we visited the rock town of Turnov where Dot added to her vast collection of stones. Marvelled at the sandstone towers near Hruba Skala and the ruined castle at Trosky.

As we turned southwards the weather improved and we took the time to dry everything at the campsite near to Telc.

Telc is a World Heritage site and the lovely buildings in the town square are painted in unique designs.

Telc also has a fine castle but we were beginning to realise by now that none of the castles were real strongholds like those in Wales.

Rather they are more like stately homes or big country houses.

Although this one at Karstein was perched on a cliff and could have been well defended-in fact we couldn't get in to have a look round-it was closed!

This colourful Hrada Zarnat at Cesky Krumlov was elaborate and had a bridge across the river Vltava to connect the apartments of the King and Queen.

Fairy tale castles in magical settings.

We had stocked up with beer at Ceske Budejovice, the home of Budweiser before we crossed into Austria.

At Konigsee we could see Hitlers famous mountain retreat at Berchesgarden.

We went up the Jenner mountain on the ski lift and then Dot went swimming in an outdoor heated pool.

The campsite at Soll is just on the edge of the lovely village in the Tyrol.

We had been here before in 1972 for a family skiing holiday-there was a bit more snow. We had flown into Munich on a Comet -just the four of us and the crew!

After a lunch stop at the Garmisch-Partenkirchen Olympic Ski jump we went to Fussen to see the famous castles.

The oldest is Hohenshau where Emporer Franz Joseph lived as a child.

A long walk up through the woods brings visitors to the castle at Neuwaschstein.

Although the interior was never finished it is still spectacular with many beautiful and unusual rooms.

The ceiling of the Princes' bedroom has a network of holes through which candle light twinkles to represent the stars!

The views from the castle are breathtaking especially with the trees all turning gold in autumn.

Dot wanted to stay here and just paint pictures.

Next place to visit was the Graf Zeppelin museum at Friedrichshafen where part of the Hindenburg is on display. Inside the passenger compartment it was similar to the cross channel ferries of today-but with better quality furniture!

Watch the film Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and see Harrison Ford and Sean Connery sitting in this interior.

We enjoyed an evening in the old town before boarding the ferry to cross Lake Constance.

Then it was on through Freiberg and into France, along the small roads to Metz and Luxembourg.

At Wittlich we drove around the USAF base to see the planes on display at the gates.

Back up north in Belgium we took time to visit the lovely old walled city of Brugge with its walls and moat. We joined the throngs of tourists walking the streets on a warm Sunday morning.

At the station was the biggest collection of parked bicycles we have ever seen.

The shops were full of displays of local lace and chocolates.

Next morning we boarded the ferry from Dunkirk for the short crossing to Dover.

In a huge storm the ferry took over six hours and could not get into the harbour as we sat and watched the huge seas. A big bang we heard was the sound of a lorry falling over onto the deck!

--------Share a fantastic experience on the 25th Dakar December 2002-January2003 -------

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