SofaWolves

Day 12 – A day of culture and chocolate

Journey: Cologne (0 miles)

Woke up with Ernest on my head…he has no concept of personal space 😂Took the pups for a mad run around and some handstands at Rhinepark – they much prefer this to lead walking and it really tires them out (Jasper will lie down bored in most towns if we stop to look at anything for more than 5 seconds).

Next the highlight – the chocolate museum! Our first museum…the best museum…you get free chocolate on the way in and out…it’s huge, covers every possible aspect of chocolate and even has a tropic greenhouse you can go in to experience cocoa growing temperatures. Also I found a new hero… a doctor who prescribes chocolate for pretty much everything. If you are ever in cologne it’s a must!

As art lovers we visited the Ludwig museum of contemporary and modern art…neither of us ‘got’ most of it but there were a few nice pieces, and it was in a striking building. It was still noticeable we spent twice as much time in the chocolate museum as here.

The pups joined us at the sculpture park and a cafe lunch where our appalling lack of German meant we both ordered toast und kase (cheese on toast)…as that’s the only thing we grasped was definitely ‘vegetaria’.

Before being allowed in the cathedral I was asked to cover my tummy flab which had poked it’s way out after all the pastries. To burn it off we climbed the cathedrals 533 steep spiral steps (which made us both a little nauseous) some 332feet up to have stunning views over the city. It was definitely worth it! Having done all that walking exercise we undid it all by scoffing pizza for dinner…yummy!

We then took the pups for a bedtime walk around the palace in the park but we weren’t allowed in so Jasper did a wee on the entrance roses 🙈 (thus proving why we aren’t allowed in).

All in all we haved loved Cologne and would highly recommend

Day 11 – Warning gets hangry if not fed

Journey: Cochen – Koblenz – Cologne (110 miles)

I’m going to provide an optional grumpy bit of reading at the end which you can choose to ignore if you prefer to believe everything is 100% hunky dory all the time in our van 😂

Up early we walked the pups and fueled by coffee walked up yet another steep hill to see Cochen Castle – if soldiers had been better equipped could they have put the castles lower down? Anyway our legs made it and it was immaculate (used as a popular wedding venue), found out the monks were allowed 5litres of wine a day! And the doors were specially designed to help drunk monks find the key hole 😂

We then went on to Koblenz, joined up with the Fridays for Future climate rally, had a speed walk around the sights, a doggy rest in the park and saw the meeting point of the Rhine and Moselle Rivers which was marked by the most striking monument – it was huge!

It was so warm we needed to get doggies out of the heat so opted to drive to Cologne. After an initial faff finding a suitable camp spot we had a wonderful walk around the city. Organised as ever we hadn’t brought a padlock for the love lock bridge but it’s an impressive sight. We were going to stop and have a beer by the river in the old part of the city but stumbled into a food and drink festival and got swallowed up by hundreds of people…it was heaving! Not the place to be trying to weave 3 dogs through, so that will have to wait for another time. Mark also confessed he’d been here before and had nice pizza. He even pointed out the restaurant..we had pasta and sauce in the van and some vimto…I felt cheated 😂 Still he made me hot chocolate and cheese and crackers when we got home and it was a lovely evening.

Ok the following is the optional grumpy bit you can ignore if you want to:

When you are living with someone 24/7 in a confined space there are bound to be arguments. Mark and I don’t really argue though, I get grumpy and he goes silent. Our trigger thing on this trip is Navigation and parking. We aren’t organised and so tend to decide on the day where we are going, what route and where staying. I’ve downloaded apps, joined forums, asked friends for recommendations, made notes and I use these a lot. Mark Google’s, then procrastinates over choosing. It’s just our different personalities. I’m happy doing all the driving but I don’t want to organise everything as well.

The problem to overcome is when I’m driving and entering a city I don’t know, following sat nav, still getting used to a different countries road structure and signs and despite having been driving for 40mins Mark starts suggesting parking options less than 5mins from our destination – I thought I was heading to a predecided parking spot…turns out I’m heading for Google’s centre of Koblenz, now in heavy traffic, with Mark still dithering asking me to pull over into a magical van sized spot thats suitable for contemplating parking options but not actually parking in…I pull into a cap park, realise there are no spaces big enough and I now have three options 1. Reverse onto a main road, 2. Block carpark entry while Mark contemplates parking or 3. Reverse into very tight parking slot in order to do a three point turn and exit safely. I opt for option 3 while Mark asks me to look at Google maps on his phone and wags his finger at the screen. We have been married a long time so when I politely said through pursed lips…”can I look after I’ve finished reversing, I’m having to concentrate this is very tight”. He correctly interpreted it as SHUT UP THIS IS YOUR FAULT! He got out of the van to look at a possible parking spot around the corner. Came back all pleased and said yes, you can fit….bless him he had found me a very snug parallel parking spot on a main road…thanks 🙈 Anyway I parked the van, and we walked 20 odd minutes into town before he confessed he didn’t know which way.

Again we differ, either we enjoy just pottering about aimlessly which works perfectly in small places or in big towns I typically Google the town’s name + sights (e.g.Koblenz sights) they all pop up on a map, you can see which you are closest to, click it and press directions. I’m crap at navigation… Google helps. Mark follows his nose, gets a bit lost, looks at Google…trusts it enough to look at but doesn’t press the directions button so instead looks at screen and ponders which way is up…all the while I’m standing with three dogs wondering why he can’t press the darn directions button and just get on with it.

Now add to this situation…the horrendous fact that I had not been fed. For a little person I eat a lot, and very regularly. I was thus angry and hungry, and basically a horrible person to be around. It was not alleviated until 7pm when I ate some pasta, so apologies Mark I know I’ve been an arse for most of the day but you should have fed me sooner 😂

Going forward: for cologne, I found a campsite, put it into sat nav, ignored Marks suggestion I was going wrong way (sat nav knew of road closures so took me an odd but amazing climb and long hills down route) only to find out I was driving in rush hour, the campsite was full, and as I wasn’t willing to be outside of the city centre (it doesn’t suit dogs), I was driving around randomly until I spied a camper van in a quiet street, and wormed my way over to join it. End result, although it was stressful we are in a much nicer, quieter, closer to the centre spot spot and we’ve enjoyed a lovely family walk. Marriage saved for another day lol.

Take home lesson – If you haven’t got a preplanned parking spot just go with the flow and the right space will appear.

Day 10 – Flowers, cake, muddy treks and fairy tale castles

Journey: Trier – Bernkastel Kues – Zell – Cochen (longer scenic route following Moselle River)

A stranger gave me a ‘flower’ in the supermarket bread aisle…ok so it was a bit of grass given by an eccentric old man but it still counts as a lovely way to start a day 😊

Having been somewhat discouraged from driving on from Trier yesterday, it has served us well and today we were much more relaxed about just taking our time and not pushing on to the next town. We ignored the sat nav and followed the river visiting picture box towns and taking in the gorgeous vin yards and distant forests.

We stopped in Bernkastel Kues to walk the pups and accidentally stumbled into a very posh cafe/5* hotel – we were sat outside alone with dogs so it wasn’t until Mark went inside he realised it was rather grand and so we ordered cake to share and popped our pinkie fingers out as we drank our coffee 👸 The town was so pretty.

Zell was on my list as I’d read it was a good place to see the loop of the river. I should have considered this more closely – if the trek map had been topographic we might have stayed home 😂 3 hours later, calves burning we had witnessed the river loop, seen a shrew, giant bird, mushrooms, wild orchids, tried acro, been adopted by a caterpillar and come back muddy but smiling. And then we walked the dogs… achieving 30,000 steps a day is getting easier.

Our campstop is Cochen…and again it’s a breathtaking view as you enter the town. The dusk light made the castle look extra magical and it’s a shame I couldn’t capture it for you. We have had a gentle evening stroll and will explore further tomorrow.

One odd thing to note is that each town seems to have a unique symbol…whilst bears in Bernkastel and Zell using a cat is quite normal. One village we past had statues of a child being spanked bare bum over a mans lap, and Cochen has a statue of a goat being squeezed to death in a wine press by children…not sure what to make of these.

Today has definitely been a turning point for me feeling like my old self – my creative side is coming out again with the blog. That said all photos are quick one clicks as I’ve often got two dogs pulling in one hand unaware of my artistic leaning to capture the right shot/light/angle. I just have to hope the quick snap gives the general gist 😂 Tomorrow I’m going to finally delete my old work diary – at the moment I still get alerts for appointments so it reminds me I would be grooming Cooper if at home. It’s hard because I absolutely loved my business and really miss my clients, but it’s time to leave that bit behind and focus on our yearlong adventure. I love that quite a few clients our following my blog and have kept in touch, so I can forge a new relationship as a doggy friend.

Day 9 – I was overdue a calamity

Journey: 0 miles, still in Trier carpark

Today has been one of those days… It started so well with a lovely walk around the various Roman ruins in Trier, cafe pastries, handstands in the park… and then just before lunch poor Jasper lay down 100 meters from the motorhome and refused to budge, he was evidently too tired. I carried him until he felt ok to walk again. It’s a stark reminder that he is getting older and can’t do the long walks he used to 😢

With the pups tired we had lunch and were planning to go to the amphitheatre…without the dogs sweets, water, bowl I could take my little bag…it was then I realised I couldn’t find it. We literally ransacked the whole van realising it had my bank card and driver’s license inside it but to no avail… looking back through photos it’s most likely I took it off to do acro at a castle in France, but they don’t have it 🙈 So while we did enjoy the amphitheatre, I also had to sort out cancelling bank cards and trying to order a new license which friends can hopefully deliver to me next month.

To finish the afternoon we found a great pet store opposite two strip clubs (Mark wouldn’t let me check if they do pole fitness classes – they did look rough lol), so dogs have extra sweets and tick protection.

We had planned to drive along Moselle River today, but instead are having an easy evening in the carpark again. Just been to fairground but no luck winning a toy for the dogs

Day 8 – Snails, Ticks and Ice Cream

Journey: Luxembourg City – Echternach – Vianden – Trier (Germany)

Not the best start to the day, we had done the van chores, walked the pups through forest to the supermarket and once home realised Jasper was crawling in ticks and a few had got onto Ernest (Mabel had rolled in liquid poo and been washed in the river so I guess even the ticks thought she was too disgusting to live on)🤢 Thus it was panic stations getting them all off and cleaning the van…we have been on tick watch all day. We have since been warned Germany’s forests are bad too so we will need to up their protection and be vigilant. On the plus we saw a giant snail 😊

Moterhome Madness has been the most helpful FB page and we have found a wealth of great recommendations. We thus opted to drive to Echternach for local ice cream and a lovely lakeside walk. Ernest had his first time on a swing…he is getting heavy…its probably his last time. Then we took the scenic road to Vianden Castle, this a lovely drive following the river with lots of winding roads. The Castle originates from 10th century but has been added to throughout the ages and fully restored at great expense. It’s a great attraction, made extra special as we caught the final days of the international characature competition, so we saw some great artwork.

Then on to Germany…yes we changed the route again and are now parked in a giant carpark in Trier 😂 Current route plan is Trier – Oberwesel – Sant Goarshausen – Koblenz – Cologne – Maastricht – Antwerp. But who knows where we will actually go 😜

Survived Week 1 – Lessons Learnt

It’s been a week, but it feels like so much longer. We have settled so quickly into new routines and life on the road. A few things we have realised along the way so far:

*There is more to lunch than a cheese sandwich but we have yet to discover what…need to vary our diet lol

*Simple living is freeing – I’ve always wanted something small but perfectly formed and feel really at home in the motorhome. Oddly I don’t miss the house or all our stuff still in the garage, and was happy to see a family living there and making it their own

*Thank God for the internet – we have a very rough idea where we are going and thus constantly googling routes, things to do, possible places to visit, where to stay, and Google Maps has been great! Plus for keeping in touch with friends and blogging, I still feel very connected.

* We don’t miss TV – we were never avid watchers but had downloaded a few programs/films and have only watched one episode of Fleabag. For me TV was an autopilot thing to zone out in front of after a long day. Now I have more energy we are reading, blog writing, route planning and playing games in the evening.

*Exercise on the road is hard – previously my lack of willpower was sorted by attending lots of classes and a physical job. Here I’m going to have to set aside time, ignore the other campsite people and just do HITT or something to burn off the pastries.

*Still in holiday mode – not sure it has sunk in we are away for a year! Then at other times I find myself planning next March/April (back to UK for MOT then on to Norway/ Sweden/ Finland). We have been pushing forward each day when really we shouldn’t be afraid to stay a few days…we have plenty of time

*Dogs adapt quickly – Jasper was especially set in his ways and Mabel is nervous so we were worried how they would adapt. Ernest hasn’t a care in the world and takes everything in his stride. All three are now more relaxed when traveling (often asleep), have adapted to new mini routines of when fed/walked, and claimed favourite spots in the van. They are seemingly loving the variety of walks/new smells

*It takes the same amount of time to make a proper coffee as to do all housework – this for me is the dream 😂 I clean bathroom, put toys away, sweep, brush mats, make up bed and sofas, do dishes, air freshen and then sit down to coffee

*Tick watch – found two on both Ernest and Jasper so having to be vigilant

*Our van radio is rubbish…and I’ve bought all my old cheesy CDs. Most journeys have been quiet but Mark inadvertently put an Air Supply cd on and his ears were bleeding, while I sung along 😂

*Our language skills are shocking 🙈 We Google key words like hello in each language but if anyone talks back to us we haven’t got a clue… typical Brits

*Traveling with three dogs makes us a spectacle – they are a great talking point and we have been stopped by someone asking to take our photo 😂

*Recycling is more difficult. We have mostly been wild camping and even at the sites they don’t always have recycling facilities so we are having to travel with lots of rubbish until we find a place to dispose properly

*Microwaves make good bread bins as we never use ours

*They take European elections seriously there are posters everywhere!

Day 7 – Three countries in one day!

Journey: Bouillon (Belgium) – Sedan (France) – Luxembourg City (70 miles)

Is it obvious we never made a plan? Luxembourg was never mentioned and yet once we realised how close we were it seemed a shame not to go 😂

It means today the pups and us have walked in three different countries! Surprisingly we have been traveling a week and today was our first cafe stop – Bouillon for breakfast pastries (actually this was our second breakfast 🙈). The pups had a fun off the lead walk which resulted in a mad dash around and river dip…yay traveling with three wet dogs in a confined space…to add to this pleasant aroma Mabel rolled in something, and Ernest likes to save his farts for mid journey 🙈🤢

We had read that Sedan had the largest fortified castle in Europe so we drove 20mins and crossed the border into France again. It was impressive and in really good condition. As well as learning lots of French history Mark and I did acro, a headstand and handstands… because we have yet to grow up. They have a lot of wild boar around and the gift shop had a cute teddy I thought the pups would love…but weight allowance and they have already brought 12 toys with them, so not allowed 😂

Driving through the Ardennes, Luxembourg was our third stop and we are in a basic campsite which has the added bonus of a lovely woodland walk so the pups have been really spoilt. We then caught the bus into the city and pottered around the sites (Casements, Gelle Fra, Cathedral, main square, old quarter, Corniche). It’s a big contrast to the little towns we have been in. The highlight was The Chocolate House…so much chocolate 🤤 Mark and I shared a huge slice and I regret not buying several of the 50 flavoured hot chocolate spoons on offer…I may need to go back 😋

Before setting off it was joked that when we came back I’d open the van door and several stray dogs would jump out alongside the original three and I’d squeeze my waddling blob body out having indulged in all the wonderful grub Europe has to offer…well I haven’t picked up a stray yet but I have had lots of naughty food everyday. It’s hard because my brain is in holiday food mode but this is a year trip! 😂 Before I got back in the camper I walked about the campground until I hit 30,000 steps in the vain hope that would burn off some off that epic cake #noregrets

Tomorrow we are thinking more Luxembourg…maybe Germany…maybe back to Belgium…will make up our minds at some point. Recommendations welcome 😃

Day 6 – To infinity and beyond

Journey: Dinant – Euro Space Centre – Bouillon (49 miles)

Ernest was well up for a lazy Sunday and was the last out of bed. Having done no exercise other than walking I’d been itching to do some acro and put a call out on Acro Belgium for a possible practice buddy. I was thus thrilled to meet Emilio for acro and coffee and despite the rain we found the perfect spot. I know people think I’m crazy when I do random things like this, but it was such a lovely start to my day and I love meeting new people. Thanks so much Emilio 😃🤸

Mark thought it would be good exercise to climb the 408 steps to the citidel rather than take the cable car… In fairness it wasn’t that bad and our legs had a good workout… If I can’t walk tomorrow I will blame that. The view from the top was still great despite the weather and we learnt some harrowing history, I practiced my handstands and played in the park. Dinant was also home to the creater of the saxophone so their are lots of sax about and a great sculpture of him.

Following a tip from a friend we have been checking the paper map as well as using Google Maps and spotted the Euro Space Centre…what a find! We had so much fun at this hugely interactive centre – did space walks, planetarium, raced each other on space bikes using VR, lift off simulator and lots of great space facts. Highly recommend 🚀🌌 They also had a planet garden for the dogs to walk around the solar system and another wild walk where Mabel picked up a scent and was totally in her element, so we let her lead (the boys were oblivious to whatever she had smelt).

Tonight we are staying in Bouillon with views of the castle and another forest walk awaits the dogs tomorrow. I’m vainly trying to keep up appearances so have had a pamper while Mark plans tomorrow 😊

Day 5 – Jasper goes on strike and breathtaking end

Journey: Ypres – Tournai – Planes des L’Escaut Nature Reserve – Mons – Dinant (126 miles)

A somewhat frustrating day with a beautiful end. Everyone should visit Dinant, it is simply stunning!

Having stocked up on pastries we drove to Tournai. It’s a strange town – magnificent cathedral and obviously in the process of serious gentrification. In a year or two it will be spectacular, but at the moment it’s rather run down with lots of derelict houses and not much to see. Still it was market day and a great opportunity to get fresh vegetables and practice my Franglais.

We drove on to a small nature reserve to give the pups their first European woodland walk. Unlike the UK they are expected to stay on the lead which was ok as Mabel might have wandered off looking for boar and Ernest is over excited by everything… today’s highlight bring a dead log covered in beetles (he may have eaten some, and we found some in Jasper’s fur hours later 🙈)

On to Mons, and here we had our first (of no doubt many arguments). I’m a fan of wild camping and we aren’t organised to have booked campsites so I found a free carpark… Mark didn’t like as it was too far to walk in, so I drove closer to centre and parked on road. This was only 6min walk rather than 30min but obviously busier and noisy location. In fairness I’ve slept through storms and fire alarms so nothing bothers me but Mark is a light sleeper so no fun for him.

Opting to take dogs for a walk around the city, we saw a public dance performance, lots of churches, belfry, impressive architecture and then at the modern wood sculpture Jasper had a lie down strike and refused to walk anymore 😂 We have had to up their food as normally they would have total of 1.5 hrs walk a day and now they are getting 3hr+ and it’s all very new and stimulating. Mabel has never spent so much time off the sofa…she will be streamlined by the end of this 😜

We decided to push on to Dinant in the hope of finding a quieter camping spot. I was grumpy to have to drive in rush hour to another town but took the scenic route and upon arriving in Dinant we were blown away with the view. We also had déjà vu…we have been here before many years ago with our good friend Ele and had forgotten!

Tonight we are parked by the river right in the centre with gorgeous views, it’s free and a miracle as the city is steep and known for its caves. Perfect end to the day – our first Belgian beer (Leffe Ruby) and pizza.

Day 4 – No matter the weather imagine walking in golden shoes

Journey: Bruges – Ghent – Ypres (81 miles)

A quick peak out the van blind revealed a grey and overcast day, but undeterred we had been recommended a lovely loop walk to see the Bruges windmills and off we went. I loved that even the fence around one had been laced, and I spied a great golden sculpture in a museum garden.

After a bit of domestic bliss, realising the dog outdoor lines worked perfectly for laundry we headed off to Ghent. I have offered to do all the driving in Belgium as they are living up to their reputation for bad driving (twice as many accidents per mile than Holland). I saw so many near misses, darting cars, tail gaiting, a u-turn on a 60mph road with on coming traffic and got cut up by a driver behind me on a slip road. Never mind I expected it so am not too phased, it just requires extra concentration.

Ghent is equally as lovely as Bruges and much quieter. Both cities have fabulous architecture and are nice to potter about. I confess we don’t have much interest in museums or churches but enjoy soaking up the atmosphere of a place and trying the local delicacies – Cuberdons are known as Belgium noses and are conical jelly sweets – we later discovered they aren’t vegetarian! 😱🙈 One thing I’ve spotted is the churches play lovely bell tunes. In Ghent they rolled the bells to Oh What a Perfect Day 😊

We opted to drive on to Ypres as every evening at 8pm they do a WW1 memorial service. Although I was too short to see the bandsman or choir it was a moving service. There was a big crowd mostly young and middle-aged all silent…and then I spotted an elderly couple gently whispering along to the words and swaying 😢

It was also nice to spot that all the major buildings in each town were flying rainbow flags in support of International Day Against Homophobia 🌈 We had a long walk back through the town and along the river back to our wild camping spot opposite Lidl carpark.