On the road again

After less than a week at home, we set off again in a immaculately cleaned motorhome and with lots of delicacies from our loved ones in our luggage. We have optimized, cleaned out or replaced a few things, but above all we finally have a new, super comfortable mattress. Everyone who saw us during the week knows the story =). It's clearly pulling us further, but we both notice it feels a little different. The first night in the motorhome gives this feeling a name, it's like coming home. We immediately feel good again, but at the same time we are tired and enjoy the peace and comfort in our little home for the first few days. It's clear to us that from now on we want to take it easier, travel more slowly than in the last few months and live even more into the day. After two days in Bavaria, more precisely in Sulzemoos, during which we extensively tested our new toaster, read and watched series, we are moving on again. We owe our next random destination to the constant traffic jams on the highway. Since we eventually got tired of the traffic, we took the next exit and ended up in Eschbach, on the southern wine route in the middle of the Palatinate, which again couldn't be a coincidence. A lovely parking space on a winery surrounded by vines was also quickly found. After a wine tasting and the slightly irritated question from the older wine farmer as to whether we really didn't want to "go away" for a year, we stocked up on a few bottles. Things continue to be humid for the next few days - it's raining and gray. Christian still shines like the sun, partly because the bakery has streusel cake, but above all because of the tourist excursions we go on. We visit Europe's largest sandstone cave in Homburg, walk through the Franco-German Garden in Saarbrücken and Christian takes a guided tour of the Völklinger Hütte, an ironworks that was closed down in 1986 and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

As attractive as Saarland is, we still drive one country further, namely to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. We enjoy the excellent infrastructure, use a P+R facility as a starting point and place to sleep, to explore the city with the free public transport and the surrounding area the next day on a wonderful hike through beech forests. After the short detour we head back to Germany. We walk around the Bitburg reservoir, including beer tasting and aperitifs on the terrace of the Seecafé with currywurst and fries, cozy! We like cozy and so it goes on. We visit Christian's family in Hagen. At this point, thank you again to everyone for this wonderful day and for reliving old childhood memories, we will honor them again soon =). Lilli would like to take this opportunity to greet her new best dog friend Luna.

But you also have to keep certain appointments on a break and so we only have 2 nights left before we have to be in Amsterdam. After a visit to the hottest club, including the most beautiful stadium in the world in Dortmund, we drive to Dülmen on the Silbersee. There are somehow 3 lakes, no treasure, but perfect for relaxing. As a second stop we decide to go to a farm in the town of Voorst in the Netherlands. The day on land is pleasant. We get our first (!) real lettuce in the farm shop and the weather settles down again after a few hot days. We are looking forward to the first fixed point of our time out with joy: vacation with good friends.

Amsterdam, cosmopolitan city! We spent a few days here on our first vacation together in 2015 and knew that they wouldn't be the last. That's how it is this time too. The city has a unique flair and invites you to stroll through the streets along the canals. The crooked houses, cafés and neighborhoods that only exist here never let the city rest and are always worth a visit. After a bit of sightseeing, we drive to Sint-Maartenszee, where we simply treat ourselves to a week-long vacation on the beach, cycling, looking at windmills and unwinding. We also really enjoyed the Dutch plants, thanks to our lovely vegan friends. We tried out vegan places - Fabriky Girl - our favorite place now =) and were served excellent vegan/vegetarian food. Thank you dear ones, we really enjoyed the week. At the end we go back to the capital of the Netherlands, where we put the two of them back on the train with a tear in our eye before we actually want to head towards southern England. But life is always different and so we decide to take a closer look at the Netherlands. We drive to a parking space on Brouwersdam, which separates the Grevelingenmeer from the North Sea. The separation created the largest saltwater inland lake in Europe with a total area of 140 km². Of course you can find good fish so close to the sea, and we, or Christian, can try out the other Dutch national dish, kibbeling, in addition to fries. The fried fish tastes good, and we wonder why the Netherlands is always said to have such poor cuisine, since fries and fried fish clearly get the rating “recommended”. Christine really loves fries anyway!

We continue to think about it. The Netherlands can't just consist of beaches, sea, fields and canals. Not far we find the national park “De Loonse en Drunense Duinen”. The area is also called the “Brabant Sahara” and is the largest drift sand area in Europe. Of course we take a closer look and are amazed, because you really feel like you're in the desert in the middle of dunes, some of which were formed 10,000 years ago and buried entire villages. After 2 nights on a cozy family campsite and a taste of the traditional Brabant sausage bread, we head via the town of Maaskantje, which some may know from the films “New Kids Turbo” and “New Kids Nitro”, to the national park “De Biesbosch”, where we can finally unpack our kayak again and paddle around this beautiful floodplain area.

After so much nature, we have recharged enough energy to venture into urban areas again and drive to Rotterdam. In addition to the harbor, the city offers a lot of modern architecture. We visit the market hall, the old city district in Delfshaven, stroll past the Euromast and the Erasmus Bridge and of course, Christian insisted, we take a harbor tour. Christine, who finds moving around on water (with the exception of a kayak) very unnatural, was worth mentioning brave and would perhaps also admit that she enjoyed it. Rotterdam makes a very cozy impression on us, is different from Amsterdam, but is in no way inferior to the capital.

Our conclusion in the Netherlands is Hoek van Holland. The district still belongs to Rotterdam, but you are far away from the “city” opposite the newly built terminal of the port of Rotterdam. Here you can do both: you can enjoy the beach, sun, sea and beach bars and at the same time watch the huge cargo ships that bring goods from all over the world to Europe. A wonderful end to our little tour through South Holland and Brabant before we head towards Belgium via Roosendaal. But that's another story.