Thursday 5 August 2010

Erstein, Europapark and the Black Forest

August 1st
Erstein was a nice little town but we didn't explore a lot today other than walking Nailz about for a while. The town did have a McDonalds so we pulled up outside to use the free WiFi and ended up spending most of the day looking up bits and bobs (mostly how and where to find free 'Stellplatz' - the German equivalent of Aires du Reste, some with free loos, electricity and drinking water), and Skyping the parents. We then filled up with Gazole as we had heard it was cheaper in France than in Germany and headed over the border.
We were heading to a theme park called Europapark which is in the town of Rust, barely over the border. We had found a free StellPlatz just up the road from it in the town of Kappel. It was no more than a car park by a lake, but it would do us fine so we pulled up, rustled up some dinner and bedded down for the night amidst another mild thunder storm.

August 2nd
Rachel and I got up like kids before Christmas and headed to Rust, and to Europapark. This place was just awesome and we had an amazing time. I think we went on every ride going and there were some excellent roller-coasters along with loads of other great attractions. It absolutley bucketed down with rain at times which caused rides to be closed for a short period, but this did not put a dampener on our day, even though we were soaked through by the end of it. Another good thing was that it wasn't too busy so we were able to get off one ride and straight onto another almost immediately. They even provided free showers (which was a welcome bonus) and also free electric hookup with the camper parking. As our solar panels were providing all the energy we needed we didn't make use of the electric, but it was good to know it was available. If you are in the area it is well worth the entrance money. After we had showered and got into some dry clothes we set off for the town of Bonndorf in the Black Forest region of Germany, to look for cake. On the way we passed through some incredible countryside with sheer drops on one side of the road, and sheer cliff faces on the other. They were the kind of snake-like roads you see on Top Gear, and Rachel had a lot of fun driving amongst the clouds as we wound our way up the mountains.

August 3rd
Last night we had stayed in another 'recommended' parking spot, also just a car park, but this time by a sports stadium! Bonndorf (im Schwatzwald to give it the full name) is in the heart of the Black Forest so we had to have a look at this ancient forest full of legends. After breakfast we took a walk through the forest and saw loads of types of mushrooms, wild strawberries (which tasted super-sweet) and blueberries amongst other treats. We didn't take any mushrooms as the odds of us getting the wrong ones is probably a punter's nightmare. Rachel has a book to help us identify the right kinds, but for now we were just happy taking a walk through this underworld of dark green. It was a lovely sunny day, a nice contrast from yesterday's deluge, but in under the dense canopy scant patches of light were able to break through.
After exploring the forest for a while we got back to the van and headed toward Lake Constance, or Bodensee to use it's local name. En route the heavens opened again briefly but by now we were used to this weather. When it rains it really rains and when the sun is out it's really hot.
As we neared the next StellPlatz in the town of Singen (not to be confused with Schingen, Luxembourg folks) we passed the ruins of a castle on a high mountain top. We had to have a look. We were looking at the Duke of Alemannia's fortress, Hohentweil which was built in the 10th century on the top of a volcano. Dr Evil eat your heart out. The castle used to be an enclave belonging to the Duchy of Württemberg in the middle of Austria. The castle withstood five sieges during the 30 years war and as a fortress in the middle of enemy territory it was heavily armed. The view from the castle shows just how difficult it would have been to take by force.
Once we had descended from the castle we made the short journey to our stop for the night, a free Stellplatz in the shadow of the fortress, and made camp.

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