We travel to compare our imagination with reality.
The Plitvice Lakes were just high up on the bucket list and in July 2018 it was the right time to go. With Motorhome and bicycle. The views were breathtaking, the waterfalls energizing, the lakes tranquilizing and the whole day a gift from God.
Originally my plan was to take my motor home and travel to the Delta of the River Danube in Romania. But I was not sure about opening times of Camping Sites in April and became nervous to explore uncharted territory on my own. Therefore a better known and also very attractive destination got a chance: Sicily. In hindsight I should have taken more time for all sections of the trip: driving down, around the island and back up. I did it in about nine days. 3+3+3…
Day 1, 14.04.2018
Haag to Cesenatico
Day 2, 15.04.2018
Bari
Day 3, 16.04.2018
Onto Sicily
Day 4, 17.04.2018
Palermo
Day 5, 18.04.2018
Arigent
Camping near Syrakus
Day 6, 19.04.2018
Syrakus
Farewell Sicily
Day 7, 20.04.2018
To Bolsena at Lake Bolsena
Day 8, 21.04.2018
Siena, Florence, Malcesine
As Andalusia was high on the bucket list for a long time, we decided to try a group tour with a bus and travel guide. A full inclusive program including the flights to and from Madrid, the bus tour and all accommodation and entry tickets. It was a good idea. You go to so many places that organizing this all on your own would have been a major exercise. What a journey.
MADRID
CORODOBA – MESETA
CADIZ
SEVILLA
SETENIL DE LAS BODEGAS
GRANADA – ALHAMBRA
TOLEDO
MADRID
My son Gerald lived with his family in Singapore for three years. A great opportunity to visit a place which might not have been so high on the bucket list. It was worthwhile every minute. Cambodia with its famos “Angkor Wat” was nearby and we included that venue.
Cambodia – Angkor Wat
I lived in the UK in Birmingham and Oxford from 1996 to 2002. I visited Scotland twice during that period. In 2012 it was time to go back with my wife Ingrid. Scotland has so much charm, charisma, history, culture, traditions, countrysides from another universe and much more. The attentive reader might discover, that I returned again in 2019.
We started in Edinburgh, took a rental car and went up north.We visited Inverness and Loch Ness, some coastal beaches, castles and a whisky distillery (Glen Fiddich). The detailed route and sequence of events has been lost in the fog of time 🙁
Day 1, 17.08.2012
Edinburgh
Day 2, 18.08.2012
Day 3, 19.08.2012
Day 4, 20.08.2012
Day 5, 21.08.2012
Day 6, 22.08.2012
Day 7, 23.08.2012
In the middle of 2011 we were not sure where to go for a holiday. Rather spontaneously we opted for a round trip through the middle of Italy: Apulia – Basilikata – Campania. We flew to Naples and got a rental car and headed eastwards.
Day 1, 17.08.2011
Canosa di Puglia and Castel del Monte.
Day 2, 18.08.2011
Towards Alberobello
Day 3, 19.08.2011
Martina Franka and Matera
Day 4, 20.08.2011
Amalfi coast
Day 5, 21.08.2011
Transit day
Day 6, 22.08.2011
Pompeji
Normally I am too stingy to take a tour guide. In this case the person which approached us was German speaking and quite a nice guy. We had no regrets, the opposite, we would not have gained that amount of insight.
Day 7, 23.08.2011
Isola Capri
Day 8, 24.08.2011
Capri – Napoli
In November 2010 Ingrid and I were invited to test drive an new model from the vehicle brand Chevrolet. They tend to choose attractive locations. This time it was Valencia in Spain and they stuck to their routine.
Day 1, 24.11.2010
From a first short stroll and bus tour.
Day 2, 25.11.2010
Day 3, 26.11.2010
Day 4, 27.11.2010
Not only for their pyramids Egypt is a fascinating topic but also for the exciting history of organizing the state around the periodic flooding of the Nile. I read that the Egyptians immigrated from the area of the Sahara desert which was a most fertile land and full with lots of wildlife long long time ago. But when the climate changed and dried up and eroded the land, the people were forced to look for new resources. They found it along the River Nile.
A few more mystical stories increased my fascination about Egypt. One is the connection between the people of Israel and them from the report of Jakob and his son Joseph and his 11 brothers. Joseph being sold to slave traders and progressing in Egypt from the prison the the first adviser to the Pharao.
The other one is of Pharao Amenhotep who declared the many gods of Egypt as obsolete and proclaimed a new “singular-God” faith. This god was represented by the sun (Amun) and one of his prayers could have been from the Bible. The priest cast had big problems with that new religion (similar to the Jewish priests who rejected Christ). After Amenhotep’s death they managed to reverse the Egyptian society back to the traditional gods. Amenhotep’s son was Tut-Ench-Amun, who died in his younger years.
So far so good. Now I would like to invite to our River-Nile-Cruse from one historic site to the next.
Day 1, 07.11.2010
Temple of Queen Hatschepsut
Transfers on the River Nile
Temple Ruins of Karnak and Luxor
Day 2, 08.11.2020
Day 3, 09.11.2010
Upstream to Dam of Assuan
Day 4, 10.11.2010
Abu Simbel
Day 5, 11.11.2010
The Pyramids
Day 6, 12.11.2010
Kairo
The five villages (Cinque Terre) at the Italian West Coast attracted me for quite some time. Ingrid was there before and was my tour guide. We returned via the Lago Maggiore and the province of Vorarlberg to Haag. We traveled by car.
In September 2009 I returned from India after living there as an expatriate for BMW. I was longing for more time for cultural activities and always fancied the museums of London. On Dec. 5th, 2009, we flew over for a long weekend and visited 7 or 8 museums in that 4 days.
The photos are in chronological sequence, the exact places might have escaped my memory 🙂
First a stroll around the inner City with e.g., St. Paul’s Cathedral from Sir Christopher Wrenn.
In Salvatore Dali’s permanent exhibitions are about 200 originals from the grand master. Not allowed to take pictures, sorry.
The following examples are from different museums, amongst them Tate Modern. Always exciting to see ancient statues and pieces of arts and crafts which demonstrate just unbelievable craftsmanship long before our time.
From “ordinary” London walking around and home to a flat which belonged to a good friend.
2009 was my last year for BMW in India. As discussed before, the Maldives were much closer to India than to Austria. So it makes lots of sense to have a look.
There is quite a significant connection between Austria and the Greek island of Korfu: our famous queen of the hearts, Elizabeth called “Sissi” built herself a small palace and spent lots of time around. She was ill from a lunge disease and enjoyed the mild climate.
Here she is, our “Sissi”. The theme of her palace was obviously “Achilles“. His statue is famous amongst insiders and dominates the scene.
Below is one of the best known motives of Korfu: “Island of the mice“
In 2006 we travelled to Rome over a long weekend and had a whale of a time 🙂 . We would come back at least twice.
In 2016, 10 years later, Bruno, Heinz and I would take our racing bikes with light luggage and cycle down from Haag in Austria. Rome is a place to come back anyway and enjoy the history, the culture, the fine arts and the life style.
During my stay in India from 2006 to 2009 we seized the opportunity to visit neighbor countries. This time it was Thailand’s capital BANGKOK. It was only a long weekend and we just managed the standard tourist route without exploring the finer details of the city.
I believe another expatriate colleague in Chennai recommended the Andaman (and Nicobar) Islands to me. After my Christmas home visit in 2008-2009 I had a few days spare and got going. I had a most relaxing and re-energizing time and will be back some time in the future.
We flew from Chennai to Jaipur in Rajasthan and our driver Rajan drove our car up there. The journey took us to the following destinations:
Jaipur – Ranthambhore – Pushkar – Jodhpur – Jaisalmer – Udaipur – Mumbai
and we were on the road for 12 days.
My wife Ingrid and I went to Agra to visit the Taj Mahal and to find out whether it is living up to its image.
Four thoughts on the journey:
I went to India in 2006 for BMW to be part of a project team which established a new CKD plant in Chennai. The contracts are usually for 3 years and we managed the start up and stabilisation process quite well. To live in India is a story on its own of course and one summary is: ” A feast for the eyes but a punishment for the nose.” As many other developing countries there are unbelievable contrasts and contradictions all over.
When we drove from home near the coastline of southern Chennai to Chengalpet further inland it was a time-travel par excellence. Rural villages with oxen wagen changed with posh glass towers hosting IT companies or call centers from organisations overseas.
An attempt of a summary of that experience is, we were privileged to work with excellent local staff, met wonderful friends, traveled to very beautiful destinations and also saw extreme poverty and suffering. Most impressive was to observe a willingness to study, an eagerness to work hard and smart and a drive to success relentlessly.
I just post some episodes of traveling in India without too many comments as it is now 15 years back. I have hope, the images contribute to the theme of this website: Time-Travel.net.
Kerala is well known for its provincial government being Communist since many decades. They managed that all 3 main religious groups (Hindu, Moslem, Christian) live in “perfect” harmony and they achieve the highest percentage of literacy all over India with about 95%.
It was only a short visit of a view days and we spent most of the time on a houseboat roaming through the water channels in-between large rice plantations.
When I took the photos of the fisherman operating the large nets on levers they invited me to join and help them. So I did and quickly got blisters on my hands. Afterwards they asked for a baksheesh for my pleasure.
Stopped a couple of times on Autobahn fuel stations.
Coming home to Haag safely.
A remarkable journey around Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, England, Scotland and France comes to an end.
I posted most of these blogs during the Corona shutdown around the year change form 2020 to 2021. I re-lived a wonderful journey and enjoyed every minute working on it.
On my way towards Germany I headed eastward and stopped in Courtenay for a coffee with croissant. What else?
To be honest, I just looked for a lunch break during driving and found Troyes, which I never heard of anyway. What a pleasant surprise again to discover this charming city.
From the church to the market.
I love symmetry.
And panoramas.
And water features.
I moved on to Strasbourg and searched long for parking or camping. Found the camping ground but they were fully booked and rather inflexible. They could have allowed me to wait whether everybody booked really comes. They did not. Not recommendable.
So I carried on to Germany and stopped at an Autobahn Fuel Station.
I did not mention in yesterday’s report that I stopped at a highway fuel station for the night. I headed east again towards Germany and Austria.
55 km before Orleans I found Schloss Châteaudun. What a beauty.
In Orleans I parked at the river Loire opposite the city and rode my bike to town.
A bit further up is already an image oft this hotel and court yard. Now, one hour later it was used for a celebration of the French National Holiday. They had representatives from the US Army around in their original uniforms. Also vehicles were on show from 1945.
One of the vehicles was a Dodge troop transporter which I had driven in my military training in 1979. Can you believe that? It was not a question that I could take a seat and get photographed by the US Army.
About 15 km “behind” Orleans was Jargeau, which had a small parking lot for motor homes. Quite quaint views.
Who has not heard of Mont St Michel? I did and it was on my bucket list for a long time. Today was the day.
The camping site was near, so I took the bike once more and left it before the long bridge and mingled with the crowd. Medieval through and through the place moves you back in time automatically. Everything has style and charm and quality.
I was blessed by being able to attend the end of a church service, where the nuns sang as a small choir with a mystical sound in that high cathedral.
Wandering from level to level one has views over the Channel or inland or is drawn into court yards and chambers.
It is such a center of positive energy that I did not want to leave on the same day. On the other hand my time came slowly to an end and I carried on east bound to Rennes.
My blessings did not seize. Rennes offers stylish architectures and splendid restaurants, pubs and cafes.
On the ferry to Cherbourg-Octeville in France.
I was hoping for better weather in the south. Hope dies at last, on the road to Mont St. Michel it stayed dull.
The camping site is well organised end efficient. They have the turnover.
http://www.camping-montsaintmichel.com/
This would be special day. I visited good friends from long long back at their country cottage near Oxford. And later on I drove to Stone Henge in the Salisbury Planes. It should be no secret that I am mad about the Neolithic Sites.
The mystery of this center of energy is still under investigation. Austrian scientists are leading the wider area research from an helicopter using Radar and Sonar technology. They discovered a huge far reaching structure of stones and paths and type of canals. For me the presence of Stone Henge is nothing short of the Pyramids of Egypt or Macchu Picchu in Peru.
After that intense visit where I moved backwards and forwards in time in my imagination (-> time-travel.net), I carried on to Pool to cross over the Channel tomorrow to France.
For France I had in mind the Normandie and Bretagne, but detailed targets. I was lucky enough to get recommendations and hints from friends and neighbors. One would be “Carnac” with many large fields with hundreds of Menhirs. Equally intriguing.
From parking in Morecambe to parking in Oxford at the house of good friends. Not much to report from the English motorways…
As I parked very near to the ALDI shop, what sounds more attractive than fresh croissants for breakfast? What a treat in the morning.
Moving back south with just a few short stops. Time for better weather all together.
Some roads had unstable shoulders on the side of the road. As I sat in a left hand driven car and had to drive on the left side of the road, judgement to oncoming motor home traffic was tough at times. It resulted in 4 hits on one Sunday. And one to the four broke the right outer mirror. I just could fix it with cable strips not to loose it completely.
I choose Morecambe for the stop over by chance because it got late and I got tired. Found parking quickly in a side road of a shopping complex and walked to the festival at the sea side.
The idea was to cycle to the northern side of Skye and visit some points if interest. One was the “Old Man of Storr“. A look out of the motor home showed some clouds in the background, but all in all it was very promising.
But just after one Kilometer of cycling the background came strongly to the foreground and I had to put on the rain jacket. I only made it to the first attraction, Old Man of Storr. There were about 15 – 20 people on the way up and down. With a group of younger guys I made it to quite close to the stone. But the last bit was very steep and slippery and there was fog and a gail force storm which almost blew us off the socks. The clouds were so dense, we only saw a ghostly image of it. Perseverance is also a virtue.
In rain and storm I cycled back and suffered a bit. But only the tough survive. In the motor home I quickly changed to warm clothing and put the wet ones onto drying ropes.
All set to drive around the island on four wheels.
Found the “Kilt Rock & Mealt Falls Viewpoint” on route.
Duntulm Castle was a bit lost in the distance, but one could imagine it interesting in different weather.
Other travelers persevered on two wheels and I felt a little weak. My excuse was afterwards, I did not have the perfect outfit for these conditions. And it was true. The way to Fort Williams led over the bridge around lochs and lakes. I found parking and a pub for dinner. All well.
Today the target was the Isle of Sky with the “capital” Portree. The drive was scenic as every day and I feel, one cannot get tired of it.
If you are lucky you find parking at a fine coffee shop with book shop attached and you meet Italians who are on a long distance cycling trip around the Scottish islands.
Fantastic views of Scotland’s shores and lakes and hills.
As it is called Isle of Sky it needs a connection to the mainland. It could be a ferry, a tunnel or a bridge. They choose an elegant bow.
My parking spot again was an act of bravery: searched down a small road into a little forest and found my niche across the town of Portree. Could not have been any better.
First a stroll to the top of the nearby hill. Found this magic jewel: The Cuillin Hills Hotel.
https://cuillinhills.dbm.guestline.net/
These pics are from the walk to town.
I took an extended stroll on the beach far out to the opposite side of my location. It was just peaceful, relaxing, meditative and energizing at the same time.
I love the micro cosmos and miracles of nature along the shores.
The panorama form the far end back.
This are the ruins of Balnakeil Church close to my paring spot.
From the ride to the south west to Ullapool I was again amazed about the beauty of the Scottish Highlands with their winding roads and rivers and waterfalls. You can also meet interesting people on bicycles like Tim from the Netherlands. He had this top special touring bike from Germany for about 8.500 Euros. Respect. I gave him a lift to find a coffee shop. We had to search deep into one of the fjords and found that charming place at the far end…
The camping ground at Broomflield Holiday Park was just outside Ullapool and very well organized.
http://www.broomfieldhp.com/
It was a westwards move from John o Groats to Durness along the north coast of Scotland. As one can see the weather was rather dull, driving along the sea side is still peaceful and relaxing. Never mind the narrow and partially one-lane-roads. All motorists play to the rules and wait at the next passing island and traffic really flows and flows …
Could not resist to play nine holes of Golf ad-hoc when I came along the Reay Golf Club. It was a fine links course, as they are only in the motherland of Golf.
https://www.reaygolfclub.co.uk/
Similar to the above images, this was the view from the parking site of the motor home – near Durness – and another Golf Club, by the way.
Finding this ideal location needed the courage to drive past Durness on a narrow winding road. Then I found some parking, but it was full already. So I carried on another one-lane-road to the Golf Club. And found my spot.
http://www.durnessgolfclub.org/
After a pleasant night in the tent I chatted to neighbors with a motor home. They recommended this beautiful coast line nature reserve.
This “bowling pin rock” was excavated by sea channels over thousands of years.
The young lady and her colleague were extremely helpful that I could get a ride on the bus back to the ferry. They went the extra mile to get the permission and the necessary wrapping material for my bicycle. Very special to me.
I had not eaten much yesterday and today. I was in a state of euphoria to find the archaeological sites and had no appetite at all. But when it hit me, I had some fish and chips, but it did not give me enough energy back to cycle to the harbor.
The first view in the morning was a little wet and not really encouraging a bicycle tour. But it cleared to a cloudy condition which was welcome …
I knew Orkney does have neolithic excavations and museums. Beside its remote geographical location this was the main motivator to go there. I found it just ideal to take the bike with tent and cycle around the island. It was tough, but also extremely rewarding.
The ferry took about one hour and the landing point had NOTHING to offer, not coffee shop, no other shop, no welcome procedures 🙂
First landmark on the road to Kirkwall was the Italian Chapel, which was built by Italian prisoners or war completely from scrap material.
A glimpse of Kirkwall, main town of the island.
Standing Stones of Stenness
Above are images from current excavations Ness of Brodgar and the Ring von Brodgar. To “catch” the Ring onto an image with an smart phone is a challenge, which I did not master.
The clear highlight of that day and one of the most impressive observations of ancient structures was Skara Brae. I was lucky to have a “private” tour with a really engaged expert lady.
My tour guide in Skara Brae recommended an informal camping ground nearby and I found it very well sheltered and even romantic.
It was a long ride up to John-o-Groats, the most northern town of Scotland. I visited Inverness a couple of times in the past. And despite the poor weather it was again a pleasure to stroll around and enjoy the typical architecture of the area.
John-o-Groats is remote, obviously. But that provides it’s magic and tranquility:
MOST NORTHERN POINT OF SCOTLAND!
Quite late I prepared for next day’s biking trip to Orkney. I do enjoy extreme landmarks :-
Edinburgh is such a fascinating city and has thousands of visitors anyway. They host that multicultural “Edinburgh Festival” with great formal and informal events of classical music, theater plays and the fringe comedians.
The variety of architecture is amazing and the harbor and views to the sea make it very special indeed.
Had a whale of a time in that street market. Chatted to a professional photographer about post production …
I cycled from the camping ground to town and all around. At the Festival area there was a huge crowd and I locked the bike away and enjoyed the thrill of street art and performances.
Today is a transit day with short stops to stay alert. One was in Gretna Green near an M6 Motorway junction.
Channel of River Esk
Coffee and scones made my day.
Approaching outskirts of Edinburgh. Found great camp site at Morton Hall.
Camping south of Edinburgh:
https://www.meadowhead.co.uk/parks/mortonhall/
Driving north bound to the Cotswolds and stopping in Moreton-in-Marsh to buy some cheese in “The Cotswold Cheese Company” with charming personnel.
Carry on to Broadway just to visit this legendary hotel again. The Lygon Arms.
The day only started to become explorative, so I carried on to Stratford-Upon-Avon, Shakespeare’s home town.
Finally driving to Knowle and to Hollywood south of Birmingham, where I also lived in the late 90-ties. Grimshaw Cottage is in Knowle and the current owner, a charming couple showed me around how they extended and improved the building. I was impressed to say the least. Hollywood is the bottom picture of this collection.
During my time in Birmingham I visited the city center often and this time I also looked around to maybe find some parking at a hotel. But all searching was in vain. So I drove northbound again. The goal was Scotland. It became later and later and finally dark night before I by pure luck found that parking lot at Aston Court Care Home and Hospital.
Oxford in 2019 meant going down “memory lane”. I lived the from 2000 to 2002 and enjoyed the place very much. They have the oldest purposeful built music hall in the world and I went there many Sundays for the “Coffee Concert“. Other highlights were a New Years Concert in the “Sheldonian Theater” built by Sir Christopher Wrenn (who also built Saint Paul’s Cathedral in London), a piano concert in the Apollo Theater with Vladimir Ashkenazy, then one of the top 5 pianists and conductors worldwide and last but not least, many weekend outings to nearby Cotswolds.
Oxford city center scenes
Cycling to the outskirt villages.This one is Radley, where I lived for 2 years.
Around Radley and the River Themse with the typical river boats and locks and inns.
My last item on the agenda of that day was to visit the BMW Oxford Plant where I worked from 2000 to 2002. It was great to see some of the structures I coordinated as project manager are still in place and working well.
This morning I took the bike again and rode around Brügge and found new smart places and enjoyed every minute.
The four apocalyptic horsemen.
Take the famous route Calais – Dover to the chalk coast and drive to Oxford Camping.
Oxford Camping was very well placed and was hosted by helpful people.
When I left Norddeich I suddenly had difficulties with the gear change of the FIAT Ducato motor home. There was quite a resistance to get the lever over the neutral position into the next gear. Immediately I thought about the worst case: clutch or even gearbox faulty and huge cost and lots of time involved. What to do? I found a FIAT dealer not too far away with Google Maps and arrived there soon. I described my observations and asked for a quick check. The manager came out to the vehicle and pumped the clutch pedal – with his hand! He explained, that my model-year had this little misalignment of the clutch pedal from time to time and it can be reset by pulling the pedal upwards a couple of times. How mu8ch do I owe you? Nothing, it was my pleasure. He made my day… and I moved on west bound to the Netherlands.
Joyful Utrecht in the Netherlands
After that relaxing stroll I moved on to Brügge in Belgium. I found a suitable parking near town.
Thanks to the summer season it was still daylight enough to have a look.
Another most delightful town.
In the morning I took my bike onto a ferry and sailed to the island of Norderney. It is a famous place amongst the North Sea lovers.
Walking through the Dunes
To a remote beach
This side not so remote …
Testing a section of the “Wattmeer” with beautiful slick.
An interesting day closing down gracefully.
