The two days up at Saltzhemmendorf were a welcome distraction and the restaurant on site once again failed to disappoint
Schnitzels done to perfection
We treated ourselves at our next location namely Blomberg
We thought this was a dress rehearsal somehow
Novel but practical trailer...
Hooplah!
Apart from the two rogues in the foreground can you name all the actors?
This is a photo of a few consolation beers we downed at Fritzlar having picked up the package and discovered the new replacement Victron inverter remote control panel just didn't want to work with our Victron Inverter
All that waiting for no result!
Next day and after several emails back home to the RV garage with suggested remedies returned we drove around 120km south eastwards knowing there was now no point staying put so we continued our travels with the hope a solution would be found for the problem
I gave the Victron support line a bell in Holland as I'd been told they were really good with customer queries
The very helpful Denise suggested we visit one of their dedicated electronic workshops in Germany at either Dortmund (Soest) or Leipzig
Well here was the thing...
The nearest to us was Dortmund but back in the direction from where we'd just come from
The upshot was we turned the Bus around and went to Soest for what turned out to be a huge result for us
Marcus (the boss) and Thomas did a fine job of fitting a new (but far more expensive) uprated colour display panel to the RV that compliments and works perfectly with our big inverter
Victron telephoned them ahead of our arrival to instruct them to fit and test the whole set up, take out and keep my 'New Panel' and bill me for the difference
Can't say fairer than that really....
It turns out the panel that was sent out to me in Germany is actually an old model (but new) technology wise and has been superseeded a while ago with the result that sometimes the units work fine together, sometimes they dont...
We squeeze in on a stellplatz on the outskirts of town and avail ourselves of all things naughty after wandering the short distance in to the centre
Double top!
The very nice local Brauhaus has two restaurants across from one another and next day we consume yet another superb schnitzel each to accompany their fine beer
The quality here at Brauhaus Zwiebel is first class and we make the most of our time left here in Germany to top up on the things we'll soon start to miss
We'll both look like him soon at this rate!
In town they're getting ready for a week of festivities following Halloween
This means, in addition to the vast fairground being constructed, they are busy building this temporary meeting place which is actually a full size wooden house
A 'solid' beer and bratwurst hall that will surely be left up for the Christmas markets coming soon
A change in direction...
Having got a result with the panel finally and having had to retrace our steps across mid Germany we reconsider our flight plan
Its a bit late now to be chancing a trouble free crossing of Austria and down in to Tuscany given the weather has definitely changed for the worse
Not enough time either to do the regions justice by whizzing through them in a short space of time so we decide to cut and run to Spain albeit at a leisurely pace
When the sun is up and we are out walking all is well but we are getting fed up of the very chilly mornings and enduring the novelty of burning LPG in the RV's 'Furnace'
Our first jaunt south then finds us in Schwetzingen parked all of 100m from both Aldi & Lidl but more importantly this fine emporium
€16.90 each for the buffet and we are not expecting high quality as the ones in Spain (our main experiences) leave a lot to be desired and tbh the best we've had Chinese-wise has got to be the Lucky Star in Alfreton back home
How wrong we were...superb quality, smiles and a good feeling when we left followed by a good night's sleep
Fabrication of a huge bridge on site aside the autobahn
The beginning of the Schwarzwald and some excellent driving routes through this beautiful landscape
We hole up for two nights on the edge of Lossburg deep in the heart of the Black Forest
A 16km walk one day starts near this quaint summer house on the edge of a vast area dominated by very tall trees
Now thats a chopper!
Why?
At the top of the town lies a huge modern fabrication plant making high end 3D printing machines and the like for sale worldwide
How much profit do these guys make given the quality of the building they work from?
The frontage housed I guess a dozen hi tech machines which we thought initially was the production area but then realised it was in fact a showroom!
