Balkans 2016 – Part 1 (D)(A) On well-known paths through Germany

The Adventure Begins

Saturday, 30.07.2016

To be honest, I put off the beginning of the first big trip that I was supposed to take on my own. On Monday, August 1st, 2016, the ice hockey training should start with friends in Linz, Austria. I had already accepted to come around and thus created a compulsory point. Experience has shown that it takes the Didimobile two days to cover the approximately 1,000 kilometers.

Another ice hockey event is to become a second point of contention: From August 26-28, 2016, the Napoleon Cup will take place in Amiens, France, where our friends from the Nottingham Panthers will be guests and I have already ordered an admission ticket – and promised to friends from Hamburg to appear there.

The tour should now last for four weeks, actually I could pack the entire wardrobe. For the first time I am a little relieved to have the Didimobile and its rather limited storage space for my own. I sleep restlessly at night: have I thought of everything? Do I have all necessary papers with me? Is the German identity card really sufficient for the entire trip? Questions after questions, thoughts about thoughts.

At noon the Didimobile is finally fully loaded. Four sixpacks of local Astra beer and the mandatory Fritz Kola box are on board. Ready to go. But where to go and which route? Due to political issues I do not want to drive through the east of the republic, but nevertheless I decide to take the standard route along the B4-road via Lüneburg and Uelzen towards Braunschweig.

Somewhat wistfully due to the lack of a passenger, I decide to go to the now obligatory camperstop at the Reichold brewery inn in Hochstahl in Franconian Switzerland; the shortest route is through the Harz Mountains and across the Rennsteig through eastern Germany. The heck with it, the tank is full and there is enough food on board so that I can at least drive through there without spending any money.

The Rennsteig motorway scores with rather little traffic compared to the A7 over the Kassel mountains and together with the B4, on the former route of which it partly runs, it is one of the shortest distances from Hamburg to Franconia.

At Coburg I have to leave the motorway to reach Hochstahl in the heart of Franconian Switzerland. Still a challenge without a satnav system. 😉

After a fair eight hours drive and more than 50 kilometers of detours, I reach today’s destination at around 8 p.m. In fine summer weather, the local Zwickel beer tastes excellent and is rounded off by a delicious Jägerschnitzel (escalope chasseur). I watch the hustle and bustle at the neighboring tables, take another beer with me to the Didimobile and go to bed unusually early.

Bad Names and Bad Weather

Sunday, 31.07.2016

Even if you are traveling alone with the Didimobile, the question arises: Do I sleep upstairs or downstairs? While the bed is pleasantly soft at the top, it heats up quickly when the sun shines on the car roof in the morning. But it is also darker above, so I decided to use the bunk in the roof. It didn’t get too hot overnight, but it is somehow uncomfortable to sleep directly under the roof during a thunderstorm. Fortunately, it cleared up relatively quickly, however, it left behind a lot of clouds, so that at least the sun couldn’t get me out of bed in the morning.

Around 11 a.m. I hit the road towards Laberweinting near Straubing, 200 kilometers away, where I have made an appointment with an ice hockey friend from the area in the evening. The navigation through beautiful Franconian Switzerland is deliberate without a navigation system and can surprise the traveler again and again with strange place names. Here is just a small selection:

From Hartenreuth (Bonerglade) to Wichsenstein (Jerkoffstone). Ideal family excursion location, because in the place with the slightly disreputable name there is a lookout point of the same name. From the 587.8 meter high Wichsenstein you have a wonderful 360° panoramic view over the hills of Franconian Switzerland.

The journey continues through picturesque villages and past rugged rock formations towards Regensburg (which would translate as “Rainycastle”), where it starts to rain heavily just before I reach the city. Thus, contrary to my plans, I end up on the motorway.

Behind Landshut, a fierce rain storm develops from the typical Hamburg weather. The entire street is under water within minutes, as high that it partially extends to the lower edge of the Didimobile. I don’t feel like getting out of the car anymore, so I head straight for the very remote RV park in Hart near Laberweinting.

Waldgasthof Hart is located away from all major main roads, a few kilometers from the next town and the cell phone signal is more than poor. Nevertheless, situated on the edge of the forest it offers a quiet place for the night and an excellent pub with fair prices and delicious beer.

In the evening the weather clears up again. There is a weak internet signal on the street above the inn, so I can update my Facebook page there and wait for my ice hockey friend. We have dinner together and end the evening with a fresh wheat beer.

Happy Birthday, Didimobile ♥

Monday, 01.08.2016

Today it becomes clear that Mondays can also start comfortably. With blue skies, bright sunshine and a good night’s sleep the day starts with a small breakfast at the inn. I don’t have a long stage to go today, it’s only about 200 kilometers to Linz and the Black Wings season training only starts at 7 p.m. For the Didimobile, on the other hand, this should be a special day: the 300,000-kilometer mark will be exceeded after a few kilometers. Happy Birthday, Didimobile. 😀

Unhurriedly, the journey continues via A92 motorway and on to the A3 motorway to Passau. The city to which we paid a visit last year is always impressive even when only driving past.

It is only eight Euros that a weekly badge costs for the Austrian motorways, but you can see more of the country and its people if you drive on country roads. In addition, Austria has started to reintroduce border controls within the Schengen area a few months ago, which leads to waiting times of over an hour in some cases, especially at the motorway border crossings, which originally have long since been abolished. Third, the Autobahn to Linz makes a detour of over 30 kilometers compared to the country roads, and the Didimobile isn’t really faster on the Autobahn anyway.

Thus the German-Austrian border is crossed at Oberkappel – no checkpoints far and wide to be seen, the radio speaks of waiting times at the border on the motorway near Salzburg of 75 minutes. It’s just embarrassing what kind of blind actionism Austria is doing.

The idiom “It’s enough to make a cat lough” translates into Geman as “The chickens are laughing (Da lachen ja die Hühner)”. Interestingly, the Didimobile comes across a place on the country road with a rather strange name: the chickens don’t laugh there, they prefer to scream: “Chicken Cry” (Hühnergeschrei) stands on the village sign. 😉

It is not far anymore from Hühnergeschrei to Ottensheim, where it is said to be a small campsite and a RV park. Indeed, there is an old farmstead in the Höflein district, on the back yard of which you can quietly stand next to a tennis hall for 10,-€ per night including electricity and shower. It takes about 20 minutes to the city center of Linz by public bus from there.

In the afternoon I can greet the first ice hockey friends in downtown Linz and together we attend the season opening. As always, it is again a successful day / evening in Linz. From now on the actual journey should begin.