Red card in Munich & METAL!!!!!!!!

25th May - Bad Weissee Camperlaats, Germany

As we left Austria and into Germany we drove through some awesome scenery, past Achensee towards Bad Wiessee along the Tern See (lake).

We headed into the small town after some lunch, played some mini golf, which Nat says she won despite not including any penalty strokes when her ball left the green, twice, I mean come on!

Had a few beers as we waited for the orchestra to play, a summer evening thing here in the outdoors, after a few songs we had our culture for the day and headed back to BB for the night.

 

 

 

26th May - Munich, Donaustrasse, Germany

Munich is known for the beer halls and I think that is pretty much all we did. We first visited an outside beer drinking area for a few warm ups and then headed to the Hofbrauhaus where we stayed until we went home that night.

We met an American tour guide who sat next to us and sounded exactly like my brother Jake despite being from the States. Anyway it was a conversation starter none the less. He gave us his details as he knows someone in the states that sell and leases motorhomes.....(To be continued)

We then went inside the main hall and met various people throughout the night. There were loads of Americans there and we met some young students. By that time I had a gut full of beer and began telling them to move to the UAE amongst other suggestions. We also met Mike and his son Tyler who we spent the rest of the night in the beer hall with. I tried ordering some more beers but was told by the waiter I had been "RED FLAGGED", it may have been the throwing of the beer coasters across the room, but it was more like lofting it over to a table of pretty girls, I didn't know what the big deal was. I had the last laugh.....I had loads of them in my pocket...yeah!

 

 

We were all hankering for a large schnitzel so naturally we went to bloody Hard Rock Café for a burger and eventually got home in the wee hours. Heaps of beer and heaps of fun.

Our spot

 27th May - Wolnzach, Germany

Horrible hung over TV day. Only managed a 45 min drive out of Munich.

28th May - Concorde Factory, near Gieselwind, Germany

Today was really a planning day for the metal festival coming up,  but on the way we drove through Regensburg. Bit of a rainy day unfortunately but I was too excited about the festival to care. We arrived at the venue to realise that the camper spots in the actual grounds were full. So we found a spot adjacent the Concorde factory which was only about 10min from the venue. There was a Concorde camper show that weekend so the official spot was full hence we were in the car park around the corner. We chilled that night ready for the three days ahead.

29th to 31st May - Truckstop, Gieselwind, Germany

OUT & LOUD 2014!!!!

We received a nice bread delivery from Concord in the morning, if only they knew, and I was ready to get to the festival in record time (much to the surprise of Nat). Not much else to say here except that it doesn't get any better than this. Although the festival is small compared to others in Europe and compared to the Grasspop festival in Belgium I went to, but you were always close to the action and it was all metal with no middle ground.





Our first spot

 

 

We parked up in the truck stop and got Natty settled into her new home for the next few days, I then went to line up at the gate to ensure I could get myself a metal hoody and t-shirts before they all sold out. By about 1pm I was on my second beer watching the first act, Arsirus. Being the first band there it was only a small crowd as everyone is still getting things organised or hung over from the night before but they still gave it there all. They were good.

Out of all the bands on the first day my favourite was Sepultura. The second time I've seen them and I think it also helps that I knew the songs as well. I got nice and close and really enjoyed the set. I also realised how unfit I was when I was in the pit, didn't last more than 5min and had to get out to recover.....with a beer.




Sepultura - Main Stage

Other bands I liked were Grave, The Very End, Hate (Polish death metal band, awesome), Delain (at times were good) and Spirit Of The Future who were on the newcomer stage.




Spirit Of The Future - Newcomer Stage

There were three stages with the main stage and indoor stage playing in alternate times so you didn't miss anything. The newcomer stage times were the same as the indoor stage so you had to juggle that a little bit.

Bit of rain on day 1

The closing act on the main stage were Powerwolf, a very popular German metal band. Not too bad, pretty old school.

Day two

We moved BB to try and get some TV reception for Nat

 

The highlight for me was finally seeing Behemoth live. They are from Poland and are labelled the king of the underworld and had an awesome stage presence.

Behemoth

Legion of The Damned

I also liked Suicidal Angels, Legion Of The Damned (awesome), Evil Invaders, Orden Ogan and Flotsam & Jetsam were both good at times.

Newcomer Stage

I really enjoyed the newcomers Necrotted, Parasite Inc and The Last Hangmen. The closing act was Saxon, an English band that has been going for ages.



Day three




Third and final spot, with the big boys

 

The highlight was Amon Amarth, they were probably the highlight for the whole three days. I have finally seen them live! They had an awesome show and the crowd really got into it.

I also liked Sasquatch, Dust Bolt (awesome, currently listening to them in my car on my way to work), Vader, Iamenemy, Milking the Goatmachine (all wearing goat masks head banging, bloody funny and damn heavy, my ears are still ringing).

Milking The Goatmachine - Indoor Stage

Indoor Stage

The newcomers I liked were Arcturon and Bleeding Red.

The closing act was Blind Guardian, a very popular German metal band, but my day was complete with the Amon Amarth show!



Amon Amarth!!!

 

 

 

1st June - Bamberg Camperplaats, Germany 



After some well deserved bacon and eggs we finally (Nat's word) left the truck stop and headed towards Bamberg. We found a nice camperplaats along the river and walked into the centre. Its a really cute little town and had a nice feel to it. Many of the buildings are pre-war and untouched during the bombing. There is a river that cuts the town into two and creates a little island in the middle with cobblestoned roads and the old timber and brick buildings.

We stopped for a smoked beer and a half a litre of Fanta for Nat, with that sugar high we looked around some more and headed back to BB for some relaxation. We decided to go and have our last schnitzel for the trip and walked back into town........and then rolled home.

 

2nd June - Albertshofen camplerplaats, Germany

So after some much needed exercise we headed off via the B roads to find a camperplaats along the river main. We stopped at the small town of Prichsenstadt. Another cute and colourful cobblestone street town, one of many around here. Brenda had us on the wrong side of the river but realised she was taking us to a small two car ferry. We found the camperplaats along the river and relaxed.

Rival camp ground across the river >: {

3rd to 4th June - Nordheim am Main camperplaats, Germany

 

A short 20 min drive into Wurzburg and we found a car park along the river. We walked into the town across the old bridge and found some info on the city in the old market square. Wurzburg seems like a bit of a shopping town with shop filled streets everywhere. We got some info on the romantic road, had a bite to eat in the bakery and walked around some more.

We headed over the main bridge again and walked up to the Wurzburg Residence (Castle) which had a nice view of the town.

We decided to back track a little bit and explore the area a little more, so we headed back to BB and hit the road again. We found a spot in Nordheim am Main camperplaats

The next morning we got up late and got our back packs filled with lunch and took the bikes for ride to Sommerach. The wine tasting didn't really happen because the places were all shut, so we continued our ride and found a spot for lunch.

 

On the way back we rode through Sommerach again and this time found a place where we tasted some local wine. We rode through some winery's to a look out and then headed back to BB. To top off the day an ice cream truck pulled up next to BB when we got back. Just what we needed after a day on the bikes.

5th to 6th June - Rottingen camperplaats, Germany

Well last night was eventful to say the least. We were getting ready for bed at about 11:30pm when we saw the flashing lights of an ambulance drive past us. It took us a while to figure out what was happening but realised they were attending to the camper next to us.

The door to the camper next to us was on the opposite side so we could only see feet and shadows. There was some urgency to the ambos going back and forth from the ambulance to the camper but then started to settle down. We saw the lady of the camper go into the ambulance and we thought she was the one getting treatment. At the same time, Nat from the back window and me from the front, we noticed something from under the camper and Natty finally realised it was a pair of feet, which was the ladies partner we saw earlier walking past our camper having a beer.

No one seemed to be going over to him anymore and we then figured he was sort of propped up sitting there waiting and perhaps he was actually getting the treatment.  The whole time we were willing the feet to move but.....they didn't. They then come out of the ambulance and put a blanket over the body. We then pretty much assumed the worst. Soon after about 5 other cars rocked up including police cars and the cops took photos inside the camper. The lady came out of the ambulance stepped over the body (body was near the door), packed a bag, stepped back over the body and went back into the ambulance which left soon after.


The next morning everyone was gone and the camper was there by itself. Pretty crazy that we saw the guy walking by with a beer enjoying his holiday and the next minute was lying on the ground dead. Natty was shocked by the fact the partner left the body and rode off in the ambulance fairly soon after the whole thing happened, although we don't know the full story. Nat did hear a faint scream but had no idea it was from the camper until we thought about it the next day.

We really didn't feel like sticking around so we took off early and headed to Rottingen which is just down the first part of the Romantic Street. We parked up along the river and relaxed for the rest of the day. We spoke to the neighbours with the cutest little sausage dog, they too had just lost a friend who had a heart attack. They're dropping like flies!!

For the rest of the day we were glad to be alive and on holiday, who knows what lies ahead!

The next day we grabbed the bikes and went for a leisurely 20km ride through some of the smaller villages in the area. We had a drink, stopped for our packed lunch and rode back, nice lazy day through some nice scenery.

 

7th June - Rothenburg A. D Tauber Camperplaats, Germany

Time for a historical festival! Rothenburg is another town on the romantic street which we were lucky enough to visit during their historical festival. They all dress up and parade the streets with local bands and traditional costumes, which I think is just bar hopping over the weekend.

They also have local markets, shows and at the end of each day there is a huge beer garden with a local band. It was a stinker of a day and made the beer taste even better. I had the Weisbeer and Nat tried the coke/beer mix, which didn't taste all that bad. It was a fun night with some music that Nat could enjoy this time.

8th June - Nordlingen Camperplaats, Germany

We drove on further down the romantic street through Dinkelsbuhl which also had a historical festival. There was a huge street parade again and the town was packed, we walked around the cute town, had some grub and headed back to BB. Another stinker of a day as we headed towards Nordlingen, we found some shade in the car park for BB and headed into the town for a quick look around. Not much happening here so we headed back to BB and relaxed.

Dinkelsbuhl

 

 

9th to 11th June - Augsburg Camping, Germany

We headed off and quickly checked out Donauworth which was also pretty dead (public holiday) so we continued onto the caravan park.

There was a large lake right near by which was definitely welcome with the hot weather, it was about the time I was on my second beer for the day when I received an interesting phone call by my ex-boss in Dubai with a possible opportunity. An opportunity that I thought I would have missed because of the holiday, so long story short, after several phone calls and emails I agreed a start date of 2nd July!!!

 

 

 

We ended up extending our stay here to utilise the Wi-Fi and sort out the job stuff, we also had to reorganise the rest of our trip and decide the best route for the next month. Stopping the trip in BB by two weeks and missing the cruise is a little sucky but I'm also looking forward to the job opportunity and getting back into it.

12th June - Weil D. Stadt Camperplaats, Germany

We finally managed to leave the campsite and drove off towards Fussen to check out the Schloss Neuschwanstein which turned into a drive by. Would have liked to actually gone up and check it out.

We stopped over in Fussen for a bite to eat and walk around then headed to Heidelburg. We didn't make it all the way there as we tried to find some BB supplies at various camper places, we ended up finding a small place for the night.

 

13th to 14th June - Heidelburg, Germany

We made it to the camping place along the river, set up BB and enjoyed the surroundings. The next day we caught the bus into Heidelburg and did what we did best and checked out the town and castle, bought some souvenirs,  had an enormous schnitzel and a few beers.

15th June - Cochem Camperplaats, Germany

We arrived in Cochem after a short drive along the Mosel. Looks pretty similar to the Donau in the Wachau Valley but on a larger scale. Cochem's a nice town with cobblestoned streets and cute buildings. We walked up to the castle to check out the view, walked back down and had a drink along the river.

 

Our Spot

 

16th June - Bernkastel-Keus, Camperplaats, Germany

After finding one of the many camperplaatsen along the river we took it easy in BB for a bit before riding into town to watch the Germany vs Portugal world cup match. The Germans were all very happy with the 4-1 win.

 

 

GOAL!!!!!!!!!!!

 

17th June - Scweich, Germany

After a quick cup of tea in Bernkastel (and a visit to the post office to fix a HSBC stuff up) we headed towards Scweich, on the way Natty was starting to feel a little dizzy and nauseous and we thought it was from the tea we had (sometimes I get nauseous after a tea). However she seemed to get worse and worse and just as we arrived at the caravan park.......she took advantage of one of the conveniences of having a toilet in your car and "power chucked" twice, which are Nat's words.

Needless to say Nat wasn't doing much for the rest of the day but came good later that night.

18th June - Trier, Germany

Nat was feeling a little better today but still not 100% right, we drove to Trier which is meant to be the oldest town in Germany, apparently. We parked up BB in a big camperplaats and walked along the river to the town centre. Looked like a larger version of all the ones we had just visited but still had a nice feel. We took some photos, bought some bread and headed back to BB. (how many times have we said that!)

Spent the rest of the day watching the world cup soccer (Australia vs Netherlands, soo close damn it!!!!!!) and again relaxing and contemplating that we have only a week left in BB.... insert sad face.

And that is that for Germany (for this trip), its a little unfortunate that we had to rush the end of our Germany leg but still happy with what we have seen. Tomorrow we head to Belgium on our way to the Netherlands for our final week in BB!!!!!!!