To avoid the Umwelt (congestion) zone of Berlin, we stopped at Marina Lanke, just outside the town of Spandau. From the site, it was a quick walk to the main road, where we could get a bus and then a train into the centre of Berlin. It sounds like a bit of a pain, and I was dreading the trailing about, but in reality it was quick and easy. Good old German efficiency! It was cheap too - we bought travel passes at the site for less than 40 euros, which covered us for 48 hours of travel on any transport system - bus, train, underground and tram!
Wolfsburg is the home of Volkswagen. Our Beetle, Boris, was built here in 1971. After the VW wonder that was HO17, it made sense to continue the theme with a trip to the Autostadt.
When we were initially planning our 2017 trip, Tommy casually mentioned that there was a VW event that he wanted to see. Funnily enough, our ferry tickets and planned route all seemed to fit in with it. Isn't that strange!
Next up was Hameln, also known as Hamlyn. This is a lovely old German town, famous for the pied piper and its plague of rats. The streets are awash with little brass rat plaques that are inlaid into the cobbles and everywhere you look there is reference to Der Rattenfänger.
First stop for us was Quendorfer See in Germany. Just a one night pit stop but very enjoyable for 6 euros a night, with a lovely small swimming lake and restaurant just down the road.
Once again we find ourselves at the docks in North Shields, awaiting our sailing to the Netherlands. Thankfully there seem to be no delays this time and we've even been upgraded with our cabin - so now we have a window!
Next stop, Europe! |
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