A storm in Segovia

The guides say that the old city of Segovia, just North West of Madrid, is one of the most impressive cities in Spain, and they are right. We stayed in the city campsite, which is nice, and took the local bus into town. But the heavens opened up before we got off in the city and we had a major thunderstorm with torrential rain and lightening. The streets emptied as everyone took cover from the rain. We waited for it to pass over and admired the fantastic Roman Aqueduct, which crossed to the old city right in front of our shelter.
We walked the now wet old streets and visited the impressive cathedral. It was a bit cold, but we found a warm and friendly bar to have some Tapas and a drink in, before setting off back to the campsite. All that evening, we could see the thunderstorm and lightning continuing in the hills towards Madrid.
The next day we drove the short road South West to Avila, which is a medieval hill top town with a complete city wall. We stopped there for lunch and walked around part of the turreted wall and old town. In the afternoon we drove on to Salamanca, which would be our most Westerly point on this trip and where we would meet my Spanish friend Ignacio.

On the campsite, when it still was nice and sunny....

After the thunderstorm, in town.

The Cathedral of Segovia.

Incredibly high ceilings inside.


Avilá with its wall.

Spain and Tapas

Now we were in Spain and again making our route up as we go along. One of the first cities we stopped in was Logrono, the capital of the small La Rioja region. It’s where Liam experiences his first Tapas Bar in the old town district. He stood proudly at the bar and ate potato croquets and Spanish ham on bread. After lunch we drove on, crossing the green hilly countryside with its newly ploughed red soil fields. Our campsite seemed a bit off the beaten track and again we had a snow covered mountain in the distance, but it was near one of the most renowned Monasteries in the region. In the morning we got up in good time to visit the Yuso Monastery in San Millan de Cogolla, which opened at 10:00. When we arrived we found out you had to take a guided tour, so we waited for the next one. The guide only spoke Spanish, so our group which was mostly French people and us three, with just a few Spanish people, had to make do with looking at the interesting courtyards, rooms and very old hand written books. Liam was mesmerised by the guide. I don’t think he had ever seen a person speak so quickly, and in Spanish! Naturally I had to buy a bottle of the local Rioja wine, which went down well with the cheese and ham we had bought along the way.

Crossing the Pyrenees to Spain

We leave Lourdes in the morning and head off towards the mountains. We decide to take a smaller route through the Pyrenees over to Spain and stop in a little village just before the road becomes really windy to buy some yummy cheese and sausage from the region. We drive quite some time through a very narrow valley and the higher we get the more snow-top mountains we get to see. The route we take is also the route the pilgrims go on the way to Santiago, as we find out on our picnic spot by a little mountain river. We will be following the Camino de Santiago, as the pilgrimage is called in spanish, for quite some time.
As we reach the top, we have a beautiful view over the mountains and find still quite a bit of snow.
And here we are, in Spain, land of tapas and toreros ;)

Still on our way up.

On the top.

The border to Spain.

Spain!

Lourdes

Having driven South through France and stayed in the very pretty Dordogne region for a few days, we drove further South to Lourdes. The fact we found it was a mystery to me. The road numbering system in France is very strange, and even the satnav in the campervan was having trouble finding a way as we tried switching back and forwards between fastest or quickest route mode, in order to find a route. The road numbers seem to continuously switch and all seem to have at least 3 different numbers! Anyway we found Lourdes and parked in a nice campsite just a few km outside. Liam gave the campsite 10 out of 10, as the playground had a trampoline, which he jumped on for hours, and a field with horses. Lourdes is interesting. It’s sort of full of every possible sort of pilgrim group, from nuns, school classes and tourists, to barrow loads of very oldies (literally, they wheel old people around in special hand pulled wagons!), all milling around from one religious shrine to another. The main church by the grotto with Mary and the holy water are the main attractions and worthy of the visit. There was a long queue for the bathing in holy water, so we gave that a miss. Instead we crossed the river and sat in the large field on the opposite side and had a picnic. Having ridden into the city with our bikes with Liam in his bike trailer, again it seemed may people have never seen one like it and many stopped to admire it. I think he was blessed a few times by passing nuns, who mistook it for some sort of fancy wheelchair and assumed we were taking him there for a miracle cure or something! Blessed but tired, we rode back to the campsite in the warm evening sun, ready for the next day and the drive over the Pyrenees.

Entering the Sanctuary.

A procession after the Sunday service.

The church built on top of the grotto where the girl Bernadette once had her visions.

In front of the grotto with Mary.

More pilgrims.

Beynac - a beautiful village in the Dordogne Valley

We find this little village by chance on our way. We decide to climb up the steep alleyways that lead to the castle on the top. Liam is doing very well in walking up there! We find a nice bar up next to the castle where we treat ourselves with some delicious crèpes.

Chateau Chenonceaux

We eventually arrive at our destination, a campsite close to the Chateau Chenonceaux by the river Cher. The next day we head out to the Castle with our bikes. The Castle is built over the River Cher and was once the home of the Queen Katharina from Medici. We stroll around in the beautiful garden and have a look in all the chambers inside. Interestingly, during World War II, the River Cher had been the line of demarcation between the occupied and the free parts of France. The Castle, had therefore exits to both sides and was used by the Resistance to smuggle large numbers of people into the free zone.

Beaune - Chenonceaux in the Loire Valley

Our fantastic picnic spot on the way to Chenonceaux, on the banks of the Loire with the view of Charity-sur-Loire.

From Luxembourg to Beaune in Burgundy/France and one day in Beaune

After a quiet night on the campsite and a play on the playground after breakfast, we set off straight south. We cross the border to France soon and cruise through very rural french countryside. No big, ugly power lines are disturbing the view over the slightly hilly, green landscape. We decide to drive through Dijon and head a bit further southwest to the small town Beaune which is in the middle of the Burgundy wine region.

The next day we set off with our bikes and Liam in the Chariot to discover Beaune which has a pretty old town surrounded by an old town wall. We visit the oldest wine cellars in an old convent built in 1239 and founded by Francis from Assisi and the Wine Museum where we could read all about the art ofAfter a lazy afternoon at the campsite we ride for a quick shop to a nearby supermarket to stock-up on food for our dinner in the warm evening sun.
Life is good!

Liam being busy at the campsite

The oldest wine cellar in Beaune

The Wine Museum in Beaune

Liam snacking before dinner

Köln - Bonn - Luxembourg

Coming to Köln was not what we had in mind to start off with, but after studying the map it seemed quite obvious to go just south from Kiel and to stop by in Köln-Dellbrück.
Coming to Chris and Til’s house in Köln is already almost like coming home and I’m very happy to see them. They are delighted to see Liam walk and Til gives him a tour around their garden before we go out for dinner.
We want to take it easy the next day and not drive too far, so I call my friend Cornelia in Bonn to see whether they have time to see us. They have a birthday to celebrate in the afternoon, but seem very happy to welcome us anyway.
After we arrive in the late morning, Cornelia and I set off for a quick shop in my favourite drugstore and Richard, her husband Roland and the children go for a walk by the Rhein.
In the afternoon, we are visiting the ‚Haus der Geschichte’ (House of History), a museum which tells the history of Germany since World War II. Its really interesting and well made and even Liam had fun walking around there.
After a nice and yummy breakfast with the whole family, we set off to find our way through the Eifel to Luxembourg. First we get a bit lost in Bonn trying to find another gas bottle and matching adapters to make sure our gas supply isn’t running out anytime soon. But eventually we get everything we need, find our way and arrive on our first campsite near Luxembourg City.

In Bonn with Cornelia and family

At our picnic on the way

Our campsite in Luxembourg

Our first three days on the road and 1400km.

We leave Stockholm on Monday morning and drive south, heading for our first target, the bridge to Denmark near Malmö. It’s sunny and we’re only an hour and a half later then planned leaving. The camper cruises well at around 110 km/h and we make good progress. Liam is a dream in his new reclining car seat. He has a great view out of the side window and to the front. When he needs some company or a drink, we can easily jump into the back and sit next to him for a while. After a long drive, we pull off the motorway at Lund, almost reaching our planned destination for the day. Its dark and we want to have a short stop and so we spend out first night in the camper on a quiet side street. It’s still quite cold outside and we need to use the heater in the night. The next day we get up early and get back on the road. We drive over the bridge to Denmark in the morning mist.


The bridge seems to disappear into the sea and mist as we reach the highest point. Soon we’re in Denmark swinging south again over the islands and bridges towards the car ferry at Rodby. We arrive in sunny weather and stop for a Danish pastry and a picnic by the harbour before boarding the ferry. As we park at the back of the lower car deck, Liam is surprised and pleased to see a German ICE train roll onto the ferry and park right next to our Camper.


After the short 30 min. crossing we drive off at Puttgarden and arrive in Germany. Then just a short 100km drive to Kiel, where we stop to stay with Anika and Daniel and their two girls Klara and Neele. They are pleased to see us and we are able to park right outside their house. We spend the next day with them and visit an open air museum with Anika and Neele.


It’s cold in the wind, but warm in sunny spots in the shade of the old houses. Liam thinks the animals are cool and recognises most of the farm animals they have running around. We set off on Thursday morning and again drive South, with the satnav set for Cologne. It’s another 500km, which we make in good time. We make a short stop for lunch and a game of football with Liam. Spring has arrived in Germany, the grass is green and there is blossom on a small cherry tree. We manage to arrive at Chris and Til’s house in Köln-Dellbrueck by just after five.

Taking a nap

Liam and Teddy take a nap in the camper as we drive through Denmark. Our first day, meal and night went well. Even Liam slept fine in the top bunk bed:-)

Campervan packed

Now we have collected the campervan. Here it is outside our flat in Solna. Its basically packed, just have to put the bikes on the back in the morning.

No.2 on its way

So it’s official. Our second baby is on its way and Caroline is now 15 weeks pregnant :)
We’re very pleased about this. We had our first view of little No.2 at Södersjukhuset on Friday. The ultrasound was booked three weeks earlier then usual, because our trip in the campervan starts on Monday and we’ll be away on week 18. The doctor explained we may not see all she wanted to because of the early date, but she was very good and managed to make the necessary head diameter and bone length measurements. This confirmed the 15 weeks +2 days status of the pregnancy. That should make this another October baby! The little baby was moving around and often had its hand up by its face during the scan. We could see the heart beating clearly and some of the major organs. The profile picture is quite cool and shows a very clear outline of the face. We have another scan booked for July, so we’ll get a good chance of seeing if it’s a boy or a girl at that scan.

Only a week to go!

Its only a week to go now, before we set off on a 2 month trip around Europe. We've hired a campervan for the trip. One with lots of space for us and Liam. We just have to get into gear now and get all the things on our list done before we run out of time. We also have to do some packing and sort out all the things we want to take with us.
Our plan is to drive south via Denmark, Holland, France and Spain, then back via France, Itally and Germany. Well anyway thats the basic plan... but all plans can be changed on the way if needed. Thats the whole point of a driving holiday.

Easter preparations

It's Easter Sunday tomorrow and of course we need some proper Easter eggs.
So we boiled some eggs, coloured them and finally decorated them in different ways. Liam got to paint his first Easter egg and helped Daddy painting his'.
Now we are all set up for a nice Easter breakfast tomorrow!

Happy Easter everybody :)