Colin here, my turn again apparently.
A fairly early start again, up at 6.30 to get our bags out for the porters to collect, then off to breakfast. Nothing too fancy but a good hearty breakfast all the same, so you can load a few calories in the morning and go most of the day with just a few snacks.
We left Brussels at about 8.15 and before long crossed the border into Germany. Again it is very flat country and long straight stretches of road. Once we get into Germany the Motorways turn into Autobahns where there are sections of the road that allow cars to travel at any speed they like. Yep that's right, no speed limits at all! I have to say though the drivers are pretty well behaved and seem to travel about 130k or so if my judgement is any good. There has been one or two Porches and a Audi R8 go past at closer to 160k or so but no incredible speeds like I thought we might have seen. It is Sunday though so maybe they are out for a casual weekend drive.
I can't help thinking what it would be like in NZ if there was an open speed limit like that. Can you imagine the maniacs.......yeah I'd be one of them.
Oh and one last thing on roads and cars (sorry girls), there is an amazing lack of Jappa's on the road. There are Seat's, VW's, Porche's, Opel's, Audi's, BMW's, Merc's, Volvo's, Renault's a few Citreon's and Peugeots. I've even seen a Mustang, two Corvette's and a 57 Chev today.
The other thing that amazes me is how the traffic can still come to a grinding halt. (Did you like that? I used a German word).
Speaking of German words there are some good ones here like "Ausfarht" which is going down a treat with the Aussies on the bus. It means exit. Then there is the place called "Im Burgerfried" oh and don't forget "Kunst Wet". Yeah I know juvenile but still bloody funny.
Another thing that tickled my fancy was the fact that they sell "fancy ticklers" in vending machines in the washrooms at The Autobahn cafes. Yep they are pretty open about sex in Germany, you can buy condoms, mini vibrators and vibrating penis rings with just a few Euro.
Back to the trip......the main part of the tour today apart from moving from Brussels to Germany, was an optional river cruise down the Rhine. This was really pleasant, the weather was perfect and scenery just magic. The shores are lined with quaint little German villages with buildings that would look just as at home on a model train set.
What is also striking is the number of castles that are built high on the river side cliffs. These in many cases are surrounded by vineyards. We reckon the guys that pick the grapes up there (and it is all done by hand) must have one leg shorter than the other.
One of the landmarks featured on the cruise was Lorelei rock.
Back on the autobahn and our tour guide made comment about the number of truck stops there are on the side of the road. These are there as they have strict driving rules for commercial vehicles (including tour buses) where they have to have so many breaks a day and have to stop for particular durations with the engine off. Unlike NZ where a driver records this in a log book, here it is recorded electronically in a unit on the dash. At one stage our driver had to wait until the timer ticked over another 2 minutes before we could get underway again, even though everyone was back on the bus and ready to go. Very precise....German precision I guess.
Tonight is really just a stopover. We don't arrive at the hotel until about 7.30pm. Dinner is then provided before we go off to bed ready for another........
Holly crap a Porsche 911 just shot past at full noise! Impressive!
.....early start tomorrow.
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