Sun, 31 Aug 2003

author Tim	location Hotel and Camping am Wasser, Berlin, Deutschland
posted 22:42 CEST	section Europe2002/Europe/Deutschland/Deutschland 2 ( all photos )

Goslar, Quedlinburg ( 21 photos )
It wasn't far from the campsite north to Goslar, the second town on the Heritage Loop, and what a great town it was.
Seemingly endless rows of well-preserved half-timbered houses lead in to the central Markt square, adorned with even more ornate versions of the same.
You might just be able to pick out Liz in that photo on one of the chairs at the far right - that's where we ate our breakfast of cheese, salami, eggs, bread, toast, juice and coffee. Our treat to ourselves after making do with bread for one or two meals a day for quite some time.
We just wandered around town for a while, looking in craft shops (including a set which were in an old church with low entrance doors padded with pillows), touristy shops and many buildings with really old dates on their plaques out the front. On the way out of town, I saw a sign saying that the town celebrated its millenium in 1994, and some of these buildings wouldn't have been much younger than that.
We had come as far west as we intended for the time being, and now it was time to head back towards Berlin - but first, one more World Heritage town on the way - Quedlinburg.
We parked quite close to town, followed our noses into and around the place almost devoid of life. It is strange how so much of Europe seems to shut down on a Sunday, which makes it a great time to avoid the crowds.
By far and away the most pretty place here was the Markt square once again, containing probably the most gorgeous Rathaus (Town Hall) we have seen to date.
However, we chose not to dally for long, and pushed along the roads back to Berlin. The drive took longer than it should, because of the amount of road-work and hence detours around the place (a bridge was totally closed at one point which would have added about an hour, but Liz sniffed us out another one nearby), and also Rosie's bad behaviour.
We drove back into the same caravan park as before, located at the corner we were entering the city. Tonight we met and got speaking to Heather and Steve from Melbourne, who are doing almost the exact same thing we are doing except in the other direction. She's a Nurse, he's in IT, and they have been living in London also. Strange.
Amongst our conversation, we got as all combi-drivers do to the topic of mechanical problems - they have had plenty more than us so far. The interesting thing for us is that Steve has suggested that the problem we are having is the same as he had with a previous Combi - the valves need grinding as they sometimes don't close properly, letting fuel in to flood the engine.
At least it is a labour job so the insurance should cover the cost, but we aren't sure where we want to stop for that long yet.
Tomorrow we head back into Berlin hoping that my Czech visa is ready, and that we can find an internet café somewhere.

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