Where's Bertie? He's in the Stellplatz at Velbert, where there was no room for him yesterday. It costs €5 per day to stay here, including electricity. Water is available for a small fee. Exact location: 51.34088, 7.03038.
Weather: wall-to-wall sunshine, but only getting to the mid-teens.
A silent night was had in last night's visually unappealing car park. Surprising on a Saturday night with good weather, but a surprise I was happy to take.
Thus we sprang out of bed this morning* to go and run/walk the undulating route I'd plotted following tracks and paths marked on the map, hoping they were public rights of way (which, it seems, most are in Germany). It worked out well, taking us through woodland...
... and along the trackbed of an old mining railway, with the occasional glimpse of views through the trees...
...before we looped back, temporarily finding ourselves out in the open before re-entering the trees:
Arriving back at Bertie at 1030, we paused only long enough for me to take some rubbish to a bin (I'd tried last night, but hadn't taken a torch and couldn't find the bin in the pitch dark), before driving the 2km back to this Stellplatz that had been full when we tried to park here yesterday. Mid-morning is generally a good time to find a space available, and so it was today.
Snap taken as I returned from buying Bertie's ticket, just after we arrived. It wasn't long before the sun reached us.
Second breakfast, showers then lunch fell one after the other, so it was afternoon before we walked into town for a look around. I'd seen some photos online that made the town look old and interesting. I'm now not sure if I was looking at the wrong town, or if we just didn't explore the right location today. There was nothing wrong with the place; it was just ordinary.
The main square, where some of the older-looking buildings were situated.
This church caught my eye for not being of classical design.
When walking through towns mid-week we often wonder when people buy things, as the streets are usually all but deserted, and the shops are generally closed on Saturday afternoons and Sundays so it's not as if people can spread their buying across the weekend. Today, even though the only things open were eateries, a newsagent and a florist, there was a minor bustle around the place - and especially around the 'museum for locks and metal fittings' where kids' activities were taking place. Apparently, Velbert is world renowned for being a producer of locks, a fact that had until today completely passed me by.
Spot the theme running through the sculptures
We arrived back to Bertie to find the car park, in which the Wohnmobile Stellplatz is situated, full to bursting. As well as various walking routes and a park immediately nearby, the car park also serves the swimming baths, and it seems that mid to late afternoon on a Sunday is peak time. With the sun dipping low in the sky as I type this, I'm sure there will soon be an exodus.
Fountain of the day (the serpentine creature popped up through the pavement a couple of times behind me too)
(*I may have used a little poetic licence here as to the timeliness and enthusiasm with which we peeled ourselves from the bed.)
Weather: wall-to-wall sunshine, but only getting to the mid-teens.
A silent night was had in last night's visually unappealing car park. Surprising on a Saturday night with good weather, but a surprise I was happy to take.
Thus we sprang out of bed this morning* to go and run/walk the undulating route I'd plotted following tracks and paths marked on the map, hoping they were public rights of way (which, it seems, most are in Germany). It worked out well, taking us through woodland...
Arriving back at Bertie at 1030, we paused only long enough for me to take some rubbish to a bin (I'd tried last night, but hadn't taken a torch and couldn't find the bin in the pitch dark), before driving the 2km back to this Stellplatz that had been full when we tried to park here yesterday. Mid-morning is generally a good time to find a space available, and so it was today.
Second breakfast, showers then lunch fell one after the other, so it was afternoon before we walked into town for a look around. I'd seen some photos online that made the town look old and interesting. I'm now not sure if I was looking at the wrong town, or if we just didn't explore the right location today. There was nothing wrong with the place; it was just ordinary.
When walking through towns mid-week we often wonder when people buy things, as the streets are usually all but deserted, and the shops are generally closed on Saturday afternoons and Sundays so it's not as if people can spread their buying across the weekend. Today, even though the only things open were eateries, a newsagent and a florist, there was a minor bustle around the place - and especially around the 'museum for locks and metal fittings' where kids' activities were taking place. Apparently, Velbert is world renowned for being a producer of locks, a fact that had until today completely passed me by.
We arrived back to Bertie to find the car park, in which the Wohnmobile Stellplatz is situated, full to bursting. As well as various walking routes and a park immediately nearby, the car park also serves the swimming baths, and it seems that mid to late afternoon on a Sunday is peak time. With the sun dipping low in the sky as I type this, I'm sure there will soon be an exodus.
(*I may have used a little poetic licence here as to the timeliness and enthusiasm with which we peeled ourselves from the bed.)
I would not have wanted to get what I suppose is an often done thing to get a photo of me sitting on the lap of the last but one photo for fear of being cast with a spell.
ReplyDeleteWith the key and lock theme, that spell may have resulted in being shackled in place.
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