Where's Bertie? Still at the Stellplatz in Hattingen.
Weather: Lightly overcast, milder morning; turning a bit damp later in the afternoon. Low teens.
There was something of an exodus from the Stellplatz this morning, starting with our 14-odd-metre long neighbour (9.5-metre motorhome, plus a trailer containing a motorbike). With it being 0630 when he left, and as he needed to do a multi-part reversing manoeuvre in a very tight space, I'm sure we weren't the only people unimpressed by the disturbance. Others left at a more reasonable time, and more quietly.
On the plus side, he left 1kWh of electricity on his connection, so we plugged into that, and tried paying for another 2kWh, but the meter kept spitting our coin back out. Already running an hour and a half behind in getting out for a run (I was close to the end of my book and couldn't put it down until I'd finished), I abandoned the attempt. I got back to learn that Mick had another go in my absence and managed to dislodge the stuck coin in the process - bonus, we ended up with 5kWh for our €1.
A gloriously hot, powerful shower in a swing-a-cat-if-you-want-to cubicle, coffee and a crossword, then lunchtime was upon us. We'd earmarked today for currywurst mit pommen from the eatery that's about 50 paces away from Bertie. We locked up, walked around the van that was blocking our view of the entrance...and found it to be closed. The sign hung on the gate translated as: "Unfortunately our facility is closed today. The weather forecast announced rain for today and we hope it's right. If not, we are sorry, but we can no longer change it."
Boo hiss!
A quick lunch back at Bertie, and with no hint of rain approaching we set out for the 600m walk to the 'Industrial Museum of Iron and Steel', located at the old steelworks.
Weather: Lightly overcast, milder morning; turning a bit damp later in the afternoon. Low teens.
There was something of an exodus from the Stellplatz this morning, starting with our 14-odd-metre long neighbour (9.5-metre motorhome, plus a trailer containing a motorbike). With it being 0630 when he left, and as he needed to do a multi-part reversing manoeuvre in a very tight space, I'm sure we weren't the only people unimpressed by the disturbance. Others left at a more reasonable time, and more quietly.
On the plus side, he left 1kWh of electricity on his connection, so we plugged into that, and tried paying for another 2kWh, but the meter kept spitting our coin back out. Already running an hour and a half behind in getting out for a run (I was close to the end of my book and couldn't put it down until I'd finished), I abandoned the attempt. I got back to learn that Mick had another go in my absence and managed to dislodge the stuck coin in the process - bonus, we ended up with 5kWh for our €1.
A gloriously hot, powerful shower in a swing-a-cat-if-you-want-to cubicle, coffee and a crossword, then lunchtime was upon us. We'd earmarked today for currywurst mit pommen from the eatery that's about 50 paces away from Bertie. We locked up, walked around the van that was blocking our view of the entrance...and found it to be closed. The sign hung on the gate translated as: "Unfortunately our facility is closed today. The weather forecast announced rain for today and we hope it's right. If not, we are sorry, but we can no longer change it."
Boo hiss!
A quick lunch back at Bertie, and with no hint of rain approaching we set out for the 600m walk to the 'Industrial Museum of Iron and Steel', located at the old steelworks.
Had there been more information in English, we probably could have spent the best part of a day there. As it was, many of the indoor displays were interactive or electronic and not of a format that we could Google Translate.
Huge machinery! (All the info boards about the machines were bilingual)
As we emerged back outside (into the relative warmth; it had been cold in the old machine hall) to walk around the rest of the site, we realised that, with a forecast of rain, we should have left the indoor bit for last and made the most of the dry conditions in which we arrived. It rained throughout the rest of our visit, but never heavily enough to make us rush.
Looking right from in front of the machine hall
Looking left from the same spot.
View from the top floor of the conveyor belt interchange building
Same view but with an orange circle marking the highest point that's accessible on the blast furnace
View from just left of the orange circle in the photo above.
I'd read a review of the museum on Google that said those with vertigo may struggle with using the stairs to ascend the blast furnace. I can see why. Even if taking the lift to the top, the platforms are all mesh.
Even without being able to understand many of the exhibits, just walking around the site and ascending the blast furnace was well worth the €5 entrance fee.
With yesterday's town tour and today's museum, I'm rating Hattingen highly as a place to visit.
Photo surreptitiously taken through our rain spattered windscreen. Got to respect the determination, sitting out having afternoon tea in the rain. Note that they don't just have a table cloth, but a floral display too, that they bring out for every meal. These aren't the neighbours we mentioned a couple of days ago.
As we emerged back outside (into the relative warmth; it had been cold in the old machine hall) to walk around the rest of the site, we realised that, with a forecast of rain, we should have left the indoor bit for last and made the most of the dry conditions in which we arrived. It rained throughout the rest of our visit, but never heavily enough to make us rush.
Even without being able to understand many of the exhibits, just walking around the site and ascending the blast furnace was well worth the €5 entrance fee.
With yesterday's town tour and today's museum, I'm rating Hattingen highly as a place to visit.
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