Milly the 1979 Westfalia Berlin Deluxe Bay Window Camper Van

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[chrisradioman]

[chrisradioman]

[chrisradioman]

On my travels around the stalls set up around the area for the truck racing I purchased a mini camcorder that looked like a keyring for 30 Euros it holds a minor SD card & will record continuously for 2 hrs it gives a great picture & I'm sure it will give me a bit of fun.


Nest we headed over to the Truck Grand Prix only to find that it cost 67 Euros each to watch. That was a bit to expensive as it would have cost me 268 Euros (Leah was free) We decided to watch the start of the race from the Nissan shop which had a better view than from the grand stand. Leah started to get board just standing there watching the beep beep cars so it was just as well we hadn't paid all that money. We wandered around & saw the build up before the start:-

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Katy announced as she couldn't watch the Truck Grand Prix she would like to go karting & at 11 Euros each I thought this was reasonable so we all went over. Amy didn't actually want to go karting but I emotionally blackmailed her into going on to keep her sister happy.


They both went on with a bunch of competitive German lads which wasn't the best scenario for 2 girls who hadn't been on before but hey ho.
Katy did well, although all the German lads beet her, they didn't beat her by much. While Amy who was lapped 6 times by the German leader also got lapped 3 times by her sister at an average speed of 42KM/hr compared with Amy's 25KM/hr.
At least we haven't got to worry about her getting speeding tickets on the road.

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When we came out from Karting it was raining so we headed back to camp, as it was a Sunday all the supermarkets were closed so we decided to stop at a local kebab shop. We got between us a sea food pizza a Hawaiian pizza & a mixed Donar kebab & chips. I didn't like any of it so I had a pack of Pringles & a tin of mandarins instead. Everyone else enjoyed theirs inc. Leah so it must have been me.

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As it was only raining slightly I saw this as an ideal opportunity to wash Milly & Vanilly, they were both absolutely filthy. Because the awning was in the way I could only wash 3 sides & third of one side, so now we were driving a van that looked like a before & after for a car shampoo advert. Once they were clean we followed the usual routine of card games & then off to bed.


We were up & out of the campsite by 10.30 on Monday. I phoned Plague campsite in Luxembourg to discover that our parcel had arrived at reception so we headed back to get it 140 KM which was a bit of a wasted journey, but how could I enjoy my holiday without my camera? We had a little compact camera but its no where near as good as an SLR. At least the weather was warmer down South.

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We collected the camera charger & headed to Koln while it was further North the weather forecast was good. We've never been to the City before so we thought why not. Everywhere we go in Germany our rig causes a stir, if I had a Euro for every photo taken of us, I could have extended our holiday for the next few months or even years. We stopped at a Netto just outside Koln & called in a camping shop which was awesome. It stocked loads of equipment we've not seen before in the UK, inc. Westfalia Awning poles & pegs. We stopped at a Mc Donald's purely to use the wi-fi but they were charging 6 Euros an hour so we didn't bother & headed into a camp site right next to the river Rhine in Koln, how cool is that?



The camp site we stayed at was:-
Camping der Stadt Köln
http://www.camping-koeln.de/index.php?lng=en&nav=index
A very nice site walking distance to the city of Koln or Cologne as we say in English.

[chrisradioman]

We caused quite a stir at the campsite with literally dozens of people congregating around Milly & Vanilly, taking pictures & asking questions. A lot of the Germans spoke very good English. We set up camp it is a brilliant site, perfectly flat & you could pitch up anywhere. Although it is in a busy location at night you can relax in piece.









After setting up camp we just chilled for the Monday evening, made food & had a few drinks & we had an early night.

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Tuesday morning we were all up early, showered & breakfasted. Von made us cracking bacon & egg rolls & then we walked along the Rhine towards Koln. It was a boiling day & I stripped to the waste showing off my athletic body

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Saw some really cool cars on the road to Koln:-

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We walked along the river bank with nothing really planned into the Koln.
Its a really nice city with lots to see & do, you need a good couple of weeks to see everything
We visited the cathedral, it's massive & dwarfs even York Minster. My eldest daughter Amy was asked to leave the cathedral because she didn't have straps on her dress by some weirdly dressed monk like bloke. The rest of us left the same time, laughing at her embarrassment. It was such a nice day & so hot that I lost count of how many drinks we went through just walking around.

We sat in the square for a while outside the cathedral watching the boys show off on they're skateboards, while Leah had her dinner.

By about 17:00 we started to head back & Von started moaning about her ankles & feet being swollen so we jumped on a tram.
The trams are very clean & modern, regular & took us to within a KM of our campsite. Germany is very well signposted & everything is so well organised. We walked through the streets to our campsite & stumbled across a really nice cake shop. We all had a different cake each for less than 4 Euros altogether, a lot cheaper than back home. Food etc. in Germany is very cheap but the fuel is more expensive. than at home. Luxembourg on the other hand was cheaper for fuel but food was more. We didn't bother with tea when we got back home as we had eaten well during the day, eating ice cream, cakes etc.