Day 6

Harburg to Suzlemoos via Augsburg, Germany

Leaving our lovely little site opposite the Castle ( forgot to mention it cost €8 with electric, no water or waste) we wandered back down to the motorway and made our way to Augsburg. Like home, they have had a lot of rain and we could see big puddles in the otherwise green fields we passed on the motorway.

At one stage Gareth had to put his sunglasses on! There are a few parking areas in Ausburg and the one we chose was by the river – not as pretty as we thought it would be as it is quite close to the town centre. The parking meter was out of order so parking was free, if you were staying the night it included electric, water and waste.

Once parked up, we headed to the centre, about 25 minutes walk through residential areas.

The main thing to say about Augsburg is that the buildings are big, so big it’s hard to imagine that they were ever a single family residence at some stage. The architecture is a mixture of renaissance and rococo. Most of the properties, especially in the main Maximilian Street, are so clean and fresh, you begin to think they are new buildings but glancing down the sides you can see evidence of the walls underneath the facades.

We sat in one of the main squares and had a coffee and shared a slice of cheesecake , very nice. The sun was out and so warm we had to peel layer after layer off, I mentioned to Gareth that if we sat there long enough we might get a bit of sunburn on our faces . Sadly it wasn’t long before the clouds returned and layers were reinstated .

Augsburg has a wealthy history and one of these wealthy guys, Fugger The Rich as he was called, set up a housing system, called Fuggerei, with rules that are still in place today. The rent has remained the same for 500 years and is equivalent to €0.88 per year! The houses are in a walled enclave with all 5 gates locked at 10pm every night.

We didn’t get to see them this time but I think they definitely are worth a visit if we come back. Also, there is apparently an Augsburg plum cake that you should not miss having, well, we couldn’t find a cafe or bakery that sold it, very disappointing. Maybe I’ll search out a recipe and make it when we’re home. Gareth thinks it could be a seasonal issue which seems more likely.

There were a few vans in the car park but it didn’t have the right feel for a nights stop so we moved on towards Munich. Just outside is Europe’s biggest motorhome and caravan sales room. They provide a free Aire which absolutely encourages you to walk around the shop and if you really can’t resist, the showrooms.

We did spend a little in the store and thought it far too dangerous to start checking out other vans, so hot footed it back to ours for dinner.

I must say, some of the motorhomes parked in the Aire were soooo big, they would definitely not survive well on our little country roads back home.

For the first time on this trip we couldn’t get a very good internet or phone signal, we laughed about waiting for the satellite to pass over or the wind to change direction . Fortunately this did present the perfect opportunity to get the jigsaw puzzle out, strangely addictive, keeping us up way past the witching hour and to be continued.