Day 3. 19th April 2024.
Bruges, Belgium to Osterspai, nr Koblenz, Germany.
After overnight rain the morning started off dry, giving us time to get sorted before moving on.
The forecast was rain everywhere, from what we could see, so had decided that the day would best be used by driving towards sunnier climes.
Koblenz was put into the satnav as we waved goodbye to Bruges. Incidentally, along by the Aire on the River is a cute Barge Hotel and a Barge B&B, so if you are looking for something different for your next trip, look them up 
.
It wasn’t long before the rain started, making the journey on the motorway quite hairy at times.
Soon we crossed into Germany and were blasted by strong winds, blowing sheets of heavy rain across our path whilst negotiating the heavy traffic. We don’t normally see a lot of HGV’s, but we did today.
At one stage we giggled as the motorway warning signs were telling drivers that the top speed was restricted to 130km 
, that’s just over 80miles an hour to you and me!
Carrefour was our first stop for a stock up on food and then we were off again. We circumvented Brussels, then turned south past Cologne and Bohn.
When our windscreen wasn’t misted by spray or rain, there were glimpses of beautiful countryside, sadly, like at home, fields are still flooded and livestock still seems to be indoors.
Stopping for fuel revealed a hailstorm had passed before us, the gutters were full of still formed tiny white balls. And a little further along the motorway we saw a black cloud of smoke, eventually passing a small car in flames on the hard shoulder – all occupants accounted for and stood away from the burning vehicle – scary stuff!
Coming into Koblenz we realised we were travelling at quite an elevation on various spaghetti junctionesque roads 
. Then, all of a sudden the road was closed and we had to detour up even higher. It would have been a pretty detour had it not been raining….again.
Eventually, after quite a few “Bloody Nora’s”, we found a road back down to the town!
It’s very pretty, the Moselle and the Rhine rivers meet here. There are lots of Tudor style buildings which have been lovingly kept, some with cute little turrets on the corners.
Our chosen stop was along the river Rhine in a little village called Osterspai , the start of a world heritage site and hiking trails. On the opposite side of the river are vineyards and all around, tucked in the hills are castles.
Aires in Germany are called “Wohnmobilstellplatz”.
Today we’re in Wohnmobilstellplatz “Rhein ins Leben” Osterspai
Though it’s quite splendid, there is a busy road running between the river and the village. To complete the noise sandwich, a busy railway runs behind. There is also a railway on the opposite side of the river too.
Nevertheless, the views in the sunlight this morning are glorious 
.
Leave a Reply