First Week on Calypso



Calypso at Dover

 The day that I had been planning, working and waiting for eventually dawned and after another rearrangement of my bags, a final cooked English breakfast and a sad farewell to Dad and Bren, my fellow overlanders and I, plus a huge amount of luggage were on the truck and away. Our first camp was in Tournai in Belgium where we were instructed in the art of tent putting up and the various jobs we would be doing for the next few months. We also learnt that Calypso is a truck and not a van, coach, bus and that Jim is a truck driver and not a van, coach or bus driver!  That is except when it is expedient for the truck to be a bus when going through borders.  A slip of the tongue results in a non- response from Jim.  CJ is our other leader and a great Mr Fix It when it comes to problems regarding same borders as he speaks a variety of languages and has the patience of a saint as does Jim whose driving skills are a wonder to us all.  A delicious supper was followed by an early and rather sleepless cold night which resulted in me oversleeping my breakfast duty.



Cologne Cathedral



Cologne was our destination for the following day which was reached in time for a sandwich and apple lunch. After it was cleared away, we walked as a group the 5 km into the city along the river and the magnificent cathederal gradually came into view. The challenge was to climb the 507 steps to the top of the tower which with much huffing and puffing I managed. The reward was some beautiful singing in the cathederal followed by a German meal with the smallest beers imaginable. Despite my -5 degree sleeping bag I was feeling the cold and that combined with a rather thin thermarest (some people had the most luxurious mattresses) did not give me the best night's sleep but the following day was able to doze on the bus to Bamberg.

The camp site there was extremely luxurious with the best shower facilities ever. The walk into town was through a beautiful park and the town itself, although geared to tourists was just lovely.

An unusual window box in Bamberg

The River at Bamberg

 Stephen, Paul and I walked around together enjoying the sunshine and the local scene. Lunch was German sausage from a van in the market where I salivated over the huge white asparagus and other lovely fruit and vegetables. After a climb up to the top of the hill and a visit to the Cathedral, we walked back through the woods and the park to the camp site.

After a long day's travelling, we entered the Czech Republic and, after a stop at the local Tesco where I bought a space mat in an attempt to combat the cold, hit the camp site.  Putting up the tent is getting easier and things are getting a bit more organised. 

Prague

 The following day, a bus took me into the city and the scrum that was Prague.  My meeting with a friend did not eventuate for various reasons and the crowds were slightly overwhelming so a bus tour of the city seemed a good option.




Astrological Clock

 At the Castle I left the tour and walked down the hill stopping for a salami sandwich.  Heading for the Charles Bridge a very nice young man from Gambia talked me into taking a boat tour which was extremely pleasant way to see another aspect of Prague aided by a large Czech beer.  The metro back to the bus stop was an easy and quick way  to get out of town and I met Sylvia and Russ at the stop so knew I was heading the right way!  Back at the camp, the bar was the focal point and the dark beer was excellent.

Cook duty meant an early start and it was a long day's drive to Budapest.  We continued our Tesco tour of Eastern Europe and a blanket was added to my increasing amount of luggage.  The Budapest camp site was the most crowded I have ever seen with campervans cheek by jowl with barely space for the inhabitants to get out of their vans.  Jim had to negotiate a 72 point turn (??) to get us into position and received a large cheer and clap from us overlanders plus the large crowd that had gathered to watch the fun.  We also discovered discrimation there.  The women had small cramped showers that were cold and the men had spacious hot showers.  Needless to say, us ladies used the men's showers after the first night!  The trip into the city was by bus and we arrived to a rather damp drizzly day but it was quiet with virtually no-one around.  A walk along the river past some magnificient buildings and the holacaust memorial took us to the Chain Bridge and a restoring cup of coffee.

Lovely dog in campside the size of a small donkey

Parliament Building

Holacaust Memorial

Heroes Memorial

Many of the group took the hop-on, hop-off bus tour but I decided to walk the length of Andrassay Ut.  Having headed off in the wrong direction, it took rather longer than anticipated but was lovely with some fine architecture.

 

A walk across the chain bridge and a steep path took me tp the Bupa part of town and some more wonderful buildings. Tired feet sent me back to the site where I enjoyed a lovely glass of Bull's Blood wine with Sylvia and Russ.