We had a bit of a disappointment last night, when trying to route ourselves south to Arnhem and onwards into Germany. Many many places in Germany require a low emission zone sticker, and without you would be fined 100 euros every time you entered one! We could have got one sent to us by post to home if we had known, but now that we are here the only two options left to us are 1) abandon all attempts at following the Rhine and simp,y blast through Germany on the autoroutes which exempt, or 2) try and get a sticker in Germany from a testing station. We decided we’d try that second option.
So, breakfast at 8.30 - a simple continental breakfast, and away from Voorstrat around 9.15. It took us a little while to get out of Voorschoten - the bridge was up letting what must have been several boats through. Finally out into the countryside we had a delightful journey through the polders north of the Rhine (yes we crossed it going to the north). Fabulous houses in beautiful villages set along the edges of lakes, a big (blue) sky and quiet roads.
AHowever as time crept on we were aware we wanted to spend some time in Arnhem and had to get to a TUV station in Germany. So at Utrecht we gave in and drove the A12 to Arnhem. It saved us about 30 minutes. We parked in the centre and near to the John Frost Bridge, name after the British Forces chief who so nearly held the Bridge. Taking our picnic, saved from breakfast, we wandered down to the Rhine and there was the bridge, constructed in the same style as before the war. As we wandered towards we came across a small museum, free to enter, but full of tremendous info about the wartime story. We were welcomed by a lovely Dutch lady and then left to wander and view and read. Afterwards we wandered on toward the bridge, and although it is being worked on we were still able to walk up onto it and have a good view back over the town.
Afterwards we sat and had our picnic on the banks of the Rhine and then make a small detour back to the car, taking in one or two of the very few buildings left after the war.
We could see traffic was heavy getting out of the city and we were concerned about getting this low emission sticker. I had found that Kleve in Germany, just over the border, should have test centres which should be able to help us, so again we simply got there by motorway, as fast as we could to try and get it sorted. In the end it was an incredibly simple process. Howard had taken all the paperwork for the car, which the clerk accepted, and in a matter of a few minutes and 17.50 euros we were on our way! Phew!
We then took a few minutes where we wanted to get to tonight, booked it and then reset the GPS for non motorway driving. We set off then through mostly farm land, flat country very little the Netherlands and my goodness how dry. We saw some watering of fields, but mostly the tractors were kicking up vast amounts of dust - the ground is incredibly dry. The crops were interesting, and some I didn’t recognise. But certainly maize, tatties, pumpkins, peas maybe. Germany’s Garden certainly. The German towns and villages we drove through were uniformly well kept, if not pretty.
The Garmon navigated us beautifully in a complex series of roads, around Krefeld and through Neuss - I don’t think I could have done it with a map, and we finally arrived at Dormagan, a random town we selected for distance and proximity to the Rhine. On the surface it is a beautiful little town to visit with a pedestrian centre beautifully decorated with hanging baskets and a buzzing set of bars. It was only on investigation Howard discovered there is a huge chemical factory close by - obviously a big employer. Keeps the world turning I guess.
Checked into the Hotel Hottche in the centre of town. Perfect fine traditional German hotel. After a walk to the Rhine to manage out 10000 steps we returned along the Main Street for drinks and dinner - curry wurst for me and bolgnese for Howard, plus beer and wine of course
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An early night after a late night panic last night.
Daily drive 167 miles
Total trip 663 miles
