Germany – Black Forest, Moselle & Rhine and then to Holland

Photo 1 – Furtwangen, Black Forest
Photo 2 – Trier, Germany
Photo 3 - River Moselle, Germany
Photo 4 - Bernkastel, Germany
Photo 5 – Boppard, River Rhine

First stop, the Black Forest. We stayed on a farm right in the middle of the forest in a place called Furtwangen which is near to Frieburg. We had fantastic walks in the forest and across the valley, a family of Red Kites kept us entertained – fabulous. We then moved to Trier which is on the River Moselle where there are Roman ruins and a famous city gateway – Porta Nigra and a lovely cathedral. We then moved further down the Moselle and stayed near Bernkastel, which is a beautiful beamed typical German town. We had a lovely lunch there in the same restaurant we had eaten in three years previously when we holidayed in Germany with our Cobra. We then drove down the length of the Moselle to Koblenz and then up the River Rhine to Boppard. We actually camped on the banks of the River and stayed there for a week as it was so delightful. Boppard is a very pretty town, but every little village were worth visiting, and of course, the romantic castles – 28 in total along this stretch of River. We are now in Holland, first staying in Harskamp which is right in the centre of the National Park de Hoge Veluwe which is in central Holland. The forest was stunning and absolutely full of wildlife, and we were honoured to have a red squirrel share our breakfast one morning. Then to the coast, a place called Lelystad as there is a large Bird sanctuary here, and we arrived in time to attend a large Bird Fair at the centre, great stuff. We are now staying in Sloten in the Friesland region – windmills, dykes, lakes and flat, flat countryside. Now only two weeks to go, so the plan is to go further north to another large nature reserve, then come down the coast into Belgium, visit Bruge and then to Calais, France to catch the ferry home on 9th September.