Cologne
Trip Start
May 12, 2009
1
47
52
Trip End
May 12, 2009
Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Monday, August 24, 2009
It was a beautiful sunny day.
We spent the morning at our campground, Haus Bergen on the banks of the Rhine. It is at kilometre 681 of the Rhine, as indicated on the riverside sign posts.
We all had mixed feelings about leaving the old beast behind. The kids in particular waxed all nostalgic about the old barge, wondering if we could take the motorhome back to Canada. We had spent a great summer with the Fiat, but maybe it was long enough.
It was early afternoon by the time we got under way. The raod to Geldern led directly past the grand old Cathedral that we had visited the day before.
After a bit of wrangling with the Navi - Steve the GPS seemed a bit confused - we were out of town. We steered clear of the Autobahn, preferring to putter through German towns at a civilized rate of speed on our last day with the motorhome.
We had a lunch of bread and cheese sitting on the curb in a Lidl parking lot. Maybe we really are still hicks from Alberta.
In Geldern we were enthusiastically greeted by Susan's German relatives. Jakob and Frida and Viktor and Lilli and the whole crew have been wonderfully warm, cheerful and endlessly helpful and generous to us throughout our journey. They showed no exception here, showering us with hospitality and warmth. Susan and I have been awed by their love and caring.
In the evening I fired up Igor one last time and Viktor and I took the motorhome back to the dealer, Willi Petkau. Willi likewise has been a wonderful guy to deal with. If you ever need to rent a motor home in Germany, may I recommend Willi Petkau of Petkau Wohnmobiles. Google him. He's on the Net.
Viktor and I had a 2 hour drive back to Geldern. In Viktor's 5-series BMW we proceeded about twice as fast as we had travelled in the previous 3 months. Viktor and I had a very pleasant talk, with his little boy Joel in humming happily to himself in the back seat. We covered the minefield topics of politics and religion, but without acrimony or argument. It was a good time.
Tomorrow we will get on the train and go to London.
