We left quite early and after a quick stop at Schiltach, a pretty Hansel and Gretel style village for ice cream, we stopped at a dry rollercoaster. At $3 each, we thought we’d have a go despite it being full of kids and looking a bit pathetic. We went on together thinking the weight would help us go faster. However , as soon as we started down hill, it went very fast and there was a squeaking of “Break it’s dangerous!” from the front seat. We managed a speed of 27km per hour and the 2 kids behind made 37 and were disappointed😂!

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Callum thought that since we had stayed in monastery in Spain, it was fitting to also stay in a nunnery so he booked us into one just outside Baden Baden and after dropping our luggage , we set off to find somewhere to eat. We were a bit sausaged out so fancied a Chinese. What he hadn’t spotted was that we had to walk for half an hour through a vineyard to get to it. It was quite nice at twilight but we thought it might be a bit creepy on the return. The Chinese was thankfully worth it and Google gave us alternative way back . We stopped in at a very friendly local pub that was playing a bit of Bonnie Tyler for a nice beer or 2.

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Next morning,we drove into Baden Baden. We planned to look about a bit and then go to the spa. We walked off the huge cakes we had eaten for breakfast by hiking up to the old castle through the Black Forest. As you can see from the pics, it was quite a lot of uphill. Callum definitely prefers the non-restored castles and though there was some moaning about not having to walk up every hill, it was worth it.

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We arrived at the spa with Callum insisting on the full native experience paying more for the ticket including the sauna. We sat in several different pools with varying temperatures -I managed about 1 second in the cold one and only went in so that he nothing could be said about wimps though Callum is very proud to say he fully immersed. A hot jacuzzi one was more my style . The ones outside were quite nice too and we sat hoping to become revitalised and rejuvenated. The sauna was a naked one and though I kept my wobbly bits contained in a towel, Callum went full native! There were several different types of sauna as well as icy plunge pools. Noticeably, it was mostly frequented by large, old men (who were very comfortable with the nakedness) and the occasional tourists. I was glad I had kept my towel firmly wrapped.

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We liked Baden Baden itself very much and it was probably the nicest place we visited in Germany. The next place was Heidelberg which was quite industrialised on the outskirts . The old centre was ok but quite small. Because of parking, we had again booked on the edge of town so needed to get into the middle. We decided to try a scooter as Google said that was quickest and they were outside the hotel. It was a bit of fun and they do go quickly- 20km/hr next a dual carriageway seemed a bit quick.

As we saw all of Heidelberg’s delights quickly, we had traditional hamburgers actually made of ham. They were nice but a bit strange tasting even when accompanied by another beer. I was bit tipsy and wanted to get a taxi back but no it was Lime scooters home again. Not the most sensible choice (kids don’t do it please) but a laugh especially when Callum’s Lime ran out of juice and I scooted past him!

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Our last few nights in Germany were on the Rhine. We had booked into what we thought from the website looked like a really nice hotel only to find we were put in the “garage” not the lovely old building. We did ask to change rooms (which they agreed to with us having a much better room)but the service was bad in the hotel as a whole and the area seemed to be well past its best. We wouldn’t recommend it. We did find a nice gasthaus with amazing schnitzel and steak for dinner however and went both nights.

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We’re off to see Kate (and Ali) in Maastricht for our final few days, then the ferry from the Hook of Holland to Harwich and home. That will be the end of our first lot of Rossie’s roaming the world. However, we’ve learnt a few things….

1. The coffee machine may have been laughed at by some but is an essential travel tool; it was used a lot!

2. Three navigation tools are needed at all times; a car sat nav plus 2 phones with Apple and Google maps . At times, all 3 disagreed , once by 100km!

3. Our language skills are shocking but it’s amazing how much you can do with smiling and pointing. Google translate was very useful but there isn’t always service so we need one to use offline.

4. We like the look of old hotels but prefer the convenience of modern ones and don’t ever use a Croatian ferry cabin. The bed bugs still make us shudder!

5. We don’t care what people think -ebikes are great. We like to mix activities up. Too much of one thing isn’t good. We like being active and a bit of an adrenaline rush now and again – even if it’s just on a scooter!

6. We’re happier when we’re hot! No surprise there😂. We also eat and drink too much on holiday which isn’t good when it lasts nearly nine weeks. We do this less in hot places -another good reason for following the sun.

7. Giving up work (though harder for some) was a good move. We have laughed a lot!

8. We can get on and it is possible to see each other for nearly nine weeks, 24/7 without arguing. We do still like each other after 30+ years!

We should be feeling sad but actually are happy to be going home especially as we have just looked up our travel vouchers from our cancelled BA trip to Thailand and have seen that they need using up by May 2022!!!