March 12 was an exciting day for us and it all began with another warm airport send-off from Cam. Thank you buddy for the ride and the encouraging words.

WestJet to Calgary then Toronto followed by a lengthy overnight KLM flight to Amsterdam. A long, tiring, awkward and guaranteed luggage looser flying ordeal… or so we thought. To our delight everything functioned like clock work; surprising us considering the relentless airline horror stories you hear so-much about these days. Flights were smooth, the layovers provided an opportunity to exercise our legs and with only half the KLM flight filled, we scored extra seating to stretch out on. Best of all… our checked bag arrived with us. Yah! Despite that extra KLM space we were still in need of recuperation on arrival at Schiphol Airport so the four minute walk to a king sized bed at the airport hotel I booked was a godsend. By the following morning we had basically crushed the Jet-lag and were all ready to hop on the train to Germany from the airport station. We arrived in Dulmen at about 2:30 pm where Martin (from Dumo) picked us up in what would be our brand new Burstner Motorhome. He drove us to Dumo Rent where we spent a couple of hours saying hello to everyone and taking care of rental details. First things first, a quick trip to the local superstore for some basic groceries and miscellaneous household items, then off to our first night at a Stellplatz in Dulmen. Our Burstner Motorhome was the perfect choice (thank you Dominik) for traveling to Türkiye in. A bit narrower than past units we’ve had yet very comfortable and better suited for those squeezeee Mediterranean roads.

We wasted no time getting started on our long southern journey and spent our second night in a familiar campsite in Kassel, Germany. They’re rebuilding the freeway system around Kassel so finding our way in and out was a real challenge and time consuming too. We exited the autobahn at Wurzburg to drive our preferred secondary roads that meandered through spectacular Bavarian countryside dotted with old towns and villages. We stopped for the night at a fantastic medieval walled village called Mainbernheim and after exploring the old town we had a delicious traditional German dinner in a Michelin rated restaurant that’s been operating since 1819. Night four was spent on a farm Stellplatz with a river view, near Passau. We shared coffee with the farmer and discussed world politics before purchasing a couple of bottles of wine from his collection and ending our fun evening in this beautiful rural hillside setting.

As we were close to Linz, Austria we decided to stop and visit the infamous Mauthausen Memorial Concentration Camp. It was built next to granite quarries where enslaved inmates produced building material for prestigious Nazi building projects. Many prisoners died carrying heavy blocks of granite up the “Stairs of Death” to the camp above. So many disturbing and horrific stories about this camp that should never be forgotten especially when you consider the crazy apoplectic political vacuum we see in the world today.

Onward to historic Graz, Austria that’s snuggled by mountains and is a great place for a days walking tour. Unfortunately getting to Graz will be expensive for us. In Austria you purchase what’s called a “Vignette” sticker to place on your front windshield if you’re driving on motorways. Essentially it’s a user pay road tax. Mechanical readers across the motorway read the vignette and if you don’t happen to have one, your licence plate is recorded and, ya-hoo! you’re sent an expensive penalty fine in the mail. “We don’t need a vignette… we’re just driving the secondary roads”. Oops! It was supposed to be the second right-turn about twenty meters AFTER the first right turn. Guess where the first right-turn road funnelled vehicles onto and guess which turn I took?. Ouch! Lesson learned. We zoomed across Hungary and we’re now close to the Romanian border so, Türkiye and all it’s delight, are almost in our sights.