Rostock - Malmö - home Sep 18 - 20

 After Sachsenhausen we drove straight up to Rostock. We'd booked the 7.30 am ferry the next day, so parked outside the Border Shop along with several other RV's. We checked out the port area, too, but this looked a bit better. Had planned to get up at 5, but didn't sleep many winks, so got up at 4, drove 5 minutes to the port, and were almost first in line.

It had been windy all night, but after boarding I went straight to the info counter for motion sickness pills. And good thing, too  because the first hour or so was a bit bumpy.

We'd booked breakfast, and then we stayed by the window in the cafeteria until it was time to get back to our vehicles.

Karin had prepared a lovely lunch and then we chatted all afternoon. So good to catch up!

Wednesday we drove straight home. Weighed the RV at Nyköping - 3490 kilos. We thought we'd be heavier - big relief! We're allowed 3500.

Sachsenhausen koncentration camp Sep 18

 I've been dreading writing about this day. Sachsenhausen is situated in Oranienburg, a small town nort-west of Berlin. We spent two hours there, which was not nearly enough, but we couldn't take in more. A hortible, horrible place! But so important to visit.

So many questions. The camp was actually right on the doorstep to people's homes. How did they feel about that? And afterwards, how could they live with the knowledge of what had happened there? So much human evil. And don't give me that old crap of 'typically German', because I do not buy into that. Just look at KKK and lynchings in the US - noone would say typicslly American  and rightly so. Or look at the way Sweden treated the sami population, a terrible part of our history.

I'll just post some photos here. 

             Doesn't this look just like a park?

        Arbeit macht frei - Work makes you free

                        The execution pit

In the background is the memorial. In the foreground is where the two gallows stood 

Sanssoucis - No worries Sep 16-17

 Svensk text under fotona som vanligt.

On our way to Sanssoussi (No Sorrows/Worries) Palace in Potsdam west of Berlin we went by way of Lützen where Swedish king Gustavus II Adolphus was killed in 1632. Closed for refurberation but we saw the outside. 

We visited 2 palaces in the Sanssoussi park, and they were both magnificent.

På vägen till Sanssoucis palatset i Potsdam väster om Paris passerade vi Lützen. Såklart vi ville se Gustav Adolf monumentet, der Schweden Stein. Tyvärr är monumentet för närvarande stängt pga renovering och att de bygger ett nytt, fint museum på platsen så vi fick åka vidare.

Hade siktet inställt på Sanssoussi Camping i Potsdam och vi blev inte besvikna, men fattigare. Campingen är mkt välskött - men dyr.  Här bor man på charmigt udda tomter mitt bland ekträden. Så här års mognar ekollonen och dunsar ner med rejäla smällar på biltaken. Dessutom lämnar fåglarna i träden gott om små presenter, så det blir stortvätt när vi kommer hem. 

Hade velat se Sanssoussi i många år, och jag blev verkligen inte besviken. I parken finns mycket att se, men en del var stängt för renovering. Vi såg dock Sanssoussi (utan sorger/bekymmer) och Neues Palais. Parken och slotten är starkt förknippade med Fredrik II, alltså Fredrik den store. Förutom att vara fältherre och utvidga Preussens område var han musiker och komponerade mycket flöjtmusi som faktiskt finns på Spotify. Han var intellektuell och hade ett stort bibliotek, var konstintresserad och mycket involverad i planering och inredning av sina palats.

Första kvällen avslutades med ett fantastiskt fyrverkeri över Havel. Kväll 2 åt vi på campingen restaurang, mycket gott.

Riquewihr - quaint but touristy Sep 15

Alsace certainly is lovely,  and the lovelier and more quaint a town is, the more touristy it also is. Riquewihr is no exception from this. It seems all the shops are aimed at tourists - so where do locals do their shopping?

My IBS has been acting up again, so after our stroll through town I had a lie down while J went grocery shopping at Leclerc. Our lunch was delicious sandwiches from Riquewihr.

Long drive to Würzburg where we found a basic but nice camping on river Main.

Glorious textiles! Sep 14

 Short post today - am so behind that I need to be brief! - so will only write in English.

We slept incredibly well at Désirée Petit's. J had found the perfect museum for me, the museum for printed textiles. Very interesting, and amazing shop.

And then on to Riquewehr, yet anorher quaint little village. Stayed at a France Passion place, Hueber. Our RV was already quite full, but when there's a will there's a way... we were quite impressed with their red wine. Slept surrounded with vines. 

                We woken up to this view!

I bought one meter of this, to refurbish two chairs. I should have bought more, for curtains.