Sunday October 30 Heimbach

October 31, 2016

Sunday October 30 Heimbach

Obviously it had been a hard night...and the sun was very welcome!

Oh yes, we certainly had the coldest night of our trip but still nice and toasty in the van. And discovered this morning when checking the time on the phone that daylight saving ended overnight…had no idea! Anyway it was a cracker of a day, probably one of the best we have had in Germany with clear blue skies, no wind and nice and warm.

Planned a day touring around the Eifel National Park with the first stop in the historic town of Bad Munstereifel. Shame it was Sunday and all the shops were shut as it seems that this town has reinvented itself with many outlet stores, not your normal bulk stores but these are very classy and located in the old historic shops. I could have had a great time! There is really a great atmosphere with the cobbled streets and half timbered buildings and people wandering around window shopping. The cafes were open and found a nice spot in the sun and enjoyed a cappuccino.

We then did a circuit around the park, passing through wonderful towns with superb scenery and of course more of the wonderful autumn colours. Seems the weather brought people out to enjoy it as the roads were very busy, especially lots of big motorbikes swooping around the windy roads.

Stopped for a very late lunch at parking area beside what I thought was a park. Took my camera and went for a walk to catch the sun in the trees, and very surprised to find this was a cemetery. Then realised that all the headstones were the same and the penny dropped when I saw one with “Unbekannter Solda” inscribed in the stone and realised this was a war cemetery. Saw the information board when I was walking out which also had the information in English. This is the Vossenack German War Cemetery and from September 1944 to February 1945 The Huergten Forest Campaign occurred here with the deaths of tens of thousands of German and American soldiers. Sent a chill up my spine.

Ended up at a great Stellplatz at Heimbach which was very full when we arrived about 4pm, but lucky there was room for Ruakiwi!