Tuesday 4th April – Dresden continued
Came home from a great day touring AldStadt (Old Town) Dresden. The tram and bus system here is so good so was not hard to find our way back. We came back full of the hope that our fridge would be working.
Ugh – after about an hour, we noticed the fridge was getting hotter again. The service department was now closed so we took readings for a while and then put the fridge back on electricity.
Wednesday & Thursday 5th & 6th April – Dresden
Dropped back into the service department first thing. The receptionist saw us coming and alerted the troops that we were back again. We could tell by the look on her face that they were getting a little tired of us now. The service manager arrived promptly and we gave him our trusty piece of paper logging two hours of time with temperatures getting hotter in our fridge. We did not have to say anymore and watched as he conferred with other service personnel.
To cut a long story short, he eventually rang Dometic directly and ordered a part which he said would arrive on Friday (another two or so days here in Dresden was not a problem as it is such a great city). We still could keep our deadline to be in Warsaw by the following week. Spent the rest of the day catching up on paperwork, reading and walking,
The part arrived around lunchtime Thursday and was fitted. It was a small piece of metal the size of a green pea but as soon as this was fitted to the burner, the flame which had been an orange colour changed to blue. We sat for the next hour or so keeping a watch on the gauges – colder and colder it went so it was time to go out and celebrate.
Decided to find another local pub with some good German food and set off on foot. About two hours later and with sore feet we gave up – who could ever dream that you could walk for two hours in Germany and not find a pub on a corner.
We ended up at our trusty local pub just around the corner (we had been there the night before for a drink only) and had a beautiful German dinner of Pork Schnitzel and of course sauerkraut for me and potatoes for Rob, downed this with a couple of local beers and then headed back for a well deserved rest.
Friday 7th April – Bad Muskau, Germany (border of Germany and Poland).
Happily set off from Dresden with a fridge that was working better than ever (didn’t get our door fixed so will have to wait until we get back to UK to get this done at the end of the year. Again a typical overcast cold day and drizzle but we are learning that if you don’t go out in this sort of weather then you wouldn’t do anything – kind of getting used to it now except when we hear from back home about the sunny warm days.
The countryside is so green and lush and it is really beautiful scenery with lots of farms everywhere.
Arrived in Bad Muskau and camped in a Stellplatz at the top of town. Again we were the only ones there (though one motorhome did arrive during the night). It was about 2 kms down to town so we put on our rain gear, took our trusty umbrella and headed down town to try to find a supermarket. Had been running the cold food down because we were unsure about how the fridge would run but now – wow we could fill up the fridge – what a treat.
The German side was typical of what we had seen in other towns but once we crossed a bridge to the Polish side – things changed rapidly. It was like a huge flea market set up with dozens and dozens of old run down shanty type buildings selling wares (mostly cigarettes and booze). It appears cigarettes are considerably cheaper in Poland than Germany so people come over the border in droves to stock up on cigarettes and alcohol. Shoes, coats, lace, fruit, vegetables – you could buy practically anything. Even buses pulled up and people go out with shopping trolleys to stock up
We didn’t buy anything but really enjoyed the experience.
When we headed over the bridge back to the German side, police were stopping cars and checking their boots. It appears that you are only permitted to bring one carton of cigarettes over the border when in a car and hefty fines are imposed for those that break the law. Not sure what happens to the folk in buses as I am sure that had lots more.
Stopped in at a pub on the way back for an early dinner and headed back up the hill to Ziggy.
Saturday 8th April – Olesnica (60kms north east of Wroclaw – Poland
Horror shock – we were heading into Poland and didn’t have any Polish Zloty only Euros and the banks were not open on a Saturday – had to get some money so asked the Stellplatz owner where the best place was to get cash. He showed us on a map, the location of a couple of ATM locations on the Polish side. Rob sat with Ziggy in case he was asked to move. Here, every little spot that looked like a parking spot was policed by a local vendor who rushed out and asked you for money to park there.
Eventually I was able to get cash out at a Bankomat but felt very uncomfortable about getting cash from anywhere other than a bank. Have been warned through several blog sites to be very selective about where you get your money out.
Looked a little damp in Dresden for your visit. We where amazed by Grunes Gewolbe Museum, did you get a chance to visit during your stay ?