Leaving our
Bielefeld (Germany) campsite in our new campervan, our mission now was to get
to the Czech Republic to have the campervan fully registered.
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| On the road in our new campervan |
We originally purchased the campervan from our home in New Zealand. After arriving in Bielefeld to pick it up, it has taken around 10 days to complete the purchase, have it made ready, and get European
registration and Insurance – quite a journey but worth every minute!
Unfortunately,
because our German registration plates were temporary, and only valid for 4
days, we had to really rush through Germany, to get to the southern part of the
Czech Republic where we had arranged for full registration and insurance.
Leaving
Bielefeld, we drove south-east toward the Czech border.
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| Kassel Town Hall |
We were
managing the big roads ok, but felt we needed more practice driving this giant van before we ventured into the small town streets we passed.
Our first main German town was Kassel, the home of the brothers Grimm of Grimm’s fairy tales. It’s
a lovely place.
Not long
after, we arrived in Gotha, which had a medieval centre. We found a
place just out of town to pick up some lunch, then kept driving.
About half
an hour later, we were in Erfurt, another attractive town with well-preserved
medieval buildings.
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| Erfurt town centre |
However, after a slow drive through the main street, we
noted the narrow side streets and kept going. We motored on to Jenna, our destination for the night.
We found a
campsite near the township, and a funny little man there gave us a sticker for
our window and told us to park up. No problem.
It took us a
while to get the van organised with electricity etc, but we were ok and had a
reasonable night’s sleep in our new van.
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| Karlovy Vary |
The next
morning, we got going by about 10 am and headed to the border of Germany and
the Czech Republic.
We soon passed signs saying we were entering Ceska Republika, bought a compulsory vignette sticker (for motorways), and drove on.
We felt, now
that we were in our destination country, we could relax a little and so
ventured some sightseeing.
Our first
stop in the Czech Republic was Karlovy Vary, located in the western part of the Czech Republic, in the Bohemia region.
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| Marg enjoying a Pilsner in Plzeň |
It’s an
attractive 14th century town with colourful buildings, open spaces, and plenty of eating places.
It’s known for its spa resorts because of its mineral springs.
Its also known for glassware and china (i.e. Bohemian crystal) – we bought a
small crystal bowl.
Using our
new GPS, we were able to find the Autokemp Sansanka in Sadov, about 5 km from
Karlovy Vary and stayed there the night.
The next
morning, we moved on to Plzeň, also in Bohemia. It has a very lovely old town, and town square with amazing architecture.
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| Dinner in České Krumlov |
Plzeň is known mainly for
Still in
the Bohemia region, our next stop was České Krumlov.
This place
is a beautiful medieval city. It is also home to the second largest castle in
Europe, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Apparently,
its appearance has remained unchanged since the 18th century and we delighted in wandering through the traffic-free old town with its cobbled lanes, ramshackle
red-tiled roofs and lopsided colourful houses.
We enjoyed
our first full Czech meal here, sitting on a terrace beside the river and being
overlooked by the castle.
The national
dish is roast pork or duck, with cabbage and dumplings, which is what we had along with a good Czech beer – quite delicious!
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| Parked up overlooking the river in České Krumlov |
We decided
to stay overnight in České Krumlov, and found a lovely place about 6 km out of
town by the river. It was a small place offering a WC and waste water disposal,
and fresh water fill up. We had a lovely parking spot right beside the river.
The next
morning, we drove on to our town of destination, České Budějovice.
Also known
by its German name – Budweis, České Budějovice, is the home of Budvar beer, the
original Budweiser.
We were there because our friends Denisa and Anita’s family live there, and they are going
to help us sort out registration for our new campervan.
We could not
complete registration in Germany where we purchased it because we are from New Zealand, and could not provide
a residential address. So, Denisa's family details were used for registration and
insurance purposes.
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| České Budějovice |
After we had
completed the necessary paperwork, we spent four days in České
Budějovice waiting for the registration plates to be produced.
Meanwhile,
we enjoyed the hospitality of Denisa’s family. They kindly allowed us to camp
at their house as they had a large parking area.
While we
waited, we had time to check out the town of České Budějovice.
It has a
compact "old town" with buildings dating from the 15th century. We managed to see
quite a bit of this lovely town and enjoyed its beautiful architecture and
vibrancy.
Now, four
days later, here we are quietly celebrating, because today we finally have our
van registration plates, and are fully insured.
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Klara, Leigh, Marg
Dominic & Adam
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We would not
have been able to achieve this without the tremendous help of our friends
Denisa and Anita, and their family.
Denisa’s
family, especially her sister Klara and her Dad, have
been fantastic in spending so much of their time helping us to get through the
intricacies of Czech bureaucracy, in order to register the campervan.
Also, we
were able to experience a very tasty Czech meal thanks to the wonderful
hospitality of Klara and her mother Milena. They cooked us a fantastic meal
with two kinds of pork, potato dumplings and sauerkraut accompanied of course,
by Czech beer. Delicious, and home cooked.
We so enjoyed parking in Klara’s yard as this gave us the chance to really get to know the family. We had a lot of fun trying to speak English and Czech with Klara’s children Adam and Dominic.
We are very lucky to have been part of such a welcoming family here, and
experience their way of life.
Now that we're legally registered, its time to move on. Our next stop is Praha (Prague).
This blog describes part of our 7 month campervan trip around central and southern Europe, which began in Germany in April.
This blog describes part of our 7 month campervan trip around central and southern Europe, which began in Germany in April.