We were picked up at 9:00am at our apartment in Warsaw by a young couple who were driving all the way to Netherlands... and they were doing the drive all in one day. This worked out perfectly for us, even though it's a long distance and it would be a full day in the car to do the 1,000 km (620 mile) distance.
But, it goes by pretty quick when you're doing 160 km/h (99.5 mph).
I'm sure most of you have heard of the autobahn, where there are no speed limits. Well in Poland, the major highway that goes to the German border does in fact have a speed limit... of 140 km/h (87 mph). But our driver said that it is rarely enforced.
We were driving in a fairly new Volvo S80 twin turbo. Very nice car.
Stopped for gas and a bathroom break.
While I was napping, Ruth said the highest she saw the speedometer go was 189 km/h (117 mph). But I would say for the most part we were doing around 160. It's kind of funny, but when you have been doing that speed for a while and you have to slow down to 100 (60 mph), it seems like you're crawling!
At the border, there was a police vehicle, and a border guard vehicle, but the traffic was just flowing by them. It's a pretty busy highway with a lot of truck traffic and they didn't appear to have any need to stop anybody, despite the entry restrictions advertised by the German government websites.
And that was it... we arrived in Germany! Country #43 for us.
In Germany, there are speed limit signs saying maximum "recommended" speed of 130 km/h, but that's only a suggestion. We were doing 170 at one point and had to move over to let a BMW pass us!
We did not take any photos along the way.
We arrived in Dulmen at 6:20pm and had only stopped twice the whole way. About 20 minutes the first time, and half an hour the second time. I had booked us a hotel room in Dulmen. Dulmen is a big enough place, about 40,000 people but there wasn't a lot of choice when it came to accommodation. Of course we will be staying in the new motorhome starting tonight, but our arrival was too late to do that yesterday.
The cheapest room I could find was €55 ($81 CAD, $65 USD) per night. We're not in Albania any more, that's for sure!
Nothing fancy, but comfortable enough.
Next up was dinner. We had no ambition to go out hunting for a reasonably priced place to eat, and the hotel restaurant got good reviews. So we splurged, knowing that this would be the last meal out for a long time.
I had the boiled beef.
It was delicious.
Ruth had a type of pork schnitzel without the bread coating.
It was good as well, and we were both stuffed!
Including a glass of wine, a beer, and a tip the bill came to €40 ($59 CAD, $48 USD).
And we are about to go down to the hotel's buffet breakfast. That will be another €9.90 ($14.60 CAD, $11.80 USD) per person.
And then our splurging will be over as we get back into our normal motorhome lifestyle.
So, it's time to let you in on what we have named our new motorhome. Rather than calling it "the motorhome", we are going to call him Max!
Short for Maximillion, a nice German name. Also, his model name is Matrix Access... so Max seems to fit as a short form of that.
So this morning after breakfast, we are headed over to meet Max for the first time. We're pretty excited and can't wait to show him off to you!
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Cant wait to see the pictures of Max. Exciting days ahead.
ReplyDeleteThey will be coming soon! So far we are getting things set up and learning how things work in him, He is small but lovely and we are going to have fun traveling in him. :-)
DeleteToday's the day! You've waited a long time for this moment and I know you are so excited. Can't wait to see your photos of Max!
ReplyDeleteYes, it was definitely a long time coming, we are so excited to finally be living in Max. Still quite a bit to be done and it was a little overwhelming doing the shopping, especially because I am not much of a shopper to begin with but we got the basics we needed for our first day and night in him. We have another shopping day planned for today and then after that it will only be to buy things that we either couldn't pick up right away or things that we may have find we need.
DeletePhotos will be coming soon :-)
Excitement! Cheers to the new chapter(s) and to Max. Congratulations.
ReplyDeleteThank you! And yes, definitely lots of excitement. We can't wait to see where we travel over the next few years, definitely lots of adventures ahead. :-)
DeleteSo excited for you. I can’t imagine going that fast on the autobahn but glad you had a seemless trip.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteYep, that was pretty darn fast but it is amazing how people follow the rules on the major highways over here. The passing lane is literally used only as a passing lane. If the car in front sees someone coming up behind them, they immediately move over, Whereas in Canada or the US that fast lane could have a car going slowly and they just don't move over which makes cars wanting to go fast start to weave through the traffic, which doesn't happen here at all.
I'm sure you have a list made of all the furnishings you will need to make Max a home!
ReplyDeleteYes, we have a list but it is almost exhausting getting the things we need because we aren't familiar with the different stores, the prices or the language. We got the basics that we needed for our first day and night in Max and more shopping is on the agenda today. :-)
DeleteWow, the day has finally come! Wonderful.
ReplyDeleteYes, it finally has and we are totally over the moon about it! :-)
DeleteSo excited for you both and the long wait to meet Max is finally over. Your adventures are truly amazing. Enjoy your new motor home and travels. Can hardly wait for your next adventure to begin.
ReplyDeleteThank you Brigitte! We are pretty excited about everything ahead of us too.
DeleteGetting Max set up and then traveling through Europe in him is going to be amazing. It won't be long before we can finally hit the road and really start our new adventures. :-)
Congratulations on the new edition to your family. I love the name Max.
ReplyDeleteHere is health to enjoy it and hope some day to meet.
Thank you Nora! We think the name suits him well, short and sweet just like him. :-)
DeleteI hope that we will get to meet some day as well. Any idea when you will be able to hit the road?
Woo hoo!! Like kids on Christmas morning!! Can't wait to meet Max!!
ReplyDeleteYep, it definitely feels like Christmas!
DeleteSome pictures of him will be up on today's post but once we get him set up and figure out how everything works we will do a proper video tour of him. Lots of neat little features that you just don't see in motorhomes in North America.
Woo-hoo, I am so happy that your round-about travels have finally led you to your motorhome! Persistence pays off, and I hope the meeting with Max is an excellent one. Really excited to follow your RVing in Europe adventures!
ReplyDeleteThanks Emily we are glad that it all worked out too and we enjoyed all the different places that we ended up in this past winter, but meeting Max was definitely the end game!
DeleteWe had a busy day yesterday and other one planned for today but we should be hitting the road in a few days. We will be getting all the paperwork done on Monday so we are hoping that we will hit the road either Tuesday or Wednesday but I doubt we will be traveling very far. Looking forward to our adventures ahead, it is certainly going to be interesting. :-)
Jealous
ReplyDeleteSorry! Hope you will still enjoy our adventures though, lol. :-)
DeleteHope you don't get Max up to those speeds he will be flying ! :) Enjoy your ride
ReplyDeleteNo worries there, Max will never get up to those speeds! :-)
DeleteMay the next adventure begin! Looking forward to the new motorhome and everything involved in getting it setup. Juan says he drove 160 on the autoban and as Ruth said, after a while, 160 feels like nothing.
ReplyDeleteIt has already begun, just getting Max set up is an adventure. Yesterday was a bit overwhelming, especially for me. Hopefully today will be a little more relaxed but time will tell. Shopping can be time consuming at the best of times but to do it in a foreign land, with different stores, different money and a different language just makes things even harder. Thankfully we got through the day and we got the basics that we needed to our first evening and night in Max but there is more shopping on the agenda today!
DeleteYep, after a little while going 160 kms an hour almost felt normal.
Yea, you made it, we are so excited for you💕
ReplyDeleteThank you Connie and Barry! A whole new adventure begins. :-)
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