This weekend we drove 2,5 hours to Germany to join Ina and Andries, who’d already been there for two days. They’d found a great camping site and were enthuisiatic about the May Fair being celebrated in Osnabruck. So we packed our tent and bicycles and headed off on Friday morning.

We got to Teutoburger Waldsee camping site around 2pm and unpacked. Setting up camp has become a fine art … we can now do it in 20 minutes flat! Then to our horror, we realised we’d forgotten our pillows … argh. There’s always a thing or two that you forget, but your pillow?

Later that afternoon we visited the opening of the May Fair in Osnabruck. We found a cool sports bar near the centre of town, and enjoyed a whole bunch of Hagen fans supporting their local footy team. The weather wasn’t fab – rainy, windy and quite chilly. There is a curfew on cars driving through campsite so we headed back relatively early.

That night it dropped to around 4 deg C. Brrrr. But with sleeping in full attire and four sleeping bags cradling us, we made it through the night. Not too comfortably though .. the makeshift pillows were hard and lumpy. And then there’s getting used to all the nocturnal sounds.

After some fruit and yoghurt, we went cycling on Saturday. Compared to the flat plains in Holland, the hills were quite a challenge. The countryside is gorgeous … rolling hills, idyllic farmhouses, great wheat fields and yellow rapeseed fields.

We cycled endlessly through quaint villages and industrial towns, but after 45 km’s of up and down, I was finished. Ready to call in the troops, emergency guard and even the coastguard, I couldn’t face one more little slope. Marcel kindly lent a helping hand and literally shoved me up the hill. Thank heavens for strong husbands!

We made it back. 52 km’s in total … a new record … (and with those huge inclines)

That evening our beers and steak rolls were well-earned! We returned to Osnabruck. It seemed like millions of people were visiting, far more than on Friday. Bands had set up stages in strategic spots, in between there were cocktail bars, beer tents and food stalls selling all kinds of fare. Great fun, even if we were totally knackered! Fortunately the temperature was an extra 10 degress, which was far more pleasant.

On Sunday morning we had a leisurely breakfast and broke up camp. We even made it back in time for Marcel to enjoy the Grand Prix! I enjoyed the sunshine and pottered in our little garden. Fabulous to “get away from it all” but there’s no place like home, especially with your own comfy bed and pillows!