Bautzen Germany, Lodz Poland

Travelled: 489km from Bastei Germany to Lodz Poland
Visited: Bautzen Germany, Lodz Poland
Stay: Lodz paid 35 zloty/24hr,  no services. In centre of town, noisy N51.77743 E19.46079

It was a bigger day than planned.  Having arrived in Bautzen around 9 am we had a quick breakfast and walked to the medieval centre. It is a charming walled town above the Spree Valley. We crossed the river past the water tower and entered through the stone gateway.  There were many beautiful colourful buildings one of which was the baroque town hall situated in the main square.  With a map from the tourist office we proceeded to look at other significant buildings including St.Peters Cathedral and the crooked Reichenturm tower.

We were then on the road again and decided to get some more kms under the wheels. The motorways have been of exceptional quality in Germany and Poland is no exception and both are free.  We had a brief stop for lunch and continued on our way, arriving in Lodz just on 5pm.    

Traffic was reasonable for a large city and we found the camping-car infos spot quiet easily.  On our approach to the centrum most buildings required lots of attention or just pulling down. There was even an old power station in amongst  the houses, now disused. Lodz was known for its textile manufacturing and the buildings closer into town reflected the wealth that this generated.

After parking Bluey and having to haggle with the old girl in the booth about the wrong change given,  we went to walk along Piotrkowska street the most and nicest one here. There were several bronze statues of their most prominent citizens and even a section that had 'Hollywood' stars.

We picked out a semi local restaurant, a beer hall. Enjoying the best that Poland and Germany could offer. Mark had the schnitzel and I the dumplings.

Then it was of the Manufaktura, a huge cultural,  business and amusement centre that was revitalised from a previous textile factory.  Lodz also had a sad history which is reflected in the Radegast train station. It was here that 200,000 Jews that were confined here in the Litzmannstadt Ghetto were transported to the gas chambers. The tourist information gave us lots of pamphlets of places of interest of which we may explored further if we weren't leaving tomorrow.

Bastei in Saxon Switzerland NP Germany

Travelled 242km
Stay: Bastei P&R €5/24hr plus optional €1.50 return bus ticket, toilets, cafe, no service point. N50.98686 E14.05430

It was another early start as we drove off our pitch at 7 am. The first duty of day was to stop at a service point to do the necessities - empty the toilet and grey water and fill up with water, and so we pulled off the autobahn at Hermsdorf N50.89002 E11.87333 and proceeded with our chore for free. The next duty was to buy some German beer. The ratebeer Web site listed a few alternatives near Dresden. Having chosen one our GPS took us off the autobahn where along the way we came across a small group of shops which included a beer shop. We were happy that we didn't have to go near the city (which we had previously visited in 2014). Mark was even happier to find his favourite beer of which he bought the remainder 32 bottles. He got even more excited when he spotted a sausage hut and was ready to sample some of the local fare, but the guy had to refund our money because he had just run out of gas for the BBQ.  Not deterred we continued on our journey towards Bastei feeling confident we would get another chance.  Which we did!
We arrived at the P&R #2 just after 12 and having been informed that the 2min bus ride to the National Park departed every 30mins,  we fortified ourselves with a cuppa and a little snack.
On our arrival we noticed another parking area closer to the entrance to the park, but it was more than double the price.
So off we wondered along the path past the hotel and food places, some offering some lovely views of the Elbe River below. It didn't take long to finally see the Bastei which comprises of many tall rock formations that rise abruptly through the forest.  Some were connected by footbridges to offer splendid views. In one area a fort had once existed which cost €2 to visit. After having spent a couple hours admiring the views from all the offered vantage points, we decided to forgo our paid return bus journey and walk back to Bluey enjoying the 30mins of stretching the legs after yesterday's big drive. We rewarded ourselves with a cool beverage on our return and decided to finish off the day with our first BBQ of the season.  Bon appetit!