On Sunday we had our first full day in Germany, having just crossed the border from the Netherlands and finding a camping spot nearby the day before.
Camping in Germany is a different experience altogether from Canada. Most people have little cottages with gardens, television, washrooms — all the luxuries of home just in a scenic setting. When you come with a tent and nothing else, it certainly stands out.
On the upside, however, it is a lot cheaper than in Canada. Between €10-14 euros for a site and a hot shower for two. They itemise everything. One price for the bicycles, another for the tent, then for each person and finally for the shower. You could camp wild as well, at least in the area we are in, but it hardly seems worth the trouble for €10. Much to Andrew’s delight, beer is cheap too.
Having showered and packed up the bikes, we headed out from Emmerich am Rhein around 11am with a full day ahead of us. Thankfully, the local bicycle paths were well marked and everytime we thought we might have to get out a map signs for the next town appeared along with the distance. We didn’t get lost once, a real novelty for us.
Around 2pm we stopped for lunch, unable to make our own as all stores were closed on Sunday. Surprisingly, though, we found a local pizza spot with very reasonable prices. Spaghetti was just €3.50 for a big plate and a half-litre bottle of beer was the same price as a can of coke, just €1.50 — guess which one we went for?!?!
We pushed on and reached another camping spot just outside our goal for the day of Oer Erkenschwick. We camped for a couple nights, before hooking up with Friedel’s relatives and we’ll now stay here until Sunday, when we take off again for the south of France.