Chasing supplies in Germany
We (Rob and I) have just spent a few hours chasing up maintenance bits for the van, and doing some food shopping.
An unremarkable day in some ways, yet as I said to Rob at the end of the exercise, it is a good way to get a feel for the country you are travelling through.
Our mission was to find a water pump for the that van. This was the pump for the shower etc – kitchen sink was fine. In addition we were looking for materials to finish off repairs to the interior of the damaged nose. We needed a can of expanding foam and some material for making a section of lining. Plus sundry bits like files etc.
The camp manager here (at Reichenau on Lake Constance) gave Rach a small map and a ton of verbal instructions, telling us how to find a place that had ‘everything you could need’ for motor homes. He was most helpful, and Rachael’s ability with the German language has been a real boon.
So off we set and found the said place some 30 kms up the road. The camp manager was right – this was an absolute mega-palace of a place: a huge retail department with EVERYTHING you could imagine, plus a yard chock-full with dozens of luxury motor homes. Prices ranged from E46000 to E90000, which made our 2 vehicles absolute bargains! We found exactly the pump we needed,, plus a few other small items (including a kettle to brew the vital cuppa!) Our two aging Vomos looked as if they had escaped from Motat, but we have become accustomed to that!
We then moved on and found a huge supermarket where we stocked up on necessary food supplies. We noticed across the road a boat-maintenance yard and walked over to ask about polystyrene foam. Fortunately the one guy we found working on a boat outside proved very helpful. We had a bit of a laugh sorting out who meant what, and finally he directed us to another mega-mitre 10 type store, just around the corner. On the way out of the yard, we noticed a large pile of discarded marine carpet stuff. We called out, is this rubbish? Ja he said. Can we take some? Ja, of course! So we took out the trusty pocket knife and hacked off about 4 meters for use as a large picnic mat. Score!
Then we drove around to the giant hardware store and completed our purchases for the van repairs. We got absolutely everything we needed. We were rapt with the outcome of our expedition.
We had found helpful, polite people wherever we went, and had learned that the Germans do nothing by halves. Everything is top quality, and there is everything for every occasion. Everything is neat, orderly and very organized and there really is everything on offer.
The only downside of course, is that everything costs an arm and a leg!
Back at base the rest of the family had had a pretty good day by the lake’s edge, so it was a satisfactory day all round. Now we have to pick the time for doing the next stage, which will fill the van with noxious fumes for an hour or two!
Tags: Observations, People, Tag Index
kiwijoe
May 27th, 2009 at 11:48 pm
hi guys
looks like you having a time of your life
some corrections here
the lake is called bodensee not lake konstanz
the town is konstanz why i know?? well this is ecaxtly the place i was born hahahah here you go
and insel reichenau is not to be mistaken fro insel mainau
why i know? when you go to reichenau you cross a railway track and the guadrs house rather large i lived in it for 5 years hahaha
and insel reichenau is in fact a huge vegetable bowl why i know just before you go driving there on the right hand is a little chapple that was burnt and flooded many times why i know i worked as a garden hand on reichenau
as for her sister mainau well this place you have to see al tropical stuff grows there and it belongs to a graf (royal) from sweden why i know we had to do garden work there in school holiday
as for all the other places rothen burg hahaha well yes you guessed right been there as well as well as your castles hahah
hey driving in germany is not for dreamers okay keep your eyes open for low flying street signs
lucky nothing more serious happen
anyway its snowing here again so u the lucky ones to be in a warm place
take care
anakranch