Hotel Bonneberger Hof Vlotho

Close to Bielevelt, 312-07-2001.

Despite my pot and booze addictions, despite the chaotic mental state I`m in brought about by severakl weeks of living it rough, despite my cr*ppy old rusty bicycle, no maps or travel guides, my second-hand bicycle gear, hardly any spare parts and a leaking old tent...Despite all my old stuff and bad motivation...I am avaraging close to 200 kilometers a day now with the Dutch border getting tangibly close...

An intrepid and self ...

... coal mine inside, that was actually more like a dark playground. We really got an appreciation of how things were done in the mining field during that time period. Sometimes, I love homeschooling! Upon leaving, we encountered a bridal party, and nearly crashed another reception, when we took a wrong turn in one of the buildings! Continuing on our way, we were amazed at the number of large windmills....and nuclear energy plants that dotted the countryside.
We ...

... the museum, we went to a Hermanns denkmal, which was another huge statue on another ridge. Only this time, the sword was a big as the Kaiser statue. I think the person was 28m tall, so the view was incredible. Afterwards we went to Externesteine, which were these rock formations, which looked slightly out of place against the rolling hills. We climbed these rocks, and while we were there, this group of people, dressed in medieval type clothes, came and were setting up to ...

After another delicious breakfast, I got some work done for work (yuck) and we headed to Melanie and Andy's for another barbecue. We had to help them out and eat the rest of the meat and drink the rest of the beer before Andy left for Brazil for a business trip. Oh rats. Before we went there we decided to stop by the Externsteine at Horn-Bad Meinberg, which is a rock ...

In the morning, the kids were up and came it to wake up the new guest. Time to play!! They ran in with big smiles so we played with them and then got up and got ready for the day. Breakfast was great with more sausage, ham, buns, jam, and of course NUTELLA!!! Delicious stuff. If you can find it at your local grocery store, buy it. Now. After awhile, Andy and I went in to his "office" where his amps and bass were ...

... that her father had made, and my favorite breakfast thing from now on - Nutella. Nutella, if you have not had it, is spreadable hazelnut chocolate for breakfast. Has there ever been a better idea? If there has been, I've not heard it. It is spectacular. Breakfast will never be the same. Anyway, enough about the food, because there is more to come with the barbecue later. We packed up and drove to Barntrup, which is a small ...

... solos. It was lots of fun. After that, we all piled into the cars and went back into town for the Christmas market. I don't know if I can explain it very well, but try and picture cobblestone courtyards, swiss style chalet huts selling trinkets and toys, fairy lights, with an old church that's clock chimed, with the atmosphere of a carnival. Lots of people eating, drinking and just generally socialising. We enjoyed hot nuts ...

... I was too busy holding on! But we got there in one piece, and of course we were very grateful for the ride. Rima was there waiting for us with big hugs, and her mum had made a big pot of hot soup for our lunch. We were made to feel so welcome, and the rest of the day was spent with the children playing, us enjoying each others company, and sharing in her mums great ...

... a wide range of paintings important to the family. Some of them are over 400 years old. The White Hall is today still used as a reception hall for festivities. It has the family's coat of arms and Bouille clock above thefire-place. In 1762 the general of the army (he was an English field marshal) successfully led the defence of Portuguese and English tropps in a war between Portugaland Spain. King Jose 1 of Portugal honoured him with highest ...

... pitches at all, its cold again but the caravans are warm with the heaters and we get to talk about Mike and Pats trip to OZ next year when we will be living there. I feel guilty about it all as I know the whole family is as upset about Rob leaving as mine is excited about us coming, if only we could migrate one of the families in their entirety. 22/10/08 Day 83 Simple day of catch up laundry and clean up before we head off to Amsterdam.