Time to go, sadly. We have a long drive ahead of us - but a great destination: The Chateau Sandton De Reay in Baarlo.
We have stayed there twice before and it's lovely!
A last photo from our room in Schlossberg Hotel...
Having some time in hand we decided to go via the Gedenkstätte Dora Mittelbau near Nordhausen. We haven't been there for a while, and it
means that our route avoids the road west from Hanover, which is not one our favourites.
We drove out through Hasserode one last time, getting a great view of The Brocken as we did...
... stopping at Drei Annen Hohne on the way...
... and then arriving at Dora Mittelbau.
This was another sub-camp of Buchenwald, where V2 rockets were built underground. The unfortunate slaves here had first to dig the tunnels
in which the rockets were to be built and then to build the rockets. This camp was established after the overground factory at Peenemünde was targeted
by the British RAF, and the conditions here contributed to the fact that more people were killed in the building of V2s than were killed by them.
Time to get under way...
... and after a long drive we arrived in Baarlo.
Out for dinner in the wonderful Centraal Baarlo. Great service, great prices and great food!
After a wonderful night's sleep in this fabulous old building it was time to set course for Calais. Always time for one more picture of Clara in her natural environment, though!
Just opposite the hotel is an aircraft museum! Exactly what you expect to see in rural Limburg: a Jaguar, a Fouga Magister and Starfighter ...
I well remember seeing Starfighters at airshows in the UK when I was a kid and clearly recall the eerie howl that they made. Stunning looking aircraft, but nicknamed 'The Widowmaker'...
After purchasing some horrendously expensive (€1.55) petrol in Baarlo (and we were glad we did as we saw €1.67 in a motorway service station!) we set off for Calais.
An uneventful trip, loud exhaust notwithstanding (oh how I am looking forward to getting her to Silchester shortly after we get back!), we arrived at Calais and sailed pretty
much straight through to the embarkation queue! Which makes a pleasant change:
Home again!
Clara is just over 30 years old and, notwithstanding a loud exhaust and a very dodgy windscreen wiper motor, has just done 1967 miles in nine days without missing a beat. Yes, there was
one incident with an oil level light, but apart from these small issues she has been an absolute delight. There are much younger cars than Clara that I wouldn't trust to do half that distance!
She may not be the tidiest W124 on the road (but I'm working to make her as tidy as I can without breaking the bank!) but she is incredibly dependable, extremely comfortable and a great car in
which to cover long distances. I love her to bits and cannot think of another car I would like to have as my daily driver!
Fixing The Issues