Day 4 – to Neustadt an der Aisch

Looking for that ‘highway if diamonds with nobody on it’.

Just a half hour drive this morning to the sports arena at Neustadt where campervans are directed to.

Snow was still falling, with several centimetres on the ground, and for a while, I was the only person in the car park.

In warmer times the walks in the forest close by might have been mundane, but with the snow, and a temperature well below zero, it was ideal.

There’s a path that follows the river Aisch, small as it is here, into town, and we followed it and indulged in a beer and some lunch. There were a handful of other visitors only, the perfect time to visit as far as I am concerned.

The architecture in the old town is Franconian, and typical of the area. The term refers geographically to this part of Bavaria, but also indicates a dialect and a culture of its own.

Just as we got back to the van the snow eased. Good timing for the rugby, then a another wander in the woods before settling.

There had been practically no other vehicle in the area all day, but as darkness approached, the town youth gathered. One fetched a vast speaker, and soon a loud outdoor party began. It was -8C.

I have seen this before, many years ago in Canada, when the adults basically said to the older teenagers, if you want to party go into the middle of nowhere, and no indoor space would take them.

They do deserve some credit for surviving the temperate, though only a very little from me. I moved the van to the upper car park, a kilometre or so away, where the noise was only a distant hum.