THURSDAY, 31st AUGUST : HIRSCHHORN to BRUCHSAL

It's been a rather quiet day today.  Before leaving Hirschhorn this morning, we filled the water tank, then drove the short distance to Hirschhorn Castle, an impressive castle complex begun around 1250 by the "Lords of Hirschhorn" which they expanded and rebuilt over the following centuries.

The narrow winding road which leads to the castle

There is now a hotel in the castle and couples can be married there.

We drove through Neckarsteinach

and passed by two or 3 castles along the Neckar River.

We bypassed Heidelberg as we've been there before

and stopped at the services on the motorway for coffee, arriving in Bruchsal just before midday.

Stoppng at the barrier to the motorhome park, we had some difficulty in opening the gate but a young man, a fellow motorhomer, came to our aid and we managed to enter and easily found the spot for us as at that time, there were only 3 or 4 sites taken.  We were getting organised when the young man's girlfriend, who spoke excellent English, came over and asked if she could help us in any way.  We talked for some time and discovered that she and her boyfriend come from Osnabruck, which is where Mike's cousin-in-law hails from and that her name is Stephanie or Steffi which is also the name of one of our daughters-in-law.  Small world!  

We had a load of washing to be done but as the one (free) washing machine was being used, we had to wait for the best part of some time, then had another long wait to use the dryer, so we had an enforced lazy afternoon of doing very little which we didn't mind at all.  By late afternoon, there were about two dozen or more motorhomes in residnece, it's a  popular place offering excellent amenities.