Thursday 8th June

We have belatedly discovered that this week is half-term for schools in Baden-Württemberg, the state we are in at the moment. This probably explains the number of motorhomes in Ulm and made us a little fearful of finding places to stay over the next few days.

Our next stop was Tübingen and our fears were confirmed when we arrived at the town’s campsite and there was a sign saying it was full. Fortunately we found a good place on a quiet road (48.5286, 9.0679) which cost less than €3 for 24 hours and had almost unlimited open space behind for Skye.

Tübingen is famous as having one of the most prestigious universities in Germany, which was founded in 1477.

There was nothing in particular to see in Tübingen, but it is supposed to be a very typical small German town with an intact old town.

This is, I can confirm, the case. Lovely old half timbered houses and cobbled streets. The highlight of our meander, apart from the sneaky ice cream consumed, was the Rathaus on the main market square. It dates to the early 15th century and has incredible paintings covered its exterior. These must be renewed from time to time, because they are in pristine condition.

We were little confused as to why all the shops in the town were closed on a Thursday. It was explained to us that it was a holiday today in Baden-Württenberg for Corpus Christi. Having looked up Corpus Christi it all looks a bit too theological for me and I can’t really understand what is celebrated.

At the end of our tour of the old town we headed down towards the River Neckar, where I had read students punt, much like in Cambridge and Oxford at home. As we headed towards the river we were greeted by hundreds if not thousands of students heading away from the river. We stood on a bridge and watched a couple of boats, of a much bigger scale than in Britain, punting and then I asked someone who was dressed in a fluorescent tabard why there were so many students streaming away from the river. He explained that we had just missed a punt race and the students were all off to celebrate.

As we returned to Basil the pavements in the centre of the town were crammed with students, many carrying bottles or even crates of beer. Unlike in England however, none were the worse for drink. Maybe later!

Friday 9th June

Today was a travel day as we journeyed from one famous university town to another. Today it was Heidelberg.

I had read that the StellPlatz in Heidelberg is usually full so our intention was to empty the toilet at the StellPlatz and then find a car park on which to stay. On our arrival, however, there were three free places on the StellPlatz (49.3914, 8.6715 €20 including electricity and water) one of which we quickly grabbed. Within half an hour the other two places have been filled and we have spent the afternoon watching a stream of motorhomes arrive, empty, fill up and leave. We have been very lucky.

We are staying here for two nights and I have booked a free walking tour of Heidelberg tomorrow. This afternoon we are relaxing or rather melting, in the 27º heat.

There is a tram stop just outside our Stellplatz so it will be easy to access the centre tomorrow.