Mob Rules on a geriatric campsite!

Well I have never witnessed anything like this before on a campsite and although I managed to see the funny side of it I really was quite shocked (yes me shocked! )
Before I left Lake Balaton I rang ahead and e mailed the next ca spite that we wanted to stay at. It was advertised as the only 5 star campsite in Hungary and was recommended by the German camping organisation ADAC and is supposed to be one if the top European campsites. It has its own water park next door. My reservation was accepted and I was allocated pitch number 57 for me to find when I arrived. We had a lovely short journey through the Hungarian villages. They are so pretty. We arrived at the little town called Papa. We completed all our paperwork and were given our passes etc for the water complex.
We pulled on to the site shortly before 12 noon knowing that siesta started at 12 midday. There were lots of empty pitches but someone was already on pitch 57 and it didn't look like he was going anywhere fast. I approached the male in his late 50s and asked politely if he was planning on leaving. "Nein Nein!  NeiN! " " in a very loud and aggressive manner. I showed him my booking form and pointed to the number displayed on his pitch. He shouted "reception! " I was still smiling and being courteous presuming that the German language can sometimes sound aggressive to us when it's not intended and that the campsite had maybe made a mistake.  What was there to stress about?  There were plenty of other pitches -even the one next door was free. I agreed to go to reception to sort it out.
There was a lively young girl working who I presume was Hungarian. I hadn't even walked up to the counter when a woman I had never seen before said to me sharply "we have a problem! " I shrugged my shoulders and said "I don't have a problem " with that she started screaming and shouting at the young girl in German. The only thing that I could really understand was the swear words from the German and the polite receptionist saying "the pitch is mine as I had reserved it and she hadn't. This was all getting rather bemusing and other people started joining in. Before I had even realised it there were 10 of them shouting at the receptionist who was almost in tears. I really felt for her. It was an horrendous and frightening scene. The receptionist was on her phone trying to get help when I stepped forward and said " this is ridiculous. I will go on the next pitch!" Instantly the pack were tolerating me and offering their hands to be shaken by "frau" My sin I discovered later was to be British with a very British caravan.
I struggled to get our Caravan on the pitch that I was now allocated.  One brave German nearly came to help me but saw the others watching so hovered! All the 10 people were neighbours of the original man that was on my pitch. It became apparent  that they were not travelling together or even friends just a click "gang culture" like animals hunting in packs! Each time I saw one of them I politely said "GUD Morgen" and tried to shame them with their awful behaviour.
I later spoke to some lovely Hungarian people who were associated with the campsite that is known locally as "little Germany". The Hungarians do not camp there as they can't afford it.  It was built by the Germans in Hungary FOR the Germans. How brave was I is what they thought! Yes it was HORRIBLE! We can't sell food in pounds and ounces but they run a system like this and instead of using the Hungarian Forint use euros!   How are the locals ever going to be able to use or do half the things as they won't have access to euros -luckily we had!
I have never in my entire life witnessed such discrimination or bullying pathetic tactics. The receptionist was so grateful to me everyone she saw me she hugged me! What a state to be in and all over what?!
Molly enjoyed the water park but I can't say it was anything special which for £36 a night in Hungary it should be. It was packed and not particularly clean.  If that's the best ADAC  can recommend I won't be going near any of their sites again! Yes the toilet blocks were superb but that's about it

Swimming? Standing room only!

 Molly frightened the life out of me-never mind the gang!

So undeterred we stayed at Camping varkert Thermal for 2 nights and made our way into Austria.  Yes we were stopped at the border! (They had obviously heard about us troublemakers! ) Everyone was. It took about 40 minutes to get through

O dear.a 3 hour car journey and what a difference.  39 degrees down to 19 and Rain!  "Now where did I put our bedding? !" I think this is a lovely site and we certainly got a better welcome even in the rain! It's trying to be sunny now. The caravan need a clean. Let's hope today is a better day!  Lol

Everyone needs to visit Hungary!

Just when I thought that I couldn't be more impressed with this Country it blows me away again. We went to the pier that is about a mile from the campsite and wow!

This looked interesting. Maybe they were making a film?  We strolled on past and then went for a coffee 

We were only on TV "good morning Hungary! " or similar!

If you are a water babe's and like something different this place is definately for you! 

View of the campsite from the pier 

Very safe  for kids and bigger kids too. It's only murky as so many have been in playing around but this one is my favourite

The cost of living in Hungary is so cheap.  Yes it's a lot more expensive near Lake Balaton but I can really see why! Actually  I am paying £20 a night for everything . I think I could more than double if not treble it in the UK and France.  The weather is glorious and no crazy tolls just one vignette that I think was about £10 for the month and fuel is so cheap.  Little wonder that the place is full of Germans! Forget Lake Garda and the other rip off places. Can you guess where our next summer holiday will be?! 

Got to go. I Don't like keeping the lake waiting! Happy camping Every one!

Our Hungarian Adventure

Well we safely made it into Hungary.No queuing to buy vignettes. Just a simple pay at the service station. No stickers as it's all electronic. I can't remember how much it cost but it was cheap. Less then £20 or I would have remembered! The only problem that we did have was trying to get forints at the service area. They all advertised that they took visa but in reality only Mastercard!  Grrr! Crazy as soon as you hit the small towns and villages the ATM s are the same as in the UK!
We headed to a British owned campsite in the Country for a bit of a chill. Tranquil Pines. Very basic and rural with a pool and a bar but very hospitable hosts. The weather was very kind to us. We were able to have a "muck out" and chill. One day we travelled from Tranquil Pines to Lake Balaton and we were hooked! Water lovers this IS THE PLACE!

I have been to many of the famous lakes in the world but this is something else. It's huge but it's shallow so it's about 28 degrees. No tides and heaped with fun. No egines alod so  plenty of windsurfing, sailing and swimming. We dropped lucky and found a site that had a few vacancies. We took the last deluxe pitch and it was worth every penny

What a view to wake up to and go to bed to! Absolute heaven..it got better just along the road from the campsite pizzas to die for

We pushed the boat out here. .all for £4 and she ate it all! We had a bad storm whilst we were here but got off unscathed. We then found that there was a caravan club approved site on the other side of the lake directly opposite to where we were...we must explore! 

We had the choice of getting a ferry across the lake or to go by road. No one could give us the price for the Caravan which is quite big so we went by road. With it being with the Caravan Club we did expect to find other Brits here or at least English spoken and we did expect it to be organised..WRONG! 

We had been able to book quite easily on the Web page and it quite happily took my money about 5 days prior. We arrived at Reception and a nice young man said to me "did you get my email I sent you this morning?" "Errr well no I wouldn't I was travelling here!" "You have to stay on a normal pitch for 2 nights and then move to your deluxe pitch for the rest of your 9 day stay!"  OK so Cock ups happen..until I saw the deluxe pitch..10 metres from the main train line around the lake!  Still trying to Mrs reasonable although I had wanted and paid for deluxe I would take whatever ...ok this now involved 3 pitch changes. ..ok still being Mrs reasonable but then boss woman came to see us....no we have found you a pitch for the rest of your stay..only the one move..great! We are very happy with a refund from the caravan club but the irony is that the original pitch is still empty. We could have just stayed there! There are empty pitches all over the place!
Now we settled..what do we think? This is not a site that I would normally have chosen with kids clubs etc but I have for the grandaughter but I can honestly say it's the best site that I have ever stayed on in high season ANYWHERE! That is really going some. It's not noisey and chaotic like many of the Spanish and English ones. It's not full of drunken lager louts though Dave is trying to put that right!  It's calm with families enjoying themselves and is a pleasure to see. The place is not overrun with fertile kids and dogs. We are the only Brits on the site. Thank god the Dutch are here to speak to!  Last night Molly went to the kids club and before I knew it she was singing and dancing in German! Even my German is coming on a treat! That's a big criticism of the site. It caters primarily for Germans. There are few Hungarians here. Austrians, Slovakians, Dutch  but mainly Germans. The toilets, restaurant, shops etc are all Spotlessly clean. There is everything here including the weather at very good prices. Apart from their booking system and lukewarm warm showers it's very very good so good that I'm toying with the idea of stopping LONGER!

The weather has been very strange. Hitting the 30s most days but during the evening g really freaky thunderstorms-the dreaded hailstones golf ball size. I think we've seen 4 storms.The weather is predicted to get even hotter 38 tomorrow! Loving it!
Oh the Hungarians are lovely. Molly wanted a mermaid outfit..well she needed a treat for a good school report....do I really have to be seen on a beach with her dressed like this?

Thank god we are not in a tent! Boy can it rain!
So today should be interesting. Another hot one. Molly insists on going to kids gymnastics. Should be fun ....in German! Lol
Whatever  you are doing and wherever you are have fun!

Our Eastern Adventure. Camping in Hungary

Well we are finally off and on another adventure complete with 7 year old grandaughter.
There's been very little planning involved and in the true wandering spirit booked a cheap DFDS ferry and here I am sitting in a car on a campsite somewhere in Belgium near the Dutch border.  I am in the car not because I'm travelling but because the other sleepy heads are still asleep!
The trip down yo Dover was horrendously long and boring but we got there safe and sound and found a lovely CL to stay on. It was very rural yet 4 miles from the ferry port. In fact you could see the channel from it. No facilities other than water,electricity and a chemical point but lovely. I can't understand why people buy caravans with all facilities and don't use them-we certainly do. I'm not into £25-£30 a night at a caravan club site. It's the Caravanners equivalent to the Motorhomes Aires but much nicer. Some are remote which I love. This particular one was a working farm.
So the ferry DFDS was cheap £84 for car and caravan to Dunkirk but it was noisey. Not because of the passengers or kids but it seemed almost constant that the ships tannin was rabbittng on about something! Hey Ho!
A quick an uneventful journey across Northern France and into Belgium. The only memorable thing was the disgusting service areas. Third world. It was Sunday and all the lorries were parked up everywhere. Gangs of eastern European lorry drivers selling knives! I don't think that they were about to do a bit if cooking! Bins overflowing  and rubbish everywhere. Talk about first impressions if a Country!  Anyhow  after not being able to safely stop we headed for a campsite near Hasselt. Lovely. What a difference. Just off the motorway yet in woodland with a lake and a bar! Clean facilities. A bit on the pricey side at €26 a night but there again I am of Scottish /Yorkshire mix!

This place was really quiet. We stated 2 days just chilling. We visited a lovely nearby town and were suprised at how reasonably priced things were. Onwards we must go and into Germany.

Suddenly all the motorway service areas were Spotless. "Ahh for Germany good open roads" We couldn't have been more wrong. Am I back in the UK?  We stopped at a lovely site just outside Frankfurt. I nipped out the car to register us at reception and what a lovely suprise I got in 35 degree heat..a beautiful lake with a beach beside it 

Somehow Molly made friends again without speaking a word of German or they English! The only downside to this site were dogs in and out of the water uncontrolled and besides children and shaking their coats beside us adults supervising the children oo  and the aircraft noise from Frankfurt airport....well you can't have it all can you?! 

Onwards again. This stop was near Nuremburg. Very difficult to find but beautiful.  A lovely kids playground,  a reasonably priced restaurant and bar serving proper German food and wine. I was impressed how they serve red wine 

MY Sort of glass! 

So here I am again sitting in the car whilst the others sleep and I'm in Austria overlooking the River Danube and the sun continues to shine. I can honestly say that after thousands if not millions of miles of driving around Europe and Africa I have never ever experienced roadworks as bad as A3 in Germany. Sat Navs/Google etc say 2 hours. In reality 6 hours and more!  I think it would have been better just to have closed the road. Just DON'T DO IT! One thing is for certain. I'm not going back that way! 

This campsite is lovely. Spotlessly clean but a bit on the pricey side at €36. The views are superb though but the noise. Right at the side of a main road with not only traffic noise but boat traffic and a railway line to boot!  All we need is an airport nearby and we've cracked it!  

So today is Hungary I think. Ahh yes a months vignette for Austria €8.90. I don't have a problem with that I wished the UK did the same to foreigners! 

So far the weather has amazed me. It's been soooo hot. Belgium is prettier than I remember. Germany is a pretty country that is not coping.  It's not just a UK thing (broken roads/ overcrowding etc) It's really gone down hill. Austria is a quiet forgotten efficient little Country just rumbling along. Maybe I speak too soon-I've yet to get to Hungary! Lol oh and the thing that has really suprised me is the number if spanish I've met! Crazy. Helping to translate in Nuremburg and then again here in Austria. (Not that I speak any German!) Hopefully I speak a little English as long as Yorkshire Counts! 

Every campsite so far has had brilliant internet and the wifi is free! Yes camping in the UK is a total rip off. There's a lot to be said for my £84 ferry ticket. Why more people don't do it  I will never know but now I have to use it to convert currency. How many florist to the pound /to the euro? Hundreds to a pound-that's all I know!  I just hope Hungary is as lovely as I remember it!  

Whatever you are doing and wherever you are I hope you have a good day too!

Getting ready to wander

Well I haven't blogged for ages as nothing much seems to have happened. The weather in Spain has been worse on many days than the UK!  Yes we have even had snow in the first time for more than 90 years! Snow on the beaches, roads blocked, roads flooded and the infrastructure is simply not geared up for it. The campsites even less so. We have spent the last 4 days caged in. I have severe cabin fever! I am on count down now for going to Morocco. My two jumpers just about stand up on their own. I need to trade my flip flops in for boots.
So apart from getting cabin fever what has happened? Mother decided to buy a new build house in Hornsea. We had both sold our previous houses. Mother...oh my mother...love her to bits but sometimes I do despair. I don't know how she thought everything  was just going to "fit into place" when she hadn't seen the house built!  Everything had just about been done from Spain.
We were already planning on flying back to the UK for Christmas so had booked flights with the idea if going to a hotel.  My mother is anything but stupid "stay at mine" she said.  We should have known better! We flew into Leeds and picked up a Hire Car. We used the sat nav on the phone and it took us 2 and a half hours,  travelling via York and Harrogate! We arrived at the new house.  Nowhere to park the car as a builders van was in the driveway.  Not the most promising if starts. We had the key and into the house. ..oh my.....it was warmer outside than inside!  We could see our breath. Whoever had set the central heating hadn't done it right!  New carpets down but boxes boxes everywhere and in the daftest places. Something serious happened. ...no tea bags! Being a true Yorkshire lass I had an emergency supply of tea bags in my handbag and some long life milk that I had borrowed months ago from Brittany Ferries.  The major crisis was averted. We had to unwrap all the new bedding with our coats on and attempt to make a bed. We couldn't feel our hands. I think we just slept with sheer exhaustion.
I got up and was in the local Co op by 0800 the following day gathering the "essentials" milk, teabags, Weetabix,  etc. I was totally in a world of my own with my head down when a voice said "it's Jeannie isn't it?  We haven't seen you for a while! " A few words were exchanged but then she said "you all come home to roost" I never gave much thought to it at the time and carried on.  5 days solid of "boxing" No not that type of bixing -undoing boxes! Boxes labelled Christmas decorations. ..contained....videos!  Boxes marked "kitchen utems" contained. ...bathroom items!  It was hilarious.  Why the he'll had she kept videos when we don't even have a video player us beyond Me!  Who keeps cassettes? Lots if them..my MOTHER!  Pans. We could keep all the hotels and pubs going in Hornsea and beyond but did we find a kettle? ! It was a great source of amusement and kept us working away until I dare ask my family to Christmas dinner Yes we had worked that hard that the house was nearly habitable.  They preferred chicken to turkey and one grandaughter particularly wanted beef. Off we went all having a great time until a funny smell came from the kitchen.  You need a degree to operate the new built in oven and there I was apparantly grilling the chicken! Saved in time and no damage done. We had a great time managing Christmas dinner for 6.
We visited a local pub that is well within staggering distance and we sat looking at this group of old men. I kept thinking "I know yiu" They sat looking at me. In the end I remembered one if their names and straight away he said "whatever happened to that lovely long black hair? !" Part of the old gang that I used to knock around with. It went on like that the entire time that we were there. It was lovely.  It was like time had stood still. Linda words kept ringing in my ears "they all come home to roost" . I went into shops and wanted something and was remembered "youre local aren't you?" Am I? I've been away more than 25 years but yes I guess I am! The atmosphere was so great on many occasions we were chucked out the local pub at gone midnight!  Talk about "picking up where we left off! " and "somethings just don't change".  I took the eldest grandaughter to a local cafe and she wanted to sit in a particular seat. It wasn't until I sat down beside her that it all came flooding back to me ...that's just where I sat with my granny!  Spooky but lovely and reassuringly  familiar ...maybe we do all "come home to roost? !"
Dave was enjoying it as much as I was and he was readily accepted. I didn't want to leave. We had bought tickets for a New Years Eve do at Marjal  but there was no real live entertainment on and then the site would be overrun with the Spanish going wild fir the three kings celebration.  So why we're we dashing back?! We let the bloody expensive flight with reserved seats etc go without us and we stayed another 2 weeks!  The longer we stayed the more we loved the town and the house.  US 2 that were never ever buying property  again or being tied down.  The house is the first in a row of 3 and the other 2 are still for sale. In our minds we had bought one to live in, bought one to rent and then the idea. ..derry we want a house to use over winter mum wants one to use over summer. Why leave 2 houses  with all the expense?  Common sense prevailed and we are now buying half of the house. It will not only give us an investment but an "equity release" for mum too. Half bills half everything.
So that's what we are doing.
Time has now flown by and here I am finishing this in March! The weather has been absolutely awful in Spain this year. We eventually flew from Leeds and it was 12 degrees when we left.  We landed in Alicante and it was 12 degrees! Rain, rain and more rain. The sites cannot cope as they were built intending there to be dry sunny weather...one thing for it. ....we escaped to Morocco and have just got back to Spain! I am doing a separate blog on Morocco.  All I can say is "I used to wonder why people spent winter in the UK Now I wonder why people winter in Spain! Do it!  Lol