Annaberg Buchholz, Bavaria

 

Saturday: 8th July
Rose: Breakfast , shower and pack up and off we go. Our plan was to travel to Czech Republic via Annenberg-Buchholtz. Why this town you ask, no idea we just checked the towns en route and decided this one looked pictureskew. We chose a route with no highways so winding our way thru small village after village. All so neat with brightly coloured window boxes filled with petunias. Parsleys Pursuit of the perfect bakerei meant a detour or 2 when we saw a sign , but we soon realized on a sat midday meant we were too late as most close at 11 or 12. We arrived in Annaberg- Buchholtz without any hiccups except the of course the parking we headed to was underground so we needed to find another but there was plenty of parking on the street.

We found a cute bakerei and sat outside after choosing our pastries. The cappuccinos came with a miniature ice cone attached. A winner! This town was very prosperous in its day and the square reflects it with smart looking townhouses all around but you can also see the neglect as a lot of beautiful buildings were now abandoned and falling down.

 

We read that it was a silver mining town and there is a museum nearby where you can see an old forge with hammer which worked until 1904!
It also has a beautiful church the St Anne’s frauenkirche which is solemn and serious from the outside but very beautiful on the inside.
While walking around the square we noticed they were setting up stalls. Good old google told us it was a summer market to be held that evening with fireworks and Mediterranean stalls. So we took the decision to stay and then do our first wild camp. Firstly to find a spot. We still feel like we are possibly doing something wrong even though it’s quite acceptable to park overnight in a parking area and sleep. Anyway after a few attempts ( nearly an argument ) we decided on a spot right opposite the police station!

 

Then we settled in for an afternoon nap. ( I’m getting the hang of it) The fair was lovely. Full full full of local townspeople. We were probably the only tourist.

Again I say Chris’s German comes in handy. We did laugh at the Mediterranean stalls. One from Hungary serving delicious Langos. A type of pizza bread deep fried with sour cream and cheese and ham. Super delicious. And then an Egyptian stall selling … actually could not work out what it was. Then a stall selling burgers and chili con carne , so no not sure about the Mediterranean part. But we had a great time.

We sampled the Erdbeer Bowle a strawberry fruit punch.

Then a Langos and some beer and prosecco. The prosecco came in the same size cup as the beer.

 

 

 

 

We found a spot to people watch and we loved it. There was live music albeit an old guy who fancied himself a heart throb.(***** check back on Fb for the post of Chris singing)Chris had new hope that it was not too late for him to be a pop star. Everyone had such a good time dancing and singing along to German pop songs which they all knew the words too. And exactly at 23h45 the fireworks started. Magnificent. Then off we trundle to our van 5 min down the road to sleep.

 

Sunday:
Rose: I woke up with a slight hangover. Wonder why?
Chris made up get up at 7.30! And then off for a walk in a dead asleep town looking for a backerei. But nothing open so without coffee we hit the road. We planned to drive to Czech but had only just realized the Tom Tom has no Czech Republic on it. Only Western Europe.
Again we looked alone the way for somewhere to have coffee but it’s Sunday and the Germans are having none of this opening on a Sunday nonsense.
We stopped at a car park eventually to make coffee and plan our route.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our venture into Czech started a little awkwardly. We had decided to head for Karlovy Vary, a spa town and quite a tourist attraction in Czech. We arrived a little tired , hot and with no Czech krone! That makes it hard to pay for parking. We followed the guy before us in the queue to a Tabak shop and and made some change. (Don’t ask the exchange rate). We ventured off into town so note to selves, first do some research on a town before walking into the boiling sun and trying to find your way around.
We did a walk thru and saw that it was very very pretty. Definitely worth a visit and realizing how tired we were we decided to come back the next day. After nearly having an argument about an ice coffee. We could only order one as we only had enough krone for one!
So back to the car and off to find out camping spot.

 

 

 

A wrong turn meant we approached the camp site from a very interesting direction. Over a wooden bridge. Just just wide enough to take the camper van. Chris was not impressed with me. We made it. The camp site called Na Spici was a disappointment. Not very clean, quite run down and the lady at the front desk was not helpful at all.
But we found a spot and we made our camp. A cold cider helped and then we relaxed. We ate in the restaurant that night. A first for us, ordering at the hatch. Then they shout your food and you must fetch. But it was tasty enough. That night was an early one.