Eupen (Belgium) – Maastricht (Netherlands) - via Germany

It was raining this morning and we had planned a bit of a hike in the nature reserve around the dam. We waited until about 11am – had breakfast, sat about a bit – and it was still raining – but it looked looked like it might be easing up a bit, and we really couldn't hang about any longer – so we decided to go for it anyway. Can't let a bit of rain stop us doing things – otherwise we would never do anything!

So we got all dressed in our waterproof coats – Jon put his walking trousers on and his new waterproof socks, I decided to give my shorts a go at walking – on the basis that I was going to get soaked anyway, why not wear something that would dry quickly afterwards?

It did actually stop raining as we left the van – for about 3 minutes – and then it started pouring even more heavily than before, drenching us completely. Still, it didn't matter – I was wearing my shorts and sunglasses – so was clearly enjoying my holiday, much to the bemusement of the other walkers that we saw.

It was a nice walk – we were out for about 2 hours and just as we got back to the dam it stopped raining and we were pretty much dried out by the time we got back to the van and were ready to head off.

The shorts worked out well I thought.

Next stop – back into Germany for a quick tour of places that I used to live. It might sound like a funny thing to do (I don't know) but I lived in quite a few places when I was younger, and I don't get to see them, and my memory is hopeless, so I thought it might be nice to visit since we were so close – and see if it is how I remember.

Well, we drove back into Germany and were surprised to see loads and loads of windmills – the electricity generating kind – just knocking about in the fields, and round the villages and things. Very interesting (photo isn't so good really, but I wanted to give you an idea of it).

First on our travel agenda was Wassenburg – the place I lived in for 4 years until I was 13 and we moved to Driffield.

The houses we lived in there were brand new at the time, infact half of the estate wasn't even built when we moved in – which provided an excellent playground (sure it wouldn't be allowed these days) for us kids – all that building work going on, although my most enduring memory is suffering for days after a couple of us thought it was a great idea to be playing trampolining on a load of rolls of fibreglass insulation. Ooooo that was painful!

Anyway, I located the estate really easily – the petrol station where I used to buy chewing gum was still there, the shop where we bought sweets, the bus stop we used to catch the school bus from, even the bouncy horse thing in the playground – all the same. The estate itself seemed so much smaller than I remember – but I suppose I was smaller myself, which is probably why. Nothing much had changed though.

The RAF station my dad was at at the time – RAF Wildenrath – closed not long after we left and the houses we lived in were sold. They are mostly identical to how they were then – not even much in the way of doors or windows have been changed, which I find a real suprise.

It was good though – a real trip down memory lane.

Our next success (we had a couple of failures) were the flats where we lived when I was really little – like 5 or 6 – which it turns out are now practically in the car park of Berusia Monchengladbachs stadium - infact, I think probably the stadium is parked right on top of where my primary school was!! Interesting though - liked that one.

And finally – despite having actually given up (I couldn't remember the name of the town I was looking for until I saw it on a motorway sign) – I managed to find my first secondary school – Kent School - a very cool place that (apparently) used to be a mental institution years ago (I'm sure that's not a PC way of describing it) and then was used by the Nazis during the war and was really quite creepy and so extra specially brilliant when you were a kid!

It must have been empty for going on 15 years I would reckon – the school having merged with another and then eventually closed down, I guess as bases closed and numbers of pupils fell. Unfortunately we couldn't get into it – I was a bit gutted as I had seen on the internet previously some guy who had been to see it and it had just been open – but when we were there it was all heavily fenced off although you could see that the doors of the buildings themselves were flapping about in the breeze – someone obviously doesn't want people in there. Shame though – would have been really cool to explore – there were always loads of stories when we were kids about bodies of nazis floating in the lowest cellars, and boxes of ammunition and guns being held in higher floors. Of course there was always someone who had seen these things too :)

Enough of that though. It was great. Boring for eveyone apart from me - Jon was very patient though :)

On to the Netherlands though – through near Roermond (another non-border, we weren't even sure which country we were in for a while) and then down to Maastricht. We decided to drive all the way to Maastricht so that we would be there and ready for when my inlaws arrive tomorrow.

We had hoped to find somewhere in Maastricht to park – but it doesn't look like that's the way they do things in the Netherlands, so we ended up out of town in a slightly odd campsite (not really recommended) where not only did we have to give a €20 deposit (what for?) and pay a €1 “administration” charge, but you had to pay for the showers and everything. Not great. Still, it was late and we needed somewhere to stay – and that was that.