Tuesday 6th December 2022
Well the weather is looking inclement and it is very cold. We are aware that the low temperature could be very problematic on the road today. Snow is predicted along our route from just north of Frankfurt to Chemnitz. We can still go south which now looks like the better option whereas yesterday the northern route looked better. Oh well, we will just have to be careful, or should I say, David will have to be careful.

We set off just after 10am as we didn’t want go too early as the temperature was only 0° overnight and that could cause an icy road. As we haven’t really done any snow and ice driving before, we will err on the side of caution. We have about 4 hours driving time to Benny’s but obviously the weather and road conditions may increase that time somewhat.

We were straight on to the freeway (as opposed to tollway) and it was hectic right from the start. The outlook for the day was quite dreary. Drizzling rain, fog, icy roads and snow, and we encountered all except the icy roads. The temperature throughout the day only reached about 3° and dropped as low as 0° and hovered anywhere in between depending on elevation throughout the day. We drove through some beautiful scenery, through tunnels and over bridges. Apparently bridges and tunnels are the most risky place for icy roads, we think the reason for this is because of the air below the bridge and the lack of air flow and condensation in the tunnels. The conditions didn’t stop drivers reaching speeds of more than 170kmh. They just scooted passed. Sometimes when it was safe and the road was dry, David would accelerate to gauge what speed they were doing. He could get to 150kmh and they were still pulling away from him. One time he went as high as 169 and they were still pulling away. This was only done to see how fast they were going, most of the day he stayed between 100-125kmh. Love his safe driving. Anyway we still made pretty good time and arrived home to Benny at about 2.30pm. In time for a chat and a cuppa before he had to go back to work and we had to return the car. Petrol price in Germany surprised us as we thought it was more expensive here, it was only 1.68 euro per litre.

It was still pretty dreary outside after returning the car. We walked in the almost dark and light rain at 4.30pm. We waited and enjoyed a nice home cooked dinner with Ben when he arrived home at about 9.15pm. It was just a salmon and prawn stir fry but when you have been eating fast food and pub meals for a few days, the simple things in life are often the best. The speciality in a few places was bacon or pork or steak with eggs and chips, so veggies were beautiful.

We now have until Sunday morning here with Ben and I am really looking forward to a little rest before coming home to get organised for Christmas.