Day 2: Koblenz - Colditz - Dresden

Distance travelled: 400 miles
Start: Koblenz, Germany
End: Dresden, Germany

Day 2 started well - it wasn't raining. In fact, the weather had changed a lot since yesterday, being dry all day which was a relief.

Leaving our hotel at 8am, we left Koblenz to find the local Globus hypermarket where all the teams would be meeting before heading off. A few wrong turns caused by the ever reliable Tom Tom Sat nav, and we arrived pretty much on time.

The turn out was impressive, and many other attendees made the old Volvo look tame by comparison! Notable cars included a disco Citroën Xsara, complete with disco ball on the roof, a funeral limo turned into a nasa space shuttle and a perfect replica of the dumb & dumber dog van 'Mutts Cuts', complete with cocked leg and overflowing petrol peeing effect (for those if you who remember the film).

After a short briefing from the organisers and the obligatory coffee from the shop, we received our daily challenge and off we went - first stop Colditz Castle.

Our challenge for today was to build a list if items linked to a great escape. The list included obvious things with a forged German ID card (DIY) and a compass to more obscure references like a picture of a dam, in reference to the many war related films that have one at the centre of their plot line.

After a very fortunate wrong turn off the autobahn, Dad and I were able to tick several items off our list in a matter if minutes, including a German newspaper, a picture of an elephant, penguin, a monopoly board, a dam, and a rowing boat! Not bad for a mistake.

The drive to Colditz was long, but relatively smooth. Switching driving duties halfway, the drive eventually took us off the autobahn and onto more local roads.

These twisty roads were more of a challenge for the poor volvo than the ever constant autobahn. The Tom Tom continued to surprise us both with its choice of route, taking us down some very narrow lanes to get to what should be a well known tourist attraction. Plenty of braking left our front brakes getting rather hot, and making alarming scraping sounds on a couple of occasions.

Still, we made it safely to Colditz and took a walk around the castle along with a number of other rally groups.

From Colditz we drove to Dresden. Tom Tom remained reliably inconsistent, insisting that a cobbled single lane road around the back of some garages was, without question, the main through road from Colditz to the Autobahn. Being in no position of knowledge to question the route, we willingly accepted the advice, much to the dissatisfaction of the Volvo's front brakes.

Eventually we made it back to normal roads (ones with tarmac and lines) and onward to Dresden.

Arriving in Dresden 50 miles later, we were pleasantly surprised. Great architecture, easy to navigate, busy but not overly so. We found our hotel quickly and got ready to go out and check in with the organisers and see how well we'd do be on our task.

We met at Katy's Garage, a bar in the new town of Dresden. It's mainly an urban beer garden with a shipping container for a bar, and very popular. We got 9 points for today's task, out of a possible 13. Not bad, but it's encouraged Dad to get a perfect score tomorrow...

After Beers and Bratwurst with a couple of other groups for discussion about the days events (read breakdowns) we retire to our hotel, ready to face tomorrow's driving and inevitable challenge.

All in all a successful day, much less stressful than the day prior. The Volvo continues to do well, despite the concerns about the longevity of the front brakes!

Tomorrow, Poland and the actual site if the great escape.