Our European journey to a new life in Cyprus

Final destination

2008-08-11T15:21:00.000-07:00

We have been quiet lately as so much has been happening and we are here!!! in Cyprus!!! Goal achieved, new life started, spacious living (after Essie) and happiness all round.

Let me recap....

On August 6th, last Wednesday, we finalised the sale of Esmerelda with Manos and the local authority people and he handed over the cash - very good bit of business there on our part. So Wednesday night was our last night of caravan living.

We got up early on Thursday morning,packed the last few of our belongings in the car and handed over the caravan keys. Saying our final goodbyes to Esmerelda and wishing her a happy life in the sun we headed for Piraeus port to find our dock to load the car for its trip. That was fairly straightforward as we had completed a dummy run the afternoon before - thank goodness - the dock is huge and it took us ages to find the right area. All the road signs and port signs are in Greek and hardly anyone seemed to speak English - but we got there in the end.

Before we could release the car we had to deal with customs - that was two men in a delapidated shed inside a derelict warehouse - honestly! later I will add a photo of the place. It looked like something out of a second rate gangster movie! No computer in sight, just bits of paper and a lot of chatter. No ticket or any other paperwork was given to us and when I asked if we needed to produce anything in Cyprus to receive the car there I was handed a business card and told "If you have any problems just phone me, my name is Mike!". He then charged us 40 euros for customs clearance!!! no receipt for that either - it went straight into his colleague's pocket. We took some of our stuff out of the car and handed him the car key with trepidation and wondered if we would ever see it again.

Then we found a cab to take us to Piraeus metro where we caught a train into central Athens and found a hotel. They sold us a room for the day at a very reasonable rate so that we could have a siesta and a shower and that was wonderful.

After eating an early evening meal we caught the metro again to the airport for our flight to Larnaca - straightforward again and it was more or less on time departing at 11.05pm due to land in Larnaca at 00.40.

As a result of the restful afternoon we were both fresh for the flight and all went well until the pilot was on his final approach and the plane suddenly took off again. After many confused looks amongst the passengers we were told there was dense fog on the runway and we could not land in Larnaca so we were diverting to Paphos !! What a result we thought as that is just where we wanted to be!! Not so... We landed at Paphos about 15 minutes later and sat on the tarmac for the next 1.5 hours. No one could get off the plane as the airport had no staff and were not expecting any arrivals. We only had hand luggage, the rest of our stuff had been packed in the car, so I asked if we could get off - but no! After what seemed like an eternity, and after the pilot had stand up arguments with many Cypriots who also wanted to get off in Paphos, the plane had to take off again and fly back to Larnaca where the fog had cleared by now. So we landed at 3am - tired by now, fed up and frustrated - and with a two hour car journey ahead of us.

We managed to get the hire car easily enough and Steve drove along a very quiet but very foggy motorway. We eventually arrived on Friday at about 5.30am just as the sun was beginning to rise.

Straight to bed in a VERY hot house - it has been closed up since January! and we slept until about 10am. Then we caught up with some of the neighbours, did some grocery shopping, ate and had an early night in readiness for our car journey to Limassol port on Saturday morning to collect the car from the boat at 8am.

Off we went, back along the same motorway, and duly presented ourselves at the port gates to be told the ferry wouldn't be arriving until 1pm !! We did keep quite calm considering, and decided to use the time to have a look around Limassol and grab a spot of lunch. At 1pm off we went back to the port and saw the boat dock. Then we had to leap through the hoops of officialdom again. Fill in this form and take it to that office who will give you another piece of paper and you take that to another office. You complete more forms and pay more money and eventually we collected the car from the compound where it had been driven from the ferry. Hallelujah!! It had actually worked smoothly - can you believe it?? we couldn't!

Not finished yet though - now I had to drive the hire car back to Larnaca and Steve drove our car, we handed back the hire car and Steve drove us all the way back home - we arrived back at our home with our car at 6.30pm - ready for a long drink - or two!!

Thats it!!! We did it!! Now for lots more officialdom to register the car, register ourselves as permanent residents, get telephone and broadband to the house etc etc. We have a long list of things to do.... adventure over as far as travelling is concerned - our new adventure of our new life is just beginning.

Ministry of silly walks

2008-08-05T19:24:00.000-07:00

We went off to Athens again today as it is so big and there is so much to see there. Again the bus and train journey went smoothly and this time we wanted to see the Parliament building and the changing of the guard in particular.

It was very, very hot and humid when we arrived and the area in front of the guards is very open to the elements so we timed it just right to get there for the changing at 1pm. Very impressive it was too. They have a very distinctive uniform with a short pleated skirt and matching top in khaki, thick cream coloured tights, soft red leather shoes with large black pom poms on the tops and black soles that had serious stud work in them and a matching red Tommy Cooper hat with a long black tassle. There were also black tassles hanging from garters around their knees.

The gathered public went very quiet as the replacement guards appeared with their escort officer and they made a loud noise with their studded shoes on the marble pavement. Then they began their ministry of funny walks - John Cleese got it from them - seriously. It may sound funny but as a ceremony it was very moving, well timed and co-ordinated and very ceremonial. It was like a very well choreographed dance scene conducted in a very serious manner and with a serious rifle at their sides. Some people started to titter at the beginning but all were in awe at the end. - see pics.

Then we went on to visit the original Olympic Games stadium of the modern games in 1896 - see pic - that looked good too.

After some lunch, a drink and a sit down in the shade we set off to the flea market area which is an alleyway of shops and stalls in bright colours. Steve bought himself a couple of bracelets there - very hip cool and trendy they are too. They go nicely with his new relaxed lifestyle and long hairstyle.

A couple of statues later - and we were ready to catch the train and bus back to camp. There is only so much we can do in this intense heat - especially in a city where the heat is magnified further. We must say though that the city has large areas that have been pedestrianised (take note Rome)and so a lot more pleasant to walk in. All areas are spotlessly clean and safe, particularly the metro areas and trains, and there doesn't seem to be the usual amount of pollution in the air that makes it impossible to breathe in the cities. Yes, there is lots of traffic, but it is well regulated and not anywhere near as frantic as the traffic in Italy or London. A good place to be really.

Back at camp we had a sit down with a drink to recover, then cooked pork burgers, home made chilli fries, zucchini a la lemon followed by a choice of praline iced dessert or frozen strawberry cheesecake. Delicious!

Tomorrow is our last day here! We have to visit the authorities with Manos to sign over Esmerelda to him (and he gives us his money), then we want to have a test drive to the port - the whereabouts of our embarkation point has baffled the internet and the tourist information staff in Athens. We now have a rough idea of where we should be - we just have to find it. Wish us luck....

Acropolis now!!

2008-08-04T19:49:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful drive through the mountains from Delphi towards Athens. The scenery was spectacular - such a surprise to us - we hadn't anticipated this at all. After about 2 hours we hit the national road - their motorway. It is fast moving but the surface is poor and Essie got shaken somewhat - but she is made of stern stuff!

We arrived at Dionissiotis campsite in Nea Kifissia, which is a pleasant northern suburb of Athens. A lovely campsite again with plots under pine trees. It has a swimming pool and free wifi. We thought that Greece would be backwards in its technology and facilities but actually it has proved to be the most forward thinking of all the European countries - how about that!

After we settled in we went shopping for groceries - still expensive here. Then we had a quiet evening.

Sunday came and we decided to go into Athens and see some of the sights. Would you believe the bus and the metro into Athens from here costs all of 80 cents each way all in - and that is for a 10 minutes bus ride and about 15 stops on the metro! We went past the Olympic Village too - it was spectacular to see it in all its glory - but it was a ghost town. All the apartments were empty, no cars parked or people walking around, and the facilities were unused - whats that all about then?

We got off at the Acropolis and only had a short walk to the site - it loomed large in front of us. Well - it was impressive in its own way - mostly by being HUGE, but there wasn't the atmosphere or the magic about it as far as we were concerned. It certainly didn't rate as high as Delphi, Pompeii or Rome - but it needed to be visited and we were glad to have seen it. One fantastic thing about it was the 360 degree view of Athens from the Parthenon. We couldn't appreciate how densely populated or how large Athens was until we had seen it. - see pic.

The other very important thing to note is that this is our very last camp on our journey!! We have very mixed feelings about that - in some ways we want to carry on travelling, and in others we look forward to seeing our home and friends in Cyprus.

We raised a glass of bubbly to the occasion - see pic - and had an evening reminiscing - it seems like yesterday we crossed the North Sea, yet we seem to have been away for ages and have seen the Mediterranean, the Adriatic and the Ionian seas in the time spent travelling - as well as a number of lakes!

Now we need to sell our darling Esmerelda as she has nearly finished her work for us. She has done so well for an old girl - all those miles, nearly 6000 in all on this trip. And all those mountains too - she has kept on trucking through rain and sunny weather, smooth and bumpy roads and hasn't let us down once! well except for one bulb and a split pin - we all have our moments!

The lovely owner of this site - Manos - has come up trumps and offered us the asking price for her. He will keep her on this site and rent her out - so she has retired to the sun too! We will stay in her until Thursday morning when we leave for the port to take the car to the ferry. It will be a sad day for us but we know she will be in caravan heaven here.

So today we have been deciding what to leave in the caravan and what to take with us and Steve has been filling the car up with all our goods in readiness for leaving - what a lot we have got.

Tomorrow we go into Athens again for another sightseeing day - there is so much of it!

To the Gods in Delphi

2008-08-01T17:47:00.000-07:00

We have been up to the top of the world to visit the ruins in Delphi and were they impressive!!

We thought we were high up in our campsite with such panoramic views but we ascended the mountains yesterday for another 10 km or so until we reached Delphi. After researching it on the internet we visited the museum first as reports said that helps to put it all into perspective and that was amazing in itself.

A bit about Delphi first for those that know nothing (like us before we went).
Zeus released two eagles from opposite ends of the earth and when they met and collided, impaling each other with their beaks, they dropped to earth, marking its centre - and that was at Delphi. A large stone marked this place called the Navel Stone and an oracle would listen to people's questions at this place, go into a trance and tell them (via the Gods of course) which decision to make. Some say that if you keep an open mind and ask a question, the answer will come to you there. We tried and I heard zilch, Steve reckons that after he asked his question a bird started singing and stopped again when he opened his eyes. It was a lovely song so he thinks thats a good omen!!

Spiritual or not, as we approached the magnificent setting appeared to be extra special and a visitors attraction in itself - then we visited the museum and ruins and were even more impressed.

There are statues in stone and bronze - some tiny and some huge - and all with great detail on and very well preserved considering their age - some from 500BC. The statues have inlaid eyes, eyelashes and veins visible on the feet. Now we know where the Romans got all their ideas from - they copied the Greeks. Their examples of mosaic floors exceeds the Roman versions and were way before they had a go at it.

The ruins themselves are set amphitheatrically (thats a word used a lot around here - even the campsites are set that way!) so we had to keep climbing, and climbing and climbing to see them all. There are lots of them and its very easy to visualise the actual place in its day. The Temple of Apollo is simply immense - see pic and the Stadium huge and set at the highest point in the mountain. The athletes needed to be very fit and strong to just get up there never mind participate in games!

Although the day was very hot - 36c+ we were determined to see it all and we did. It will last in our memories as one of our greatest finds.

After our trek and climb we went into Delphi town to have a look around and a spot of lunch. It was very quiet - everyone is complaining at the lack of tourists and we can see why - how they make any money we don't know. It made it easy for us to get around though.

Then back to the campsite, a siesta and then we cooked a lovely cassoulet for dinner. I have received quite a few emails from people who say they love to hear about our culinary efforts - so that is for them specifically. Afterwards we had some juicy melon.

Then a couple of hours on the internet and a couple of chats on Skype and it was time for bed.

This morning we decided to look around the nearby town of Itea and pick up a few things before we leave tomorrow for Athens. There was not a lot to the town as we soon found out and we were amazed at the high prices of things. The Greek yoghurt for example is more expensive here than in the UK. We asked about a car wash and they wanted 10 euros! - far more than in the UK. We did buy some very nice looking steak for tonight at a good price (if it tastes as good as it looks it will be lovely) and some lovely fresh chicken for a thai green curry tomorrow. We are now in the position of using all the food up that we have stored in the caravan as there is less than a week left. Thai green curry paste, rice, fish sauce and coconut milk need to be used up.

Back to the van and while we were having a coffee someone phoned to ask about buying the caravan. I did a good selling job over the phone (I think) and she said she will phone me back after discussing it with her husband. They are friends of a German couple we met at the last camp - he had called them to encourage them to buy it as he was so impressed with Esmerelda!! Recommended eh? can't be bad! we have all our fingers and toes crossed.

A lazy afternoon today and then a drive to a campsite just outside Athens tomorrow - our last camp!!! is that really possible??

Time for action

2008-07-30T18:55:00.000-07:00

We have given thought to our future plans and decided to end our European adventure on 7th August which also coincides with the expiry of the annual caravan insurance - and we wouldn't want anything to happen to Essie would we??

Steve and I spent the morning tidying the caravan and Steve did a few odd jobs to make her perfect! As the owner of the site hadn't come back to us with an offer we couldn't refuse, we need to put her up for sale - along with the bikes. I asked the owners daughter to write adverts in Greek for us and I copied them out and affixed them to the car and caravan windows (see the sign in Greek).

After lunch we put our travel plans into action and surfed the net. We contacted Salamis shipping and booked the car on the ferry from Piraeus to Limassol for August 7th - yes Graham, your birthday - at 20.00hrs. Then we researched flights from Athens for us and found there are no flights to Paphos to fit in with the ferry time so we have to go to Larnaca. The only flight available leaves at 23.05hrs, landing in Larnaca at 00.40hrs. Then we have to get to our home of course.

We debated whether to get a taxi or hire a car for the 2 days - our car arrives at Limassol port on 9th August at 08.00hrs - so we have to get to the port as well on the Saturday - so much to arrange!!

We then lazed for a while around the pool and read - it is hot and we have done a lot. A lovely dinner and an early night will set us up for moving on.

We got up early today to pack things up and move on to our next stop in Delphi. Our plans for an early set off went a bit amiss when some German neighbours of ours stopped for a chat and we just had to share some of his birthday cake with him - it would be rude not to. Then when we were about to leave an Italian family appoached us and asked about the bikes for sale. After much discussion - mostly by sign language and pointing, a deal was reached and they rode them back to their caravan. That was easy! That is great for us as this trip has proved to be a much larger financial drain on us than we anticipated and it will reduce the weight and drag to give us more miles per gallon. We have got a private account now with Shell - having bought so much diesel on this trip!

A long drive later along some very scenic coastal roads we have arrived at a camp site between Itea and Delphi. It is set up on a mountainside with panoramic views (see pic)and vast olive groves all around (see pic). Steve offers a word of warning to those planning to drive in Greece - double the amount of time you need to reach your destination. The roads twist and turn and are very busy with lots of trucks. It is impossible to make good progress.

We did stop off at a roadside taverna for a spot of lunch too. It was real home cooking and very economical too. For those of you living in Cyprus - it reminded us of the small eatery beside Papa's in Chlorakas. Lots of good food, pleasant staff and good prices. As they didn't speak English they simply took us into the kitchen and showed us all the dishes in the ovens and on the hobs and we chose what we wanted by pointing - it worked really well.

As you can tell the campsite has wifi and also a swimming pool - and we can see the beach from where we are writing this blog. We plan to stay here for 3 nights, then move on to a campsite near to Athens in readiness for August 7th.

Discovering Greece

2008-07-28T19:45:00.000-07:00

Today we have been into Preveza to explore and what a friendly town it is too.

It is a modern working town with an old part and a port and there is very little tourism attached to it. We walked around the modern shopping area first as we needed a few things and were pleased and surprised at its likeness to Paphos. Shopkeepers stopped and talk with us and helped us with our pathetic Greek language and happily took our money off us! Some people will understand when I say that the pavements are not finished, the small piles of rubble are left around after an uncompleted job and there is a mixture of old Greek shop signs and English modern signs around. Deja vu experience. The car parking is a free for all (and all the better for it in my opinion) and the cars on the roundabouts just don't have a clue about what to do, how to drive or who gives way to who. You just have to edge out and drive on with eyes in the back of your head and leave them to it. They are not reckless, thoughtless drivers like in Italy - in fact they are very cautious and that creates its own problems.

Some of the roads around this part of Greece are very similar to Cyprus - in fact at times we thought we were in Kissonerga - lovely it was too.

Having travelled through a lot of Europe now we both feel that Greece is the most friendly and hospitable place to be.

We bought a few things and went back to Essie for lunch. The owner of the camp site and his wife have been to inspect Essie and we will talk later when their daughter is present to translate - fingers crossed.

After a pedicure each (again - such luxury), and another laze by the pool, reading, we cooked a lovely meal of chilli pork, tomatoes and pici pasta (from Castiglione in Italy) with basil from the campsite gardens.

So here we are again sitting round the pool writing the blog - sheer luxury. The place is quiet, everyone else having gone back to wherever they came from - the swallows and bats are jostling for position around and over the pool and the cicadas are sounding off gently in the background - better than work eh????

What a difference a week makes

2008-07-27T19:20:00.000-07:00

We can't believe that another Sunday has come around already - and our memories of last Sunday were not good on the beach with the Italians. This week is a totally different picture thankfully.

After a leisurely start to the day we had a peaceful walk down to the beach. It only took a few minutes on a private path from the campsite and we came across a beach that had only a handful of people on it - by mid morning! Granted it is not a commercialised beach at all. It has a lot of seaweed on it and no beach bars - but it is all the better for it. See pics. We walked one way and then the other along the crystal clear waters edge and found a man made reed hut - without the man present. Very Robinson Crusoe! see pic.

After that we came back, showered and dressed and drove down to the port to seek out a taverna for our Sunday lunch. The port has a promenade that people like to strut along and it is served by lots of bars and cafes at its edge. There are lots of boats and yachts moored up on the port - some from the UK - and it made a pleasant walk for us in the sunshine.

The tavernas were all in the backstreets - loads of them. We were really spoiled for choice, but having set our hearts on a traditional Greek dinner the menus decided it for us. The Mermaid Taverna - one of the oldest in the town - served stifado and kleftiko and that was the decision made.

It did not disappoint either - the kleftiko is different to the Cyprus version which is mainly meat (goat often disguised as lamb). This one was a meal in a dish with slow roasted lamb, potatoes and peas, having a melted cheese topping over it. Very nice too. The stifado was more traditional and well known to us but equally delicious. A Greek salad accompanied the meal with some local wine and beer for Steve. We rounded it off with a Greek coffee each and were well stuffed and pleased with the affair.

While we were eating we couldn't help but notice that the owner of the taverna had a lot of young, Eastern European girls around him and obviously dependant on him. He seemed to provide bed and breakfast for them - if you know what I mean. His poor wife was left to do the work in the taverna - as usual in these cases - and she was not too happy by the end of our meal and I don't blame her. It seems to be the same old story no matter where you are in the world.

After that lovely lunch we returned to Essie, changed and lazed around the wonderful swimming pool for the rest of the afternoon. We then looked at the internet and found some sites to move on to and looked at costs of flights from Athens to Cyprus. That is only around the corner now and as soon as we have heard from Salamis shipping about taking the car over on the roro ferry we need to put all the plans in place.

The site owners daughter speaks good English and we asked her to write out an advert for the caravan and the bikes in Greek so that we can sell them before we go to Cyprus. She did as we asked but then came back to us to ask what we want for the caravan as her father is interested. Negotiations to continue.....

Change of plan

2008-07-26T20:10:00.000-07:00

We woke this morning to awful weather - cold (16c), raining and grey - not what we ordered at all! The clouds were sitting on the lake and it looked like it had set in for the day. We are high up in these mountains and told that there is snow during the winter time so its not too much of a surprise for them - but it is for us. So we decided to move south to find the sun again instead of moving further into the mountains and we may never see the monasteries on the top through the low cloud.

A nice Dutch man at the site gave us a map of Greece with some campsites identified on it so we used that to identify our next port of call. We decamped and were about to hitch the caravan to the car when the dolly wheel came apart in Steve's hand. After curses all round he quickly realised that it was the split pin that had broken and that held it all together. Being a man who brings everything that may be needed with him - he found a new split pin and ten minutes later we were on the road.

We drove south through some stunning mountain scenery - see pic and watched the temperature guage rise to 26c as we descended. Much better - we need the sun now and the cold and damp makes us feel miserable.

We reached the next campsite according to plan to find it deserted and desolate. We scratched about a bit but found no sign of human life - only a family of tortoises - see pic and some guinea fowl scratching in the dirt. So we had no option but to move on and see what we could find.

In the next town we found an internet cafe and a very helpful owner who pointed towns out on the map for us so that we knew where to drive to next. We had a spot of lunch by the sea - fresh calamari and a Greek salad with a slab of feta cheese on it (and chips) - most welcome. Then we drove on.

By the time we reached Preveza it was mid afternoon and we were tired and fed up. That mood soon lifted when we set eyes on our next campsite. It is a veritable haven approached through an ancient olive grove but being brand new in all its facilities. The showers, toilets etc have just been completed and there is a beautiful swimming pool area to relax in - see pic. This is where we are sitting as I write, using their free wifi - bliss. The sea is a short walk down a path from the camp but we haven't ventured there yet.

Today we have been into Preveza and looked around the shops - the people are wonderfully friendly and remind me so much of being in Cyprus - it all does really. Then we spent the afternoon lazing around the pool, having it mostly to ourselves. When the campsite owners get their website together the place will be very busy I'm sure so we are lucky to have to peace and quiet of it now. It is a refreshing change of temperature in these parts. Although it is hot - 28c - there is very little humidity and a cooling sea breeze, making it all very comfortable for us. The shade of the trees keeps Essie cool and allows us to sleep very well.

While we are here we will take the opportunity to arrange the shipping for the car and our flights to Cyprus and catch up on Skype with family and friends. The next campsites also need to be researched and we have to confirm bookings with them by phone as it is high season, it is very busy and there aren't many campsites to be had.

Tomorrow, being Sunday, we are out to the harbour area of Preveza to seek out a good restaurant and some Greek cuisine - can't wait!!

Greece is the word, is the word, is the word

2008-07-24T17:42:00.000-07:00

Oh the pleasure to drive to Bari ! No problems there and the first thing we did was go to a bancomat and withdraw money - easily!! The rest of the world does oblige it seems. We confirmed our booking and hung around until we could board the ferry at 5pm. It was easy with Esmerelda - we just had a lie down in her, read and had a sleep. We were parked beside a cruise liner and I just had to take a picture of it - note the name of the liner - it is the appropriate heading for our trip!

Boarding brought with it a hiccup inasmuch as there was confusion around our booking. We thought we had arranged for camping on board - that is sleeping in the caravan on the overnight sailing. The ferry company thought otherwise. We found a nice Greek Purser who worked wonders with a grumpy ferry manager and they changed our booking to enable us to sleep in comfort. It meant Steve had to move the car and caravan again which didn't go down well with the crew members responsible for stacking vehicles - but it was done.

It was fascinating watching the men navigate the huge trucks - some articulated lorries, some car transporters - all in such a tight space and having to turn around in readines to disembark in Greece. It was not a drive on, drive off ferry. There was much shouting, whistling and frayed tempers among the crew and drivers who both thought they knew best. Essie was squashed between two huge lorries but we looked after her. See the pic of Steve on deck after parking up.

We then familiarised ourselves with the boat - first the bar! Very swish it was too and they had wifi there. Steve had two beers and with the first he was given a mobile phone neck strap and with the second a baseball cap - both Heineken of course. Then we went and ate some very good Greek food - I felt like I was coming home already!!

Back to the bar and some internet to catch up on emails. The boat set off and the swell caused my stomach to roll a bit so I put on my sea bands and they worked their magic. It was very strange descending the stairs to walk amongst all the trucks to get to Essie and go to bed. There was another caravan opposite ours and the occupants had the table and chairs on the deck enjoying a full meal as though they were in the middle of a field!

The night passed quickly - we had some interruptions to our sleep with the rumbling of the engines, the heat and our car alarm going off several times. Imagine the scene of Steve on deck in his boxer shorts at 4.30am sorting it out - 3 or 4 times. Eventually he left the car unlocked to go back to sleep and we were woken up by crew at 6am to get things organised for disembarking. The clocks had been put forward an hour to Greek time so we had lost an hours sleep there too.

We watched the daybreak as the boat approached Igoumenitsa port and it was beautiful- see pics.

A straightforward drive off the ferry and through the port took us on the motorway with stunning views of Greek mountains all around us - see the pics.

Then the diversion occurred and 2.5 hours of twisting mountain roads between the big trucks that were also diverted wasn't very funny. We only managed to cover about 50 miles in that time - the road was that slow - but the scenery was really beautiful.

Being tired after a short nights sleep we decided to camp in the first main town - Ioannina. It is a typical Greek working town but we saw a few signs for a campsite so followed them. We were amazed to arrive at a camp by the side of a lake with mountains on the other side. Excellent facilities too - and peace and quiet - see pic

After setting up camp we had a meal and a sleep, then a refreshing shower and change of clothes before exploring the town. It is a very old town dominated by a castle beside the lake and lots of cafes and bars on the edge of it. They are very modern and spacious and better than you would find in London.

After a good nights sleep we did some essential jobs - laundry, washing the outside of Essie (she was absolutely filthy after all her travels)as the temperature has dropped leaving the air very fresh and giving us more energy.

This afternoon we have come to one of the bars in Ioannina where we are having a drink and using their free wifi - a cracking set up. With the drinks come a free bottle of water and an ice bucket as well as a plate of meats, cheeses, breadsticks and salad to nibble at. Who said Greece was behind the times and out of touch with modern day society?? It is cheap too.

Later we are going to go to a restaurant here and eat our first Greek meal in the country - fantastic! We can also say Yammas and mean it!!

Tomorrow we move on to Meteora - a very interesting place that has monasteries on top of the mountain and they transport the monks and goods up to the top in baskets.

Money makes the world go round

2008-07-21T21:14:00.000-07:00

The day after my mad rant about the awful place we had found ourselves in on the coast of Metaponto we decided to go out and find a bancomat to stock up on euros. Our expectations of Greece went something like this - very basic facilities, everything way behind the times and exceedingly cheap. Internet provision and bancomats were way too futuristic for the Greeks we thought. So we wanted cash in the hand to pay our way.

Off we went on our cycles to the local bancomat that spat the card back at me in disgust refusing to give us any money. We went back to camp, had lunch and our siesta and afterwards decided to drive to the nearest large town to seek out some dosh. Off to Bernaldo we went - a fairly large town about 10km away that looked like a ghost town. We kerb crawled until we found bancomats and tried 5 different banks - none would give us any money, not recognising my card. The banks were closed at it was about 4pm by now. We started to get worried having only about 20 euros left and needing to pay for the campsite the following day.

We then decided to go the whole hog and drive to the main city in the area - Matera. It is an interesting place anyway having a historical site of many caves that were dwellings for the very poor until the 1990s - malaria was also rife amongst them. In 1998 the goverment rehoused and treated everyone and UNESCO then made it a world heritage site.

The drive was ok and we searched for a radio station to accompany our travels. The only one we could find with anything like a good reception and fairly good music was called R.Sole! Sums it all up really doesn't it?

It was about 5pm when we reached there and tried all the banks with both debit and credit cards until finally one allowed me to withdraw some money on the credit card - only one though. Thoroughly fed up, worried and hungry we set off back to camp. On the way back to the car we did overlook some of the old dwellings and they appeared to be very interesting - kestrels were nesting and perching beside pigeons on the rooftops - a very odd and unusual sight to see. We would have loved to have spent more time there but the evening was drawing near and we had a fair drive ahead of us.

Arriving back at camp after 7pm we ordered a take away pizza - the only good thing about that campsite - and it didn't disappoint again. Another pleasant surprise was that the noisy Italian family next to us on the camp had left!! peace and quiet for our last night there. I've put a couple of pics of the campsite on here - it looks better than it felt I can assure you. Onwards towards Greece tomorrow.

Our stay in Metaponto

2008-07-20T17:21:00.000-07:00

Well what an experience - and not one to be repeated! or to endure any longer than necessary either.

Firstly - what is the difference between a cicada and an Italian? Answer - cicadas make as much noise as Italians but the cicadas at least shut up at night.

This large camp site is full of Italians (we are the only Brits, and probably the only non Italians), all making lots of noise - talking at high volume, TVs blaring, kids screaming and music playing - all night!!

Supposedly there is a quiet time on the camp site. From 2 - 4pm during meal time and siesta, and again from 11pm until 7am for sleep time - forget all that. The meal times are a chance to yak, yak, yak, scream at children and play the TV loudly to overcome the noise of the thousands of cicadas. Today the Formula 1 Grand Prix was challenging the cicadas during siesta time as well.

Last night we were shattered after driving a long way and setting up the caravan, sunshade etc in serious heat so we were ready for bed at about 10.30pm - not that lot. When we were coming back from the shower block at that time it was like Picadilly Circus at mid day. Everyone was out partying and they were just getting the barbies fired up to cook the meals. People were talking and singing and generally having a good time, children as well. We were very thankful for ear plugs.

I know it was still going on between 1 and 2am as I got up for a drink and Steve got up as daylight was breaking to hear loads of men singing and chanting loudly - and there was no football on.

Then this morning they were still at it! Don't they ever sleep? We got on our bikes at about 10am to try to escape to the beach for a couple of hours peace and quiet - what??? see the pics - all the Italians were swarming like ants on the beach and standing in the sea and still coming down in coach loads! You couldn't see any sand at all it was that packed down there. The noise from talking and the beach music was horrendous - we cycled off to be where they weren't. We couldn't believe it.

We cycled around although it was very hot - at least in was peaceful, they were all on the beach. Then we had lunch and a siesta - with ear plugs - and decided to stick it out for another couple of nights until we go to Bari and to Greece. It will be the same in every camp site around here we are sure. This is supposed to be a quiet, remote area of Italy that is not subjected to tourism - but it is subjected to the weekend Italian breaks. As it is Sunday we just hope they will clear off this evening and go back home ready for work tomorrow and leave us in peace.

We only have tomorrow to suffer this, then to Bari on Tuesday morning.

Onwards

2008-07-19T20:26:00.000-07:00

Well we moved on again today - to unknown territory in the main but we have come across a real find!

After leaving our campsite and daring to ascend the road out of the bay with our hearts in our mouths, we succeeded in accessing the autoroute towards the south east coast. We chanced on this campsite by exploring the internet and realised that it has 22miles of golden sandy beach along a lido with lots of campsites - a bit like Lido de Jesolo we thought.

The drive was easy as soon as we had escaped the absolutely crazy traffic of Naples and Sorrento. At 9.15am they were bumper to bumper trying to access the beaches for the day - and they didn't care how they got there - overtaking where there wasn't space, cutting other people up and the rest. It was with joy and sheer relief that we left it all behind.

As soon as Sorrento and Amalfi were behind us the traffic disappeared and the beautiful mountainous countryside began. The books didn't prepare us for the wonderful sights and totally uncommercialised landscapes. It was an easy drive to the Ionian coast where we easily found our campsite on the edge of the golden sands and set within pine forests to provide lots of shade.

We had a bit of difficulty setting up camp as the guy tried his hardest to make us use a piece of land that is unsuitable for caravans - then his colleague came along and drove some sense into his head. It was 35c by now and we finally got ourselves sorted out thankfully. We were a bit apprehensive to say the least as we were accompanied by thousands of cicadas literally thundering their noise throughout the camp. We couldn't hear ourselves speak! It was good to have something to eat and drink, then have a shower and relax.

There are lots of things to do on this camp - all sorts of sport, the beach is 500 mtres away, the Greek ruins are nearby to explore and there is a full entertainment programme. This evening we decided to make use of their restaurant, strolled up there and ordered a pizza and salad and listened to a wonderful jazz trio playing nearby. The pizza was the best I have ever had, the local wine was great and the evening wonderfully relaxing - a good start. There is also free wifi here at the camp so we are sitting out in the evening warmth writing this blog - and the cicadas have shut up for the night! - bliss.

Vita Bella

2008-07-18T19:22:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to Sorrento and today we went to Amalfi so we will combine the two for the blog and give our comparisons for what they are worth.

We travelled by bus and train to Sorrento - very cheap, only 2.40 euros each return. We can't grumble at that especially as the buses and trains run so frequently so there is hardly any waiting either. The trains are full of graffiti as I explained in an earlier blog - see pic. But they are comfortable inside and race along the track. Sorrento was like any other mediterranean resort you may have been to - lots of English there on package holidays and the cafes and bars equipped for them serving English breakfast and English tea - thats the first time in the whole trip we have come across this and we didn't like it. The beach was very small and very crowded and the Italians had set up a man made spit of rock/concrete with sun loungers on (that they graciously call a lido) to make up for the lack of beach.

We wandered around the streets and it had its pretty places of course - but mostly it was over commercialised and overpriced for what was on offer.

Today however we have been to Amalfi. We decided to go by boat which was also very cheap and very comfortable. It was an twin hulled jet boat with air con, fitted out like a very wide airliner. Unfortunately we had to sit inside and look through the windows at the beautiful views as we sped along but photographs were impossible due to the amount of sea spray (and dirt) on the windows. I was hoping for an open decked boat that I could stand at the side of with the wind in my hair as I took photo after photo - but there you are.

Amalfi itself though was very impressive. It was obvious it had loads of character as soon as we got off the boat. The town is spread throughout a valley between mountains that rise vertically from the seashore. It has a mild seedy effect to the buildings which only give it more character. There were no English cafes or bars - everything was Italian - as it should be. There were plenty of UK visitors though as well as Americans off the cruise ships, but they didn't take over or detract from the atmosphere.

After meandering around the lanes and piazzas we had a lunch and a drink on a terrace above the harbour, then some more exploration before we stopped for an ice cream break and then caught a mid afternoon boat back.

That was a much better memory for both of us of the area we have been staying in. The first couple of photos are of Sorrento, the next three are Amalfi.

Tomorrow we move on again to our last campsite in Italy before we catch the ferry to Greece.

To the Isle of Capri - Del Boy absent thankfully

2008-07-16T20:45:00.000-07:00

We had the most delightful day on the Isle of Capri today. We set off early by boat from the harbour round the corner, stopped off in Sorrento to pick up more people and were at Capri within the hour.

There are four things we can say about the Isle of Capri -

It is very pretty - there is lush vegetation and the buildings - houses, hotels and shops are kept in pristine condition - unlike the rest of the area we are staying in! The streets are very narrow and they have a form of transportation to deliver things to shops, people and suitcases to hotels etc that is unique. The electric vehicles are about a metre wide and people have to duck into shop doorways to allow them to pass. Even the police patrol in Smart cars! They also have a unique form of taxi cab - it is an elongated saloon car with the roof cut off and a type of awning put in place to keep the sun off the passengers - see pic. All other vehicles, including the buses, have scratches down the side and dents from the frequent collisions with cliff faces or other vehicles.

It is very steep - from the picturesque harbour with its clear dark blue water and its buzzy cafes, the island rises steeply to the top with many buildings clinging to its sides. There is a funicular railway from the harbour to the main town centre, or there are hundreds of steps. Guess which option we took? yes, the steps. We always like a bit of exercise but this was going too far - once started though we were committed and we managed it but were ready for a coffee after the climb. From the main centre there is a bus that takes you further uphill to Anacapri - right on the top of the mountain. This is another village with its own character and appeal and one not to be missed. We did this after lunchtime by bus and could look out over the Bay of Naples and Vesuvius easily during the winding drive up the mountain. It was worth the trip but the ride around the twisting mountainous roads set my stomach off and was not for the fearless. A good grip was required on the handrails to steady ourselves and the rutted roads were very uncomfortable, especially as they cram a ridiculous amount of people into each bus - with no air con!

It is very clean - there is a marked contrast between this area and the mainland in terms of litter and graffiti. It is absent on Capri. The inhabitants obviously take great pride in their island and it is a breath of fresh air to visitors.

It is expensive - there are all the designer names plus some more on the island - and they are all after your money. Ridiculous prices are quoted for simple clothes - thats my version of it anyway but anyone who knows me recognises that I don't spend recklessly - and to me this was reckless! Even simple trinkets were well beyond the norm - it brought me out in many hot flushes. The many eating establishments were asking huge amounts of money for fixed meals that was double the amount paid on the mainland - and thats not cheap!!

We did have a really good day though, had a good explore and a lovely lunch which we bought in a local cafe and sat and ate in a pretty park in the shade. We bought some momentoes as well and have taken lots of pics to remember it by. Before we left the island we had a coffee each in one of the harbour cafes and had to pay the sum of 10 euros for the privelidge! It was a very necessary sit down though!

On the whole we would recommend Capri to you and advise you to take a well padded wallet and a good sense of humour with you. It is a piece of another world - one that we would not like to remain in but enjoyed our time there.

The boat trip both ways was comfortable, air conditioned and economical. The coastline is astounding as probably everyone knows already - but it really is in the flesh if you know what I mean.

Tomorrow is a visit to Sorrento to see what is the attraction there for thousands of Brits every year.

A recovery day

2008-07-15T20:37:00.000-07:00

After our marathon in Pompeii we thought we ought to re establish our energies today so had a quieter start and a lazy breakfast. Our ant problem continues and Steve is thinking that they may actually take over the caravan if we are not careful so action is required.

We decided to walk into Vico Equense from where we are camped on the marina - all uphill may I say. It was a beautiful walk - all 221 steps of it! We finally ascended into the village and found our lethal weapon - strong ant killer, in a hardware shop. Then we had a walk around to explore the town. It is not a tourist town at all - simply a working Italian one - and all the better for it. We found a wonderful fishmongers and bought two days worth of dinners there. We also found a good deli with cheeses to die for so after tastings we bought some for our lunches. Stamps were purchased for the postcards back to the family and then we stopped for coffee. It was a very modern, high spec place with chrome, black and glass everywhere, complete with plasma screens of the music channels. We are fascinated by these as we listen to the radio a lot but never get to see the videos so we enjoyed watching them (sad eh?). We are both big fans of an Italian rock singer called Ligabue whose latest single is called Il Centro del Mondo and turn the volume up whenever we hear it being played. Anyway - after the coffee, the sit down, watching the videos and using their facilities the total sum of the bill was - 2 euros!! definitely not a tourist town.

Another speciality in this area is the large, sweet lemon. It is used in everything from cakes to lemoncello (liquer) and is HUGE - see pic. We haven't bought any yet because we would never use them all. They are nor sprayed so deteriorate very quickly and the heat in the caravan is too high to keep them.

Back to the caravan,all 221 steps, and a quick spray around to exterminate the invaders. Then lunch, a siesta and some internet time to catch up on the blog and research our ferry crossing from Italy to Greece. We have now booked it online so there is no going back - we will leave Italy on 22nd July and sail to Greece. That is another episode of our trip over and a move closer to Cyprus.

The Isle of Capri tomorrow by boat and an early start so better get some sleep.

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust

2008-07-14T19:57:00.000-07:00

Thats the feeling we got when we arrived at Pompeii.

The public transport in Italy is superb - efficient, punctual and very cheap. Today we caught the bus from a few metres outside the camp site and that took us up the winding, narrow roads to the top of the cliff where the train station is. It wasn't so much a bus trip as a funfair ride! Obviously they feel confident on these roads but we don't! The cliff edges come within inches of the bus on some of the turns and the other traffic just does their own thing, weaving in and out of the remaining spaces. These buses run every half hour so they must manage it ok. The train was waiting in the station for us - all covered with graffiti and we took the 20 minute train ride to Pompeii and disembarked right outside the ruins. The return trip, for both bus and train was 2.80 euros each - amazing value.

After paying our entry fee of 11 euros each to enter the city we set off for our mammoth expedition - it is immense, much larger than we anticipated. Even with all the crowds - and there were a lot - the city still had an eerie silence about it and we were amazed and impressed by how advanced their lifestyles were. There were the fast food outlets (the houses didn't have kitchens so people used to go out for lunch every day), the hotels, shops, temples, the forum and three theatres. Out of 22,000 inhabitants there were 8,000 slaves so most households would have one. Frescoes are still evident on some of the walls - see pics, and their communal baths were very advanced, having cold, tepid and hot areas of bathing. We could see some of the beauty of the houses and decorations behind the ruins. In fact all they didn't have was our recent telecommunication systems - or traffic wardens. Surprisingly though, for such an advanced society, they didn't think of disposing of their sewage underground and it simply ran down the roads. They coped with this by placing larger stepping stones at road junctions to avoid walking in the crap. Yet they did have plumbed water through lead pipes without being aware of the consequences and suffered healthwise as a result.

The commercial laundry used urine as a stain remover too - all that ammonia. They used a lot of it so camels came in handy in that respect. I will try that on the grease marks on Steve's shorts! - not camels of course.

We left the ruins at midday and found a cafe for lunch. We had a brilliant set meal by another very proud chef who made his own pizza, pasta and cake for dessert. The salad was gorgeous too. He told us all about his work in Covent Garden which his son now runs.

Back to the ruins in the afternoon and it was really baking hot by now. We were determined to see all the sights though so we plodded on - and managed it. Our hats were essential as there was little shade. It really does need the best part of a whole day to do it justice.

Then the train and bus back without any harm to us thankfully. Half way back though we were gobsmacked to see the train driver, and two of his cronies who were in the cab with him, just stop at one of the small stations, get out and have a smoke and a natter. All the passengers were left in the baking carriage with the sun streaming in the window and no air con - we just had to wait for them to finish! No one seemed to bother so we didn't either.

Another cold shower was needed on our return and a quiet evening to recover. Tomorrow will be a chill day before we decided where to go next.

Way on down...

2008-07-13T20:30:00.000-07:00

Further south today towards Naples, Sorrento, Isle of Capri and Pompeii - what a lot of beauty and history for us to explore.

We set off for the longest car journey yet on our travels as we are missing out a planned campsite in order to give us extra time at this one. Then we can see more of the area without rushing too much in this heat. The temperatures are regularly 33 - 36c and that controls a lot of our activity.

As it is a Sunday the roads are free of a lot of lorries which is a godsend - but there are a lot of Italians heading for the coast to sit on the beach too. The period around lunchtime was quiet but when we reached Napoli the world and his brother seemed to hit the roads - manically! They are truly crazy drivers and take such stupid risks. They also dread being behind a caravan so speed up even more to get past us on the road. They don't seem to mind which side they overtake on either. How we have avoided crashes so far we don't know. Imagine the M25 with drivers like the Italians - but no lane markings either! It is a free for all without brains! Added to that the roads off the motorway have become narrower, more steep and more winding so there is a lot of pipping of the hooter on the bends - peaceful bliss - not!

Having said all that - when we arrived at the campsite we were stunned by the beauty of the area after driving through slum suburbs of Naples on the way here. The campsite is in a town called Vico Equense on a steep coast road and is set in orange groves - with walnut trees, grape vines and olive trees as well. Very well shaded and quiet except for the road outside and all the car hooters sounding on the bends. It is literally 200 metres from the beach and small harbour where there are quaint restaurants and houses and hotels clinging to the cliff face - see pics. As it is Sunday loads of Italians are around to bake on the beach and they make a lot of noise and leave a lot of litter. The place is ruined by rubbish and it seems such a pity. Graffiti is everywhere as well - you need to be positive and look beyond it.

After setting up camp we had a lovely cold shower and strolled down to the waterfront and sussed out the restaurants for our Sunday meal. We ended up choosing one that had a seating area on a jetty out into the sea. By the time we were sitting down the crowds had dispersed, a few fishing boats were bobbing on the water and the sun was setting. Added to that the service in the restaurant was impeccable - curteous, friendly and an Italian Bob Hoskins to entertain us with his tales of England. The food was good too - starters of mozarella - mine with tomato and basil, Steves with prosciutto. Then I had a seafood pasta and Steve had crab ravioli with a cream sauce and parmesan - home made pasta too. We drank the local white wine which was gorgeous and chilled to perfection. We think we're going to like it here!

Tomorrow is a trip to Pompeii so an early night is called for.

A day of rest

2008-07-12T17:43:00.000-07:00

After our two days tramping the streets of Rome - as well as the sights and corridors of the Vatican museum and Sistine Chapel we thought we ought to collapse today and recharge the batteries a bit.

After an early start - I know it sounds stupid after all those years at work of waking to an alarm, but we are setting the alarm again! That way we can enjoy breakfast in the cool of the day, do any jobs around the caravan that need doing, then blob a bit as the heat hits before lunching and then enjoying a siesta in the heat of the day. If we stay in bed until later we hit the heat quickly and don't need a siesta so we sit perspiring in the heat instead as its too hot to do anything else. If we are moving to a hot mediterranean country we need to live like they do.

This morning we did just that and by the time late morning came we were lounging round the pool with our books. After we had spit roasted (45 minutes on each side and nicely browned) we returned, had lunch and the required siesta which was lovely. Then we did what has become a bit of a ritualistic luxury for us every two weeks or so - a pedicure! It feels sensational and really helps the poor old feet that are subjected to heat, grime and dust +++. I have taught Steve and he is now an excellent beautician. He tells me that he really benefits from his feet being done too. We do live in an hedonistic world these days don't we? Mind you we got a few funny looks from the other campers as they walked by! we don't care though.

We read up a bit more on all we saw yesterday in the Vatican and Sistine Chapel - it was so interesting but there was so much to take in. Now Steve is cooking again - corned beef hash this time. After dinner we will try to plan a few more future dates and sites on the internet. For example we need to book the ferry from Bari to Greece so we need to identify a date that we will definitely sail.

No pictures for today then but instead I have decided to put some more of Rome on from the last two days. We took so many and it was so memorable that they deserve to be seen I think.

Culture doesn't get better than this - Rome!!

2008-07-11T19:00:00.000-07:00

After a days delay in visiting Rome we set off yesterday and then went again today so this will be a potted version of some spectacular sights and experiences.

There is a bus that leaves the site and takes us to the train station where we board the air conditioned train to take the hour long journey to Rome. All for 6 euros and that includes travel by bus or metro within the city for the whole day - excellent value.

The day started badly when we got up very early (for us these days) - 6.30am and went to shower - cold water for me. It woke me up though! Then after breakfast we went to catch the bus and the train which was easy and uneventful. After disembarking at San Piero station we went straight to the Vatican entrance and asked to book a guided tour for Saturday (thinking we could have a day of rest on Friday) - fully booked. After much debate and sorry looks from us they agreed to allow us to tag on with another group tomorrow (Friday) - great.

We left there to walk to the centre of Rome - then we went wrong, got lost, walked for ages and were told where we should be. Then we turned round and walked for ages again until we reached the sites. We were hot, bothered and hungry so we stopped for a sandwich and a coffee. Then we started the sightseeing tour proper - at last!

We saw lots of grand buildings, then the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps. Heat and aching feet got the better of us and Steve got blisters on his feet -never before on this holiday through all the cities that we have visited! We bought some very expensive plasters and had to return to the shop three times as they came off within 20 metres each time. The girls in the shop blamed his feet! and gave us another packet free - Dr Scholl be ashamed. The Colosseum was next and as we saw the queue a guide appeared and we took advantage of that. We paid only a little extra, skipped the queue and got a full action packed account of the lives and times during the use of the Colosseum. It also included a guided tour of the Palatine Hill and the Forum which was sensational too. We were very impressed - tired and painful or not. After the tour we were left to wander around the Forum by ourselves to get a sense of the place - awesome!

A sit down and some sustenance was called for so we did this before hurrying to catch the tube to take us to the station. The doors were closing as Steve approached and he got wedged in them - very fierce they were too. His ribcage was squashed and he was left in pain. The doors did open again though so we went in and caught our train back to the campsite - Steve full of painkillers.

When we arrived in Bracciano the last bus had gone so we searched high and low for a taxi - none to be found. We wandered around for an hour before a kind Italian phoned for one for us and we were taken home - absolutely shattered but totally knocked out by what we had seen and determined not to let the problems ruin our fantastic day.

A long, hot shower before a good nights sleep put the world to rights and we prepared to leave again for Rome in the morning.

Today we decided to drive to Bracciano and try to park at the train station instead of taking the bus and placing ourselves in the same position as before. It actually worked and we managed to secure the last place in the car park - but we only needed one! The train journey went smoothly - we are very impressed by their trains. Double deckers, very clean and cool - and the trains are on time and very cheap.

We had a wander around when we reached Rome and bought a few momentoes, then had a sandwich and drink before going to the Vatican. Our guided tour was on time and very efficient. She took us around the Vatican museum and told us all about the rooms, frescoes and statues as well as a lot of the history before explaining all about the frescoes in the Sistine Chapel before letting us loose in it. There is absolutely no talking in there so the guide did not come with us all. The whole experience was mind blowing - too much to describe really. We took loads of photos in the permitted areas and have been left with such a strong and positive impression. Afterwards we went into St Peters Basilica which is immense and extremely beautiful - it is of course the church of churches. My prayers were said in there and if they are not answered there they will not be answered anywhere so I am hoping.

We had a bite to eat and drink afterwards that was more than welcome - we had spent over 3.5 hours in there overall and the feet ached ++. Steve had stood up to it well with painkillers and is on the mend.

The train journey gave us a chance to relax before coming back to Steve's cooking - he made us a lovely chilli con carne - most welcome bless his heart.
Tomorrow is definitely a blob out day to recover.... then on Sunday we move on again to Sorrento, Vesuvius and Pompeii.

La Dolce Vita

2008-07-07T20:47:00.000-07:00

And it really is the sweet life I can assure you.

Today we have moved camp again and travelled south towards Rome. The campsite is called Roma Flash and is set on the side of Lake Bracciano, some 30 miles from Rome. The lake is crystal clear and very cold and is actually the resevoir that serves Rome. As such it does not allow motor boats to use the lake but we can swim in it as long as we ensure that we do not pee in it! Anyway it will be filtered well before it graces the tables of the Romans. The camp site is set among lots of trees that then emerge out into a pebbled beach area and it is lovely. There is also wifi on the site so we can sit outside the caravan and do our thing. Just as well seeing as we have to plan our route further along our trail, including Greece which means we put ourselves into the hands of the Gods (Greek Gods we hope) as there is little to find on the internet. The many campsites advertised on the internet grind to a halt when you look at Greece for some reason.

After setting up camp and the internet facility we drove to nearby Bracciano to buy ant killer. Yes, the blighters have found their way into the caravan on a big scale and are threatening to take over. They are getting bigger by the minute as well. I have some huge bites - one on my left shoulder and another on the back of my left hand - which may or may not be the ants but the swelling is becoming a bit of a concern to say the least. Or it may be that I am just developing a brain - I can always hope! They sting a lot as well. If the swelling doesn't go down soon we will have to cut my ring off!!!

We went to a shop in Bracciano, taking our lives in our hands on the way ( the Italian drivers really take the biscuit) and found Carlo who spoke English well. He told us that there are caterpillars living here, amongst other bugs, and nesting in the pine trees that march in line and when they bite humans it results in anaphylactic shock which can prove fatal. He told us that it is a real problem in the hospital here. My bites reduced immediately to something insignificant in the light of the present threat and we bought the ant powder and returned with a killer instinct. We did like the look of Bracciano though and vowed to return tomorrow to explore further.

After de-anting the whole place and eating and drinking well we settled down to a peaceful evening with the laptop. I spoke with my daughter Lisa and with my friend Pat on Skype and caught up with all the news. Then an early night - hopefully minus the ants.

Another Sunday lunch

2008-07-06T20:56:00.000-07:00

The time is flying by and another Sunday has arrived for us to celebrate with a meal out. Having been to Castiglione del Lago once before and enjoyed it a lot for its atmosphere and shops, we decided to go there again for lunch.

Some of the businesses here have joined together in a consortium to provide typical food from the area for a reasonable price without robbing the tourists so we thought we would support that idea.

We found a fantastic little trattoria which reminded us of a taverna in Cyprus in its simplicity. The food was local to the area which we liked - and advertsied as being cooked by mamma - which we also liked. Steve had a tortellini with ham and cream sauce for his prima platte and I had a salad with mozzerella - his was equal to a four person serving from Sainsbury's in size but much better in quality. Then Steve had carp and I had perch - both caught in the lake that we have bathed in for the past few days. They were cooked beautifully and tasted delicious. The waitress even asked mamma how to prepare the fish for us so we have a good recipe - but no lake fish in Cyprus to try them out on. This lot was washed down by some local wine and a bottle of water to keep us hydrated in the heat - it is still 30c+.

As the menu was so good we just had to have a tiramisu each followed by a coffee. It was the best Sunday lunch of our trip so far and also the cheapest! and it was the most food and drink too!! Can't be bad eh?

Afterwards we had a stroll in the town and picked up another couple of bottles of red wine that we had enjoyed so much after the last visit to the town.

A drive back to the camp and a siesta and then a quiet evening sitting by the lake watching the sunset again and the wildlife - a family of otters swam past in the cool of the evening and water fowl went about their business. Tomorrow we set off for pastures new - this time we are heading off towards Rome!!

Perugia and Gubbio

2008-07-05T20:35:00.000-07:00

We have been out exploring again and had a great time doing it! Firstly we drove to Perugia, a trip of about 20 miles. This is an extra ordinary place. The old town is set high up on the rock surrounded by a sprawling modern town below it. We parked in the car park and then had to take a succession of escalators to the old town - six in all. We then emerged in the vaults of the civic hall and had to walk up to street level. We have never approached a town in that way before. See pic of Steve in the vaults.

Perugia is a larger town than usual in Italy. The streets are wider and the buildings bigger. That makes a pleasant change for us, having visited many small towns with narrow streets. In Perugia there is a main piazza with the obligatory fountain in the middle and state buildings around it. We did find many narrow walkways that were typically old Italian and very pretty to walk through. We found some meringues gigantique in a patasserie window that we just had to photograph. After doing the walking tour we grabbed a sandwich and sat on the steps in the shade to eat it. While we were doing so a wedding had taken place and the Africans who were attending the ceremony were parading in their bright costumes - very interesting to see - especially in Perugia of all places!

Then we found an internet cafe and did our bit before leaving the town.

As we had started out early in the morning to get the fresher weather it was still quite early in the day when we had finished our trip. We decided to make the most of the day by driving on to Gubbio, another medieval town. The drive there was spectacular through sunflower fields and rolling hillsides that developed into the Appenine mountains in the distance. Gubbio itself is also set high on a hillside - they were paranoid around here about being invaded - but this time there were no escalators so we had to use our legs to climb the many steps around the town. It was worth it though and we had a very pleasant visit.

Back to the caravan for an evening meal and then an early night. We had covered many miles today by car and on foot in the heat of the day. Sleep was needed.

Yet another place to explore...

2008-07-04T20:30:00.000-07:00

We had a lovely lazy morning today - got up quite late for us and then had a leisurely breakfast in front of the lake, watching the birds, the people and the boats. Then after a spot of sunbathing and reading we decided to explore round the outskirts of the lake. We can see another town rising from the opposite side of the lake and the street and house lights twinkle as the night time falls - that is where we headed - a place called Castiglione del Lago.

A short 10 mile mile drive round the beautiful lake brought us to a very pretty town with the fortifications rising from its centre. We scaled the old cobbled streets and found lots of old houses and shops and of course the obligatory fort, church and castle. They were a particularly bloody lot here in medieval times - always fighting and killing each other and there are torture museums in most towns - grisly or what? We associate castles and forts on wooded hilltops as something romantic when in actual fact they represent killing, fear, greed and power - strange that! They are interesting though.

We found quite a few shops selling local produce and tasted their salami, wild boar ham, truffle infused cheeses, wines and olive oils. That solved the choice of food for dinner tonight - a selection of the above. Other shops sold pretty pottery, jewellery and linens and we bought a few momentoes to take with us to Cyprus.

After this we headed for the local internet cafe and did our bit then went home to Essie. Only round the lake but when we arrived there had been a big storm with lots of rain. No great problem and in fact it cleared the air beautifully and brought the temperature down for a change. The evening was clear and fresh and we sat on the beach with our bottle of wine watching the most stunning sunset imaginable. An otter was playing in the shallow waters of the lake and the swallows were diving all around us - we couldn't have paid for a better show!

Going south

2008-07-03T20:33:00.000-07:00

We moved on further south in Italy towards Umbria today. It was an easy journey along the A1 autostrada and as we approached the campsite our spirits lifted to see the beautiful Italy that we had anticipated. This is much better!

We have come to a campsite on the edge of Lake Trasimeno which meant little to us until we arrived. It is absolutely beautiful - a wildlife sanctuary and a part of the country that the Italians take great pride in. It is very tidy with lots of hilltop villages and towns, all with their own castle and huge church. The food produced here is heaven in a bag - and a bottle. They collect truffles, kill wild boar in the woods that they make gorgeous salami and ham with. The olive trees produce oils that they flavour with everything imaginable and the balsamic vinegar is the best quality. The cheeses are also flavoured with everything from truffle to olive wood ash.

This campsite is much more comfortable and prettier than the last one. We were lucky enough to grab a pitch immediately in front of a little beach by the side of the lake and with a lagoon behind us. There are lots of reeds to the side of the lake in which many birds and ducks nest and swim.

After we set up camp we went to a nearby village to buy some food, then relaxed by the lake. This is going to be a great few days visiting Perugia, Assisi and maybe more depending on how we feel.

Magic roundabout ?

2008-07-02T20:12:00.000-07:00

Florence today and we were both looking forward to it. Having checked out the railway station, tickets and parking the day before we simply had to turn up, park the car for free (yes - free!), buy our tickets from the man in the cafe at the station and climb aboard. It cost all of 9.60 euros return for both of us and the train was comfortable, clean and air conditioned. It was a lovely 40 minute ride through countryside and so we arrived relaxed and cool.

What can we say? Florence is beautiful as most people already know. There are so many things to see and do but we couldn't do them all justice in one day. The weather continues to be very hot and humid and that is tiring in itself. We still managed to see most of the sights and take lots of photos and really enjoyed ourselves. What surprised us was the prices - inexpensive for a tourist city. We bought lovely fresh rolls for lunch with cold drinks and sat in San Marco Square to eat them and take in the atmosphere. That was only 11 euros. Later we bought bottles of chilled water for 40 cents each and two coffees for 1.19 euros in the market place cafe. A lovely, vibrant market selling fruit and veg, meat, fish and cheeses - wonderful colours and even better tasters! We discovered some wonderful garlic cloves marinated in vinegar that are eaten with salami and bread. They are not the strong, smelly variety but taste clean and fresh and really enhance the meat.

Ice creams in the afternoon were 2 euros each for huge cones with real fruit in. Steve says that was the best strawberry ice cream he has ever tasted. I had my favourite - coconut - and yes Pat, it was delicious.

We walked our legs off and had a memorable day, despite the heat. The air conditioned train journey back to San Piero a Sieve was very welcome and we were refreshed by the time we arrived back.

A quick dip in the pool and an hour with our books on the sun loungers was a good way to end our day. The gorgeous steak we cooked for dinner rounded it off nicely - and so to bed said Zebedee.....boing!

Ouch - that hurt!!

2008-07-01T16:10:00.000-07:00

I described our lovely Sunday lunch and about me eating wild boar which was lovely. At the time I crunched on something hard and realised it was a piece of bone from the boar. Unfortunately it damaged one of my teeth and it started giving me some jip yesterday and wobbling a lot. Today we hunted out a dentist in San Piero a Sieve, the village adjacent to the camp site, and a lovely dentist called Fabio Banzoni saved me. Mrs Cole (my dentist in the UK - who may be reading this) was missed greatly as I had such a lot of trust in her - Fabio ended up being fabio though and doing a repair job to last me until I get to Cyprus when I will need another crown - that will be a financial ouch. He had to take the back of the tooth off and smooth the edges. Fingers crossed it will be ok.

We also found this great wifi hotspot in the village with an air conditioned cafe attached so we are sitting here having a drink and watching music videos while we blog.

Another day of relaxation today with some preparation for a visit to Florence tomorrow on the train. We have checked out the local train station and parking there and it only costs 2.40 euros each to get to Florence. We will set off early in the morning to make the best of the cooler part of the day. We are really enjoying the mediterranean lifestyle now that we are getting up early and having a siesta after lunch in the heat of the day. It makes good sense to live the life like the locals.

Yesterday evening we spent time with Len and Nadine again over a bottle or two of wine. They have moved on this morning to pastures new and have another ten days or so of their holiday to complete before going back to Grimsby. We had a good laugh with them though and Steve kept them amused with his police stories while Len told us of his RAF antics. We took a pic of them before they left.

We are still enjoying our food and drink - I can't chew much on one side of my mouth so much at the moment though - it won't stop me eating. The price of food in Italy is high though - thankfuly the quality is also high.

So back to the campsite for us and an hour around the pool and a read before another lovely evening meal. Tomorrow Florence...

Exploring Tuscany

2008-06-30T12:15:00.000-07:00

We are writing this blog on a computer in the tourist office in Borgo San Lorenzo.

The last couple of days have been very hot and very interesting. Deciding to use the campsite as a base, we drove out to Prato on Saturday. We arrived there as all the shops were closing and it was a ghost town - a scruffy one at that. We cycled all around trying to find something interesting to photograph and remember with little success.

On Sunday we drove to Chiantishire, as it describes it in the tourist book, south of Florence. These are the villages that the Brits have taken to their hearts and purchased houses in and around there - no accounting for taste. The drive took us along the SS222, a very, very winding road amongst the acres of vines and olive groves. This area is where all the pictures are taken - typical hillsides with red rooved houses and the odd cypress tree dotted about. It is very pretty but the villages are nothing to write home about in our opinion. San Gemanignon is the main tourist town - hence the high cost of the parking there - 2 euros an hour and we were there for five hours. It is very beautiful though and thats where we had our Sunday lunch in a restaurant called Il Castello. It was like a castle inside - all stone walls, suits of armour and coats of arms. The food was good too. We drove on from there to two other towns - Castellano and Greve - whats all the fuss about we wonder because they don't press any buttons for us. There is basically one piazza, one church and a street with toursit shops on it. Maybe the heat is getting to us! The drive back along the winding roads seemed endless and we were happy to see Esmerelda again. Two Brits had camped alongside us, Len and Nadine from Grimsby - and we sat with them chatting and catching up on gossip with the obligatory bottle of wine until they left us to watch the Euro cup final in the bar. We retired to bed not caring about the football (gasp, horror)

Today we are having a more chilled day to recuperate and have cycled around Borgo San Lorenzo looking for internet points in an effort to keep up with emails and the blog. The Tourist Office came up trumps for us.

Tomorrow we plan to take the bus to Florence and see that - now that will be stunning and we will take lots of pictures. Some of which will be posted on the blog when we get to a wifi hotspot and can use our laptop.....unti then....

Under the Tuscan sun

2008-06-27T20:08:00.000-07:00

Today turned out to be longer than expected having to drive on further than intended. We packed up camp easily enough and left fairly early (for us). The drive was straightforward to Bologna and we had read that it is a beautiful city - one of Italy's gastronomic delights. It has a label of La Grasse - the fat - so we thought of good food and beautiful buildings. The campsite itself is situated within the city which is unusual in itself, but as we drove towards it we thought something was more than odd. The place was teeming with black clothed, long haired, spotty oiks as far as the eye could see. There were cars parked everywhere and tents dotted on every spare piece of ground. As we pulled up to the reception of the campsite some official or other came to the car and said "no spaces - there is a big rock concert - Eye ron maydon and Acdc" - not what we wanted to hear in the blazing sun on an empty stomach.

We had no option but to move on to the next camp site on our itinary - close to Florence. So another 60 miles further on we came to our new temporary homeland. It is set in a remote area amongst trees and is quiet to say the least. It does have internet but at a high cost so the blogs will be sporadic unless we find a good internet cafe along the way. No photos until we can use the laptop either but we will add them at a later date as before.

We had a quick piece of pizza and a drink in the bar beside the swimming pool of the campsite - awful pizza - we,ve had better from Tescos - shame on you Italy. Then we went off to a supermarket to stock up on provisions. The towns around as far as we have seen so far are bland and scruffy - a disappointment for Tuscany. Or have we been spoilt in the beautiful lakes area.

This campsite is perfect to use as a base though. The train goes to Florence and Bologna and there are lots of Chianti villages to see further south - so we will do a lot of visiting while we are here.

The temperature is still very hot - 35 or 35c so that limits the walking or cycling around. There is always the pool to dip into though as we need to.
Lets see what the forthcoming days bring...

A day of rest

2008-06-26T20:08:00.000-07:00

Nothing much to add for today - except that we have recuperated from our trip to England thank goodness.

We didn't wake up until 9.30am and then took our time getting up - because we can!

After a leisurely breakfast and shower we rode our bikes into the village - unfortunately the market wasn't there today but we bought some fresh bread from the patisserie along with some lovely fresh strawberry tarts for after dinner. Then we went to the fruit shop and bought a melon, some kiwis and some peaches for breakfast. After topping up the money from the bancomat we headed for the garage to enquire about a wash and valet for the car. That was fun as the guy there didn't speak any English and our Italian is embarrassing. We managed to communicate though with a lot of sign language and patience on both parts, as well as a good sense of humour, and we arranged for the car to go in after siesta today - she deserves it after all we have put her through on this trip. Then back to camp to laze around a bit more.

After an al fresco lunch and some Skyping to a friend of mine Steve took the car to the garage with the bike on top so that he could ride back. I did a bit of sunbathing - not a lot as it is too hot. 30 minutes on each side for a good spit roast is enough - then a dip in the lake to cool off. After that refreshing cool down I read for a while until Steve went to collect the car - what a beautiful job they made of it. Gleaming inside and out, blackened tyres and shining alloy wheels, the carpets as clean as new - I don't know how they manage that. All for 20 euros too.

We then planned our route for tomorrow as we head off again after breakfast and did some research on the net for it. A lazy dinner followed of pasta with ham and mushrooms - and of course the fruit tarts. And the obligatory glasses of wine accompanied the meal too.

After taking down the sunshade and taken up the floorcovering from outside in readiness for our move tomorrow we have all evening to ourselves - time for another episode of Rome we think.......

NOT a backward step - just a temporary one

2008-06-25T20:11:00.000-07:00

We have been back to the UK for the day - some people go on day trips during their holiday so we decided to do the same - to England! OK so it is a bit over the top I know - but Steve had a medical appointment that he wanted to attend so off we went.

What a long day - but everything went well and the travel was straightforward. Good old Ryanair did us a cheap deal from Bergamo to Luton airport - we left the camp at 8am, drove the 30 miles along the autostrada to the airport, parked the car and waited the hour or so until the flight left. We only took hand luggage so it was a walk on, walk off journey. The plane took off on time, we managed to get exit seats so Steve long legs was comfortable, on both flights amazingly, and we landed at Luton to get straight on the shuttle bus to the railway station.

The trains leave every 10 minutes or so to central London so that was easy too, then the underground until we reached our destination. Appointment over with and we found an internet cafe, confirmed our return flights and printed off our boarding cards. Then I phoned my brother, Graham, to tell him which train we were catching back to Luton - he and Sue then drove down to meet us, we went for a pizza (yes I know - flying from Italy to eat a pizza in England!) as we didn't have long before the return flight. They dropped us off at the airport and we caught the plane back to Bergamo. Then we drove back to Esmerelda and slept very well.

On the whole we were impressed by the efficiency of the travel services in England and we had thought it would be nice to hear English being spoken again - but no way! every other language yes - but hardly any English. Sign of the times I suppose. We were impressed with St Pancras Station though - very, very nice. I had wanted to see it since it was renovated and it didn't disappoint. See pics - Steve looks good beside Sir John Betjeman doesn't he?

We did feel decidedly chilly in England although the temperature was about 20c - that shows we must be acclimatising to the hot weather in Italy. It was lovely to get off the plane in Italy and smell the warm (well hot actually) night air again. When we left Italy at 9am it was 27c and that was pleasant to us - it was 29c at 11pm when we landed and that was enjoyable to us. The whole idea of coming back to Italy was good for us - we are not feleing homesick at all - not one bit! Especially when we read the newspapers and saw what a mess Gordon is making of it all.

Yet more chilling out

2008-06-24T17:11:00.000-07:00

Another day of relaxation is called for today we think - because we can.

After a slow start to the day we just sat around and read for a while. Then Steve decided to potter about on Esmerelda - we have been travelling with her for eight weks now and she has accumulated lots of dirt and grit that should be seen to. We have to look after her if we want her to look after us.

While Steve was doing that I chose to cycle to the local village in search of bread but stumbled across a large and buzzy market in the piazza. There was lots of colour and noise about and I bought some wonderful fresh fish there for tonights dinner - I can't rely on Steve catching us some can I? The pattiserie had some lovely bread and some lovelier cakes so I bought some of those too.

After returning we spent the rest of the day catching up on emails and the news from the UK on the internet as well as lounging in the sun, dipping in the lake and eating and drinking of course.

Tomorrow we have to return to London as Steve has a meeting there. We are flying from Bergamo to Luton and catching the express train from Luton to London. In the afternoon we are meeting up with Graham and Sue for a meal and a catch up before flying back to Bergamo. Some preparation is required for that trip as we have become accustomed to lazing around in shorts and swimming gear now - some ironing is required!!! Later when it has cooled I think.

Steve is fishing again as I write this - see pic, and I am sitting outside the caravan in the shade - see pic. We are definitely hippy style now and loving it.

I will now go and cook the wonderful fish with some local veg and have a few glasses of chilled white wine I think. What a life!!!!

Lago D'Iseo

2008-06-23T20:27:00.000-07:00

That is the name of the lake that we have now camped at and it is much smaller than Garda but in my opinion much prettier. You can see more of the lake edges with greenery round them, there is an island in the middle that a boat travels to several times a day, and there are mountains to see too. It gives it all a much more interesting vista I feel. The town of Iseo is very pretty too - it has lots of narrow alleyways, shaded streets and small piazzes giving it such a lot of character. The town of course is spread along the lakeside which gives it a very romantic feel.

Its not too far from our last campsite - 47 miles or so - but it is closer to Bergamo airport and we have to fly back to the UK from there on Wednesday for a meeting so it serves us well to be situated here - 35 km or so from the airport.

We were welcomed by the campsites owner/manager and shown a choice of sites for Essie. We elected to camp on a shady one underneath a tree to keep the caravan, and us, cooler in this heat. They unhitched the caravan for us and sited it - and were gentle with Esmerelda, I ensured that. The view took our breath away as we entered the campsite and our plot is only 10 mtrs from the edge of the lake where we can watch the swans and ducks as well as the boats going to and fro. It is also very handy to have a cold dip in when we get too hot - which we took full advantage of today.

We set up the caravan in no time at all and proceeded to chill out, sitting in the shade, reading, then having some sun and taking a cold dip afterwards. Then we had to have a cold drink of course to replace the fluids - such hard work! During the afternoon we cycled to the town to explore and we were very impressed with it - very Italian.

This campsite has wifi all over the place so we can sit outside the caravan and search the internet, send emails and write the blog - bliss! After a lovely dinner of local veg, aubergine, zucchini, red pepper, onion in garlic and a couple of good quality beefburgers I sat down to contact whoever was online via Skype. I ended up talking to my daughter Louise for ages - that was fantastic for me,catching up on all her news about the grandchildren and their family. During that time Steve had set up his fishing line and was enjoying himself on the lake edge - being the hunter gatherer that he is - to provide for his cave. He failed miserably though and came back empty handed. And that was after we had stood in the lake earlier and saw the fish swimming all around us - the water is crystal clear. The fish must be very clever to avoid the hook! Good job we weren't relying on Steve to provide the evening meal for us though.

A lovely, relaxing day in an idyllic setting.

The heat is on.......

2008-06-22T20:05:00.000-07:00

Literally - it has been 33c for the past 3 days and that limits our activities. Nevertheless we want to explore the areas we are in and this one is no different.

Sundays always herald a Sunday lunch and a good meal so we needed to find somewhere for today. Our plan was to drive to Pescharia, look around and test the area, then drive on to Bardolino (yes - the wine place) and find somewhere to eat there. Both towns are on the shores of Lake Garda. Our second mission was to find an internet cafe or similar as there are days and days to catch up on the blog. Anyone would think we were spies around here - a serious lack of internet facilities and when we find one they want passports, times, dates, inside leg measurements.... a real pain. But we need to update the blog - this is our lives we are recording here!

Pescharia is beautiful - city walls, old town with new added - all on the shores of Lake Garda. We found a new Macdonalds and nearly cried with delight - until we found out that they are too new to have a wifi connection yet. Move on...

Bardolino - and the roads there were packed with people and cars. Everyone seems to head for the lidos on the edge of the lakes around here on Sundays which means congested roads and frustrated drivers (and passengers). We found an internet cafe in Bardolino but as there is such a shortage of them there was a queue - and we had left our passport in the car! He told us there is a wifi place in a nearby town called Lazise though - so we headed there, with passport.

It was a good internet cafe at the back of a tobacconists - which is fairly common over here although I fail to see the connection. The manager there allowed us to use our laptop so that we could upload the pictures. He also told us that they have to record all users of the internet as a government requirement since 9/11 - goodness knows what they are expecting. I told him that even the USA don't go to those lengths any longer. It is as frustrating for him as a businessman as much as for his customers. We did get all the blogs up to date though - with pictures so that was a relief.

Afterwards we strolled around Lazise and found it to be a quaint town on the edge of Lake Garda. Market stalls were placed all around the little marina selling everything from fruit, honey, wine, nuts, cheeses - all local produce. We had a lovely lunch in the piazza - lasagne and salad. The weather is so hot that our appetites are decidedly diminished - the fluid consumption however is decidedly raised to compensate - those bieres grande taste wonderful chilled.

Air con in the car is very welcome in this climate as well and it gave us the time to cool down before arriving back at camp. We need to sort some things out tonight as we move on again tomorrow to another lake further west - Lago D'Iseo. First though some local melon and cherries went down very well as the sun set with a couple of glasses of wine.....

Sirmione

2008-06-21T20:08:00.000-07:00

A very hot night last night - Steve got the fan out and we had it on us all night. We also had all the windowns in the caravan open and the blinds up while we slept to encourage any breeze that might find its way into us. That was fine.

The day started very hot again. Shopping was needed and we found a huge supermarket cum cash and carry within 5 minutes of the campsite. We cycled there and it was great to see whole sides of ham, crates of fruit and veg and massive whole cheeses for sale. Not for us of course but they provided measley quantities as well - see pic.

After a light lunch - the heat is affecting our appetites - we cycled to Sirmione old town. It is on a spit of land that encroaches into Lake Garda and is a beautiful place to visit. Even that small town has a huge fortress by the lake with its own drawbridge - they must have been invaded a hell of a lot of times in the past.

We walked right to the end of the spit and had our biere grandes - a more sensible price of 4 euros each here thank goodness. The waiter brought a small dish of crisps with the beers and we thought the sparrows looked brave. I crushed a crisp and had the sparrows eating out of my hand - something I never managed to get Steve to do might I add.

After a walk around the very pretty village and buying some hand made soaps and treating ourselves to an Italian ice cream each, we cycled back to the campsite.

We had to then spend half an hour taking the car to the cash and carry and stocking up on wine, beer and water as we had seen that it was so cheap on our previous visit. Would you believe a 1.5ltr bottle of fizzy water was 24 cents!! amazing.

Nothing for us to do but laze around in the hot summer evening and eat and drink some of our stock. The fly in the ointment was a group of Austrians camping nearby who spent most of the day sampling the cheap booze too and they became very happy and loud in the evening. The inevitable happened and some of them fell out which quietened them down by the time we went to bed though.

Lake Garda

2008-06-20T19:58:00.000-07:00

On the road again to Lake Garda and what a hot day! And a warning to everyone - avoid the roads and motorways around Venice during the late mornings - it took us an hour to travel 4 km - sounds like the M25 doesn't it?

Then we were up and running though and had a pleasant drive to the Lake. The temperature guage in the car just kept going up - it reached 33c - we think the cold and wet spell has passed!

The campsite was actually on the lakeside and very pretty. Lots of boats on the lake and jetties to swim from. It was very uncomfortable for us to set up the caravan and sunshade in that heat though. We needed a cold shower afterwards I can tell you. Thankfully a lovely Swedish couple helped us to position Essie and that cut the time down a fair bit. We kept in the shade for quite a while after that and just relaxed.

We were overjoyed to find internet on the campsite a nd sat down to catch up on our blog. Problems again - when I signed into the blog website it was blocked by the campsite server whi identified it as porn! Now that is stretching the imagination a fair bit I think. Although I asked for it to be released the receptionist informed me that she would have to put in an email request - very frustrating yet again.

We emailed some folks to reassure them that we were still alive and kicking and jsut having a whale of a time and then left it to fate.

When the evening cooled we went for a walk around part of the lake by the campsite and tok a few pics in the evening light - it was very beautiful and relaxing.

Beautiful Venice

2008-06-19T20:38:00.000-07:00

We couldn't be bothered to wait around for a bus to Punta Sabbione and as it was only 10km we decided to cycle there. Bike racks were plentiful so there was no problem leaving them until our return later in the day. We caught the Vaporetta with no problems and had a lovely 40 minute mini cruise until we arrived in Venice by sea - it did not disappoint.

I have been there before but must have been in a coma at the time because I recollected almost nothing - and I can't understand how I could have forgotten it. It is spectacular! We did all the sites and more - rode the Grand Canal on the water bus seeing all the important houses along the way. Walked over the Rialto Bridge, walked around St Marks Square and avoided buying a coffee there - they cost 10 euro each apparently.

After much walking in the very hot sunshine - upper 20s c - we decided to dine at a little restaurant up by the railway station that someone had recommended to us. Two courses for 15 euros each - that is good for Venice we thought. We sat at the pavement table and people watched as we drank our biere grandes to settle the dust in our throats. The meal was good and Steve had an extra beer - because he can. When the bill came we realised that the beers were 7 euros each! so we had been stung again - our fault totally - we will look at the menu next time.

Our opinion of Venice is that it is one of the top ranking cities we have seen. We thought Prague was the best but this is equal to it. We would thoroughly recommend a long weekend - but watch the prices.

The Vaporetta back to Punta Sabbione was a pleasant relaxation for us and then we cycled back to camp for a leisurely meal and a few glasses of wine before bed. A really enjoyable day!

The dry run

2008-06-18T20:24:00.000-07:00

Yet more thunder and lightening last night along with the rain - will we ever be able to sleep again without the lullaby of thunder to get us off to sleep?

As before though the skies cleared by breakfast time and it became hot - reached 26c today. After breakfast we cycled the other direction along the spit to Punta Sabbione to check out the Valporetta for Venice for tomorow. Another lovely bike ride with a bit of frustration along the way - we found a wifi centre and hoped to be able to blog - but it was shut! The Gods seem to be against us.

The port was very pretty and Steve posed on one of the jetties - see pic. I posed beside the Oleander (reminds me of home in Cyprus)and in front of one of the boats. We found out that the boat to Venice leaves every 30 minutes and costs 14 euros each - and that includes boat travel within Venice for 12 hours - very good value! After that we decided on a rest and a drink at a cafe by the port side. Steve had his usual biere grande and I decided on a coffee but didn't want one of the explosive espressos - so I asked for a Nescafe - wrong! A beer came out as requested and I received a huge coffee ice cream and cream sundae topped off with chocolate sauce and a cherry on the top! Would you believe I refused it?? I did! I wanted a drink - so she went back and made me a coffee - they don't understand Nescafe as a drink of coffee! How strange. So I ended up with an espresso and extra hot water - hey ho.

Then back to the campsite, lunch and another spell of relaxation on the beach - pure heaven.

After a lovely evening meal of seafood pasta we watched another episode of Rome and had an early night in readiness for Venice tomorrow.

More exploration today and a bask in the sun

2008-06-17T20:09:00.000-07:00

The storm last night was a good one - Esmerelda held up against it as best she could but she is getting on and it obviously took its toll on her! - see pic - only joking!
We saw that one adjacent to a market and couldn't resist.

The sun was shining when we awoke and the storm was but a memory - hopefully not to be repeated. After eating our breakfast the sky was a beautiful blue and we decided to explore more of this busy centre. It is very interesting with lots of visitors and many caravan and camping sites along the beach. Would you believe ours was only one of two that did not have internet access and the others wouldn't allow non residents to use theirs.

We cycled along the lane to Lido de Jesolo - en route we just had to stop and shop at a huge camping salesroom and bought a few pressies for Essie. Some "Axminster" for under the sunshade so that we don't have to walk around in sand and grit and a few other bits and bobs. Then we cycled on and found a huge market so we strolled around that for a while. Steve bought a new leather belt and I bought yet another pair of crocs - imitation ones. A supermarket provided some of the necessary provisions for our meals later on and that allowed us to cycle back to the campsite, eat a lunch in the shade and then to bask on the beach with a book for an hour - this is more like it!

Would you believe that after a lovely evening meal of cassoulet and a few glasses of wine - the rain fell yet again! It was lovely to sit under the shade in the heat of the evening and watch it though. It was fine rain this time and we had such a lovely day that we did not care.

Time to bail out - literally

2008-06-16T20:00:00.000-07:00

Well - this is not what we signed up for! It rained all night - thank goodness for the ear plugs. After breakfast and trudging our way through the puddles to the shower block in the chilly morning air we decided to move on south - it MUST be brighter there.

We decamped and got soggy but we were warm in our fleeces and socks - is this really June in Italy?? As we drove south the mountains looked spookily beautiful in the heavy mist that almost reached the ground - see the pic. Then joy of joys - as we left the mountains behind the skies became brighter and brighter and the temperature rose and rose and by the time we reached our camp close to Venice the sun was shining and the temperature was 20c - this is more like it. The journey itself was not as expected though - we decided to stick to the A roads to see the real towns but they were very drab and commercialised and the traffic was stop, start all the way. And you need to keep your wits about you around here - the drivers duck and dive and push out into the road from junctions - basically they are mad, bad drivers.

Our camp site - Velablu, is on the spit on land to the east of Venice for those who like to trace our journey on the map. We were halfway between Lido de Jesolo and Punta Sabbione where the Vaporetta (water bus) leaves for Venice. Our campsite was on the beach and we had a 50 mtr walk from the caravan to access it - sheer bliss. By that evening we were walking along the beach, paddling in the sea at sunset. Now this IS what we came for. We had lunch first though at the restaurant on the campsite. Steve had penne and meat sauce and I had the best buffalo mozzerella, tomato and basil salad I have ever eaten - Pat you would have adored it! Then we went for a cycle ride to explore the area. There is a lovely wide cycle lane along the flat promontary and we rode along towards Lido de Jesolo. There seems to be lots to see and do around here. Later we sat out in the warm evening air and ate our dinner and drank glasses of wine to celebrate our new climate.

By bedtime we were surprised again though - an almighty storm - thunder, lightening and rain - is it following us? Oh well - get on with it I suppose.

Bonjourno!

2008-06-15T18:14:00.000-07:00

Got up knowing we were going to have lunch in Trento. Quiet drive into town and free parking. Where is everybody?? Ever so quiet, tourist office closed. Perhaps because the festival started yesterday and everyone was out late and lying in in readiness for the Bob Dylan concert tonight and other festivities. The other festivities appeal to us Bob.....the timmmmmes they are a changggggging!

Walked the town within the hour. In it's heyday it would have been fabulous, the buildings stand testament to that. Downside is they have not been looked after so everything appears run down. But the town piazza was impressive. If you're ever down this way pop in for a flying visit but you would be hard pushed to fill your day here.

We found a small restaurant in one of the back streets. Teresa kicked off with the onion soup and I went for the spinach gnocchi. We both had lamb chops for the main course washed down with a very good red wine from the local vinyard.

Then....down came the rain!! Back to Essie to watch a DVD. Bit of nostalgia...out came Paint your Wagon......"Where are we going we don't know, when will we get there we're not certain, all that I know is that we are on our way". Very appropriate for us don't you think? C'mon now sing along!

Halfway through Alan cycled by and invited us round for some drinks tonight...what a very nice man. He read the daily paper and this is the worst weather in June for Italy for nine years......and we just happen to be passing through.

And in classic looney tunes exit...."That's all folks".

Red sky at night - shepherds downpour

2008-06-14T19:00:00.000-07:00

There was a red sky last night and we took that as a sign of sunshine today. Wrong! It rained from about 9pm onwards, all through the night and until about 10am this morning. Not that it bothered us much - after the blog last night we took a bottle round to Maggie and Alan, staying on the same site as us - and we talked and we talked.... until we finally left them in the early hours. Then we had to have a good lie in to catch up on our beauty sleep. So much so that the rain had gone by the time we had breakfasted and showered.

After seeing some good offers on wine etc at the supermarket yesterday we decided to take the car this morning and stock up. We have bought 5 ltr glass carafes of wine for 4euros each. And bottles of 2004 Barolo for 10euros each - Graham are you reading this and getting envious? I was introduced to a creamed lemon drink by Maggie last night which was delicious - so we bought a few bottles of that too. It is 17.5% proof but you would never know when you drink it.

After shopping we decided to do a few jobs around the caravan, have lunch, then explore some more on the bikes. As I explained in the last blog we are situated between two lakes and so we decided to ride around one of them. The scenery is beautiful here - but I get embarrassed about saying that so much. What we didn't take into consideration is that the gradient at the northern end of the lake reaches 620 mtrs high - that was one hell of a climb - pushing the bikes too, not riding them. The ride down was great though. Part of the ride took us through a forest with views down from the precipice to the lake below, another part went through orchards with lots of cherry trees in - they were literally falling on the ground. Maggie and Alan told us last night that their German neighbour had caught 13 trout in that lake the other day and he invited them to spend the evening feasting with them on barbecued fish.

A quiet read and an apperitif was needed when we arrived back at camp in the hot, hot sun. After this blog we are going to feast on our own fish - caught at the supermarket this morning - we think its swordfish but as we are unsure of the language we can't be sure - it looks good though.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOUISE - that will make you very embarrassed I'm sure my darling. That's my daughter who has a birthday today - I won't give your age away but we both hope you have had a wonderful day. Thank you for your pictures of the party and we both send our love.

Tomorrow we are off to Trento - a nearby historic town, to explore and have our Sunday lunch. We hope again that the sun shines on us and that we have a good day.

Levico Terme

2008-06-13T11:10:00.000-07:00

We don't know how much rain fell last night but it was a lot!! Nice and cosy in Essie waiting for the rain to stop so we could dash to the shower block. Then all hands on deck to prepare for breaking camp and moving on. Said our farewells to our neighbours and we were off. Remember us talking about the descent into the camp? Now was the time to crawl up the mountain and negotiate the narrow lanes of the village half way up the mountain before going down again into the valley. All entertaining stuff when behind the wheel. Turbo diesel, forget your GTi's and sports saloons this is what the car was built for.....grunt! The turbo for the uphills and brilliant engine breaking for going down them.

Down the valley heading south to our next base we pulled into a service station to have a coffee, they are a lot different over here. Got inside and it was obviously a truckers cafe.....with lace table covers! So the guys are all sat around them, some of them big buggers too. They were also enjoying carafes of wine with their brunch. What a life. We could stand our spoons up in the espresso...no sleep for us over the next 24 hours.

A little known fact is that Italian drivers drive on the left. That's cos they are always overtaking one another and us. Their mind set is one of, "Oh look a caravan, I must overtake at all cost" And they do very frequently. Entering a roundabout is another game of cat and mouse cos when they see you coming they pull out to get ahead and we are well into the roundabout.

Lessons learnt......Steve's Italian...bastardo! And "salute" in sign language. Will probably start collecting some FIAT parafanalia if they keep up like this.

Now then - that was Steve's contribution to the blog - I bet you could tell with all the talk of cars and driving. Now I have come to add my bit.

The drive was uneventful (to me at least as a passenger) and beautiful - we are still in the Alto Adige region so the mountains are still around us and bringing rain at times. Itook some photos as we drove along as you will see on the blog.

Today we reached the camp site at Levico Terme (so called because of its thermal waters)- further south than before though still in the mountains. It is between two lakes which we hope to explore by cycle tomorrow, weather permitting, and it is more Italian than the last campsite and area we were in. The campsite also has wifi - hooray!! and we have paid up and are sitting in the allocated spot to write this. When we arrived we set up and set off by bike to Levico Terme to explore, get some dosh and buy some provisions.

Dried mushrooms are very big here at the moment and in the town was a notice board with examples of local mushrooms on it. Steve became very hungry and had his photo taken beside it illustrating his wish to eat the lot! see pic.It was hot and sunny when we left and cool, grey and raining when we returned.

Having cooked and eaten a spag boll tonight and drank some very pleasant local wine we are having our internet time before going to catch upwith some other Brits we have met on the site. They are an endangered species out here you know! hardly any Brits at all. The Dutch have some English but do not understand everything and the Germans are hit and miss - in more ways than one. So it is a great pleasure to meet some true Brits and have a good old natter.

The football fans are cheering in the background - don't know what that means because we aren't interested but we do know that Italy have played today because it was on a chalk board outside - knowledge spent.

So off we go to do our thing then - we will update as we can.

Our anti pasti

2008-06-12T16:45:00.000-07:00

It's been a few days since we wrote the blog - thats because we have moved on to the Italian Alps this time and the internet in this area is in short supply. So let us recap...

We drove from Prutz in Austria along the most scenic route yet! Absolutely beautiful. I was taking photos all the time while Steve drove - and he cursed about the caravan in front that was slowing us down! Honestly - who would have those contraptions on the road anyway? see pic.

We passed over the border which was at the height of 5500ft! into Italy and drove on to a place called Lana, then on to the camp site some 7 km further on - all seriously uphill in second gear! The turn off the road to Tesins Tessimo into the camp site was a steep drop with no passing places so we crossed our fingers that it was the correct place - there would have been no turning back. The camp site is a new small one set in an orchard. That sounds small but we can assure you that we have never seen so many apple and pear trees as well as other fruits - as far as the eye can see. It has a lovely 25 mtr outdoor pool set in manicured lawns for sunbathing with magnificent views all around - see pic. No internet to speak of though so we have been a little bit cut off so to speak.

The area itself is a little mixed up we think - After the first world war Austria paid the price and forfeited this area to the Italians. We never knew there had been such major battles in this area resulting in thousands of deaths and casualties. Soldiers took short cuts up the mountains by erecting iron ladders to the sides of the rock which you can still climb to thhis day - if you have the bottle. The result is now a real mixture of Austrians, Italians, Germans and Swiss and the road signs are in both German and Italian which helps us with some of the translations. Some houses are built in Austrian chalet style and others in the many windowed and shuttered Italian style. The place has real character and is truly cosmopolitan. The region also changed its name to Alto Adige afrer the river running through it. There are still lots of signs saying South Tirol though.

Yesterday we went into Merano - a largish town with cobbled streets, shops, cafes and very easy to cycle round. Today we are in Bolzano - a bigger town with a beautiful old centre of winding lanes and cobbled streets. Some of the streets are very narrow with tall buildings on either side. There are lots of cyclists around mingling with the hundreds of pedestrians - and no one loses their temper. There is a fantastic market with lots of fresh fruit, cheeses, breads etc - just what we have been looking forward to see pic. Its hard to know whether to say guscott, bonjourno, gutten tag or hello though - so we use a mixture of them all until we get a response - then ask if they speak English!! We are now sitting in Multi kulti - an internet, wifi, phone shop.

The weather has been mixed too - some lovely hot sun and temperatures of 23 - 25c, then the heavens open and the rain comes down. Its because we are situated between the Alps and the Dolomites and there are some crazy weather battles going on up there in the sky. Steve particularly likes this area becasue the valleys are broader than in Germany and Austria giving the place a much spacious and grand feel. I just love the atmosphere in these towns - there are characters galore - then there's me and Steve!! The buildings are spectacular and the mountainous background is wonderful.

I suppose its because of the rainfall here but the rivers run in fast flowing torrents through the towns. As this area is renowned for its mild climate the flowers and trees are in profusion - yesterday we cycled through a sub tropical terraced garden running by the side of the river on towards a deep gorge with water crashing through it - it looked and smelled wonderful. We feel very lucky to have this opportunity to experience such a wide variety of people and places.

We have had our first Italian meals too - yesterday we bought some dried Porcini mushrooms and speck(Italian smoked ham that you cut into cubes to eat) and gorgeous egg tagliatelle - we cooked it as the market stall holder recommended - with onion, garlic, herbs and olive oil of course and it was delicious. Today we have had lunch in Bolzano - a Pizza and salad - cooked fresh like Mamma makes - literally.

Tomorrow we move on again further south to Trentino which is a bit nearer to the Dolomites. We don't know if there is an internet facility there but we will catch up as we can. In the meantime be assured we are having a whale of a time.....

Going up in the world

2008-06-09T19:00:00.000-07:00

We put our hiking boots on today, as well as the fleeces and waterproofs, for the hard slog up to the top of the world - Alps style.

Then we got in the car and drove.... It was 20c at the camp site and sunny thankfully when we left and as we drove up the mountainside along the Kaunertal Gletscherstrasse (glacier way) it became cooler and cooler. There were places of interest en route and obvious viewpoints along the way at strategic places. Ibex and chamois live within the area and we did see a chamois as well as a red squirrel, which thrilled me as Steve has seen 3 so far this trip and I missed them all. I was beginning to think he was teasing me or hallucinating - but I can now vouch for their existence in these parts. Very pretty it was too. It nearly met Mr Pirelli though and that would have upset me a lot - but it was too quick for that. Too quick for the camera too unfortunately.

The scenery was awesome - becoming more and more so as we ascended the mountainside. The roads were very winding and steep - reminding Steve of the Italian Job where the coach nearly went over the side of the mountain whilst going around the twists and turns. Half way up we stopped, sat on a tree stump and ate our lunch with the best view imaginable - no noise, no people and no pollution - heavenly. At the top it was snow, snow and more snow with ski lifts and ski ploughs still in operation - though we didn't actually see anyone skiing. Photo opportunities were everywhere and we used them to their full potential. We have attached some to give you a flavour. At the top the temperature was 7.5c but with no breeze so it made it feel quite comfortable as long as we were wrapped up.

We were in favour with the gods again as we had the best of the weather for our trip and it deteriorated as we descended the mountainside with the rain starting to fall. We had certainly seen the best of the day and enjoyed it to the full.

It was a 26km drive up the mountain and we were accompanied for some of the journey by some mad cyclists who thought a good day was a trip up the steep mountainside under their own steam. Not our idea of fun! We clocked a couple coming back down the mountain at 40mph - in the rain - the u bends proved a bit of a problem for them though - rather them than us.

We enjoyed our day and retired to Essie for a bit of relaxation and reading before making dinner and planning our next moves. We can easily drive from here to Italy or Switzerland - and the weather is not good at all in Switzerland - rain and low temperatures at the moment. The towns there are like those here - set up for skiing primarily and for trips up the mountains in the spring and summer. More of the same we feel. So Italy beckons - the temperature there is 28c compared to 18c in Switzerland.

So we are going to do some research on the internet after we have finished this blog and see where we can travel to for a bit of sun, warmth and a different outloook.

Lights at the end of the tunnels

2008-06-08T19:00:00.000-07:00

We happily left the Natters See camp site near Innsbruck this morning - not because of the camp site itself which is beautiful - but because of the influx of football fans. Some were there when we arrived and some more came during the evening. A converted coach had arrived by this morning painted in the blue and yellow colours of the Swedish flag - goodness knows how many bloke were staying in that! Steve heard some chanting at just before 4am - and he had earplugs in. Others were up and about, noisily, by 7am. The day was predicted to bring many, many more of them. When Steve went into the washrooms he could only communicate by saying Abba and Volvo - not words that were useful in that situation. A nod and a smile was more useful.

So we had done our research last night and found a nice campsite in a town called Prutz, westward of Innsbruck along the A12. It is high up in the Tyrol yet we are surrounded by mountains many thousands of feet higher. Many of them snow capped. We were surprised at the number of tunnels along the A12 and the length of them - one was over 3 miles long - that is some cutting into the rocks! It was a wonderful drive with scenery to die for at every turn.

The weather has thankfully cleared and the day became progressively warmer and sunnier - more to our liking. We found the camp site easily and set up, had a quick lunch and decided to explore the area by cycle. We rode alongside a very fast flowing river - white water rafting scenario - in the bright sunshine with the snow capped mountains surrounding us on either side and the air as fresh as you can get it. We had a whale of a time riding through meadows filled with wild flowers, tree lined paths by the river and some more strenuous parts as we started to gain height. The bonus was that we had a ride downhill on the way back!

We passed a herd of very pretty alpine cattle with their bells on - babies they were really and very photogenic as you can see in the pic. We also saw many stacks of mown grass that were piled high to look like spooky straw monster monks in procession. I even poked my hand into one to see what it was covering but only felt a wooden pole. What is that about then? - see pic. Aftr our cycle ride we treated ourselves to a huge ice cream from a local shop and sat and ate it in beautiful sunshine - we really crave that!

We rode on to see the local church which is in a beautiful setting - see pic - and had a beautiful graveyard. Nothing like we have seen in the UK - every grave has a wonderful headstone with a small garden area fronting it. The flowers are all fresh and they are immaculately tended. It made us feel quite humble.

Steve was also surprised by the number of large wood piles around each property - no problem here with a smoke free zone or gas bills - each house has a massive wood pile - some of them are quite decorative as they pile the wood in an attractive pattern. The one in the pic attached was an ordinary one that Steve wanted to show the size of compared to him.

There is wifi on this site too and we are using the same while we sit in the caravan. The dishes are washed and stacked after a lovely meal of Thai green curry and rice.Tomorrow, weather permitting, we are setting off along a 26 km mountain drive to a glacier at about 9000ft. We will need our thermals on and a cuppa soup for our return.

This evening we are continuing to plan our route and get the driving directions. Watch out for the glacier pics tomorrow - hopefully.

Innsbruck in the Tyrol

2008-06-07T20:00:00.000-07:00

Last night we decided that we enjoyed sunshine and hot weather more than cold and wet weather - that is good considering we are moving to Cyprus. But at present the weather is suitable for creating lush greenery all around - yes I mean rain! Beautiful it is, with stunning scenery everywhere you look, but it is raining! Last night we went to bed with a stream running beside the campsite over lots of stones. This morning it was a gushing torrent hiding all the stones and boulders. If we were more adventurous we would have set off for some white water rafting. As we are not that way inclined and we are getting a bit concerned about our trench foot problem we thought we would move on.

All through the night the rain hammered on the caravan roof. The sound even broke through my ear plugs. After exploring everything in the vicinity of Reit im Winkl we were short of things to do in the wet weather and thought a change of scenery would do us good.

When we started our journey from the camp we switched on the radio to hear Tina Turner singing "I can't stand the rain" - very apt.

Off we went to Innsbruck, very aware of the fact that there were major football matches taking place over the next two weeks or more. We phoned the next campsite who told us that we could only spend tonight with them as 2500 Swedish football fans are expected tomorrow to attend the matches. Would you like to share a campsite with them after being at a football match all day and boozing all night? No way! So we were happy to accept the offer of one night with the chance of researching the internet on their wifi facility to find another camp to move on to.

The drive to Innsbruck was uneventful and the campsite easy to find. When we arrived we were very impressed with the location - a beautiful site surrounded by steep mountains and greenery. The staff were very helpful and the wifi is available 24/7 so we can use the internet without any time restrictions within the caravan - great.

As we usually celebrate weekly on our journey with a Sunday lunch we realised that tomorrow we would be evicted and that luxury would be denied us. So we moved Sunday forward a day and decided to eat at the campsite restaurantthis evening. Having checked it out and had the menu translated for us, we realised that the food on offer was too good to be resisted. So we ate a lovely meal there. Steve had pork medallions in a cream and gorgonzola sauce with their speciality noodles and I had a mixed grill with chips and ratatouille. Then Steve just had to have a dessert of an ice cream filled crepe with a chocolate sauce and cream. I helped him out with that of course. All that with a good quality bottle of red wine and two coffees came to roughly £50 - not at all bad we think. The atmosphere was very relaxing and the staff very welcoming and friendly.

So back to the caravan where we can catch up on a lot of internet stuff that we have not had time to do previously. We can research the future camp sites and get driving directions. We can also catch up on the news back in the UK and over the world - not that much of it applies to us any more.

A good day in all - we have seen more places, met more people and progressed with our journey. Only a few pics again for this blog - all of the sites from the caravan, wonderful though they are

And now we can hear some of the fans already on the camp commnce their ritual chanting and their attempts to restructure the campsite are in place already. Men in tight yellow football shirts, exposing too much of a well formed beer belly just does not do it for me. I think we will stay in Essie and have a good nights sleep - thanks to the ear plugs.......and as we doze off we can hear some distant call of Ingerland Ingerland - what do they mean????

Saltzbeeerrrgh !

2008-06-06T20:00:00.000-07:00

Visited Saltzburg today and we both were looking forward to it - what a let down! Easy enough to get into and really high tech car park which was carved into the rock - made us think we were going to enjoy our day with such a good start.

The town is merely a Mozart obsessed place full of churches on every corner. The prices are sky high too! Two coffees = 6 euros and the car park cost us 11 euros - the highest fee yet! We wouldn't mind so much if there was something about the place but we had difficulty filling our day with things to do.

We didn't bother visiting the castle or convent on the top of the hill as it looked so plain and ineffectual from the town. We are churched out by now so they didn't particularly attract us either. We went to some gardens - where Maria von Trapp took the children in Sound of Music and sang Do Re Mi... they play that film down a lot here as they are embarrassed by it. On the other hand there are Mozart concerts in every other building at all times of the day and night - plus museums to see him and his house where he lived until he was 17 years old. Ok - thats Mozart then - in our opinion he made the right choice to leave Saltzburg then and go to Vienna. We totally agree with his decision.

Even McD's didn't have a good enough signal for the wifi.

The weather held though and the temperature reached a nice 22c but without the sun, making the walking around very pleasant.

So back to the campsite to cook a meal - we found some gorgeous potatoes yesterday that actually taste of potato - so we will go and eat some more today. That will be more enjoyable than Saltzburg. A few pics attached for you to see what it is like - these are nice ones but we had to search hard to find some nice shots. I think you have picked up the fact that we didn't really take to the place.

Rain stop play

2008-06-05T20:17:00.000-07:00

It chucked it down during the night and we woke up to a rainy morning hearing the rain pound down on the roof of Essie. It remained warm and dry inside only dashing out to get to the shower block. Listened to the weather forecast on the radio.....in german...no good to us! Over breakfast decided to abort any visit further afield in case we were going to be washed out. As it eased we went into Reit im Winkl and had a look round. Lots of tourists, bought a compass to work out where the sun rises and sets to help us on our next sites. A couple of momentoes and some more fresh bread/croissant. Loads of huge chalets everywhere in narrow roads and lots of other tourists to compete with. This area is now becoming a hiking/cycling area whilst skiing is all over with. A couple of Eddie the Eagle chutes to have a go on nearby....

After lunch headed north to visit some other towns. Not much going on but good drive through the mountains as the rain cleared and the sun began shining. We managed to get a photo of their elaborate Maypole for you to see - see pic. Into another McD's for yesterday's blog. Short and sweet today.

The Hills are Alive with the ......

2008-06-04T20:00:00.000-07:00

No music but it is very much Sound of Music country here.

Drove through the pouring rain today after changing an indicator bulb on the caravan. Of course we didn't realise it was broken until we hitched Essie up to leave the camp and checked all lights. So I held the umbrella over Steve and the light cluster while he changed the bulb - why does it always rain when things like that happen? A quick repair job and we set off along the motorway. An uneventful journey and as we progressed westward the view became more dramatic with bigger and more pointed hills, clad in a dense coniferous woodland. As it was raining the clouds hung over the mountain tops making them look even prettier. We drove through the Austrian version of the Lake District which was stunning and eventually reached our destination. Our campsite is in Reit im Winkl and there is only one other caravan on the area of the site that we chose to park Essie and he's a retired Politzei (German traffic cop) - how do we do it? The view from the caravan is 360 degrees of mountainside - beautiful!

The town itself is a chocolate box affair with large wooden chalet type houses, shops and guesthouses, all with lots of window boxes on their verandahs making them look so pretty. They also have murals on the walls - mostly of nature themes and the people are obviously very proud of their town - it is spotless. We had a walk around the town to explore a bit and found an internet cafe - thats where we spent an hour to write the blog and exchange a few emails. We also looked on ipass to find out where the wifi hotspots are and checked our bank account. Money is coming out rather quickly - but boy are we enjoying spending it!

After a restock of food at the local supermarket we retired back to our little summer palace and prepared dinner - a chicken curry as the weather was wet and cooler. Then another episode of Rome and the day was over for us. We will see what the weather brings tomorrow before we decided what to do.

To be a pilgrim...

2008-06-04T16:10:00.000-07:00

Onwards and upwards again after lovely Vienna. We said our goodbyes to Paul and Trudi and drove a fairly short distance for us on this trip to the Wachau area of the Danube. It was a very entertaining drive along the Austrian version of the Romantische Strasse - a lot of it along the side of the Danube and with rolling hills in the distance. It is also along the Old Pilgrimage route - no donkeys for us though, only horse power provided by VW.

The campsite of choice thihs time was at a town called Marbach an der Donau (on the Danube - or Marbach on sea). The site was actually beside the river with only a hedge between us and it - see pic. The river flowed fast and we could sit outside the van (yes the weather continued to be very hot) and watch barges, cruise ships and motor boats sail past. The site also provided moorings and electric hook up for boats so it is big business along this river.

The town spread itself along the riverside and had the usual small shops, except for one huge home furnishing store - it looked really out of place.

This stopover was a chance for a rest and a catch up again after our busy sightseeing days in Vienna and Prague. We took the opportunity to do ordinary things for a change like the laundry, washing the car and tidying the caravan - as well as some good eating and drinking of course. The weather has been extremely humid so we have taken to sleeping in the van with the windows open and after we put the lights out we raise the blinds to encourage a through draught. We just have to remember not to get up without drawing the blinds again or we will have given a free show!!

A couple of interesting facts of Austria for you - they do not sell baked beans - anywhere!! The shop assistants didn't even know what we were talking about! A young man waiting to be served told us that they don't eat them in Austria!! He commented that they have good beer though - Steve agreed of course and he should know as he has tasted enough of it! Another thing they do not sell is fruit squash to dilute with water. They nly have bottles of juice - its amazing what you find out when you shop. The quality of meat is very high in Austria though - hardly any fat and tasty. The cream cakes are to die for as well - and full of fat and very tasty.

We met a couple from the Netherlands who had been travelling in their van for 12 weeks and had got as far as Izmir in Turkey. They only stopped then because the couple they were with had some bad news from home and decided to return quickly. Another couple from Denmark had been to Croatia for their 10 weeks holiday and were on their way back when they stopped off at this campsite. It seems that there are many middle aged adventurers out there exchanging tales over the washing and ironing.

We did manage to do some sightseeing - two lovely places. Up a narrow, steep and curving road ( a mini mountain) we drove to Maria Tarfel Basilica. Perched on the top of this was a spectacular church with gold everywhere - one destination of pilgrims and a major tourist attraction that we were not awae of until we got there. We visited at about 3pm and had the place to ourselves - the coach trips having disappeared for the day. Views from the top along the Danube and across the wooded valleys and hills were breath taking - see pic. Then we went on to Melk Abbey - the largest monastery in Austria. This Baroque masterpiece is also perched on a hill and is immense, towering over the town in two toned yellow stone. The corridor inside is 190 metres long - see pic. The library was something else but we couldn't take a photo in there and the marble hall was sumptuous. The church was splendid yet again - but we are geting used to such extravagant gilding and artefacts - and immense organs!!

Just got to paint you a picture of a sight that had us rolling with laughter - there we were outside the caravan when a powerboat approached from right to left. The Danube is extremely wide making the barges look small so this powerboat looked very small. It was batting along at a speed but behind it was being pulled a man waterskiing. He looked frozen in time and fear and was wearing a red crash helmet with a yellow waterproof jacket and trousers like Trumpton might wear. He looked just like a lego man. Then 10 minutes later they appeared travelling from left to right. The lego man was in exactly the same position - I think when the powerboat had stopped he would have stayed in that position. We have visions of a Mr Bean character who bent down to pick up a stick and then got caught in the pull of a powerboat!

Well those two days have come and gone and we have moved on a long way today to a place called Reit im Winkl in Germany on the Austrian border. It is really Sound of Music country and surprisingly touristy. More when we have something to tell you about it.

The Summer Palace - Schonbrunn

2008-06-01T19:00:00.000-07:00

Our mission for today - to visit the Sconbrunn summer palace and gardens on the outskirts of Vienna. Another very smooth train and metro ride took us to right outside it - we are really impressed with this transport system - cheap too. It only cost us 3euros 40 cents each way per person - that was for the train into Vienna and the metro. When we got to the train station we found our neighbours there, also on their way to Schonbrunn. We had a chat on the train - they are planning to move on to Krems and a river cruise before heading back to Holland on June 17th. Paul, the husband of the two was chatting and asking Steve what profession he has/had and when he told him he had been a policeman he couldn't believe it - he said Steve is much too friendly to be a policeman!! That says a lot about the Dutch police we think. Strangely Paul's wife practices reflexology and trained with the British School of Reflexology like I did - small world eh? She still practices and does pedicures as well. Maybe I should take it up again in Cyprus - we will see.

Outside the gate to the Shonbrunn we saw one of the tall trees we mentioned in an earlier blog and promised a picture of if we could. Take a look at the picture of one on this blog. You can see how tall it is compared to me - we have found out that they are Maypoles. One in each village and they centre their celebrations around them each May - simple as that. Some villages decorate them more than others.

We got to Schonbrunn and had a lovely shaded walk along an avenue to the house itself. When it emerged from the trees we were surprised to see how huge it is. There is lots of history attached to it of course - mainly Marie Theresia and Franz Joseph lived and ruled here - she had 16 children!!! and kept up the political side of it while he dealt with the finance and his hobbies (if he had time for any in between fathering children). One of their daughters was Marie Antoinette who married Louis X1V and both of them were beheaded. We did the tour of the house - all 40 rooms in their supreme splendour, then had our traditional Sunday lunch in one of their restaurants. That was lovely and we had to have a huge ice cream/cream dessert between us afterwards.

Our ticket included a visit to the bakery where there was a demonstration of how to make the traditional Apple Strudel with a free sample- yes on top of the dinner and dessert!! It was interesting but I won't rush out to make one.

Then we headed off to the Privy Garden with its lovely lemon and orange trees and well manicured flower beds. Then the Gloriette up the hill in the heat of the afternoon - yes it has been another scorcher. The Gloriette is a huge folly cum summer house built on top of the hill and overlooking the summer palace and Vienna - see pic. There was a lovely breeze up there and we needed it after the climb.

A climb back down the hill completed the days sightseeing for us and we caught the train home. The skies looked very dark and looming and the thunder started to rumble by the time we were back at the caravan. As we are moving on again tomorrow we decided to take down the sunshade so that we would not have to pack it wet through. We opted to ride our bikes again to McDonalds to write thi blog and got there just in time for the heavens to open. It is persisting it down as I write. Thankfully we have our waterproofs for the ride back to camp. Let's hope the rain cools things down a bit - it has been very hot and humid for the past couple of days.

Tomorrow we move on to Persenbeug, further up the Danube and between Linz and Krems -two beautiful towns to visit. We are only there for 2 nights though - it is really a stop over to shorten the long journey into Southern Germany where we will be able to visit Saltzburg and Munich depending on time available.

We are looking forward to a day of travelling to rest our weary legs from all the trudging around - but we have seen so much beauty our eyes are sore too!!

Aaaah Vienna de de de de.....

2008-05-31T19:30:00.000-07:00

Some of you may remember that song - others will wonder what the hell we are on about....

Today loomed very, very hot and humid again - even worse in the city but we had to do it!

We caught the train into Vienna from just outside the campsite and were very impressed by the trains themselves, the ticket system and the ease of getting around the city. Steve reckons the metro was designed by the Williams Formula One team - thats how fast they went - and how quickly they stopped. But the underground stations were air conned, as were the trains and they were so clean too.

So to Vienna - well firstly it is huge - thats what strikes you first. There is so much beauty and class about the place - but we felt it lacked the character and charm of Prague with it being so spread out over a vast area. It is interspersed with so many modern buildings and shopping areas that it is a bit of a dot to dot city. Having said that the walks or rides to each area are worth it. As it was a very hot day we walked too much in hindsight and should have taken the metro or tram a lot more. It was very draining in the heat but beautiful.

The Naschemarket (fruit, veg, cheese, meat and fish etc) was a spectacle in itself and we wished we could have stocked up - but it was too hot to carry it around. The quality of everything was very high and we had some lunch there - and some testers of course. It was very multi cultural with local food alongside Greek (olives as big as golf balls), Chinese, Japanese, Turkish, spices like the Moroccan markets etc etc. Alongside it there was also a flea market with much bartering going on. The size of the market was immense - about 1 km long and about 3 aisles of temptations. Even chocolate ladies plus wine bars, oils and vinegars, beers.......

Leaving food and drink behind for a mo - the Hofburg Palace was spectacular as a building and it houses the famous Spanish School of Riding although we could not see inside. It also houses the Vienna Boys Choir - behind closed doors or with a very expensive ticket though. The churches were as beautiful as the hundred others we have seen - but the tower of the Stephansdom in the centre of the city is amazingly high. Steve was let off from climbing to the top as it was closed - nearly 400 steps in there so it was a blessing really.

We just had to do the coffee and cake scenario in a famous cafe in the centre - wonderful! And then we had had enough for one day and ready for home.

The train ride back was uneventful and efficient and we will do it again tomorrow when we visit the Summer Palace and gardens on the outskirts of Vienna. That is supposed to be even better than the city.

Back at the camp we relaxed with a drink while we uploaded the photos and had a chat with our neighbours. There is a lot of leaving and arriving on this camp but everyone seems very friendly - very nice. We think it is because there are a lot of Dutch people on the site and they speak English very well and are genuinely friendly too. We are updating the blog in McDonalds again - and we will leave before it gets dark tonight as we are on the bikes!!

On yer bike....

2008-05-30T20:40:00.000-07:00

After we left McD's last night it was dark and we had no lights on the bikes - so we decided to ride on the pavement. Halfway home we saw policemen ahead who had stopped to get a young motorcyclist at the side of the road. Off we got and dutifully pushed our bikes past them until we were out of sight again. We rode them further along the road until we reached a place to cross the busy road so got off again. As we were crossing the road we saw the police car who had driven up to see if we were riding the bikes - after he saw we were pushing the bikes again he did a u turn and drove off. That was a near miss for us and a lucky escape. It was a good feeling to get one over on the old bill though.

The sun shone and the heat rose today - big time.... After a few minutes discussion we decided to use today to cycle some more and explore further. We were told that the cycle route from the camp site to Vienna was 14 km so we decided to do that and see how we went on. The ride was delightful - all along the River Danube, amongst the trees and lanes way away from the busy roads. It was flat of course, being along the riverside and there was shade from the trees for some part of it. A strong headwind tested us at times though.

It was great to see the ever changing landscape - one minute was trees and river, the next was superb graffiti on the support posts for the flyover into Vienna. The Danube was not blue today though, as reputed - it was grey really - or green if you had a very romantic view of the vista.

We saw a large flat bottomed container ship that had been converted by ING into a swimming pool and leisure complex and it was being well used in the sunshine today. There were also Danube cruise ships which were beautifully kitted out - see pics. An entertaining ride!

Eventually we stopped off at the Swiss beach at the sid eof the Danube. This is a fantastic area that has been sanded with deckchairs to resemble a beach and it has a bar and a restaurant. People were there in their lunch breaks stripping off and sunbathing - if they had that in the UK we might have considered staying on at work.... not! After beers and some lunch and an entertaining time watching some roadies setting up a stage for an evenings gig we set off back along the cycle path. On the way Steve saw a BMX trail and couldn't resist having a go - even after his 28 km ride.....

On arriving at Essie we had a rest and a read and then had a walk around Klosterneuberg to see what there is there - not a lot but it is very handy for Vienna sightseeing. We had just about had enough anyway as someone must have put some money in the meter - it was steaming hot! Time to return to Essie and treat each other to a pedicure after all the dirt and heat of the day.

Dinner was some lovely pork steaks with potatoes and green beans, sitting outside trying to cool down (sorry UK - we have heard that the weather is bad there)

Tomorrow into Vienna proper for an exploration.

Our Viennese whirl

2008-05-29T20:00:00.000-07:00

Prepared for action as are Vienna calls. Not too far to travele this time as it is only about 75 miles to the next camp site in Klosterneuberg. The drive was beautiful - amongst many agricultural areas growing all kind of things - vines a plenty, vegetable crops and cereal crops - with poppies galore to brighten up the field even further. The views were spectacular at times.

Passing from Czech Republic to Austria was strange - there was a no mans land between the two which resembled a strange mans Las Vegas! It was called Excalibur City if you want to google it. Huge plastic tacky attractions - very strange after the beautiful countryside. Steve reckons thats where they exchanged prisoners during the cold war - itwould certainly have sent them mad.

Then back into Euro zone and the German language again. We were both comforted to see familiar signs and words again after all the z,y,lack of vowels etc in the Czech rep. Spargel is still being promoted everywhere - that is asparagus for those who missed it on a previous blog. They are now being accompanied by cherries, strawberries and apricots - all being sold in little huts by the roadside. Difficult to stop and buy one with a caravan though - we would certainly stop the traffic! We will get some though.

The campsite is as different as it can be from the last one - very near to the town centre of Klosterneuberg and only a minutes walk from the bahnhof (train station). It is a very busy bsite with everyone wanting to visit Vienna of course. Caravans are packed in tightly (see pic - that one is reality) but we aren't here for the campsite this time - it is merely a base from which to explore. At the back of our caravan is a little oasis of woodland with chalets in again - I took a photo of that too but it does not resemble reality. The people around us are very friendly though - a lot of Dutch who speak English very well. There are lots of cars flying the Austrian flag as well so we assume they are doing well in the European football.

After setting up Essie we cycled as usual to explore and buy a few provisions. Then we took the bikes out again to explore some more as the afternoon had cooled a little - the temperature has been as high as 25c today. There is a lovely riverside cycle track where we saw a red squirrel and a kingfisher.

We had a celebration drink to herald our arrival in Austria and something to eat. At the moment we are sitting in good old McDonalds - a five minute bike ride from the campsite - with wi fi over a cup of coffee and a milk shake. The camp site has internet but at a cost so this is a lot better for us.

We are now going back to the camp for a nightcap and a good nights sleep before visiting Vienna tomorrow. Pics and an account of that will come later.

"Bitov" recovery!!

2008-05-28T20:28:00.000-07:00

Yes - we needed a bit of recuperation after all our travels so far and we got it.

We decamped and drove to Bitov which was in the middle of nowhere on the map with not a lot around it. The road to it was easy enough to navigate but when we got closer it became more difficult to find. The camp site signs disappeared and we found ourselves in limbo with no one around at all. The terrain was hilly with thick coniferous woodland and deep gorges - very narrow roads to manoever in. Eventually we found Bitov village with a hotel there so Steve went to ask directions. Thankfully he found the one person who could speak some English and he told him where the camp was. It was quite close by and we had actually passed it on the road. I had looked out of the window and seen some wonderful sites of chalets dotted among hillsides and along lakesides but didn't want to distract Steve from his driving along the winding narrow lanes to show him. I had actually been looking at the camp site! We didn't really expect much, thinking it would be a repeat of Stalag 13, being so far from civilisation - but oh were we wrong! It was stunning. The campsite was set in a creek amongst grassy fields with so many different kinds of birds around us. Surrounding the creek the cliffs rose dramatically, covered in trees (see pic) and there were birds of prey nesting in them. The wooden chalets were dotted around and about the creek where fish jumped all over the place - tempted Steve no end.

It was peaceful and quiet with just a few caravans about and not much else - not even staff as no one seemed interested in taking our money. A man did arrive but couldn't speak English and gave up - just gave us some tokens for the shower rooms. They were clean and efficient.

That was the start of our rest and recuperation - we did not do a lot - sat and read, sunbathed by the lake and ate and drank to our hearts content. We did go to the lake and bait the fish with some bread - which they thoroughly enjoyed. Unfortunately we couldn't fish as we didn't have a permit. I've suggested to Steve that we don't ask next time - just set up our rods and do it. If someone comes along to complain we will plead ignorance, lack of the language and apologise profusely - but I'm sure no one would have come along there.

Steve did bump into a cyclist from Holland. He had cycled 1600 km so far on his European road trip lasting for 2.5 months - brave man. He was only staying overnight and continuing on his way the following morning. All alone too. We also met a lovely lady from Devon with her son and Czech husband. She was 6 months pregnant and they were having a last trip in their truck before she busied herself with motherhood. You do meet all kinds of people out and about.

We left the camp site after trying hard to find someone to take our camping cheques from us. We could easily have left without paying - and we are sure that the cyclist did as he left very early. There is laid back and then there is unconscious! I don't know how they make a living with that attitude. Such nice people the Czechs though - even if they are so hard to understand.

Refreshed and ready for action we are off to do Vienna.

Prague - day two

2008-05-26T20:00:00.000-07:00

After sleeping the sleep of the very well exercised we awoke to face day two of our Prague adventure. The weather blessed us again and we took the same route in as yesterday - its amazing how quickly new transport systems and places become so familiar. We felt like old hands at it. Today we started over the other side of Charles Bridge in Lesser Town. We visited the St Nicholas Church as well as others, umpteen squares, went up the funicular railway to the top of Petrin Hill and walked in the woods to see the whole city from above - that was wonderful. Then we wandered through the monastery area, the castle and St Vitus Cathedral before climbing down all 203 steps to the Lesser Town again. A last walk over Charles Bridge before catching the metro back and Prague was relegated to our memory banks.

There is just so much to see and on every street and around every corner are magnificent statues, facades, churches and monuments. I think we must have covered 90% of Prague over the two days. We haven't seen it by night though but that is how it will stay. As I write this we are truly knackered, spent, brain dead and cultured out of our minds. We feel like Michael Palin on his travels - but without the camera men!

We have put on as many pictures as the blog will allow but we have taken so many more than this I can assure you. At one point we were queuing for the Bankomat (hole in the wall - Prague is very expensive these days) and the shop window was mirrored -I just couldn't resist taking a photo - thinking it would just reflect back on us with the flash - but no!

Tomorrow we move on to near Desov - in the middle of nowhere really - but close to the Austrian border so that we can make that our next destination. We are at Desov for two nights only. Because there is no internet, or anything else associated with civilisation we are taking the opportunity to rest up and recuperate. This pace we have set ourselves is taking its toll and we are exhausted - but happy and very satisfied with life.

The blog will therefore resume after we have hit Austria and returned to human life as we know it - until then...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Mission accomplished - part one

2008-05-25T19:25:00.000-07:00

We are in Prague at last. We have been patiently waiting for the beautiful city and the time has come for us to visit it. The sun is shining and the forecast is good for a change - hooray!. There is a 5 mile drive to a park and ride where we leave the car to board the Metro into the city. It cost 100 Krown (£3.00)each to have a day pass on the transport system that includes the Metro, bus and trams - not bad.

The Metro is clean, comfortable and seems to be safe - certainly it is with Steve about anyway. We got off the Metro at St Wenceslas Square, bought an Eye Witness travel guide and off we went. There is so much to see and every corner brings yet another delight so we feasted our senses on everything - all day.

Things have changed since I was last here with Pat though - the prices for one thing. If you want to see the sights these days you have to pay through the nose - ridiculous at times. We did well though, walked our legs off and saw almost everything there is to see on the south side of the river. We go in again tomorrow to go over the Charles Bridge and visit the Castle, Lesser Town etc.

As it was Sunday we treated ourselves to a Sunday dinner local style - we both chose steak, salami and onions in gravy with both bread and potato dumplings and some green beans to keep the meal healthy. Washed down by the obligatory beer the bill was £23 - not bad for a major city. The beef was a bit tough though! As we ate Steve watched the shift change of the local police who were stationed opposite. He giggled knowing he had none of that to contend with any more.

To make our money last a bit longer Steve agreed to work for a few days delivering Subway take aways. You can see his company vehicle in the photo. Although it was parked on a city street it was safe because it had a Crooklock attached! As it should for such a classy car.

The weather has really picked up again. Gorgeous sunshine all day with a temperature of 21c - forecast to climb again during the next few days to as high as 27c - thats better. We can put the fleeces away again for a while.

Back to the caravan for 6pm to put our feet up after a hard days slog and write the blog of course. We need to recuperate this evening for another stint tomorrow.

Moving on

2008-05-24T19:15:00.000-07:00

Thankfully the electricity was on this morning so a shower was had. Only downside was that when I was all stripped off and ready to go the water was tepid - and I'm being generous in my description. The shower block itself though was heated and I was committed by then so went ahead. After breakfast we packed up camp and thankfully moved on - we had escaped in one piece!

On the road again to Prague - I have been looking forward to this as I have been before with Pat and we had a wonderful time in this beautiful city. I'm sure Steve will love it. The roads were straightforward yet again - I think we are getting good at map reading and interpreting the directions given to us by Campingcheque. That is the company we bought all the prepaid vouchers from at £10.30 each night. It has proved to be a great saving as most camp sites are double that if you turn up ad hoc. Lots of people are doing just that and paying through the nose. We bought all our vouchers in advance, nearly lost them though when the boys packed them in the container and we had to work on them to retrieve them.

On arrival at the camp site we were very pleased indeed to see that it is a return to civilisation. In fact this is the other extreme. Everything you could want and more is here - very new, very clean and with up to date technology. Wifi is available on the campsite so we are sitting in the caravan writing this blog. It has restored our faith in the country. After setting up we went to the local supermarket and shopped and met a girl who was promoting some food or other and had lived in Oxford for 4 years. So we had a good chat.

Steve wanted to get the car washed but all the east europeans are in the UK so there is no one here to do it. Instead we went back to the caravan and crashed out. We really need to take it a bit easier but there is so much to see and do that we see and do it. A day spent idling seems to us to be a day wasted - but it is catching up on us.

After a lovely meal of chicken salad we have devoted our evening to the computer - hopefully to catch up on Skyping the people who are on Skype and available. We can also do some research on the sites ahead. Tomorrow we hit Prague .....for another Sunday lunch. They do come around quickly.

Karlovy Vary - another spa town

2008-05-23T20:00:00.000-07:00

To add insult to injury on this camp site, when we awoke there had been a power cut! Perhaps they had overdone the electric fence or someone had tried to escape overnight and fried. So no shower then. Thank goodness Essie has everything we need so we placed our trust in her yet again. No signs of the guards though in Stalag 13 so we are free.

After breakfast we tunnelled out to visit another spa town called Karlovy Vary - the language is very difficult to understand or speak here. At least in Germany we could get by and be polite - no such luck here.

The road was straightforward but we noted that they are not half as good as in Germany. Also we saw quite a few prostitutes selling their wares on the side of the main road - mid day as well. Have they no shame?? How sad is that?

On arrival in the city we parked on the outskirts and cycled in. As soon as we got to the spa town we saw the grandeur again - there is such an obvious class divide here. Having the bikes enabled us to see a lot more than if we were walking and it was very obvious when the rich part of town came to an end. The buildings again though were magnificent, spas were plentiful and people were roaming around drinking the spa water from strange shaped ceramic cups with spouts - see the pics.

Steve was elated when he recognised one of the top hotels as the one featured in the latest version of Casino Royale. He posed for a photo but was on his bike instead of in an Aston Martin - see pic. We could even see into the restaurant where James Bond and his wench dined. All along that road were jewellers and other shops for ladies and men who have loads a dosh.

After a short spell in a public library to update the blog we headed off back to the ranch for a meal. Steve really wanted to fish but the many lakes around the camp site were for members only! We cooked liver and onions for dinner instead, checked out the Casino Royale DVD extras to see if we could identify the hotel or not - with no luck. Off again tomorrow to Prague - hopefully to a better equipped campsite.

Czech this one out

2008-05-22T15:03:00.000-07:00

Thursday 22nd May ...
Today we chose to leave the Wemding campsite. Don't know exactly why but there was a bad vibe about the place. It gave me the spooks, the chill went through to our bones and the whole place seemed oppressive. We were fine when we went out and about but when we returned to the camp the chill set in. So we left - because we can!

On to Czech Republic then - to a place just over the border from Germany called Cheb. The journey was straightforward and within 30 miles of Wemding the sun was shining and the temperature had risen to 16c!! told you it was a devil place back there. As we drove on we climbed steadily and the temperature dropped again. It is clearly a winter resort area as we saw ski lifts etc. Nearing our destination we stopped off at a McDs to pick up and send e mails before making the final step of our journey.

What a difference a day makes - as they say. This campsite, though friendly enough and without the devil chill about it, is basic to say the least. There are rusting wire fences around it, worn out old sheds that are still used as chalets - Steve calls it Stalag 13 - see pics. The toilets and shower blocks are circa 1950 as shown in the photo but are clean and warm - unlike the last place. The barbie was something else - in the picture of the rusted fence you will see them clearly - car wheels on legs!! Fortunately we woke up the following morning and all four wheels were still on our motor. Thank you locking wheel nuts.

After settling in to the camp we cycled a couple of kilometres to Frantiskovy Lazne -a spa town nearby. We were very pleasantly surprised to find a beautiful town filled with elegant and elaborately decorated and designed buildings. This was definitely a place for the haves - and the campsite the have nots. There were spa buildings everywhere and the waters were different in each - only to drink though not to bathe in. We stopped off the get some money from a hole in the wall - they use Kronas here - 24 to the euro for those who are interested. We also had the obligatory coffee and cake to tide us over until dinner time in a lovely palm tree lined avenue with very exclusive shops along each side - see the pic.. We were in our rough gear and on the bikes - scruffs you might call us.

Back to the caravan for a read and an apperitif. Steve is really enjoying his current choice of beer from Germany - Oettinger export - he bought a case of 20 half litre bottles for 6 euros and its 5.5pc proof. It does take effect - so he says - I am sticking to the wine while the weather is cold. A chicken curry followed by another episode of Rome finished us off for the day.

Rain stop play.....not!

2008-05-21T16:00:00.000-07:00

Flipping freezing today - not what we ordered at all! Only reached 11c all day and rained for the morning but that thankfully went away around lunchtime. The shower block on the campsite was most unwelcome today and we became chilled to the bone afterwards. If its the same weather tomorrow we are going to stay dirty!

Not to be deterred though we have still been out and about to sightsee around the area - ending up in good old McD's in Norlingen to upload the pictures (see the previous blogs now that photos are on there) - and write up the blog. Also need to send a few emails after this.

First stop was Donauworth, a town about 18km from Wemding. It is a town between two rivers and we had a walk around there. Spent some time at a farmers market - Spargel (asparagus) is everywhere at the moment - white and green. Also a peculiar feature of this and some other towns we have visited is that small branches from larch trees are put outside shops and hotels in buckets of water, or simply fastened to the walls. They do add greenery to the streets but it is a little odd and we don't know why yet - but plan to find out if possible. Also every village and town have a very tall - approx 60ft tall, straight trunked conifer with all but the very top branches stripped bare, leaving only an umbrella type top, looking a bit like a very tall Christmas tree. The trunk is decorated in various ways with all sorts of things. We will try to photograph one for you to see. We don't know what they are about either but need to find a local who can speak some English to explain to us - not many seem to do so around here.

Next on to Harburg which is noted for its old, well preserved castle. You will see in the picture that after Steve had raised the portcullis he had a hard time pushing open the big gates for us to get in - but he did it! There was nothing special about the rest of the town so we moved on to Norlingen.

This town is another walled city with gates at the north, south, east and west and a covered sentry walkway. It does not have half as much charm as some of the other cities though and there is much more new build in it too which dilutes the charm even more. We stopped off for a beer in a most beautiful building which turned out to be a coffee house run by a religious community called the Twelve Tribes. No booze sold so we had a coffee and a long chat with the lady serving us. She told us that all income from members of the community is shared out and they live by the principle of forgiveness and submission. We were pleased to encounter their aspects on life but the no beer scenario did not impress Steve at all - so we won't sign up.

One other interesting point about Germany (and Holland actually) is that there are no independent butchers in the towns. All supermarkets have a butchery counter but the quality is not good - like Tesco I suppose. However, today we found a covered market with what looks like great steaks and even some liver - the first we have seen on our trip. We will eat the steak tonight and let you know. The liver goes in the freezer for later.

Having had our milk shakes and completed this blog we will head off back to the camp and eat the steak - talking about it has made us hungry. We will see what the weather brings tomorrow before we commit ourselves to anything - although it will not keep us from exploring - thats what waterproofs are for.

Wending our way to Wemding

2008-05-20T17:15:00.000-07:00

Arrived at the campsite in Wemding after a journey of a couple of hours with no hitches. Lovely campsite yet again with a number of grassed areas, each surrounded by bushes and trees as wind breaks and each one large enough for about 8 caravans. There are not many here at the moment though so we have plenty of space to ourselves. There is also a large lake for swimming when the weather is warm enough - and that is definitely not today. 16c with quite a chilly wind. Rain forecast for tomorrow and cooler still. No other Brits that we can see as yet. Some Germans close to us who were playing boule as we left for the internet room. They seem friendly enough. No wi fi here either but there is a room with two computers to use so that is what we are doing to update the blog.

Wemding is 18 km from Nordlingen where we are going tomorrow. It is still on the Romantische Strasse so there are plenty of lovely towns to visit - but we are getting ready for a day of rest again - lots of driving, walking and cycling means a bit of recuperation needed. At Nordlingen there is a Macdonalds and we will definitely visit it to upload the pictures taken for the recent blog entries and to chat with anyone on Skype if they are around when we are logged on.

We went to a local supermarket for provisions after setting up camp and nearby is a VW dealership and service centre. We took the car in and spoke (or rather had a stilted conversation with) a mechanic regarding the defect that was identified in Waxweiler last week. We thought it would be easy to tell him what we know, ask him to order the part and then take a day to repair it - no such luck. They wanted to take the car in for a couple of days to test it for themselves, then order the part and repair it. We are only here for 3 days and he told us that Thursday is another public holiday! How many do they have? Of course the weekend interrupts too. We would have to write off about a week to get it sorted and we don´t want to do that. Another reason was that the courtesy transport they offered us (see the pic) did not look too trustworthy. So we thanked him and drove off. Steve thinks his old trick of a bit of black insulation tape over the warning light will solve the problem - it will certainly make for an easier life!

So a quiet evening with food, drink and perhaps a film lies ahead for us. I´m making a ratatouille with shnitzel tonight and we may force down a glass or two of vino. We certainly will not eat al fresco but tucked up inside Essie where its warm with some music on until its time for the big movie.

Enough for today then - Nordlingen beckons tomorrow.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber - a must see place

2008-05-19T17:35:00.000-07:00

No internet cafe again today folks so pictures will be added to this blog and the previous ones when we hit a more suitable venue. In the meantime we are using the computer in the reception room at the campsite to write our thing.

We have just had the most enjoyable day out to medieval town of Rothenburg ODT. We only intended to stay for a couple of hours before moving on to the next town along the Romantische Strasse but we were so captivated and there was so much to see that we stayed all day.

Rothenburg is a walled city perched on a hill by the River Tauber and dates from the 12th century and has been invaded, bombed etc as all of them have but remains very intact, well preserved and beautiful. Most of the old towns have a small area to visit but this is very large with four gates to the town with steps to the defence wall where you can walk along the covered sentry walk. There is an abundance of very old half timbered buildings now converted into shops and hotels, a beautiful Town Hall with an old tower attached that has endless steps to the top from which you have a birds eye view of the red roofed town and valleys beyond. One small house was found undisturbed after the death of its hermit tenant and has been turned into a museum depicting life as it was in the 17th century - 10 to 15 children were the norm in one small house - and grandma and grandad lived there too!

We walked all day through cobbled streets and saw everything it has to offer - we rested in the church that has altars which are masterpieces, especially the one sculpted from wood depicting the Last Supper. We can thoroughly recommend the town for a visit and apparently they hold Christmas markets in the town which should be spectacular.

We had lunch in a lovely German hotel with just the right atmosphere and we ordered the Tucher beer and explained that Steve was its namesake - the waiter then brought a huge steinpot for him to have his photo taken with - doesn´t he look a happy man with that jug in his hand? I had white asparagus with potatoes and salad, while Steve had veal in gravy with fried potatoes - really enjoyed both.

After yet more walking we treated ourselved to a speciality pastry of the town called a snowball. We chose the chocolate version - just one between us but if filled us more than the lunch! It was only ok - nothing to shout about.

Steve was taken with one particular historical tale of the town. In 1631 the city was attacked and the conquering general was intent on destroying the place. On a whim he promised to spare the town from destruction if one of the councillors was able to empty a 3.25 litre tankard of wine in one go. He managed to do that and therefore saved the city and made himself a hero. This Meistertrunk (master draught) is held annually at Whitsun and we missed it by a week. Steve fancied trying to match the man! I don´t think so.

With regards my own tipple - Steve could not resist taking the photo of me with my empties! No wonder I suffer from headaches.

So a good day again today - the weather has been cloudy and chilly, only managing to reach 16c. This was perfect for walking the town though. Tomorrow we move on again down the Romantische Strasse to a new campsite to sample our last days in Germany for a while.

The Nuremburg trails

2008-05-18T17:15:00.000-07:00

Actually it was more of a trial getting in and out of Nuremburg. There were so many exits off the autobahn that it was confusing to say the least and no landmarks to guide us in. But get in we did and stopped at a service station to ask for help. Yes - Steve is a modern man and will ask for directions! how good is that? The girl serving there spoke good English, provided us with a map and generally was very helpful. We had our Sunday lunch first - a typical Frankish meal in a very old German hostelry with wood panelled ceilings and walls and antlers hanging from the ceiling made into light fittings. We drank the dark beer which was very good. The food was good too - we both had braised venison with a currant sauce and home made noodles. Washed down with a couple of coffees our total bill came to 38 euros - and that was with Steve drinking 8 pints of beer!! Only joking - he had 2 and I had 1.

After fuelling ourselves up with food and drink we started our walking tour of the city. The new part with all the shops was clean and modern with designer shops and lots of lovely statues but the old part was what we had travelled to see. Beautiful squares with churches, hanging balconies and bridges all overlooked by the castle at the top of the hill. That was worth a visit and we realised how well fortified the city was in its day. How anyone could have got into that heaven knows!

After suffering another trial to get out of the city we had another cracking drive from Nuremberg on A and B roads and motorway that were really quiet again. One minute we were driving on tarmac and the next we arrived at a village and was driving over cobbled stones. On each side of the road are lovely meadows with an abundance of wild flowers in every colour imaginable. Yesterday we heard crickets cricketing for the first time this year. Steve nearly went cuckoo himself this morning after listening to one endlessly while he was waiting for me to wake up - chinese water torture he said. He said it was going hoarse after a while and instead of calling cuckoo it was calling cuck..ergh. Country living at its best.

Reception provides fresh bread rolls each morning at this camp site - I have ordered croissants for tomorow morning for a change. Usually I have fruit and yoghurt and Steve has cereal and fruit - so a change is lovely, especially when they are fresh croissants!

At this moment in time we are sitting in Macdonalds halfway between Nuremberg and the campsite. We saw it on the way to Nuremberg this morning and planned to visit on the way back to get our free hour of wifi. I left all the wires and headset at the caravan though and typically Lisa tried to contact me on Skype when I didn't have the headset so we couldn't talk. We did chat via Skype though which was good.

So now that we have finished our milk shakes - well we had to buy something didn't we to get the free wifi - and completed the blog, we will set off back to the campsite. Photos will be put on this blog when I can find the next wifi hotspot.
Tomorrow we are travelling along the Romantic Road to see some of the pretty medieval villages, churches and castles along the way. That should be wonderful.

Next stop Munster

2008-05-17T17:30:00.000-07:00

Not the one you are thinking of though - this is a very pretty little village on the Romantische Strasse (Romantic Road) not too far from Nuremberg where we are planning to visit tomorrow for our Sunday lunch.

The drive from Pfalzfelt was straightforward and easy - 175 miles in total and we found the campsite easily although it was closed for a long lunchtime when we arrived - oh well we just had to sit in the sun with a beer until they returned to the reception so that we could book in. Very hands on they are here too. Two men asked Steve to drive the car to the pitch, unhooked Essie for us and manhandled her into the space for us. I just hope they were gentle with her thats all!!

As its Sunday tomorrow and all the shops are shut we rode our bikes into the small town of Creglingen which is about 4km away. A very picturesque cycle route took us through fields and woodland until we reached the town and bought a few necessities. Then we took some time to cycle round the town and see what it was like.

Creglingen is set on the River Tauber and there is a weir in the centre of the town where a group of children were splashing about in the water. There were lots of timber framed old houses in all sorts of colours with timber shutters on the windows. Every house and garden was immaculately maintained - some people have geese in the garden and lots of people here grow their own fruit and veg - there are also lots of orchards. Very pretty in all. In common with other places we have visited we have yet to find out where the population hide! the streets are quiet and bare - do you think they knew we were coming?

This camp site has internet in the reception area (that is where I am typing away) but no wi fi hotspot so no ability to load pictures on the blog or to talk on Skype I´m afraid. So Lisa, Louise, Pat, Judith and Colin we won´t be calling you for a few days at least. When we do get wi fi we will put the pics on the blog so you can do a rewind next week to see the pictures if you want to.

Thought some of you might like to know the techy stuff. The car is averaging 35 miles to the gallon, about 10mpg less than normal when towing which we are pleased about. It hasn´t been washed yet except to clean the zillions of insects from the windscreen and front of the car. We have driven about 1000 miles so far towing and touring.
A quick overview of the caravan for you. She is a teenager - only 17 years old. She is fitted out with hot and cold running water, central heating and a gas fire, tinted double glazing, heat reflecting screens on the windows and door panel as well as fly screens to the side windows. She has a 4 ring hob with a gas oven and grill, an undercounter fridge with a freezer compartment. She also has a dresser with a bar area to hold glasses and bottles! very essential. In the back there is a bathing and dressing area with a shower and toilet to one side and fitted wardrobes to the other. In the middle there is a sink with a vanity unit. At night we relax in a 7ft square sprung mattress bed over which there are reading lights. She is our little palace on wheels and we have not felt claustrophobic at all. In fact as we travel along we are thinking of opening her up as a B+B! The most important thing is keeping it tidy and putting things away - there is no room for sloppiness.

To get us through the trip we brought with us 3 large gas cylinders which are stored in the front and we are still on our first one despite cooking daily. We needed to bring 3 because the fittings are totally different throughout Europe and we would have to kit ourselves out all over again - and they are not cheap.

Now you know how we are living our days in Esmerelda - of course we have been lucky with the weather so far this trip and eat outside as much as possible to enjoy the sunshine and fresh air. As we progress and the weather gets hotter we have a sunshade that fits on the side of the caravan to give us some respite from the sun.

Hope everyone is doing well in the UK and Cyprus - or where ever else you may be when you read this. Bye for now......

Along the Mosel valley

2008-05-16T19:24:00.000-07:00

As we have visited the Rhine and seen some of that in its splendour we felt it necessary to do the same with the Mosel valley as we are camped between the two rivers. After a fairly lazy start to the day and after a rainy night we decided to drive the route this time as we are not really wet weather cyclists. Also there is not a circular route to this area so it would have been both arduous and possibly a wet ride - so we chickened out and went by car.

We first saw the Mosel when we turned a corner from the wooded road and screeched to a halt to capture the beautiful view before us - see the picture. Then we descended the valley to enter Cochem which was an absolute delight. Although touristy it maintained its charm and character - the beer kellers start now according to Steve.

After a roam around Cochem and the customary beer at a riverside cafe we did some shopping and sightseeing and were both impressed by the lovely narrow streets, squares and well maintained timberframed buildings of a bygone era. Afterwards we sat in a riverside park and ate a packed lunch before moving on to drive further along the Mosel. Town after town, village after village full of wine tasting opportunities - vines as far as the eye could see alongside the banks of the river. Wonderful valleys and castles appearing on hilltops, cobbled streets in Zell and meandering roads with a view to die for around every corner.

After a headspinning tour of the Mosel we returned to the caravan and Steve attended to some odd jobs while I did the laundry - life does go on even on holiday. The weather had brightened up again after a dodgy start and the early evening turned into an al fresco apperitif session.

Although this camp site is beautiful the short term residents keep themselves to themselves and only say hello in passing (in whatever language). After our last campsite where everyone was so friendly and got involved this one seemed rather distant to say the least. Our immediate neighbours were difficult to locate and we wondered if there was any life there at all. This evening though we saw both husband and wife return from an outing and we can catagorically state that Vera Duckworth is alive and living in Pfalzfelt (at the moment at least). We of course did not interrupt her privacy or ask for an autograph - but we know where she is!!

Tomorrow we are on the road again to our next caravan site - still in Germany but travelling many miles away from where we are now.

A day of rest at last!!

2008-05-15T20:27:00.000-07:00

We badly needed a day of recuperation and some time to catch up on the blog and with the domestic tasks and odd jobs - so today has been it!

We slept like logs after our mammoth bike ride yesterday and when Steve was struggling yesterday to keep up with me cycling I took no notice and thought he was merely unfit. Today however he has checked the bikes over as routine maintenance and found that his back brake has been binding on the wheel. Poor soul has had to work twice as hard to get half as far. Also his front tyre had blown and was perished so we had to buy a new one today.

So we had a quiet day at the site - did the laundry - then the thunderstorm started and we had a load of wet washing to contend with. I wrote the blogs while I waited for the wash cycle to finish. Steve was maintaining the bikes and the heavens opened. Finally we gave up and drove into Kastellaun to buy a new tyre and oil for the gears and the chains on the bikes - and had another shop in Aldi's to stock up on some more of their lovely wine. We bought six bottles of wine, one bottle of Cava, meat, fruit, cheeses and some cold meats and the bill was only 25euros!! Good eh? We also succombed to some of Germany's famous cakes - they are everywhere in the shops - huge gateaux, pies and flans and all the Germans seem to have them with coffee. We just had to sample some - a huge piece of apple pie and another of equal size of rhubarb tart - only 1.20 euro each. We had them as dessert after our tuna and sweetcorn pasta dinner - delicious.

We feel refreshed and ready for more action tomorrow. As we have visited the Rhine we may well do the Mosel tomorrow. We are nestled in the valley between the two in an idyllic spot. We have been told there are caves along the Mosel where we can do some wine tasting - sounds good to us. And we haven't managed to get to the fishing lake yet.

Steve wants me to say that his favourite German word of today is biergarten - that says it all I think.

As there is so much to do around here and it is so beautiful we have decided to stay another night before moving on. We don't care what the weather is like as we have waterproofs - although it has brightened up a lot as the day has progressed anyway.

cruising by the Rhine

2008-05-14T20:22:00.000-07:00

14th May and today we intended to have a lazy day as we have been full on since we started our trip. We wanted to catch up with laundry, odd jobs etc and maybe do a bit of fishing too. When we went to the reception and bought our token for the washing machine we asked about cycle routes from the campsite and the lady there gave us some leaflets and explained about one particular route by the Rhine. That made us want to do it - so blow the domestic tasks for today and off we went on the bikes. She had also explained to us that the weather forecast spoke of thunderstorms for the 15th May so we chose to go today to make the best of the good weather.

The cycle route was 46 km long but we were up for it and we were certainly not disappointed. After some kilometres of uphill cycling away from the caravan site it was all downhill through mind bogglingly beautiful scenery to descend down to the Rhine Valley. There was so much 360 degree angle beauty at times that it could not be captured on the camera - made us wish we had a camcorder - but it will remain with us in our memories for sure. We arrived at the Rhine and cycled along its banks for about 20km - it was a wonderful cycle path and well used. At St Goar we stopped at a riverside restaurant overlooking the famous Loreley Rock for a spot of lunch and a beer. The sirens at the rock did not have any effect on Steve though so we were able to cycle on after the lunch. At Boppard there was a train to take us part of the way back - uphill thankfully. We had not chickened out of the ride by the way - it was part of the cycle route on our leaflet. Some schoolchildren were using the train too going home after their day at school and we had a very stilted conversation with two girls who used us to practice their English and we used them to learn some more German. At Emmershaulsen we got off the train and cycled the final 9 km back to the caravan site. Tired but very satisfied with our day we ate and drank and then visited the restaurant onsite to enter a blog and catch up with some emails - that is the hotspot on the site. I am sure we will sleep very well tonight.

Auto Kaput

2008-05-13T20:00:00.000-07:00

13th May and time to move on from our present campsite after saying our goodbyes to Agnes and Jon - our neighbours short term. They are going back to their home in Holland tomorrow.

En route in Prum we had seen a VW dealer and garage and as a warning light had appeared on the dashboard we decided to have it checked out. It was to do with the ESP sensor for those of you who are interested. The people at the dealership were very kind and courteous and agreed to look at it for us. We took the opportunity to have a walk around the village and have a spot of lunch at a local cafe. Steve had to unhitch the caravan and leave it in a layby but the guys just took the car into the garage with the bikes on top - we felt just a little anxious in case they forgot about them but all was well.

They told us that the car does need a new part but it is safe to drive until we have it sorted out. They would have to order it and we had no time to wait about. When we land somewhere else in Germany for a few days we can arrange that. The car is still in warranty so we want to get it repaired before September when the warranty expires.

After another smooth journey through the most spectacular scenery you can imagine we arrived at Pfaltzfelt near to Koblenz to book into the next campsite. I suppose we have chosen the best time of year to travel for scenery - all the leaves are fresh and very green and the fields are full of bright yellow oilseed rape and there is lots of apple blossom and almond blossom about. There is also lots of wildlife - big and small. The birdsong is ear shattering and there are millions are insects on the windscreen.

After booking into another well equipped and picturesque campsite set in between lots of trees and fields and with a large fishing lake in it too - must use that! - we went to the local Aldi for provisions. Wow is it cheap here!! We got some fabulous Rioja for les than 2 euros and also some Australian red for even less than the Rioja - we will definitely stock up for the trip before we leave from here. We bought some fantastic asparagus too - the best I have tasted for many a year and some lovely Alaskan red salmon - as well as lots of other things to try. The fruit was gorgeous so we had strawberries and blueberries, pears and apples - we could have bought the shop it was so good.

We settled in nicely at the campsite and had a chilli con carne with strawberries and cream to follow - the German for cream is slagroom - strange eh??

We had not had internet facilites for a few days so we went to the local McDonalds where there is free wifi for an hour to try and catch up. We joined T Mobile there too which is the provider for the area and wrote one blog and read some emails. We even managed to talk with Louise, my daughter, via Skype which was wonderful. Her voice was so clear - just the same as in the UK - what a wonderful facility. The hotspot on the camp site can now be used with T Mobile too so I can write some more blogs there later.

After all the driving and shopping we settled down to watch another episode of Rome and then had a good nights sleep.

Luxembourg this time

2008-05-12T20:40:00.000-07:00

Still on catch up with the blog as the days are going so quickly and they are so full of things to do. Thankfully our Dodo Travel Log, given to us as a present by Ann, John and Luke enable us to write everything down so that we have all the correct information to use in the blog. Thank you guys - it has proved to be invaluable.

So - 14th May we decided to do Luxembourg as we are so conveniently placed in this area to visit any one of 3 countries. The road network is so good as well and as this was a Holy day the roads were frighteningly quiet - take a look at the picture of the motorway - and that was 1pm on a public holiday. Imagine what the M25 and M1 would look like at the same time!

En route we stopped off at Vianden which was labelled on our road atlas as a place of interest - also a present from Don and Barbs and also invaluable - thank you guys too. It did not fail to impress - set in a valley with the Mosel river running through it and flanked by steep forests with a beautiful chateau perched on top. There were cable cars from the village to the top to view the chateau but we stopped and had a coffee in the sunshine and just took it all in - see the pic of that too.

Then on to Luxembourg via an extremely picturesque route on the motorway. It was mostly closed due to the Holy Day but all the tourist spots and cafes were open of course which suited us well. We could easily walk around with less crowds to contend with. Tourist Information gave us a walking map of the city taking in all the relevant landmarks and that took us about 1.5 hours - stopping halfway to lunch in St Willems Square in the shade of the trees as a bit of respite from the heat. We later had a beer in Place d'Armes in front of the Royal Palace at the Cafe de Paris.

Steve was very impressed to find a huge underground multi storey car park - actually under the main town itself - he thought that would have been good in Wandsworth too! but thats a past life ha ha. We were pleased to find that the diesel was a lot cheaper in Luxembourg as well - equal to £1.00 per litre - so we filled up while we could at that price.

On the way home took the wrong turning from the motorway and basically got lost - no problems though as we had all the time in the world and a full tank of fuel. It caused us to see some beautiful woodland and small roads through the forest and little villages so it turned out to be a happy accident - serendipity. Even in out of the way places we found the roads to be of excellent quality - Steve wanted me to add that to the blog as he was so impressed!

On the road again...

2008-05-11T20:08:00.000-07:00

Sunday May 11th - There are so many places to visit around this part of the world - so we set off to take a look. First we went to Bitburg - local beer distillers, good one at that. The town is modern and neat and tidy but thats about all you can say for it - so we moved on. Next stop was Trier - and that was far more successful. It is a very old town situated on the Mosel and the architecture was to die for. There was a lovely atmosphere, fuelled by the fact that it was a Sunday so people were out to people watch and walk the walk, as well as wine and dine. We did both and were very satisfied with the result. The weather was baking hot in the town centre - must have touched 30c and that made us tired. After a walk around the streets and much picture taking and sight seeing we had lunch at a hotel on the square and chatted to another Brit couple over for a long weekend. After that we found a tourist bus/train that did the tour of the town in the shade and explained everything - for example did you know that Karl Marx was born in Trier and his house is open for visitors now. There is also a massive Roman gate to the city which was originally white but has blackened over time and is known as the Black Gate - pic included. After that we decided to revisit the huge catholic church which holds the gown of Christ (allegedly) - it was extremely beautiful. We were very tired after all that so made our way home.

We have made a decision that each Sunday will be our treat day and we will dine out with a local Sunday lunch - whatever that may be in whatever country we are in.

After a lovely meal we took a stroll by the nearby river and went back to watch the next episode of Rome before turning in.

Into Germany - Wunderbar

2008-05-10T20:17:00.000-07:00

Because the Germany camp site had no internet facilities we are getting behind with our blog entries. That is not good - so we will input individual blogs for each day since we left the last campsite so that every detail is in there. Now we have internet again so we need to catch up.... let the story continue..
Saturday - May 10th
We said our goodbyes to fellow caravanners in Gulpen and set off on our drive into Germany which was very straightforward. Either the roads are getting better or we are improving - or a bit of both. We were both surprised and very pleased with the scale of the coountryside around us as we entered Germany. The forestation is immense and cannot possibly be captured on film to do it justice. Huge swathes of steep hillside covered in every shade of green you can imagine - then some. As far as the eye can see as well - it takes your breath away. Overhead we have seen many birds of prey circling to do whatever they need to do - some huge and they really touch you with their splendour.

So after this breathtaking drive we arrived in Waxweiler, near the borders of Belgium and Luxembourg to find our site overlooking lush woodlands and set in a river valley with orchards all around us. An open air lido is adjacent to the campsite with free entry for us and we used it to lay out on the grass and enjoy the late afternoon sunshine. First though we drove into the village and had a toasted sandwich and beer at the local hostelry surrounded by bikers en route to somewhere. Conversation was difficult as there are few Brits around here and they do not speak much English - sign language manages well though. The roads are brilliant for bikers around here - take note Graham. As we sat out on the balcony with a beer we watched an eagle circling being fought off by smaller birds who were obviously protecting their young. It was awesome. After a sandwich and the beer we filled up with diesel -it is as expensive as the UK here but it was quite a bit cheaper in Holland. Then we stocked up with provisions at the local supermarket- expensive again and not that good a quality. The weather has been perfect so far though - mid to upper 20s and constant sunshine.

In the evening, after a lovely meal in the caravan we invited other people adjacent to us to play boules and we had a great time with Crystal, Willem and Maxim from Begium and Jon and Agnes from Holland. We played until light stopped play and laughed a lot - boys versus girls so you can imagine the rivalry. A good nights sleep followed.

Liege discovery trip

2008-05-09T19:30:00.000-07:00

After our computer experience last night we returned to the caravan and were invited to spend some time with our Dutch neighbours. They are a lovely couple with 2 children aged 9 and 13. He works in the care home business so we had something in common to discuss. The son loves fishing so he and Steve spoke in stilted English with much translation by the parents about carp and barbel etc. It was a lovely evening, sitting outside by candlelight with wine flowing. It was very late before we all got to bed - but thats what this holiday is all about.

As we are going to Germany tomorrow we thought we would take the opportunity to visit Belgium today and chose Liege as it is only 26 miles from our present campsite.
After being in Holland for the past week we had grown a little complacent we think and as we drove off the motorway into Liege we descended into chaos. Cars, bendy buses, noise, pollution, lack of parking and no concern whatsoever for the cyclist. We had become accustomed to cycling routes in Holland - not so here! It was a case of take your life in your hands and get on with it.

Having said that there were some beautiful parts to Liege as the photos will illustrate. A lot of the historical buildings are set among the new ones in the heart of the city and with the rush of traffic you can't stand still to enjoy them - and they are covered in filth anyway. Above the city however are the old ruins of the Citadel, monasteries and convents with many, many steps to climb to find them. The main set of steps are called Le Montagne de Bueren which consist of 374 steps - we know because we descended them - and that was after climbing to a great height via sideroads and little lanes above the city to find the top of the steps. Our legs shook after all that climbing up and down.

We again used our trick of parking outside the city and then cycling in to its heart. This was very useful but our legs had given way after the steps and we were really grateful to reach the car again for the drive back to Gulpen where we are camped.

The rolling hills around the campsite were a beautiful sight to see after the noisy city and we enjoyed an hour of peaceful reading before preparing a meal. Tonight we are truly shattered and will look forward to a good nights sleep before heading for Germany tomorrow.

Maastricht today

2008-05-08T20:00:00.000-07:00

After a good nights sleep in Essie we set off to Maastricht by car - only 10 klm - but we parked outside to ride the bikes through the centre as it is more bike friendly than car friendly. The day was hot and sunny again and we really enjoyed the cycle ride in, parked the bikes and went to the Tourist Information to collect info on the old town before going further. We picked up a tour map of the old town and decided to fuel ourselves further before setting off on the 1.5 hour walk in the sun. So we sat by the River Maas at a cafe and drank the local beer - the picture is of the brewery on one side of the river and we sat at the other side drinking it! We had a lovely lunch and really enjoyed the walk around the old town - the history is exceptional and we can recommend the place for a visit.

Exhausted but happy we cycled back to the car and decided to visit Valkenburg as it is highlighted on our map (thank you Don and Barbara for the map) as a place of interest. It was a pretty village with a ruined castle as its claim to fame - and about 100 eateries to support that fame! Not for us but still pretty - a ruin is a ruin after all!

Tired and happy we returned to Essie and had a sit and a read for a while before preparing our evening meal - a stir fry of all the veg we have left plus some meat we bought at a supermarket yesterday. We thought it was chopped ham at the time - we know now that it wasn't - but we don't know what it was. It went down well though - with Yellowtail Shiraz.

A wonderful day and now we are planning for tomorrow - should we venture into Germany and visit Aachen? or should we go into Belgium - or maybe stay in Holland. The questions continue.... We will let you know.

Hoge de Veluwe National Park

2008-05-07T20:00:00.000-07:00

How we managed to get to the Park we will never know. The road networks in Holland are phenomenal and part of it was like spaghetti junction x 10. We did manage it though and it was with great relief that we arrived in Otterlo which is on the outskirts of the National Park. The campsite was wonderful - set within both coniferous and deciduous forest and the caravans parked within clearings there. It was so quiet except for the sound of birdsong. It was also so hot that we erected our sunshade on the caravan for the first time.

We set up on site but then found that we had been sent to a plot with too little electricity for us - we need 10amps to cope with the fridge etc. So we then had to move a little way away - no problems as the site was so relaxing it instilled a sense of goodwill to all men!! After a sandwich and a long, cold drink we cycled into Otterlo village to stock up our pantry and fridge at the Spar shop.

When we got back Steve did a few odd jobs on Essie while I prepared a cassoulet for dinner followed by strawberries and cream. Sitting out in this lovely setting was idyllic and we really enjoyed our evening. Afterwards we went and watched a DVD - the first episode of Rome - we have all the rest to watch as we go along. Then to bed in readiness for our exploration of the park tomorrow.

After breakfast we set off to see the Hoge de Veluwe park on our bikes. There are supposed to be deer, red squirrels, foxes, wild boar and many kinds of birds within its setting - we didn't see any though. There were lots of people instead including a large school party from the USA - enough to scare any wild animal away. The park was lovely though - a cross between Chobham common and the ranges and the Royal Windsor park with some of the New Forest thrown in. We cycled 40 kilometres in total with a couple of stops for drinks and lunch. The weather was hot and sunny again with a light breeze making it very comfortable. Many people were hiring the white bikes for cycling through the park but we were glad to have our own.

Afterwards we went back to the van for a well deserved drink and a Thai green curry for dinner. Although we were satisfyingly tired we maanged to stay up and watch a DVD - or most of it anyway. Tomorrow it's Maastricht!

When its Spring again I'll bring again...

2008-05-04T20:35:00.000-07:00

We went to the Keukenhof tulip gardens today near Lisse. It is world renowned for its spectacular flowers and it did not fail to impress. We decided to drive to near the gardens and then cycle in because it was Sunday and there were a lot of people on the roads and cycle ways and also the parking would be difficult. A couple of kilometres out of Lisse we found a lovely parking spot by a canal and some tulip fields and left the car there. It was an enjoyable cycle ride into Keukenhof and the access to the gardens was easy as we had purchased the tickets the day before at the reception of the camping site. The sights were spectacular as the photos will show and we walked our legs off through all of the gardens. The weather was hot and sunny - 23c so we appreciated the wooded areas for some respite. For lunch we decided to try their fresh herring "hot dogs" with tomato - they all eat them here and they are very healthy. We loved them.

At about 3.30pm we left the gardens and drove back towards the campsite but decided to detour to Nordwijck aan Zee for a look around. We used the bikes again to explore and cycled through sand dune after sand dune - it reminded us a lot of Cape Cod and it was gorgeous. We finally found the sea and stopped for a beer at a beach cafe - bikes were everywhere. It was Sunday so lots of people were out and about in the sunshine enjoying themselves - on their bikes!

Then we cycled back to the car, returned to the campsite and had a hot drink. We both thought that the campers at this site were very stand offish - to the point of being rude. Steve thinks its because we have an old van and they think we are dossers - well **** them!! We leave tomorrow for Hoge de Veluwe National Park so they can stick their camping where the sun doesn't shine - we are off to pastures new.

After an apperitif we enjoyed a lovely meal of Schnitzel, wild rice accompanied by leeks and red pepper cooked in ginger, garlic and lemon. It was delicious and well received after all the exercise we have enjoyed today.

Needless to say we are at the bar again tonight to get a good internet signal and Steve has had to force down yet another beer - he is so good!! I think an early night will be had so that we can pack up and move on tomorrow - head em up roll em out!!

The journey continues - to Rijnsburg

2008-05-03T21:00:00.000-07:00

After a good nights sleep and a welcome breakfast we packed up Essie and set off for our next stop- Koningshof campsite at Rijnsburg. We completed the circular route as normal - the road maps are appalling here. Its just as well the people are so friendly and helpful. The campsite is a sister to the one we were at yesterday and the rules are the same as well as the facilities - swimming pool, tennis courts, restaurant, cafe, supermarket, laundry - great. It is still a public holiday though and so it is still very busy with lots of kids - we hope they will all go home tomorrow and continue with their normal routine - leaving the good bits for us. How selfish can we get - but we are!

Having set up on site we took the bikes and cycled 5 km to the coast - to Katwijk aan Zee. There was a carnival in full swing and bunting on every street which looked really pretty. The day was hotter than yesterday - it reached 20c so the beach was busy too. It was a lovely bike ride and the roads helped us to appreciate it. The cycle lanes are wide, even and respected by everyone - it makes cycling a pleasure. After a look around we cycled back to the van for a cuppa and a slice of cake then prepared the evening meal. We had smoked peppered mackerel with potatoes and a sweet pepper, leek, chilli, garlic, ginger and lemon concoction. That went down very well after the bike ride.

The internet signal was poor in the van so we walked up to the bar on the site where it was great - so we had to stay there and Steve had to force down a beer to justify us using their tables outside - what a pity!

The camp site reception sells tickets for the Keukenhof Gardens where we are planning to visit tomorrow so we bought some in readiness. It is a renowned tourist attraction only open between March and May each year with spectacular displays of tulips amongst other plants so that will be a very worth while visit - watch out for the pics tomorrow.

After this drink we will probably retire to the van for a last drink and bed so that we are up bright and early for our trip. Lets hope the weather lasts - it is gorgeous!

Delft - dankerval

2008-05-02T21:32:00.000-07:00

That is the one word we have learned today - thank you - dankerval.
We had a wonderful nights sleep last night - the best for days after all our excitement and alarm clock mornings. This morning had no alarm clock and we woke at 8.30am feeling very refreshed. After a lovely breakfast and shower we tidied things away in the van and prepared our cycles for the ride into Delft. This is the place where cycles are king! lots and lots of them and both drivers and pedestrians respect their presence - this makes for a wonderful experience around the old town of Delft. We could cover so much more distance with our bikes and really enjoyed riding in the sunshine through beautiful surroundings, over canal bridges and through old town squares. The places of interest were the old church and the new church, the convent converted into a prison, the one remaining city gate, the city hall and the canals of course with the multitudes of bicycles attached to every railing and riding through every street - alongside us! There were cars of course, but a lot less than we are used to and that meant clear air for us and everyone to breathe and a lot less noise. Very relaxed in fact, despite the fact that it is a bank holiday out here - the Queen's birthday and Ascension Day apparently.

We had a lovely outdoor lunch in a street cafe of their dark bread roll with bacon and brie and an accompanying mango chutney. This was washed down with a Delft beer each - gorgeous! Then we just had to share a famous appeltaart with whipped cream for pud washed down by a coffee - wonderful!

More cycling followed as well as a trip to a supermarket for stocks and these all fitted in the panniers on Steve's bike. Then back to base and a quick cuppa followed by a lovely bike ride around the local lake where we saw all manners of birds and wildlife - and all in the warm sunshine - this is what we prayed for and we got it!

Tired but very happy we returned to our caravan for an apperitif and were invited in by our neighbours for a short time. Duncan turned out to be a policeman from the Grampian police force, shortly to retire - do policemen attract each other or what??? Nice couple though - Duncan and Elizabeth. We exchanged stories and separated to prepare our evening meals.

We had minced beef cooked in onion, garlic, herbs, tomato and red wine alongside potatoes, carrots and spinach. We feel very relaxed, exercised and satisfied with todays exploits - and full of wine too! Andrea Bocelli is singing along in the background and we are tucked up in the van preparing for our next adventure in Holland - the Keukenhof Gardens. We leave tomorrow.

Hooked into Holland

2008-05-01T20:55:00.000-07:00

As we have free internet on our first site in Delft we decided to write it up while we can.

The ferry crossing was brilliant - the Spiderwick Chronicles was a great movie - very entertaining and very comfortable in plush seats worthy of the best cinemas. Then we had lunch which was ferry style and nothing to write home about but filled a hole. After reading the newspaper and doing the crossword we were ready to disembark on foreign soils. The sun was shining as we kept calling "keep to the right". Immediately we were struck by the cleanliness of the Netherlands and the wind turbines everwhere. There were also magnificent greenhouses as far as the eye could see - flowers and fruit for all!! Some lovely old windmills as well.

We headed for Delft - approx 20 miles from the Hook of Holland and managed to get the right turning first time - and ended up in Ikea service road when Steve had to do a 56 point turn with the caravan!! He kept calm and managed it well then we thought we must have made a mistake and took off into Delft town centre. Then it went a bit astray because we went the wrong way after that turning ending up in Delft approaching cobbled pedestrian streets. A kind Dutch man saved us and gave us some very detailed and correct directions back to Ikea where we should have been all along.

Finally we arrived at a full caravan site - thank goodness we had pre-booked. Steve had to perform miracles again to manoeuver the van into a very tight space - the last one available. We were assisted by Duncan and Elizabeth - two Scots staying at the campsite alongside us, who proceeded to confuse Steve with his reversing - he remained calm!!

Were we more than ready for settling down with a drink and a meal? - tonights menu was home made meatballs and spaghetti in a spicy sauce with parmesan shavings - it was delicious and appreciated - as was the wine!

Then we realised that there was free internet in the van - hence the opportunity to write this blog - good eh? So we are relaxing with the last of the wine and Michael Buble playing on the music system - the washing up is yet to come.

Again it is a great camp site with all amenities - even a swimming pool although we won't be partaking tomorrow. It is a short bike ride into Delft town centre which looked a lot like Amsterdam but less frenetic - bridges over canals and thousands of bicycles - we are looking forward to seeing it properly tomorrow.

Thats it for tonight folks - check out the photos of Delft tomorrow when we hit it! We have washing up to do now. Then we may see if Duncan and Eizabeth are about for a chat....

WE'VE DONE IT!!!

2008-05-01T09:51:00.000-07:00

I am writing this blog while sitting on the ferry from Harwich to the Hook of Holland. We are leaving the UK and it feels wonderful. Let me give you a catch up from our traumatic couple of days.

First though can Steve and I say a huge thank you to all our family and friends who took the trouble to make a final day phone call, text or email to wish us Bon Voyage and good luck on our travels. It made us feel very cared for and lucky. We will take you all with us in our hearts and hope to see you soon. An invitation is extended to all of you to come and visit us in Cyprus so keep in touch and keep it in mind please.

The removal men found our camping cheques at about 11am so we dashed over to Staines to collect them. They charged us £137 for the 2.5 hours of searching in the boxes which stung a bit but neverthless it was worth it to us and after all it was our fault. The relief was immense and we felt we could progress without any more tension. All morning was spent cleaning again - the fridge, the freezer, the bathroom, the floors etc and also finishing off stacking the caravan with everything left in the bungalow. Steve also put the bikes on the roof of the car. Everything fitted into Esmerelda easily - it really is a tardis!

The lady came to complete the inventory check and all was well with that - then we had to lock the place up and hand her the keys - rendering us homeless so we had no option but to go ahead with our plans - we were well and truly committed now.

Steve and I popped down to the post office to collect some euros then returned home to attach Esmerelda - Steve from next door offered his assistance and gave us a send off. And off we went to Colchester for our first night away from home.

It was 100 miles to the camp site and it took a couple of hours - the rain that had been pelting down all day stopped and the sun shone on our journey - that helped. Without any more hitches we arrived at the camp site and set up the caravan. There was plenty of space so we left the van hitched to the car to make our early start the next morning easier. The camp site was clean and pretty with lots of flowers and shrubs and clean toilets and shower blocks.

Settling in was fun - we shared a bottle of bubbly (provided by Jackie the day before as a leaving gift) to celebrate(again) and cooked a lovely meal of tuna cooked in tomatoes, coriander and lemon with rice. Then we had a read of the newspaper and listened to the radio before having an early night. It was really cosy and comfy in Essie and we were so glad to finally get on our way.

Up at 6am we had a cuppa and some breakfast before taking our showers and preparing the caravan for the 20 mile journey to Harwich and the port. All this went smoothly and without any problems thankfully. The ferry is very well appointed - we have had a cuppa already, Steve has bought his Daily Mail and we are going to watch The Spiderwick Chronicles on one of their two cinemas at 11am. There is also a casino on board but we'll give that a miss. Obviously there is wi-fi available or I would not be typing this. After the film we will have some lunch and maybe a read of our books and we will be in Holland - the journey is six hours. It isproving to be a wonderful way to travel - and a great start to our adventure.

There had to be some trauma didn't there?

2008-04-29T18:10:00.000-07:00

What a couple of days we have had. The removal men came bright and early yesterday morning - three of them. We took them round the bungalow explaining what was to be left - it is a furnished rental here, what was needed for the caravan and what was to go in the container to go to Cyprus. That is confusing enough but they split up and did different rooms each and we were trying to keep and eye on all of them. They kept having to reopen boxes to remove stuff and basically they were just like a swarm of locusts devouring all our belongings as they went along. That does not mean they were difficult people - they were great young men who were very hard working. They were courteous, chatty and easy to have around - I suppose most homes are just packed up in total and taken away - ours was just a bit more complicated thats all.

They left the lounge until today so that we had the television and computer until the last minute so after we had enjoyed a good nights sleep they turned up again this morning and cleared that lot out. They left us at about 10am with everything packed away. Then Steve and I set to work cleaning everything in sight cupboards,windows,venetian blinds etc etc. Then we took lots of empty boxes and some other stuff to the dump before returning home and going through the inventory before the final check tomorrow. Everything is here that should be here so thats good news.

Pat called round for a final chat before her yoga class and while we were talking disaster struck!! I was telling her about our immediate travel plans when I realised with horror that our camping cheques had been packed in the container!! £650 worth of pre paid cheques for our camping sites across two thirds of Europe. Stupidly we had left them in a drawer instead of putting them with our important documents and they had been boxed up. I quickly phoned the removal company and explained and they went to look for them. At least we could narrow it down to the dining room boxes. We are still waiting to hear back from them as I type - we are silently praying.

As a result we have opened a bottle of wine - not that we need much of an excuse anyway but we are rather anxious to say the least.

So we sit here with the laptop and newspaper for company, a meal cooking in the oven and a glass of wine in our hands - and the trip of a lifetime ahead of us - life could be worse I suppose! Its only money and thats what insurance is for.

The Final Countdown

2008-04-27T22:30:00.000-07:00

This has been our last weekend in the UK!!! I can't quite believe it - it all seems very strange.

On Saturday evening we had our good friends Ann and John to dinner. I don't know what happens with these two but I never seem to get a photo of them - and it happened again despite my resolutions to do so. Anyway we had a lovely meal (if I do say so myself) and a lovely evening in great company. I will miss Ann - we have seen a lot in our time together both professionally and personally and she knows a lot about me and my life - as I do about hers. I sincerely hope you keep your promise Ann and John and come out to visit us soon. They brought us some great leaving presents-a book on Cyprus, a fantastic Dodo travel journal that they had personalised with details of us in Esmerelda. I will certainly use that on the trip. This morning I opened private presents from her to me that brought a tear to my eye. It made me realise that friends are few and far between and they need to be cherished.

Talking of true friends we have been today for a farewell meal to Pat's house. Toni joined us there and Pat laid on a wonderful meal of mixed starters including tasty meats and fish from her recent visit to Spain, then she served salmon en croute with veggies which was wonderful. For dessert she had made a pavlova and bought a very rich chocolate flan. Needless to say we were stuffed but very happy. Pat is a friend that I see on a weekly basis and we have shared many good and bad times together and the memories of them will remain with me for ever. She is also a true friend that will remain in touch and I know she will come out to see us because her flight is booked for September 14th - good on you Pat. She is coming out with Toni who is going to stay with Don and Barbara and no doubt we will share a great week together.

After our lovely meal we returned to the bungalow and decided to pack some clothes. There are clothes that we need on the trip so they went into Esmerelda, then there are clothes we need to put in the container to go out to Cyprus. Not forgetting the clothes we need for the next three days at home. Suffice to say that Esmerelda is packed with more than enough things to clothe us for our trip. We also used some empty suitcases that we brought down from the loft and packed them with some of our clothes in readiness for the container.

The removal company are arriving at 8.30am tomorrow to start packing our things. This seems very odd to Steve and me who are used to moving home ourselves. We have been told to put our feet up and let them work their way through the house and pack for us but it is not as easy as that. Some things belong to the bungalow, others need to go int the caravan and the rest needs to go to Cyprus. We need to direct them which is which.

We have worked our way to this point in time for ages and ages - longer than I can remember. We have saved our pennies over the years, built our dreams and managed our resources - and now the time has finally arrived. Some of the time I feel SO excited, some of the time I feel very anxious - but most of the time I feel bewildered and in a surreal state. I think when we leave with Esmerelda on Wednesday afternoon for the camp site in Colchester reality will finally dawn. I can't imagine that either of us will sleep much that night. But you never know - we may be exhausted and flake out - keep posted for the facts folks.

Getting nearer

2008-04-25T20:35:00.000-07:00

What an introduction Steve has had to his retired life. He has a list of jobs to do and a very short timescale in which to do them. He is just happy though with his new life - that means not having to get up at a totally unsocial hour to catch a train and spend the day solving problems only to catch a train back again and try to stay awake during the evening. This morning he was up before me and eating his tea and toast when I dragged myself out of bed. He claimed the daylight had roused him and he couldn't get back to sleep. I think he is excited and wants to get on with all the things he has wanted to do for months but work got in the way.

So today we have completed some tasks that were very rewarding. Taken some stuff to charity shops, completed some address changes, exchanged our nectar points for loads of wine to take with us- how great is that? He has also taken a lot of stuff to the dump - hooray!. We have basically tidied up a lot of loose ends and that has caused us to feel more in control.

We called into the letting agents today and they told us that the bungalow has been let to a lady whose house has been flooded. She is presently in a hotel at her insurance company's expense until we leave . Then she will move in, also at her insurance company's expense, until her house has been repaired. Good for her. It will be a good home for her as it has been for us.

Yesterday we managed to celebrate Steve's retirement together at home - he was too affected by alcohol after his leaving party to do it earlier. So we cracked open the champagne and celebrated together to a new life ahead of us, a damn good holiday before we reach our new home, and to our new life in Cyprus. The timer on the camera captured that as the picture shows. Pat had bought us a really good bottle of Tattinger and we raised the glass to her as well and we really enjoyed it.

So all of the jobs are nearing an end. The relocation company have told us that we can put our feet up while their men pack our home up for the container. That will feel really odd - having people in our home sorting out our belongings - but that is the way they do it. They have to pack everything so that it complies with insurance regulations. We of course have prepared everything for them to pack - as we do.
Of course we have to pack some things in Esmerelda for the trip and the rest for Cyprus. Then we have to leave the owners belongings in the bungalow. Come Monday the place will be full of bodies being ushered everywhere - won't that be exciting?

So tomorrow will bring some more jobs to undertake - and we are hosting a dinner party for Ann and John which we are really looking forward to - a fishy night I have decided. I will let you know how it goes. And I am determined to get a picture of her for my memory bank - although she is very good at avoiding the camera. Another day over and the time draws nearer.....

Steve has finally done it!!

2008-04-24T10:33:00.000-07:00

What a week! Wrangling with officials who don't know how to do their jobs properly, dealing with people who lie and don't follow through with their promises and clearing out more and more. Where did we get it all from - or more importantly why did we keep it? Steve and I think that we are not hoarders - well if we're not I would hate to see a hoarder! The stuff we have in corners, cupboards and drawers. I keep thinking we have finished - only to find more!

The banks are worse than useless. I completed the necessary forms to obtain gross interest on the savings as I am not a tax payer any longer (hoorah). Although I had completed the forms in my name only and only I signed them - they awarded this privilege to Steve instead - and he is still a tax payer. This of course is a criminal offence for him. I can't bear to recount the conversations I have had with Halifax bank - they are too tedious and stress inducing. The Nationwide haven't even bothered to process theirs yet - so on the ball are they. Then the caravan insurance company could not get our details correct despite amendments. That called for a straight talking conversation with the manager - but it got resolved.

But the highlight of the week - yesterday in fact - St. George's Day - STEVE RETIRED!!! For all those reading this I do not have to tell you how he felt. He finished work at lunch time, his boss put on a powerpoint display to mark his contribution and then they spent all afternoon in the pub. Well, Steve did, his colleagues came along in shifts to see him off. They were very generous and gave him £120 in M+S vouchers as a leaving present - we are off to the Meadows in Camberley on Saturday to spend that. Bob, Steve's manager created some wonderful slides to represent Steve and I have attached some.

So this morning was the first morning of his official retirement and he loved waking up naturally and without an alarm clock. He also delighted in tearing up his redundant train pass. He has lots to do now - the things that need a strong man.
The best is yet to come darling - it all starts now....

Another good night out

2008-04-20T12:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a thoroughly miserable day weather wise - very cold, wet and grey. A definite day to keep in the warmth of the house. More sorting out of cupboards was undertaken - why do we store so much stuff? Again we had a pile of things to put in Esmerelda, things to put away for Cyprus, things to offer on freecycle and things to throw away. It is a very satisfying job to sort through belongings though - it makes you feel like you are sorting out your life - which you are in a way.

As explained in my last blog we went all the way to our next door neighbours last night to enjoy a meal with them. Steve and Jackie moved in to the next door bungalow last July. Before they actually moved in Steve called round and introduced himself and we realised that he is actually an old police colleague of my Steve's. That created a friendly connection immediately and they have become very comfortably ensconced in their bungalow and within our lives since then. We don't see that much of them but as Steve and I are both at home all week we have a few conversations over the garden wall. They have had a meal with us previously and we talked into the early hours. So last night we went to share the evening with them. They prepared a gorgeous meal for us, lots of chatting was undertaken and we practiced working the camera on the timer setting to capture the four of us together. Thankfully we did not have far to stagger home - again in the early hours and a Sunday morning is always a good time to recover.

Hopefully Steve and Jackie will come out to see us in Cyprus and many more late nights will be enjoyed there.

More celebrations!!

2008-04-19T02:05:00.000-07:00

After a steady week of finalising accounts and bills and informing half of the UK of our intentions Steve and I needed to celebrate our wedding anniversary in style. It seems impossible to believe that two years have passed since we got married on that hot sunny day in Cyprus - but it has. I wonder what will be happening in another two years-I expect we will be living a very different lifestyle - but it is so difficult to look ahead. It doesn't seem real - more surreal at the moment. Its hard to believe its actually happening. We seem to have been planning this for ever and now its just around the corner. Anyway - back to our wedding anniversary.

I must tell the lead up story first. Shortly after Steve and I met in 2002 he arrived at my flat in Addlestone to take me to dinner. He surprised me by bringing along a bottle of champagne and two champagne flutes (so prepared is Steve). He then opened the champagne with a flourish - not spilling a drop - poured some into two glasses and declared that he intended to steal my heart!! and the process began with that evening. Not much renders me speechless but that did I can tell you. I wasn't used to such a bold and romantic approach believing that most men were distinctly lacking in assertiveness, forward planning or initiative (I still do really) so this took my breath away. He then swept me off to Pennyhill Park, which is a very posh hotel, for a magnificent dinner. How could I not fall in love with him after that??

So what better way to mark our last wedding anniversary in the UK but to return to Pennyhill Park hotel for another dinner. We were both excited and really looking forward to it and it did not fail to satisfy us.

The setting is wonderful for a start and the service is second to none. All the staff treat you like royalty from the moment you walk in and they time the courses to perfection.

We first had an aperitif in the lounge accompanied by some nibbles which were wonderful. We were shown to our table where we were served a wonderful three course meal with small entrees between each course. The menu was very complex with a lot of flavours and small quantities so that we left without feeling bloated but very satisfied with the meal. It was washed down with a lovely bottle of Stellenbosh. Steve had a lovely glass of Barolo to accompany his cheese course too. A lovely meal to remember to celebrate our anniversary.

Tonight we are visiting our neighbours Steve and Jackie who are cooking us a meal - more to tell you about tomorrow.

The party continues...

2008-04-14T14:33:00.000-07:00

The blog didn't allow me to post any more photos of the leaving party on the last blog so I thought I would continue on this one. We will have the memories that way.

We are going to Vicki's 40th birthday party tonight in Camberley and need to do a few things before we get ready to go.

After a lazy start to the morning I drove us to Chertsey where Steve managed to blow away the previous evenings beery cobwebs by riding home the bike that had been serviced there. After that we called in to see Steve and Jackie next door as Chris and Lynn had called for coffee. The four of them had met up at our leaving party after many years. The three men (Steve, Steve and Chris)had all served in the police force at the same time many moons ago and it was time for a bit of a catch up for Chris.

Steve and I left them to drive to High Wycombe to collect an awning and sunshade for the caravan that we had won in auction on Ebay. We were very pleased with the goods as they were in excellent condition and we bought them for a snip. The sunshade will come in very handy when we are driving through Europe in May, June and July - we can sit outside without shrivelling up. We had a look around High Wycombe - not a lot to report there I'm afraid - and bought Vicki a birthday present then had a bite to eat before returning home.

The previous evening caught up with us then - I fell asleep in the car on the way home - Steve was driving I hasten to add! Then Steve went for a nap before getting ready to go out to the party. We are getting old!!

The party was lovely, well attended and the people very friendly. Lee had erected a marquee to extend the floor space and serve the drinks - very sensible. We hope you had a wonderful evening Vicki for your 40th.

Lee, Vicki and the boys are in one of the photos above alongside Tony, Lisa and their children who all attended our party.

Sunday was a definite day of relaxation for us. Thankfully the weather was awful - rain, hail, grey skies and cold temperature - ideal weather to force us to do a lot of our admin work indoors. We wrote a lot of cancellation of services letters and change of address letters and Steve and I drafted out a resume of all the camp sites we are visiting with their telephone numbers and directions to get to them. That will help us lot. We also put the bike on ebay - the one Steve collected yesterday and rode home from the bike service shop. It is surplus to requirements as he had kept it at work to provide him with an easy means of travel between offices in London. We still have our two cycles that will go with us on our travels.