Patrick & jan on tour (1 Viewer)

Patrick

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Hi All,

Just a little up-date as to where we have been so far.

We got of the ferry on Thursday morning at 2AM, drove till we got in to Belgium 4am went to bed in a carpark of an agricultural machinery shop. Got woken up by guys sawing trees after 4 hours sleep L much to the disdain of Jan.

Thursday 15/4 we set off to get some miles behind us on our journey to Luxemburg.
Came off the motorway after a while in favour of the country roads. Stayed overnight in a layby in the Ardennes Forrest.

Friday 16/4 headed for Arlon Luxemburg. Stopped off at the village to get our photograph taken by an original American 1944 tank that was left behind. Went on recommendation to Routee 66 tabac shop and picked up our cigs. Lambert & Butler worked out at £34 a sleeve in comparison to the UK at £56.

Crossed over to France in preparation for our journey to Switzerland. After a few frightening (well according to Jan) hair-bends we ended up at our Aire of the night. Bourbach le Haut, a village by Thann in Mulville. Fantastic view overlooking Vosges wooded hills with the Alps in the distance.

Tomorrow we cross the border to Switzerland its only 23 miles away from here.

The weather (touch wood) every day we have been here has so far been glorious with highs of 25 degrees with a bit of a wind.

No mishaps (once again touch wood) apart from me standing on the table and breaking it while trying to fix the seal on the skylight. Its not as though am a heavy guy now is it????

We are logged on using someones home wireless.....He He!:thumb:

 

hilldweller

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carpark of an agricultural machinery shop.

a layby in the Ardennes Forrest.


Aire of the night. Bourbach le Haut


We are logged on using someones home wireless.....He He!:thumb:

Re-arrange into one or more well known phrases or sayings:

cheap arse skate tight

You do know that they ask for MONEY at Butterfly !
 

Ash

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You lucky buggers , have a fab holiday and take care :Smile::Smile:


Lynn ....................( Ash ):thumb:

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Patrick

Patrick

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Re-arrange into one or more well known phrases or sayings:

cheap arse skate tight

You do know that they ask for MONEY at Butterfly !

Money????? I knew there was something we forgot to bring :Doh:

We were under the impression you being the host and all that that Butterfly would be on you :ROFLMAO:

As if Patrick could be called a cheap arse skate tight....but then again the drying out of the tea bags and re using is getting to be a pain in the arse. And just now he had the audacity to complain about the slowness of the internet while sending this post. We still don't know whose connection we are logged onto.
 
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Patrick

Patrick

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Sat 17/04

Set off for Switzerland. Before I go any further Pat wants me to tell you about my mishap. Well he had decided he wanted to wash his van in a car wash and asked me to judge the height of the van against the roof of the car wash. So I was asked to go out and wave to him as he went through it gradually. Well what he should have realised is this. I have a bloody time just judging parking spaces for a Vauxhall corsair and have no concept of size….he he perhaps that’s why am with Pat lol. So anyway there I am watching him drive through this carwash and am waving frantically saying there’s loads of room and gesticulating with my hands just how much space there is from the van roof to the car wash roof…..loads am saying. Well I wasn’t to know that the motor home roof went up higher was I. Yes you guessed it the roof of the van caught on the rails of the carwash. Never live that one down will I and perhaps he won’t ask me again.

At passport control we said through paying the 30e for the road pass. Stopped off at a lay-by on the motorway to top up the water. That gave Pat the idea to wash his van. Well at least he got to do it free of charge and there wasn’t a mad woman in sight to distract his with her waving.

We went round Lake Bielesec and ended up heading to Lake Lac d Neuchatel. We managed to find a small aire in Aubern where there was only 3 other motor homers. Pat decided to fix the slightly broken table that he had broken while standing on it. He yanked at it and not knowing his “desperate Dan” strength pulled the table out of the brackets in the floor. I just thought, well we now have an extra patio table for outside. Anyhow his tool box came out and he fixed it. So desperate Dan got himself a delicious steak dinner cooked which we sat outside to eat. After all the man has to keep his strength up, driving “miss daisy” does sure seem to sap his energy. We were parked next to a railway line and a few yards away from a Marina. Woken the next morning by the cowbells, church bells and the passing train.

Sunday 18/04 we travelled to Lake Neuchael via La Neuville going through Boudrey and Grandson. Headed to Lake Luzern via the back roads and mountains. Some marvellous and breath taking scenery to be seen. Passed through Kusnacht, Weggis and stayed at Vitznau. Parked overnight in a lay-by not far from the Marina overlooking the lake with views of the lake and snow capped mountains in the distance. This has turned out to be our best overnight stay of the holiday so far, but am sure there is more to follow.

Monday 19/04 Packed up and set off for Andermatt by St Gothard Tunnel. Had to stop off to do a little Aldi shopping though first.

We watched the news this morning 18/04......Boo Hoo if your flying on your holidays....sorry! meant to say "if you’re not flying on holiday"! We got the ferry on the right day we think, as it seems it was bedlam at Dover from Thursday.

It’s 12.15 pm on Monday, we are sat having a full English at the foot of some great mountains just before the Gothard tunnel. It’s amazing the whole journey so far. We are planning to go down to
Yugoslavia for a look about then come back to Italy to meet the others at Lake Como.

Once again we are logged in to some kind Swiss person’s wireless internet


[FONT=&quot]Will keep you up to date when we have internet[/FONT]
 

hilldweller

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We still don't know whose connection we are logged onto.

::bigsmile:

I'll bet that breaks his heart otherwise he'd be knocking on the door "Excuse me Sir, I'm an IT security consultant, for €100, cash, I can tell you how to secure your computer and hide the 100G of porn you've got stored on there".

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hilldweller

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back to Italy to meet the others at Lake Como.

You might be a bit lonely but it's a lovely town and lake. Well worth a walk round Como, no vibrator would be working today without what took place in Como many years ago.

I don't think you are into bikes but the Moto Guzzi factory is on Lake Como and has a free museum which is quite good, it has the only V8 500cc bike that was ever raced.

>> driving “miss daisy” does sure seem to sap his energy

I'll forward you some spare emails with offers that will sort that problem out.

Sounds like you need to slow down a bit, you be worn out before you're half way through. Wash the van - who ever heard of that on holiday.
 

madbluemad

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It all sounds great guys. Please keep us up to date its great to read.

Jim

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Sounds like you need to slow down a bit, you be worn out before you're half way through. Wash the van - who ever heard of that on holiday.

Did mine last year on the way back from the Vendee when we were on a smashing little site at Miannay..Hose pipe and brush using a bit of washing up liquid!! couldn't get up on the roof though!!:Doh: got to show these tuggers how the other half do it:winky:

The van came up a treat lovely and clean and sparkling!!..Cleanlines is next to Godliness:Smile: as they say!!!

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Patrick

Patrick

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Sat 17/04

Set off for Switzerland. Before I go any further Pat wants me to tell you about my mishap. Well he had decided he wanted to wash his van in a car wash and asked me to judge the height of the van against the roof of the car wash. So I was asked to go out and wave to him as he went through it gradually. Well what he should have realised is this. I have a bloody time just judging parking spaces for a Vauxhall corsair and have no concept of size….he he perhaps that’s why am with Pat lol. So anyway there I am watching him drive through this carwash and am waving frantically saying there’s loads of room and gesticulating with my hands just how much space there is from the van roof to the car wash roof…..loads am saying. Well I wasn’t to know that the motor home roof went up higher was I. Yes you guessed it the roof of the van caught on the rails of the carwash. Never live that one down will I and perhaps he won’t ask me again.

At passport control we said through paying the 30e for the road pass. Stopped off at a lay-by on the motorway to top up the water. That gave Pat the idea to wash his van. Well at least he got to do it free of charge and there wasn’t a mad woman in sight to distract his with her waving.

We went round Lake Bielesec and ended up heading to Lake Lac d Neuchatel. We managed to find a small aire in Aubern where there was only 3 other motor homers. Pat decided to fix the slightly broken table that he had broken while standing on it. He yanked at it and not knowing his “desperate Dan” strength pulled the table out of the brackets in the floor. I just thought, well we now have an extra patio table for outside. Anyhow his tool box came out and he fixed it. So desperate Dan got himself a delicious steak dinner cooked which we sat outside to eat. After all the man has to keep his strength up, driving “miss daisy” does sure seem to sap his energy. We were parked next to a railway line and a few yards away from a Marina. Woken the next morning by the cowbells, church bells and the passing train.

Sunday 18/04 we travelled to Lake Neuchael via La Neuville going through Boudrey and Grandson. Headed to Lake Luzern via the back roads and mountains. Some marvellous and breath taking scenery to be seen. Passed through Kusnacht, Weggis and stayed at Vitznau. Parked overnight in a lay-by not far from the Marina overlooking the lake with views of the lake and snow capped mountains in the distance. This has turned out to be our best overnight stay of the holiday so far, but am sure there is more to follow.

Monday 19/04 Packed up and set off for Andermatt by St Gothard Tunnel. Had to stop off to do a little Aldi shopping though first.

We watched the news this morning 18/04......Boo Hoo if your flying on your holidays....sorry! meant to say "if you’re not flying on holiday"! We got the ferry on the right day we think, as it seems it was bedlam at Dover from Thursday.

It’s 12.15 pm on Monday, we are sat having a full English at the foot of some great mountains just before the Gothard tunnel. It’s amazing the whole journey so far. We are planning to go down to
Yugoslavia for a look about then come back to Italy to meet the others at Lake Como.

Once again we are logged in to some kind Swiss person’s wireless internet


[FONT=&quot]Will keep you up to date when we have internet[/FONT]

Monday 19/04/10

Arrived at Locanno, Lake Maggiore. Parked up at a campervan carpark. This was located behind a coach car park by the Lido at the Marina. 10F for 12 hours stay. Arrived at 6pm ……ooophs does that mean we are getting up early??? There were about 8 motor homes already parked up, most of them belonging to the Germans. We walked into and around the Lake and got an icecream cornet…yummy. It was a lovely Marina with quite a few restaurants. Once again the Lake had that magical backdrop of the Swiss Mountain peaks covered in snow. The town you could imagine it being very busy in the high season.

Tuesday 20/04/10

The next morning at 6am we were woken by a considerate coach driver constantly revving his engine for close on ¾ hr. Just as well it was our wake up call to move on. Looked out of the van window to the start of yet another glorious day and not a sun bed with towel on in sight.

Set off for Italy. Decided against Slovenia the night before. We were unprepared plus the sat nav wasn’t programmed for that country. Before we reached the Italian Border we found a tranquil place on the edge of the Lake. We got the chairs out and had lunch and then decided to catch a bit of the afternoon sun. Sitting watching some lizards basking in the sun watching us basking in the sun.

Turned out the Italian border was only about 500 yards away from our lunch stop over. Pulled over by the Swiss border patrol with problems regarding our road pass. Seems that we should have had a heavy vehicle 5000 ton pass of 25e instead of the 30e car pass. The car pass obviously lasting longer but seeing that we had only stayed in Switzerland for 3 days we seemed to have got that wrong. However in saying that we just left it to the border patrol on entering Switzerland to charge what he thought. Anyhow the security were fine, they explained all and told us what to do next time and waved us off on the rest of our journey.

Came out of a short run down tunnel into Italy. The tunnels maintenance and upkeep a sharp contrast to the tunnels of Switzerland. Very narrow roads where we would have to take it slowly and in some cases cars would have to reverse to let us through. But one Italian van driver too busy on his phone knocked our wing mirrors as he passed us.

The journey took us round Lake Como. We have decided to head for the Dolomites.

Got to a village called Teglio and spotted a brilliant camp. Parked next to a river, fast flowing with all the snow that had melted and made its way down from the mountains. As typing this I can once again see the mountains and their snow. Looking forward to being woken up by the sound of the river in the morning, will make a change from trains, church bells, cow bells and coach engines.

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Jan 11, 2010
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Well that`s our 13th year & still loving it.
Boo

Hi Patrick and Jan, love reading the account of your trip, getting mirrors bashed and discussions with the Swiss border patrol sounds a little more interesting than our "opps who forgot to lock the fridge door" as it swung open on the first bend allowing the garlic and onion dip to fly out and make a lovely mess as it rolled around...Tiggi said no worries I`ll clean that up...

Sounds like you are having a fantastic time....errr broke the table whilst standing on it to fix the what... yeah right, heard that one before, we suppose there isn`t room to get on top of the wardrobe so you thought we`ll give the table a try.....:man_in_love:

Have fun and keep them posts coming...
 
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Patrick

Patrick

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next stage of our journey

Sunday 18/04 we travelled to Lake Neuchael via La Neuville going through Boudrey and Grandson. Headed to Lake Luzern via the back roads and mountains. Some marvellous and breath taking scenery to be seen. Passed through Kusnacht, Weggis and stayed at Vitznau. Parked overnight in a lay-by not far from the Marina overlooking the lake with views of the lake and snow capped mountains in the distance. This has turned out to be our best overnight stay of the holiday so far, but am sure there is more to follow.

Monday 19/04 Packed up and set off for Andermatt by St Gothard Tunnel. Had to stop off to do a little Aldi shopping though first.

We watched the news this morning 18/04......Boo Hoo if your flying on your holidays....sorry! meant to say "if you’re not flying on holiday"! We got the ferry on the right day we think, as it seems it was bedlam at Dover from Thursday.

It’s 12.15 pm on Monday, we are sat having a full English at the foot of some great mountains just before the Gothard tunnel. It’s amazing the whole journey so far. We are planning to go down to Yugoslavia for a look about then come back to Italy to meet the others at Lake Como.

Once again we are logged in to some kind Swiss person’s wireless internet


Will keep you up to date when we have internet.

Monday 19/04/10

Arrived at Locanno, Lake Maggiore. Parked up at a campervan car park. This was located behind a coach car park by the Lido at the Marina. 10F for 12 hours stay. Arrived at 6pm ……ooophs does that mean we are getting up early??? There were about 8 motor homes already parked up, most of them belonging to the Germans. We walked into and around the Lake and got an icecream cornet…yummy. It was a lovely Marina with quite a few restaurants. Once again the Lake had that magical backdrop of the Swiss Mountain peaks covered in snow. The town you could imagine it being very busy in the high season.

Tuesday 20/04/10

The next morning at 6am we were woken by a considerate coach driver constantly revving his engine for close on ¾ hr. Just as well it was our wake up call to move on. Looked out of the van window to the start of yet another glorious day and not a sun bed with towel on in sight.

Set off for Italy. Decided against Slovenia the night before. We were unprepared plus the sat nav wasn’t programmed for that country. Before we reached the Italian Border we found a tranquil place on the edge of the Lake. We got the chairs out and had lunch and then decided to catch a bit of the afternoon sun. Sitting watching some lizards basking in the sun watching us basking in the sun.

Turned out the Italian border was only about 500 yards away from our lunch stop over. Pulled over by the Swiss border patrol with problems regarding our road pass. Seems that we should have had a heavy vehicle 5000 ton pass of 25e instead of the 30e car pass. The car pass obviously lasting longer but seeing that we had only stayed in Switzerland for 3 days we seemed to have got that wrong. However in saying that we just left it to the border patrol on entering Switzerland to charge what he thought. Anyhow the security were fine, they explained all and told us what to do next time and waved us off on the rest of our journey.

Came out of a short run down tunnel into Italy. The tunnels maintenance and upkeep a sharp contrast to the tunnels of Switzerland. Very narrow roads where we would have to take it slowly and in some cases cars would have to reverse to let us through. But one Italian van driver too busy on his phone knocked our wing mirrors as he passed us.

The journey took us round Lake Como. We have decided to head for the Dolomites.

Got to a village called Teglio and spotted a brilliant camp. Parked next to a river, fast flowing with all the snow that had melted and made its way down from the mountains. As typing this I can once again see the mountains and their snow. Looking forward to being woken up by the sound of the river in the morning, will make a change from trains, church bells, cow bells and coach engines.


Wednesday 21/04/10. Set off up into the mountains. Stopped at the Aprica Ski resort for fuel and groceries. Had yet a further stop at the base of ski resort. We were in need of topping up with water so we filled the van and then Pat took the opportunity of giving Miss Daisy yet another wash. Seems like Miss Daisy gets more of a wash down than \Patrick does these days. Did a few more miles and stopped off at \Ponte Di Leggno ski run for a cuppa. It was deserted due to the snow starting to melt. We got out and took a walk on the ski run. \Pat went off the run and found himself up to his knees in snow much to my delight. Off we went again. Pat negotiating those treacherous hair pin bends and the narrow lanes. All rather nerve wracking when all you can see the vast drop down the side of you. Pat by the way is a marvellous driver who gets very frustrated at the moment when he sees the Italian drivers hogging the road whilst talking on their mobile phones. He seems to forget the times he has me hiding my eyes with my hands as he takes photos out of the window while driving or setting his sat nav. He seems to take all this in his stride though, even the reading of a map with his head down.

Well we decided to stop over on the edge of a |Hotel high up in the mountains. On one side of us we had the Valli Giudicare Nature Park and the other side was the views of the Dolomite mountain range. Went to sleep that night with the fresh air blowing through the windows of the van.

Thursday 22/04/10

Woke up once again early and the sky looked promising. We took our time cruising through the mountain ski resort villages enjoying the scenes. We are on our way to Trento. Drove past a camper van parking site in Ponte Arche and as the day was so promising decided to give driving a miss for the rest of the day and set up camp. So we pulled into the car park and parked up between about 5 other vans all being Italian. Right next to a river and a forested view on the other side. It turned out to be a national park once again on the other side of the river. A beautiful park accessed by new wooden bridges. There were two guys at the base of the bridge who were petitioning against drugs and asked for us to sign their petition. Well we signed their petition and then realised we were also being asked for a donation towards the rehabilitation centre across the bridge. Well the smallest amount was 10e which we duly gave. It all made me smile though thinking about how Patrick would have reacted if asked in England for this very donation and what his response would have been.

The weather was gorgeous and we sat out side in our chairs and got a bit of sun. Had a BBQ in the evening and then took a leisurely stroll into town before returning to the van and settling in for the night.

Friday 23/04/10 Woke up late in comparison to the past mornings. We are setting off for Trento. So we replenished our water and off loaded our waste and off we went. It was an overcast day, quite humid and with rain clouds threatening in the distance. Diversion route to Trento took us past Lake Molveno. A small but beautiful lake with a walking track right round it. Progress was slow due to a cycle race event that was being held over a 3 days period over the mountain. Found an aire at Molveno, 20e waste dump, water fill, electric hard standing play area and bbq area room for 40 motor homes. Well lit, centre of town, 100 mts from lake. The town it self was very quiet, few hotels. We had a short walk round, noticed people fishing. There where also pedalo’s and mini golf but the town itself seemed deserted. Further up the mountains there was a go karting place. Would certainly recommend this town, it was such a shame that we hadn’t covered enough ground before finding it; otherwise we would have stayed over. 5km p the mountain is the ski resort of Andalo.

Made our way to Lido de Jesolo. We encountered our first bit of rain. After going through the town and finding no parking we decided on staying over at a campsite. So we picked Vista Marie Campsite at Capitaneria Di Porto. Unfortunately for us all campsites, and there were many in that area, where all not open for the summer season as yet. So we parked up at the entrance of the campsite for the evening. It rained all night.

Sat 24/04/10 Woke up once again to overcast sky and slight rain. The Vista Marie Campsite was actually on the beach front so we had a stroll on the beach before our drive.

Heading for Venice and we have decided to park up at a campsite so we can leave the van securely and enjoy Venice. Got to Venice approx 11.30pm and found what is an Aire at Tronchetto. When you come over the bridge it is on the right. Approx room for 40 vans costing 21e for 12 hrs and 16e for every 12hrs after. It has electric hook up and water. Walked over to the port to see the big liners that had docked. Then took the “People Mover”, a one stop overhead electric tram costing 1e that took us to the start of the Grand Canal. Walked through Venice and over the bridges. Ended up in the square where there was a big queue for St Marks Basillica. Then we took a water bus ride, costing 6.50e for a 60 ride through the Grand Canal. Got off at the stop for the “People Mover” to get back to the van. The rain had stopped early afternoon and the sun came out for the rest of the day.

Well the plan was to rest and then go back into Venice and to be “wined and dined” but what do they say “all great plans” and all that. No sooner had the kettle boiled then Patrick set out around the campsite cuppa tea in hand to apparently see what was what. Time passed and lo and behold Patrick returns with people in tow. Turned out he had got talking to some Aussies. They were 4 Australian teenagers taking a gap year out of Uni to do some travelling. They were travelling in an old transit van, they had picked up from Gum Tree in England from where they had started their journey. Further conversation led to us finding out that the MOT was out of date since starting their journey. Their van was certainly a sight to see. Inside at the back end there was boards that had a bit of a mattress on and that was the bed for all 4 of them. They had an old fridge that had seen better days and an mfi wardrobe that not only contained there clothes but also their provisions. The only water they had came in bottles that they bought. Sanitation was either the toilets provided where they stayed or a private bush. They lived on baked beans and ravioli, whatever they could warm up on a one ring burner. The ceiling of the van was decorated with graffiti from previous owners to which they had added their own artwork. They had already travelled Spain Morocco and France and where now in search of snow to do some snowboarding. So they where warmly welcomed into our van, this being about 5sh and it wasn’t till midnight that they retreated to their own van. In between this the girls accepted our hospitality of being able to shower. It emerged as the evening went on, that they had got onto the car park hoping while maintenance was being carried out hoping that they could lift one of the temporary gates. As the days went on the maintenance crews had secured the gates and the only chance they had was to tail gate a motor home through the barrier to escape the charges. Bearing in mind they had already been on the car park for 4 days if this failed they were due to pay a hefty parking fee.

Sunday 25/04/10 Sun was streaming into the van at 8 am and it brought the promise of a lovely day. Once again Pat got out the hose and Miss Daisy got yet another wash. The Australian teenagers came round for a breakfast of bacon and eggs which they devoured with quicker speed than even Pat could manage.

Our ticket was due up at 11.30, so just before that we proceeded to the barrier with the transit van close on our heels. Success, they got through right behind us with no problems and off we all went on our different destinations.

We were heading down the coast with Rimini as the general direction. There was quite a bit of traffic that slowed us down, all due apparently to the good weather and sets of traffic lights further ahead. So we pulled over from the road, put the kettle on and got the chairs out. Better to get some sunshine than just sit in a traffic queue.

When the traffic settled we got back on the road, not travelling far before we saw some motor homes parked up. It was the village of Mesola and there was an agricultural market going on. We strolled round the stalls tasting and buying cheese meats and wine.

We had parked in the car park of a store that sold furniture and also sim cards. So we have now purchased a sim 24e for 100hrs of internet. Problem being is that it is all in Italian so, so far we have been unsuccessful with connecting.

Decided to stop off at a designated camper van car park at Mirablandia, set between a McDonalds on one side and the Italian version of Alton Towers on the other. A gravel pitch with no amenities whatsoever and only occupied by Italian Motor homes. So it was dinner al fresco with the meats, cheese and salad from the market that day. Trying to do my best to help Pat with his diet. The salad I had made, was a Italian dressing to which Pat covered with mayonnaise. After his first mouthful he enquired was there any chance that I could fry the meat a bit, to which I declined. Then after only a few attempts at the meat he decided to give up. Said he would still be chewing it in time for breakfast. He then added, that was most probably why all the Italians where going next door to McDonalds as they were fed up with raw meat. So after minimal sulking he ate his salad up and then was happy when it was followed by profiterole courtesy of Aldi.

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hilldweller

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These people are having Too Much FUN.

If they keep this up there'll be none left for us :cry:

If you see TRUMELBACH near Interlaken don't go hurtling past, stop and do the tour. Perfect time with all the water about.
 
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Patrick

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These people are having Too Much FUN.

If they keep this up there'll be none left for us :cry:

If you see TRUMELBACH near Interlaken don't go hurtling past, stop and do the tour. Perfect time with all the water about.


Will google that and have a gander and will let you know. thanks
 
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Patrick

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Well as the evening went on I think having a big McDonald’s sign within sigh became too much of a temptation for Pat. So off he went following the Italian campers route to Maccy D’s and got himself a big Mac.

Woke up bright and early and received a visitor. Chuffing hell 15e for the privilege of just parking on a bit of gravel. No water, no hook up and no waste dump. Oh we were well miffed about that one. You see upon entering there was absolutely no sign of having to pay and as there were no amenities to be seen we thought we wouldn’t have to.

We thought we would grab ourselves a coffee at McDonalds and use their connection for internet. But apparently this facility is for Italian people only. However the kind staff with their broken English and directions told us to go back towards Ravenna a place called Ponte Nuevo for a Tim Centre. Tim being the phone network. So off we went and paid 25e for it to be configured and voila we now have connection. This means no more of Patrick kerb crawling local Hotels trying to sneak onto their connection, we now have our own.

Drove through Rimini, gosh this was a nightmare. It was busy with traffic and this is pre tourist season. So we drove onto the next town of Riccione. Found a discreet corner on a car park next to the beach. Had lunch and decided to do some sunbathing. The beach was practically empty apart from locals and workers getting the beach ready for the onslaught of visitors. Walked the beach for quite a distance flanked by the sea and hundreds of sunbathing chalets and hotels. But hey that’s no problem to us when we are about the only guests this resort has for the moment. We decided to stay over and Patrick was reminded of his promise of the dinning out. So kitchen pinny was put away that night and the glad rags were brought out. So off we went looking for a place to eat. Well the problem was that being the only guests in the town most of the places where closed. But we eventually found one and we had an enjoyable meal.

Tuesday 27/04/10 Yet another sunny beautiful day. Okay yes we maybe parked up in a car park but we can see the sea. Decided to stay here for yet another night and tomorrow get up and move onto San Marino and perhaps a quick drive though Cattolica.

Its great having no time limits on anything, just deciding as and when as the mood should take us.

Oh forgot to say, Pat received a text via the pc from the place he bought the sim card from, to say he had left his driving license card there….oophs!

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hilldweller

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. So we drove onto the next town of Riccione. Found a discreet corner on a car park next to the beach. Had lunch and decided to do some sunbathing. The beach was practically empty apart from locals and workers getting the beach ready for the onslaught of visitors. Walked the beach for quite a distance flanked by the sea and hundreds of sunbathing chalets and hotels. But hey that’s no problem to us when we are about the only guests this resort has for the moment.

What a difference a month makes. We stayed end of May and it was just nicely heaving. Beaches we pretty empty but as you now know it takes half if Italy to fill them, but the restaurants were full. I remember a great Chinese well into the town, on the far side of the railway.

Then our next stop was Garda.

Take care in San Marino. Dim memory says it was a bit twisty but well worth the journey. Don't go looking for the San Marino Grand Prix track like we did, that;s in Riccioni.
 
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latest travel news

Wednesday 28/04 Thought we would try out the nudist beach at Lido de Dante….whooo hoooo!!! Found a site about 500 yards from the beach. Site is a grass field with a water supply and only 6e. The beach is not as good as the previous one we had stayed at and also there wasn’t a nude in sight L. So we sunbathed and we walked the length of the beach. Pat did his normal walk around site when we got back and had got talking to an English couple. Ray and Jan who were full timers and were en route to Greece. So we sat outside and Jan helped us to plan our route. Once again the plans have changed and we have decided to go inland. So there we are sitting in this field and all of a sudden there are millions of mosquitos. Turns out the field backs onto a stagnant pond. Oh that’s done it for me; the little buggers absolutely love me. I have tried every potion and lotion known to man and they still chomp away on me. We decide to get off and start our inland travel early. So 7pm sees us driving to Firenze (Florence). Drove till about 9sh and pulled over in a car park. Don’t know where we are but it’s a lovely little village. Its funny how since we have left the mountains the camera had been in little use and our travel log was not very lengthy. We had missed the greenery and welcomed the drive back through them.

Thursday 29/04/10 Another beautiful sunny day. Just checking the bbc news coverage, we are hoping to hear of rain in UK ha-ha!!!
 
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Hi Guys

Great to hear that its sunny it Italy. :Cool: We're waiting in Canterbury for our ferry on the 6th.

Can you let us have more details on how you got your computer configured? Does it allow you unlimited internet access or is it time limited?

Enjoy:roflmto:

Bill & Carole

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Patrick

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Hi Guys

Great to hear that its sunny it Italy. :Cool: We're waiting in Canterbury for our ferry on the 6th.

Can you let us have more details on how you got your computer configured? Does it allow you unlimited internet access or is it time limited?

Enjoy:roflmto:

Bill & Carole


We bought a data card for 24e from MercadoUno giving us 100 hrs internet but no download limit. Even though Pat does IT as all the instructions were in Italian we had to take it to a TIM centre (tim being the mobile network provider) and they charged us the 25e for configuration.

If you had bought it direct from the TIM shop they would have configured it inclusive of cost of data card.
 
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We had stayed overnight at Portico Di Romagna which is in the National Park. We set off about 9sh and our travels took us to a mountain pass on the SS67 Localita Muraglione, or to us, the “top of the world”. Of course we had to get out to admire the view and take some photos.

We drove through Florence (Firenze). The traffic and the way they drive omg give me the mountain hair pin bends anytime. There is the triple parking, or the motorist who just sees a small space and decides his car is going in there whether it fits or not. If it doesn’t fit then they leave the car sticking out at precarious angles. And then there are motorbikes and scooters, Pat calls them kamikaze rats. Pat said it is amazing how wobbly they get driving after they have had a wing mirror hit their head.

Called into an historic village Cescina, parked up and had ourselves a coffee and pastry in one of the little shops. There was a few old buildings there that would have earned a photograph being taken off, but this was when we found that our camera battery was dead, oh dear!!

Onto Pisa, we really should have learnt our lesson from the traffic in Florence. Once again, between the traffic the parking and the kamikaze rats it was a hectic drive. Managed to get a brief view of the leaning tower of Pisa by inadvertently driving through a restricted traffic zone, much to the bemusement of the local police.

We decided on Lavorne as our stop over for the night. Bypassed 2 sostas in favour of a rocky space on the edge of a cliff in a place called Antagno.

Friday 30/04/10 We intend on doing a lot of miles today and try and get past Rome. On a whim we stopped off at a local market up in the hills. I (Jan) was fascinated by the local pet stall, all the pets just sitting in cardboard boxes. Drove to Lake Bracciano, where I believe Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes got married, the invitation must have got lost in the post somewhere. The Lake was small in comparison to some of the others we have been to, but this seemed least touristy out of them all.

We took the motorway for the first time. Oh what a difference in the journey. The roads were oh so smooth, unlike the bone rattling journey we have had on the normal Italian roads. Got to the outskirts of Rome and needed to come off for Lido Di Ostia. OMG the drivers once again. They force their way in into a one way slip road. This ends up with 2 lanes of cars, which should only have one lane and then you have the bikes.

We then drove along the Port of Rome coast, stopped off for a beach walk then resumed our journey. Went through Anzio and we ended up stopping overnight at Nettuno. We stayed in a carpark next to the Marina. Bad idea, we didn’t realise that we had also parked next to a coffee bar when the young one drifted in and out till eventually leaving at 4am. They decided to give our van abit of a shake in the process as they trundled off to their scooters.

Sat 31/04/10 The local dustbin men gave us our early morning wake up call. After a brief walk round the marina we hit the road by 8.30am with Herculaneum as our destination. Once again the traffic was horrendous and the roads, well where do we begin to tell you about them. Naples is a very shabby place and we struggled to get round it. We eventually found a car park next to Herculaneum. For some reason the admission that day was only 1euro. We spent a few hours walking around the ruins of the village until we were foot sore and worn out.

Decided to go to Pompeii. Struggled to find the ruins and decided to stay overnight at a sosta that was in our book. Found the sosta and the surroundings resembled Beirut on a good day. So once again off we went with Sorrento as our destination. The bloody sat nav, Pat seems to be having endless arguments with it. Especially after it sent us round in circles round Pompeii.

The route to Sorrento was so heavy with traffic that after what seemed like an eternity but was only a few hours we come off the road onto a lay-by. We had dinner and waited for the traffic to subside The traffic continued like this for hours, we had pulled over onto the road at 7.30pm and it cleared by 10.30pm. We were fine till we hit Sorrento and once again we hit the traffic. Where do they all come from at this time of night Patrick wonders? So we drove past and stayed overnight at Masa Lubrense.

Sunday 01/05/10 Set off round the Amalfi coast line. What beautiful scenery there was to be seen. The traffic wasn’t so much heavy but with the tight corners and lots of coaches meant that we all went at a slow pace. There were police and people directing and monitoring the traffic all the way along. We got as far as Amalfi and the police re routed us away from the beach. So off we went up into the Monti Lattari Mountains for our detour. It turned out to be in our favour as we took in some marvellous views. Came down into the town of Maiori and that’s where our near mishap nearly happened. Bearing in mind my driving expertise. I don’t do skinny (country lanes) roads or motorways at home. If a road is narrow my normal trick is to physically breath in, thinking somehow that that will make my car get through. Luckily enough though Patrick is a fantastic driver and has got us out of some tricky situations but even I had no confidence he was going to get us out of the one we got ourselves in. Or should I say the chuffing sat nav got us into. Well Pat had programmed it into not using the motorways but even we were not prepared for where it took us. We were heading for Salerno and it was taking us down back roads. Well it told us to take a turning and so we did. The road was narrow and as we proceeded through it, it got tighter and tighter. Patrick was vigilantly watching the wing mirrors and the back of the van with the tow bar. But our journey came to an end when up in front of us on this narrow one way road was an arch belonging to a house. The arch was about 6ft wide and 10ft high. No way where we getting through that arch. The top of the arch was the bedroom of the house and the guy was in it wondering how the hell this van was going to get through. I just did what I normally do and closed my eyes. Pat just proceeded to reverse at a very slow pace while I just kept my head down and pretended nothing was happening. Well with the help of a few locals Pat managed to pull it off. We breathed a heavy sigh of relief after that, oh btw I did manage to get it on video though. Perhaps I should put it on youtube??

So motorways got put back on the sat nav and we found our way easily to Salerno. Parked up at the Port car park and spent the afternoon sunbathing.
 

hilldweller

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We had stayed overnight at Portico Di Romagna which is in the National Park.

He thinks he's on the Mille Miglia.

This is silly. Italy is to be savoured, you've gone and done 10 years touring in a few days. For goodness sake slow down.

It looks like no-one told you it's illegal to take the Amalfi coast road in a MH. We found it mind altering in a Corsa.

There'll be nowt left of you and the MH to meet up in Garda.

For goodness sake, find your way back to Sorento, find a site. Take the bus into Sorento and explore it, buy a bottle of limoncello and drink it, it might slow you down a bit. NEXT DAY. Go back and take the ferry to Capri. Look at the gob smacking shops. Consider that the whole Roman Empire was run from there once and visit the villas.

Chill out.

At least you saw Herculaneum, did those Romans have STYLE or what. There's a campsite right outside the gates of Pompeii if you want to do that on the way back north. But I have to say that apart from the scale of it Herculaneum is much better.

We never got to see Vesuvius. Looks good on TV.

Lido di Ostia is great. Stop there, pay €4 to get the train into Rome. Walk in the steps of Ceasar.
 
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Some italy pic's posted

JUST POSTED SOME PIC'S FROM THE FIRST WEEK OF OUR TOUR IN AN ALBUM::bigsmile:

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Wednesday 05/05/10 Woke up to a bit of a cloudy day but we decided to get a little r & r on the beach. After half an hour it got cloudier. During lunch it rained so we packed the van away and off we travelled to Villa San Giovanni for the ferry.

It was so overcast by the time we were up in the mountains approaching VSG we were driving through clouds...

We got the ferry, 65e return ticket. Came off the boat and turned right up the coast doing Villa Franca Tirrena and turned off the coast at Terne. We were not that impressed with the drive along the coast line. However when we got up in the mountains that more than made up for it. The views were spectacular but the clouds seemed to have followed us and we were soon once again driving through them. Since starting this journey I seem to be coping with my fear of heights, but no way did I want to park at the side of these mountains. There drop beyond the barrier of the little you could see, was sheer. So we soldiered on and eventually came to a little village Novara di Sicilia and parked up for the night in the village square. The church bells chimed every 15 minutes right through the night while Pat slept blissfully with the help of a few voddies.

Thursday 06/05/10 Woke up to sunshine and got to really see exactly where we had parked. Right on the edge of the mountain and the views where fantastic. By 7.30 am Pat and I were walking through the town happily snapping away with our camera. Bought some vegetables from the local shop and the kind shop keeper threw in some freebies of chilli and basil. But there was one kind of fresh produce that I was not so eager to sample. There was a van going through the village shouting in Italian through his tanoy. As he parked up by us I could see inside the van cages of live chickens. People where going up and purchasing their poultry and the driver was twisting their necks. And off the villagers walked with their dead chickens being dangled by their broken necks...

Set off for Mount Etna. Once again we were up and down and side to side on the mountains. At one time Pat pointed out the zig zags on the roads, informing me that was where the roads had moved. As you can guess that didn’t comfort me a lot to know that on our journey to Etna. On the mountain roads we had to come to a standstill quite often as cows just appeared round the corner with no sign of anyone herding them. We stopped off at a pipe in the mountain where passing motorists were filling up their empty water bottles. The water tasted so pure, it was such a shame we couldn’t get a connection on the pipe otherwise Pat would have had our tank full of mountain spring water. Mountain goats just grazed next to the road as we continued on with our trek.

The journey up to Mount Etna was ear popping. Our destination was Reifugio Sapienza the highest point you can drive to. The nearest town to this is Zafferana. We are 10,000ft above sea level so you can imagine the sights to be seen. We donned our thermal trousers, warm jackets and off we went. How surreal to go within 24 hours from sunbathing in a bikini to our thermals. We walked around Crateri Silvestri but with the wind being so blustery and threatening to blow me back down to sea level I quickly walked back down. Pat enquired about the cable car and was told due to the clouds that the car was not going to the summit today. But in the morning it is usually better conditions. So Patrick is doing the cable car and a 4 x 4 to the summit for 50e. He is doing it by himself as I think that closing my eyes for the entire trip would be a waste of money.

Staying overnight at Mount Etna in the car park of a Hotel, alongside an Austrian Motor home that we have befriended.

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