In desperate need of a holiday

A month has gone already? Yep indeed it has. What have we achieved? Some
things but definitely not all we had wished, but we are working on that.
The plan was to get all our belongings out of storage, this we did. Despite
a few broken and damaged items, insurance company paying out on those, we
have all our worldly goods with us again, just got to get rid on most of
them now!
We had some friends stay with us for a week, Kevin and Libby that we met in
Sicily, and they were a great help with doing some decorating and also
helping us at a local car boot sale. Well more of a motorhome garage sale
really. We loaded up their motorhome garage with quite a few boxes, and
piled the rest inside. It was a good day and we made £140 after costs. We
shifted about half of the stuff and we will do another when we get another
nice dry Sunday, this time it will have to fit in Noddy but it should do, we
hope.
Most of the house has now been patched up and redecorated apart from the
lounge that is floor to ceiling with furniture. The outside jobs have mostly
been done and the rest will be finished shortly. It helps that the weather
has not been too bad here recently despite all the bad floods elsewhere in
the country. We had a couple of unexpected jobs to tackle, a problem with
central heating and a leaking shower, but we have sorted those out now. It
does help having time on our hands so that we can do all the jobs ourselves.
The main problem we face at the moment, well one of them, is selling the
furniture that we can't hold on to. Some furniture and other goods are being
distributed around the family but we still have some large pieces to try and
sell. The trouble is that expensive solid dark oak furniture is just not
what people want at the moment. We have tried private, and also spoken to
auction houses but the word is that we might be only able to sell it for a
very low price. The plan was to not have anything left to go back into
storage but at the moment we might end up with a few things that we would
rather keep than just 'give away'. Anyway we shall have to see what we can
do.
The other main headache is what to do with the property. We have owned it
for 3 years and it has been rented out for the last two. We are quite happy
to rent it out again, but with rising mortgage costs it may prove
financially unworkable so we may be forced to sell it. We have had a couple
of valuations this week for selling it and we will be punching numbers over
the next few days to reach a decision hopefully by the weekend. Who says you
don't get stressed if you don't work!
Apart from all of the above we are of course trying to work out our next
move in the 'travelling' game. We have a few options but the most likely are
either to take Noddy to Portugal for the winter or venture further and jet
down to South Africa to catch up with everyone there. So despite the humdrum
goings on of sorting out our lives here we still have exciting short term
plans to look forward to.
Anyway, back to the grind!
Ciao
M&S

Its good to be back!?!

Well, we have been back in the UK for just under two weeks now, and I think
it has rained for 80% of the time. Not that we are complaining, we have been
very lucky compared with so many other people around the country where there
has been bad flooding. I think living in Noddy is definitely a good thing at
times like this as we can pick and chose where we want to be, and near a
river / reservoir is not top of the list!
It has been a busy time for us and is set to get even busier. A nice
relaxing weekend at my brothers to start of with, well relaxing as far as
one can with a young niece and nephew running circles around you, not that
we are complaining, just wish we were a bit fitter! Then it has been house
clearance time at my Mum's. With a move of house not too far in future we
have had to clear 30 years or so of 'antiques' from the loft, bedrooms, and
garage. Thankfully it is all done now, well all apart from a few 'small'
bits and bobs.
It is all good practice for the mayhem that will be our brief return back to
our house in Bournemouth. We move back in this coming Saturday, and then get
all our stuff from storage delivered on the Monday, and then the real fun
begins! We are just hoping there is enough space left in the house for us to
move around in! Our aim is to sell and give away everything in about 6 weeks
so that we can rent the property out again at the start of September, eek.
If we meet all of our objectives then we really will be travellers / trailer
trash, or whatever you wish to call us as all our worldly possessions will
be with us in Noddy! Well except for the odd thing that we will be giving /
lending to family whilst we are still in the travelling game, and which we
will try and reclaim at some point in the future, if we can!
After Bournemouth who knows, we don't at the moment. We have several ideas,
but nothing firm yet. We will try and get a plan together in the next month
or two. So, keep an eye out, we may just pop up on your doorstep, wherever
you are!

Ciao

M&S

The price isn't right

After our restful weekend at Cancale we moved on to Normandy stopping off at
Le Mont-St-Michel on the way. What can I say about Le Mont. Well it was very
busy and they wanted the princely sum of 8 euro to park in the car park on
the causeway, hmm not a chance! We really wanted to have a look around so we
drove back into the town on the mainland, found a spot to park and then
cycled back out. Le Mont was bustling, loads of coach parties, mainly
Japanese. We fought our way up the cobbled streets, past all the nice
tourist shops and restaurants, up to the abbey. We didn't go inside as that
was another 8 euro each, and it was packed. Instead we had a wander around
outside and made our way back down. The place was just too busy for us to
appreciate it. Never mind. After loading up the bikes we continued on to the
town of Villers-Bocage, our stop for the night. A strange town that was
flattened in the war and rebuilt, not the greatest of architecture, but
smart and clean. The camper stop area was fairly new too, next to tennis
courts, a couple of picnic tables, and two boules areas. It was also nicely
situated just next to the sewage treatment plant for the town, not nice when
the breeze blew the wrong way! Despite the whiff we retrieved our newly
purchased boules set, bought in Italy, and threw them around for a while.
They are quite heavy but we had good fun, probably not quite up to the
standard of the locals though!
As we didn't fill up with water at Villers-Bocage, wasn't free and you
needed an electronic card of some sort, we decided that we would stop off on
Tuesday at the resort town of Deauville up the coast towards Le Havre, which
according to our book had free water. We arrived and drove around in circles
a couple of times, then found the service point which was not in use as they
were building next to it and using the camper service as their 'works area'.
Change of plan required. We moved on and stopped off at Honfleur for a
wander around. It is a very pretty coastal town at the mouth of the Seine.
There was a large camper parking area, but you had to pay for parking, so we
found some nice free street parking not too far from the town centre and
wandered back in. The town is quite touristy, but despite the many
restaurants and some tourist shops it is very pleasant. The next village was
Riviere-Saint-Sauveur and the camper stop we were aiming for, free parking
but 5 euro for water! A nice village and the camper stop was full come the
evening.
Still with no water we checked in our book and found a cheaper service point
at Le Havre. To get there you have to cross the Seine. There are two toll
bridges near the mouth otherwise you have to travel a way inland for a free
crossing. We dug deep and coughed up the 5 euro for the main crossing, a
large bridge but not as big as the Dartford crossing and not as good value
either. Thankfully the directions for the service point in Le Havre were
good and we found it with not too much hassle. Sue purchased a token form
the tourist office across the street, 2 euro, and we filled up and emptied
out. Well we did eventually after having difficulty getting the service
point to accept our token. Some idiots, probably the local teenagers, had
shoved some things in the token slots, but I poked around and managed to
remove them, and the service point sprung to life.
We had originally aimed to stay at Saint-Valéry-en-Caux last night, but
there was no room at the camper parking, it was jammed packed. So instead we
continued on to our contingency stop at Veules-les-Roses, and were very
pleased that we did. The camper stop was next to a campsite on the edge of
the town and nicely done. The town was delightful. The seafront was okay and
had a huge sandy beach, but the rest of the town was great, a mix of all
styles of houses from medieval cottages to mid last century French town
houses. It had a great feel to it. Oh, and a great cake shop!
Today we made our way to our final stop in France Le Portel, just south of
Boulogne. You sometimes wonder if there are some Italians on the local road
sign committees in France. As we were approaching Boulogne Le Portel was
signposted as a left turn at a roundabout. The road headed away from
Boulogne back down the coast towards Le Touquet and there were no more signs
for Le Portel. After a few miles we turned around, and headed back to the
original roundabout deciding to instead continue towards Boulogne. A quarter
mile along the road, another sign for Le Portel, straight ahead, the
complete opposite direction! It is not the first time the French signposts
have left us confused, but thankfully they are infinitely better than those
in Italy.
Tomorrow we will be back in the UK again, so beware, lock your doors, we
might just turn up on your doorstep!

Ciao

M&S

Little Britain? The Computer says Non!

You might as well start the week off on a low point and aim high by the end.
That is certainly how this week has gone. Not bad things happening but
places we have visited and not necessarily the place it self but the theme
of the place.
On Sunday we headed for Limoges as planned but decided to divert at the last
moment and ended up at Oradour-sur-Glane, about 12 miles NW of Limoges.
Don't worry if you have never heard of the place, we hadn't either until we
were told about it. What is there? Well in a way nothing. Not since the
afternoon of 10th June 1944 anyway. This was the day that the passing German
army (SS I believe) rounded up the whole population of the town and any
unfortunate passers by, and executed them all. A total of 642 men women and
children were slaughtered that afternoon for no apparent reason, well none
that has ever been revealed. All that remains of the town is the burnt out
shells of the buildings and the modern monuments remembering the dead. If
you have a spare moment check it out on the Internet and read the story, it
is quite horrific.
There is a new town built up next to the old and thankfully a very good
camper area even though the camper facilities, water etc., were out of
order.
Monday was more upbeat even despite the gloominess of the weather. We took
in the town of Cognac, you have probably heard of this one! A very nice
town, but sadly quiet and shut up. It was Monday, the 3rd day of the French
weekend. Why can't that catch on in the UK? We could have had a tour of the
Hennessey distillery but chose not too, not necessarily due to the price,
but just that we have visited distilleries and wineries before and neither
of us are cognac / brandy drinkers.
Ambling along the next day we came to the west coast and La Rochelle. Our
camper book listed free parking and we found it very easily. Unfortunately
so had the rest of the world and there was no space anywhere. So we headed
just back out of town to a retail park for some window-shopping. Eventually
by early evening we returned back into town and the car park had emptied
considerably. We found a nice spot on the edge of the parking looking onto
the large park that runs out from the town centre. The weather was hot and
sunny and we enjoyed a long and pleasant stroll around the town before
returning back to Noddy for some dinner and the surprise waiting for us. A
large number of road maintenance vehicles of all shapes and sizes. We
thought for a horrible moment that they were going to start digging up the
car park! Thankfully they weren't but instead later dug up and replaced the
main road outside the car park working through the night to just bearable
noise levels!
Another hot and sunny day welcomed us on Wednesday and we had another very
pleasant stroll around town before hitting the road after lunch. As time for
this trip was running short we thought it best to make slow progress back
around the north west of France and drove north in the direction of Nantes.
It was quite a different drive. Just after getting clear of La Rochelle we
got stuck behind a very large transport carrying a huge load, a 'Convoi
Exceptionnel', with police escort. Great we thought, especially as it kept
taking the roads we wanted. It was way to big to overtake, even on dual
carriageways it took up both lanes. After a while we kind of enjoyed it! It
made good progress and the police kept the road ahead clear. It became 'our'
convoy especially as we were the first vehicle following it. Trying to work
out what it was we eventually noticed the writing on the side of the
tarpaulin covering the load, 'Airbus A330/340'. It was a large part of
fuselage. Watching it negotiating the small towns on route it is quite hard
to imagine how they will squeeze the new A380 through! We had to let it go
on its way as we turned off and located our rest spot for the night, Corcoue
sur Logne. It was a new camper stop, 4 places with nice hedges separating
them. The village was nothing too special but the camper stop was very nice
indeed.
The great weather continued on Thursday, and we had a very nice drive
through the rolling Brittany countryside stopping at the very picturesque
town of Josselin on the Nantes-Brest canal as built by one Napoleon a few
years ago. What a lovely town indeed. It has made it on to our 'places to
live' list. Well to tell the truth Brittany as a whole is on the list.
'Little Britain' it certainly is in many ways. Firstly there are at times
more English cars on the road than French. Secondly there are one or two
English second homes here. Thirdly it is wonderful rolling countryside. As
to how many gays there are in the village I don't know! I asked the
computer, but it said 'Non'.
We must have wandered and wandered around Josselin several times, checking
out the prices in the estate agent windows, very reasonable they were too.
Originally parking next to the canal we stayed the night just into the town
at a car park where the camper service was. The canal was nice but the road
was noisy.
Dragging ourselves away Thursday morning we enjoyed more of the countryside
and found our way to the north coast of Brittany, Dinard, St Malo, and
eventually Cancale.
Cancale is a very touristy town, but it is known for its locally farmed
oysters, and we couldn't resist. You can either buy them from the 'oyster
market' on the quay, 5 or 6 stalls selling a variety of sizes of oyster.
Alternatively, you can do as we did and have a meal in one of the many
restaurants and enjoy them as part of a meal. We shared 12 oysters, fish
soup, and mussels. Delicious! We stayed the night in the Super U supermarket
car park, an organised camper stop, with twenty or so other campers.
Thankfully we arrived early in the day, by mid afternoon the town was
bursting at the seams due to a marathon taking place early evening. We went
and saw them off. It must have been quite a big event as the volume of
runners was very large. It took more than 5 minutes for them all to pass us
at the start.
Today we wanted to head back to St Malo, but we didn't get going very early
and by the time we got there on a hot and sunny Sunday morning, no parking.
We found a few spots but nowhere we wanted to park up. Instead we crawled
out along the coast and eventually found a very nice spot overlooking the
sea.
So, this afternoon has been a traditional one of feet up listening to Test
Cricket, Tennis, and Motor Racing on the radio. We can receive R4 LW and R5
MW here.
Only a few days to go now before we get home! The hard part is working out
where to go and what to do this week so that we end up in the right place
for early Friday morning! Oh, such problems.
Ciao
M&S

Rain, rain, go away, come again another day!

Rather than staying on a soggy site at Lugano we moved on. Even Lugano town
centre didn't look inviting on a grim Sunday morning. So instead we made an
alternative plan and diverted ourselves to Montreux and my Dad's new abode
there. The drive was quite a long one and should have been spectacular in
parts. However the rain dampened that one quite well. The pass we chose back
into Italy northwest of Lago Maggiore was on a very narrow road that cut up
the side of a fantastic gorge, over the top, and down into the Italy and the
town of Domodossola. Did we see much of it in the rain and clouds, no! Then
from Italy back to Switzerland we took the Simplon Pass. Great road, great
rain! We are not sure if we needed a Vignette (motorway toll sticker) for
the pass. At the start of the pass we stopped at the manned checkpoint and
there was a sign saying 'Vignette Compulsory' but the guy, who looked
extremely bored, manning the post just waved us on. We didn't intend on
buying one anyway as we were not planning to use any motorways during our
brief stay in the country. Safely through the pass we ploughed on and
eventually stopped for some lunch at the town of Raron, Sue made yummy
toasted sandwiches. There was a campsite there which we had thought of using
for the night, and the sun even made a brief appearance, but after
confirming with Dad we carried on and reached Montreux by 17h00, our planned
ETA.
We spent a very pleasant few days in the apartment giving Noddy a much
earned rest. The sun even made an appearance on Wednesday, all day. We took
advantage of it doing a tour around the surrounding mountains up to Gruyeres
and back. All the rain over the previous few days had fallen as snow up in
the hills. It made the whole area look very pretty, especially with some
blue sky to accompany it. We cooked dinner each evening using up supplies
from Noddy, and Dad treated us to a very nice Thai meal on Wednesday, many
thanks!!
It was very difficult to drag ourselves away from the luxury of a roof and
four walls on Thursday morning, but the open road was calling again. As
usual we had no firm plans of where we were heading long term. Our only plan
was to aim into France and Annecy for the night. We took the pass from
Martingy to Chamonix, nice but not spectacular especially as the clouds had
returned and the snow-capped mountains were fast disappearing. Eventually we
arrived in Annecy where we had planned to stay the night. One slight
problem, nowhere to park! The place was manic, not even a space for a car.
The camper parking we had hoped to use didn't really exist anymore. We made
a hasty alternative plan, turned north, and stayed the night near La
Balme-de-Sillingy in a new camper parking (Aire). It was not in our 2005
book of Aires. The one that was in our book was defunct. Another English
couple staying there invited us over for drinks and a chat after dinner, as
the weather was so wet and horrible. They were a delightful retired couple
from Torquay and we had a very nice evening.
In the morning we finally decided on a plan of action and set our sights
west with an eventual destination of the Dordogne. Last night we stayed in
camper parking at the cemetery in Poncin, the residents were very quiet!
Today we made quite a leap and are now about 80 miles east of Limoges at the
small town of Gouzon. We only managed to find the Aire here after Sue asked
for directions from the tourist office. It was not signposted at all.
Tomorrow we shall aim to reach Limoges and then decide what to do for the
next few days. Our crossing is booked for 15th June, under two weeks away.
We will probably stay around the Dordogne for a short while and then slowly
make our way up and around the coast hopefully reaching the Calais area on
the 14th, unless our plans change again of course!
Ciao
M&S

Head for the hills!

As usual our plans changed and we didn't leave the site at Cavallino until
the Monday. There was a good reason for this though. We weren't up to it! I
had a bad cold, and Sue had hay fever and a bad cold. A picture of health
the two of us! The weather was good, the site very nice, so we just relaxed
and only left on Monday when we felt a bit better, not 100%, but better.
We had decided that we wanted to head off into the Dolomites so we aimed in
that direction and ended up staying the night in a delightful place near the
town of Mel, Castello di Zumella. It was a bit off the beaten track a few
miles into the middle of nowhere on a very narrow up and down road, but a
very pleasant find indeed. It was quite a new camper sosta near Castello di
Zumello, a recently restored castle. It had free electric and fresh mountain
water, not to mention great views. It was only a shame that the weather
didn't hold otherwise we might have stayed there for a couple more nights.
Oh and we were running short of supplies too, bad organisation! Anyway, I
managed to give Noddy a quick wash before the rain settled in.
We hit the road again Tuesday morning and headed further north into the
mountains only making it as far as Agordo, after hitting a few shops for
provisions. The town of Agordo was very nice indeed set amongst some very
ragged looking peaks. We stayed the night in the overflow parking for the
swimming pool, as indicated in our Italian camper book. However, on taking a
stroll around the town we did see signs for another camper sosta but did not
manage to locate it, as it appeared to be quite a way out of town. So on our
way Wednesday we sought it out. It was down below the town in the industrial
area. It was a brand new parking area for campers with very smart water and
waste facilities. It would have been a nice spot to stay but not as
convenient for the town centre. We made use of all the facilities emptying
out and filling up and then proceed off further into the mountains.
Our planned route was up and over the Passo Pordoi (2239m) just north of
Marmalado the highest peak in Italy. It was a spectacular drive, a steep
climb with loads of hairpin bends. The views on reaching the top were great!
There were several hotels there, none of them cheap, and also a cableway
that went on up to about 2900m. We didn't take a ride on it, too expensive,
but I don't believe the views could have been that much better than they
were from where we were, although you probably would have got a better view
of Marmalado.
We had picked out a couple of possible places to stay that night, but none
looked great. We decided to move on a bit further and head into Trento. The
right decision! What a lovely place, 'the Painted City'. Many of the old
buildings are covered on the outside with frescos, some a bit faded, but
most were amazing. The town itself was a cool place to hang out, not
touristy, but very busy and lively. We stayed there two nights in a large
car park that had 5 places reserved for campers, just a few minutes walk
form the centre of town. When we arrived we met another English chap, Bert
from near Bolton. Retired and on tour for a few weeks in his 17 year old
motorhome on his own as his wife didn't fancy the trip. We joined him for a
cuppa (at about 17h00) and then after a lengthy chat and a few glasses of
wine the three of us headed of into town to find something for dinner (about
21h00). After a stroll around town we found a nice restaurant and had pizza
and wine. The pizzas were bloody great, and the wine wasn't bad either! A
bill of less than 30 euros for the pizzas, a litre of wine, and a free
Limoncino (lemon liquor), not bad! We had a nightcap back in Bert's
motorhome, more wine, and then finally retired to bed the wrong side of
midnight. We all slept very well!
Bert headed off Thursday morning, after his daily fry-up, and we went off to
explore the city. It was market day, which explained the mayhem in the car
park. The weather was scorching, 35C. We retired to Noddy for lunch and had
an afternoon doze in the heat. When evening came we went back into town for
another stroll. We wandered for ages and eventually decided to have a drink.
Two bars and a few Spritz (sparkling wine, Alperol, soda) later we couldn't
resist another pizza! No wine this time though after our drunken night!
From Trento we headed northwest, back into the mountains, eventually ending
up at Sondrio. Not a very pretty place, but there was camper parking
allocated next to the tennis club, so it suited us for the night. It was
festival weekend and we came across a band (pop) setting up on a stage doing
sound checks. After dinner back at Noddy we returned to see if they were
playing. Unfortunately the group we heard, not bad, didn't appear to be on
until getting towards midnight. The early bands, we listened to 3 of them,
were err interesting. I think we must be getting old! We gave up at about
22h00 and headed for bed.
The heatwave we had been having for the last few weeks finally came to an
end today. Much cooler and wet! Our route took us to lake Como, well we
think it was there, couldn't really make it out in the rain. I think we will
have to come back this way some time and check it out when the weather is
better. We had planned to go to a campsite near Lugano at Melano, but
weren't sure about it if the rain was going to set in for a while. The day
gradually brightened up in the afternoon so Lugano it was. The site is right
on the lake about 10 miles south of Lugano. We were thinking of staying here
a few days and getting a bus or train in. However we forgot one thing about
Swiss sites, tourist tax and environmental tax. The site which costs 14€
suddenly becomes 18.80€ with the taxes added. Oh and the rain has returned.
This evening, I think we will be putting our thinking caps on!
Ciao
M&S

Just one Cornetto .... and you can keep the Gondola .... Grazie

Just when you think it cannot get better, it does. Our next stop was a
little hill town in Marche called Mergo. Ann and Steve had told us about the
camper stop there, so we worked it into our route. It was well signposted
and in a very pretty spot too, just on the edge of the sleepy little hill
town. We had a great view out across the valley from the parking area. The
best bit though was free electricity, yes free, and a very usable 6A supply.
Just hook up and enjoy, all courtesy of the community of Mergo. We had 3
great days there. Noddy got a good clean, we seem to collect dead bugs on
the front as if they are going out of fashion! Sue did all the hand washing,
and we soaked up the hot, hot, sunshine. Mergo was small and has a very
sweet old part, not to mention the great views all around. Brilliant.
We eventually dragged ourselves away from Mergo on the Thursday, it was hard
but we knew we had to move on. Our route took us to the coast near Rimini
and then back inland to another sleepy hill town, Torriana, in
Emilia-Romagna. We were going to head into San Marino but the camper sosta
we were going to use was not available all day on Fridays so we had to find
alternative accommodation. We don't know whether it was pollution or just
atmospheric conditions but visibility was very poor and the sky a very dirty
murky blue / grey. It was still sunny though. You could see San Marino from
Torriana, in the haze, just.
A very nice German couple we had met at Mergo gave us a tip of a good spot
to stay for a night up at Comacchio, at the nature reserve there. So that is
where we headed to on Friday morning. Comacchio is positioned on the
northern edge of a huge wetlands area running inland from the coast just
north of Ravenna. The main industry there is eel fishing, and all along most
of the canals and along the edge of the lagoon are eel fishermen's huts with
their nets strung out in front of them suspended from a pulley system that
lowers and raises them in and out of the water. It is quite a sight to see
the endless lines of the huts and nets along the banks. After some hunting
around trying to find the nature reserve where the German couple had
suggested we could stay, we eventually, with a bit of a diversion, found it.
The direct route from Comacchio that our maps indicated didn't exist anymore
as the bridge it used, over one of the canals, had collapsed quite a while
ago, helpful!
Anyway, we got to the almost deserted nature reserve, parked, and went for a
walk to see the birds. It is apparently one of the most important areas in
Europe for migratory birds. Obviously we were not really there at the right
time of year, but we still saw some interesting birds, including quite a
large number of Flamingos. We were walking along enjoying the birds,
noticing that our legs were being brushed by a lot of grass. Looking down,
there was no high grass. There were however hundreds of mosquitoes, all in
the short grass, that is what was 'brushing' our legs! Bugger. We made a
hasty retreat back to Noddy. It was a shame, but what can you do? We didn't
fancy getting eaten alive. Instead we had a nice relaxing afternoon reading,
even though it was quite warm in Noddy, windows open, fly screens closed!
Ever slowly inching towards Venice we stayed Saturday night in Noventa
Vicentina, about 20 miles SW of Padova. We parked in the designated car park
with a camper service area, had a nice stroll around the town, not much
going on. On returning to the car park we noticed signs and banners that
indicated a running event might be happening on the Sunday. It did, and they
started setting up the barriers etc. in the car park at about 05h00 Sunday
morning, nice wake up call. We hastily packed up and made an exit while we
had the chance before the car park was sealed off for the day! Never mind,
it gave us a nice quiet early morning drive through the countryside towards
Venice.
We arrived at Punta Sabbiono on the end of the headland just east of Venice
by about 09h00. We stayed 3 days there in a sosta, 16 euro a night, but only
600m from the Water Bus stop to Venice. A 72-hour travel card cost us 30
euro each but that was for unlimited travel on the ACTV waterbus network
around the city, and we made a lot of use of it over the 3 days.
I wont say too much about Venice, you all know about it, don't you? We had a
great time, lovely sunny days, just wandering aimlessly around. We didn't go
into any churches or museums. Nothing is free and we have seen enough
already on this trip. When we were too tired to walk we just hopped on a
waterbus and watched the world pass by, very cool. We had a very nice lunch
on the island of Burano on Tuesday, a very pretty place, the houses are all
painted different colours, a bit like a huge Tobermory. Gondola ride? No
chance. They cost 80 euro for 40 minutes! That goes up to 100 euro at night!
After 3 days of walking we moved a little back along the headland to
Cavallino and a camp site for a couple of days, to rest our weary legs! We
had also previously arranged to meet Peter and Yvonne there, the Dutch
couple we had seen a couple of time on Sicily. We had lunch with them
yesterday and sat out in the sunshine. The weather has been great for the
last 2 weeks. Today, it is cloudy, but bright and dry.
We will probably leave here tomorrow. There again we might not. It is a very
nice campsite, and it is only 12 euro a night, bargain.
Ciao
M&S

The sun will come out ... tomorrow ... or will it?

Thank God we had our day on the beach last Sunday, the sun has been
distinctly absent since then, apart from the odd glimpse.
We moved a bit further up the coast on Monday to Petacciato Marina. Marina?
Well just a term for the coastal bit associated with an inland town in some
cases, not much of a marina in the true sense of the word this time. We knew
from our books of a possible place to wild camp there, and we found it no
problem, as had the 50 or so Italian motorhomes who were already there! It
was only a car park on the beachfront but it became a temporary campsite for
the holiday weekend (the coming Tuesday was Labour Day), quite a little town
in its own rights. We were the token foreigners until Tuesday when a couple
of German 'homes arrived. It was quite a pleasant place to stop, a lovely
long sandy beach and thankfully no rain, but not a lot of sun either. We
just hit the books and read the hours away, with the odd stroll along the
sand to break up the day. Tough eh? The place emptied out quite a bit on
Tuesday but a few Italians remained that night and with the two German
'homes we were not alone.
For a change of scenery we headed inland on Wednesday to the Abruzzo
national park and a campsite near the small town of Opi. We should have
known better! The clouds looked uninviting inland when we set off and by the
time we arrived at site we had already seen some rain. We settled in, a nice
site, surrounded by hills. We were the only ones there. We discovered that
there was no hot water for the showers, but were assured that it would be
fixed that evening. Not that we intended finding out as the rain hit and we
stayed firmly in the safety of Noddy.
The new day arrived after a very wet rainy night, and it was still looking
grim. Things got worse when we realised that we had left our shoes (pool
shoes) outside overnight and one of Sue's had gone walkabout! She was not a
happy bunny. She didn't cheer up much when I saw it in the distance and
retrieved it for her. It was a bit chewed, one of the resident dogs. I wont
repeat what she said. We almost upped and left, but decided to stay out for
a day or two. The Dutch couple, Peter and Yvonne, we had previously met were
due there on the Friday so we decided to stay to meet up with them again.
The rain returned again so we had showers in Noddy as there was still no hot
water in the campsite showers! Eventually by lunch time the rain had
stopped, and the site showers were fixed, hoorah! I made the most of the
break in the weather and headed off on foot to Opi to find the tourist
office to get some info on the park. It was a 4 or 5km walk and thankfully
the tourist office was open, the lad working there was very helpful. I even
bought a map of the park with all the walks marked on it. Thought it would
be useful, perhaps it will be sometime. I got a bit wet walking back to the
site, the rain had returned. It didn't stop all night.
Friday morning, it was still raining. We decided enough was enough. We were
leaving. I sent a SMS to Peter saying we were leaving and they were better
off going elsewhere as it was so wet where we were. We will have to catch up
with them some other time. Anyway, we had breakfast and packed up. Still
raining! We chose to drive up to the showers, park, get clean, pay and then
head off. I dropped Sue off and went to empty the wastewater and the loo.
Doh! No hot water in the showers. I got soaked doing the chores and no hot
shower to clean off in! To make things worse the owner was nowhere to be
seen so we couldn't even pay and leave. Plan B. We hooked up to the
electricity again and showered in Noddy, one problem solved. Still no owner
so we couldn't leave, they had one of our ID cards. Eventually by lunchtime
the owner retuned. We had a bite to eat, paid our money and hit the road. It
could have been very nice there if the sun had been shining, the showers
worked, and Sue's shoe hadn't been munched. Never mind, all part of the
experience!
Our next stop, anywhere the sun was. We headed north, ending up in L'Aquila.
Again our books showed a free place to stay, but after finding it we found
it full of Italian 'homes, a touring club. Thankfully there was another
possibility in the town and we got a spot there instead, free also. It
wasn't sunny but it was dry so we ventured into the old town for a look
around, and very nice it was too.
Another day, and another plan. We missed the town of Spoleto, in Umbria,
last year when we were around these parts so we thought we would check it
out this time. Silly mistake, the camper stop we were looking for in the
town we eventually found but it was not very nice at all and the town was
way too busy to find alternative parking. So Spoleto we will see next time!
Instead we ended up in the nearby hill town of Montefalco and an excellent
camper stop! A large free parking area on the edge of the medieval town with
good drinking water (10c per 10l) and electric (10c per 6 min) and a great
view of the valley and hills beyond.
We had a stroll around the town and even paid, yep us the people who don't
pay, to go into the museum and see the stunning frescoes there. Well worth
the money, but sorry no pictures, not allowed, so if you want to see them
you will have to come here yourselves!
Our little spot in the car park with the view was too good to leave today,
so we sat in the sunshine and read our books listening to all the birds
chattering away in the trees around us. Yes sunshine I said. It was very
nice indeed, well until the thunderstorm and heavy rain arrived of course!
I will leave you with a passing thought. We always say we are pleased when
we are wild camping if another motorhome arrives to keep us company. What if
the occupants are serial killers praying on lone wild camping motorhomes?
Hmmm.
Ciao
M&S

The Trulli, the whole Trulli, and nothing but the Trulli

After sending the last blog from the roadside we continued on our quest for
the next place to stay for the night. We did have ideas of hitting a
campsite on the east coast of Calabria near Sibari, but after eventually
locating it down a very rough and ready 'road' we changed our minds. It was
quite a busy site but not terribly exciting and seemed a long way from
anywhere. We did however bump into a German couple, the Norwegian Germans,
that we originally met at the Scarabeo site and then also at Giardini Naxos.
Seeking an alternative we ended up at Matera in Basilicata. We were heading
there sometime anyway and as we were not having any luck locating anywhere
else to stay it seemed like the best plan. We parked in a car park behind
the castle, official camper parking for 10€ per 24hours. There was water and
a waste dump there so it worked out quite well. The town was only a stones
throw away also.
After a nice restful nights sleep we headed into the town centre to locate
the ancient part of the town and the old cave dwellings, the Sassi. It was
quite a site to behold. The old dwellings were created originally back in
the Stone Age from natural caves or hewn out of the bare rock face. They
were lived in up until about 1950 or there about when the inhabitants were
'evicted' due to health and sanitary reasons, or if you want to be cynical
so that the area could be turned into a tourist attraction. The Sassi are
now a UNESCO site, which obviously explains the rubbish that litters all of
the old Sassi. There are a couple that are shown as they would have been
lived in during the last century but the remainder seemed to be used as a
good place to chuck all the rubbish, quite appalling! Anyway, the ancient
town was still very impressive even the 'newer' areas of it. As we did not
want to pay for another night in the car park we headed off again in the
evening and parked for the night across the gorge that runs past Matera with
a great view back of the Sassi and the town with the setting sun behind it.
Wednesday was Liberation Day, a public holiday. So being the sensible people
we are we headed to a major tourist spot not even thinking that it might be
a wee bit busy, Alberobello and the Zona di Trulli. The Trulli are small
stone built huts, they look a bit like African mud huts, and they date back
to well quite literally a long time ago. There are loads dotted all around
the countryside, but the town of Alberobello contains the main
concentration. There are lanes of the things, some not small individual
homes but large multiple Trulli residences, and the ones in town are all
whitewashed, very pretty. Of course only a handful are still lived in and
there were many that were being 'restored', the remainder not surprisingly
were 'tourist shops' selling all sorts of 'Trulli' memorabilia and plenty of
other crap too. After we were all Trullied out we headed off to find a spot
for the night and found a nice one on the coast just outside Polignano a
Mare, at the harbour.
We were lucky to arrive when we did. It was very busy already and there were
a couple of Italian motorhomes there. During the afternoon if became busier
and busier with locals out for a drive and a walk on the beach in the
sunshine, glorious that it was. By nightfall it had emptied out again and
there was only Noddy and another motorhome remaining, nice and peaceful.
Thursday was a bit of a wash out. It started off very overcast and we
visited Ostuni the most stunning hill town in the south of Italy, or so the
guidebook said. It was OK but not very exciting, well not in the rain
anyway. After our usual afternoon search we found a place on the coast for
the night, just south of Polignano this time, and sat out the rain that
arrived. It chucked it down overnight, not surprisingly a sleepless night,
very noisy in a box in the rain I can tell you! It did however wash a lot of
the dust and dirt of Noddy, so can't complain.
Our next destination was San Giovanni Rotondo in the Gargano promontory, the
home of Padre Pio. Who? He was a local priest who had the stigmata on his
hands. He died in 1968 and was canonized just a few years ago. He is a very
big name in the Catholic church in Italy and thousands flock probably every
day in pilgrimage to his place of rest. There is a huge, and I mean huge,
hospital built there for the 'relief of suffering', the church in his name
which is again rather large with endless rooms out the back with all his
belongings and the history of his life, not forgetting his tomb of course.
There is even a separate museum. It is all quite a sight to behold! There
are glass cabinets that contain all his old clothes and mitts. The room that
he lived in is preserved as it was. Behind the main church is another
enormous modern church that I guess is used during the main pilgrimage that
occurs once or twice a year. After we had ingested all we could we headed of
to Monte Saint Angelo a hill town about 20 miles to the east. The main
attraction of Monte S Angelo is the Sanctuary di San Michele Arcangelo where
archangel Michael is said to have appeared several times back in the fifth
century. It is one of the earliest Christian shrines in Europe, and the
church is built down into and out of the rocks, very impressive.
After all the heavy sightseeing we needed a change of direction and headed
north across the Gargano through the national park to its north coast. The
drive up and through the forest was delightful especially as we saw
virtually no other traffic. Only the lack of anywhere to stop to take in the
views of go for a stroll (theoretical) marred the experience. Arriving down
at the coast we entered our usual hunt for a place to stay. We stopped for
dinner at the harbour of Lido del Sole and from there spied some campers
parked just back along the shore on the beachfront. We managed to locate
them and parked for the night. The sunset was amazing with the sun going
down on the sea to the west.
Today we just chilled on the beach with the locals. The only drawback being
all the sand that one transports back into Noddy. Sigh, one of the many
issues we face on a daily basis!
Ciao
M&S

Noddy has left the Island

Yes we have now left Sicily. Are we sad to leave? Yes! Have we had a great
time? Yes! Will we return some time? Most definitely, especially as there a
so many places that we did not get around to seeing. We did however manage
to defeat one foe at the eleventh hour!
Our last week was not our busiest I admit. That is what this business is all
about. We are not on holiday, this is our life, and there is no rush.
We are not the only ones who have left the island. Anne and Steve passed
through Giardini on Sunday on their way to get the ferry. We (us, Kevin and
Lib) popped down to the port in town where they were parked and had a final
chat and said our farewells. It was good to catch up one last time and we
will most definitely keep in touch and possibly even see them back in the
UK.
Just as one set of new friends departs another set arrives. The young Dutch
couple, Peter and Yvonne, we met at Scarabeo had been around the island and
came to the site in Giardini as their last stop before leaving the island
too. To mark the occasion we had a great BBQ on the Monday, and gave Kevin's
gas BBQ its annual dusting off, probably only it's second since they bought
it! We popped to the shops in the morning to get some meat, oops, it was
Monday, and the shops are closed! Thankfully we found another supermarket
that was open and we managed to get what we needed, disaster averted! This
is the life, you can pop next door for a BBQ have a few drinks and not have
far to go home afterwards, ideal!
After much boasting of cycling prowess at the BBQ Kevin Peter and myself
talked ourselves into cycling up to Castelmola Tuesday morning. It was a
great ride out, and the weather held despite the odd rumble of thunder not
long after setting off. I was wearing the yellow jacket so it was only fair
that I was first to the top! Coming down was cool, but unfortunately on the
run back through Giardini some dozy old sod opened his car door on Kevin and
knocked him off. He only got a couple of grazes, lucky. Peter and I did not
witness the accident as we a bit further ahead. We waited for Kevin for a
while but after 5 minutes we decided that he had either gone another way or
he had come off. The latter proved the case as he was already back at the
site getting first aid and 'sympathy' from Libby! You see it is not just me
who falls off two wheeled vehicles.
On Thursday we hit the Internet café in town. I went with Kevin and Libby,
as I needed to use their laptop on a wireless connection to do some online
banking. I also managed to have a chat with my brother via Skype, and he
even had the pleasure of seeing me via a web cam, isn't technology brilliant
when it works. Two hours or so later we returned to base to find Sue
wondering where the hell we had got to. The poor thing had been left at base
doing washing and cleaning. Well someone has to do it, don't they!
Friday was meant to be our departure day, but we didn't quite make it, and
anyway we wanted to cook a 'last supper' for K&L. I toiled over a hot stove
for most of the afternoon making Lasagne, and Sue made the pudding. The
lasagne was great, and the pudding was 'alternative'. The plan was to do
profiteroles but the cream wouldn't whip so we had chopped up ice creams
instead inside of the 'lovely fresh profiterole casings' and lashings of
melted chocolate over the top, very nice indeed. It was a great last evening
with our new friends.
Saturday morning was an early one. We wanted to get going as soon as
possible as we were heading for the ferry back to the mainland. Kevin and
Libby were also leaving but later in the day, as they were booked on a ferry
from Catania to Livorno. Our plans changed however on getting up as the view
to Etna was just too good, and its magic changed our minds, we decided to
have one last go. So we said our farewells first to Peter and Yvonne, we may
bump into them on our way back up through Italy as they are taking a similar
route to us. Then we said ciao to Kevin and Libby. We have spent quite a bit
of time together over the last 4 months, and were sad to finally part
company. Well we were anyway, they were probably popping the champagne as
soon as we had driven off!
Anyway, we are so glad we changed tack and headed for Etna, we had a great
time up there! We made the ascent in Noddy to the base station, no icy roads
to be seen, at Nicolosi Nord 1900m, and parked up with a few other
motorhomes. It was very windy indeed up there, and quite a chilly wind. We
were not sure if we would take the cable car up higher or not, but we
eventually decided to do it as we knew we would kick ourselves later if we
didn't. Cough, 51€ later we were elevated to 2500m via a wind induced
swinging cable car, interesting ride. Then it was on foot, couldn't afford
the 15.03€ each for the 4x4 ride, for a long hike up as far as you were
allowed to go without a guide (an extra 7€ each), another 500m to the still
smoking craters that had spat out a large cloud of volcanic dust only just 3
weeks previous, the day before we arrived at Giardini. You follow the road
that the 4x4 vehicles take, at places a 20-foot gully carved out of the
snow. It was quite a walk, but the sights were amazing. We took a 'short
cut' near the top across the snow instead of following the road all the way.
Boy that was hard work. We nearly turned back, but after passing a young
German lad who told us it was not much further to go and the hike was well
worth it, we kept on going. Thank god we did!
We walked round the edge of one huge crater that was still steaming away. If
you dug out a hole with your heel the ground was moist and very warm if not
very hot in places. Totally bizarre! The views around of the mountain itself
were fantastic, but it was quite hazy so the surrounding areas down below at
the coast were not so easily seen. It was well worth our 3rd attempt to get
there, just a shame that K&L never made it with us. Strangely enough it was
not at all windy up where we were.
After descending back to Noddy we decided to stop there for the night
despite the wind that was still blowing back at car park height. The view
out down on Catania below was superb, especially after dark and the haze had
disappeared, just shimmering lights in every direction. We are not sure, but
we think we saw K&L's ferry leave, or perhaps it was the boat that was still
in dock until much later. We received a text from them Sunday evening saying
that they were 5 hours late arriving, poor things, hope they found somewhere
to stop for the night.
After leaving Etna bright and early Sunday morning we made for Messina and a
ferry back to the mainland. As per usual Italian efficiency the ferry
boarding was manic and very tight for motorhomes. We used a different
company to the one we came across on. Next time we will revert back to the
former as this ferry was not very suitable for motorhomes. Anyway we had a
good crossing and hit the Autostrada aiming for somewhere up the coast for
the night, and Briatico was the place we found. It is a small village by the
sea on the west coast of Calabria. Not much here, just a car park on the
beach and an old Torre (watch tower). As usual for a Sunday the world and
his wife appeared for their afternoon stroll and some even took a paddle in
the water, summer must be coming. A German motorhome appeared late on so we
were not on our own.
Today we are off again, to where we don't know. We are stopped at the moment
in Falerna Marina to get some bread and have a coffee break. So I thought I
would finish the blog as the laptop battery died last night and it has been
charging on the move.
Ciao
M&S

What goes up must come down .... somehow

Boy we have had a busy week. After leaving the wonderful Siracusa we stayed
a single night wild camping at the small fishing village of Brucoli on the
southern edge of the Golfo di Catania. We eventually found a nice spot to
park on the beach just outside the village after quite a while driving
around looking for something suitable. It was nice and quiet and the village
sleepy, and in the morning we had a great surprise of being able to gaze
across the bay towards Catania and the snow capped bulk of Etna! What an
amazing sight, even despite the haziness. Although the weather was not
great, sunny with clouds looming we upped sticks, and made our way around
the bay, decided to give Etna a go, and made for the southern approach.
You will never guess who we passed on the road, coming down whilst we were
going up. Yep, Kevin and Libby! We knew from a SMS that they may be around
there somewhere but it was quite funny to suddenly pass them on the road. As
you can probably guess, we both turned around and then proceeded to pass
each other going the other way! We told them to stop just up the road and
after we had turned again and headed back we finally both managed to come to
a halt in the same place. The poor things had just come down from the car
park at the top off the road and were frozen, especially as the heater in
the cab was not working too well. They said it was cloudy up there and very
windy with quite a wind chill. We sat and chatted for a while with our
heater on full blast to warm them up. We parted and ploughed on up the road
in Noddy aiming to get to the car park our selves. Sadly we did not make it
all the way as the clouds engulfed us and it started to hail. We chose to
leave it for the day and go and find a site for the night instead, ending up
at Giardini Naxos just south of Taormina, and parked next to K&L.
We have been here for almost a week now. The weather at the weekend was
great, hot and sunny, and perhaps we should have tried another assault on
Etna. Instead we relaxed, wandered around the town, had a very nice weekend,
and decided to return to Etna in the next window of opportunity. Typically,
the weather changed and Etna was invisible underneath thick cloud for 2
days!
Eventually today the sky was blue and after some discussion we chose to
return to Etna on the Tourist Bus, i.e. with K&L in their van. It all
started very well, leaving at 08h00 and aiming to get to the car park on the
southern side for breakfast and then take the Gondola up and spend the day
walking in the snow. Things can go very wrong very quickly in a mountainous
environment, and they did! Icy patches started to appear on the road, but
they just looked like old snow that had been blown onto the road and crushed
by traffic. Then progressively it got worse and before we knew it the road
became impassable for us just after negotiating a hairpin bend with no
traction for the front wheels! Shit! I climbed out and examined our
precarious situation and we eventually decided our only choice was to roll
back down the 600m or so of icy road, including 2 hairpin bends, to clearer
tarmac and somewhere to turn around. It was touch and go for a while with
some scary slides but thanks to Kevin's prowess behind the wheel, me finding
the best parts of the road to use, and the girls on traffic duty we
eventually made it to a 'safer' place to try and execute a scary 32 point
turn! It very nearly went pear shaped during the turn with the van
lengthways across the road and spinning wheels, but after some good clutch
control and me with one hand on the bonnet and the other on the crash
barrier assisting the van backwards we made it. Phew, bloody relief, and a
lucky escape. We drove slowly back to a pull off and had breakfast and
contemplated our 'experience'. Plenty of coaches and cars seemed to pass
with apparent success, but motorhomes with front wheel drive and no studs or
chains don't do icy roads, not now, not ever. We did have a great day out in
the end after visiting Zafferana Etnea and the amazing lava flow from 1992
that stopped just short of the town.
I think Etna will have to wait for another trip sometime. Shame, but that is
the way it goes sometime. All the rain over the last couple of days
obviously fell as snow, melted, and then froze up on the mountain road. You
never know, we might get up there this trip, but at the moment even if you
get to the Gondola and get up the mountain it would be very, very, very cold
in the wind up there.
We will probably stay here until sometime next week after Easter as
everywhere will get very busy for the festival period. There is Taormina to
visit and Castelmola perched on the hill above it, and hopefully plenty more
hot sunny days to laze in.
Ciao
M&S

You can have your cake and eat it!

After a few days of showers and sunshine we left Avola and aimed Noddy
firmly in the direction of Siracusa, well after a short excursion to Noto.
Noto is a very pretty little town and reputed to be the 'capital of Baroque'
by UNESCO. It was rebuilt from scratch after the 1693 earthquake, as were
many other historic towns, but it stands out from the crowd due to the amber
coloured stone that was used for many of the prominent buildings. Sadly the
Duomo was undergoing a major overhaul and clad in scaffolding and closed to
the public, typical, but it was still mighty impressive especially in the
aforementioned amber coloured stone that it is built from. We had a
delightful wander, which did not take too long as there are only really two
main streets to see. Our tour was slightly extended due to our indulgence in
one of the many cafes. The trouble with cafes is that the choice of cakes on
display is too overwhelming and makes a decision mighty difficult to make.
Eventually we settled on a slice of baked almond ricotta tart and a slice of
baked chocolate ricotta tart, oh and a due cappuchini. What can I say,
delizioso! Suitably stuffed we rejoined Noddy and headed off to Siracusa.
We have been here now for 5 nights so far, wild camping at the Porto
Piccolo. This is the nicest city on the island as far as we are concerned,
and we have wandered around aimlessly on several occasions just taking in
the sights and the sounds, oh and the odd taste or two! The weather has been
great since we have been here, hot and sunny. We have managed to keep
ourselves 'busy' walking, reading, eating, and dozing. Thankfully there is a
nice laundrette just up the road and we got some much-needed washing done.
It is not easy to keep on top of it whilst wild camping without having the
facilities of a campsite to use.
Today we made a day trip inland to Palazzolo Acreide. Apart from being a
pretty little town, some of the buildings are alleged to have the longest
balconies in the world, quite a bizarre claim.
Tomorrow we will finally depart Siracusa and head further up the east coast,
not quite sure where too yet, but aiming towards Catania and perhaps inland
again to Enna.
Ciao
M&S

Normal service is returned .. whaterver that is

Well, after all the problems with the email, I can't remember what we have
been up to.
We indeed have eventually left our very nice site at Punta Braccetto,
Camping Scarabeo, highly recommended if you ever come this way. The rain did
stop and we managed to get the washing done and exited stage left on the
Monday (12th), seems like ages ago.
Anyway, we have been mostly wild camping since then. Firstly we camped at
Marina di Modica, along the coast east from the site, a nice small seaside
town. We stayed in a large car park with about 12 or so other campers. It
was a bit like a pikey holiday spot. It was safe though, the police came and
checked a few times a day that all was ok, and the bread man came every
morning in his van delivering his freshly baked goods. The weather was still
wet, both mornings we were there, but we did get a couple of sunny
afternoons. We then moved on a bit further along the coast to Maganuco, a
small hamlet just west of the town of Pozzallo. We stopped for a couple of
nights just off a nice sandy beach parked up with a couple of German
campers. The weather had totally cleared by then and it was nice warm and
sunny again.
No surprise when we found out that Anne and Steve were parked the other end
of the beach from us. We had bumped into a friendly Italian in Pozzallo and
he happened to mention that he had spoken to some other 'early retirees' who
were camped just out of town. So, after our two nights on the beach we went
and joined them for the weekend at the sosta that they had been at for
almost 2 weeks.
A guy called Peepo owns the sosta and he works at the harbour in Pozzallo.
On his land he has a couple of large old wooden boats that were dragged from
the sea not too long ago. Illegal immigrant smugglers had used the boats.
They buy an old boat for just a few thousand euros in North Africa, load it
up with hopefuls for a few thousand euros each, and then set sail for Sicily
to dump them off. The lucky ones end in jail, the unlucky ones drown. They
had all been unlucky on one of these big boats as the never made it to dry
land. The coastguards stopped the boat before it made land, so the 'captain'
of the boat made them all jump and swim for it to save his skin, 80 or so
passengers, they all drowned as they couldn't swim, men, women, and
children. Peepo keeps the boats as memorials to them. I think the 'captain'
is still locked up, and will be for some time. Sadly it is an all too often
occurrence.
Anyway, we moved on again a couple of days ago, and stopped for a night at
the harbour of Port Palo di Capo Passero, the most southern tip of the
island. It always amazes us with the seeming attraction of harbours to the
locals. There were endless streams of cars driving in, going to the end of
the harbour, turning around, and leaving. Why, we don't know, but they love
doing it. They don't stop or get out, or look at the boats, they just whiz
in and out, a kind of afternoon stroll without having to work up a sweat,
most strange. We stopped there for the night, and had a nice pizza at the
harbour restaurant just next to us, very handy. The next day we had a very
nice drive slowly up the east coast. The small fishing port of Marzamemi was
very pretty indeed. A haunt of the local upper crust apparently. We ended up
at the Nature Reserve of Vendicari, halfway up the coast between Pachino and
Avola. We had a very nice sunny day and a very nice walk around the reserve.
Our main reason to go there was to see the Flamingos, and we did. They are
most strange looking birds, but amazingly coloured. The European ones are
not all pink, but are white with a hint of pink, but their wings have bright
pinky red flight feathers, stunning. We saw plenty of other birds and
lizards on our walk. We stopped for the night where we had parked, just
outside the reserve entrance. It was very quiet that night, very quiet
indeed, pitch black, and not a soul for miles, just the sounds of nature,
cool!
Yesterday we ended up at Avola and joined Kevin and Libby on the site they
had been at for the last week. We had a trip out yesterday to the nature
reserve and gorge just inland from here. It was very nice, but a long trek
down into the gorge to the bottom and to the icy clear water pools. It was a
long trek back up again too! I won't say too much but one of our party
reached the top with a little less skin on their nose and forehead. Not to
mention names, but it wasn't me, but the other male in the party. It had
rained a bit while we were walking back up and the path was a bit slippery
in places, Kevin went face down. He is ok, and is milking the sympathy a
bit. Thankfully he was ok to drive us back to site as we were in their van!
Phew, back up to date again. Are we leaving here today? Don't know, its
raining again.
Ciao
M&S

Party Animals

Well I am getting even lazier! The trouble is that the 'more you do less'
then the 'less you do more', or sommit like that, and we have actually had
quite a busy week or so.
It all started last Saturday with the 'six' having lunch out in the
sunshine. Sue made some assorted bruschetta for starters, Anne a lasagne for
main, and Libby a salad - Libby doesn't cook much! After the excellent food
and a few drinks we had an evening of games. We started off with Jenga
outside, most amusing, and not easy when it got dark and we were playing by
candlelight. After retiring to Noddy for the evening, we played silly games
like pictionary. The girls had the better of the boys over the course of the
evening, but they didn't take winning gracefully, I think they thought we
let them win. Only the boys will ever know. It was quite ironic that even
though Noddy is the smallest of our 3 vans, he actually has the most room
for six people to lounge in.
The following day was a day of rest after all the 'excitement' of the day
before, not to mention a beer or two, Steve. The early part of the week
followed in the same style with some general lazing around in the lovely
sunshine. Thursday was market day again, in Noddy this time, and then off to
Lidl at Vittoria to stock up on a few things. It was a bit of a rush shop as
despite the Lidl advertising 'all day' opening outside they actually shut at
13h00 and we got there at 12h50. So we ended up doing a bit of a
'supermarket sweep', Dale would have been very proud of us!
On Friday, we joined Kevin and Libby for a stroll along the beach to the
next town along the coast, Punta Secca. I say along the beach, it was some
beach, then the scrubby grassy path above the beach, then mostly along back
roads in between all the poly tunnels that they grow all the fruit and
vegetables in. The town was deserted when we arrived, another place that is
only open for 2 months of the year in high summer. Thankfully there was a
café open so we fuelled up with a Cappuccino and set off for the return
journey.
Then another Saturday, and another luncheon, and this time for the whole
campsite. The owners had laid on a party for all the guests and did a BBQ.
They cooked huge Cumberland style sausages, grilled aubergines, made tomato
salad and also orange salad. The main event though was the Sicilian dish of
artichokes. We had helped wash them out in the morning, and then they cooked
them on the BBQ. They put salt and olive oil in the flower heads and then
place them bottom down in the hot coals and let them cook. They were very
nice but a lot of effort to eat for the amount of nourishment you get from
them, not to mention the black hands from the burnt outside. To follow we
had some delicious cakes. Small doughnut type cakes filled with ricotta, and
also Cannolli, a sweet crisp rolled tube filled with ricotta and pistachio.
The cakes were truly delicious. They even laid on red wine, water, and some
champagne. It was a fantastic day, and all gratis! After we had finished up
and some people had returned to their motorhomes, they took the remaining
dozen or so stragglers around the corner to the café and bought us a coffee!
Needless to say we are not in any great rush to leave here! The funny thing
was that it was probably Sue and my fault that it all happened. When we
originally arrived at the site and were chatting with Angela the owner we
told her we did not known how to cook artichokes and had not even tasted
them. Thus the BBQ, and all the trimmings.
To cap the day off, seven or eight Italian motorhomes had arrived in the
morning. When evening finally arrived, the music started! If you cant beat
them, join them. So we went and enjoyed the impromptu disco for a while.
Unfortunately we missed YMCA!
Sunday was a day of rest, well only after we had gone for a cycle ride in
the morning to the nearby nature reserve / park. We had to cycle the long
way round to get into the park as we were unable to find the entrance that
was allegedly just down the road from the site. We eventually got into the
park, cycled a bit, and then ended up on the beach next to the park. We
cycled back along the sand, which was hard work. We emerged from the beach
just down the road from the site in a rocky car park that we had earlier
been at not thinking it was where we should have gone. Never mind, it was a
nice outing.
On Monday we took the tourist bus, Kevin and Libby's van, to Modica. By the
time we arrived and found a place to park the sky opened and it poured down,
so we had a coffee and waited it out. When it had stopped it was still grey
and overcast but we had a nice walk around and even bought some of the
chocolates that the town is famous for. We will let you know what they are
like!
The Tuesday brought on the next lunch with a nice Dutch couple that had
arrived a few days earlier. The weather nearly put a 'rain check' on the
meal with the sudden arrival of a thunderstorm, but it passed quickly and
the day turned out lovely and sunny.
Today, hot sunshine, rest, phew!
Ciao
M&S

Life's a Gas

I must just be getting lazy I guess, over a week since I last wrote a few
words. It is just trying to find a few minutes in the day spare for it that
is the problem.
We have moved on a few times since the last entry. San Leone just down the
road from Agrigento was our first port of call. It was a nice enough site
for one night, and thankfully sunny weather to get 2 loads of washing done.
Neither the site nor the washing machine was very cheap, but it served a
purpose. Apart from getting washing done, the other reasons for visiting the
Agrigento area were the folk festival and the ruins of the Valley of the
Temples. Unfortunately we did neither. As the campsite was expensive we did
not want to stay more than a night and due to the festival there were no
options for wild camping in town. As for the ruins, the parking was 9€ a day
for a camper and then 6€ each for entry. Needless to say we gave it a miss,
well that is just plain daylight robbery. We have seen quite a few historic
sites so far and there was a nice place coming up on route in a few days
anyway.
So we instead headed inland and to the hills. We had chosen to visit some
volcanic mud pools on the way, but they were closed. In the end after a long
and very scenic drive up into the hills we arrived at the large hill town of
Mussomeli. We were intending on wild camping in a sosta parking that was in
the town somewhere. We stopped in a large car park to get our bearings and
check a town map but we had no idea where our destination was. We drove into
town and Sue asked in a Tabaccheria. Amazingly the owner spoke fluent
English as he had lived in London many a year ago. It turned out in the end
that the car park we had just come from was actually our destination, so
after a quick circuit of the town we returned and parked up. A few minutes
later Anne and Steve arrived. We just can't seem to get away from each
other!
Not long after parking and having lunch the weather hit. We ended up
completely enveloped in cloud and could not even see across the road. It
rained a fair bit also. Thankfully the air had cleared by morning and we had
a very nice wander around the pretty old part of the town. The views from
the height of the town were amazing. The area is mainly wheat cultivation
and was bright green with the newly growing crop.
The clouds were starting to gather again so we departed before they got too
bad and headed east to Caltanisetta where we thought we might park for the
night. We found the parking area we were after, right behind the main post
office, but it did not look too appealing. We just parked up for lunch and
then continued on to Piazza Armerina. Just outside P Armerina is the UNESCO
site, Roman Villa of Cassale, with its stunning 3rd/4th century mosaics. We
stopped off briefly to check how much and if they were open on Sundays, the
next day, and then moved on into town to find a campsite. We had heard of a
site from other travellers and were told to follow the 'Red Fox', on the
signposts. We did thus, and eventually after 20 minutes passing thru town
and out into the remote countryside we came across our night's stop. It
looked closed but we drove in and were greeted by the lady owner. The place
was in a typical 'out of season' run down state, but it did for the night
and we got under charged as well, so can't complain!
We returned to the mosaics the following morning, and they really are pretty
spectacular. Some of the scenes depicted are just amazing, and so much is
still in 'almost new' condition. A must if you ever come this way. One of
the most famous rooms has a floor with ten girls nicknamed the 'Bikini
Girls' as they are wearing very daring bikini like costumes that precede the
bikini by over sixteen centuries.
After 'doing' the villa we decided to head back to the coast as we needed
some sunshine and warmth after a couple of chilly nights inland. We aimed
for Punta Braccetto and a site that Kevin and Libby had told us about a few
days ago. They were still in residence when we arrived. Everyone on site has
there own private toilet and washbasin in a locked room, but the showers are
communal. The site looks almost new and is very nice indeed, and only 12€ a
night and 14 nights for the price of 11. So needless to say we will do 2
weeks here! The next day, who should arrive but Anne and Steve! We are all
doing the same loop of the island and trip over each other every now and
then.
Since being here, 5 nights now, we have not exactly tired ourselves out. We
visited Ragusa Ilba, 'we' being the six of us in Kevin's van, and the old
town was very nice although deserted by the time we got there. R Ilba is the
old town next to the new town of Ragusa. We have been into the market at San
Croce 5 miles up the road, on bikes, and got some supplies. Thankfully Kevin
and Libby drove in and then carried our load back to site for us.
The weather has been mostly sunny and warm but we had 2 days of very strong
winds, which cool things down a bit, but we can't complain. It is very nice
here, and the site owners are very friendly and helpful. We were presented
with a carton of tomatoes on arrival, and also an extra bag of 'freshly
picked that morning' tomatoes by the owner's Mama as we had told them we
liked the local fruit and veg so much as it was lovely and fresh. We think,
and are hoping, that they might show us how to cook the locally grown
artichokes this weekend. I wont mention the fun we had trying to get our gas
cylinder refilled locally, but lets just say it was an experience, and we
got 'some' gas.
Ciao
M&S

Born to be Wild

Yep, we are getting wilder be the day. I must point out that we are still
having a shower every morning, so we may be wild but we aren't smelly, well
not very.
After leaving San Vito we headed down the west coast past Trapani as we
didn't feel the urge to pop in to the city. The guidebook doesn't exactly
rave, and other people we have spoken to on our travels said it was not
really worth a visit. So, we decided to skip it and head for Marsala
instead. However we didn't manage to find anywhere suitable to park and
leave the van for a while so we just stopped for 30 minutes by the harbour
and had some lunch.
Our next stop was Mazara del Vallo reputed to be the largest fishing port on
the island. Again we only found temporary parking, at the harbour. We could
have stayed the night there but as there we no other campers we didn't
really feel safe, so we decided to push on and try and find an alternative
safe haven for the night. Fortunately we came across the small town of
Granitola Torretta not much further down the coast. There was a small
parking area right above the beach (rocky and covered with sea grass) and
also 2 Italian campers already parked up so we felt ok to stop. We stayed
there 2 nights and it was very pleasant. The town was mostly deserted which
meant it was nice and quiet.
We then ventured further along the coast via Castelvetrano (to stop at the
Lidl there, yes we are a bit pikey) and ended up at the small port of Porto
Palo just a few km from Menfi. We had a great spot there just off the beach
for 5 nights doing not much else than reading and enjoying the sunshine,
when the cold wind wasn't blowing. Steve and Anne were also there, they must
think we are stalking them, and also David and Bernadette another very nice
English couple in a large converted Iveco truck.
Apart from reading etc. we were also on Puppy watch! A local stray dog had
recently had a litter of eight and they were sleeping under the beach bar
shack right by us on the beach. The mother was a lovely dog and the puppies,
too sweet. We don't hold out much hope for them and fear they will end up
being culled sooner or later. For the moment there is a German couple there
keeping an eye on them, and they seem to think that their lazy old Retriever
is the proud dad. He most certainly isn't as we have seen the real dad who
has the same white mark on his head and tail as all the puppies do. At least
while the Germans are there the poor puppies might just stand a chance for a
while longer.
This morning we hit the road again, without any Puppy stowaways although it
was very tempting. Stopping at Sciacca for lunch and watching all the
fishing boats come in with their catch for the day, mostly anchovies and
some swordfish. After trying and failing to locate another Lidl at Ribera,
the home of the orange, we have ended up on another sandy beach at Siculiana
Marina. I think a couple of days here will be nice before we eventually hit
Agrigento this weekend and possibly a campsite for a few days. Well we need
to get some washing done!
Ciao
M&S

Free for the price of none

Order has been restored, for good or for bad, and Sue is now cooking whilst
I titillate the keyboard.

We are now seasoned 'wild campers'. Well we have camped wild for 5 nights
over the last week, but not yet on the large beach area that Sue previously
mentioned. Instead we have been based in the town of San Vito Lo Capo and
have mixed between wild camping at the beachfront in the town, and a handy
sosta just on the edge of town. The sosta is very useful for filling up and
emptying out, use your imagination, and also topping up Noddy's batteries.
It is also a good place to sit it out in bad weather as we did on Wednesday
and Thursday. The rest of the week we have been parked up about 5 metres
from the amazing sandy beach that lines the bay, and we were only a minute
or twos stroll to the shops in the town. San Vito is a delightful place and
especially at this time of year because it is quiet. We think it gets
extremely busy in the summer months. The sea is several shades of light
blue, thanks to the lovely white sand and the sunshine, and the town is
edged on both sides by huge rocky hills.
Our 2 spells of wilding it were 2 and 3 nights length. It takes a while to
get used to limiting water usage and knowing how long our supplies will
last. Over the last 3 nights we only used about 40 litres, and that's for
washing up and showering, not to mention tea making! We do stock up a bit of
emergency water in our water cube (15l) and a few used 2l water bottles just
to increase our capability as Noddy's main tank is only about 72l. The main
problem we have is the wastewater (not the loo) as we can only hold 38l. You
have to be creative and look for suitable places to drop the waste if
possible or just return to a site or sosta if no options exist.
Anyway, we are quite hooked on the idea, especially as it's FREE! In the end
though it is something we need to get used to as when we venture on our
world tour we will need to be quite adept at going wild and managing on
limited resources.

Whilst in town we have walked, cycled and enjoyed the mainly warm and sunny
days. We had a couple of wet days this week with hail, thunder and
lightning, but it would be greedy to expect sunshine all the time. We have
also managed to catch up with Anne and Steve, our neighbours from Finale,
for a few days, which was very nice. Kevin and Libby, our other English
travelling companions departed further south on Friday in search of a nice
campsite to chill out at but I am sure we will bump into them again over the
coming weeks.

Tonight we are back at the sosta to 'service' Noddy before leaving this
idyllic seaside town and heading south along the western coast of the
island. We have not yet decided where our next stop will be, perhaps Marsala
or Mazara del Vallo, but you can bet we will be 'roughing' it again very
soon.

Finally, I would like to announce that Sue has found a friend in a beautiful
little kitten here at the Sosta. As you may or may not know this is a minor
miracle, but the wee thing is so friendly and sweet. It follows you around
everywhere and is most keen on getting into Noddy. It has been lifted out on
a few occasions. I have spent quite a few minutes here and there playing
with it or photographing it. We shall miss the little thing.

Ciao

M&S

We found Poo but Piglet was nowhere to be seen

Greetings to all the hard workers and retirees out there. The author of this
blog is taking a break (cooking dinner) so time for me to step up to the
plate.

We did manage to leave our home of 4 weeks and head out to Palermo. We found
the parking lot (our home for the night) with a slight detour and managed to
avoid any accidents. These people drive like maniacs, road signs, road
markings etc have no meaning at all. Anyway we spent a pleasant afternoon
wandering around the streets of Palermo, avoiding all the dog poo on the
pavements. Seems like most of the city is being rebuilt. We visited the
cathedral, the seafront and spent a few hours in bookshops trying to find a
book we are after. Went back to the van and joined our Ipswich neighbours
(Kevin & Libby) for tea, they had been at the same site as us in Finale.
They told us about the Cappucinni Catacombs that were up the road from the
parking. There are 8000 bodies there, mostly hanging from the walls, some of
them still look quite life-like while others are almost skeletons. We saw
the leaflet they got from there and the pictures are quite funny - there's a
picture of a couple that look like they're talking to each other. They said
that some of them look like their arms might be falling off as they are
dropping out of their sleeves. Needless to say we rushed there to see them
the next day but it wasn't to be, they were closed on Wednesdays. Were we
disappointed or what ! You're probably thinking we've got sick minds but it
would have been very interesting. Before leaving Palermo we saw some
amazing mosaics in a church and a great food market - there's was loads of
fish for sale but it would've been too smelly to cook it in the van.

We then went on to Sferracavallo, described as a small fishing hamlet in the
guide books, what a dump. We managed one night there and left the following
morning to go to Mondello, an idyllic beach resort that is frequented by the
rich in summer (and us in winter). It did have a nice beach and really yummy
cakes. Then we went on to Castellamare del Gulfo, another town on the coast.
We stayed at a sosta (motorhome parking) that was a bit of a shock when we
first got there, not what we were used to but for 10 euros a night we
couldn't complain. We spent 3 days there. The Ipswich couple were there as
well so we did loads of socialising and the odd walk into town.

Today we went to Segesta, to see the temple and theatre from 416 - 424 BC.
We then took a drive through the countryside up to San Vito Lo Capo. Passed
a lovely beach where loads of motorhomes were rough camping and all going to
plan we shall be trying it out tomorrow night - free accommodation. Will let
you know how we get on.

The sun is still shining on us!
Ciao
M & S

Goodbye to a faithful friend

This has been a very pleasant home for the last 4 weeks. It has seen us
nicely through Christmas and safely into the New Year. Alas, I am afraid it
is now time to move on. We could quite easily spend more time here, but
there is so much more to see out there.
So tomorrow morning we shall depart and head to Palermo, via a few pretty
hill towns, and see what the capital has to offer. Needless to say we shall
not be doing too much driving in the heart of the city, only the foolish
venture there in a vehicle.
After a day or two in the city we will start our anti-clockwise tour of the
island and aim to see all we can by the end of March. Easter is early April
and it will be manic here then, not to mention expensive, so we will rejoin
the mainland and see the sights of southern Italy before slowly tripping
north.
The weather is still very nice indeed. Hot in the sunshine, and cooler in
the shade. Hopefully it shall remain that way for the present, but if not
then we wont get too disheartened as there is always another day, and
another, and another.
Ciao
M&S

One down - fifty one to go

You can't beat the sound of the sea lapping on the shore below, the sound of
birds twittering in the trees, and the gentle tap-tap-tap of keys on the
laptop. I am sitting outside, feet up on the fence admiring the view out to
sea. It's a great life.
It is hard to believe that the first week of the year has come and gone
already. We have been up to the usual, a spot of relaxation here and there.
I am sure you will be pleased to hear that we had some very English weather
for a couple of days last week. It was windy, wet, and gloomy. Thankfully it
all cleared up by the weekend and we are back to enjoying some warm sunny
days again. Yesterday it was very hot in the sun.
On Friday we ventured into Cefalu again to hit the supermarket to do our
once a fortnight big shop. I think we spend more time in the store looking
at things and wondering what they are or how to use them than we do actually
selecting and buying. As New Year has passed there was a sale of left over
Panettone, all reduced. We haven't eaten the one we brought with us from the
UK yet, but we still made a purchase of an interesting looking lemon
flavoured one; well it would be rude not too. It tastes very nice indeed,
but don't they all. They have so many varieties to choose from here.
Chocolate ones, nutty ones, lemon ones, plain ones, fruit ones. They even do
an Etna version with icing on the top half and red candied fruit erupting
from the top, it looked vile.
On Saturday evening we made a fire down on the terraces below us, and stood
and chatted over the warm flames with our new friends, Anne and Steve, from
next door. It was a very pleasant evening warming our knees and staring up
at the stars. Oh and the odd glass of wine or beer helped. Anne and Steve
are heading off on Wednesday west to Palermo and then anti-clockwise around
the island. The French couple with 'Vodka' the dachshund left on Saturday
heading off to Tunisia on a ferry from Palermo. So it is getting quite quiet
down here by the sea. There are still quite a few 'vans parked further up in
the site, but even those have been thinning out over the last few days. Soon
it will be our turn to move on, but no just yet, not whilst we are enjoying
the lapping water and twittering birds.

Ciao

M&S

Happy New Year 2007

It has been a long and tiring 2006, but we have made it into another year.
Life on the road can be tough at times. It may seem, to those of you who are
still doing the 9-5 every day, that we are just on a damn good non-stop
holiday, but let us assure you we all have our problems. Ours may only be on
the scale of what time to get up and what to have for dinner, but they are
hefty issues to resolve for us.
We managed to see out the last few days of 2006 in much the same style as
the majority of the preceding 360 or so, doing very little. The weather has
been pretty good, warm in the sunshine during the day, and not too cold
during the night. We haven't really started to get too touristy yet and
haven't ventured further than the village we are based in, Finale, and the
next big town Cefalu. We manage to find everything in the local shops that
we need for the moment and sooner or later we will make a plan for reaching
out a bit further into the Sicilian countryside.
The sea is so clear here, and not too cold. Steve, from the van next door,
and myself did a bit of snorkelling a few days ago. It was lovely in the
water and there were quite a few fish to be seen. It was bloody cold after
getting out though. It took a good long hot shower to warm my bones again.
I have been on a few cycles here and there, and ventured up to the hill town
of Pollina a few miles inland from here. It was a very nice ride, total
climb of around 800m, but by the time I reached the top the clouds had
descended and the view was limited. There is an amazing amphitheatre right
on the top of the town that looks out over the surrounding countryside
below. I assumed the view was magnificent as I could only see 50ft! It was a
bit chilly up there also, but after a nice easy downhill I retuned to the
warmer seaside climate. I repeated some of the route the other day, not
right up to Pollina, but had a wee mishap coming down. My rear wheel decided
that it was not terribly important to remain in contact with the road whilst
hurtling around a sharp corner, and a few slides and bumps later I was
sitting on my backside wondering what had happened. Thankfully there were no
crazy Italian motorists around and the only damage, apart from my dented
ego, was a few scrapes on my elbow and a couple of holes in my jacket. It
was only made slightly worse as I was out cycling with Steve, so I had to
share my experience. He tried not to laugh too much. Back at base Sue read
me the riot act and has now banned me from going cycling on my own. In her
dreams!
Last night we saw in the New Year in the company of Anne and Steve with a
large pot of Goulash and the odd tipple or two, and a bottle of cheap
Italian 'champagne' at the stroke of midnight. It was a grand night despite
the Italian invasion for the party at the campsite restaurant not to mention
the early hour firecracker show by one of the youngsters in the cabins
behind us. God help him if he is still at it after the witching hour
tonight, he has been letting them off all day.
We are considering renting a car for a few days with our neighbours so that
we can head for the hills. It will be easier in a little runabout than in
Noddy and shouldn't cost too much. More than that we have not yet planned,
although dinner is already sorted for tonight as Anne is cooking a lasagne
for the four of us. It's nice to have one of our major issues resolved so
easily on day 1 of 2007.

Ciao

M&S