DAY 643 - Konigstour @ Hochkonig Ski fields

We have a Salzburg Super Ski card for the winter, which gives us access to 22 major ski regions of the Salzburgerland and a few in neighbouring ski areas like Tirol.  If you look at a map of Austria from East to west that covers an area of approx 150kms as the crow flies.  In terms of skiable terrain....that's 2550kms of skiing enjoyment!

We have 'liked' the Hochkonig Facebook page and received a status updated the other day, advertising their "Konigstour".  We hadn't attempted the Hochkonig ski area yet so thought it was about time to get out and see it.

The ski area for this resort is huge and the movie doesn't do it justice.  We where originally a bit ho-hum when we saw the video as we thought that the runs looked a bit easy and didn't seem that challenging.  Boy where we wrong!  

Well all I can just say is we attempted it!    We got 1/2 way through before we realised we better turn back as we didn't want to miss the last chair lift back to the car park.  Today was a rest day...our bodies and legs needed it.  

Yesterday was a beautiful day, with clear blue skis and 100% visibility, so perfect conditions and the scenery was SMAZING....looking forward to doing the other half when we think we can handle it....he he

pics to come later....here's the video from their site

UPDATE - high in the Austrian Alps

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UPDATE: We are now living high in the Austrian Alps.  High enough to almost give you a nose bleed.  This place is more beautiful than we expected & we are having a true Austrian Alps Winter Experience.  

Our apartment is in 1 of 3 buildings on a working dairy farm.  The owners are just lovely people and we are really excited to spend winter here.  Heir Holzmann takes the milk down to the village at 10am every day on the back of his tracker.  They work so hard during the day and night, sometimes in freezing conditions, but life goes on, the village needs their milk no matter what the weather.  

The farm is actually 4kms from the village road and our driveway/road links about 10 farms to the village.  The village road is 500m above sea level and our farm is 920m above sea level, so it takes 4km to climb 400m from the village.  Doesn't seem that much but when you check out our video's below you'll get a good understanding of just what life is going to be like for us over the next 3 months.

Yes - we actually ended up getting Wher'dmadaygo up in this snow, thank goodness Mr Holzmann had snow chains to fit it and he did the driving.  We were so scared at the time we totally forgot to get pics, he did a super job, didn't break a sweat and Wher'dmadaygo is now sitting the winter out with one of the best views in the world.

motorhome with a view

We where a little worried on the first night when we arrived and wondered if we had bit of more than we could chew, but we are now so use it and really enjoying it the drive - everyday day has that WOW factor.

Here is some video we took yesterday of the journey down to the village road on our way to do some skiing.   

DAY 618 - the mighty Danube & everything in between

We’ve had a pretty incredible month and plenty of SMAZING days, checking out Slovenia, Hungary, Slovakia, a touch of Czech Republic & the North-Eastern part of Austria.  Our heads are spinning just a little as this part of Eastern Europe is the home to some truly amazing sights making it a treasure trove for any traveller. 

We love the history, grandeur, opulence & the pace of Europe’s BIG cities.  As we spent 6 months being beach bums and keeping away from this sort of ‘civilization’ we are now like sponges soaking it all up.  We are loving it & don’t feel at all like we’ve OD’d on European cities, culture or architecture yet!  Our feet and backs have reminded us however, just how little they’ve been used and are not quite use to walking in closed shoes and on concrete for 6 hours at a time.

The first thing you notice when leaving a “hot” country of the South is the road users!   It was actually a shock when arriving in Slovenia and being able to merge into traffic, bikers wearing helmets, seat belts being used, indicators being used, no horns blasting, not being in a race with a pedestrian trying to cross the street…..bizarre…… and it also made me realize just how lapsed I’d become and how I much I’d embraced this ‘hot-headed’ driving technique.  Order and patience rule the roads of Central Europe and it’s taken some getting use too!  We can’t reveal who took out, the toll booth boom gate on entry or who took out, the row of witches’ hats when leaving but we are sure the Slovenian road authorities will be happy if we never return!

Lake Bled

Slovenia is a small, quiet, polite, friendly, clean, non-confronting with a handful of attractions.  It’s a picture perfect, postcard like country with perfectly manicured farm land, rolling green fields, lovely little villages & a church spire or castle on every hill top.  The water ways have a high concentration of limestone which makes them appear this amazing jade green color, but it doesn’t show up well in my pics.  

Vintgar Gorge

Lake Bled is Slovenia’s 2^nd largest lake and is apparently crawling with tourists in summer.  I’m glad we went in winter!  It was a nightmare trying to find a park so we could have a walk around the lake……I would hate to go in high season.  From Lake Bled we then went to Vintgar Gorge.  It has this rickety boardwalk system that hugs the gorge walls and follows this amazing gorge for 2kms.  It truly is spectacular and is the highlight of our visit to Slovenia. 

Ljubljana Dragons

Ljubljana the capital is small with a trendy vibe; I felt like I was walking in a glossy home mag spread with every shop, bar, café just so picture perfect, chic or Mo-Co as I like to call it. 

We skipped the famous Postojna Caves in the south of Slovenia.  At the outrageous price of 32euro.…yes that’s 32euro per person…..we didn’t feel they would be that much better than the totally amazing gouffre de padirac cave in France.  (a bargain at 8euro per person).

We then headed to Hungary and spent a few days around Lake Balaton, before hitting Budapest.  To be honest we didn’t think much of the Hungarian countryside but what the countryside lacks it certainly makes up for it in city of Budapest.  

Hungarian Parliment - so beautiful.  Sure puts old Canberra to shame

Budapest - Paris of the East!!   It sits on the mighty Danube River and I really wasn’t expecting to fall in love with it as much as we did.  The castle, parliament, bridges, beautiful baroque architecture, the bath houses, THE FOOD…..if it’s not on your bucket list then it should be….It is just amazing. 

 Tourism departments in Budapest must be doing something right as there are tourists everywhere!  This is no mean feat especially considering its winter & low season! 

There also seemed to be a lot of industry in Hungary, factories dot the landscape and there are huge Hypermarkets everywhere! All busy with locals spending money along with a decent international student population; it was such a nice change to see all these things in one place.  I really don’t know anything about the state of their finances or banks and our friend Alex in Luxembourg who works for the EEU might be able to tell us otherwise but for an outsider who’s been travelling the EU for over 12 months it seems like Hungary is going places and holding up well compared to some of its cousins in the south and west. 

Fisherman's Bastion- Budapest

Esztergom Basilica - as seen from the Slovakian side

Without meaning too, we've actually been following the Danube river as it either boarders these countries or not far from the boarder.  Hungary is ofcuase famous for the Danube River & particularly the "Danube bend".  It’s a group of villages and towns, such as: Esztergom, Szentendre & Visegrad which are lovely and easily accessed from Budapest.   

And then there is Vienna……..Again we must have looked like side show alley clowns.  You could spend a small fortune visiting all the museums but we didn’t feel the need so ‘opted out’ as there is sooooo much to see just by walking the streets.  Vienna is a true gem on the European map and seeing it in the throes of winter doesn’t detract from its beauty.  It would be a site to behold in summer seeing all that gold leafing on statues and buildings shimmer under the sun light. 

Austrian Parliament 

We refuse to pay to enter a church but St. Stephen's Cathedral is free, so in we went.  It was beautiful and you really do have to admire the craftsmanship of the Romanesque and Gothic period.  The Hofburg & Schronbrunn Palace however are not free & where closed on the days we were in town, so we didn’t get to go inside them, Rose wanted to see the Schronbrunn, but really they are so beautiful on the outside we don’t feel disappointed.  If you’re coming to Europe in the future then Vienna is a MUST SEE.

  

Since we were ‘in da hood’ we also popped over the boarder to Slovakia a few times, along the Danube bend & checked out Bratislava (Slovakia’s capital) when in Vienna.  Not much to report on here and I’m glad it was only a 2 hour round trip.

We are now currently in Linz, upper Austria which is also on the Danube River and is only 1.5hrs from Cesky Krumlov in Czech Republic.  So, since we are ‘in da hood’ then a day trip was in order to Cesky K. 

Cesky K.  Czech Republic

It’s a UNESCO World Heritage town in the Southern Czech region of Bohemia.  It is built around both sides of a river and has a fairytale like appearance.  We went mainly to see the bears they keep in the castle moat, but of cause it’s winter and there in hibernation so…dumb us  It did give us a taste of Czech Republic and we look forward to exploring the country some more in 2013.

The Christmas markets are everywhere!  And if you’re into that sort of thing you’d be in Christmas Market paradise – I can just imagine my friend Liz. T. spending hour here, buying 1 of everything and being surrounded by the nativity sets & decorations in her living room.

In recap Budapest & Vienna are 2 awesome places that have given us a fresh boost of energy and have reminded us of just how much of this huge continent we are yet to experience and explore.  Eastern Europe truly is a gem and it’s so great knowing that there is still more to see next year and we are now really excited about checking out Poland, Russia, Romania & Bulgaria.

DAY 604 - our winter home (sneak peak)

Now that we are in Hungary (SMAZING by the way, but more on that later) and in the throws of winter, we are getting more excitied by the day that another season of skiing these amazing European Alps is just around the corner.

We've found a great apartment to rent & thought we would give you a sneak peak of our winter home in Austria.  

No, no we wont have the whole house to ourselves and from what we can gather there is 4 or 5 apartments in total over 2 or 3 buildings, which is great as we we'll get to meet other people when they are staying here for their skiing holidays.  The owners seems wonderful and we are also looking forward to meeting them & getting to know them and their family.

It is located in Bischofshofen, ideally located for our Salzburg Super Ski Season Pass.  Bischofshofen looks beautiful from what we have seen on the internet and it seems we will have a great time exploring the village and getting to know the surrounding area.

Better go now and brush up on my German - yikes...where's my sister-in-law Ingrid when you need her.

heres the web link for Bischofshofen - Bischofshofen, Austria - Tourism website

here's the web link for the apartment - apartments-bischofshofen Spiegl Holzmann

DAY 596 - I'll have a Yiros please...Efxaristo

Greece is home of the Yiros and at 2 euro each, was a staple member of our daily diet.  OK, OK we didn’t limit it to just 1 a day, but at 2 euro…..WHY WOULD YOU!  They are THE best!  and at home in Adelaide we would pay $8 each for one and don’t taste anywhere near as good.  Yiros is a Kebab for all you eastern board Australians & European friends out there!  I never knew why Raderlaidans where the only Ozzies that called it a Yiros, but now I realize it’s because we have the largest Greek population in Australia & as the eastern states have more Lebanese, hence they called it Kebab or Falafel.

With Yiros in hand we left Monemvasia & headed towards Nafplio area, following the coast most of the way and taking a few days to get there.  As with most of our journey we often don’t have a plan or any idea of which road we wish to take until a junction is upon us that finally forces a decision.  So little did we know that the “red road” towards the coast was going to take us up & over a SMAZING high mountain pass, via the gorgeous mountain village of Kosmas, through a beautiful National Park & along a stunning Gorge.  Our reward for this unplanned route was sore hands,  from the countless hairpin turns & a dry mouth, after holding it open the whole time like one of those silly side show alley clowns.  But, this is what we love the most about travelling and what we love especially about Greece.  You can count on the fact that any road you decide to take, generally turns out to be hard work but with much reward. 

As the scenery is breath taking we’ve never had a dull day on the road.  There are just so many great drives to be had in any which direction you take, little planning is generally needed and an early start is always a good idea. But alas we are bad at that too which generally means we don’t quite get as far as we hoped or arrive a lot later than anticipated. 

With the days getting shorter and just a little bit cooler (mid-high 20’s) we knew summer was coming to an end and we kind of thought that by the time we got to Athens, we’d probably be a bit tired of touring and would want to start to slow the pace down a bit and think about heading to Austria.

Nafplio is such a great town & we really feel in love with this area of Greece.   The town itself has a beautiful fortification and old ruined castle which overlooks the bay & surrounding beaches.  There is some truly amazing coastline in Greece and again we have not been disappointed.

We found a little fishing village about 10kms from Nafplio called Vivari and ended up camping on the beach for 3 weeks.  It had the most amazing view over a bay, protected calm waters for a lazy swim & fish abundant that kept us in the water virtually the whole time.   There was a French campervan there the 3 weeks like us, who liked to “nude it up”…so you kind of had to be careful which way you looked first thing in the morning if you didn’t want a rude awakening and enjoy waking up slowly as we do!

The ‘wedgie’ didn’t really make an appearance in Greece, but ‘birthday suit’ European’s where abundant!   Austrian’s are very relaxed when it comes to nudity and the retired folk have indeed  made an art form out of it and enjoy this style of sunbaking and swimming all day long.  I’ll have to make sure I find the “togs allowed” spas and sauna’s when where in the snow as I hear they have some that are mandatory “birthday suit only”…..GULP!

About 25kms from Vivari is the very well restored/preserved amphitheater of Ancient Epidaurus which is wonderful.  They still hold productions here in summer, which would be awesome to see one day as the acoustics are perfect.  We really loved the village of Epidaurus & the coast around this side of Peloponnese which then heads south towards the islands of Poros and Hydra.  It is so beautiful that we did the drive quite a few times, stopping when we found any opportunity to have a dip and a quick spearfish. ….we could do it again and again and still love it.  We would really love to live in this part of the world and if we had our choice it would be Epidaurus…a house with a view over the bay not far from the water.    

I must admit we were a little underwhelmed by many of Greece’s ancient sites.  For all the historical significance that Greece has, it’s quite strange to be in the ruins that have not stood the test of time well and seem so much smaller than you imagine.  Kind of like how you feel when you see the Mona Lisa for the first time!   As Ancient Olympia & the Acropolis, where not what we imagined and being a little underwhelmed with these 2 sites we decided not to go via Delphi on our way back to Patras (for the ferry to Venice).  We instead decided to wait out the rest of our days on the beaches of Southern Athens and enjoyed our last days of sun & surf.   I must say however, that I regret not making it to Meteora (in Northern Greece), but we intend to come back next year for summer so it’s top of the list, along with Crete.

Not sure if we mentioned Jean and Malcolm previously but they are an Australian couple whom we meet on the turtle nesting beach, Kalo Nero.  I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw a Land cruiser with QLD number plates.  They have spent the past 18 months on tour driving their Toyota Land Cruiser overland from Capetown to Europe and where making their way back to OZ via the Stan countries and India.  Anyway, we got an email from them the other day to say they had just arrived in India.  We had only made it as far as Athens and they had done all of that while we lazed on the beach, swam & fished……I get tired just thinking out what they’ve been up too!!

It was the strangest feeling when we had to put on jeans for our day trip into Athens.  We’ve quite literally spent the past 6 months in our togs and not much else.  I’ve had more washing pile up in the past 2 weeks than I have in the past 2 months now that we back to wearing clothes. 

The Greeks are a truly friendly and welcoming bunch of people and we have met some great people on this leg of our journey.  Fellow travelers and Greeks alike…it has really been a great experience and we will always hold Greece dear for this reason.   I think because we are younger than the average European motorhomer (by 20+ years) and we are older than the average Ozzie or Kiwi doing the Bongo Van tour we haven’t met nearly as many people as we thought we would.  There have been very few English travelers as most tend to go to France, Spain and perhaps Northern Italy around the lakes, but anything further south or in the hotter countries, you just don’t see any.

To me….Greece’s biggest draw card is its natural wonders.  Mountains which either plunge into or rise out of the ocean, idyllic islands & bays, laid back locals, seafood, Yiros, crystal clear waters and a dramatic coastline that gets better and better the more you discover it.

  

It was a sad day when it happened, but we eventually had to leave Greece.  We are now in Venice and summer has been ripped away from us like the way your mother rips a band-aid from your arm.  Its bloody freezing here, but Venice is Venice and is great in any weather.  There’s snow on the Dolomites (Italian Alps) behind us, which is also exciting at the same time as we etch ever closer to Austria for skiing.

The tans are fading fast and soon the summer we have had will seem like a distant memory….but what a summer it has been.  I’ll miss dodging goats & eating a Yiros but look forward to dodging rain deer & drinking mulled wine over the next few months.

DAY 555 - get me to the Greek

the turquoise waters of Lefkada

We've been here just over a month and have managed to work our way from the North West Coast at Igoumenitsa, where we landed on the boat and are now in Monemvasia on the 3rd leg of the Peloponnese.  We think we'll be here for another 6 weeks, but it depends on the weather and how we intend to travel to Austria for skiing.  (either by boat or overland).   Once we get to Athens we'll make up our mind as to what we want to do and how much further we want to go towards Turkey.

Greece is such a great country, so laid back, the locals are so friendly and welcoming and the scenery and food, just top it all off.  I don't know how we are ever going to leave and we could def live here.  Greece is our fav country so far and it's great to feel so excited and inspired by a country after being on the road for nearly 18months.  If you have never been to Greece, then you should def make sure it's on your list.

We have met so many wonderful people and a few that are now friends whom we intend to see again in the future.  So many people have come up to us, knocked on the door and just wanted to know where we are from, what we think of Greece and where we are going.  They are so interested in meeting people and making new friends that it certainly makes up for the months of silence we had when in France.

We've spoken to many people and feel really sorry for them during this financial crisis they are having.  So many are genuinely concerned about their future and they just don't understand how it got so bad.  So many are out of jobs and can't afford to keep their kids in school or take them to the Dr....it's really sad and is hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  I really feel for the lower-mid income earners as they are feeling it the hardest and we only hope that tourism can help to some extent.

Most of our days are in the water, swimming and fishing, trying to find internet of some sort, or get reception on our dongle......and talking to the locals.  Not many Brits come here, which has it's pro's and con's but there are heaps of Austrians (probably more than there is in Austria right now).  Most of them have been coming for 10+ yrs to Greece and realize how hard the Greeks have it and are excellent supporters to the locals taverna's and bars.   

Monemvasia is beautiful, its the Mont St Michel (France) of Greece.  My (Rose's) fav region so far is Mani (2nd arm of Peloponnese) but we haven't seen much of this area just so will report back on that later.

Paulie off to get dinner - Kalo Nero

We where lucky enough to stumble on a beach camping spot in Kalo Nero about 2hrs south of Patras which was in full turtle hatching season.  The beach had around 840 nest's which where in prime hatching season when we arrived.  We had no idea until the following morning we saw the volunteers counting the little pitta-patta marks on the sand.  That night 40 babies had hatched and made it to the sea.  The next time they return to that beach will be 25-30 years later when the females come back to lay their eggs.  It's unreal that we where allowed to park so close, but it's a local public beach and "life goes on as normal" they said.

The water temp and clarity is just awesome here in Greece and we are still getting temps of up to 30c in the water.  Paul spends about 2-3hrs in the water snorkeling a day and I go in for the token dip, laze on the floating mattress and cool off when ever required.  I normally wait till Paul reports that something huge (like a turtle or big fish) or amazing is in the water before I done the mask and snorkel.  I work on the tan while Paul works on dinner (great arrangement I reckon).

We haven't been to any of the Islands, except Lefkada in the North but do plan to visit a few off the coast here and around Athens.  We don't have the time and it's very expensive, so we might keep them for next visit.  One thing is for sure...we will be returning to Greece.

We've visited a few Ancient sites and monuments, but when the weather is this good and hot all you really want to do is enjoy the coast.  Some of the drives are just unbelievable and it's wonderful to be in a European country that is not so over populated and cultivated.  

Much to more report at a later time once we have visited Athens.....and are on our way to the snow.

Monemvasia

DAY 505 - Italy...the whole boot & caboodle

 After returning from Sicily we than headed straight to Puglia for a week before we had to catch our ferry to Greece.    Puglia is beautiful and feel’s so different than the rest of Italy and is defiantly one of Italy’s best kept secrets.  Not many international tourists come here, unless it’s to get the ferry to Greece or Croatia and in fact the landscape is more Croatian and Greek than it is Italian.  It’s unbelievably clean compared to the rest of Italy and ‘no wild fires’.  It’s a relatively small area compared to the rest of Italy and is really easy to place yourself in one spot and do day trips to the rest of the region, which is exactly what we did. 

We stayed on the beach in Torre Canne near Monopoli, where the coast line is considered to be some of the best in the area and country.  This stretch of coastline and that around Lecce are breathtaking with ancient ruins protruding out of the water’s edge and dotting the coastline for 100’s miles is a pretty spectacular setting.  Inland hill top villages with funny little “Turril’ houses dot the landscape.  Turrill house are a round house, with round flat top cone shape roof’s, all painted white.  A really unusal setting for Italy and the towns of Alberbello & Locorotondo are not to be missed.   

The Italian’s also like to wild camp and in fact seems to be a national art form.  Its high season in Italy now and every man and his Italian dog are on holidays.  The beaches become impromptu camp grounds and parties go on until all hours of the morning.  We initially had the beach to ourselves for a few days when it was a bit windy, but as soon as the winds went, the tents, bbq’s, market umbrellas and Dj’s systems came.  It was a hoot to see the local’s, young and old, party all day and night and then sleep on their deck chairs to do it all again the next day…..party beach camping with the locals – just awesome.

Italian’s like to multi-task!  Particularly when it comes to riding a scooter or driving a car.  Some examples:-  smoking a cigarette whist talking on the mobile;   leaning on handle bars while talking on the mobile;  family of 4 squeezed onto 1 scooter with no helmets;  weaving in and out of traffic without looking whilst using your hands to talk to the  person in passenger seat......Italians deserve every bit of their bad reputation for being bad driver, however I must admit the French are pretty bad too.

If Rome is the heart of Italy, then Naples has to be the bum hole!  It’s like the Asia of Italy.  Crazy, lawless, good food, scooters zinging around all over the place, queue jumping is a national pastime, everyone smokes, rubbish everywhere and absolutely no road rules obeyed.  

One thing we’ve noticed about Italy is that there seems to be a lot of wild fires.  Every 2^nd field or hill has recently been burnt and there also seems to be an obsession with dumping rubbish along roadways and lighting it, which is not one of the prettiest sides of Italy to see.  

Puglia is the only area not like this…..a well-kept gem that’s for sure.

DAY 501 - a Sicilian affair

Tonara Scopello

In typical Rose and Paul style we didn’t do any research on Sicily.  The only thing we knew is that the North was having a week of rain when we arrived so we decided to head south.  After exiting the ferry terminal, hitting heavy traffic, avoiding low hanging balconies and dodging a rider who had just come off his motorbike, we decided to ditch the scenic route and take the motorway south to the good weather.  

We found some pretty great spots along the coast to wild camp with the ocean right at our door step.  We’re didn’t think much of the cities in Sicily, but that might be a bit unfair as it was so hot and we just wanted to keep close to the water.  But Sicily certainly has some awesome smaller towns defiantly worth visiting in all weather.  

Noto was my favorite; it’s a pretty baroque town and feels like you’re in a movie set.  Agrigento has some ancient Greek temples which we visited at dusk which turned out to be a pretty awesome way to see them, as the colors of the stone change with the sunset and then the lighting affect they give the temples at night is wonderful.  Also, on a 40+c heat…it certainly beats walking around during the middle of the day.

Noto reminded me of the Sicilian town out of the Godfather Movie

The highlight of Sicily has got to be San Vito Lo Capo area for us.  We found this amazing wild camping spot and decided to stay for a week.  High season has finally hit us and we were joined by around 20 other campers after a few days.  Gone was the peace and quiet and out came the BBQ’s, wine, beer, late nights & lots of loud children.  It was great fun and we just love how Italians like to make friends with you by offering food and wine.

San Vito lo Capo town

We’ve had some the best nights and conversations with locals over a bottle of Lemoncino….we don’t speak Italiano, they don’t speak Inglese…..that goodness for Google translate.

Another highlight for us was visiting Sicily’s 2 great active volcanos.  Etna is huge and the drive up is really exciting, it’s such a famous volcano and was high on our list of must see’s in Sicily.  As the road twists and turns through the old lava flows, the views are awesome and it’s real cool to know you are standing on an active volcano with so much history in our generation.  The views from the top are pretty amazing and gives a goof view of just how many little blow holes to this massive volcano there is and how it has shaped the landscape around it.  You can also ski up here in winter, which would be pretty cool.

our first view of Stromboli

We also did a day trip by boat and visited some of the islands off the Northern coast of Sicily.  The trip we did was to see Stromboli by night but it also included visiting the Island of Panrea.  I generally hate organized day trips as find they are badly run and overpriced, but I would have to say this was probably the best 35euro we spent.  Watching Stromboli exploding at night was an unbelievable experience.  It explodes 3-4 times every hour and we had a great view from our boat across the water.  We are now really keen to go back next year and to the climb to the crater and spend a few days exploring these Islands off the coast of Sicily a little more. 

DAY 481 - life’s a BEACH….somewhere in Italy

The wedgie bikini reigns supreme here in Italy and you can see your fair share of bum cheeks (good, bad & ugly) on any Italian beach, but at least they are not totally starker’s!

I remember as a kid having our summer family holidays at Victor Harbor or Goolwa and wishing it never ended.  I just didn’t want the long hot summer to end or to go home (& return to school) just yet. 

From Grosseto Beach in Tuscany and right down to Sicily we’ve followed the Med Coast (and the wedgie) and found some amazing, non-touristy, out of the way places.  We cannot get over how beautiful and crystal clear the Mediterranean Sea is…….it’ just like a swimming pool in many places.  We’ve also lucked it with some great free/wild camping spots with million dollar views. 

Amalfi coast is of cause just spectacular and we did the drive along the coast in both directions from Sorrento to Amalfi and then the following day from Salerno to Amafli.  We also quickly learnt where the locals went (i.e. free beach) and for good reason.  Some of the most amazing spots where not where you’d find hundreds of color matched beach umbrellas and deck chairs, but generally an obscure archway, with just as difficult parking and access and then 100 steps to reveal a marvel that only the locals know about.

Calabria region also boats some pretty amazing coastline and was a real surprise for us in Italy.  The coastline here offers great rocky outcrops with sections pebble beach, which is just perfect for swimming and fishing.  The area is a well-kept secret and generally Italians and a few Dutch know about.  We stayed in the North of Calabria in a place called Cirella & worked our way along the coast South to Tropea and Capo Vaticano and did the odd day trip up the hilltop villages and remote and hard to access beaches.  We’ve also learnt the value of a good pebble beach (i.e. no sand in crouch or motorhome) and it allows the water to by crystal clear which is perfect for snorkeling and fishing. 

It’s been the summer of a lifetime for both of us and one that we will not forget.  We’ve seen the most amazing beaches, swam in some of the best area’s Europe has to offer and enjoyed some great food and wine.    We have quite literally, swam, fished, snorkeled, sunbaked, wild camped, eaten & drank our way through this part of Italy and have througherly enjoyed every moment.

It’s been nearly 6 weeks since we’ve been in a campsite, so we haven’t had electricity, proper showers or toilets for a while and are having a blast.  We are now use to the milk going rotten every 2 days, cold outdoor showers, charcoal bbq & no TV.   I hope we are actually tanned and not just dirty!

DAY 470 - viva Italia!

After collecting my passport, we headed south and spent a few days in Alsace wine region of Eastern France, crossed the border into Freiburg (for a few hours just to say we’ve been to Germany) & stopover in Switzerland, where we finally found some summer sun, a few weeks around the Lakes district of Northern Italy, Verona, Rimini, San Marino, Siena, San Gimignano, Lake Trasimeno, the coast of Tuscany & now Rome.

Siena Cathederal

Switzerland is such a beautiful country; it’s just like a postcard.  It’s such a pity we couldn’t stay longer as we were just passing through but we have friends who live in Switzerland and we hope to catch up with them next year & explore this amazing country some more.

I didn’t know much about the Lakes of Northern Italy and it certainly is beautiful.  Lake Garda is the largest lake and Lake Como is considered the most beautiful.  We did the scenic drive from Como to Bellagio and it’s said if you can do this drive and survive then you can handle any and all road conditions in Italy.  It’s just wide enough for a car and certainly makes an interesting experience when you have to share it with oncoming cars, the local buses, houses built up the side of the hill & a sheer drop on the other.   SMAZING!  George Clooney wasn’t home, but next time we’ll make sure to drop in for a drink. 

We were lucky enough to score a lake view pitch on Lake Garda so stayed for a week so & enjoyed some down time after a full-on couple of weeks in England and the epic drive through France, Switzerland & Northern Italy.

Next stop was Rimini (no sand on that beach, just deck chairs and umbrella’s) where we spent a few days in the calm warm waters of the Adriatic before heading inland to explore Siena (highlight) & across to the coastal region of Tuscany around Grosseto, Punta Ala & Monte Argentario – all I can say is WOW & SMAZING!  Most of this section of our trip has been ‘rough camping’ alongside lakes or on beach car parks and we’ve now got use to having  a cold shower outside and living 24/7 in our togs (Aussie term for a swimsuit - for all you Pommies out there!)

Since hitting Lake Sarnen it Switzerland to arriving in Rome, we haven’t had a day with temps under 30c or a drop of rain.  YAY! Most days are around 33-35c and most nights are 20-25c.  We are loving it!  Paul looks like a local with his lovely Mediterranean skin all tanned and I think I can say my Scottish skin is starting to look a little less fluorescent. 

Fontana di Trevi

We’ve also fallen in love with Rome all over again.  What an awesome, AWESOME city this is and it would have to be right up there as our favorite European city.  We only spent 1 day/2 nights in Rome, so a lightening visit and enjoyed walking around the streets, reminiscing of our previous visit here in 2007.  I will never get sick of looking at Fontana di Trevi, Pantheon or the Coliseum.   

We drove around on dusk one night, past the old city walls and saw things we didn’t see last time.  We don’t have many pics of Rome as it’s a tricky to find somewhere to stop whilst trying to keep an eye on swarming traffic at the same time, but the memories will live on.  

I’ve also learnt to drive like a Roman!  Not quite sure who gives way, where and when, but I’ve come to realize that if you hesitate, you’ll be left for dead in a cloud of dust and smog, so just go for it, straddle a few lanes at a time and don’t look at anyone!  

As they say - When in Rome…….

  

DAY 437 - the Royal run around

On the day I was meant to collect my new Maltese passport, I received a call to advise it wasn’t ready and that my new passport could only be issued in my birth name and not my married name and that it would take another week to receive it from Malta.

So after the getting the royal run around from the Malta Embassy we deiced to high tail it and get a last minute ferry to England and hope I wouldn’t be denied entry. 

We had so much to do, sell the motorbike, sell out bicycles, buy a car, get a MOT (compulsory annual roadworthy test – for all you Aussie’s out there), pick up some eBay purchases, service and new tyres for the Motorhome and perhaps a service on the new car.

As with most things we do, everything is last minute and badly planned and upon arrival into Dover I proceeded to tell a campsite we were on our way and to expect us in a few hours! 

What is the Jubilee?  What do you mean double bank holiday??  What do you mean you don’t have any pitches available???  What do you mean everything is shut and everyone is on holidays????  But we have so much we need to do!!!!!   What a royal cock up! 

All’s well that ends well; we found a space for 1 night and just didn’t move for 7 nights.  We made sure we were up and out early in the morning & back late at night so they couldn’t catch up with us.  None too happy with us they were!

So we ended up being in London, during one of the biggest events ever for the Royal Family and didn’t see any of it….how rude! 

The highlight of our lightening visit back to UK was catching up with family (Paul’s cousins) Tony & Nicky and their adorable little boy Jacob.  It’s so good to have someone on this side of the world as it doesn’t make you feel so home sick.

The weather was crap in England, rained the entire time we were there and it was great to eventually leave, but also sad to say goodbye to Tony, Nicky & Jacob.

On our return to Europe, we picked up my Maltese passport and I can now advise that I am officially a Malteser!!  Yay – they can’t kick me out now, even if they catch up with me!!!