Tales From The Road

We are back in the UK now and got back on the 23rd. We had been planning to suprise our families for xmas and had the ferry booked 6 weeks before! We wanted to stay longer but we had spent far too much money so needed to come back fairly soon & thought it may as well have been for xmas. We stayed in Brighton on the 23rd & brought a couple of presents for each other & then went to my parents for xmas eve & Matt's parents on xmas day. The only problem with it being a suprise is that we didn't have any presents to open! We hadn't been updating the blog for the last couple of weeks to try and keep it more of a secret so that our parents couldn't see that we are nearly home but I am going to update it all now & add some more pictures on.

We spent a couple of days in Strasbourg for the xmas markets & brought lots of nice presents. There were several markets all with different stuff & lots of nice food & hot wine. The nicest market was the Romanian one & we brought a few things & also watched a traditional Romanian show with singing & dancing. It made me wish that we had gone to Romania as I really wanted to go there but Matt wouldn't let me as he said it would have been too far to drive & we would have had to have gone back on ourselves! But we are hoping to do another Europe trip in the future to got to the other Eastern European countries like Croatia, Estonia, Latvia, Bulgaria & also Greece, Turkey & Southern Italy.

In Strasbourg we had a go on an outdoor ice rink which was really fun & neither of us fell over which was good! We also had a meal at an Indian Restaurant which wasn't that great as both of our meals were pureed and tasted & looked like baby food! There were lots of events going on like singing & also one odd man dressed up in ladies clothes with make up & a pair of socks down his pants doing some strange mime dance who was scaring all the kids! The xmas lights were really nice aswell.

From Strasbourg we went through Luxembourg but we didn't have any campsites in good places & the one we stayed at was in the middle of nowhere, I thought it was nice to have a rest for a couple of days as we had been really busy but Matt started to get a bit bored. We did have one problem at the campsite as we got stuck in the mud & had to be pulled out with a tractor so we got to use our tow rope we had brought before the trip. We also topped up with some cheap petrol for 65p a litre which was as cheap as Poland & the other Eastern countries which was nice.

Next we drove to Belgium & stopped at a campsite inbetween Brussels, Antwerp & Gent. We spent four days on a nice campsite with a nice lady who gave us a pitch for 10 euros a night with free electric instead of 15 euros a night with metered electric. We stayed four nights & she offered us a night for free aswell but we didn't take it as we wanted to move on. We spent most of the 4 days around the campsite & walking out to the nearby Lake Donkmeer. We decided that the area would be a very nice place to live as it was quiet with a nice lake & nearby to all the major cities. We liked Belgium as a whole as it was all very nice & all the people were friendly. We took the train to Gent & spent a lovely day there looking around. They also had a xmas market & some nice shops. We went to the castle as it was raining & cheap & that was fairly interesting as it had a torture museum inside. We had a meal out at a nice & cheap Vegan restaurant which was very nice & very busy. By this time we had to eat out all the time as we had run out of gas & they do not seem to have camping gaz in Belgium. We didn't make it to Antwerp as we were tired of getting the train to places & wanted to move on the the next campsite which was right near Bruges & we weren't interested in Brussels.

The campsite in Bruges was quite nice & very close to the city centre. We hired bikes for 10 euros for 4 days which was good value & cycled into town each day. We spent most of the time just wandering around. They had a good xmas market & an ice rink aswell but we didn't go on the ice rink as the surface was really bad & looked like snow rather than ice & it was really expensive. There were loads of nice chocolate shops in Bruges & we went to a chocolate museum which was interesting. We had a bit of trouble finding food as although we had the location of several vegetarian restaurants from the Tourist information office we couldn't find any of them. We had one meal at an Irish Pub which was nice as it had a fire & one of chips from a street stall plus a few waffles & hot wine! We also had two meals from Pizza Hut one at the restaurant and one take away due to a lack of anything else to eat.

From Bruges we drove the short drive to Calais (We would recommend getting the ferry to Calais & going to Bruges or anywhere in Belgium as nowhere is very far to drive from Calais) We did some shopping in the Hypermarket mainly for alcohol & cheese for presents & the went to the ferry port where we spent an afternoon & evening reading & wrapping up presents. After I had wrapped them all up I then started worrying that we were going to be stopped by customs on the way back & that they would want all the presents opened! As it turned out they didn't but we were checked at immigration control on the France side who checked for people in the boot! We had a good nights sleep at the ferry port & got the ferry with ease. The journey was only an hour and a half but was very stressful as everyone was speaking English. It has been a lot nicer the past few months as we haven't been able to understand conversations & it is easier to switch off & ignore what people are saying around you, but when we were on the ferry it was like we had been deaf & now could hear again and it was very loud & there were lots of obnoxious people.

We got back in England at about 10am & then drove to Brighton which took a really long time as it was all A road rather than motorway. We got to Brighton at about 2 & then had a shower & headed out for some shopping. We caught the bus from up the road into town & separated so I could get Matt a present! We met up & had dinner at a veggie fast food place where we had falafel & then went to the pier & played at the amusements on the 2p machines & then headed back to go to bed! We really like Brighton & if the campsite wasn't so expensive we would go back again soon but it cost £27 for a night which was more expensive than any other campsite on the whole trip. It was partly due to it being xmas but it also cost us £6 more as we aren't a member of the caravan club.

We are going to be around for about 6 months or so to earn some more money for our next trip which will be a round the world trip starting in Central America but we haven't decided the exact route as yet.

Before I start I have to warn you that there may be lots of mistakes in this one as all the letters are the wrong way round. q=a etc. Also we have started to do a map of our travels but it keeps on changing the dates so the dates are all wrong.

Our first stop in France was a place just outside of Cannes. The campsite was the most expensive so far 20 pound a night! Unfortunatley we had to stay there for 4 nights as there weren't any others around. We took day trips out to Cannes & Antibes where we did nothing more than walk around. The weather was really warm 1 Matt wanted to swim in the sea but didn't have his trunks with him. There were some nutty old lqdies doing some kind of aerobics in the sea. We walked along by where they have stqr handprints by where they hold the film festival & saw David Lynch's one. We also had a day out to Monaco which was nice but very posh. Again the weather was really nice & we visited an aquarium which was fun.

From there we moved onto another campsite near Marseilles which was a lot cheaper. We spent a few days in Marseilles & went to the cinema twice to see The Departed & Borat which were both good. We walked up to the Basillica for nice views of the city & we had trouble finding veggie food as we have done in all of France.

Next we went to Avignon which is a really nice town with an old wall, bridge & palace plus nice shops & it had a xmas market. Next we went to Lyon & spent a couple of days there where we went on a Ferris wheel at night & had a nice cheqp pasta meal. We went to see some Roman ruins & to the Lumiere museuem on the history of cinema.

From Lyon we took a long (450k) & expensive drive to Paris. we have probably paid about 100 euros in tolls so far (about 66 pounds) which is too much. The drive took about 5 hours or so & involved a free breakfast for Matt as the lady didn't seem to want to take his money!

We spent too long in Paris as it is one of our favourite places so far. We walked up the Eiffel tower but only to the second floor as the top was closed due to wind. It cost 2 pound instead of 8 to walk up rather than queue for an hour qnd take the lift. We visited the D'orsay Museum & The Louvre. We also spent a day in Disneyland which was really fun with lots of good rides. I got my photo taken with Goofy which I will put on here soon. All the rides were shut for most of the afternoon though which was a bit of a shame due to wind! you couldn't even go on the carousel or walk through the main street.

Now we are in Strasbourg, near the German border for the xmas markets & we are going to spend some time relaxing in the country in Belgium & Luxembourg.

By Chloe

From Bologna we travelled to a campsite fairly near Florence. The campsite was set high up in the Tuscan countryside & was permenantly foggy the whole of the 2 days we were there. We caught the train to Florence & it poured down the whole day & for the nextfew days after that aswell! However it was very warm especially at night & we have waterproof jackets & trousers so we were ok. In Florence we wandered around a bit as usual & went to two galleries - Uffizi to see several paintings to see photos by Leonardo De Vinci, Botticeli & Rembrandt & to the Academy to see Michaelangelo's David which was amazing - really big & extremely detailed. For dinner we went to a bar that had been recommended as having a monster free buffet. We went & we were not dissapointed. Just for buying drinks we got to each potatos, pasta, couscous, bread, dips & many other things which was nice.

After leaving that campsite we spent a night in the car park near the train station & Matt had a look at the van as it had trouble starting. He discovered that we needed a new rotar arm & our 1986 Volkswagon service guide said that there was a service centre in the next town, Borgo San Lorenzo. It was still there but had a different name & was very big. We managed to order the part but had to wait 2 days. We spent 2 days in an area de sosta in this town which is the equivilant of an aires de service in France but not as good. There was water & waste & the residents there were also using electric from somewhere. They had obviously been living there for some time & had lots of junk around & received several visits from the transport Police, but they left us alone.

From this town we took the train to Sienna which was a really nice place with lots of small streets & a cathedral. We enjoyed looking around & used the internet. It was a lot quieter than some of the other places we have been to.

We were glad to more on after being stuck in Borgo San Lorenzo & were looking forward to our next campsite in the Tuscan countryside & a few days of relaxing & walking. Unfortunatley when we got there it was closed - another campsite that the Rogers guide said was open all year. We stayed in a car park by some sort of tap that locals kept on coming to fill up water bottles from! There was also some kind of small alter that people were visiting.
In the morning we went for a lovely walk & the weather was beautiful. We would have liked to have stayed longer but we had already spent 6 nights in car parks & wanted a shower etc. Also it is very hard to relax when you hear noises outside & we cannot drink!

We drove to Pisa & spent a nice afternoon there. There wasn't much there other than the Leaning Tower & lots of souvenirs & touts trying to sell them to you. That is something that we have noticed all over Italy, in every town there are men with fake Louis Vuitton bags, belts & sunglasses & they hassle you to buy them. We got chased round the car park by one with belts! We had a look around some shops & had an ice cream. We had intended to stay at an area de sosta in Pisa but when we got there they wanted 12 euros to spend the night in a car park.

We decided to move on to our next stop, Le Spezia situated near to the Cinque Terre. When we got there it was horrible. A dirty busy port town & the area de sosta appeared to be closed as they were building on it! We spent another night in a layby with lots of people parking near to us & driving off so it wasn't a good nights sleep. The only good thing about this is that it is legal to sleep for one night in Italy anywhere where you are allowed to park to restore your driving ability so we know we won't have any trouble from the Police.

In the morning we drove to a campsite listed in our ACSI camping book, but again that was closed. Luckily there was another campsite over the road which was open & was really nice. It had hot showers (most are just about warm) & the staff took you & picked you up from the train station in a minibus. We spent a nice day with no rain in the Cinque Terre. This is 5 small villages which are very pretty all on the coast. You can get the train or walk between each one of them. Only a couple of then can be accessed by car. We did two walks between towns & got the train for the others. Some of the walks were closed due to all the rain & landslides! We had dinner in the last town of pasta in a small cafe.

After Venice we headed out to Verona, with the intention of spending an afternoon in the city & then finding somewhere to sleep around Lake Garda. We managed to park ok in the city, about 15 mins walk from the centre for only 4 euros for the afternoon. It was a bit stressful driving around a city with one way streets trying to find somewhere to park though.

Verona was lovely & it is somewhere we would like to go back to. There were a lot less people than in Venice & more interesting things for us to do, plus it was a lot cheaper. We paid £1.30 each for a museum with random things in, £2 each to explore the Roman ruins & £2 each to visit the ampitheatre which was massive. It is supposed to be the 3rd biggest in the world & is better preserved than the one in Rome.

From Verona we headed out to the Lake Garda area & found somewhere to sleep in a car park in a quiet town. Unfortunatley all of the car parks around the edge of the lake have barriers up to stop campers from going into them. When we woke up the next day we drove a bit further on to see if we could find somewhere to spend the day & the night but all around the lake were hotels & houses, you could barely see the lake at all. We were dissapointed & drove round the whole of the lake but it was all the same! Again this is somewhere that you would want to avoid like the plague in the summer. Part of the area around the lake was a national park according to our map, but again that was all hotels & houses. We decided to move on & go to the campsite at Bologna. After 6 nights free camping we needed a shower & some electricity for our fridge & to do some washing.

We managed to get to the campsite through rush hour traffic on the motorway, despite the poor directions in our Rogers Guide (Don't buy one as it is rubbish!) Rogers said the prices were from 16 - 27 euros a night & we were hoping for the former as it is November but it was 23 euros which is pretty expensive for us. We stayed there anyway as we didn't have much choice. We had a shower & did some washing & then had dinner at the bar at the campsite. We both had pasta as a started (the way they do it in Italy) & then I had camembert cheese with vegetables on top & Matt had a pork chop with veg on top. Mine wasn't that nice but it was the only veggie meal on the menu. We also had some very nice wine with the meal which was 7 euros for a litre!

We have enjoyed Italy very much so far & there is lots of lovely food everywhere including just in the supermarkets. The quality of the fruit & veg is superb also. The other good thing is that in bars they give you bowls of snacks & snacks on the bar for free. Last night we had peanuts, chestnuts & amaretto biscuits, plus there were olives & breadsticks & other yummy treats. We are going to go to a bar tonight for a couple of drinks & snacks! Also pizza is very cheap. We had a massive slice each at lunch for £1!

We are in Bolonga today & it is a very busy city with loads of traffic jams. There are some interesting buildings & we went to a free photography exhibition this morning. There are lots of nice shops but it is not much good for us as we are not buying anything!

We are hoping to spend a fair bit of time in Italy & we are going in to Tuscany next, to Florence, Pisa & Sienna & to spend some time in the countryside.

By Chloe

We got to Slovenia & went to the are of the first intended campsite. There was a Roman Cemetry & a cave nearby that we were interested to see & hoped to do some walking. When we got there the cemetery was closed & we couldn't find the caves & the area looked pretty boring so we decided to move on to our next campsite, which wasn't too far away.

When we got there it appeared to be open as the barrier was open but there was no one around in reception, there was a layby just outside so we decided to park there & see what happened later in the afternoon. When it got dark no one had turned up so we just spent the night in the layby. It was very quite as the road was a winding country road that literally led to the campsite & there were only about 2 cars that went by all evening. We were a bit stuck as these two campsites were the only 2 that we knew of that were open in Slovenia & we wanted to visit the capital, llubljana & we could get a train from the train we were in. So we left the van outside the train station & got the train to the city. We had to get the train at 7am as it was either that or 11am. The city was very nice & we did not see any tourists. We had a walk around & saw several Roman ruins & some nice buildings. There was an international film festival that had just started the day we got there & we got tickets to see a Japanese film, Survive Style 5+ which had subtitles in English & Slovenian for £2 each. We got the train back & spent another night in the same area by the campsite but in a different layby.

We decided that we best move on as most things we wanted to do were closed. Also we wanted to mobe to where it was warmer. It has been lovely & warm the last few nights in Italy & sunny during the day (except today!)

When we got to Italy it was quite late in the day & we didn't want to spend £20 a night to stay at a campsite in Venice without making the most of the time there. We decided we would find somewhere near the coast to sleep & then go to the Venice campsite first thing in the morning & leave the van there all day whilst in the city & stay for 1 night rather than 2. I choose a town called Caorle by the coast & we drove down there. We spent a while walking along the beach which was really nice as we hadn't seen the sea for 2 months! There didn't seem to be anywhere good to sleep & it can be a bit tiring driving around looking for somewhere so we decided to go to the Venice campsite anyway. As we were leaving Caorle Matt spotted a car park full of campers & we decided to check it out. It turned out to be a free car park with no restrictons on campers & as it was a Saturday everyone was there for the weekend. It seemed to be a well know spot as the number of campers steadily grew & we spent the night with 45 other motorhomes! We stayed there for a total of 3 nights as the town was pretty nice, with amazing old buildings & the sea. It wouldn't have been nice in summer though as it was full of hotels & would have been jammed with tourists.

The car park that we stayed in was right next to the bus station & also had public toilets so we were able to get the bus to Venice & have as much water as we needed & empty our chemcial toilet. We even managed to wash our hair in the van sink! We got the bus to Venice for £8 euros each which was a 2 hour journey, again we left at 7am & got back at about 6.30

Venice was a nice city but it was full of English people & very packed. What was good was that there was no cars. We enjoyed walking round & taking some photos. I didn't enjoy paying 1 euro to go to the toilet (66p!) which was the most expensive so far as you have to pay to use the toilets in most places including in some bars & cafes that you are buying food in! We got 2 water buses around the town which enabled us to see some of the sights from the water.

By Chloe