And there's more.

A bit of video from Pompei.

Hi.

A few more pics from up and down Italy, and a some from Pompei which we visited a couple of weeks back.

22nd July

just a quick update since the last time I could log on as we are now in a camp site near Rome, they do free wifi, bloody expensive though as it is the middle of the Italian main tourist season and is the most we have ever paid for a camp site at 55 Euros a night... Ouch! we are used to free Sostas.

Picked Annie up from the airport yesterday, she is staying with us for a week, her and Sandra have gone off for the day into Rome, they have taken the video and camera so I will see what they come up with. I took a load of video when we visited Pompei but this crappy lap top wont burn the video to disc, I will have to wait untill I gat back on the computer at home to see if that will burn some copies off for Aunt Jess and Harvey.

We have been travelling around the Rome area for about 3 weeks to various "Sostas" and just chilling out. We did decide on one thing though we needed a scooter carrier for the back of the van, while on one Sosta at the sea side we met an English lady who came over to talk to us, she lives in Italy for a number of years and teaches Italian kids English, we mentioned we needed a scooter rack and she came up with the name of a motor home place near Rome and I did a deal for them to fit one so we now have our cavernous garage back again.. Cool!.

The weather continues to be very hot especially around midday when it gets very humid and sticky, then sure enough the sky darkens and there is a massive thunder storm, usually over the mountains in the distance,

a few more pics

 

And this field is where the first Olympics started.

7^th may.

Had a pleasant stay in Arkista village next to where the ferry's go across to the island of Evia, it was a very nice spot next to the sea and it had free wifi at a local hot spot, next morning we took the ferry across to the island, we turned left when we came off the ferry and ended up in the mountains, but the villages were the problem the streets were nearly the same width as the motor home, and a lot had right angled bends round houses, was I glad when we hit a decent road to send us on our way.

We travelled South until we hit a perfect stop over where we could park up on the beach, it was so good we stayed for a good 10 days, there were two Dolphins swimming past every 3 days or so, it must take them this time to go round between the island and the mainland. Our stop was well spent as I managed to strip down the gas side of the fridge which had stopped working as it was full of dust from our trip through Albania.

We got the scooter out and had some good rides on the island, we found everything for our stay, in the next village Limini 10 kilometres down the road they had a communal water tap and the next village the other way were some shops, so all in all a pleasant stay.

17^th May

travelled over the mountains and the bridge at the other end of the island onto the Greek mainland and on till we arrived at our next port of call a beach we stumbled upon, parked up was another British van with two Australian folk who now live in the UK, we stayed 3 days as I completed all the outstanding odd jobs fixing things back which had fallen off on the trek through Albania and the non existent roads.

20^th May.

Moved on to a Stelplaz in Ancient Corinth for a night, the owners greeted us with two cups of Greek coffee when we arrived, and when I asked him if he had wifi he said yes and lead us to his house sat us down in his living room and turned on his computer for me to use, which was fine but the key board was a Greek one which made it interesting.. Nice people and the old granny gave Sandra a sprig of mint and the young daughter painted some boiled eggs for us to take away.

21^st May.

Moved on to the sea lake at Vouligmenis where Sandra came across a dead dog in the beach shower after her swim, she gave it a shower thinking it might reserect itself, alas it was past a miracle, the next day we went to a nearby lighthouse a couple of kilometres away and saw the ancient ruins of Cape Malangari, it was a good rummage and quite interesting.

Travelled on for a few days up in the mountains and round about until we came to our next stop at a beach called Agios. Konstantinos where the main point of interest was a wreck high and dry. We met some Dutch folk and spent some time with them and one night we all got together with some Belgium Italian, French and Germans singing and playing the guitar along with another Dutch guy who also had a guitar. A good night.

30^th May.

We moved on to another good spot on a beach, we found it totally by accident as we were travelling past, there was a beach shower to get water, a toilet block with a grubby squat down toilet which is OK for emptying the toilet cassette, we stayed here for a few days so we got the bike out and had some good exploring, on one part we came across a snake on the road, it was bright green but well squashed with the traffic.

2^nd June.

We moved onto Katakloo Port 5 Euros per night all in. We pulled up behind another tag axle Hymer exactly like ours and it was a British couple Dick and Diane who was gob smacked as we were the first English folk they had seen for quite a bit, and we turned up with the same make and model of motor home..

We had a very pleasant night with them as Dick had brought his guitar so we sat down and jammed until it got too dark to see the music.. Nice folk and we would like to see them again if our paths crossed anywhere near each other.

4^th June

Went to Olympus to look at the site where the Olympics started, we had a hot sticky day walking round the ruins, and then heaven as we went into the air conditioned museum. Then on to Astakes Port which at first seemed OK but as the night progressed more and more trawlers came in clanking and revving their engines as they unloaded their catch I had at most an hours sleep, of course Sandra being deaf slept through it all.

5^th June.

We called into a beach near the Port of Igoumemitsa where we caught the ferry to Brindisi on Italy, on the beach next to us was the first Australian couple we met earlier, small world, we went down to the ferry office to ask about booking, the young girl said it sails at 12 midnight and she took 180 Euros off our card and we were booked on, or should I say shoe horned on, good job they let you stay in the van on the overnight crossing, we couldn't open the doors we were that packed in, not a very good nights sleep, but hey ho! We made it to Italy, or should I say the open tip with mounds of rubbish piling up everywhere as the refuse collectors are probably on strike,

6^th June.

We ended up on a car park near a beach as we just wanted somewhere we could crash out after the nights sailing.

We toured round Italy dodging the rubbish so decided to go over to Sicily.

8^th June.

Stumbled upon another brilliant stop over by the side of a beach that had all the facility's nearby, and it was here an Italian guy who was parked up next to me came over as I was playing the guitar, and even though he couldn't speak any English and I couldn't speak Italian the universal language of music kicked in as he had a go on my guitar, another nice man!/

11^th June

Went to the port to buy a ticket for the ferry to Sicily and the man took 47 Euros for the crossing and pointed to the ferry that was just coming in, and that was the one we caught perfect timing. It is only a short crossing and we were soon landing in Sicily, and what a difference the place is clean no piles of litter everywhere.

All right where to go?. Straight up Mount Etna as you do, we went as high as you can by driving which turned out to be 1800 meters, with the summit about the same distance again above us.

Sandra got out at one of the Lava Fields to collect some lava to give to our grand children when we get back, we stayed the night all alone up the mountain in a strong gale that rocked the van all night, and the temperatures outside fell away to daft degrees meaning we had the duvet out instead of the single blanket we have been using at sea level, where the temperature even at night rarely gets below 25 degrees.

We toured round until we came to another beach location where we spent the night unfortunately Sandra had a bought of feeling unwell and kept being sick. Next morning as I opened the blinds there was a black snake slithering across the sand next to the motor home, I woke Sandra to show her, well that was it we are not stopping here so we moved on to where we are now at a place called Ragusa Marina which is an haven for Italian motor homes with them coming and going all the time, it's nice and clean and a reasonably level hard standing car park, and of course like most of the places we stay free!.

12^th June

Off on our travels.

13^th June.

Lucky day we picked any old town off the map which happened to be Ragusa Marina and what a nice place it is, it is well frequented by the Italians and at one time there was a good dozen vans parked up.

We went for a walk along the front, well not so much a walk as a hike it went on for ever and when we finally got to the end there wasn't any shops only restaurants so it was a hike for nothing, and our feet were aching with walking in flip flops, never mind it was a beautiful day for a hike!.

14^th June.

Among the Italians was a very nice guy who spoke quite good English and seemed to live permanently at this spot, a bit of a Beach Bum, he seemed to want to talk to everybody so we nicknamed him “A professional friend”, he did come up with some useful information by giving us the where a bout's of a “Sosta” where we could get water and empty all the waste and it was only a couple of Kilometres away, so this enabled us to stay a few days and not have to look for these facilities. And of course while we have access to a good supply of good water we take the opportunity to have a shower as we can top up the tanks again when we have finished showering, and Sandra will do any washing in the sink.. All this usually normally occurs at the side of some road or other where there is a fresh water spring where the locals fill their water bottles.

Ah! the life of a wanderer, you have to take every opportunity when it presents itself, water is a precious thing when you haven't a tap which gives you it all day long like at home

17^th June.

Fridge started playing up again when run on gas so we decided to bite the bullet and find a camp site somewhere where we might get it fixed. We came across an absolute gem of a site complete with swimming pool for the princely sum of 15 Euros all in, the guy said he would take me the next day to get the fridge working, and he was true to his word, the folk here can't do enough to help you, they are great that is until you put them in or on something with wheels on, it is at this point they are barmy!. The technician fixed the fridge and bearing in mind the last time we had the same work done on our last van at a motor home place in France they charged us a 100 Euros, he announced as he looked at me apologetically for asking the exorbitant sum of 10 Euros for the same work as the French guy wanted 100 Euros.. Hmm good for the Italians and come to think of it the Greeks.

18^th June.

Moved on up into the mountains as we looked for relief from the constant heat by gaining altitude to find some cool air, it was as we were threading the van through the narrow streets of a mountain town that Sandra noticed a sign for a motor home stop. I swung off course from our present route and followed the signs until we came to a newly opened area that would take a dozen vans, except it is too new and it seems folk haven't heard of it as we had it all to our self s and there were no tyre tracks in the newly laid gravel.

It was a great spot overlooked by a big castle, we had a walk round it the next day, it cost 4 Euros each to visit. We also overlooked at the bottom of the valley a large lake which was the home to a herd of cows, their cow bells clanging as they went about their business,

20^th June.

Driving round trying to find somewhere to stop as the day was getting late and after trying to get into various marinas and being thwarted by the narrow inaccessible streets we ended up on flat bit of road stoned area back up in the mountains after following a hair pin road for miles, well needs must and any port in a storm sort of thing we pulled up on the road stone which at least was back off the road and away from the traffic noise, and this is where we stayed the night, then next morning off again until we spied down against the sea a motor home parked up, once again from our high vantage point we could see a railway line that would thwart our attempts to get down to the sea, well if he got there we can so I put on the map facility on the tom tom and spied a road which got us under the railway and on to the sea front where we parked up on a waste bit of land overlooking the sea, and that is where we stayed.

We planned on staying one more night and settled in for a day of longing and sun bathing. A short time later two more Italian vans turned up, it seems they had seen us as they drove past and had the same idea as me, which was all well and good except now we were high profile and this attracted the local plod who invited us all to bugger off or give us an on the spot 41Euro fine.

We all buggered off!.

In fact we buggered off completely we went to the port caught the ferry from Sicily back over the Italy.

22^nd June.

Now in Italy and faced with some long driving stints as we made our way North up the left hand side of Italy, as we were driving along Sandra saw a motor home sales with a few motor homes and caravans parked up there were also some trailers for sale. We want a motor bike rack to hang the scooter on the back of the van instead of inside the van garage, so we decided to turn off at the next exit on the motorway which turned out to be a good twenty miles then another twenty miles back to the turn off for the motor home sales.

The motor home sales which was very prominent at the side of the motor way was a very different kettle of fish when approached from the city and I drove past the road down to the motor home sales, as you do when you are looking for some where. OK I will reverse back except this is Italy and every driver is barmy and drives every where with one hand on the horn looking for any opportunity to blast away with it.

So as I was reversing back along with the accompaniment of blaring horns I saw a small road that I could reverse into so I could turn round, I reversed in no problem which left me broadside to the traffic which of course was full of Italian drivers that are barmy and will not stop for anything as they have to drive at full speed with their mobile phones stuck to their ear swerving all over the place. I saw a gap in the traffic just big enough to get out so I went for it, except behind me was a small wall and as I turned the back end pivoted on the rear wheels and caught the wall, with the consequence that the rear bumper departed from the van.... Bugger!.

They now let me out, hmm

So out with the drill and some screws and Sandra and me fixed it back into position as I turned down the road to the motor home sales which was shut for their 4 hour dinner time.

OK while we waited we fixed the bumper back on as good as the day it was put on and there wasn't a mark on it to show it had been in the wars, the only thing was the wires to the drivers side rear lights where all disconnected and some had ripped apart.

Come 3.30 when they arrived back at the sales and I asked them if they could fix the lights put on a scooter rack and a ladder on the back the guy just shook his head.

Using his computer and Google translate he said follow the young girl from the office and she will take you to an auto electrician in the city and he will fix your lights, which he did, once again apologeticly asking for 20 Euros for a good 2 hours work, the same work in England the guy would not have opened his toolbox for 20 quid never mind doing the job.

It was such a stressful sweaty hot experience we just pulled in on a Sosta among the piles of rubbish that is collecting more every day and spent a hot uncomfortable night at the side of the motorway with the lorries and cars tearing by all night and moved on the next day

22^nd of June.

I put on a way point Sandra gave me to a camp site that charges 20 Euros a night all in and that is where we are now, and this is where we will stay for maybe 5 nights as we unwind and chill, well not chill it's too hot, at least we can get the bike out and go exploring especially now the old Garmin will work as it has the Italian map in it's memory. Now being surrounded elbow to elbow with shouting Italians and screaming kids.. Heaven!..

1^st May.

Travelled down the road towards Dubrovnik when we came across a beautiful bay so for the night we decided to pull up here for the night, it was really hot at 33 degrees so a swim for Evie and a paddle for Sandra and me, it was so nice we just sat on the beach and watched the sun go down over the mountains, I would stay here again if we are in this neck of the woods.

2^nd May.

Set off for Montenegro and duly arrived at the border, the border control would not let us in the country until we purchased further insurance from them at a cost of 18 Euros, hmm!. OK bought it we are on our way again.

We travelled just about all the way round an enormous bay about 60/70 kilometres, threading the van through little streets lined with cars until we hit a sign that said road closed.. WHAT!, there was no other road to take so it meant reversing a good 500 yds with inches to spare at either side until I came to a point where I could turn round, Sandra marching ahead shooing the traffic away, she was great and assertive. We had to drive all the way back to where we started so we could get a ferry over to not far from where the road was closed, Hmm again.

On the way there was a German van parked up so I thought I would do the guy a favour, I asked if he was going round the bay to which he said yes, so I told him about the road being closed, all I got was a lecture on wild camping about it wasn't allowed anywhere.. Hmm what a prick!.

Back to Montenegro.

It is a really poor country very run down, with the usual crap roads, but as it later turns out they are highways compared to what was to come when we hit Albania, we arrived at the border out of Montenegro as it only took a few hours with one overnight stop on some rough ground to drive across the little country, Sandra made a friend with a little gypsy boy she gave him a bottle of water and a big bag of crisps which he sat down and ate before he went home or he would have had to share them, we checked through no problem and drove a couple of hundred yards to another border control into Bosnia, checked through easily only to be met by another border control a couple of hundred yards away as we were now in Albania, three countries in less than half a mile.

Now comes the fun part, the Albanian border control said we need their insurance, I was aware of this so I asked how much to which he shouted to a guy mooching about at the back of his border crossing cabin, he said he is the insurance man you buy off him.

I showed him the Montenegro insurance slip to which he kept pointing at the price of 18 Euro, so I expected to pay the same, he proudly announced he wanted 85 Euros. I said “WHAT YOU ARE JOKING” I am not paying that we will be through Albania and in Greece in 3 days top, so we went to his office and started to haggle and I beat him down to 55 Euros and that seemed to be his sticking point, so I went to the bank of Sandra to get the money, I picked up 50 Euros and I thought I will act daft and give him that, He just looked at me shrugged his shoulders and stamped up a copy of insurance, I showed it to the crossing guard who just gave it a cursory glance and he waved us on, we were now in Albania.

3^rd May.

Now in Albania, what can I say I suppose you would have to experience it to give you a sense of the place.

It started off OK travelling down a big wide modern road with little old ladies leading a cow on a bit off rope along as I drove towards the main city a few miles down the road. The Tom Tom proudly announcing that it has very little data for this country and it doesn't know where it is as it only knows goat tracks.

By and by we came to the city and I wasn't prepared for what I was getting us into, I was prepared for not knowing where we were going and fiddling our way through Albania with a bit of Tom Tom and a bit of map work, I wasn't really prepared for folk driving down either side of the street, going anyway round roundabouts totally ignoring traffic lights, stop or give way signs or pedestrians or cyclists.

I wasn't prepared to find a flock of sheep hobbled in the road in the middle of the road waiting to be slaughtered in the open in the middle of the city, all this as the tarmac had stopped to be replaced by road stone with deep holes and ruts to fall down.

We got through it in one piece, I don't know how but we did.

This led us on our way as we went up into the mountains along a very narrow road with just enough room for a couple of cars to pass each other, and to add to the excitement the roads had collapsed through land slides that went down hundreds of feet to the valley below to stop you falling over the side the nice workmen just piled a mound of road stone to warn you, then came the hair pin bends so tight I could just get round in one and they were so steep it took the van all it's time to get up in 1^st gear, then down the other side which was just as steep, I had to go down in 1^st gear to save the brakes from over heating, this went on for mile after mile, nearly all the way across the mountains in first and second gear, that is until we abruptly came out of the mountain roads onto a super brand new high way 3 lanes on each side.

Wow I can't believe what we have come through when we could have come along this brand new road, which lasted for 10 miles then disappeared into mass of potholed road stone, with traffic kicking up clouds of choking road stone, traffic was weaving on all sides of the road stone to get round the really deep ruts, so here I am back in first and second gear this time for a good 40 miles, and this is what it was like nearly all the way across Albania until we got to the Greek side of the country where the roads improved.

Sandra said she had looked on the dongle we have of camp sites and there was one on our way and it was wild camping, so we put it into Tom Tom as lat and long, but it just laughed at us and said it didn't have any data for these co ordinates, never mind swing a right at a sign for the village, and this gave us our next adventure.

Up and up we went up this mountain round impossible bends at impossible rates of ascent, this went on for miles with Sandra looking sheepish as we trundled along with no end in sight, finally we came across a clearing with a large meadow filled with cows sheep and goats, “that's it I resign I am not driving a minute longer we are stopping here”, so I pulled onto the grass.

We hadn't been stopped long when this old guy mooched across to us and started peering in the van windows then he started looking at himself in the wing mirrors , all this way to find a nutter!.

I went out to talk to him, he seemed very friendly and offered me a roll up, to which I declined, he then started jibber jabbering in Albanian try to tell me something, he kept putting two fingers to his mouth gesturing that something savage was going to bite the tyres on the van, he then kept counting to five on his fingers to which I thought he wanted five of Albanian money to protect the van, so I kept saying “No Albanian money”. I found out what he meant a bit later when I took Evie out for a walk when five dogs started after us, they were guarding the sheep and goats from the wolves that are still round this area, we both got back to the safety of the van, which was the sign to move on again but this time driving through the dark on the twisty mountain roads till we found a place to stop for the night, I didn't sleep as there were packs of wild dogs howling and barking all through the night.

The one saving grace was, as we made our way back along the road we had come along the previous night we came across a car with two guys filling water canisters from a mountain spring, so we filled up as well with the watering can, it is the best water I have ever had in my life, the guy filling up spoke to me in English asking how I liked Albania, to which I replied that the folk were great the country at this side of Albania is great but the roads are rubbish, he just laughed and said that's 40years of Communism for you.

From the spring it was about a 3 hour drive to the Greek border, to which we were waived through no bother with the Greek border guard saying welcome to Greece and I hope you have a nice holiday.

4^th May.

In Greece and our first stop over was in the high mountains, we pulled up at the side of the road which overlooked the further mountains in the distance, the deep lush valley with the herds of goats and sheep, the flocks had a few of the animals with a bell round their neck clanging away in the distance even though you couldn't see them.

Next morning we set off to head for the Greek shoreline a good 6 hour drive, we passed another spring feeding a big watering trough, a herd of sheep with the accompanying guard dogs appeared and started to drink out of the trough which was fed by a constantly running pipe at high level, I asked the shepherd if the water was good he put his thumb up and had a drink to show it was safe, so once again we filled the tank up on the van with good water, we also had a shower each while we had good access to a source of water which we topped everything up and was on our way.

5^th May.

We ended up in pleasant village called Arkista where we spent a pleasant night for a change surrounded by people bars and café's and the icing on the cake there is now a free wifi hot spot. Next day we boarded the ferry over the Island of Evia, we turned left at the end of the road which took us into the mountains which was very nice but it also meant we had to negotiate the mountain villages with roads between the houses that just had enough room for the van to squeeze through, with one notable village that had a 90 degree turn to get round and the added obstetrical of a great hole in the road which stopped us dead and took a great deal of burning tyre rubber to claw our way out of.

We finally hit proper roads again unscathed so we set off south down the island on the coast road, as we were travelling along we noticed a caravan parked up at the bottom of a field next to the sea, wow that looks a good spot I will turn round and see if we can get down as well.

I finally found a clearing in the trees so I could turn round and started to back into the space, Crunch! What the F! I have hit something as I am now broadside across the road trying to turn round, the van has a turning circle of an ocean liner, so we made our way back to the spot where the caravan was and what a find, a beach a good 3 mile long with loads of parking spots, we ended up staying 10 days as there was a village near by for shopping and 10 kilometres away in the next village was good water provided from a tap at the side of the road, we got the scooter out and had some great trips out a lot just to keep cool as it was unbearable y hot some days, which had Sandra out swimming, there were also couple of dolphins went past twice while we were there, what a magical place.

While we were there the fridge decided to play up on gas but it was OK in 240 volt if I put the genny on, in our last van we had a problem with the gas on the fridge and spent all day trialling round France looking for a dealer who could mend it which we found, so I watched what the guy did cleaning the burner jets so I did the same cleaned out the jet and low and behold it is working fine again..... Result.