A bientôt EU

[leightonjthomas]

Seems a ketlle is the red wire in the story the last few weeks.
You could buy one for christmas

Only went to Italy (Milan region ) two times and never liked the country , seems your story only confirms my view .

As with most countries I think it just depends on what parts you visit and whom you meet. We've visited Italy many times and we love it - definitely one of our favourite European countries. My father was serving there during the war and he was delighted when we took him and my mother back to Tuscany a few years ago. Wonderful scenery and really warm welcoming people. We're heading back down to the Piedmont in the Cali next summer.

 

[larrylamb]

Tom, Are you heading south to Naples, (Vesuvius, Pompeii, Capri) Sorrento and the Amalfi coast? We really enjoyed the area, though it was July.

 

[jts46]

This is a place you might like to take the children, it has mud sulfphuric baths, steam vents. We also thought it was warm on the ground (from volcano) also near railway station for trip into Naples.

www.eurocampings.co.uk/italy/campania/naples/pozzuoli/campsite-int-vulcano-solfatara-105027/

 

[Amarillo]

Tom, Are you heading south to Naples, (Vesuvius, Pompeii, Capri) Sorrento and the Amalfi coast? We really enjoyed the area, though it was July.

Yes - we are moving on tomorrow, but probably crossing Italy again to the Adriatic, Sciali di Lauro, then zig-zagging again to Naples. We have two weeks to meander our way to Sicily, so we are very relaxed with time.


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[jts46]

Another place to visit is Matero near the instep/heal of italy

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JoM6RMkuo8

Local bread is very hard and looks burnt

 

[larrylamb]

Local bread is very hard and looks burnt

You mean Pizza John?

 

[jts46]

No it was a round loaf, that looked burnt, evidently it is the local bread.
We ordered it from the campsite shop the night before, it looked ok until we tried to slice it, unfortunately i didn't have my electric knife in the camper.

 

[jts46]

But Matero was stunning

 

[alter]

....... maybe you did not know that in Tuscany bread is without salt, but very good with cured meats, olive oil and cheese .... when we go to Tuscany we always bring home a couple of loaves. ... strange for the desserts that you have not found tasty .. maybe not the right pastries ...... the trip to San Marino maybe it was not worth the time you lost ... there are other better places ... I had recommended other forum members in another tread .... have a good trip

 

[Amarillo]

Another place to visit is Matero near the instep/heal of italy

It looks wonderful.
In early January we plan to explore the extreme south of the Italian mainland. We have plenty of time to kill before we migrate northwards from Greece through Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary in the warmer weather.

Local bread is very hard and looks burnt

I've not been overly impressed with Italian breads. Hard and saltless. We've learnt to go to big supermarkets where international style breads are on offer - but we still like to try the local stuff.

The best bread of our entire trip so far came from a tiny bakery in the extreme north west of Spain. But perhaps my taste buds are clouded with the charm of the micro bakery.




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[alter]

hotel california, I agree with your opinion that the Milan area is not the best ... you work and there are so many industrial areas ...... you're wrong place to see Italy! we never buy the bread from the supermarkets ... it's frozen bread made in the countries of eastern Europe with suspicious flours ... and then it comes back to the supermarket ..... rubbish ..

 

[alter]

I hope you find good weather in January in southern Italy ..... unfortunately the weather has changed a lot and during some winter it snows more in the South than in the North ..... but you will see that the Sicily region will not disappoint you with its history, the hospitable people and the super food ... you'll see the sweets !, the Sicilian cannoli !,

 

[Amarillo]

This is a place you might like to take the children, it has mud sulfphuric baths, steam vents. We also thought it was warm on the ground (from volcano) also near railway station for trip into Naples.

That looks perfect for us - 19 Euros per night inc. hookup, showers and dog, plus whatever they charge for children.



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[The Blue Merle]

Day 148 - Serravalle

"There was no possibility of taking a walk that day..." The weather today was just as described by Bronte in her book Jane Eyre. Of course, we did take a walk - at least Ben, Meg and I did, we had to. But apart from that one walk, it was a pyjama day. We stayed huddled in the van playing board games and we watched two films, Cinderella and The Wizard of Oz.

So rotten was the weather that we chose not to cook, but went to the campsite's restaurant for pizza, which is every bit as good in San Marino as it is in Italy. Similarly, the bread in San Marino is every bit as bad in San Marino as we have experienced in Italy. We've now travelled in Amarillo through 21 countries (if we count Gibraltar) and have bought and eaten bread in most if not all. The worst three bakeries have been the three bakeries we have bought bread from in Italy and San Marino. An almost inedible croissant in Imperia that left a cloying fatty taste coating my mouth, saltless dry loaves in Monte di Fo, and now baguettes that have been baked like breadsticks in San Marino. Perhaps someone can advise on what we should be looking for in Italian and Sanmarinese bread - I'm sure it cannot all be bad.


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I love the fact that meg sits there guarding the pitch, Zeb my crazy collie does the same thing.
Keep up the good work Tom, love reading your travels. Ps very jealous!

 

[Amarillo]

I love the fact that meg sits there guarding the pitch, Zeb my crazy collie does the same thing.
Keep up the good work Tom, love reading your travels. Ps very jealous!

She's looking for cats in that photo, but we will also get an audible warning if anyone approaches.


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[Amarillo]

Day 155 - Rome

After three busy days in Rome we chose to have a quiet final day, playing games, walking Meg and generally chilling. Our only venture from the campsite was to the supermarket. It's only just over the road, but as that road is a six lane motorway with no underpasses or pedestrian bridges, we drove.


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[Amarillo]

Day 156 - Rome to Manfredonia

It is now six months since we left home on 5 June, and in those six months we've circumnavigated the Gulf of Bothnia and Baltic Sea, experienced six days of continuous daylight, left the EU seven times more often than Theresa May can dream of, been to the bottom of a salt mine, visited seven different VW service centres in four countries, been to 21 different countries and one British overseas territory, paid 60 Euros to sleep in a scabby log cabin with no bed linen and no running water, visited the four compass points of the EU mainland, visited two vets and no doctors, been nearly divorced on at least 156 occasions, driven to 2400 metres and had experiences to last a lifetime.



We were able to set off in good time from Rome, and were crossing Italy once more. The nice thing about zigzagging across Italy is that it really gives me a good sense of the geography of the country. With a central spine of mountains, the eastern or north eastern coastal area is a wide expanse of flat plain, while the western or southwestern coastal area is hilly. As we crossed the spinal mountains I kept seeing signs reminding me that chains or winter tyres are a mandatory requirement on that road between 15 November and 15 April. As we climbed higher I was ashamed at my irresponsibility of not having either. In one of the larger towns I found a VW service centre, but predictably it was closed for lunch - until 3.30pm. Eventually we found an open one near our journey's end, they didn't have chains, but we've ordered some costing €85, they should arrive tomorrow. I wonder when they will first see use, or will they just sit in the van?

Here at our campsite on the coast almost due south of Manfredonia we have hit the jackpot. We are camped just a few yards from a bueatiful sandy beach, on a campsite with a good sanitary block, costing just 13 Euros a night for the five of us - no extra for the boys. Amazing.

After dinner and just before bed I took the boys and Meg for a moonlit walk on the beach - it was a full moon or nearly full moon, bigger and brighter than I've ever seen it before. The boys were delighted to see their moon shadows on the sand.


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[Jay586]

It's a supermoon. Closer in orbit than usual.

 

[hirsty]

It's a supermoon. Closer in orbit than usual.

Astonishingly 14,000 miles closer!

 

[Amarillo]

Day 156 - Rome to Manfredonia

It is now six months since we left home on 5 June, and in those six months we've circumnavigated the Gulf of Bothnia and Baltic Sea, experienced six days of continuous daylight, left the EU seven times more often than Theresa May can dream of, been to the bottom of a salt mine, visited seven different VW service centres in four countries, been to 21 different countries and one British overseas territory, paid 60 Euros to sleep in a scabby log cabin with no bed linen and no running water, visited the four compass points of the EU mainland, visited two vets and no doctors, been nearly divorced on at least 156 occasions, driven to 2400 metres and had experiences to last a lifetime.

Ben learnt to ride a bike 1 day before his 3 1/2 birthday, I rode down a mountain on a Brompton towing two toddlers in a trailer, we spent an afternoon in a Polish police station, we spent 134 nights off grid, and went 172 days without hookup, my cousin adopted Meg's puppy Jess who traveled with us for 2 1/2 months and I grew a beard.



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[Amarillo]

Day 157 - Manfredonia

This really is a fine beach - 3.5km of sand one way, 4km of sand the other way, with a river at either end. The beach isn't cleaned so it has the usual rubbish washed up, old bouys, bits of fishing net, weather worn pieces of polystyrene and driftwood soothed by sea and time. This all adds to the pleasure Ben and Jack get from their play: filthy polystyrene becomes a valuable treasure, fishing net stirred with a stick becomes soup and a punctured bouy is a chair, so we soon have a banquet fit for a pirate.

The bread here is very large and very good.

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[Amarillo]

Day 158 - Manfredonia

Little things can take ages to achieve.

On the way here we stopped at a VW parts shop and ordered some snow chains, on certain roads it is mandatory to carry them between 15 November and 15 April, and next spring we will be driving the Transfăgărășan in Romania if it is open. Plus, I'd much rather have chains and not need them over needing chains and not have them, and if stopped by la polizia on a mandatory road, we will need them.

I paid a 20 Euro deposit for the chains, was given a written receipt, and told they would be there the next morning. I said I'd be in to collect before Friday, and was advised that they were closed on Friday for [yet another] festival.

So today we went to the trouble of driving away from our awning. This involves:
-removing the roof topper
-preparing the upper berth
-lowering the roof
-clearing the lower berth
-folding up the mattress
-making the lower bed into a seat
-putting in the child seats
-detaching the awning lights
-detaching the tent awning from the wind out awning
-rolling back the tent awning porch
-guying the tent awning
-marking out the return position for the van
-unplugging the hook up cable
-and, most importantly, unhooking Meg and her lead from the tow bar

Front wheel position marked

We used this as an opportunity to wash the bed linen, and as we'd decided to stay seven nights, not the four nights we'd originally planned, we needed to visit a supermarket for more wine and other essentials.

We drove to the spares' shop in Foggia, arriving 30 minutes before they shut for their 2 1/2 hour lunch. "Come back this afternoon" we were told. No explanation. Foggia was without electricity, so that may or may not have been the reason.

So, we went shopping at the supermarket, had lunch, played on the beach, and I returned to Foggia with the boys. Clare remained behind to walk Meg. Jack fell asleep in the car, and I had to carry him into the spares' shop, then Ben needed a pee but the electricity was still out in Foggia - 4 hours later - and he didn't want to pee in the dark loo, with only a high window to the dim workshop behind.

My 20 Euros cash was returned, I was presented with my snow chains, and I had to pay cash as they had no power. Daylight was fading.

We returned to the campsite in the dark, and under pressure, being watched by Clare, two Swiss, two Germans and two Luxembourgers, with Ben screaming for a pee, I reversed perfectly alongside my pre-marked cable. Clare took Ben for a pee, and I went through the long process of setting up the van for sleeping.

Little things take ages to achieve. All day to pick up pre-ordered snow chains.

Tomorrow I look forward to working out how to fit them. I fully expect that to take all day too.


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[hirsty]

Things like that used to really wind me up - but having had many similar experiences in Italy, France, Ireland - I've had something of an epiphany & realised it really doesn't matter all that much in the grand scheme, and often generates the best stories.

My brother and I still laugh about a string of motorcycle problems & the comical process of getting our circumnavigation back on the road near Cork - would probably have forgotten all about it by now otherwise

 

[2haw]

A great read and I am very jealous of your adventure...

Keep up the updates...

 

[The Blue Merle]

Hi Tom
Just a heads up received new Acsi books today, so fingers crossed your get yours in time.