Category: Uncategorized (Page 3 of 4)

Saturday 24^th September 2002 Praia de Ancora to Vila Cha 46 miles

Our first night in Portugal was very pleasant, the campsite was woody, green, and rustic but we had a good sleep with an equally good breakfast outside in the fresh morning air. Today we are going further south along the coast to Vila Cha to a campsite there. To get there we have to go on the motorway as it’s the quickest and most efficient.

Once on the motorway we get comfortable and settled in, Hayley is still doing the driving, and Del’s foot is slowly getting better but not quite ready for driving yet. So we are trundling along quite nicely when suddenly we see a sign with a wifi symbol a car and a euro sign. Hmmm. We carry on and see another sign about a lane for “foreigners”. Now we are confused and a little concerned that this must be a paid motorway that requires a toll. So far we have not stopped at the usual barrier and collected a ticket, as one would do in Spain or France.

We stop in a carpark and look up what is required for driving on Portuguese motorways. Yes we should have looked it up first, we know, but we didn’t, so now we have no idea what we are doing.

It turns out that in Portugal if you are a foreign registered vehicle then you must pay a toll and or a tax, one or the other or both. Eh? And you must pay for it in advance either by buying a pass of 4 different euro values or a three-day pass or….. it just goes on and on and it’s all in Portuguese, it’s for foreigners but it’s all in Portuguese. Grrr! Thank heavens for Google translate. We finally find a way to buy a pass online, however, once you start using the motorways you can’t find out how much credit you’ve got left.

Del finally finds a website where you can put your registration in, name, and telephone number, and it will tell you how many ‘infractions’ you have and if you do have some you can pay there and then.

Without a doubt the most complicated, convoluted, patience-trying method of toll-paying ever contrived. We are not the only ones. We later find out that foreign traffic has fallen in Portugal as visitors just find the whole system difficult to navigate. It is a bit mad…

We finally arrive at our campsite, it’s lovely. We are shown a pitch and settled in.

There is a recommended restaurant across the road so off we go for a fabulous feast of BBQ’ed gigantic prawns and calamari on skewers with red peppers, served with fries and a salad. Brilliant. This is helped along with a bottle of the house white. We can’t help ourselves and so we have dessert. The whole bill was just over 40 euros. Bargain.

Back at the van Hayley is unloading chairs from the back and the double barrel heavy-duty foot pump falls hard on her bare foot, producing a cut and a bruise, and just to add insult to her injury, some considerable pain.

We are doing well here. Del with his smashed big right toe and now Hayley with a nasty bruise and pain on her left foot. Doing very well.

Once Hayley has settled, Del is off for a shave not before dropping his razor blade on the floor, and instinctively catching it and cutting the pad of his right index finger. My god the pain. It stings all night and bleeds for ages!!!!

So between the two of us, we now only have two good feet and three good hands! Great for basketball.

Hayley is a bit of a crisp fiend on these trips and likes to find the most obscure tasting crisps in the shops. Today she excelled herself with a bag of fried and egg and bacon flavored crisps. They truly do stink.

We both know when the other has had a sneaky try as the stench of the open packet being opened in the van is telling. A most unusual purchase.

No dinner tonight as we had such a wonderful lunch, so we opt to walk, or rather hobble, to a bar on the seafront that will give us a brilliant sunset. Sure enough, the sky is clear and the sun is about 40 minutes from setting.

We order two small beers and get settled in when suddenly a local by the name of Dave, approaches us, rather worse for wear on white wine, and starts to talk to us. It was a funny 30 or so minutes as we spoke about food, the weather, in fact almost anything but in three languages, English, Spanish and a bit of French. He was very drunk and very funny and a kind good-natured drunk!

We are saved as we focus on the sun slowly setting into the Atlantic. Wonderful.

It’s getting cold. Time to go back to our home on wheels.

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Sunday 25^th September 2022 Vila Cha to Costa Nova 64 miles

We are packed up and ready to go. A quick service, grey water empty, toilet clean, and freshwater fill up, and we are off once again at the mercy of the Portuguese motorway system. Great.

We need to stop off first at the restaurant where we watched the sunset from and pay for the beers. It was cash only and we had no cash. It’s more tricky now than ever, do people accept cash only, card only? Another covid hangover. He trusted us and just told us to “come back later or tomorrow and pay” Blimey imagine that happening in the UK?

True to our word we stopped by to pay for yesterday’s sunset beers and while we were there we had a fabulous coffee and some traditional Portuguese “pastel de nata” A custard tart to you, in puff pastry. It was very good, with an unobstructed view of the Atlantic.

Most of the local roads here are cobbled and in a motorhome, it’s slow and noisy. There are many miles of cobbled streets in this part of Portugal, you can get sick of it. In fact, so far the roads in Portugal are not the best, the motorways are ok and some of the main roads are not bad but even some of them can be a bit ropey as we found out as we drove through the outskirts of Porto, the back of the van lands sharply into a pothole, that was so loud and sharp we thought the back axel was going to get pulled away leaving us with just our home on two front wheels.

That being said the journey was pleasant enough with lovely blue skies and 24 degrees which felt hotter than it said. It’s windy though.

We approach Costa Nova which is a long spit of land down the west side of the country. It is also famous for its brightly coloured striped houses along the front. It’s very busy, with lots of traffic.

There is a 5-day festival in the town and the streets are packed. There is a procession going on and Hayley is doing a great job of navigating the traffic, people, and dogs as we weave our way to the campsite.

We get a warm welcome, pay 19 euros, and were told where we can go. It’s rustic but the spaces are good and the facilities, whilst dated, all work and do what they are supposed to do.

Finally, after a week of being away, we get the bikes off the back of Jess. Hayley’s foot is still a bit sore but better than yesterday. Del’s foot is still a bit tender but cycling a bike should be ok. We shall see.

It’s a lovely bike ride along the front. The houses in all their multitude of colours look wonderful in the sun. We cycle around the back streets and find a restaurant right on the beach. We give it a try but there is a queue and Del is not a fan of queuing to eat at a restaurant so we buy ice cream and cycle back to Jess.

Hayley puts together a smashing afternoon spread of Jamon serrano, boquerones, and tomato bread.

The rest of the day is spent sitting in the sun, planning the next few days out in Portugal, reading, and just enjoying the afternoon sun. Del tidies up the van locker hiding the foot pump well away so it can’t jump out again when Hayley looks at it. Still windy though.

Tomorrow we are going further south.

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Monday 26^th September 2022 Costa Nova to Costa de Lavos 59 miles

It was a noisy night last night. The five-day festival ends today so last night there were live bands on until 3:00 am and the noise was wafting our way, which ended with a fireworks display.

It’s a bright sunny morning and today we are heading to our last Portuguese coastal stop in Cost de Lavos. In Figueira de Foz. As usual, the roads are atrocious until we reach the motorway which turns out to be one of the best roads ever. Very smooth and empty. After paying the 6 euro toll we are back onto dodgy local roads towards our free night stop in a large parking aire right by the beach.

Lunch today in a typical real local place comprising of spicy chicken, rice, fries, and a salad, served with a glass of cold white wine. This place is miles ahead of Nando’s, the food here is far far better, and far cheaper.

Back at the van, the rest of the day is sat in the sun just in time to grab the remnants of a bottle of red wine from a night or two ago and to go to the beach to watch our last Portuguese coastal sunset for this trip. One of the best sunsets yet, with no clouds just the sun dissappearing gently below the horizon.

It gets cold quickly so it’s back to Jess, heating on and bed.

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Tuesday 27^th September 2022 Costa de Lavos to Sao Joao de Areias 60 miles

It’s a bright, sunny but cool morning. Our free stopover last night was excellent, very quiet and peaceful. Short simple breakfast, a quick diesel fill-up, and some shopping. Today we are moving east, inland, and slightly north. We have seen the last of the Portuguese coast for this trip and now we are on a motorway to a small town in the hills called Sao Joao de Areias where there is a super cheap campsite run by a couple of Belgians, or are they Dutch?

It takes just over an hour to get there when we arrive we are greeted by Amanda, an English lady who makes us very welcome into this small but practical campsite. She is looking after the place as the owners have had to go away. We have a nice little pitch. There is everything we need here for 10 euros, including a free bread delivery in the morning.

We have been away for 11 days now so today is laundry and cleaning day. Everything is stripped out and we do three machine loads of laundry, change the bed, full van service, internal clean throughout…Hayley does a lovely job of the bathroom and shower!

It’s a lovely day so we just stay with Jess, doing the washing, reading, chatting, and just enjoying the sunshine in this lovely place.

There are a few chickens here that have attracted Hayley’s attention. She used to look after some back home at Quarr Abbey, so she is very fond of them.

We are visited by Amanda, the host, so we invite her in for a coffee and a chat. She proceeds to tell us some great stories of all the different campers that have visited and tell us that we are the only Brits to have visited this year which is odd given how lovely the place is.

Hayley is in planning mode again. Tomorrow will be our penultimate night in Portugal before crossing the border back into Spain.

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Wednesday 28^th September 2022 Sao Joao de Areias to Meda 78 miles

This morning it’s a bit grey, looks like rain. There is a bag of 4 fresh rolls on the table outside, part of a ‘welcome’ when you visit here. Nice. We have a nice breakfast of cold ham, cheese, and boiled eggs with our fresh bread.

By the time we leave the clouds have broken a little. A longish drive today to a town called Meda, more inland as we go east towards the border with Spain. It’s mainly motorways that are in good condition but we still have to, on occasion, battle the potholes, and poorly made country and town roads. As usual, Google takes us down a few dodgy back streets before finally delivering us onto the right road. The weather has cleared up and the scenery here is wonderful. We are approaching the Douro Valley, which is between Portugal and Spain. In fact, the Douro Valley is where the grapes are grown to make Port, or Porto as it’s called here.

The fortified wine is called Port after the town of Porto, which is on the coast. The river Douro flows to the Atlantic through the town of Porto. Why they don’t just call the drink Douro we don’t know. Guess Port is easier to say when you have a few too many of them.

We arrive at the Municipal campsite in Meda where we are welcomed by a very cheerful, friendly chap who shows us to our spot after paying a staggering 12 euros. It is very nice here. Well maintained and just out of town. Once settled in we make our way into town to hunt down a good lunch.

It’s not long before we are settled in by a very friendly lady at the local restaurant who brings us chicken, ribs with fries, and rice. This is served with a half liter of white wine. It was all so very nice. After she brings us the house dessert which was equally splendid. We thought that as we are in the Douro where the port grapes are grown, then we should have a small glass of port to finish. She brings us a red and white port, very tasty. Just to make sure that we agree that it is tasty, we ask for another two. Yes, they are indeed very tasty.

We say farewell to our host and head across the road to a pastelaria and purchase four Pastel de Natas, a custard tart in puff pasty, but they are very famous here in Portugal and they take it very seriously.

We take them back to Jess and have one each with a cup of tea. Later we sit outside in the afternoon sun but the clouds are rolling back in and it’s quite chilly so it’s time to go back indoors.

Tomorrow we are going deeper into the Douro Valley to a dam that crosses the Portuguese and Spanish border. There is also a rather splendid cathedral to see there.

No dinner tonight. We watch something on Netflix about some murderers with a bit of cheese and some crackers.

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Thursday 29^th September 2022 Meda, Portugal to Zamora, Spain 123 mile

We are woken up this morning by the pattering of rain on the roof. It’s only gentle but soon builds to be quite heavy by the time we have breakfast. Today will be our last day and night in Portugal. We get packed up and service the van and make for the off. As usual, we are led up the garden path by Google maps that takes us once again through the cobbled streets of a local town.

Its raining, raining heavy now but soon we are on a clear open road that is in good condition. There is hardly any traffic.

We have noticed that once you get out of town the roads are almost empty so it does make it quite pleasurable especially if the road is in good condition like this one. The scenery is fantastic and the weather has cheered up for a while. The lakes here are immense, they go on for miles twisting around the hills and mountains, quite a sight.

We are heading for Miranda Do Douro. There is a dam here that sits between Spain and Portugal. We intend on staying there for the night but when we arrive we find that the parking is a little bit on the slope which can be tricky. We have a walk around the town and get a good view of the dam, we can even make out the border sign, the blue ESPANA sign surrounded by gold stars.

It’s decided that we move on. There is another place we can stay, right by a lake. On the way, we stop and have a good look at the dam, it’s quite something, massive. The sub-station is gently humming away as the water gushes underneath the dam producing electricity. We cross the border into Spain, without a doubt the quietest border crossing ever. A gentle twisty road, a sign to say you are in Spain and that’s that.

We arrive at lake Ricobayo which, is sadly looking a bit sorry for itself. It’s a massive lake but the summer drought has hit Spain quite badly, so the levels are quite low. How long can this go on?

We are the only ones here and decide that, even though the view is brilliant and we can have the whole place to ourselves we should move on, in fact.

Soon we are on our way. In the distance, we can see the sky getting darker and darker than black! There is about to be an almighty storm.

Sure enough, the heavens open 10 minutes before we arrive in the Spanish town of Zamora, north of Salamanca but south of Santander, in the middle, there. Somewhere.

We are going to a free overnight parking place. Hayley does the navigating and soon we are just outside the town of Zamora and settled into a nice space with a few other vans from France, Spain, and another Brit. We get settled in and take walk into town.

Del’s foot has been making some improvement, driving is ok and walking is getting better although there is still a bit of an ache. Hayley’s foot has recovered but with a slight bump on the top of the foot.

It’s a lovely place, Zamora. Our first real town since we started. It’s very clean and tidy and very… “Spanish”. We like it. We pop our heads into a few churches, there are lots here. There is a church-guided tour happening, so Zamora is the place if you want to look at churches. After a small beer in the sun, it’s back to Jess for a smashing dinner.

We liked Portugal but we feel, like the north of Spain, we didn’t spend enough time there. This trip was a taster and we do have plans to come back to Portugal. It’s very cheap for food and drinks, diesel is slightly cheaper than in the rest of Europe. The people that we met were very nice to us and very welcoming so it’s definitely a place to come back to in the future. There is some lovely countryside and they have the longest sandy beaches we have ever seen. So yes Portugal gets a big tick and we will be back again, hopefully soon.

Tomorrow we are heading north to Valladolid, which used to be the capital of Spain back in 1600 and something and only for about 5 years. It also has the accolade of the capital of tapas, so we are looking forward to that.

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Friday 30^th September 2022 Zamora to Valladolid 63 miles

Quite a change from yesterday. We have clear blue skies this morning and it’s a pleasant temperature. Zamora was a hit. A nice town and a free overnight stop. You can also do a full van service free of charge.

We set off and the views are wonderful, flat, very flat and brown. The hills look like someone has taken a knife to them and flattened them all off.

Valladolid is where almost everything in Spain is made. All the major European car companies have a factory there, if you pick anything up in Spain it will say it’s made in Valladolid, so we don’t know quite what to expect except that it is the capital of tapas, the famous Spanish side plate that was placed on top of your cold beer for free in the old days, but now tapas has been turned into a trendy and sometimes expensive night out. How times have changed.

It’s a very pleasant journey to Valladolid and trouble-free getting to our night stopover which tonight will be 5 euros. The parking spot is secure and well kept. Good. Once in and settled we take a walk into the city of Valladolid, which is twinned with Orlando in the states.

It’s very nice here, but very nice. It’s so clean and spacious. We make our way to the Plaza Major, the centre of the town. It’s spectacular, what a lovely place.

We have a good walk around this lovely city before settling into a tapas bar called Los Zagales. This one has taken the old-fashioned tapa and turned it into something quite special by theming them all into strange and wonderful concoctions, and has won top prizes for doing so.

We get through 7 of their special award-winning tapas, starting with one that looks like a cigar in an ashtray but is really sardines with filo pastry. All of them are quite unusual and tasty and a couple of glasses of cold white just helps lunch along. The bill was cheap, cheaper than we expected, and well worth it. A great way to spend a couple of hours.

With the need to walk off lunch we find the city park, famous for its bird life and tame squirrels. It is without a doubt one of the best European parks we have been in, and we have been in many.

It’s a lovely place with peacocks and peahens just strutting around freely and yes the squirrels are tame, one ran up Hayley’s leg!

Back at the van we relax and contemplate the evening. Hmmm. Where shall we eat tonight?

Because the lunch was quite heavy we decide to take a walk into the town, it’s busy, there is a lovley buzz in the town. We find a place next to the cathedral where we have three tapas of meatballs, fish and salad, washed down with a small glass of beer. Very traditional. The walk back to Jess takes us back through the main square which is beautifully lit up.

We sit at a bar and have a Pacharan, a sloe-flavored drink from Navarro. We enjoy watching the people go by, in fact, we really love Valladolid. A truly wonderful gem of a place, a place that we will definitely be returning to.

Saturday 17th September Portsmouth to Santander (470 nautical Miles or 540 miles)

We went to bed early last night, 9:30 ish. The next thing we know it’s 9 in the morning. Del slept the best in months, H not so good.

The room was dark and quiet, just the slight hum of the engines down below. We get up, shower, and have breakfast which is a simple continental affair but very nice all the same.

It’s a bright sunny day.

It’s a clear blue sky and very warm in the sun. It’s beautiful as we have a walk around the decks in the sunshine with France on our left. We find a seat and sit in the sun while some of our travel companions join in on a health and fitness class. We give that a miss.

Just as we are getting comfortable we are asked to evacuate the deck as a helicopter is about to land on the ship’s helipad. By all accounts, someone has taken ill and has to be taken off the ship. Just as soon as we get up we can see and hear the fast-approaching helicopter coming from the French coast like a giant angry fly!

We get inside and have a view of the helipad through the glass roof of the bar. We see the helicopter, blades spinning for quite a long while, then with a quick rev of the engines, it was off and gone. Bit of drama there, sad for the person(s) being carried off, however. Hopefully nothing too serious.

We spend the rest of the afternoon in the lounge watching the French coast go slowly by nice. The sea is flat, the sky is blue, and it’s a lovely sunny day as we make the slow turn left to go south and into the Bay of Biscay -a sea that has quite a reputation for being rough. There are some dolphins racing us through the surf.

We have dinner in the restaurant, it’s busy but the food is good, Hayley ate too much. We have one last walk around the decks outside, it’s black out there, dead dead black and the wind is building. Time for bed.

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Sunday 18^th September 2022 Santander to Cobreses 26 miles

We are woken at 5:45 by gentle harp music over the bedroom speaker. It’s a nice way to wake up. Last night there was a bit more of a swell, it was roughing up in the Bay of Biscay. We have a quick shower, pack our things and head off to breakfast. Rooms have to be vacated at 6:30 am for a 7:00 am disembarkation.

The queue for the breakfast is long and we are surprised at how much this breakfast was, 19 euros for a continental breakfast!! Del takes a doggie bag with him to the van. Jess is waiting in the belly of the boat which is already filling up with people getting ready for the off.

15 minutes later we are slowly exiting the front of the ship and into the Port of Santander. By chance, we are flagged into an empty exit lane. It usually takes a while to get out as we now have to have our passports checked and stamped so to be led off into an empty lane is a bonus.

No questions, no comments, the passports are stamped and we are waved on.

We are off! 34 hours later we are on the Spanish mainland and making our way to a garage where we can fill up with fresh water and maybe finish our breakfast.

The garage is something quite amazing. Yes, an amazing garage. It’s brand new, huge, and built for motorhomes to empty, refill and wash their vehicles. Amazing. Inside there is a bar/cafe and a full shop. Del can’t help himself and has a coffee with a slice of Spanish tortilla despite already finishing the doggie bag recovered from the boat breakfast.

We fill up with water and do a shop and soon we are on our way to our first stop by a lake and back onto a safari park called Largo del Acebo.

It’s very nice. Peaceful and picturesque. We get settled in and take a walk around the lake and check out the safari park. It’s massive but again very expensive so we settle for a peek of the elephants through the fence. The village is quite charming and we have a good walk before making our way back to the van and a sit outside with a view of the lake to plan the rest of the trip. At this point, we still have no idea where we are going or what the time frame is.

Del has a thought, always a bad thing, that maybe we should move on, seen as the next stop is only 40 minutes away. So we pack up and an hour later we in our new stop called “Las Hazas” in Cobreces, Cantabria which is just an hour and a bit west of Santander.

It is beautiful here. It has everything that we need including a good 2 and a bit-kilometer round-trip walk to the beach where we have a small cold beer in the sun before walking back up the hill to have a light dinner.

Hayley is completely wiped out and glad to be in bed. We have been up since about 5:30 this morning, she didn’t sleep well on the boat for two nights so she is happy to have had a shower and be tucked up ready to get a well-deserved sleep.

Tomorrow is a new day.

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Monday 19^th September 2022 Cobreses to Castropol 161 miles

We always intend on getting up and leaving early, say 9 to 9:30 which means an early breakfast and today was to be no exception but as usual, we didn’t make it. After a good night’s sleep, we have a light breakfast. Today we are heading to the region of Asturias. Currently, we are in Cantabria, the bit that runs along the middle bit in the north of Spain. Asturias is further west and is very green and beautiful.

The place we stayed at yesterday and last night was superb, a good night’s sleep was had. Del has quick chat with the lady who runs the place to thank her and in exchange, she tells us how wonderful Asturias is and bids us farewell.

We set off and after a large food shop, we are off and on our 2 and bit hour drive along the north coast of Spain.

Indeed the scenery here is amazing. Very green and very hilly. It’s very clean, tidy, and bright in the afternoon Spanish sunlight. A lovely drive that we both share.

We arrive at a campsite on the coast called Camping Penarronda. It’s amazing. The owners are very nice and welcoming. We get our pitch and settle in. It’s a bit windy today but that’s okay. We lock up Jess and go in search of the nearby beach. It doesn’t take long for us to stumble upon the beach, and what a beach.

It’s a massive open bay of pure white sand, and amazing views, we just stand there looking at the Playa Penarronda before setting off for a walk.

Dinner tonight is in the local Restaurant “Las Parejas” (The pair) before that it’s back to the van for a glass of local Asturian Cider and a sit in the remaining afternoon sun.

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Tuesday 20^th September 2022 Castropol to Ribadeo 11 miles

We had a lovely stay last night, and this morning it’s a lovely clear blue sky day. A very short jump today to a campsite that is almost on the beach at Ribadeo just 11 miles from where we are today.

The drive was easy and scenic. The campsite is compact, the big campers can’t get in here that’s for sure, but for our 6m van, it’s easy.

The staff are friendly here at Camping Gaviota and they show us to our space which is just a 2-minute walk from the beach. Of course, we have to take advantage of that, so once we are set up in our pitch we gather some bits and pieces together, chairs, a towel, and a book, and off we go.

Two hours later we make it back to Jess for a simple dinner by the van before retiring to bed. Tomorrow is a long 2 and a-half-hour drive as we make our way further west along the northern coast of Spain.

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Wednesday 21^st September 2022 Ribadeo to Valdovino 89 miles

Our plan today is to go to a place called Valdovino and to a campsite near a nice sandy beach. We are taking the scenic but the longer route which turns out to be scenic but not spectacular. The scenery was lovely, maybe we just bigged it up a bit in our minds too much as northern Spain is quite stunning in general. We arrive at the site which didn’t look as we expected either, a bit sad. We did see a free parking area with a view of the beach on the way in so we thought we’d give it a go instead.

You simply turn up find a spot in an ‘authorised’ parking place and that’s it. There are no facilities like water or electricity, fortunately, we made sure that we had a full tank of fresh water, an empty grey water tank, and a fresh toilet, and leave the solar panels to do the rest.

We pick our spot and get settled in for a free night. Excellent. We take a walk along the stunning sandy beach in the bay. Brilliant white sand for miles. the weather is perfect.

H comes up with the brilliant idea of dinner on the beach, a picnic. Nice. She puts together a fabulous spread of fresh prawns, Ali oli (garlic mayonnaise dip, very popular here). A salad, tortilla, and half a bottle of rose wine. It’s a bit windy and still quite hot and sunny so we take a beach brolly which we hope will give us some protection from one or the other or both.

We get set up and have a wonderful picnic. Until……

So imagine the scene if you will. It’s a bright warm early evening, the wind is a bit gusty. There we are just finishing our picnic on the beach and a gust of wind uproots the beach brolly.

Super Del springs to life and chases the ever-tumbling brolly along the sand dunes. He just about gets a hold of the brolly and goes down! Badly…

He hobbles back to H complete with the recovered brolly but also a nasty gash on the top and the side of his right big toe. The nail is also turning a nice shade of dark blue. There is not a lot of blood but the skin has lifted from the toe. Nasty.

H rushes back to Jess for a first aid kit and returns to patch up Del’s busted and painful foot. Is the toe broken? Is it fractured or just bashed?

It appears that as Del was trying to recover the brolly, facing into the sun, he didn’t see the flat rocks buried beneath the sand, slips, and catches his toe in a ridge. He thinks.

Temporarily bandaged up H helps Del back to the van for a shower, a full clean of the toe, Savlon application, and bandage. This is helped along with a large Ricard and a strong cup of tea.

We shall just have to see how this one goes over the next few days, but for now, that’s the walking and cycling out of the itinerary for Del.

To bed with a couple of paracetamols and ibuprofen. H does a great job of helping and caring for the poor brolly rescuer. Well done H and thanks!

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Thursday 22^nd September 2022 Valdovino to Sant Vincente do Grove 115 miles

Despite the incident of yesterday, we both slept well. It’s nice here, very peaceful with the sea crashing in the distance. Del’s foot is ok, not any worse, not any better. It’s all freshly cleaned a dressed for the day.

Today we are moving slowly south on the west coast of Spain towards Portugal. Motorway today to Sant Vicente do Grove which is a small spit of land on the west side of Spain. H will be doing all of the driving for the next few days until we see how Del’s foot goes. Feeling sorry for himself he settles down into the passenger seat for a very scenic trip. It’s a lovely place here and already we are talking about spending 5 weeks just in the north of Spain sometime in the future. We are really rushing through it right now as we have only 4 weeks left to do Portugal, cut across Spain to the northeast, then up through France, Belgium then home. We think.

Today is not really a campsite, there are no facilities except electricity. You can do a full van service and it only costs 10 euros a night.

We get pitched up and settled in. Del keeps his foot up and rested. It’s swollen, so ice packs are applied and then cleaned a re-dressed.

We like a walk and this place is perfect for that, you can walk on either side of the site for miles.

Sadly H goes for a walk alone. It’s a wonderful place with a boardwalk that stretches around the scenic coastline.

The sea is flat and calm it’s warm and sunny. Beautiful. Del just potters around the van resting his foot as much as he can before H finally makes it back.

Dinner tonight is a Fideua. A Catalan dish. Like Paella but with small thin noodles. A first for H and an absolute success.

Tomorrow we are crossing the border into Portugal…

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Friday 23rd September 2022 Sant Vincente do Grove to Praia de Ancora 84 miles

Another great night’s sleep last night, this is getting to become a habit now! Today we are going over the border from Spain to Portugal and our first stop will be a free one parked up just off the beach.

We set off knowing that today is just mostly motorway which is ok as the passing countryside can still be quite wonderful. Hayley wasn’t aware that Portugal was back an hour, the same time zone as the UK which threw her a bit for a while.

Del’s toe is getting better by the day. Not quite up to doing ballet yet and walking has to be done carefully and for a short time, but it does seem to be getting better.

We set off straight after breakfast and the journey is quite hilly but spectacular in parts. We do like this part of Spain and do intend to visit it again in the future but for a longer time. It’s totally different from other parts of Spain on the Med side and miles away culturally and visually from way down south which can be flat and very very dry. It’s great up t’north and we would recommend it on your next trip out!

We trundle over the border, the only indication is the usual blue sign with the gold stars with “Portugal” in the middle, there is also a gantry bridge with a clock on it over the motorway to remind Hayley of the time! The roads are not good so far… Full of holes, humps, and bumps! We arrive at the chosen spot, after a quick shop, but decide that it’s not quite right so we move on to another. Again not for us. There is some confusion about free parking overnight in Portugal. Some people have reported having been fined for parking in these “free” car parks.

H is looking at the maps and the phone and finds a nice cheap campsite not too far away. We arrive at a rather rustic but pleasant site.

Tall trees, green grass, and rough pathways. It’s smashing. Lots of space to park where ever you like and the chap who sees us in is very friendly. Good. We shall stay here.

We get set up and spend the afternoon just chatting away, reading and picking at Spanish tapas and fruit, all very relaxing, all very nice indeed.

French dinner tonight – duck, sauteed potatoes, and salad. We will start in French style with a large glass of cold Ricard. Well, why not. When in Rome… Er…

Week 6 – 2nd – 5th July 2022

We are in our last week, a week that we have had to cut slightly short by a few days. Our other life is catching up with us and we need to get back and sort some personal matters out as well as get back to work. It’s going to be a tough long summer this year, one we will miss, and living on the Isle of Wight, that’s a shame. We are so grateful however that we have had the time and ability to get away on this trip, a trip that we will remember fondly.

Saturday 2nd July 2022

As soon as he wakes up Del is checking his phone for any reply or news from the local restaurant about the missing, or stolen money. Sure enough, there is a reply…

However, it’s not the reply he was expecting. The feeling was that the manager would ignore the message and pretend nothing had happened or return a volley of abuse for making such a terrible accusation and to defend his staff and his own honour. That’s how cynical life has become…

But no. The manager came up with a possible, and probable explanation that another customer, seeing the bag being collected from the window sill by the staff, which was put in a room behind the bar, used the staff toilets, as the customer ones were full, and took the opportunity to open the bag and take out the money. Maybe…

No matter, the manager was mortified that such a terrible thing could have happened in his establishment and requested that we come to the restaurant and collect 100 euros…!!!! How about that?

Dressed and ready we make our way to the restaurant and meet the owner/chef who was absolutely charming and apologised for the whole affair, reiterating once again his theory, then stuffing 100 euros in our hands and with a ‘bonne journee’ the whole matter was over.

With a smile on our faces and our faith in humankind restored, we set off in search of a patisserie and to buy some pastries to take back to Jess for breakfast before setting off.

Today we are not really sure where we are going, we would like to be in Belgium on Monday night for the short drive to Calais for the ferry home on Tuesday. Hayley sticks pins on a map and chooses various options before changing her mind. Finally, we choose a place called Cappy which is in the Somme. We have stayed there before and it was very pleasant. There is a steam railway there that was used to deliver ammunition to the front line back in the first world war, the area is quite hilly so there is a complicated collection of points that has to be switched and the train moved forward and backwards to make its way to the top of the hill. Like all things today now, money is tight and the train is now running only once a week, which is a shame. It’s not running today, but no matter.

We arrive at the site in Cappy and choose a nice spot and do nothing for the rest of the day. It’s hot and we have that “going home” feeling.

Dinner tonight is Hayley’s mega salad of mixed leaves, parma ham, peaches and blue cheese. Amazing. We have this with some small homemade pizzas. Very nice. Very nice indeed.

Sunday 3rd July 2022

It’s a beautiful morning this morning in Cappy, the birds are loud.

We have to be home on Tuesday, the ferries are booked and our days have already been mapped out for when we return. Today we are going to the Belgian town of Ypres. It was recommended to us at the beginning of this trip by the lady that ran the campsite in De Panne. It’s supposed to be very beautiful and they play the last post at 8 pm every night. Neither of us has ever been to Ypres so we decide that it is worth a look, not knowing what to expect we pack up our stuff and leave Cappy for a pleasant drive. Hayley has already a campsite in mind but when we get there it’s full. With her head down buried in an iPhone camper app she finds an alternative – a nice little aire (free or very cheap parking spot) not too far away. If the campsite is busy then there is no way there will be free space at the small aire.

As quick and as safe as we can we turn around and make for the aire, behind us there is a dutch motorhome following us, we know where he is going, spaces might be tight, we have to get there before him and hope that he doesn’t know a short cut. The race is on. He’s not going to beat us, he follows our every turn, the parking spot is in sight, quick, quick. We have to pay at the barrier, get the barrier up and get a space… When we get there we have a choice of half a dozen spaces!

It’s very nice here. The spaces are a little narrow but for your 9 euros electricity is included and it’s just behind a lake and a simple quick bike ride into the town of Ypres. Very good.

The bikes are released from the back of Jess and with our crash hats on and money in our pocket we are cycling to Ypres. It takes us just 10 minutes to get to the town.

The first thing we see is the Menin Gate. It’s quite a stunning monument to the Commonwealth soldiers who died during World War 1. It’s quite something. What struck us most was that the monument had been under attack during the second world war later, as we see from the patched-up bullet holes. So nothing much was learnt then?

We cycle through the archway of the monument to the view of the main street of the town. Wow! This is not what we expected. It’s so beautiful.

The buildings are of the flemish style with stepped gable fronts. It’s so clean and so tidy. We take a slow walk into the main square which has an incredible church, just stunning to see.

We walk around this wonderful town for about an hour before deciding that it is time for some lunch, but where to go, there are so many places.

We decide on ‘The small townhouse‘ in the corner of the square where we order a beer, a local Flemish stew for Del and Ham hock for Hayley with a mushroom sauce, fried potatoes and cabbage. What a massive feast, with excellent service. The food was tremendous, very good.

We need to find out more about the monument and the Last Post. Back at the arch there is lots of information and sure enough at 8 pm precisely the Last Post is played under the arch and everyone is invited. We take our time and look at the many thousands of names carved into the stone of the walls and arch. The surrounding area is a lovely walk and gives us plenty of time to appreciate the whole thing before making our way back to Jess to chill out for a while and then come back for the playing of the Last Post.

Back at Jess we sit in the sun at the side of the van. The spaces are tight so it is a bit of a squeeze but nice all the same.

At 7:30 we are on the bikes again and on our way to the Menin Gate. A crowd has gathered under the spectacular arch and we all stand, waiting. Just before 8 three men dressed in military uniform and carrying bugles march their way to the centre of the east arch and after a few words they play the Last Post…!

Quite emotive, and very powerful. It’s very sad and it’s even sadder that today we still haven’t learnt much. All those lives… Lost…

After the Last Post… A minute’s silence…

The Menin Gate was quite an experience and powerful memory and one that we shall not forget.

We walk into town looking to lighten the mood, just a little. We find a bar that serves 25 different local beers.

Why not we think and we order a flight of 4 small beers each and some abbey cheese. It’s quite a lot, 8 small glasses of beer between us and a lot of cheese! We take our first sample and click our glasses and say a toast to all those men who died so that we could sit where we are now enjoying this wonderful town. We can’t and won’t forget.

Back at Jess, we are planning the next and final day in Europe. Oh, but before we leave the town, we just must have a traditional Belgian waffle with ice cream…

Monday 4th July 2022 (Independence Day)

It’s our last full day today in mainland Europe. We were originally going to stay at our usual Belgian site, where we start and finish our trips but Hayley has found a new one called Lyssenhoek Farm Camping. It has a collection of horses and goats and reads very nice on the internet so we thought we’d give it a go. Belgium not being a very big country it didn’t take us long to get there.

The host is very nice to us, very polite and friendly and gives a nice pitch right next to the horses. Lovely and only 23 euros. Austria it’s not.

The weather today is a little cooler so we take a walk to the local war cemetery which is only 10 minutes away.

There are many commonwealth cemeteries in Belgium, and a lot of men died in this area, defending small pieces of land. There is a museum attached to this cemetery so we have to take a look. All very interesting, thought-provoking and sad. We walk back to Jess talking about the whole thing, not able to grasp the enormity and sadness of the whole thing.

Tomorrow we are up early for our 10:30 ferry from Calais, so we potter around the van doing a little bit of pre-packing and cleaning up before getting an early night.

Tuesday 5th July 2022

The alarm gets us up. We hate alarms, they remind us of real life! No matter we are up and ready to go, we will have breakfast in Calais. We set off and stop to fill up with diesel at a bargain-basement price of 2 euros a litre. The drive is busy but easy as we take in the last views of Belgium and France.

Not much of a queue at Calais, which is good. We are flagged through with our van full of Belgian beer and French champagne and head for the waiting area which has this impressive new building with a huge duty-free shop, showers, toilets and a restaurant. Great, we have plenty of time before boarding to get some breakfast. However, when we get to this monument to food and retail, we find that it’s closed and all that’s there are two vending machines at the entrance, once dispensing coffee the other crisps and chocolate.

No worries, back at the van Del fires up the cooker and it’s not long before we are stuffing our faces with potato rosti, fried eggs and toast, all in the Calais Port car park… We get the washing up done just in time to be waved aboard our ship to take us to Dover.

The boat is very comfortable. Being a Tuesday morning it’s so quiet, no screaming kids and shouting parents. Perfect. We pay 6 pounds for two teas… Yes, 6 pounds for two tea bags and some hot water… What’s going on?

We disembark at Dover, which not to put too finer a point on it is just grim. It’s small, dirty, old and grey. (Bit like Del). Soon we are on the main road out and making our way to Portsmouth for our second and last ferry of the day. Within 5 minutes of being in the UK, we are stuck in stationary traffic for 15 minutes… Welcome home…

We arrive at Portsmouth with 40 minutes to spare. Wightlink loads us up and within 40 mins we are driving off the ferry and onto the Island. Home at last. It’s another 15-minute drive home where we unload Jess before putting her to bed at the local campsite, clean, empty and probably just as much relieved as we are at being home…

SOME STATS FROM THE TRIP:

Countries visited: 7 (3 are new for us)

Miles covered: 2,321 miles (plus a few for getting lost!)

Toll charges: 30 euros

Fuel: 705 euros!!!

Most expensive overnight: Lichtenstein 46 euros

Cheapest overnight: Germany 8 euros

We would like to thank our family and friends who have followed us over the last 6 weeks, we appreciate hearing from you. For now, we would like to give you our very best wishes and we hope to see you soon. On a final final note, Happy 50th Birthday to Sarah & Liz, Hayley’s school buddies. Bless…

Week 5 – 25th June – 1st July 2022

So far on this trip, we have done Belgium, Germany, The Czech Republic, Austria, and Germany, again, with a bit of Lichtenstein in between. We are on our last 10 days so now we are going west into France then up towards Belgium again, then home.

We loved the Czech Republic and Austria, which by the way have the best toilets and showers.

Saturday 25th June 2022

Time we left Austria and moved into Germany properly now, we only have a week and a bit left before we get home and get stuck back into work. It’s busy for both of us, not sure that we are prepared for it.

Camping Weiss was ok, it rained a lot but allowed us to catch up on some homework. Lake Constance/Bodensee is 65km long and we have to follow it part of the way to get to our next destination.

The views of the lake are excellent but we can’t really enjoy them as it is so busy here. It’s quite a tourist attraction so the roads are busy with everything from bikes to large trucks. We soon get fed up.

Finally, the route clears and we are on some very fine German roads.

Hayley has found a nice stop in the town of Geisingen which is close to the Danube. It’s 10 euros a night with extra for electricity and water. It’s a nice day and the drive is very pleasant.

By early afternoon we are in a place in an immaculate ‘camperplatz’, after we have done a 70 euro shop at the local Penny Supermarket.

We are getting short on stuff, so time to spend some pennies.

It’s hot again but cloudy. Not much happening today, we go for a walk to find the Danube, but give up as it appears that you have to cross a railway line and we don’t fancy that.

Back at our home on wheels we get set up and read, chat and have a splendid dinner before an early night.

Sunday 26th June 2022

We had some rain last night. It’s quite loud on the roof of Jess. A shower is ok but proper rain can wake you up as indeed it did, for a bit.

A quick breakfast today as we are heading for the Black Forest and to a regular stop in the small town of Todtnau. This will be the fifth time we will have stayed there, it has a nice place to park for the night, which is cheap, good places to eat and it has a ‘rodelbahn’ which is always great fun to go on.

We set off towards Todtnau, we need LPG for the cooking and off-grid hot water etc, so before pitching up we get some gas, 10 euros for 11 and a bit litres.

We are lucky to get the same pitch, right in the corner as we have done every time here, but what’s this?

It’s still only 10 euros but now they have added a 5 euro “tax”. It seems that everyone is just upping the price and calling it a tax. The electricity had gone up, 3 euros now. 2 euros to empty the toilet and a euro for 90 litres of water. The last time we were here it was 12 euros, 10 for the pitch, 2 for the electricity.

We are here now and we want to have what can only be described as the best Black Forest gateaux ever! It really is though. We get the konditorei and it doesn’t disappoint, it is just brilliant.

A short walk and we are in the line for the rodelbahn. The view of the town going up on the chair lift is just amazing, but the ride back down on the rodelbahn just makes you laugh for the whole 3km run. Excellent.

Back to Jess for a beer, or two, chatting and planning… because… well we shall see tomorrow.

Dinner tonight was supposed to be in a local restaurant that does excellent local food but instead, we opt to stay with Jess tucked up in our private space in our usual corner where Hayley does an excellent schnitzel, fries and salad, all served with a glass of good wine. It was one of those nights we won’t forget.

Great. During our nightly chinwag Del, stupidly, suggests that we could go to Europa Park, again. Why on earth…?

Theme parks (or rather roller coasters) are Hayley’s hobby, it’s on the way to the town of Rust so why not. More bag carrying.

Just a quick note here. Todtnau is the birthplace of the chap who invented the ‘perm’. One Karl Nessler was the man. Bet you didn’t know that?

Monday 27th June 2022

The one thing that is a constant about this area is the rain. We did have a lovely sunny day yesterday, had dinner outside and sat out till late. It was really nice, however overnight we did have the worst thunderstorm and rain imaginable. The lightning was just constant, it never stopped flashing. The rain fell so hard on the roof that you couldn’t hear the thunder, on top of that we had a strong wind rustling the trees that we were under!

Today we are going again to Europa Park. We have been there before in September 2020, COVID year, and it was a good day out. Even for the bag carrier!

We are both tired after the storm last night but we get up early and Del does the drive to Rust. We are quite high up in the Black Forest, but to get down you have to go up to a peak of 1.2km. Our ears are popping going up and again coming down, the roads are very twisty with lots of hairpin bends but soon we come down and get onto the motorway towards Rust having just missed another huge rainstorm. The roads are soaked and are still raining.

We arrive early at Europa Park, which has its own campsite, but as we are so early they put us in a holding area, with the use of electricity while we go into the park.

Hayley is like a kid, running between the rides while Del holds the bag.

However Del does try out a family coaster called Arthur which he enjoys, so much he goes on it twice. Today the place is packed, mad mad busy with kids and students from 15 to 18. There are no school holidays but there are many many buses in the car parks full of them, as well as parents with young children.

A good day at the park. Del gets back early to Jess to reposition her into the allotted pitch and cleans up the inside and gives the van a good airing before a tired Hayley returns.

Dinner tonight is in a local cowboy-themed restaurant, burger, ribs, chips and a glass of red wine each sees us off to bed for a good solid night’s sleep. A good day.

Tuesday 28th June 2022

Today it’s goodbye Germany and hello France as we begin our last week and a bit before home. Hayley has found us a lovely place for 10 euros, where the pitch is right on the vineyards of Domaine Bachert in the town of Barr, not very far into France. The view of the vines is just stunning as we look down the valley from our pitch. In the distance, we can see the hills of the Black Forest, where we recently left. It’s an idyllic spot. We love these kinds of places.

We get set up, tonight we are off-grid, with no electricity so we are relying on our batteries and solar panel for lights, and gas for our fridge and hot water. No problem.

It’s a ten-minute walk to the town of Barr which is beautiful, with its old well-kept buildings, winding streets and cafes and restaurants.

It’s a wine-producing area so of course there are a number of shops run by the producers themselves. It’s a fantastic walk, every street is just a picture book.

Time to head back, we pop in to pay our fee for the night but can’t help but take part in a wine tasting.

Our host is lovely and Hayley gets stuck in with her French and soon we have tried 8 different local wines and bought 4. The owners are so nice and friendly and attentive. A lovely experience in a lovely place.

The rest of the afternoon is spent sitting under the broken cloud chatting and planning out the rest of our few days before having dinner, with a few glasses of our new purchase of local fizz, before showers and an early night.

Great to be back in France… They know how to do it here!

Wednesday 29th June 2022

08:30 and it’s a beautiful morning, it’s a little cloudy but still warm. We have breakfast and make our way to see our lovely host. She has our bill ready and our box of local wine that we sampled yesterday. All paid-up we are off and weaving our way to a local supermarket for a stock-up. It’s big and has nearly everything we need, but no duck in a tin! (nicer than it sounds, it’s a French delicacy ). 70 euros later and another 60 euros in diesel and we are on our way.

Today we are going to a campsite in the Vosges area, called Camping Vosgina Vosges . The drive is simple and straightforward until the last bit. The road to the campsite is blocked by a log loader. This could take a while, so we back up the narrow entrance onto the main road and get Google to re-route us, indeed it does, through a very quiet housing estate. We pop out at the other end and soon arrive at the site.

This place is probably one of the best sites we have been to… It’s very charming, well maintained with beautifully manicured pitches. We are welcomed by a lovely French lady who is so nice and kind and for 21 euros, including electricity, we can choose our space.

The pitch is level and spacious with hedges separating us from other campers, of which there are not many!

We have had a small issue with our wastewater (sink and shower waste).

The golden rule is to never let food go down the drain, so you need to wipe all the plates before washing them in the sink. We have been a bit lazy lately and the stench from the tank is overwhelming. One of the first jobs of the day, before anything else, is to drain the waste water tank, fill it with fresh and drain it again with the help of some Milton tablets, not the best, but they do work. 30 minutes later we have a fresh-smelling tank and van, and a promise to be more careful in the future…

The rest of the day Del, feeling bad about the waste water tank, strips everything out of ‘the garage’ and has a good clear-out. Well worth it. By the end of the day, Jess is fresh and sparkling again. It is amazing how quick a small van can get grimy with just two people in it after a few weeks. We do keep on top of it but sometimes it can overtake you.

Dinner tonight was a fabulous Hayley paella, which is always a winner. after that, we have a good game of boules which Hayley wins by just 1 point by the way. 1 point!

After that great dinner, we have a good game of boules which Hayley wins by just 1 point by the way. 1 point!

Thursday 30th June 2022

It’s a lovely morning, cool in the shade so we make for some benches that are in the sunlight with our morning coffee. Today we are going to Bar-le-Duc about an hour and a bit from here which has a nice campsite and an apparently superb restaurant.

When we get there the town doesn’t look great, it’s a little bit tatty in parts so decide to drive on.

The sun has gone and the sky is getting heavy, it starts to rain, heavy rain.

Hayley has found us another possible stop at Beaunay in the Champagne region which has some spectacular views, indeed it does, the rain has stopped but the place is a little desolate in the damp surroundings, we are also the only ones there, which normally wouldn’t be a problem, we like that sometimes, but today it doesn’t feel quite right. We move on. Again.

We decide to head for a place that we have stopped at before near Montmirail, it’s a Champagne house called Champion. After a long drive, we arrive but unfortunately, there is no one at home. We carry on, the roads are getting very narrow, and the rain has started again, lots of rain. Very wet and muddy. Our next try is at a stop in Champvoisy in a vineyard where you can stay, do a wine tasting and buy the local Champagne. Oh, and it has great views. Apparently.

Finally, the rain has stopped as we arrive after driving down a closed road and lots of narrow, bumpy, dirty roads.

The view is wonderful. There is another Brit van with a couple on, it’s their second visit here, and also a German couple.

At around 6:30 we all gather for the Champagne tasting on some trestle tables next to the cellar, the owner is a charming and funny man and we have a great time, an hour later and six glasses down we buy some to take home. The Champagne region has hundreds of Champagne houses, it’s not just about the names that we all know about, but there are many small independent growers and producers making some wonderful Champagne and Felix des Lys is no exception.

Hayley spends the rest of the evening planning our last remaining stops based on finding good French restaurants! Good idea.

Tomorrow Soissons.

Friday 1st July 2022

We slept well last night, with no noise at all. We are on a small private vineyard called Champagne Felix des Lys run by a very friendly French man called, funnily enough, Felix.

After all the rain yesterday we have woken up to a lovely fresh cool day. The sky is blue with lots of white fluffy clouds, no wind and the landscape is wonderful. After a full van service we are off and on our way to Soissons to a municipal campsite just out of town. First, we need to fill up with diesel, which by the way just seems to go up and up. Here in France on the 1st of July 2022, it is 2.11 euros a litre, just under 2 quid a litre. During our 6 weeks out the price has rocketed. How far will it go?

We also get a small shop in as the weekend is on us and shops in France tend to be closed.

Jess desperately needs a wash though, she looks like she has been rallying. with mud up her sides.

The drive to Soissons is along a ‘D’ road which can be quite interesting with surfaces various and all kinds of known junctions where who gives way to who can be a competition. The French countryside is wonderful with its patchwork of coloured fields with a windy road carved through it all against a lovely sky. Love it.

We have to drive through a rather bumpy Soissons town to the campsite. Hayley’s French has come on in leaps and bounds and she is soon in the campsite office securing us a place for a staggering 12 euros. We have gone from the low 40s in Austria and Germany to 12 euros in France. The French know how to do campsites but it is under threat as free and cheap spots are starting to become rare. The pitches are spacious with good facilities.

We get set up and settled in and spend the afternoon drinking Belgian beer (?) It’s a lovely afternoon just chatting away in the sun. We get through quite a lot of paperwork. We are coming to the end of the trip and we are about to hit a firestorm of work and personal challenges when we get back, so we make the most of it while we can.

The plan later is to walk around the town via the river and to a highly regarded typical French restaurant that Hayley has found. Looking forward to that…

Dinner is in Soissons tonight. We set off for dinner in town, the idea is to have a walk around and get a feel for the place. The town is ok but nothing spectacular. We are both hungry and looking forward to eating. We make our way to the restaurant and we are the first to arrive. We are shown a table in the corner which is very nice and the service is attentive and quick.

We get through three courses, the food is ok but not as good as expected having read the reviews. The place is rated number 1 out of 50 in the town and indeed it is very popular and filling up.

We pay the bill and walk back via the river that runs all the way to the campsite.

We get to Jess and Hayley happens to say ”have you got the other keys?” It should be explained here that we have a small bag that we take with us every time we go out, inside it we take our passports, driving licences and bank/credit cards. The thinking is that if the van gets broken into, or worse stolen, we have ID and money.

That’s a great idea until the person carrying the bag (Del) leaves it in the restaurant on the window sill behind them (Del). Realising that the bag has been left in the restaurant, Hayley gets on the phone to them and in her best French asks if the bag is there. It is – what a relief. The bag was spotted and held. We get the bikes off the back of the van, the fastest we have ever done and cycle to the restaurant. Whew! Hayley now has the bag in her possession. Happy we cycle back to Jess. Hayley checks the contents, it’s all there, except… 100 euros in cash that we withdrew in Todnau, Germany. The bag is frantically turned inside out but no money is found. Clearly, someone, we don’t know who has picked up the bag, opened it, seen the cash and swiped it. Was it one of the waiters? Was it the manager himself or was it another customer? We will never know, nor are we able to prove to anyone that we had the money in the first place.

Del can’t settle and writes an email explaining the whole thing. Either there will be no reply or they will come back spluttering, “how dare you make such accusations…” blah blah blah… Del is not deterred and writes a firm but polite email. Thank god for Google translate.

Within two hours, a reply arrives…

It’s the manager explaining that he will look at all the cameras in the establishment and talk to all members of staff and will come back to us in the morning…

We shall see.

Week 4 – 18th – 24th June 2022

This week the whole of Europe is experiencing a heat wave. London, Paris and Rome are all in the low to mid 30s and Austria is no exception. We have gone south and now are moving west through Austria to Liechtenstein, then north back through Germany and finally home through France.

Austria is probably one of the cleanest and tidiest countries we’ve been through on Jess, everything is just immaculate. Even the roadworks are orderly and tidy.

The highlight this week is a trip to Salzburg where we will do some Mozart stuff. More of that later.

Saturday 18th June 2022

Freistadt was nice, very nice. Del has decided that the local beer there is the best he has had. There is no rush to leave this morning, it’s a 1 hour drive to our next stop and the site we are in has said that there is no rush or time to get out so we have a long breakfast then pack up. It seems to takes ages to pack up in the mornings and have breakfast, which in itself takes a while. We clean up breakfast, put all the outside stuff away such as chairs and tables and the awning, then we have to secure the van for travelling, lock the windows, put the shades down, secure the cupboards and close the skylights. Feels like an age!

Finally we are off and on our way. The roads are very smooth and the tunnels the cleanest ever. Each vehicle has to pay for a “vignette”, it’s a fee that is mainly for using the motorways, so with the amount of cars on the road they are making a fortune hence the immaculate roads, tunnels and infrastructure.

Soon we start to see mountains, they fill the horizon and look spectacular especially amongst all the green fields. Beautiful.

Today we are going to Camping Almtal. We don’t know much about this place except that it has a pool, good walks and cycling and they have some Alpacas, so why not.

It’s a lovely drive to Pettenbach and the entrance to the site has an imposing grand hotel, the campsite is to the left of the hotel. The staff are friendly but the site is packed, but really packed with kids running around on cycles, skateboards and electric scooters, and it’s hot, it’s so very very hot here. We are shown to our pitch which is the worst possible place you cound be. It’s basically an overspill field, granted it’s well cut and looked after but there is no shade, non whatsoever.

We find a spot and settle in, the heat is unbelievable the temperature inside the van is 39 degrees. We go for a walk around the site towards the pool, which is crammed. This place is a ‘family’ site and we have hit the worst time as it’s the weekend and HOT! We are also the only Brits so we are courting some stares, lots of them, especially when Hayley is driving, not because she is bad, far from it… she’s a woman… driving a van… how can that be? That kind of stare. They do have some tractor rides for kids though.

We soon get used to our new surroundings and have a walk to see the hot Alpacas, it’s a nice place and all that, but we have come at the wrong time for sure, thankfully it’s just for the night.

There is a band on poolside and a massive BBQ, the heat is wild. Why do we think standing over a hot fire playing with hot food in the hot outdoors is a good thing?

Sunday 19th June 2022

Big day today, well for us it is anyway. Today we are driving to Salzburg for two nights and doing the whole Mozart thing as he is our favourite composer. Salzburg was where he was born and lived to the age of 25 and also where his father, Leopold, died.

Today is also the day when Jess needs a bath. We have been out nearly three weeks in hot dusty weather and rain, so she is looking a bit ‘scruffy’. We get her into a good car wash were she gets ‘the works’. After almost half an hour she looks amazing, gleaming, ready to present herself to Salzburg.

It’s hot today, hotter than yesterday. We see 33 degrees on the dashboard on the way to Salzburg to our new home for the next two days, Camping Nord Sam. We arrive and the office is closed but they instruct you to go in and find a spot and get settled in. We are determined to find a shady spot and this place does not disappoint. The spot we choose is so shady that it’s dark inside the van and already you can feel a couple of degrees falling off the high temperatures that we have just had.

We get properly settled in, the weather is to change later to some light rain then heavy, so they say, so everthing is put out to make it a proper home. It’s a great site, very campy and homely with everything that we need. Excellent.

Not wanting to waste too much time we buy a Salzburg Card online which gives you use of the buses and entrance to all the attractions and museums in Salzburg. With the help of the internet we are soon onboard the lovely air-conditioned bus for the 5 minute journey to Salzburg.

It’s a really beautiful place, compact and quite charming, as you would expect.

We head for Mozart’s birth house, which is oddly above a Spar Supermarket! Once in though it is interesting, lots to see and read, the highlight of which is the actual Clavichord that Mozart wrote The Magic Flute, amongst others, on. When you stand there and look at something like that, right in front of you, for real, it is quite something. It was also quite small.

Time for kaffee und kuchen (coffee and cake). We happen to fall into the Paul Furst konditorei (cafe to you) and have the most amazing chocolate cake and coffee. The interesting thing about this cafe and Paul Furst is that they have the ‘Original Mozartkugel‘, a small ball of marzipan or pistachio filling surrounded in plain chocolate and famous in Salzburg.

This piece of confectionary was invented after Mozart’s death but as we see in this city they will put his name on anything. We try one and they are quite special. Salzburg was also the home of Christian Doppler known for his Doppler effect principle – he too has his name on some chocolates!

We spend the next hour wandering around taking it all in before heading back for dinner. Hayley is a bit worn out. She didn’t sleep well in the heat of the previous night and we have been walking about quite a bit by now. Del makes dinner tonight and we just sit out side wittering away and drinking way past eleven. Just as dusk was falling we were both presented with a light show…

Dozens of fireflies, very pretty, we’ve never that seen before. It’s the female that glows luminescant green to attract a mate, but the time is critical as it’s only for a short time just as dusk starts.

A great day and a lovely way to end it. More tomorrow.

Monday 20th June 2022

We are woken up this morning by rain, it was forecast, but it’s still hot. As soon as the rain stops we are back on the bus and making our way into Salzburg town once again. Today we want to see the house where Mozart lived and where his father died. It’s a rather unassuming building but inside it’s very informative and well worth a look. More walking around town, which is crammed with churches and catherdal type buildings, loads of them.

En route Del decides on a pretzel, just a small one though as there is a special dinner tonight. We go into the cathedral which has seven organs and over 100 paintining on the walls and ceilings.

It’s a very large and impressive building and we are lucky today as there is a 30 minute concert on. Mendelssohn – too many notes.

There is a castle here and a small funicular cable car gets you up to it where the view of Salzburg is spectacular, just amazing. There are lots to do and see up here, but time is marching on. We need to get back to the camp and change for tonight’s rather special dinner.

Tonight we are going to a Mozart dinner concert. The location is rather special too. It’s Europe’s oldest restaurant, this place goes back to AD803.

Tonight we are dining here in candlelight with a 5 piece chamber orchestra and two opera singers all in period dress who will perform various pieces by Mozart inbetween courses.

The room where we dine was also frequented by the man himself. Again, like his home, it’s a little understated, grand yes but not too grand.

What an unforgettable night we had. It goes down as one of the best dinner/entertainment nights that we have had.

The music, of course, was great and singers amazing and the food superb. Two and a bit hours later we leave humming the tunes through the streets to a late night bar where we finish off with a cocktail each before getting an Uber back to the campsite. Brilliant.

Tuesday 21st June 2022

Salzburg has gone in our top 5 cities. A wonderful place. Today we are continuing our journey west to Scheffau am Wilden Kaiser and to a new campsite. The scenery here in Austria just gets better and better with each mile as the Tyrol Mountains just go on forever.

We get a warm friendly welcome at Kaiser Camp and get a pitch for the night. The views just from the van are amazing. Vast tall grey mountains on one side and huge tree covered hills on the other.

Grey skies today but again it’s still warm. There is a small swimming lake here, just next to the van, so Hayley thinks that it might be nice to have a dip. The lake is fresh water and cool. How will she get on?

As expected the water is cold but after a bit of grimacing and splashing about she is in and once she has adjusted to the temperature she loves it and spends some time in there swimming past the water lillies and dragon flies.

It is a lovely and relaxing setting, quite stunning and so far the most expensive at 44 euros a night but worth every cent.

As dusk rolls in we hear thunder and the sky is looking heavy and dark but as the sun sets in the east, it skims the tops of the clouds and produces some beautiful colours, the light is difficult to describe and it only lasts for 10 to 15 minutes but it’s quite magical. Quite a show for the longest day.

Tonight, finally Del finishes his book. The Counterfeit Candidate by his telly friend Brian Klein. Buy it. It’s brilliant…

It rains tonight, but not too heavy and soon we are asleep. Another great day in Austria.

Wednesday 22nd June 2022

Today is our last day in Austria. We think. Not sure. More stunning scenery as we make our way to the town of Imst. We try to do regular checks on the tyre pressure as we do cover a number of miles in various weather conditions and it has been extremely hot this week. We find a small garage on the way and we find the air point. There is a box on the wall, its free to use but the airline is only about 18 inches long, how on earth do you get air into bike tyres let alone a 6m van? We discover, quickly that it is in fact portable, it’s sitting on an air pipe that keeps the unit constanty charged.

Simply unhook the unit and carry it around to all the wheels, connect the 18 inch line and off you go. Magic. When you are done just drop the unit back onto the air pipe to recharge it for the next user. Hayley loved this…

We are quite impressed by this but can’t help thinking that if this was in the UK we would be charged to use it, it wouldn’t work or someone would have nicked it!

We arrive at FINK CAMPING. Once again this campsite is surrounded by mountains, it’s a beautiful place indeed. Nice pitch.

We are expecting more rain today so we just set up house and stay local, reading and writing blogs and planning where we will go next.

There are breaks in the rain and we do get some wonderful rainbows in the valley, and we also manage to go for a walk into the town.

Sanitary facilities are very important to us motorhomers and campers. We have a shower and toilet and wash basins on Jess but we have to watch the water so a good clean shower is important. This place has, without a doubt, the best facilities ever… Unbelievable. Better than a five star hotel. It looks like someone is watching and dives in and does a quick buff up each time someone leaves. We have noticed that it’s a ‘thing’ here in Austria, clean sanitary facilities and quite right as Austrian campsites have also been the most expensive so far.

Thursday 23rd June 2022

We liked Imst and FINK CAMPING – lovely toilets.

Today we are going to Liechtenstein, so after our usual long breakfast and a visit from a local cat, which of course we have to fuss and photograph.

We pack up, do a full service on Jess and set off. As usual the Austrian countryside delivers eye catching scenery which is just stunning.

Just over an hour later we are approaching the Austrian/Liechtenstein border after we have gone through an 11 euro toll, 15km tunnel. In a blink of an eye we are through and in Leichtenstein. Easy, lots of roadworks in the area so no one seems that bothered. It’s quite compact for a border crossing and is quite busy as we are on the only main road into the principality.

Today we are determined to do a bike ride. We haven’t really done much, it’s either been far too hot or rained, but today we think will be the day. It’s cooler with broken cloud.

We drive along the main road towards the ‘capital‘ Vaduz which is… well.. not quite as we imagined it. Not sure what we were expecting but it seems a bit ordinary and the public areas seem a bit unkempt. The drive through Vaduz itself is ok, quite charming, but considering that there are more registered companies here than the 38,000 inhabitants, it’s a little disappointing.

We arrive at the only campsite in Liechtenstein, Camping Mittagspitze, which does have impressive views of Swiss mountains to the front of us and the Lichtenstein mountains behind us. Quite nice. We had to wait as the campsite had some strange rule that said the there was to be no driving around the site between the hours of midday and 2pm. How odd. We couldn’t figure out why, but that was the rule.

We were shown to our pitch which was very nice and so it should be for 46 euros, the most expensive on the trip… Mad…

Once installed we get the bikes off the back and we are finally off on a bike ride, at last. We cycle a total of 14 miles into Switzerland for a kaffee and kuchen then back to Jess. It was a great ride along the Rhine and over an old wooden bridge into Switzerland.

It was hot again so the ride back was a struggle. Hayley fell off her bike, again, while stationary, again…, grazing her leg and arm while Del cycled off oblivious to what had befallen his beloved. (Time to lower her seat from what the bike shop set it at.) Oh well…

A lovely night at camp. Are we going to Switzerland or back into Austria to get Germany. No idea.

Friday 24th June 2022

We have no idea where we are going. We have had so many conversations about what our route should be, do we go through Switzerland and up into Germany or go back into Austria.

The decision has been made. We shall go back through a bit of Austria and make our way north into Germany from there, saves us buying a Swiss vignette after all. After breakfast we set off to retrace our steps back to Austria, after a small diversion through a small housing estate (thanks Google!). Today we are making for a site called Camping Weiss in Bregenz where they have a collection of hens, goats and donkeys, very important, but what it does have is a massive lake next to it, lake known as lake Bodensee at the German/Austrian end and Lake Constance at the Swiss end. More bike riding. This lake is the largest in Germany and is fed by the Rhine.

We get a warm friendly welcome and are presented with the locally brewed schnapps, and shown to our pitch.

Suddenly the heavens just open up and it rains and rains and rains… Non stop it rains. That’s it for bike riding. We need eggs for tomorrow. Del sets off to find some and is given 6 local eggs for free. What a nice place!

We make use of the time. Del has some work to do when he gets back so out comes the laptop and he gets his head stuck into it for a few hours while Hayley sorts out her work obligations.

The weather is miserable but it’s a bonus really as we can catch up on quite a lot of stuff that we have missed out on, so not too bad really.

There is a slight lull in the weather so we take a good long walk along the lake which is massive, it’s so big and goes on for miles, it’s like looking out to sea.

Dinner in tonight, the site is starting to fill up. We are promised a hot weekend this weekend. We shall see.

Germany tomorrow, or is it..?

WEEK 3 – 11th June – 17th June 2022

Everywhere, everyone is now feeling the rising cost of fuel at the pumps, not just in the UK but all over Europe and the rest of the world, (Boris can’t help us). We are staggered how much it costs to fill our diesel tank up, it’s crazy and the rise in price is quick and continuing.

We didn’t really have a full plan about where we were going to go, we knew we maybe wanted to go deep into eastern Europe and to get more country flags on the back of the van, but given the cost of diesel we have decide that we needed a plan, a cheaper plan, so we have decided to carry on out of Germany and into the Czech Republic for a few days then down south towards Austria for a week, then pop out to the west of Austria, then either do southern Germany into France or go through Switzerland and into France then north home. A big change from our loose original plan.

Hayley has worked out that it costs 2 euros every 6.5 miles, which is a crazy sum of money.

No matter we are here now driving about in Europe, and enjoying it.

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Saturday 11th June 2022

We enjoyed our rustic stay in Green Camping right on the river Rhine, very peaceful and quiet, a nice change from the madness of Cologne airport, Blackpool and theme parks. We gently ease our precious van out of the space, do a quick van service and off we go.

Today we are heading east to a Weingut (vineyard). We have stayed at French vineyards, which are always nice of course, but we haven’t stayed at many German ones. We did it once a few years ago and whilst the pitch in the Weingut was very nice, the wine was a bit… well… not great. We thought that we might give it another go.

We fill up with fuel at 1.95 euros a litre and after a 3 hour drive we arrive at Weingut Hemberger. We find a space which offers a good mix of shade and sun and we get settled in. Payment for the pitch is by an honesty box, a small black box screwed to the wall where you drop your 8 euros a night into a small slot. There is everything here, fresh water fill up, grey water disposal and for 2 euros extra you can empty your chemical toilet.

Similar to our last Germany weingut, they operate here an honesty wine fridge. In the corner of the court yard is a large upright cupboard fridge full of their wine with a price list. Simply choose a wine, take it out of the fridge and put your money in the honesty box on the wall. Brilliant.

We choose a local white brut fizz for 13 euros. It’s already chilled so with trepidation we thought that we should try a glass. Well, it is excellent. Very very nice indeed for a German wine. So we spend the rest of the afternoon discussing travel tactics in the sun sipping the local fizz right next to the vineyards. What a great way to spend the rest of the day.

As we continue our walk we look up and see a hot air balloon making a gentle descent. Lovely…

It’s a lovely evening, no wind, clear blue skies and a setting sun. We decide to take a walk, it’s a fantastic setting.

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Sunday 12th June 2022

It’s lovely bright warm morning, so we take breakfast outside. After breakfast we just sit chatting and reading and taking in the wonderful views of this region. Today we will cycle in to the nearest town which is called Iphofen. It’s a Sunday and in Germany, which is mainly christian, most of the shops and cafes will be closed, no matter the excerise will be good for us.

The vineyards have a small road network of their own for the workers and they all lead into a town somewhere. It’s not long before we are cycling through the lovely stone archways of Iphofen town and into the main square. It’s stunning, amazing, old but so well maintained, clean and tidy.

All the houses have beautiful window boxes of flowers just bursting with colour. Most of the bars and coffee shops are open so we indulge in coffee and some wonderful apple pie. Three inches thick and full of apple. Yum.

We have a good walk around the town, it doesn’t take long but every street is just delightful to look at. Very nice.

A quick cycle back to Jess and today it’s Hayley’s paella, always a winner, even better with the local fizz!

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Monday 13th June 2022

Bit cloudier this morning, oh well, it has been nice here and a place that we look forward to revisiting. We already packed everything away last night as we hoped to get away early today. No chance, it’s 10:00am before we really get going. First stop a supermarket as we have acquired a collection of plastic bottles. Germany has this pfand system here where they charge extra on bottles so you have to take them back. It all sounds very good but you can burn a lot of fuel trying to get to the supermarket to get rid of them. We have 7 bottles so that’s 1.75 euros.

Off we go, today we are heading for the Czech Republic. It’s only a couple of hours and it’s a very pleasent day for driving as we trundle through the whole width of Germany and eventually arrive at the border.

Hayley has applied and paid for a ‘vignette‘, a requirement in most European countries that help pay for the motorways. Saves stopping to pay a toll, you pay a fee in advance and you are ready, if you don’t pay then the fines are quite heavy.

Here we go, that’s it, we are in the Czech Republic! There is supposed to be a shop as soon as you cross the border which we turn off to visit but can’t find it so we just continue on our way entering the lane for the roadworks by mistake, the road was confusing coming out of the services, honestly! We are stuck.

The workmen are looking at us wondering why a UK registered, 6m motorhome is in the ‘works only lane’. Funnily enough we are wondering the same thing,

Hayley is out with her hi-viz vest on, a legal requirement, and starts to direct Del back into the service area to make the turn for the correct lane, which works well until he hits a temporary roadworks sign. Fortunately it was not fixed and Jess just ignores it. 200m into a new country and trouble!

Tonight we are staying at Camping Briza which is a lovely terraced campsite with a spectacular view of a lake which we have a walk to. It’s very nice here. Lots of Dutch and Germans. We are the only Brits. Hmmm…

We are in the Czech Republic for 5 days. So far so good.

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Tuesday 14th June 2022

Today it’s another lovely day. We had a good sleep, late to bed however after Del thrashed Hayley at chess, twice! Bacon and eggs for breakfast and then we say farewell to our hosts at Camping Briza. We need some shopping so we drop into a supermarket called Albert. A large chain of supermarkets here in the Czech Republic. It’s immaculate and the staff are milling aroud cleaning and smilling. This European travel is interesting. We see lots of things and get to know the culture and the way of life, but it’s always interesting to visit another country’s supermarkets. We love it! After spending 40 quid on stuff we are ready for the off.

It’s a 3 hour drive to the next stop which is just slightly north and 10 minutes by tram to the centre of Prague. The drive was excellent, nice smooth roads, splendid scenery. We hit some heavy traffic on the outskirts of Prague before entering a very long 3km tunnel after which we pop out on the other side and into our campsite for the next two days, River Camping Prague. The host here is a very friendly local. The site is a little tight but has a nice homely, campy feel to it. We get set up and settled in. Today is wash day and it’s already 3 in the afternoon. We get two lots of washing done and sip beer while it’s underway and drying.

Hayley is planning our day in Prague tomorrow.

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Wednesday 15th June 2022

Busy day today. We are going into Prague. There is a tram stop 5 minutes from the campsite. We are planning to eat and drink everything local, do a bus tour around the city and a river trip. We only have today so we need to make the most of it.

We have a simple breakfast and we are off on part 1 of the day. The walk to the tram stop. This takes us past some white water rapid canoe training which is fascinating to watch. Requires a lot of fitness so we’ll leave that then.

The number 17 tram takes us right into the centre of town. The buildings are splendid and the place, despite the amount of tourists, is so tidy with hardly no litter. It’s a bright sunny day and it all looks rather wonderful. We have a couple of hours to kill before the bus tour so we have a good walk around exploring the streets.

We try a local street dessert called a Czech Chimney which is basically a spiral of sponge dipped in a tonne of sugar and topped off with ice cream.

This is surely not meant for one person to eat, it’s massive, messy, full of calories but yummy!

The best way to see a city is by bus. However the traffic like all cities is just gridlocked in parts. It’s a lovely interesting place. It’s not London or Paris but it has some fine buildings and a very interesting if difficult history. After the bus tour we dropped off at the river for the boat tour. The river has a great view of some of the more interesting parts of Prague but is restricted in how far we can go as the river has locks and weirs. We spend most of the trip below deck, getting a bit fed up of being in the sun all day.

It’s getting late in the day and we are getting hungry. We want to eat all local stuff so we find a restaurant that does just that. Czech goulash with various types of bread dumplings for Del, while Hayley has a Czech platter – a massive plate of meats various and dumplings and sauerkraut.

Both help each other out as there is so much. It’s washed down with a small local beer and finally a local digestive liquor called Becherovka. A wonderful dinner. We are full but content.

While watching YouTube videos about what to do in Prague, Hayley finds a place called the Joystick bar. It’s a retro video arcade games bar. After dinner we thought we would try it out. It’s a dark, graffiti ridden grungy bar but is full of old working 1980s video gaming machines and pinball machines.

Brilliant! For 40p each you can play Space Invaders, PacMan, Street Fighter as well as the old Sega car and bike racing games. We have one drink each and spend the next hour on the games.

A great way to end the day before walking back to get the tram and back to Jess. We are truly exhausted but we can say that we have seen Prague and we liked it… Highly recommended.

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Thursday 16th June 2022

Early up this morning, we need to check out at 10am, the guy that runs the camp is very laid back and tells us to take our time. We do a quick service on the van, water fill up and toilet clean. Soon we are off and on our way driving through busy suburban traffic onto a quieter motorway. Today we are only driving 1 hour south to Pliskovice to a small campsite run by a nice Dutch couple. It’s only small and very popular so hopefully there will be a small space for us!

We are half full on the diesel but we like to stay topped up. 75 euros later we have a full tank and on our way again. The cost of fuel is eye watering…

At around midday we arrive at the site in Pliskovice and indeed we are greeted by a very friendly Dutch lady who shows us to our pitch in an empty campsite followed by the offer of a coffee or tea. How nice is that? She tells us to take our time and sign in when we are settled in. An over excited dog welcomes us when we eventually go to sign in.

We meet the husband and after while you feel more like a guest at someone’s house rather than a customer. The husband likes to cook and prepares a menu especially for guests. We can’t refuse and have settled on dinner tonight at 6:30

It s lovely peaceful place here there are only two campers here and we are one of them. There are some cabins which have some German bikers as guests. We relax and just witter all afternoon, the day has gone quick and dinner is soon upon us when suddenly the heavens open with a heavy, but real heavy down pour.

It had been threatening to do so for most of the afternoon but didn’t really come to much apart from a spit of rain and the odd rumble of thunder. Ten minutes before dinner our host turns up with an umbrella and leaves it with us. How kind and thoughtful is that? Where else would that happen?

Dinner is butterflied pork fried in pine nuts, rosemary and garlic. Wow!

Served with green beans mixed with small pieces of local sausage, salad and fries, it really was a wonderful dinner joined by our hosts and the three German bikers who were all great company while the rain just hammered down. Not seen rain like this in a long time. After dinner our Dutch host presented us with a local drink of elderflower and something else that we can’t remember a great end to a fine day.

Three European countries all together enjoying each others company.

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Friday 17th June 2022

We are up at half 8 and get ready for breakfast outside. It’s hot already, everything has already dried out after the heavy rain. Today we are going to a lakeside campsite in Czech just before the Austrian border. We set off and say our good byes to a smashing bunch of people and set off. We need some shopping so after 40 minutes or so we stop at a supermarket, get some groceries and Hayley buy some new trainers.

Stocked up we are off again, after what seems a long time we arrive at the lakeside site. It’s busy, very busy and after a long time in reception we are given a place and pay our fee. The pitch was on too much of a slope for us. We have levelling ramps but the incline was too much. There was a dispute with neighbours about where the pitches started and ended so we thought that this was not the place for us. It was a bit of a shocker after our stay last night. We get a refund and set off deciding to continue straight to Austria. The countryside in this part of Cezch is quite stunning, with rolling hills and tall trees.

We like the Cezch Republic. It’s a nice place and although we were not there for long we found the people very pleasant and we would definitely like to go there again. We liked it very much but it does require more time.

After another longish drive and a bridge that we thought we wouldn’t get under, but did, we get over the border. The only thing that changes is the roads in Austria become wider and smoother.

Finally at about 4pm we arrive at Camping Freistadt. There are only half a dozen vans here on the beautifully manicured grass.

What a lovely place, set just outside the old town. We get talking to another couple of campers who advise us that the old town is a must so after we get fully settled in we pay our bill for the night and set off for the old town and for a traditional Austrian dinner. The couple we spoke to told us that the town has a commune brewery and the brewery is in the middle of town. The walk around the old town is quite delightful. It’s clean tidy and old and we dine at the chic beer garden belonging to the brewery and have a wiener schnitzel, potatoes and a salad washed down with the local beer.

Fantastic. We walk back to Jess full but content. We will be in Austria for about a week and so far so good.

WEEK 2 – 4th to 10th June 2022

Saturday 4th June 2022

The celebrations of the Queen’s platinum jubilee are talked about all over world, even with our limited German we can pick out the odd word on the radio as we trundle through Germany. 70 years! Whether you are a royalist or not you have to agree that it’s quite an acheivement and one that is highly unlikey to be acheived again, well at least for a good few years yet.

Our second week away starts with us still in Camping Denntal. The weather is due to change with the threat of some rain, heavy rain. It’s still warm though, quite close in fact. No matter, we are in a good safe place on our quiet little pitch next to the stream.

After yesterday we decide to just stay local. While it’s still dry we set up with our table and chairs and just lounge around near the van. It’s actually quite warm and sunny so we keep the beer and the water flowing. A very relaxing day.

Whilst having an afternoon tea by the tiny stream, Hayley happens to look into the water only to cast her gaze on a grass snake! There he is just sitting in the water making his way down stream. Something you wouldn’t normally see on a Satuarday afternoon.

Sunday 5th June 2022

Well it has finally arrived, the rain. We wake up to it pattering on the roof, it’s quite gentle though but constant. After the rain we get all the winows open for some fresh air, it’s still quite warm. We have a simple breakfast followed by Del prepping for his departure to the UK. While there is a break in the rain it’s off for a walk, just a short one though as the sky looks heavy with more rain to come.

Del is packed and ready to go on his 5 day trip to the UK for a bit of work, the van is stowed and Hayley is providing an excellent taxi service to a hotel near Cologne/Bonn airport. The flight is early in the morning.

It’s a short drive, 50 minutes. Hayley has booked a hotel through her regular hotel supplier, Hotels.com, however upon arrival the hotel is closed, shutdown, empty, no one there. No one has been there for a while. Frantic phone calls take place, it’s getting late and Hayley needs to do the drive back to Camping Denntal. With no result forthcoming to solve the problem by hotels.com, Del does a search and eventually finds a hotel 400m from the airport terminal and arranges an Uber to get him there.

We are both are angry and frustrated at the situation but after a while Del bids Hayley farewell and off she goes, her and Jess for the drive back to Ahrbruck.

More woes for Del as it takes almost an hour for an Uber to arrive.

By 7:30 both Del and Hayley are finally at their respective destinations. Del is right next to Cologne airport to be up at 04:00am for his early flight while Hayley has Jess back by the stream, up on leveling ramps and settled in until Friday the 10th June when she will pick Del up near Cologne.

Monday 6th June 2022

Del is flying into Manchester today and then taking a train to Blackpool for the Red Rose Awards 2022. Hayley is staying here in Camping Denntal as it’s a lovely place with good laundry facilities which should keep her occupied.

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*** Hayley’s week ***

Doing things on the van take a lot longer than they do at home so quite a few hours of the days are taken up by doing all the washing that we’ve accumulated so far and other exciting jobs like emptying the toilet! It has to be done. Luckily the van is stocked up with food and drink so my spare time can be spent reading and catching up on paperwork. On Wednesday it rains, but it rains all day, it never stops.

I have acquired cabin fever by the end of Wednesday having watched 3 films and listened to a backing soundtrack of the constant drumming of the rain on the roof.

Its a better day today, it’s Thursday and seen as I’m so close to Phantasialand with nothing esle to do, I have decided that I will go there again. It is such a famous theme park and I’m lucky to be near it, so I pack up Jess and off we trundle. I have a great day again even though it’s much busier than last week. Shame Del is not here to carry my bag.

I did have a great day, enjoyed my drive there and back. It’s nice to be back by my little stream. Picking Del up tomorrow.

*** Del’s Week ***

Ryan Air flights now require a 3 hour check-in, so for an 08:00 I need to be at the airport for 5am, so up at 4am. Great can’t wait. The hotel Moxy is nice. It’s themed like an airport which is interesting.

I get to the airport as requested, a bit early, 4:45am, by 05:15 I’m at the gate! SO much time now to kill. What was that all about. To kill time I watch a the movie A time to Kill, very good. I start a Woody Allen film, Manhatten Murder Mystery. Very funny.

Manchester Airport is, not to put to finer point on it, a dump. It’s filthy, travelators don’t work, carpet held together with gaffer tape. There are now homeless people sleeping in the terminal building. International airport my eye! Blackpool is no better by the way.

A good few days work with some good friends in the Winter Gardens Ballroom for a show that I have done every year now for six years. Not much sleep, early starts, long days, late finishes. You can see last years event on my lighting blog.

I can’t wait to get back “Home” to Jess and H, back to the countryside and figuring out the interesting nuances of other countries. Pfand anyone?

Friday 10th June 2022

It’s Friday the 10th and my flight to Cologne is on time and quick. Hayley has asked that I make my way to a town called Hennef, 20 minutes east of Cologne where she will pick me up in an Aldi car park!

There are many things I can say about our Hayley and one of them is that nothing seems to phase her. She has been in Germany on her own, driving the van around, dropping me off in the middle of nowhere and picking me up. Hayley and I have met up with each other in so many countries around the world. She just does it, gets on with it, a natural. I’m very lucky. She is a real star! Thanks H xxx.

We keep in touch by text and sure enough, and on time, Jess is in the Aldi car park in Hennef and we are off on our trip again. We are driving east.

Germany is sometimes a tricky place to find spaces, the most difficult are the sites near rivers, poeple love them so you have to be quick to get a spot. We find a site called Green camping which is made up of numbered pitches and a wild camping area. We opt for the wild camping with a slight view of the fast moving Rhine.

It’s great here but a little tight to move the van around. Everyone is friendly, they smile and say ‘hallo’ when they see you. We have a good night here.

Its great to be back…! Everything is right in the world…

Much has happened since our last van outing. Covid was up, then down, then the rules were relaxed. We managed some trips abroad namely to expensive Iceland and cheap Poland. War broke out in Europe, who’d have thought. We have had personal events happen to us both including the loss of family. During all of this we managed to continue working, in fact we have both been kept very busy, back to pre-covid and some! It has been one long roller coaster so after a heavy stint of work and personal pressures it was decided that we would lock everything up, get the cover off Jess, stock her up and set off for Europe for a good long six weeks.

We have had Jess now for 4 years and we have seen lots of Europe. It’s a big land mass and there is still lots to see. This time we have decided that we will venture further east and have a look at places like Slovakia, The Czech Republic, Hungary and so on, whilst still taking in the usual places like Germany and France which we enjoy very much. Without much of a plan, except the purchase of a ferry ticket, we are due to set off on the 28th May 2022

Before we set off we just have to get a bunch of work done. Hayley is going backwards and forwards between home and London working for both ITV and the new Talk TV channel. Del has the usual corporate events and a short tour for Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham. Amen!

WEEK 1 – Saturday 28th May to 3rd June

We have done it many times, there is a camp site, Waverley Park, just around the corner from us. Very handy for prepping our stuff before going, if we forget something then it’s a short walk home for any late pickups. It’s nice as well, there is a great view of the Solent looking north to the mainland especially in good weather.

Not much of a food prep for this trip as the rules for taking certain foods into Europe has changed since Brexit, so eggs, milk and dairy is off, meat can’t be taken in either. We do wonder though what would happen if we did take stuff with us. Is it just confiscated, do you get a fine or are the chances of being stopped so remote that it’s not worth worrying about? Anyway it’s a risk we don’t want to take so the fridge is bare at the start of this trip. Beer and wine is ok though. Whew!

Sat 28th May

We set off bright and early for the first leg of the trip. Fishbourne on the Isle of Wight to Portsmouth. A simple 45 minute crossing. There is some slack time in the trip but we have to account for getting along the south coast from Portsmouth to Dover and the check in time for the Channel ferry crossing.

Upon arriving at the Fishbourne ferry we find that there is an hour delay for our crossing to Portsmouth. Great! You can always depend on Wightlink ferries to scupper your best laid plans, in fact any UK mode of travel will do all it can to mess you up. Not a great start.

Finally we are waved aboard. We have lost an hour, so no more slip ups.

Not quite… We arrive into what looks like a free flowing quiet Dover Port but once we get deeper in the queue to get your passport checked stretches for a long way and is slow, so slow we didn’t move an inch for over an hour. Once through we are late for our Calais crossing but offered Dunkerque instead. Why are we in a rush? It’s a Saturday and we have no food as we are not allowed to take it, apparently, and the shops on mainland Europe close early on a Saturday and don’t open on Sunday, we don’t even have stuff to make a cup of tea!

The DFDS ferry to Dunkerque is full, rammed. The two hour crossing was passed with fish and chips on board. Nice.

We finally disembark at 7:00pm, 1 and a half hours late. Luckily we did find a Carrefour, a French supermarket, so H dives in and does a quick shop while Del guards the van! An hour later we are parked up in a lovely spot under some trees with a windmill in the town of De Panne, Belgium. Finally we are in Europe, late, but we have arrived.

Sun 29th May

De Panne is a lovely town which has a fantastic beach front and theme park which has one the world’s most renowned rides. We keep saying this, and our intentions are always good but we want to do more walking and cycling each time we go away on the van, so we do the right thing and get the bikes off the back and set off into the town of De Panne passing the theme park which goes by the name of Plopsaland. It’s a little unassuming but Hayley, who is a rollercoster enthusiast, knows all about this place and what rides are in here, the plan is to go in tomorrow. Del is not so mad on coasters so he has the job of carrying the bag!

When we arrive at Ploppsaland it’s quiet and it is suggested that while we are here now, on the bikes, and it doesn’t look busy, that maybe we should go in right now. Without too much thinking on Hayley’s part we are in the short line and buying a pair of tickets. Faithful Del discharges his duties well by carrying the bags and cycle helmets while Hayley gets her head rattled on the rides, especially the world famous “Ride to Happiness” which is a rollercoster that does the usual rollercoastery things but the cars that you sit in spin as well!!! Why would you go on that?

After all said and done it was a lovely couple of hours, Hayley had a good time and Del had to admit that it was nice park to walk around but that was about it.

Another short cycle ride and we are on the De Panne beach. No word of a lie but we are astonished. It would not be out of place in Miami. White sandy beaches that stretch for miles with high rise apartments and chic resturants and bars.

We decide to have a drink in one of the bars and watch a strong North sea in the afternoon sunlight whilst sipping Belgian beer and eating calamari. Splendid.

Full of beer and fish we cycle back to Jess and settle in for the night. Tomorrow we are going to a place that we first went to back in 2018, our first European stop ever in Jess.

Mon 30th May

Our first Belgian stop was very nice. A lovely campsite called Camping Kindervreugde. Very pleasant. Today it’s a short bumpy drive to Poperinge in Belgium. Bumpy because some of the Belgian roads are a bit, well, bumpy and unfinished in parts. We are going to what was our first European campsite when we first bought Jess called Camping Stal ‘t Bardehof.

Great to watch when you have a local beer.

We do like it there. It’s a rustic farm with well defined pitches right in the middle of Westvleteren, Belgium. Nice walks and great bike riding. The site has a dark, musty, home-built bar that serves lots of local Belgian beers, the staff are friendly and… it’s cheap! Oh and they have the best pygmy goats.

Tues 31st May

We are woken up bright and early by a Cuckoo, a sound you don’t often hear but in this area they are about all the time. After breakfast we take a walk. This area has many cemeteries from both the first and second world wars where many British, Canadian and American troops died, most very young. Very sobering, but places well worth a visit. The gardens are well manicured and it’s a very peaceful place to walk through.

We make our way to the local abbey Sint-Sixtus where, some say, is where the world’s best beer is brewed. We sit in the lovely cafe and have some local abbey cheese with the best beer of course. Very nice. We decide that we like here so much that we will have dinner here tonight and cycle here and back. Looking forward to that.

Back at the van we just relax, read and chat. We are still trying to decide on our route. We normally have a good idea about where we are going, but for some reason we haven’t got a plan. We do know that we would like to see some of east Europe, but which countries and for how long? No idea.

Dinner tonight is by bike back to the Sint-Sixtus Abbey for a very nice dinner and cycle back just in time to hear the cuckoo before making our way to bed.

Wed 1st June

Time to get some shopping in with the help of this little chap!

Today we plan to stay at a free parking spot on the quay near Strepy-Thieu which has some of the most spectaularly engineered boat lifts. We have been there before and visted 3 of the 4 lifts so we though we might try it again. Our enthusiasm was damped when we arrived as the local council have banned camping on the quay now which is such a shame. The last time we came you could camp here, no facilities, but you could stay overnight and an ice-cream van used to pop by every day. Now that’s all stopped now in the name of someone’s idea of progress. Sadly we didnt stop and had to move on, but if you are in the area do check these lifts out.

We decide to move on from Belguim and go to Holland to a nice little farm there but on arrival we find that it’s full. It is a bit late in the day but we are still suprised that it’s busy. Not to be discouraged we try another campsite, again full! What’s going on? Next door there is a large commercial site called Euro Camping and for an astonishing 33 euros we are given a space with a stunning view of the valley of Gulpen, Holland. It’s now late, we are 33 euros lighter, but the view with a cup of tea is quite something.

Thurs 2nd June

We wake up to a lovely warm sunny day so it’s breakfast outside looking over the valley.

We get talking to our Dutch neighbours who have a small 4.5m caravan. It’s a real cute little thing with a retro style, modern build. We are fascinated by it and they offer us a look around. It was amazing, so cute inside as well as outside with lots of room.

Today we are heading to Germany. Hayley needs to be settled into a good, safe campsite for a week which is near an airport as Del is flying back to the UK on Monday morning to do a job that was booked and agreed sometime ago. It’s also a regular job for a regular client, plus it will be extra ‘van tokens‘. German roads and motorways are excellent and free! We are heading for Camping Denntal in Ahrbruck, just south of Cologne. Some of the area was devastated in severe floods last year but this site is away from the river in a valley surrounded by woodland.

We arrive and the very helpful lady gives us the run down on the site’s facilites and allows us to choose a space. We plump for a nice private spot right by a small stream. It’s beautiful and peaceful here. All you can hear is the birds and the stream babbling by. Great. Everything is here that you need for a comfortable stay. Good walks are also to be had so Hayley should be nice and safe here.

Fri 3rd June

Here we go again! Less than an hour’s drive away there is another theme park! Phantasialand Looks like Del is carrying the bag again.

Today we are up early, packing up and by 8am we are driving down a German motorway to Phantasialand. Hayley has already bought the tickets online. We get a little lost but soon we are directed to a safe parking space for what will be a long day.

These theme parks are all the same. Very well manicured and maintained with music blurting out everywhere you go, even in the toilets. You can’t escape it.

Today, for some reason it’s not very busy so Hayley gets to go on all the rides without too much waiting. She has a great time on all the hi-tech, fast, throw you about rides and comes off each one grinning while Del is still carrying the bag. Here in this park are another two world class rides, one of which – FLY – is a coaster where you are suspended face down. It is Hayley’s new favourite in the world and the area it is in is beautifully themed.

After a whole tiring day it’s back to the van and a drive home to the campsite. Del drives as Hayley would probably still think she is on a coaster and get a ticket for speeding.

The weekend starts tomorrow and it’s Whitsun here in Germany so it could get busy here.

Spring into summer. Why don’t we go off in the van? Why not indeed. We are already off and about, currently in Germany in a small town called Rodelsee at a very nice vinyard. We have been out for two weeks now so a little bit behind with our blog.

The blog is for our friends and family (and anyone else who stumbles on it for that matter) we are so pleased to share it with them and to hear from them. There is nothing to sell or promote here, it’s just us in our van Jess enjoying life as best we can.

Del is catching up with the blog so there will be more to read soon, in the meantime we wish you all good health and happiness…

Del, H & Jess