Kevnjan's big adventure.

Sun. 29th.Apr. Rained all night after raining all day yesterday. This morning the rain stopped around noon. This is probably the last blog as tomorrow night we will be without internet and I plan to have a break when we get back to England. To all of you who have followed our big adventure, I hope you haven't been too bored by it. I've enjoyed posting it and look forward to resuming on our next trip. All being well that will be at the beginning of September when we head for France, Spain and Portugal. This has been the trip of a lifetime and we've had a wonderful time and met some wonderful people. Thanks to you all. Just hope the next trip will be a little drier!! Time for a glass of something. Cheers.

Kevnjan's big adventure.

Sat. 28th. Apr. Wurtzburg was gorgeous, an attractive medieval town with striking old buildings and bags of charm and character. We visited the town hall where there was a display showing the disastrous effects of the allied bombing at the end of the 2nd world war in April, 1945. It is astonishing that the town has been restored to such a high standard and it’s to be hoped that nothing like it ever happens again. We visited the library where we were able to get free Wifi and managed to get some online stuff done. Reluctantly we had to move on in the afternoon as we still had much driving to do. The biggest disappointment has been the German weather. We hoped to see more sunshine, but it wasn’t to be, nevertheless we have really enjoyed our brief acquaintance with Germany and will be back for more I think. On Thursday night we stayed on an aire on the autobahn and slept surprisingly well. Friday was a travelling day. We started around 8.30am and with a couple of breaks for coffee, lunch and a stretch did some comfortable miles. By around 5pm we parked up, again on an aire, this time in Belgium having put behind us around 450Ks. We’d made a decision to get to an ACSI site at Guiens, about a 40 minute drive from Calais, on Saturday and get some washing and cleaning done before crossing the channel. The day dawned grey and misty after a wet night and we drove the 230 Ks. in miserable conditions. Still, we’re here now, it’s pouring with rain and the pitch is muddy but we’re warm and comfortable and after moving to another pitch, have TV. Just watched Saints secure promotion to Premiership, so well done them. Just hope Villa hang on to be there with them next season. So there it is, Calais is within reach and the English weather has crossed the channel to welcome us. Happy days.

Mon. 23rd. Apr. Kevnjan’s big adventure. Finally got our banking business sorted out and faxed, thanks to our friend Ute in the office at the camp site. Prepared for departure to Kelheim and Gunter and Anita. A long but pleasant drive, interrupted by a break for lunch of ham and gorgonzola sandwich on the most delicious brown bread, followed. The roads in Germany are excellent, and free as far as I can tell. We arrived at the house at around 3pm and were greeted by Gunter and Anita like VIPs. It was good to see them again and we felt so welcome. After a coffee and some delicious home made black forest gateau we rested for an hour before dinner. Dinner was stewed pork, dumplings, peas and salad, typical Bavarian fare we were told. It was very special!! It was washed down with two bottles of beer and some orange juice for Jan. After dinner we were invited to visit their daughter and family, just a hop and a skip along the field at the back of the house. We had a charming and entertaining hour with three delightful children and their parents who made us feel so welcome in their lovely home. I must learn some German and return so I can converse with the kids who are already speaking good English. Later Gunter introduced me to some Bavarian single malt whisky, a pleasant surprise, good enough to pass for a Scotch. Very moreish. Must try and acquire a bottle to bring home. A lovely afternoon and evening ended around 9.30 when it was clear that we were all weary. Tomorrow promises to be a great day. Tues. 24th. Apr. Breakfast at 8am. Gunter had been out bright and early and bought fresh bread. We had boiled eggs, bread and honey, from Gunter’s own bees!! He is a man of many talents. And so to Regensburg to do a little sight seeing. It’s an historic old town on the banks of the Danube and full of strikingly attractive old Bavarian buildings. Like everywhere else we have seen in Germany Regensburg is easy on the eye and user friendly, the old town is virtually traffic free and full of character. There was a 4 piece brass band in the main square playing Mozart and Bach to a very high standard, I could have listened to them for hours. The cathedral is a towering Gothic monument with acres of stained glass windows and vaulted roof, dating back to the 13th. century. A stone bridge, said to have been built at the same time spans the Danube but I suspect it has had some serious structural alterations since then. We took coffee in the oldest coffee house in the town, dating back to 1686, directly opposite the Rathaus – town hall!! After a little shopping, lunch was taken in a pleasant Bierhaus by the river, where we experienced some typical Bavarian food, beef, cooked with onion and mushroom in a cream sauce served with home made pasta. Very good. Jan ordered a side of sauerkraut half of which she brought home for later. It was washed down with Bavarian beer, very agreeable!! This was Gunter and Anita’s treat, we have been spoilt once again by good and generous friends. I hope that one of these days we will have an opportunity to reciprocate. This evening we enjoyed a new and unusual experience. This lovely couple have a shower which incorporates a steam room with music and coloured lights, with seating for two. It’s a bit like a hot wet disco. What luxury!! Needless to say Jan wants one for 46 South East Crescent. Why not – it’s time the bathroom was updated!! We will find it difficult to move on tomorrow but we have over 1000Ks to get to Calais and we don’t want to be driving for hours every day. Getting close now. Can’t post this tonight because Gunter’s internet connection is not good. Will have to find a Macdonalds tomorrow with free Wifi. Gute nacht. Wed. 25th. Apr. Alan’s birthday. Many happy returns Alan. Had another delicious breakfast with Gunter and Anita. Got the van ready and left about 9.30am taking with us two jars of honey and, some special vinegar, and a wooden fruit bowl, (made by Gunter). We take away also, special memories of two days spent in the company of good friends. We plan to meet in Spain early next year. And so we hit the road, heading north west towards Calais. The roads here make driving so easy and before we knew it we’d put nearly 200Ks behind us and at around 1o’clock stopped for the day at a pretty village called Randsacker, on the River Main about 5Ks south of Wurtzburg. We took a long walk along the river, enjoying the birds and the views. About the only disappointing thing so far in Germany is that we can’t get free Wifi without a German mobile telephone number and we need to just do a few jobs on line. Tomorrow we will go into Wurtzburg and see if we can find an internet cafe. Saw the weather forecast for south of England for the next few days. Drought? Doesn’t look like it from here. Having serious doubts about going back!! (Only kidding).

Kevnjan's big adventure.

Kevnjan’s big adventure. Fri. 20th. Apr. Well, we left Italy today, around 12.30pm, entered Austria and said a fond farewell. We’ll miss Italy, it’s been wonderful, although for the last 2 days everyone has spoken German and it seemed as though we’d already left. We left behind our internet connection as well so it may be a day or so until we can post this. What a journey we’ve had today. Decided to get through Austria and into Germany where people are more camper van friendly. It cost us €16 to get through Austria!! We weren’t going to give them any more. The scenery, though, has been wonderful and we wouldn’t have missed it for anything. I think the best was between Bolzano and Campolasta, on a secondary road which satnav lady selected for us. She wasn’t to know that the pass was closed because of snow and the views were superb. Shame we had to turn back to Bolzano to find an alternative route!! So here we are, on a car park in a pretty German village called Flintsbach with the rain falling and a beef stew on the cooker. Well on the way home now, goodbye Italy and thanks, we’ll miss you. Time for wine. Sat. 21st. Apr. It stopped raining and we had a good night’s sleep. Poor Jan can’t cope with the noise the rain makes on the roof. Set satnav girl the task of finding us an ACSI campsite nearby and she came up trumps with place at Bad Feilnbach, a pretty Bavarian village in the shadow of snow capped mountains, with lush meadows, pretty houses and a shop which sells delicious ice cream, which Jan swears is better than the Italian variety!! As the man who owns the shop is Italian, I suppose we should have known it would be good. The sun came out this morning and we set up camp, put out the chairs and made coffee. It was warm enough to change into shorts, the big mistake was when Jan applied some sun cream. Over came the clouds!! I told her – but would she listen?? Anyway, we put long trousers back on and back came the sun. I spent much of the afternoon trying to do some pretty basic banking stuff on line but the Santander hardware was determined to thwart me. Three phone calls to England resulted in me being timed out when the staff went home for the weekend at 4pm. Am I aggravated?? You could say that. I have paid €9 for 2 hours internet access so I hope I can publish this with a minimum of fuss. Wish me luck. More in a day or two. We like Germany. Gunter’s on Monday.

Kevnjan's big adventure.

Thurs. 19th. Apr. It rained most of last night but cleared up by the morning. We took off for Bolzano around 9.30 and went the scenic route. It's a short journey, about 50 Ks. We had coffee in a bar in a small village on the way and encountered some of the local characters. A bit like the old days in the Bevois Castle!! Arrived in Bolzano and drove around the city looking for somewhere to park, hopeless, height restrictions everywhere and had to leave town and park on a lorry park, about 3 or 4 Ks.. out of town. Took the bus in and jumped on the cable car to Oberbozen / Soprabolzano, take your pick, Austrian or Italian. Anyway, it's a pretty village, high up in the mountains with views of the ski slopes all around. This is the South Tyrol and we feel that already we are out of Italy and into Austria, although the truth is Austria is still about 70 Ks away. Bolzano is quaint and smart but unlike any Italian city we've ever seen. After all this time learning Italian it came as a bit of a shock that just about everyone here seems to speak German. We are so glad that we stopped off here though, it's a gem of a place and I guess lots of people just drive past it on the Auto strada. Shame. Tomorrow we continue north and may be in Austria this time tomorrow. Pastures new!!

Kevnjan's big adventure.

Wed. 18th. Apr. The sun played games with us this morning. Hide and seek. We made a decision to pack up and move on up the lake. First we had to walk back to Bardolino and visit Jan's favourite shop to buy a few bits for friends. Took off around 1pm and headed up the lake, looking for free parking for the night. Not a chance!! That's what I dislike about lakes, everywhere else in Italy you can find sostas with basic facilities, no charge. The people around the lake have no concept of free!! Hence we are on a car park at Trento for the night. Left the lake behind, beautiful as it was, goodbye Garda - hello mountains. And so the journey north has begun. A leisurely drive through Austria, Germany and France awaits. Looking forward to it. Another adventure begins. A whisky I think!!

Kevnjan's big adventure.

Tues.17th. Apr. The internet connection here is a nightmare. If you can get a connection at all it is so slow you age visibly waiting for stuff to happen, I'm almost grey as a result!! Today, as you may have noticed is Tuesday, meaning that I missed out yesterday for the above reason. We had a good day yesterday, walked into the attractive town of Bardolino, about 2 ks. along the luongolago, this, after doing the washing and hanging it out to dry with a silent prayer. Bardolino is a typical pretty lakeside town with lots of souvenir shops an lovely views, Jan did some shopping and we made it back to the van before the rain came. In fact, it didn't rain yesterday, so the washing got dry. Today, we woke to some blue sky. It still looked threatening but it was good to see the sun shining. We sat out and had coffee, had to take off jumpers and decided to explore Garda. More pretty views and souvenir shops, had a coffee and walked back, the clouds were rolling back and the sun was getting hotter. By lunch time we were sunbathing and Jan was demanding to take her new sunbed down to the lakeside and donned her swimsuit. So there it is, she's now complaining her legs are tingling through too much sun. She didn't get her swimsuit wet, the water was a little cold for that but we've had a lovely day, it's now 6.30pm and everyone is outside in shirtsleeves, barbecuing and happy. We need more of this, we'd planned to move on tomorrow but another day like today may tempt us to stay. Now got to try and upload some pictures to Facebook. I have a feeling that I may have a shaggy white beard by then.

Sun. 15th. Apr. Julie's birthday, happy birthday Julie. Jan took a walk alone in the morning in the rain. She thoroughly enjoyed it, couldn't get lost as she walked along the Luongolago there and back to Bardolino. She reported that it is very nice, must see it tomorrow. We had our own bike race here with what seemed like hundreds of riders, the route went through the campsite and onto the waterfront, lots of very wet muddy men and women on what looked like mountain bikes. In the afternoon during a lull in the rain we walked along the Luongolago to Garda. Extremely pretty, must take the camera tomorrow. Skyping was a nightmare, bad internet connections again. Glad of the TV today, weather kept us trapped indoors for most of it, I did, however, put the awning up when the rain stopped, temporarily, and barbecued some chops. Forecast a little better for tomorrow, washing day. Again already!!

Kevnjan's big adventure.

Sat. 14th. Apr. Managed to visit and enjoy the old city of Vicenza without getting too wet. It's a lovely town, full of attractive and historic old pallazi and buildings designed and built by Paladio in the 16th. century. He's the guy who took his ideas from the Romans and Greeks and brought them up to date. The English and just about everyone else in the world then copied his ideas and designs. Bath is a good example. We spent a pleasant enough 3 hours walking around but there wasn't enough to keep us out in the rain. Moved on, Jan made an executive decision to head for Lake Garda and hope for good weather. It's beautiful here, between the towns of Bardolino and Garda on a site called La Rocca Camp. It has everything and is an ACSI site so reasonably priced at €16 per night. We have a view of the lake through the trees and there is a long lakeside walk which Jan is exploring at the moment. It's Sunday morning, 12.17pm and it hasn't stopped raining since we arrived, at the moment it is pouring. Looking forward to Jan's report!! More tonight.

Kevnjan's big adventure.

Fri. 13th. Apr. Took our time this morning over breakfast, planned to look over the cathedral and the Palazzo di Raggione. The moment we stepped out of the van the first spot of rain fell. We were dressed for it and took out umbrellas. The walk through the streets of Padova is very pleasant, even in the rain for the most part. Most of the footways are under loggia and sheltered from the bad weather. We visited the Palazzo, a large 12th century building, used as a courthouse and for administrative purposes for hundreds of years, it has a vast floorspace and is used for large gatherings and corporate events. On this day it was full of people wearing nametags and listening to interminable speeches. They love their speeches, the Italians, take them very seriously. This spoiled our enjoyment of this unique building, the walls are covered in frescoes from the 1300s on, by many of the great artists and the main feature is an enormous carved black wooden horse, by Giotto. We enjoyed the markets in the squares either side of the palazzo and got progressively wetter. Took a quick look at the cathedral, which was a bit of a disappointment after St. Anthony's and headed back to the van. The bad weather got the best of us and we headed for Vicenzo. Will look back on our visit to Padova with affection.

Kevnjan's big adventure.

Thurs. 12th. Apr. Well, to think we nearly didn't visit Padova!! We decided to give it a miss after visiting a succession of cities after leaving Tuscany. Thought we'd get to the coast and do some sunbathing!! Ha! It's lovely here, we have a car park next door to the main piazza, Prato della Valle, one of the largest piazzi in Italy, it's surrounded by 78 statues and has a waterway surrounding it with ornamental bridges. The buildings around the square are a fascinating and colourful mixture of palaces and more modern buildings, it's pretty as a picture. We walked from there to the Basilica di San Antonio, a collection of domes and towers, built in 12th. century to house the remains of Saint Anthony. It goes straight into our top 5 churches, lots of art and stuff. The collection of gold, housing the relics of S A has to be seen to be believed. Very impressive. Followed that with a walk through the town to the Musei Civito incorporating an archeological museum, an enormous art gallery and a chapel painted by Giotto in 13th. century, 200 years before Michaelangelo did a similar job on the Sistene Chapel. Very impressive. We spent hours wandering through the art gallery and had to give up without visiting the Zuckerman collection, another art gallery included in the admission price. I'm not sure whether it's a good thing that the ticket is valid for tomorrow as well!! So there we are, a second night in Padova and more to see tomorrow. Vicenza will have to wait until the weekend. Did I mention that the sun shone all day today. Not hot weather but a definite improvement on yesterday.Fingers crossed for tomorrow.

Kevnjan's big adventure.

Wed. 11th. Apr. It rained all night and has rained all day. It's horrible!! Shopped this morning and headed for Padua. We've spent the afternoon parked up on a car park near the historic centre, listening to the rain. Determined to take a walk after dinner, even if we get wet, these towns always look good in the dark, we'll see!!

Kevnjan's big adventure.

Tues. 10th. Apr. Washing day. Sun was shining, cool breeze blowing, no beach today, washing to be done. Tried sitting out in the chairs to enjoy the sun, too cold!! I suppose we should be grateful, it is giving us a taste of what we'll get back in England in under 3 weeks. Sorted out the garage, had a tidy up, pretty dull day really. Had a last long walk along Luongomare Gina Lollobrigida, we'll miss her. Tomorrow we take off for Padua and Vicenza. That will be the start of the long journey home.

Kevnjan's big adventure.

Mon. 9th. Apr. Did I miss Sunday, can't see it on the blog page. Wonder where that went. Nothing much happened on Sunday anyway. Monday was much the same. Took a couple of long walks, had brunch of bacon eggs and baked beans, that was a treat. The whole place was full of large families braving the cool Easter weather, barbecuing and eating outside, just like us!! A real family day. Jan and Julie had one of their mother daughter long chats on Skype and I sat outside until the cold drove me in. I enjoyed a couple of glasses of prosecco which the family in the next van gave us, home made, quite nice if you like fizzy white wine, which I'm not fond of. I had to let them see me drinking it though. Yet another example of how kind and welcoming Italian people can be to complete strangers. We'll miss that. Weather forecast for the next 10 days is poor, could almost believe we're already back in England!! Looks like a trip up through Austria and Germany and a visit to Gunter and Anita. Should be fun, only touched Germany on way down and never seen Austria. Let's hope the weather doesn't spoil it.

Kevnjan's big adventure.

Sun. 8th. Apr. Happy Easter. Spent the night listening to the wind blowing in the awning and the rain - raining. To be honest, it didn't really keep me awake but it bothered Jan. Our beach holiday prior to returning to England is turning into the sort of experience you normally get when holidaying in England. Still, you can't change the weather. We had a lazy morning and took a long walk up the promenade to make our Sunday morning phone calls to Arnie and Mum. The wind was cold but the morning bright. Arnie is off to Majorca on Tuesday for 2 weeks so is raring to go. Spent most of the day lazing and dozing. Another walk this afternoon for gelati and back to Skype the Smigiels. Time for dinner now and some dreadful film on CBS Drama. It will be a relief to get proper TV back. Shame to be missing the Masters!! Better have a glass of wine. Could be worse, Monday tomorrow, but no work.

Kevnjan's big adventure.

Sat. 7th. Apr. Friday was housework day. Managed to get most of the stains out of the carpets, they'll be back!! Long walk along the seafront and ice cream. Pretty nondescript day, weather fair but cool. Saturday, decided to take bus into Jesolo. Jan walked me by the shops on one side of the street and then down the other side. Had coffee in the sun. Walked along the Luongomare Gina Lollobrigida but never caught a glimpse of her!! Found good fish restaurant and decided to have leisurely lunch. Ate too much, only drank one glass of Chardonnay and some fizzy water, restaurant manager so pleased with what we spent he gave me a large glass of grappa. Home to van in time to miss the rain, think I'll have a nap. Sunday tomorrow, hope for sunshine.

Kevnjan's big adventure

Thur. 5th. Apr. Left Punta Sabbioni just after 9, heading for Lido di Jesolo to find a place on a site before the locals descended and took all the best spots. Shopped for the weekend and found two folding sun beds for the beach, they will save us a fortune as the locals charge upwards of €10 per day for bed and umbrella. Found a reasonable site, about 100 metres from the beach with hook up and usual facilities. Almost deserted when we arrived but started to fill up later. Don't think it will get too congested, I'm sure they have seen the weather forecast for the weekend. Not good!! Sun beds might not get used for a while!! The further east we come the less Freeview TV we can receive, we now have no Freeview channels at all. Infuriating, the Masters golf is on this weekend and I can't get BBC!! I put the awning up and the table and chairs out and that was the cue for the temperature to drop and the rain to fall. You'd think we'd have the hang of this by now. I think we'll stay until Tuesday and if there's no sign of an improvement in the weather have a look at driving up through Austria and Germany. We'll see, I'm still hanging out for some sun and sea.

Kevnjan's big adventure.

Wed. 4th. Apr. Last day in Venice. Set off for the city, the first vaporetto to turn up was headed for the island of Burano, which we'd intended to visit later. Jumped on and avoided the hoards of schoolchildren and other travellers boarding for St. Marks Square. Good decision. Burano is a small island, famous for the skills of it's lacemakers. Burano is to lace what Murano is to glass. Jan was captivated by the wonderful clothes on display in the shops. Very expensive but I suppose of high quality. She didn't buy clothes although she spent lots of time admiring them in shop windows. She contented herself with buying a glass pendant and earrings to match her bracelet. We spent more than an hour wandering around the pretty town. The inhabitants take great pride in their houses and paint them in bright, contrasting colours. Makes for good pictures, pity the sun didn't shine. As we walked back to the dock our attention was drawn to a tall couple sitting outside a cafe, looked suspiciously like Geert and Maria!! Pleasant surprise, after a coffee we shared a boat to Murano where they went off to see glass and we headed for Isola san Michel to take pictures of the cemetery for Ian. By the afternoon we were back in Venice and Jan wanted one more look at the Grand Canal from Rialto Bridge. Got some great pictures, good timing. We set out to walk to San Marco, got totally confused by the signposts which must be wrong, got lost and just enjoyed walking around, in the rain again. Spent a last evening in the company of our good friends, wine was taken!! Tomorrow we go our separate ways, they to Croatia and we to Lido di Jesolo, hopefully for 7 - 10 days on the beach, in the sun. Doesn't look too promising at the moment. Once more we have been lucky to enjoy a few days with G & M and I'm sure we'll bump into them again one of these days. It feels as though by leaving Venice we are beginning the long, slow journey back to England. Ho hum!!

Kevnjan's big adventure.

Tues. 3rd. April. What a morning! we left for Venice on the 10 o' clock bus and sent off to look for a suitable gondola. The weather was overcast but not raining and we felt we should go while it was still dry. It was wonderful! Jan's face was a picture and I can't imagine bringing her back to England without the experience. Our gondolier took us on a leisurely glide around the small backwaters which you can't see on the vaporetti. He pointed out places of interest and refrained from singing, for which we were grateful. Our voyage took around 35 minutes and we took dozens of pictures from a perspective which you can't get unless you're on the water. Magical!! When we arrived back at the gondola station Geert and Maria insisted on paying. We resisted and insisted on paying our share, whereupon they announced that it was their 20th. wedding anniversary and was something they wanted to do. How could we argue? What good friends they are. We went to find some coffee which was much needed after our voyage. Jan and I returned to the van for the afternoon in preparation for our evening walk around the city. The weather closed in and it rained but only lightly. We enjoyed a stroll through the narrow backstreets of the city and Jan and Maria stopped at every shop window. They are well suited. After a gelato all round it was time to return to the vans. The end of a memorable day. Happy anniversary you two.

Kevnjan's big adventure.

Mon. 2nd. Apr. And so - back to Venice. Arrived at St. Marks Square by boat on a sunlit morning and it was every bit as beautiful as last time. We bought 3 day passes for unlimited travel on the vaporetti and made the most of them from the start. Great value. We took a circular tour on no.2 which took an hour and reoriented us then wandered around taking it all in again. Jan just loves the place. Did a little shopping, got Jan's last 2 charms for her bracelet, it's now full. Just wasted the day, enjoying it. Home about 5.30 and chicken for dinner. Geert and Maria are here after their weekends racing at Imola. Tomorrow we share a gondola. Expensive but has to be done.

Kevnjan's big adventure.

Sun. 1st. April. Another month gone. Can't believe this is the last full month of our big adventure already. Here we are back where it all started. Parked up, wild camping at the edge of the lagoon, overlooking Venice. Jan is wild with excitement at the prospect of re-visiting her favourite place. She wants to go NOW but has been persuaded to go tomorrow morning early. The weather has definitely taken a turn for the worse, the temperature is now down around 50-55 F and there is a cool breeze. Not what we need for the next 2 or 3 weeks. Fingers crossed that the warm sunshine returns soon. It feels like an English summer day at the moment. Time for pre dinner Scotch, first for over a week.

Kevnjan's big adventure.

Sat. 31st. Mar. Took a trip to Chioggia's famous fish market this morning. A walk along the waterfront and across the bridge to the old town was very pleasant, sun was shining and the scene was very colourful, lots of waterways, like a mini Venice. We'd planned to eat out tonight but couldn't resist bargain king prawns and squid, meal out put on hold. As we walked back a nasty sea mist rolled in off the Adriatic, suddenly the day was dank and chill. As the day went on it became colder, looks like the warm spell is over!! Forecast not so good for the next week. Let's hope it's wrong. Leaving here tomorrow for Venice. The fish for dinner was superb.