Susie's Report No 31

Ciao to everyone,

Moving along the coastline and we are at PUNTA BRACCETTO BAY on the Iblea Coastline, Camerina is just a few klms away in the province of Ragusa.  This site is open all year round “thank goodness” we have spent so many useless klms trying to find places open. The beach walks were great to stretch the old legs.

 LICATA: Yet again we arrive it’s closed,two guys come along as we are trying to turn around and gesture to us to follow them, “god we’re trusting” I thought and ended up at a partially closed sosta on a cliff top location at a “closed for the winter” Restaurant. We are the only ones there, Rosa the lovely owner, has a little English, everyone we meet has a relative in Australia and hers is in Leichhardt. She is very proud of her wooden carved sign that says,  "AUSTRALIA 16,766 klms".

Also a clock with our national icons surrounding it. We are parked just near the chicken coop that houses the obvious but also a CAT, an interesting combination.

They also have this huge dog called  “Hugo” who insists on marking his territory on our outside step, to which I insist on going over and washing it off. We think he is a Shar Pei Cross.

 

He loved is scratches from Terry.

 

I walked down some decaying steps to get to the beach for a dip very refreshing, this place has so much character, it’s hey day would have been spectacular.

As usual the sunsets were spectacular.

As I was contemplating this, I could hear planes overhead, the sound was delayed and finally into view came 3 planes, obviously Military Jets, doing circuits over the ocean, so loud, they were grey in colour and shaped like a triangle, I don’t know who’s side they were on, interesting ????.

AGRIGENTO: Is Sicily’s largest Archaeological treasure trove, it sits on a high plateau facing Africa (which is where all the red dust comes from) over the Mediterranean Sea. It still has the culture of ancient Greece. There’s was the golden age between 5C & 6C. BC.  Now that was definitely a long time ago, and you might say they were conquered a lot.!!  We  ended up at a free Sosta for the night, all the facilities that were there were very new & modern, but nothing worked. Water pump not working, power turned off, scenery fantastic,10 steps down and your on the beach.

 I also befriended a black & white stray cat, who loves Mortadella so I gave her a couple of chopped slices out of Terry’s lunch pack, she also finished off our spaghetti bolognese, she was very hungry.

The Valley of the Temples we had to miss, as we missed the turn off and couldn’t turn around, so up, up, the winding roads we go to the city itself and being directed by the Police! We ended up in the assembly area of a street march, Brass Band and all, so all we could do is wave our flag and smile and hot foot it outa there. We really didn’t mean to take another wrong skinny turn, H.H. likes the attention I think, we gave up and came back down the hill. I managed some long distance shots.

MARSALA: The home of the grape ( I can’t remember if this is an aperitif or a dessert wine), it has a lively port and with a mixture of many Tunisian people which influence the area. We drove through the town and around the docks and ended going through to TRAPANI: This is the home of the Salt trade, and is within sight of the Egadi Islands.

It’s a medieval district with lots of narrow streets. H.H. is not good with these!!  We also drove through a town called PURGATORIO! What a great name, tried to get a photo but the sign at the end of the town had fallen off. It would of been a great Kodak moment  -  we escaped purgatory??????

Now how is this for another novel new idea, ( it’s just formed !!!) Forget the owning of a Toilet Block in Venice,(charging 1 euro a use), it is owning a Panel Beating Shop in Italy. Most cars are either scratched or trashed, (just a thought - it should be an almighty business) As parking is an art form - sideways - back to front -right angles - double parking is the norm  ( i.e; going off to have a coffee or buy cigarettes etc), but no one seems to care.

The above photo is typical! There is plenty of room for this guy to park properly, i.e. parallel, but NO, just sticks the nose in and in the small streets with oncoming traffic, someone has to stop and give way…. Bloody nuisance.

Their parking of boats is a little better!

I know I keep going on about this but it’s truly extraordinarily amazing to be involved in this - Terry says his reflexes have sharpened by at least 200% and I’ll keep taking the B.P. Tablets. He and H.H. have passed the ‘ADVANCED EVASIVE DRIVING COURSE’ I would say with flying colours. We thought we’d also let you know that we have been passed on the motorway on two different occasions by HEARSES’, either heading to or finishing a job (hopefully unoccupied). We however passed this old beauty!

There are still lots of these Fiat 500’s still here of course, along with the new ones. If you lived over here it’s definitely the type of car you would buy…. SMALL…   

PALERMO: What an alive city, we have been here 3 days, it’s never quiet, it’s loud with people & car tooting. We have risked our lives crossing the streets and are forever vigilant for dodging dog poo on the pavements. This is a huge melting pot of customs and people and the public markets about 6 in total are an exotic mix of those.

It’s fabulous we did lots of walking to and fro.  We have become semi addicted to Arancine Balls. Traditional southern Italian snack foods and bought some from these lovely blokes!

 

 

The Capuchin Catacombs (worth a google) contains adults & childrens mummified bodies, dressed and appended to, or propped up against walls.

We didn’t find it spooky, just an incredible sight to see. The last to be mummified there was a two year old girl in 1920. The first in 1599. The 2yr old girl is so well preserved she really does look just asleep - she’s in an open coffin, enclosed in glass.

CEFALU: A coastal fishing village, very impressive from the road but we had to drive on as our campsite was further on.  We are parked on a hill side overlooking 5 Volcanoes in the distance and we are 600 mtrs walk from the campsite into the village of FINALE, we have a 180 deg view of the Tyrrhenian Coastline, its stunning.

 

 Amongst other things, we have been feeding yet another stray, very sick, tiny kitten, I have had a good cry over this, he put himself to bed in one of our outside lockers after a good feed.

I think he’s starving and has got cat flu - he’s not long for this world (after writing this) our little friend passed over "The Rainbow Bridge”  2 days later, so,so, sad, it’s probably the first time in his little life that’s he’d  purred and was happy, he lost the battle, Terry buried him. 

RANDAZZO: we called into to do a shop and this small town is dangerously close to Mt.Etna.

It is also known as the “black town” due to its lava paving. We wound our way back down to the coast with some very hairy, windy bends and turns, Terry & H.H. handled the roads superbly, these were also very narrow at times. The countryside is just beautiful with all the falling leaves and changes of colours and we ended up back were we started from on the south west coast of Sicily. We didn’t get to see Catania or Taormina etc. maybe next time, they had had some really bad storms that we were lucky to have missed.  

 I also had to try this interesting fruit “Prickly Pear”, tastes like watermelon but with lots of tiny seeds, I liked it, Terry didn’t. It was one of the most invasive “weeds” ever to be imported into Australia! But they eat it by the box load over here.

 It’s Sunday morning and we are off to the Ferry Terminal back to the mainland.

For a 30 klm drive to the terminal, we went through 23 tunnels, that tells you how hilly and mountainous Sicily is. I still do not like them and neither does the GPS, but we really enjoyed being there. 

Anyway that’s all folks for now. We are back on the mainland and heading for Pompei, the Amalfi Coast and then Roma!

Love to all, from Susie,Terry = H.H.  x x x .

 

 

 

Susie's Report No 30

Salve - BUON GIORNO to all, 

We arrive at LESINA .

Let me be the Tourist Info Officer here.  Please do not think about going on holiday here - even for 1 night, especially if it’s the weekend.  First of all you MUST enjoy the delights of children big and small continually letting off Fireworks the size of Tuppeny Bangers all day and all through the night.  Adults, Yelling to one another (in conversations), their children Screaming  (having fun) and dogs continually barking Day & Night, chasing cars and roaming around in packs. 

Also, which is a novel idea, is let the whole town out for a Sat/Sun drive, along the foreshore promenade. all the local small, old cars, with the odd Maserati thrown in as he has nothing better to do, ( we think he is the local D.D.) This promenade is only 300 metres long, so when there’s a break/lull in the crawling cars, the Maserati breaks loose and does a burn out. Even did one the Monday morning we were leaving! The promenade has a very small turning circle just near us, the cars move along at a funerals pace up and down the Esplanade and when it gets dark their light come on, and continues throughout the night, with lots of tooting of horns. There is a small lull in this display between 12pm - 3pm as they ALL go home for lunch, then back out again Kids, Adults, Dogs, Cars.

 Now I know your all dying to know why is this so, because H.H. is parked in a wire fence enclosure, like a parking lot, 20 metres from the Promenade. It has power, water and 1 x toilette & 1 x shower, all for 12.00 euros a night (including all this free entertainment) NOT!!!!! So we are right in the hub of all the action.

 I will always treasure my EAR PLUGS and promise to value them forever.  The almighty bang of these crackers is a shocker.  Lesina  is on a lake, but I think its fairly stagnate, the shoreline is choked with sea weed and local refuse. (this is written without prejudice).

On the road again, and we are off to see the TRULLI HOUSES, in ALBEROBELLO, these were built in the 19th century, and a lot have been restored, just fabulous to see, photos explain these. We were parked at a site in amongst Olive trees and went for a look around town, lots of Tourist buses in and hopefully buying lots of souvenirs.

We are still working our way South, we are going down to the boot, across the heel, into the instep and onto the toes soon.

The CALABRIAN COAST with it’s Greek, Albanian & Italian heritage is a huge melting pot and with lots of different dialects, and they have retained their cultures. They have lots of Earthquakes, and are bounded by the Ionian and Tyronian Oceans/Seas, with beautiful coloured waters. Unfortunately the roads aren’t real flash, (bad condition) lots of heavy truck use, the verges are filthy with plastics and plastic bottles everwhere, the beach’s are the same and IT”S such a shame!!!!

CORIGLIANO - we had a storm that night, they lost a couple of limbs off the tree infront of H.H, luckily we parked away from the trees and pine cones. I went for a walk along the beach next morning and it was scattered with lots of small Oranges, obviously the local Orchard had lost its fair share.

 But I must tell you I had two interesting attempts in showering in the toilet block!.

First time: It’s getting dark outside, so shower time, I pack my bag & off I go, it’s quite a walk to get there as the other blocks are closed off. I fumble around for the light switch - yeah!! Lets go. Terry had already had his so he was able to brief me on the workings (on arrival you are given a token for the shower).  So I wash my face at the basin, close & lock the door on my cubicle, get everything ready, flannel, body wash, token etc,. Get undressed, shower cap on and stand waiting (this whole system is very old and rusted). Terry said "stand back" as the water bursts out. Put my token in, and it’s stuck - won’t go in, can’t get it out, with many expletives ongoing, luckily I was the only one there!!!

 I have to re dress and now its dark and walk down to reception about 200 metres, and try to explain what’s happened (charades again). She understands and gives me 3 tokens (just in case) back I go again, this time I choose No. 5 cubicle and not 6 again, success it works!! Its on a 2 minute timer but the 1st minute is freezing cold, 2nd min O.k. So back to H.H. to tell my tale of woe.

Second time: I have 2 tokens left. i.e. 4 minutes. Tomorrow we leave so I get up at 7am for a shower and wash my hair. Off I trudge to the block, get inside, turn light on. I’m the only one here again, same story...get in cubicle, undress, line everything up etc, put my token in, NO burst of water, NO nothing, NOT a drop, many expletives once again. The stray cats outside had heard it all before, but wait... the door opens and a oldish German Nana comes in. I come out absolutely starkers & do CHARADES again that there is NO WATER coming out. She goes back outside and I think gives the system a swift kick/hit/bash and my shower starts to trickle out (she’s done this before). Its not enough, but enough to do the trick. She puts her token in and no problems. Now with mine, the BLOODY thing won’t stop dribbling. Door opens again, and another German Nana come is, they greet one another, she puts her token in, next minute, ( I guess it’s German expletives) she comes out covered in shampoo & soap…. her shower has stopped mid stream, so outside they both go wrapped in towels, and she shows her the trick, back inside again, shower starts up again, everybody happy. I said Danke for your help and left to the sound of a shower and a blow dryer in the distance !!! Bloody hell.

Today we have driven about 150 klms from the north coast of Italy to the south coast and ended up at GIZZERIA Lido a.k.a. Hang Loose Beach - we have actually stayed 4 nights and we are just about parked on the beach with a view to Mt. Stromboli, its an active Volcano with smoke happily puffing out the top.(2000 yrs old).

 

 This beach is renown for Kite Surfing and I guess other water sports etc, The photo’s of Summer here are big sun umbrellas, lots of deck chairs and lots of people, today there is just us and one other van from Switzerland.

 

 The meet & greet guy is from the U.K. so we can speak English, Yahoooo!!!! Amongst other things he also looks after some local stray dogs, one which I wanted to kidnap, they are very friendly and happy, and he’s been good with local info and also on Sicily, which is coming up soon. The sunsets have been amazing.

 

Terry and I decided to go for a walk to the local village to get some supplies, and after many wrong turns, and avoiding the huge pools/puddles from the storm the night before, (this is all bushland with stones,dirt & sand.. hard going) and after skirting some lagoons we come across a guy ahead of us. We tried to ask directions, so he put his GUN DOWN (shotgun) and starts drawing diagrams in the dirt/sand and of course speaking to us in Italian.

 We said our grazie’s and walked off - I turned to T.Lee and said, DO YOU THINK THAT GUN WAS  LOADED????? We now know what they had been shooting, as we rounded the lagoon and in the river we saw some plastic decoy Ducks, and lots of spent shell cases everywhere ( they do come in some pretty colours ). Poor duck ducks don’t stand a chance, we walked on hoping the next shot was not at us.  QUACK QUACK!!!!! We made it to the village and bought the best TOMATOES we have ever tasted or remembered, some frozen seafood and bread, and a yummy Arancine Ball. The local supermarket had shutdown for the season .Damnation! again.

Sunday morning and we are off on another walk along the beach (different direction) but the same difficulty. Lo & behold, what do we come across, but our very own CRIME SCENE. We take swift action not to disturb the scene, but creeping up close to have a ghoulish look we find a body, dishevelled, fingers, feet are missing (chewed off), hair tangled & matted ( you know the look, beach hair) one blue eye staring straight ahead, body rigid, it’s a, it’s a !?!?  washed up, unloved  BARBIE DOLL. Discarded, thrown overboard from a boat, with the flotsam & jetsam and ended up on the tide line.

 We think the culprit was KEN !!! Oh and I forgot to mention she was naked - no designer clothing or jewellery. We didn’t know what to do, we couldn’t call it in ( we don’t speak the lingo), so we walked on by & left her to her watery grave.  We have evidence. exhibit A. a photo, for your perusal.  End of Story.

Italy is full of characters, charm and crazy drivers.  Rest assured Terry & I will never complain about traffic in Australia ever again, if you can drive a motorhome in Italy without incident through the streets & towns, its a bloody miracle !!!! No one gives way, barely indicates, they overtake infront of oncoming cars, they park absolutely ANYWHERE, parking of cars is like watching THATS INCREDIBLE, its extremely interesting, I observe all this with a held breath. But hey ?? it’s Italy. Even the animals are different! But they all get along and it seems to work.

Daylight saving had changed recently, but it took us a day or two to work this out, we were 1hr ahead of the rest of Europe, we only twigged when Sunset was at 5pm instead of the usual 6pm.

SICILY, we arrived after a 20 minute car ferry ride to this ancient isle.  We spent 2 nights at a beachside campsite overlooking mainland Italy with its black volcanic rocks and sand.

 The storms out to sea have been very entertaining and so was T. Lee when he popped back from his shower dripping water & soap suds, his token had run out - short changed again - I sent him off again with another. Honestly we don ’t have much luck with a simple shower do we????? We had to pass through TAORMINA with its ancient ruins as it was raining, so we kept moving along, lots of showers and thunder in the distance.  We have just popped out of a tunnel to a full view of Mt Etna covered in snow.

We are still having lots of trouble with campsite closures, they say they are open in the book, when we get there, CLOSED!  We have missed a few sites because of this. End of story for now ….Arrivederci to all - ciao till next one  Love from Susie, Terry & H.H.  x x x 

P.S. and another sunset….

 

 

 

 

 

Susie's Report NO 29

Buona Sera to All,

Today we left Italy, but not intentionally, we ended up wandering across the border into Austria so we thought we might as well stay a day or two, then roll back over again back to Italy. We found a campsite, then hopped to it, (this is also in the DOLOMITES region) and after a bit of research we found that we could get on our bikes and ride 25 klms into LIENZ, in Austria.

Mind you it was just about all slightly down hill coasting, fantastic. We then, after a snack for lunch, caught the train back to Tassenbach, our campsite, 4 euros for the bikes,11.40 euros for us, great. T .Lee, in keeping with tradition had a Bratwurst sausage & Pommes for lunch!

The campsite we were in said at the entry GUTE FAHRT CAMPING, worth a giggle seeing our German wasn’t all that good.

While on this subject, I forgot to tell you that to use the toilet at the Venice station costs 1.5 euros! What a way to make money, the queues were unbelievably long, great business venture, the bladder pays.  

Next day we rode 26klms in the opposite direction  - we actually rode back over the border again into Italy, the only reason we knew were the flags on people’s poles had changed again, and Terry’s phone beeped to let us know. No train back this time, the chain came off Terry’s bike once again, it doesn’t like changing down gears  (anyway a breather, and everything covered in grease,) chain back on and off we go again, (disposable gloves do help when you remember to put them in the backpack along with your own toilet paper). We made it back to H.H..

The following day I rode into a town called SILLIAN to Aldi, as I was riding through some back streets to find the bike track again there is an almighty LOUD siren going off, it actually frightened me as there was no one around, I peddled quickly to see if anybody was about, it was deafening, it sounded like (the movies)  an AIR-RAID SIREN ! Honestly, scary! I turned another corner and found people just strolling about, so I took a couple of deep breaths and cycled back to H.H. There are a few different languages spoken in this area, also dialects which are very hard to try an understand.  It’s also a bit of disappointment driving along when you change countries, as you only see a small E.U flag which is mid blue with yellow stars in a circle and the countries name in the middle.

 

 

  I would like to have a bit more pizazz and fanfare, saying welcome, you are now entering e.g. Italy. Austria, Germany etc. with their national flag flying, the E.U keeps this very discreet, I would like a “Kodak” moment especially for us tourists.

After a few days of pottering around we end up at ANDOLA, a ski resort town.

Climbing a couple of thousand feet high in H.H., with narrow winding roads. Yikes!

 

 We end up at a lake, the view is beautiful, but we can't get to our destination as the entry gates are malfunctioning so no access, all is not lost, we end up parking in a unopened ski resort (in-between seasons) for the night F.O.C.

Heading South we arrive at VERONA - Shakespeare set Romeo & Juliet here. This is supposed to be Italy’s romantic city or otherwise known as little Roma.  We had a look at the Arena, it’s the 3rd largest Amphitheatre still in existence, it’s wonderful for the Opera lovers, we had great walk around the town. Even the local Police drive Alpha Romeo’s.

Moseying on down to TUSCANY - Florence, whoever put this motorway together must of been drawing doodles on the surveyors chart, we have never been in so many circles! Around and round we go and finally arrive in Firenze. We park and leave H.H. Poor old boy is looking a bit weather beaten, we parked in a Sostas under a tree - he’s stained all over with leaf dirt after raining all night - he needs a bath/shower urgently. We walk for a couple of hours around the city and back over again on the PONTE VECCHIO,  the extraordinary amount of Jewellery shops and tourists was mind boggling.

 Most of the bridges were destroyed in WW 2 bar this one, it was built in the 14th century ( quite old don’t you think) and I cannot go without talking about the statues …….in the piazzas……incredible.

 I don’t think anyone kept there clothes/toga's on in those days….most had them draped precariously around some parts of their bodies or maybe they were just a load of exibitionists, but seriously, a georgeous city full of life, traffic, fashion and naughty statues.  The Medici family ruled here for along time their history of course is unbelievable.There are countless Museums, Galleries with long queues, you have to prepare for a long wait or pre-book. It was 27 degrees today Autumn in Italy hot & humid. 

And of course being in Florence, we had to have a Pizza!

H.H. finally got his shower today, trouble is finding a Lovaggio for his height, he’s all shiny again and looking loved again (it was a bit embarrassing to see him like this).

All the campsites are slowly closing down and we were the only ones there for the night and had the place to ourselves. Along with the beach!

I also forgot to tell you (see all these little snippets keep coming back to me when I least expect it - so here goes), with Prosecco wines, the tradition is to plant a Rose Bush at the beginning of the row of vines, this apparently imparts a flavour to the grapes, da dah!!!!  It’s true……I’m not sure about all the weeds that we have seen in other vineyards in passing, anyway I will let you know. I was given a bottle from a very nice Italian man, Amos, which I will chill & open for my birthday. 

CORTONA - A classic hilltop town about 1000ft above sea level. Gorgeous touristy region full of Olive Trees in abundance farmed and wild along the side of the road, lots of local cars with scrapes & dings, if you saw the alleyways the locals have to negotiate its no wonder, lots of restaurants, local produce,local wine tastings & clothing, we ate some walnuts that we picked up from the ground, yum!!

On the road again, and over the last couple of weeks, I wish I had counted the amount of Tunnels we have been through, Italy is full of them, as a lot of the areas are very mountainous. These are not my favourite part of the road, I do take my mind of them by giving them a rating, e.g. bad lighting, shabby inside, not enough escape exits, I just cringe when I see water and broken down cement on the road, and some are very new, I guess that's what we pay lots of tolls for our journey. 

 GROTTE DI FRASASSI - Wow!!!!  This area is where a 30 klm length of limestone caves were discovered in about 1971. This has the most extraordinary Stalagmites & Stalactites We went on the 1hr English speaking guided tour, but her Italian accent was so strong we could hardly understand a word. Hopefully the pictures will tell the story.

 

 I would highly recommend this site, it beats Disneyland, Fantasyland. Your imagination runs wild with all the shapes & massive sizes, the calcium carbonate just glistens and sparkles. If there is a breeze down there the constant drips of water take on many shapes. It’s a constant 14 degrees. We were wondering what it would be like if the power went down. LIGHTS OUT!!!! ( not my ideal situation, as you know my thoughts on tunnels). But, I did happen to have a little torch in my bag, I could have sold it to the highest bidder…..anyway I digress!!!! Once you walk inside there are 2  huge electronic doors that seal the inside to the caves. I guess to stop any birds flying in, or people who haven’t paid. I think I might be a tad claustrophobic, don’t you !!!!!!!! 

Most campsite are closed/closing now for the season. Most coastal & touristy ones are like ghost towns, no one around, shutters closed. We have been the only ones there,  it’s like everybody has gone to another planet and not told us.

Today is my B. Day so we started off with all good intentions, and a plan, i.e. the day did not go to the original plan !!!! I enjoyed the ride, T. Lee was just a little frustrated. H.H. well, he just did what he was told!!.  The plan was to end up at a hilltop location, with a restaurant and parking for the night.  First of all the G.P.S. took us to a private house on a hill, at least the lady was quite helpful ( I don’t now what she thought was going on, when we pulled into her driveway). We were on the wrong side of the HILL !! Finally we find it and IT”S CLOSED !! Anyway I won’t tire you with all the details, but after many attempts & consulting with our camping books ( 4 more locations) which all were closed, we had to give up and ended up down at a beach promenade, got the chairs out, the drinks had chilled, and had a lovely end to the day.

Editor’s Note: This was a “no makeup day”!

 Terry cooked Paella (not very Italian), we sat outside with the mozzies and watched the sunset - what more could an old girl want?????? End of story.  P.S. we had 31 degrees today, HOT!!

We are now moving on and have reached the “instep” of Italy on our way to Sicily.

Ciao from the H.H crew. XXXX

 

 

 

 

 

 

Susie's Report No 28

Buon giorno  to All,

I am going to dedicate this Blog to Rod Stewart’s song “Every Picture Tells a Story - Don’t It”.

We have just come through some amazing Countries - Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France & now Italy. These are all picture postcard perfect, so we have given you lots of photos to spark your imagination, with a little verse & story telling.

Arriving at a Swisse campsite we put down the bikes an go for a ride to stretch the old legs, we follow the rail line and in between this the road and an apple orchard is a small patch of grass ( we had to stop as we couldn’t believe this ) are three people, a fire, a cauldron and boxes of tomatoes.They are making Passata (sauce).  Noona is stoking the fire while chopping tomatoes (roma) and adding Basil & Salt, there are two Popa’s with bottles filled and ready be filled, while sipping on wine. Next to the flames cooking on a tiny grill are sausages and bacon rashers for lunch. We stopped and asked if we could take a photo, where were they from? Italy of course! They were happy to have a chat, they were from Napoli, this was fabulous as the trains whizzed by, they cooked on.

After leaving a campsite in Deutschland, we found out that we are actually a tad higher than 2.8mtrs, we cautiously approach an overhead bridge, OOPS!!! UH OW!!!  We hear a scrape, stopped, and very slowly reverse back out.  I think we might have changed the shape of the Satellite dish (we never use) bit it’s there !!! Never mind, could have been worse. H.,H. should have known.

 While i’m on the subject and before I digress again, I must tell you that we have a new plant in H.H. Terry found an abandoned pot of Basil, actually we nearly ran over it!!! We have now adopted it and are raising it as our own, it’s growing very nicely and has settled in with our flowering pot plant (which was meant to be a thank you gift, but we couldn’t deliver it) along with a solar powered little flower with a Bee bopping up and down with the leaves (only when there is sunlight).

Very cute, they all sit up the front of H.H. when stationary, driving, they are in the sink. 

We go straight to Lake Annecy (France) the mountains are magnifique, the lake so clear blue. We watch the para gliders drifting across the sky and end up in an Aire at Faverges, a  great town where we put my bike in for service - I’m struggling with what gears I have, it won’t change cogs.

I’m  thinking I’ll just pop into the Pharmacie on the way back to H.H. I am now the proud / scared owner of a box of blood pressure tablets - thought I should get it checked WOW 190/110, The pharmacist spoke English (reaction) I think you should see a Doctor (me) O. K.!!!!!! (he says) I’ll ring for you (him) he say’ this is your lucky day, Doctor not busy and he also speaks English (me) Merci & where do I go!!!!! Finally see Doctor and B.P. dropped to 180/100, many Merci’s and beaucoup’s later, script filled. I take Terry to the pharmacy and we buy a B.P. machine ( which he now enjoys playing with daily) - he’ll keep taking the readings and I’ll keep taking the pills, all is good. Bike fixed it is so good to have gears again. NOW ! where was I……..

Saturday night we join our friends Ken and Jen and a bunch of Aussies renting a villa in Lake Annecy.

Ten for dinner, Ken & Jen prepare for us all Confit of Duck, creamy potatoes, french beans, and a delicious Flan for dessert, it’s been along time between friends and a dining table, wonderful evening, good laughs.  Monday we are leaving beautiful France behind for Italy and to catch up with Maddie & John in “Treviso" another Aussie get together. 

After many underground tunnels, I lost count after 6 very long ones and a 100 euros later in tolls, we arrive in Italy.  The G.P.S. looses signals in the long ones and takes ages to recover (me to)  so we follow our noses, I dislike tunnels - I feel trapped - out of my comfort zone.  We stay at a town called Ville Focchiardo and then onto the Lakes D’Orta, Lake Iseo and  Lake Garda, the photos’s will tell the stories, with lovely bike rides and local markets.

I’m a great window shopper for the cheeses and small goods.  There is too much to tell so I’ll let the pictures take over.

 Mind you I’m  still looking out for ANTONIO & GENARO (the two greedy Italians). We did love their show on TV.

We move on to Treviso to catch up with our friends Maddy and John, who find us parked in a Camper Stop near the railway station. This is a gorgeous city, that was also badly damaged in WW2, with some very strange statues!

 

We have a great time loosing ourselves  amongst the canals and trying to find the Piazza and M & J’s apartment.

Time is passing too quickly already, we catch the train to VENICE, with Maddy and John as our guides. O.M.G. The scenery unbelievable.

The tourists amazing , a phenomenal amount of people everywhere.

We shuffle along, there are six overseas cruise ships in. We estimate 70,000 to 100,000 people roaming around, no wonder the city is sinking.

The alley ways! Suspicious characters!

 

 

The canals, the church’s, the architecture, Bellisimo, Magnifico.

 

 We find out later we missed George Clooney’s wedding by a day. The invite must still be in the mail!

Courtesy of John and Maddy and her cousin Amos, we spend a fabulous day in the Prosecco wine region of Italy, tasting their wonderful product.

 

After great days and dinners together, we say goodbye to M & J, and armed with invaluable advice from Amos, head off to the DOLOMITES region. This can only be described as stunning! I’ll say no more except….. Ciao

Julie Andrews …. eat your heart out!