Links to our RV Travels and Information
We arrived in Frankfurt by the Air France. Picked up at the Airport for the transfer to
Friedberg. A hectic day after being
picked up at 7 and the drive to the Paris Airport was a bit hairy, the speed limit signs on the
freeway did not seem to count for much, we flew past those circles with 90 in
them at up to 160kms hr. Once in Germany
the speed limit signs were 120, so it seemed reasonable that we should fly past
them at up to 180kms hr.
We settled down after being introduced to
our home for the next three months, a brand new Fiat Ducato I mean real brand
new, it had 35kms on the odometer, obviously we were the first renters in it,
island rear bed, much improved shower/toilet system, swivel front seats, a
large rear storage compartment, built in GPS and Reversing camera.
Our first day on the road got us 80kms to
an Aldi store to stock the larder so we can eat . A very cold night, with quite
a white frost next morning. We were surprised
to hear that This area only had a minimal of snow this past winter, in most cases an overnight
fall would be gone during the next day, compared with 2013 when there was a
metre of snow for a long period.
We travelled through Mainz following the
GPS’s direction s to a shopping centre and managed to get ourselves locked in,
at the end of a dead end narrow street, misread the GPS. It took some time to
get the RV turned around, never did find that shopping centre
Day two and we are still settling in and
trying to shuffle aside all the bits we don’t want to use and another stop,
this time at Kaiserslauten, to get other items for our comfort. It was an easier transition to manual LH drive this yea,r only a day and my left
hand has already stopped reaching for the gear stick.
We have personalized the RV this year, with
a map of Australia with a Kangaroo in
it, done as a 30cm round decal, stuck on
the back.
We picked a free camp site from the book, just
near Saarbrucken, set the co-ordinates
into the GPS and got there no problems, the neighboring carpark had a RV Dump
site and drinking water supply for $1.
Shortly after leaving Saarbrucken we crossed into France, typical of most EU
country border crossings, all of the old border security, and checks are now defunct,
with the building falling to decay. A
toll entry system was soon upon us, pretty well unmanned and very confusing as
to what to pay for what, it seemed the
boom gate would not lift until it got a good look at my credit card, once that
was in the boom gate flew up, we grabbed the card, no receipt, don’t know how
much we paid, headed off down the freeway, a great road and plenty of rest
stops called “Aires” every 20 kms one would have fuel & food etc. some
150kms down the road another toll gate, this time no credit card, we had to
press a button to get a ticket, off we go again, another 100 kms and the next
toll gate, this time it wants the ticket, then the credit card, Bingo “35Euros”
thank you very much. No receipt but I
caught a glimpse of the charge, as the boom gate went up and we had to
fly. Another toll gate took 3.5 euro
before they finished with us for the day.
It seems that all roads lead to Paris, it
was difficult to get past Paris without coming to within 8 kms to get onto a ringroad
to bypass the city. Doesn’t help when it’s almost peak period.
I meant to look up Google to see what the
average lifespan of a Parisian Motorcyclist is, can’t be much, the way they
weave through the traffic at speed. Much
of the time they have both flashers going at the same time. Certainly does help
to see them.
We wound through some narrow country lanes
heading toward Giverny and luckily found a quiet spot about 5 kms out of town.
An early start and we found Monet’s Gardens
took a few snaps of the gardens and the surrounds, then on to Le Havre, a
coastal town that has a car ferry connection to Portsmouth, their appears to be
a mammoth tide, three yachts were tied to the sea wall and workmen were
operating on their hulls before the tide came in again. Le Havre is located at
the mouth of the Seine River, which we followed for a considerable distance,
where the road permitted, there we some very interesting villages along the
way. Le Havre looks a bit like Bondi with the development along the beach front
road and the promenade along the beach front, however, the beach at Le Havre is all pebbles, so
large that it is almost impossible to walk on them. In fact there are timber
walkways set into the pebbles leading closer to the water’s edge. They have
areas set aside for kids to play games, volleyball, soccer, bocce, etc , a
large area is bordered with timber and filled with sand, probably imported from
Bondi.
We moved on to Cabourge and settled for the
night.
Many of the towns on the way have their
unique church buildings and whilst many are worthy of a stop and visit, time
dictates that we must be selective. Bayeaux Cathedral was on the must see list
and it certainly came up to expectations. On first glance from the outside it
resembles Westminster Abbey, indeed this 13th century huge church
was in part dedicated to Saint Thomas Becket, The Archbishop of
Canterbury.
Set in amongst cafes and other buildings in
the small streets of Bayeaux, parking was set some distance away.
We moved on to Point du Hoc, which is near
the site of “Omaha Beach” where the Allied Forces landed in June 1944 in the
thrust to end the war. It was a very sobering place, There was a makeshift
harbor , known as “Mulberry” built in less than 2 weeks and was used for 6
months to aid the landings of troops and equipment. It was noted that on some days in the Summer
of 1944 24,000 men, 3,500 vehicles and 15,000 tons of various supplies passed
through Mulberry. The fragile system was
eventually destroyed by a storm, but it had served its purpose. A bit away from the monuments on the beach is
The Omaha Museum and a bit further inland a well maintained war cemetery for
the thousands of US troops that lost their lives here.
Granville is a town on the French coast
nearest to the Jersey and Guernsey
Islands, which are of course British Territories. A ferry service operates from Granville to
service both islands.
The tide was out when we arrived at the
harbor, small boats were dotted over the grey sandy bottom, leaning over,
waiting for the tide to come in and refloat them. The adjacent harbor had been dredged and the
fishing fleet were, busy with repairs to their scallop gathering gear. This is where a GPS is a must, getting around
town in Granville was a maze of narrow streets, many with one way sections.
On more than one occasion, between
Bayeaux and Granville, it was necessary
to have two wheels on the footpath to gain a bit of space.
Whilst Le Mont-Saint-Michel is our next
visiting stop, we found a welcoming campsite at Dacey, only a few kilometres
out.
Visiting Mont Le-Saint-Michel is an awesome
experience, The abbey dates back to 708 a sanctuary was built on Mont Tombe, an
80 meter high rock forming an island just off the coast of France, access was
possible during low tide, and noting that there is only one tide per day. The
mount was dedicated to Archangel, St Michel and soon became a major focus of
pilgrimage. The Benedictines settled in the Abbey in the 10th
Century and a village grew up below its walls. Walking through the complex of
buildings there are still areas where the original rock is visible. Following
the French Revolution, which dissolved all religious communities, the Abbey was
used as a prison until 1863. Much restoration work has been done and there are
still some sections under repair. As it was a Sunday for our visit, It was a
pleasant privilege to be in the Abbey during a full service, with the organ,
choir, prayers etc .
A new elevated road is under construction
to allow the shuttle busses to transport the masses of visitors each day.
The village at the base of the Abbey,
inside the walls has been converted to supplying the needs of the tourists with
restaurants, cafes, souvenir shops and even a couple of hotels for accommodation.
The streets are very narrow, foot traffic only, and generally quite steep, as
one gets higher, the steps start, It was quite a climb to get to the Abbey,
with side ventures out onto the parapets .
The acres of car parking was well
organized, but being in a “Camping Car” as they are known in France, we were
relegated to the furthest section, so our walk began before we got to the
shuttle bus.
We moved on to St Malo some 56kms west. The
original St Malo is a walled city and claimed to be the best preserved in
France. Of course, the modern day St Malo is quite a normal town, but the old
walled city is a great tourist attraction and difficult to find a nearby park
for the motorhome as most carparks have a 1.9m height limit, controlled by an
overhead bar that you drive under. It therefore means a fair walk to the walled
city for us.
Sussed out the layout of the walled city
before dark, being Sunday, it was pumping with people, still not the tourist
season, as some things in town are closed, like the RV Park we were headed for.
So what it would be like in the height of summer one can only guess.
We managed to find a place to park, near
the docks, stayed overnight , convenient, but a bit noisy, with a nearby
truckie needing to start his engine every 2 hours for a 10 minute run, he was
Irish, suppose he needed to know it would start in the morning.
We were aware that a cruise ship had docked
and a string of busses were headed for the ship, obviously the Walled City and
St Michel’s mount would be the targets for the onshore excursions, so after a
restless night, we were up and started
walking at 7am, had a great tour of the walled city without the crowds.
We were surprised at the quality of the
buildings within the walled city. Knowing that it was 1145 when the foundation
stone was laid for the Cathedral. It
seems that from about 1700, the traders made their fortunes importing silver
from Peru, as a result they built their impressive homes within the walls of
the city. Today these buildings are mostly revamped inside and retailing the
top fashion labels, of course there are the tourist gift shops which spill out
onto the narrow laneways with their wares as well as a host of Cafés,
Restaurants and hotels. There is quite a
number of permanent residents, going by the noisy school yard and the elderly
out for their morning shop. The outer wall is still intact and quite a view is
gained from making the effort.
We moved on to Perros Guirec a seaside town
some 60kms to the West. The had an interesting way to work with the massive
tides in the area, Guessing that the tides are about 15ft. One section of the boat harbor has had a dam
wall built across, such that when the tide is in there is 5 ft of water over
the dam wall, when the tide is out there is still enough water in the boat
harbour for normal boating, on the sea
side of the dam wall when the tide is out there is a height difference of 10 ft
between the sea and the boat harbor water level, any boats moored on this side
of the wall are just sitting on sand until the tide comes in again. Before
leaving the town we drove along the coastal road where the tide was so far out
there was at least a kilometer of sand before the water.
Our overnight stop was at Saint Pol De Leon
and the camping Aire that we stayed at was right on the waterfront, when we
arrived there was very little water in the small bay, and the yachts and other small craft were resting on their
side on dry sand. Within an hour we noted
that the water was coming in and the boats were starting to float, not
long after it was evident that what was dry sand is now deep water.
A brief drive around Brest and of course we
ended up at the gate of the Naval Base and had to reverse up. Conarneau is another town on the coast, here
there is a walled city, a lot smaller than Malo and the buildings a lot older,
built as a fort in the 1700s, today it is a tourist spot and home to several of the traders. A small train takes tourists
around the town and expounds on the features, but it starts on April 3rd
and we are there on April 1st, missed it by that much!. Photos
2 - Carnac, France to Barcelona, Spain
The Carnac Stones, are the largest collection
of megalithic standing stones in the world, there are more than 3000 of them, they
are referred to locally as “Les Alignment” are thought to be laid out by the pre-Celtic
people of Brittany between 3300 and 4500 BC.
They are in five distinct areas, and whilst the stones themselves are
aligned, the areas are also in some sort of alignment. At one end the stones
are smaller, about a metre high and they are in very straight lines. Further
along another area has much larger stones, it is difficult to make out any
accuracy in alignment, but they are huge stones , maybe 2.5 metres high. There
seems to be a lot of theories but no facts about them.
We moved on to Lorient where there is the German U Boat Pens, This
was the base that sent the U Boats out to attack the Allied Shipping in the
Atlantic and the English channel. The Pens are huge concrete structures, it
makes one wonder how long it took to build them. The rusting remains of a sunken ship just
outside the opening for the Pens, gives a reminder of the efforts by the Allies
to close down the Sub Base.
Still on the WWII theme, but an important
village to visit while in this part of France is that of Oradour-sur-Glane.
This village was targeted by a group of 200
Nazi soldiers on 10th June 1944, 4 days after the Allied landing at
Omaha Beach. With precision, the
soldiers encircled the town and hunted everybody in to the town centre, the
women and children were dispatched to the church and the men were separated
into smaller groups, and herded into
separate barns around the village. At 4pm the Germans opened fire with machine
guns, slaughtering the groups of men. I the church, the women and children were
also gunned down. There were 6 survivors, 5 men and 1 woman, In total some 650
civilians were slaughtered.
The soldiers then went about burning every
building in the village.
Some time after the massacre, when general
Charles De Gaulle visited the scene he requested that the ruins be preserved,
so that future generations might see, realise, and never forget , where such
evil folly may lead. Accordingly, the ruins are still there, virtually
untouched. General de Gaulle also
declared that a new town be built alongside the old one. The new Oradour sur Glane is a vibrant village
of some 2000 inhabitants
Of the soldiers that participated in the
murderous rampage, some were later tried at Bordeaux and some in Berlin, but
many avoided retribution.
No valid reasons were ever given for the
actions of the SS at Oradour-sur-Glane on that day in 1944.
Walking through the ruins, after watching
the brief film, was a very numbing experience, felt we should cover our German
number plates on the RV.
Moving on, we travelled 400kms south west,
past Bordeaux to the coastal resort town of Biarritz, the “Ritz” part of the
name seems to sum it up, some pretty wealthy looking hotels, villas and the
town had quite a resort atmosphere, lots of Surfers looking for the best wave,
found the local “Aire” (rest spot for camping cars), which was just close
enough for a walk into the centre and along the beachfront, however a taxi back
was in order, to save some weary legs.
It has been interesting observing the
different farming areas as we travel through,
We went through quite a pocket of vegetable plots, cauliflowers cabbages
and Artichokes were being harvested and packed , it was quite a “food bowl” . as the weather was a bit
drizzly, fields were being ploughed and there were lots of seedlings being
planted, some mechanically and some manually. A little later and we were
surrounded by grape vines for miles, they it was cattle, then crops, very much
into Canola, (Rape Seed) many of the fields were a vibrant yellow as they are
nearing harvest. Sheep even came into
the mix for some distance then as we approached Bordeaux a different type of
grape is grown, probably for the Cognac, for which the area is famous.
Further south west and we were into Spain
at the coastal port town of Pasala, There was a noted difference in the
housing, lots of high rise apartments and washing hanging from the balconies,
hadn’t noticed any of that in France. We set course for Pamplona, the town
where the “Running of the Bulls” is held each year. The image one gets from the
television of that event, is that it is a small Spanish village with narrow
streets. Not so, this is a large city and at first glance you could not imagine
letting bulls loose in the wide main streets and glass fronted modern
shops. There is however a small section
on the outskirts, which is cordoned off for the event each September. We stood
in a doorway and noticed some dark stains, that could well have been left by
Pauline and Steve last year.
We drove across the Pyrenees , actually
this end they are called the Atlantic Pyrenees, at the other end the Mediterranean, they are called the Oriental Pyrenees.
From Pamplona north back into France at
St-Jean-Pied-de-Port, There was a small sighting of snow left over from winter
as we went over the Ibaneta Pass at 1057m altitude, a very narrow and winding
road. One particularly attractive Spanish Village was Luzaide, were we paused
for a stretch and took some snaps. We
settled in at Saint Palais for the night, went for a walk through the town and
braved the local hotel/brassierre for a meal, more trouble than it was
worth. Best we cook our own, at least
the cook in the RV speaks English and can tell me what the food is.
Next day we found that the Pyrenees are not
the same all over, Lourdes is near the base of some pretty high snow capped
peaks.
We were at Lourdes by 10am next day, after
some difficult guessing at directions and turning into what looked like
impassible narrow streets, we blindly followed the signs to “le Grotto”,
managed a park near the front gate and with minimal walking we lined up to go
into the church. Seemed apt that it was a Sunday, everything was in full swing
at Lourdes. Out of the church and there was plenty of action going on around
the back, of course, that’s where the “Grotto” is, I had read where they built
the church over the grotto, there were queues everywhere, for the holy water,
to file past and through the grotto, to light candles, one was almost 6 ft.
tall. There were priests and nuns from
all over, going by the diversity of their garb. Many groups were gathered to
have their photo taken in front of the church. One priest was setting up his
group for a photo, I offered to take the photo so he could be in it too. A
procession was on the move in one part where there were huge crosses being
carried ahead of each group, lots of religious garb and regalia.
As we moved out there was a large
contingent of people, many in wheelchairs being pushed by scouts, headed
towards the grotto, must have been hundreds in the group. The town of Lourdes is off to the side of all
of this action, but the enormous number of hotels there, would be flourishing
because of it.
It was just as difficult getting out of
Lourdes as it was getting in, but eventually we found our way out and set
course for Montserrat near Barcelona in
Spain. We wanted to travel the lesser
roads through the Pyrenees as we want to see the countryside. We actually got more than we bargained for,
the route we chose took us over the 1474m Solar Pass, from there our chosen
route was closed and we had the option of another, after 60 kms of narrow
winding, climbing roads, that one was closed also, causing us to backtrack and
take another route. We finally made it to a reasonable highway in time to make
camp for the night. The end result is that we were as far away from Monserrate
as we were when we left Lourdes. So in distance travelled, a wasted day, but
boy did we see some scenery. The route we followed was actually the mountain
climb section of the famous 1910 “Tour de France”. We felt like we were in the Canadian Rockies.
An Early start had us into Spain and
viewing the snowcapped Pyrenees from a distance. We know Spain has a problem
with the Euro monetary fund but by the looks of it, they might have pulled the
plug on some pretty major road works. As we came through there was a massive
highway duplication project, well in
hand, but there was no work going on and more disturbing there was no machinery
anywhere on site to do the work, a while later there was another freeway
project that seems to have stopped midstream.
The countryside is very green,or the fields
are anyway, with the native vegetation the trees look more like overgrown
shrubs than trees. There are even some gum trees lining the freeway around
Barcelona, probably to give it a bit of height.
We visited Montserrat monastery, some 43
kms west of Barcelona. The Monastery, perched on the top of a rugged mountain
range has been run by the Benedictine Monks for almost 1000 years. The name
Montserrat comes from the appearance of the mountain range, which has been said
to resemble the teeth of a saw blade (Serrated) hence Mont (Mount) Serrat
(Serrations).
The monastery is accessible by cable Car, a
Cog railway, or a walking track up the mountain, There is a road access, but
that is reserved for busses , trades and supplies. We chose the cable Car to
get to the top and then a walk through the monastery buildings and church, one
of the features in the church is the “Black Madonna” mind you it is only one of
450 Black Madonnas in Europe, this one is a wooden sculpture wich was brought
to the site in 718 and has been a feature for pilgrimage. Well worth the visit
although the route our GPS lead us into the cable car was even more scary than
the roads through the Pyrenees over the past few days.
We chose “Camping Sitges” to camp for a
couple of days, as we did not want to leave the RV unattended, while we toured
Barcelona.
The bus stopped out front of the RV park
and for $4 each dropped us right in the centre of Barcelona, where we had only
to go a block to catch the hop on hop off bus. The campground was great, unless
you want to use the laundry, yes they have 2 coin operated washing machines,
but no driers, and if you did want to
get away early, they lock the gate until 8am. The drier was our problem, looks
like we will be a traveling josh house for a couple of days, trying to get the
clothes dry. We have noted a lot of washing hanging out on balconies in
Spain, maybe that’s it, no driyers.
Barcelona presented as a pretty clean city,
a city buzzing with mopeds, steeped in
history and their local festivals. There are two languages taught, Spanish of
course, but Catalan is the local language and is used in some public offices,
it is also taught in schools.
Local hero Christopher Columbus, has been
honoured by a huge column in the city. Barcelona has a variety of architecture
and the city is awash with sculptures, in round-a-bouts, fountains and anywhere
else they can fit one. Some of this influence is attributed to Pablo Picasso,
who lived and had his studio in Barcelona for 10 years, The city has a museum
dedicated to some of his major works. Salvador
Dali was also a frequent visitor to Barcelona with his exhibitions. For the architectural side Antoni Gaudi did
most of his work in Barcelona, and indeed none could spend several days here
following and inspecting Gaudi’s works. Gaudi’s most famous work is the
Basilica Sagrada Familia which is in fact still under construction here in
Barcelona, Started in 1883, the interior was completed and consecrated by Pope
Benedict XVI on 8th Nov. 2010. The exterior is still a work in progress,
when complete the tallest point will be 150 metres . We were privileged to tour the Basilca along
with many thousands of others. The signs at the front encourage you to book
online to avoid the queues. The building, both inside and out is unbelievable,
certainly the highlight of our day.
The stadium for the 1992 Olympic Games, The
beaches, The largest soccer ground in Europe, which holds near 100,000 fans,
the many museums some expounding the halcyon days of the Spanish dominance as
seafarers with their galleons and many other features are a great attraction to
the many tourists that visit.
There is a lot to see and do in this city
and our brief visit will not do it justice.
Photos
Photos
3- Barcelona,
Spain to
Marseille, France
On leaving Barcelona, we went freeway
through the edge of the city and headed north east hugging the coast. For quite
a distance we were separated from the Mediterranean by the suburban train line. We passed through Mataro, Loret de Mar, Tossa
de Mar, and Sant Feliu de Guixols before setting Pals as our overnight stop.
The Coast line around Tossa de Mar is very rugged, with the road hugging the
top of the cliffs and private roads going down to the endless line of resorts,
with the apartments or condos on the hillside and the bottom of the cove set
aside for recreation near the sandy beaches, seems a pretty upmarket area. A
superb drive around the elevated road, narrow in parts and very windy.
The “Aire” that we chose at Pals was a bit
difficult to find, the co-ordinates were a block away, eventually we located it
from the photo in the book, a parking lot outside the local police station. We
had observed the town from the distance, not realizing that it was where we
were heading. It was a hill with a cluster of houses. On closer inspection after we parked and went
to suss out the neighborhood, we found that it was the remains of a Medieval Castle
and Walled town dating back to the 9th century. Although the only
portion that was original was the round brick “Tower of the Hours” which has
two bells and has sounded the time for many centuries. One of the buildings
inside the wall was dated 1630.
The Church on top of the hill is “The
Church of Sant Pere” and dates back to 944, although it has been changes many
times and suffered extensive damage during the Spanish Civil War.
Well it was one walled town to a bigger
walled city in one day. We ended up at 250kms
away at Carcassonne where there is a 12th century Walled City/
Palace/ fortress. But, on the way we
followed the coastline for quite a distance, which included the border crossing
from Spain back into France. At the border , which is atop a high mountain
between two seaside towns of Portbou in Spain and Cerbere in France there are a
lot of photos and memorials to the refugees and soldiers that gathered at the
French border in 1930 to escape from the Franco Regime, that had just taken
over.
The coastal drive, both in Spain and France
was spectacular, photo stops were always looked for. The road is also a
training ground for all the budding “Contadors” in Spain looking towards the
future “Tours de France” It’s a road hazard that keeps you alert when driving,
the roads are so narrow it can be difficult getting past them.
The country side, once into France became
one huge vineyard, the hills were steep and stony, but low stone walls were
built which turned the steep hillsides into workable plots. Our chosen route took us along “Route 20” of
the “Route de Vin” (Wine Tourist route) in the area, this of course had us
passing many Chateaus offering their produce. There seems to be a wide variety of grapes
grown.
The Walled City of Carcassonne, is
considered to be the finest example of Medieval Military Architecture and
became one of Europe’s largest Restoration sites. The city has its roots back
in the days of the Roman Empire, It has been the subject of many assailants and
takeovers until eventually in the 12th century it was developed into
an impregnable fortress within a fortress.
In 1835 an architect was appointed to oversee the restoration of the
city which took until 1911 to complete.
The Cathedral of Saint Nazaire within
the walls which dates back to 925, was one of the first of the restoration
projects. It was made the Basilica of Saint Nazaire, by Pope Leo XIII in 1898.
Walking through the halls of the castle and
around the parapets of the fortress, one could imagine it would be in demand as
a movie set. A wonderful experience.
Our next target,was to see for ourselves
the engineering masterpiece “The Millau ByPass Viaduct. We had watched a documentary on TV on the
building of this 2.15km bridge. The town
of Millau in the valley below was on the main route from Paris to the Southern
French coast, The Riviera, it was being
strangled by the volume of traffic in it’s small streets, as well the delays to
the flow of traffic on this major highway, caused by both the 8 km steep
descent into the valley, the town restrictions and then the 8 km steep ascent
up the other side. It was decided to build a bypass bridge spanning between the
two mountain plateaus, which are at an altitude of 840m. The technology used in
the construction was ground breaking and the final result is spectacular of
course we had to find the best available spots to get some pictures and then
arrange with the GPS to have us travel across.
Naturally, the bridge is a tollway, 10.90 euro each way. We attempted to
settle in an “Aire” listed in Mende, but the GPS coordinates had us doing loops
around in the centre of town at peak traffic time so we pulled the pin and
sought a spot elsewhere.
The following day we spent travelling
through the small roads that wind through the hills of Southern France
farmlands. The roads were very narrow, often having to stop to allow oncoming
tractors with farm machinery to pass. Many of the small villages can consist of
6 houses, some in such a state of repair that it implies the residents are just
eking out a living. The main street in some villages are like a canyon, both
sides 3 or 4 story warehouse like structures, built right onto the footpath, if
there is a footpath, often there isn’t. Most are all shuttered up and rarely a
person seen. Those that are around are mainly elderly. In many villages the
only building material is stone, some have been rendered over at some stage,
this is very often showing only in patches that are left. Very depressing at times, however one has to
admire the quality of some of the stone work and wonder how they got them so
straight. Fay sur Lignon was one such
village, where we stopped for lunch, all of the buildings very old and all
stone, Our target village was Le Chambon sur Lignon only 8 kms further along
the road. What a difference, Le Chambon
had a lot of more recently built houses, lots of facilities and an air of
progress about it. Le Chambon sur Lignon
is noted for the part it played during WWII, apparently the predominantly
Protestant village, as a whole, chose to hide the persecuted Jews.
We moved North to Lyon, where we visited
the Basilica of Notre Dame, which is perched high on a hill overlooking the
city. Lyon is noted as a major area in the mainly Catholic France. We coincided
with the beginning of Mass at the Basilica, so we participated. The Basilica is
not at all garish with it’s décor, but extremely ornate with the filigree and embellishments. Another magnificent Cathedral .
Not far from the Basilica, is a double
Roman Amphitheatre, part of the Roman City of Lugdunum which was founded in 43BC
and thrived for 400 years . At the time Lugdunum was the most important Roman
City away from Rome. The two
amphitheaters, one large and one small, in 1933 they were uncovered and have now
been returned to their original use, they are open to the public, with concerts
and other events being held there.
Overnight we stayed in the small village of
Champagne and fittingly it was in an Aire supplied by one of the wineries, in
their parking lot. (No free samples)
We next moved down to Remoulins, where there
is a Roman Aquaduct called Pont du Gard, this is a 5o metre high triple level
bridge 360 metres long spanning a river. The first level was built in 40AD and
a further two levels were added to incorporate an aqueduct on the top. This
supplied the city of Nimes with running water throughout five centuries.
It is rated as the greatest bridge ever
built in classical times. It is in an amazing state of preservation and has
been listed with UNESCO World Heritage since 1985.
Nimes is 25kms from Remoulins, so their aqueduct had a fair distance to travel. Nimes was
known as Nemausus when it was developed under Julius Caesar in 30BC, It became
the most important Roman City in Southern Gaul, with it came the building of a
Roman Arena for gladiator duels , The Arena is still used mainly for Bull
Fighting, it has and is undergoing restoration in several areas, however we
were able to go through to the seating areas and wander through the corridors
and the gladiators section.
It is rated as the best preserved amphitheater in the
world, by the Nimes promoters of course, as we have yet to visit Rome, we will
hold our judgment
The other item of preserved Roman history
in Nimes is the” Maison Carree”, which is also claimed to be the only fully
preserved Roman Temple from antiquity. We watched a very good 20min film
“Nemausus- The Birth of Nimes” which was shown inside the temple. The film is a
very recent addition, only being released in March of this year. An excellent
professional, presentation.
To the South we called in at Saint Louis, a
walled city in Aigus-Mortes. The city is in high spirits as it is celebrating its 800 years since founding 29th
April 1214 to 29th April 2014. When we consider Australia has been
settled for only a quarter of that, it does put history in
more perspective. They are holding a solemn Mass at 7pm on the 25th,
in their Church of Notre Dame within the walls in St Louis, we will give that one a miss.
The walled city is very much complete, it
is at least a kilometer square in shape, with walls 30ft high and the
turrets about 50ft high. All in very
pristine condition.
We sought an Aire in the city of Arles for
the night, but alas, a carnival is in town and right alongside the campsite, we
thought it better that we seek a quieter spot, so moved on down to Port Saint
Louis, which is where the Rhone River, after starting in the Swiss Alps,
empties into the Mediterranean.
One of the traditions here around
Aigues-Mortes where the area is known as the “Carmargue” is the Herding of
Bulls from the marshes and selecting suitable animals for the bullfights in
Arles, A special breed of horses which from memory, are called Carargue are
used to round up the bulls.
The marshes are also used for growing rice
and vineyards also abound.
An early start into Marseille didn’t help
as traffic was bedlam. We decided to drive to the beach area and we probably
drove down every narrow one way street in the city, The GPS was directing us
into impossible areas, I am sure there are some rules of the road in Marseille
but they have been forgotten by most, cars jump out in front of you,
pedestrians seem to think that if they have survived this long, then they must
be bullet proof. Ignoring the red lights and just walk in front of the cars,
without even a look. Motor Scooters seem
to be the answer, they are every where, dodging and weaving through the traffic
and seem to get away with anything, although I did notice a Police Officer with
her book out, checking over a scooter that someone had left parked on the tram
stop in the middle of the street. A
large semi-trailer entered a main street from an on-ramp type lead- in and
immediately did a u-turn in front of all traffic and headed off in the other
direction. We did eventually get our
cuppa by the beach.
4 - Marseille,
France to Monte Carlo, Monaco
We departed Marseille with relief and
headed for the hills, The French Alps to be exact, at one point we were headed
towards these huge mountains and due to turn off to our target town of Tallard,
when we noticed a sign 15kms to Gap. As we are this close we should check it
out as there is usually some pretty good scenery at these mountain passes. Big
disappointment, Gap is a town. We
settled for the night at a roadside site near Saint-Vincent-Les-Forts, high up,
overlooking the Alps , with small villages dotted throughout the panorama. We
continued our quest to see the French Alps touring along some pretty narrow
roads, often with cliff faces overhanging the road, so it was a case of one eye
on the road ahead, the other on the protruding rocks that threaten to rip into
the side of the motorhome. We headed for an area known as “The Grand Canyon of
France” of Europe in fact, it correct name is “Les Gorges du Verdon”. A 25 km
stretch of road that has every obstacle in it, from “One Lane Tunnels” (Sound
your horn as you enter, to alert motorists coming the other way) road widths
that mean I have to find a safe place to stop, to let oncoming cars pass, roads
under overhanging cliffs, that hang over the entire width of the road. They even have a “Sublime Point Lookout” which was sublime. Needless to say, we only
traveled 150kms for the day, but the scenery was magnificent. We spent another
night in the area.
The Verdon River may not be the equal to
the Colarado that runs at the base of the Grand Canyon in USA, but the Verdon has cut a gorge 700meters deep
into the limestone and left some spectacular scenery. We travelled Route D952
from Castellane to Moustiers-Saint-Marie a distance of 30kms. Castellane has an
interesting church, The Chapel of Notre Dame du Roc, patron saint of Castellane
was built on top of a 900meter high rock in the 13th Century. The
Chapel is a place of pilgrimage, most spectacular on the evening of the 14th
August each year, when a torchlight parade shows a ribbon of light all the way
down the path from the Chapel.
There are lots of pull-in areas for fitting
of snow chains, of course there is no snow here at the moment, just on some of
the higher peaks, but we have yet to see any ski lifts. White water Rafting and
canoeing are the sports here, at this time of year. Lots of camping grounds with cabins, The gorge is a popular site for rock climbing,
and attract a lot of tourists from the French Riviera.
At the end of the Gorge there is Lake
Sainte Croix-der-Verdon, spectacular with it’s brilliant aqua colour, which of
course is the same as the River Verdon.
We drove on through Aups and Toulon and
sought a place on the coast at Saint Mandrier-sur-Mer. A small peninsular jutting out into the
Mediterranean. A sheltered harbor and
seems to be home to a major ship yard, servicing some pretty pricy “yachts”,
these yachts do not have sails. Our drive along the coast of the French Riviera
from Toulon to Cannes was a great experience. It doesn’t seem to matter what
time it is, there are always many restaurants overflowing with diners. St Tropez was the first habour, we came
across with a host of luxury yachts. Lots more were to follow. But St. Tropez
is a small seaside village that appears to have caught the eye and purse of the
rich and famous, it is now very yuppie and “the place to be”. Most of the harbours going East from Toulon,
have their share of luxury Yachts. Then comes Cannes, famous for it’s annual
Film festival and the lavish trappings that go with the crowd that that
attracts. Casino, Lots of major plush hotels and a big city to boot. The only similarity between St Tropez and
Cannes is that they are both on the Mediterranean and both harbour luxury
yachts, oh and of course there are always the diners, they were there too,
still eating.
Much of the housing that we see driving
along the coast road is pretty ordinary, but there is a lot built way up on the
hillsides, that look a bit more up-market, many others are built between the road
and the water’s edge, so it does limit the traveller’s opportunity to see the
coast. Parking is always a problem with
a motorhome, many of the car parks have a bar across 2.1 meters high to stop
motorhomes from getting in.
We went back to the hills, to look at a
couple of hill top Villages, Vence and Utelle, the scenery getting to Vence was
the gem it is like Mount Dandenong on steroids. How on earth people live in
those extremes is beyond us, we noted a young lad about 14 and we could just
imagine his mum getting him to soccer, basketball, and all those things, not
on. Mind you they drive very small cars and dart in and out, while we are
laboring along at 25-30 km/hr on the tight roads. Vence is a collection of
dwellings built around the local church as the centre piece, all perched on top
of a hill. A rockslide closed one of our
routes so it was on to Utelle, this lead us into the Gorges of Vesuble, a
magnificent drive in, although we chickened out with 4kms to go to get to Utelle,
we could see it above us, perched on top
of the mountain. We had to turn around and come down the mountain to the gorge
road level. In choosing the shortest way
back to civilization we elected to come back through Sospel, a more direct
route. Little did we know that we had
elected to drive over Mount Col de Turin, the pass was at 1647metres altitude
and there was still some snow left over from last winter , There was even an
odd snowflake falling while we were there. The drive down the mountain was just
as hairy, lost count of the number of hairpin bends we negotiated, but at times
it was out of one and straight into another, from Sospel the decent became less
steep, noted a couple of Roman Aqueducts, still in good nick. We got back to
the coast at Menton, between Monte Carlo
and the Italian border. Menton seems to be basking in it’s closeness to
Monte Carlo, with a casino and all of the trappings for the jet set. We moved
along a few kilometers to Latte and small Italian town just over the border,
managed to talk our way into a caravan park, that was full. So we are in
without power for the 1st night, probably will stay for 3 or 4 nights
and use the train to sightsee Nice, Monte Carlo, Menton and San Remo.
There were lots of motorhomes huddled together just over the border in Italy, a lot were grouped in the old border crossing station and those that could not fit there, were parked along the main beach road, must have been at least 25 - 30, seems to be taking free overnight camping to the extreeme. They must have more liberal parking laws in Italy.
There were lots of motorhomes huddled together just over the border in Italy, a lot were grouped in the old border crossing station and those that could not fit there, were parked along the main beach road, must have been at least 25 - 30, seems to be taking free overnight camping to the extreeme. They must have more liberal parking laws in Italy.
Photos
5 – Nice,
France -
Monte Carlo, Monaco & San Remo, Italy
A train trip from Menton to Monte Carlo
took about 15 minutes. An interesting train with 3 levels of seating, at each
end of each carriage, over the wheels there is a mid height set of seats, in
between the wheels, there are two levels
of seats, it certainly seems to pack them in.
The electric trains have overhead wires as we do in Victoria.
We arrived in Monte Carlo with the town
really buzzing, roaring to be more precise, they are half way through setting
up the barricades for the 2014 Monaco Formula 1 Grand Prix, Whilst it did
inhibit moving around, we didn’t miss anything and it was great to see the
layout of the track. At the same time Roger Federer was being beaten in the final
of the Monaco Tennis Classic, so there were heaps around for that as well.
We saw the “Changing of the Guard” at the
Royal Palace, Called past St Nicholas Cathedral, but as the Royal Family was
attending the Easter Sunday service, obviously also rans were not encouraged.
There is a huge Oceanographic Museum,
founded by the Late Price Albert, through his love of the sea. The Monaco
harbour was first recorded in history in 45BC when Julius Caesar sheltered
there, waiting for Pompeii . Today it is the mooring place of many of the
world’s most luxurious motor yachts, they have added a floating dock that now
also allows for cruise liners to berth at Monte Carlo. The Palace is on “The
Rock” where some magnificent views of the harbour are to had. “The Casino”
and “The Hotel de Paris” were high on our list to visit, unfortunately
they were on the other side of the harbour and the barricades made it more
awkward getting there, but we did and after 45 minutes in the Casino we came
out even, that’s probably because we didn’t have a bet.
There were a string of Maserati’s parked
out front of the casino, it was also the time for a car show of The top Marques
in Automobiles being staged nearby. There were cars zipping around the track
lanes in the city, revving their engines to give the sound effects of the Formula 1 cars, so all day
their was this roar of beautifully tuned engines going off.
Monaco is ruled by the Grimaldi Family and
has been for 700 years, after
Francesco Grimaldi and his troupes,
disguised at Franciscan monks, took siege of the rock in 1279. Since then it
has not been all plain sailing. Various sieges have had it under Spanish,
French and Sardinian Rule before Prince Albert in 1861 gave up sovereign rights
to Menton and Roquebrune
to secure Monaco as an independent
country, at 1 square mile in area, the second smallest behind The Vatican.
However he had given away the most productive
areas of the country and the finances became desperate. Prince Albert awarded a
contract to build the Casino, after noting their success in Germany. The rest
is history, over time, the Casino became the highlight of the city and solved
the financial crisis. Today there are many commercial ventures and the Casino
plays a smaller part. Unemployment is nil and surprise, surprise there were no
beggars in the streets.
17% of the current area of Monaco has been
reclaimed from the sea.
We visited our local Supermarket at Latte,
Italy, we weren’t sure about it as we approached, looked more like a Bunnings
Garden dept. with bags of potting mix and mulch taking up much of the footpath,
then came the plants, cacti etc, once in the supermarket they had everything ,
clothes, then all the $2 shop type items, eventually we got to the food and
beverage section, obviously there is more profit in alcohol, 25% of the shop
was booze. What they didn’t have was any sort of order, it was a complete mess,
no aisle system at all. We got a couple of things we wanted but gave up on the
rest and got outta there.
A walk to the beach had us going down
narrow lanes rock built walls 7ft high either side, it was obviously a pathway
that went some distance along the beach line, behind the houses that had beach
frontage, one had a large stone arched gateway with the date 1647 cut into it.
We got to the beach, and it was all pebbles, big pebbles, there are some lovely
sandy beaches along the coast, but this wasn’t one of them. In fact the stretch
from Nice to San Remo all looks much the same.
A
bus/train to San Remo, Italy and a walk around the town through the
markets and the harbour, and back to the station. The station is underground or
more precise under a mountain, the rail line approaching San Remo goes into a
tunnel quite some distance out so it is all under a huge mountain, so much so
that we had to walk half a kilometer through a tunnel to get to the station.
We needed
to catch 2 trains to get us to Nice in France, passing through Monte
Carlo, which incidentally has the same issues with the train line, There is no
above ground lines in Monaco, the French run the train system and the only
station in Monaco is Monte Carlo, so rally it just passes through.
When in Nice we found the Hop On-Hop Off
Bus and joined their tour. Quite a fascinating city, there are some wonderful
stately buildings and obviously there is a wealthy set that live here apart
from the also rans. The heritage goes back to the Crimean War, when Russia was
defeated and banned from using the Black Sea, they negotiated the use of the
port in Nice. Consequently many wealthy Russians gathered in Nice, After the
revolution in Russia ,those that were in Nice stayed, established a comfortable
lifestyle and built some magnificent homes.
A fancy promenade along the beach looks great, however there is no sand,
the beach surface is like blue road metal. You see the children gingerly
walking over it into the water, no wonder someone invented plastic sandals. A
train and a bus got us back to our base, ready to hit the road and discover
more of what Italy has to offer.
Photos
After leaving our campground at Latte we
chose to take the A10 (The Highway in the Sky) for a hundred Kms. This toll
road runs half way up the mountain range that is the backdrop to the Italian
Coast in this area. The divided road has very little incline, it goes into
tunnels through the mountains and almost as soon as you come out of a tunnel
you are going over a very high viaduct.
We lost count of the number of tunnels and viaducts. It must have been a huge task to build it
all, as it would needed to have been done as one project and considering it
starts somewhere in France, it would have to have been a bi-national project .
It certainly is a necessity, when you see the volume of trucks using it and try
to imagine them travelling through the coastal towns, it would have been
impossible.
Photos
6 – San Remo, Italy to
Florence, Italy
We joined the coastal road at Albenga, as
we prefer to take the slower route and see the smaller towns and villages.
This of course has it’s downside too, in
Italy it appears that you can stop anywhere, on a pedestrian crossing, on a
corner, double park on both sides of the road, whatever you like, just put the
emergency flashers going and all is OK. Pedestrians of course have right of way
on a pedestrian crossing, so it makes no sense to pause and look, before
stepping out into the traffic, they will stop for you.
We found it very difficult to park the
motorhome, after stocking up the larder at Lidl Supermart we travelled for 80
mins before we found a place to stop and have lunch. Finding a level place to
stop for the night is of course even more difficult and our book of “Ayres” did
not offer much help. Space is so tight around the coastal areas, they just
don’t have them.
We found our way through Genoa and headed
to a little village of Portofino, off the main drag and in a National Park on a
small peninsula just East of Genoa. We were in luck and scored a parking space
by the sea, just before Porofino.
A very hairy road out of Portofino and then
along the coast, the road took us up into the mountains, which was a breather
from the tight villages. We dropped down 15kms of winding road to Lavanto.
After settling in at an camp ground we set off by train to La Spezia, where we
eventually found the port and joined a ferry cruise of the “ Cinque Terre” there are 5 villages along the coast north of
La Spezia that are linked by train, Ferry and a walking track. Many tourists
will take the ferry to the first village of Riomaggiore, then walk on to the
others, Corniglia, Manardia, Vernazza
and Monterosso, an alternative is to use the Ferry as a hop on hop off system
and spend some time at each of the villages on the way to the last village. Then
take the train back to the beginning. Each of the villages are so different,
but with a common thread of an inhospitable terrain. There was a bit of
confusion, as a landslide had taken out the walking track between two of the
villages, so the ferries were in big demand.
One
other village, photographed, has been built on the spine of a mountain as it
descends to the sea. It must be difficult living in those circumstances. Tourism certainly must help the main five, but the
others !
We have not seen it all, but we are noting
that the Mediterranean has little or no tidal movements, no currents and unless
there is a wind or storm, no waves. Can
make for some great photos of the “Glistening Mediterranean”.
It makes you wonder what happens between
the northern French coast on the Atlantic, where there is a 4 to 5 metre tide
and where the Mediterranean where it joins the Atlantic.
100kms along the A10 and we are in Pisa for
morning tea, checked into an RV park close to all the leaning action. Still, we
probably walked over 7kms today, checking out the leaning tower and all of the
surrounds.
The Tower was actually built in 1172 as the
Bell Tower for the Pisa Cathedral, well it was started then, but wasn’t
finished for 200 years, The lean started during construction due to a soft
section of the ground that would not support the weight. Over the following 700
years it gradually got worse, until it was stabilized in the past 20 years,
during the stabilization they actually corrected the lean from 5.5 degrees to
the 4 degrees that it is now. That means that the top is 3.9metres out of
vertical. One wonders why the kept
working for 200 years on a building that was falling over before it was even
finished.
The Piazza Del Duomo has three main
building on it, the Pisa Cathedral, built 1063, the Bell Tower 1172 and the
Baptistery of St John, a huge circular domed building that was constructed in
1152.
Pisa has been around for 7000 years, when
it was built on the river Arno, it was a major coastal port, however it is now
10 kms from the sea., due to constant silting of the river. Pisa became a walled city in 1156. Much of
that wall is still there. The town
itself is quite interesting with several historic churches and buildings, lots
of narrow streets lined with four story buildings, a few open piazzas dotted
around.
On leaving Pisa, we followed the river Arno
to it’s mouth at Marina di Pisa, then along the coast to Livorno, It was much
like the Rosebud foreshore with camping sections all along. We moved down to
Piombino, where we caught a ferry to The Isle of Elba. The 1 hour ferry trip
had us in Portoferrio, Elba by 3pm. Elba is a small island between Italy and
Corsica and most probably would be an obscure dot in the Mediterranean, had it
not been the Island that Napoleon was exiled to, consequently it has been part
of our memory from history at school, so it was great to see it for ourselves.
Napoleon was exiled to Elba in April 1814,
after losing battles to British/Russian forces. He escaped from Elba in February 1815, returned
to power in France, but was defeated by Wellington in the battle of Waterloo in
July 1815.He was then imprisoned and sent
to Saint Helena, an Island 1800kms off the African Coast, where he died 6 years
later.
We went to the old town and climbed the
hill leading us to Napoleon’s villa during his confinement here. The villa is
set up as a museum, with most of the furnishing that were here at the time. Even
had a display of Napoleon’s bedding and his gear that went with him on his campaigns
throughout Europe.
Our next target site was Siena, a Walled
city that was at it’s peak in the 14th Century, The population has
dwindled to one third of what it was then.
A fortress within the city walls is still very much intact and it
appears to have been an assembly point at times of invasion. Today it serves as
an exercise park for the locals. The town centre has many old features, the
main three were the Piazzo del Campo, a very large semi-circular sloping
piazza, surrounded by cafés on the upper side and the Gothic Palazzo
Comunal on the lower side. The Siena Cathedral “Duomo” is at the top of
the hill.
Duomo is one of Italy’s prettiest
Cathedrals, being constructed of white and black marble. Apart from taxis and a few local cars, it is
all about footwork,. Walking the lanes and hills within the city, at times
frustrating because with the narrow streets and 5 story building either side,
it is very difficult to get your bearings , all adds to the walking, at one
point we thought we were in a maze, thinking we were on target for the Duomo,
we found we were passing the same place for a second time. Eventually we found
it, and the effort was worth it., however a taxi back to the motorhome was also
worth it. What with Pisa one day, Elba
the next and then Siena, the legs are getting a workout.
We shifted the motorhome to Volterra an
Etruscan (ancient Italian) town, also a walled city where parking is on the
outside and then its leg power again. Volterra or the site at least is known to
have been inhabited since the 8th century BC, the access to the
town, for us visitors is to climb a series of steps, lost count of how many, to
the top of the hill where the town is positioned. We were amazed at the number
of young people (18 – 25) that were out and about, we were there at 8am so they
were off to work or school.
Just before Pisa, where we encountered the
first bit of level ground in Italy. Our drive over the past couple of
days, has been through the rolling hills
of Tuscany, with it’s Olive Groves, Vineyards and orchards, lots of roadside
stalls and wine sellers.
There seems to be more larger villas and
the use of pencil pines to line the driveways and at times the boundary of the
property has been more noticable
After Volterra we moved to San Gimignano,
another walled town in the Tuscan countryside. This one is known as “The Town
of Fine Towers”. There are 15 of these medieval skyscrapers in
the town, actually there were 72 in the towns heyday in the 12th
century. The towers were built to a height of 70 meters and were a status
symbol for the wealthy merchants of the town.
The town is also famous for it’s general medieval architecture and is
registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The walk through the town was not as strenuous as Volterra, but equally
interesting.
We arrived in Florence early afternoon and
spent some time checking out a suitable RV park, we ended up at our 4th
try, 15kms out, at the town of Troghi. So
we will be bussing in, to see the wonders of Florence, or Firenze as it is known
in Italy.
Photos
Photos
7 – Florence, Italy To Rome, Italy
Florence of course is an old city, first
settled on the Arno River as a Roman City in 80BC. The city came to prominence
as its wealth grew and by the year 1000AD it was one of the largest cities in
Europe, Florence started the Renaissance movement , which lasted from 1300 to
1600. During this time the city was ruled by the Medici family, 2 of whom
became Popes and one married King Henry 11 of France. Michelangelo was the
chosen artist/sculptor of the Medici’s and was commissioned by them to create
the 5.13meter tall figure of David. The final product from 1504 is still
available for viewing at one of the galleries in Florence, it is considered to
be one of the finest sculptures ever produced.
Michelangelo was then given the task of creating a figure of Hercules
and Caucus, the same height as David, to compliment each other beside the
entrance to the Medici Palace on the Piazza della Signoria. However a change of
favour had the Medicis transfer the commission to rival sculptor Baccio
Bandinelli.
Today the two statues are side by side and
they both look incredible works of art.
Florence’s wealth was attributed to both
banking and textiles. The Gold
Florentine Florin was first minted here in 1252 and was minted for nearly 300
years without change to its design or gold content and for its purity, became a
basis for the European monetary system.
Australia’s 2 shilling coin was actually called a Florin, undoubtedly
this is where the name came from.
Always the capital of Tuscany, but for 6
years, Florence was also the capital of Italy, before Rome took on the title in
1871
The bus got us into Florence central. We soon found that Florence is a city
queues. We started with the nearest, The
Basilica of Santa Maria Novella. Then on to the “Duomo” the largest cathedral
in Florence, which dominates the skyline from a distance. The correct name for
it is “Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore”
The Basilica was commenced in 1296 and
completed in 1436. 600 years after construction, the dome is still the largest
bricks and mortar dome in the world. A one hour queue to get into the
Duomo. We then moved on to locate the
statue of David, another 2 hour queue. We eventually paid for a miss the queue
ticket to speed things up, otherwise we would still be there. It was certainly worth the effort, the statue
is an incredible work of art. A lot more of Michelangelo’s art was also on
display. After that it was a case of wandering from site to site that we had
listed to see, and ticking them off as we got there. The Ponte Vecchio is a
bridge across the Arrno River, with buildings along both sides, all very old
and in fact it was the only bridge in Florence not destroyed in WWII. The
buildings now have jewelers shop fronts, a whole string of the on both side,
there were a lot of people on the bridge but not many in the shops, can’t see
how they could all make a living out of it.
The Piazzas and roadways through the city
are all flagstones, not easy walking. Whilst there are many interesting
buildings and beautiful things to see, we could not agree with comments, that
it is a beautiful city, in any way.
The following day, the Hop on Hop off bus
provided us with an overall view of the city, we made a stop at the Church of
Santa Croce. This is the burial place of Michelangelo, as well as Galileo,
Dante, Rossini, Rossellino and Machiavelli. The church is like huge hall with
memorial tombs around the outside walls. The bus stops at a point that overviews
the entire city, called Piazzale Michelangelo, and of course there is a huge
bronze statue of David as the centre piece of the viewing platform. Just down the hill we stopped at the Boboli
gardens, these are linked to the Medici Palace, Palazzo Pitti, while the Palace
is not open to the public, the gardens are. It was a huge area, set out with
tall hedges lining the pathways and separating sections of the garden. Marble
statues are a constant feature as you walk through the gardens. At the rear of
the palace the garden is very manicured and although smaller, has a striking
resemblance to the layout of the Versailles garden.
On leaving our campground, it took a while
for it to sink in that May Day is a public holiday in Italy. Needing a refill
of our gas supply we went to two addresses, both closed, called at a Co-Op,
closed, so we got on our way. Got held up at one town as a procession of floats
were holding up the traffic. We moved down through the Umbrian countryside to
Orvieto, about 120kms north of Rome.
Here we were confronted with a huge town
built on top of a volcanic Bluff, with vertical walls of solid rock on all
sides. There were two other towns that
we passed on the way that were walled towns, Citta Della Pieve, probably the
larger of the two.
Orvieto’s position made it almost
impenetrable, it was last conquered by Julius Caesar. The city was annexed by
Rome in the 3rd century BC. In the middle ages the town’s dominant
position, let it control the road between Rome and Florence.
Our camp ground for the next couple of
nights was at Bolsena, on the shore of Lake di Bolsena to allow us to recoup
and prepare for Rome, which will be hectic for sure. Bolsena was a hive of activity as we drove
through the centre, it is obviously a popular tourist spot. There were tables
and chairs all over the main Piazza, with people sitting around eating and
drinking, we had to wind the motorhome between the tables to get through. The
town is also in the middle of celebrating the 750th anniversary of
the “Miracle of the Eucharist” which occurred here in 1263. The centre of the
celebrations is the Basilica of St. Cristine, where the miracle took place The
lake is also an obvious tourist attraction and the boulevard is lined with
cafes and hotels. There is also a castle on the hill overlooking the town,
which was crawling with tourists.
An all night storm had us confined to
barracks for a while, the following day we drove out of it and down to Rome.
A comment on the roads ever since we got
into Umbria. They are shockers.
Not a good look as we drove down the
freeway towards Rome, most of the emergency pull in bays along the way were
littered with rubbish, not just the odd can or bottle, bags of it, even
mattress’s and some furniture. Obviously the easy dumping ground.
We booked into the Camping Tiber Village
and they could not have been more helpful, even drove me to a gas place to see
if they could fill our German or French Bottles, both of which are empty, no
luck but the best option was to buy a full Italian bottle and a connector lead.
At least we got it going and with a bit of management we might avoid having to
add a Croatian bottle to our collection. It is ludicrous, Europe is trying to
unify and in the promotion of tourism and trade, there are virtually no borders to contend with.
The LPG market is dragging its feet by
allowing at least half a dozen different gas bottle connections and no one will
fill the others. Seems the rental operaters
should be leading the way, instead they are like ostriches, bury their
head in the sand, the hirer will find a way out. I recall last year when we returned with the rented
motorhome, there was an English couple who had ran out of gas because the
weather was cold and they had used the heater, rather than find a solution to the
gas problem they cut their holiday short and returned the motorhome early.
We have a camp shuttle bus to the station
and then a 25min trip to Rome, so pretty convenient really. During our stay at
Tiber Village we found it to be probably the best run, best set out and most
helpful RV park we have ever stayed in, (Australia, America, Canada and
Europe).
In approaching our visit to Rome we
researched and came prepared with a list of things, places churches and areas,
that we wanted to see, anything else would be a bonus.
The list included : Vatican Museums, St Paul’s Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Coliseum,
Arch of Constantine, Roman Forum, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Spanish Steps,
Palatine Hill, Piazza Navona, Circus Maximus, Capitoline Hill, Piazza Del
Popolo, Castel del Sant Angelo, Arch Basilica of St John in Laterano, Basilica
di Santa Maria Maggiore, and Basilica of San Clemente.
We started by arranging the important tours
that give skip the line and guided tours. We found a Vatican tour that was
advertised as “Papal Audience and Vatican Tour”, That is a special for Wednesdays only, we keyed that
one in and then arranged for a
Coliseum full tour for the Tuesday, that
left us Sunday and Monday to do the Hop On- Hop Off bus tour and pick up what
we could of the rest of the list. Rome
has 600 churches, they can be next door or opposite side of the street. We
poked our heads into as many as we came across, they were all different and
interesting, but we left a lot undisturbed.
We have heard of the Seven Hills of Rome,
didn’t think we would have to walk up all of them, well almost all. And with
the subway, not all stations have escalators, so it is steps, steps and more
steps, as the days progressed our ankles deteriorated. A few taxis benefited
our weariness.
The Coliseum tour was great, we were down
in the underground section, where the animals were caged and sent up into the
arena, the tunnels used by the Gladiators to get from their lodgings and
training area to the arena, then up onto a small section of the ground level of
the arena, that has been built at one end of the arena. We then worked our way
up through the viewing levels to the third level. A large part of the outer wall section was
lost in an earthquake in the 1300s, they are now concerned that the underground
railway which was built almost touching the foundations of the coliseum is
causing damage through the vibrations. After the Coliseum we went to the Roman
Forum, an area of remains of the main buildings that were the heart of the
Early Senate, where all of the decisions were made, The site where Julius
Caesar was cremated, and where Mark Anthony made his famous speech. All very interesting.
We picked up on the tour that there is a
marble statue of Moses by Michelangelo in a nearby church of St Peitro in
Vincoli. We headed off there after the coliseum, as it was not on our list.
Our “Audience with the Pope” tour, we
started off a bit sceptical. Eventually we were in St Peter’s Square, lined up
against the barricade, where we were to wait for two hours. At least getting
there at 8.15 we had the railing to lean on.
Watching the crowd swell to some 60,000 by
9.45am, when The Pope “Papa Francesco” to the crowd ,started his tour in a
motorcade, he wound around the aisles, blessing babies that were
passed up to him, and waving . Well, he did not give a personal audience to all
of those 60,002 people in the square, but no one went away disappointed. They
loved it and they loved him. He passed within a couple of metres of us, still
holding our position on the rails. Giving us a great opportunity for some close up photos.
This Pope has been making all steps to be
in touch with the people, as did the late Pope John Paul, but this was not the
format for the last Pope
On the human side, the tour guide from the
Coliseum was telling us that, Papa Francesco still carries on his duties at the
Rome Basilica (Arch Basilica of St John in Laterano) which was his gig, before
being elected Pope. For those times a security motorcade of three big black
cars in front and three at the rear, with Papa Francesco in the middle, driving
his little Fiat, to go between the two venues
We then went on to tour the Vatican
Museums, the Sistine Chapel and lastly St Peter’s Basilica, which has on
display the Michelangelo Sculpture “Pieta” (The Madonna nursing the body of her
dead son), which he created at the age of 25.
In 1972 a crazed man attacked it with a hammer causing some damage. The
repairers had to go to Carrara, where Michelangelo mined his marble to find
suitable material for the repair. Since then it has been behind a glass screen.
The Sistene Chapel was the only area we
were not permitted to take photographs, apparently to get international funding
for a 14 year restoration of the chapel, copyright was taken on the
artwork. Hench we cannot take our own
pictures.
We left Rome the following morning, well
satisfied, that we have seen and experienced Rome.
Bacoli is a small coastal village on a
peninsular just South of Napoli (Naples), we found our way there via the GPS
and settled in for a couple of nights to rest up after Rome. The narrow roadway
in had us wondering whether we should keep going, but it eventually opened up
to a very quiet seaside RV park, where the beach actually has sand. That is a
bit unfair, as there was a lovely sandy
beach at Terracina on the way down from Rome.
Still disappointing though, are the roads
in Italy, which, apart from the “Highway in the Sky” mentioned earlier, most of
the roads are deemed “Roman Ruins”. Just as disappointing are all of the
budding Da Vincis’ and Michelangelos of the area who must spend their time
decorating the trains, the graffiti here is the worst possible and as big a
problem is, the authorities don’t try to clean it off. But there again, the windows in the trains
were almost impossible to see through, for the build up of grime, quite apart
from the graffiti.
The roadside pull in points as we approach
Napoli are noticed to be increasingly loaded with rubbish, bags and bags of it even
car tyres , noted 8-10 tyres in one pile amongst other rubbish in one freeway
pull-in.
Bacoli was an ideal spot for R & R
quiet, peaceful and the weather was great so there was plenty of opportunity to
wade in the Mediterranean, a lot of
resort style places along the beach, They all seemed to be preparing for the
season, painting walls and sprucing things up. The beach, well that is another
matter, the rubbish that would not fit on the freeway pull ins must end up in
the Mediterranean, then gets washed up along the shore. It is amazing that the
sea is a clear as it is, with all the plastic and junk that is washed up along
the beaches. The resorts appear to be
trying to keep their beach frontage clear, but I suspect it’s just being
shifted, not removed.
Having set the GPS to avoid toll roads as
we travel, so we can experience the smaller towns, we were 28kms from Napoli
when we started out from Bacoli so we headed into Napoli on the back streets,
we were soon to find out that there are no front streets of Napoli, they were
all rough, mainly cobble stones and narrow. The buildings in general are run
down, rendering falling off from the brickwork, nothing looks cared for, or
even cared about, doubt that you would find a paint brush or a can of paint in
the town. The traffic was chaotic, cars parked anywhere, pedestrian crossings
are a good place to stop and let people out, or even park, why not. Double
parking is the order of the day, just have your emergency flashers going and
all is OK. Find a carpark, well anywhere that the car will fit or even if it
doesn’t fit, just stick it in a bit, the cars will go round you. We experienced cars and of course motorcycles
overtaking banked up traffic on freeway down the wrong side of the road. It
seemed a bit of karma when we got to the cause of the holdup, a rather beaten
up motorcycle and a couple of cars with police and all the trappings there.
Most motorcycles here are of the scooter
variety and they offer the advantage of not having gears, so your left hand is free
to hold the mobile phone to your ear while you are riding, if it is hard to
hear then just stop, stand in the traffic and take the call, cars will go
around you.
A very simple way for Italy to solve it’s
financial woes, apart from stopping the corruption at the top, would be to
enforce speed laws and parking laws, (if there are any). Apparently Papa Francesco has told the
hierarchy, to it’s dismay, that if they continue with their corruption they
will not get to heaven. Now there is a Pope with a mission.
Well we pretty soon cancelled our thoughts
of sightseeing in Napoli, recalling Pauline and Steve’s experience when they
went to visit the Fountain (of 3 coins in the fountain fame) the square was so
covered in graffiti, Steve stopped the car, Pauline jumped out and took a pic
and they drove off. The legend has it, that if you throw a coin into the
fountain is will ensure that you return to Napoli. Pauline was under strict
instructions from Steve not to throw a coin in.
Fortunately we threw a coin into the Trevi
Fountain in Rome.
Napoli is on the North west side of Mt
Vesuvius and Pompeii is the Southern side
We drove straight through to Pompeii, where
we parked and had a great look over the ruins, they are an amazing legacy from
history. After our trip through Napoli earlier we came away thinking that Mount
Vesuvius made the wrong decision in 1300 and erupted in the wrong direction.
We continued on to Sorrento to camp for a
few nights at Camping Santa Fortuna Campogaio. The camp ground was originally
an olive grove terraced into the cliffs just out of Sorrento, in turning it
into a camp ground they have maintained the olive trees, to great effect. Out
site was high on the cliff with a view overlooking Sorrento.
A day tour for the Isle of Capri left from the
beach at the campground, where a boat nosed up to the rocks, put a gangplank
over to load the passengers. There of course was a bit of a problem, as the
camp site was on a clifftop, obviously the beach was not, so it was 30 minute
climb down the path/steps/etc to get to the beach, which was a large flat rock.
The thought of the climb back to the van that night was haunting us all day.
The Boat was delayed for 30 minutes waiting
for a group of 42 tourists from Brasil who obviously had not set their clocks
to the local time, in the meantime the boat had to sit off the rocks and wait,
eventually they came down the cliff, we all boarded and set sail. After picking
up another group from the Port at Massa
Lubrense, we headed to Capri, which is about 20kms off the Italian coast . The
tour had us circumnavigate the island, first visiting the Blue Grotto, where we
set anchor and waited in line for the small rowboats to take passengers, 4 at a time into the Blue Grotto.
We were fortunate in that the season had apparently
just started on the previous day for touring the grotto. The grotto entrance is
a hole 2 metres wide and 1 metre high, to enter, all passengers are lying down
and at the last minute the oarsman, let go his oars lay down and grabbed a
chain, to pull his small boat through the opening. This access is only
available on days of calm seas. Once
inside the grotto, the oarsman is back standing with his oars, while we view
the colours of the sea with the light reflecting through the water from under
the grotto opening. All back on board
and on to the Green Grotto , here we did not leave the boat, just nudged up to
the cliff face to view the sea colour, we then continued around to Marina
Piccola where we all went ashore at about 10.30am to be picked up again at
4.00pm.
On the Island we shared a taxi for the day
with another couple, Joseph and Carmen, we were given a great tour of the towns
of Anacapri and then Capri, having a time for lunch and a walk through each of
the towns. Several stops for photos at
vantage points then back to the marina to meet the boat.
The roads on the island are so narrow they
make the roads in Naples look like 4 lane highways, the taxi was passing busses
and cars with barely inches of clearance, on a few occasions he had to stop,
but generally just went straight past without flinching. Checked the sides of
the taxi after and there were no scratches. The towns are geared for the luxury end of the
market, clothing boutiques with very expensive, good gear, all the up market brands
available. There are some very expensive holiday villas scattered throughout,
owned by the very rich and used not very frequently. One would need to have
deep pockets to stay any length of time.
The island has only two beach areas the
Marina Grande on the North below Capri where the ferries arrive and the small
marina Piccola on the South coast, the rest of the 30kms of coastline are
virtually sheer cliffs
Our boat completed the tour around the
island stopping at a few rock formations including going through “The Arch of
Love” a big hole in a bigger rock, before returning to the campground.
Capri has been inhabited since the stone
and bronze ages. Roman Emperor Augustus developed Capri as his own private
paradise, his successor Tiberius, permanently moved there and actually ruled
the Roman Empire from Capri for 10 years until his death in 37AD. His Villa
Jovis high on the mountain top at the East end, has some remains, but the 2km
uphill walk from Capri village was not on our agenda.
Sorrento was originally a Greek settlement
and in fact was the site in Greek Mythology where Ulysses was tempted to hear
the song of the Sirens (from Sorrento), but knowing that it would make him
irrational, he had his men’s ears filled with wax, so they could not hear, had
himself tied to the mast so he could not get free. As they held their course
and passed the music softened and eventually disappeared.
In later years Sorrento was eventually
officially annexed to the Kingdom of Italy in 1861 following centuries of
turmoil and being controlled by The Byzantine Empire, The Normans, The Ottoman
Empire and the Spanish.
We left Sorrento for an exciting trip
around the Amalfi Coast. The road has a reputation of being one of the best
drives in the world, High up on the cliffs and very narrow. Unfortunately we
only got half way to Amalfi when we were turned back as a rock fall had closed
the road. We were satisfied with the kilometers that we did on the road and
consoled ourselves with the fact that the rest would have been much the
same. The road incidentally was not as
narrow as expected and was of pretty good standard given our other road
experiences in Italy. We had come to the conclusion that money was only spent
on toll roads, the rest were junk. Being
turned back, there was no other way to get to Amalfi so we had to adjust out
program we were sent back as far as Pompeii before we could reset out route to
the Adriatic coast on Italy. We eventually settled in on the beach at Petacciato
Marina for a short stay. The coast line
here is very flat compared with what we have been used to on the other
side. The Adriatic is very calm and a
very aqua green colour. At least they have sand, a wide sand beach at that.
A
heavy thunderstorm overnight whipped the sea up, still raining in the
morning as we drove up 300kms of the Adriatic coastline, the beautiful aqua
green of the sea had turned to a clay/brown , as the waves broke over the rocks
it was like mud. The coastline is a bit
difficult to get close too as there is a fenced off rail line between the road
and the beach, at times the beach area was wide enough to have caravans,
tents bungalows all crammed together,
that would be OK but then the express train thunders through quite regularly.
The holiday amenities along this coast give the impression they are targeted
for the less well off side of society. We tried to get across to the water side
for a meal break but as there are no level crossings the only access is via
tunnels under the rail and these are hard to find as they are in side streets,
we gave up the hunt and moved on. The rain eased as we travelled higher up the
coast, we set our sights on San Marino for an overnight stop and a walk through
the town next day.
San Marino is an independent country within
Italy, proud of being the world’s oldest republic, having been founded in 301AD
and situated 10kms west of the Italian coastal town of Rimini. This tiny
country, the third smallest in Europe after The Vatican and Monaco, is a bit like the hilltop walled cities that
we have visited. There are two castles built on the top of a very steep
mountain and the town is built on the slopes below. Our camp site was 50 metres
from an elevator, the first of four, that we used to get up to the main town
area, from there it was steps and slopes to climb to take advantage of the
scenery, looking way out over the Adriatic Sea in one direction and over the
rolling hills with all the small villages in the other direction.
There is a primary and a high school as
well as a university within the bounds of the city walls and whilst it might
have a history, it all seems very modern. A fascinating stop over.
After having travelled on a lot of their toll
ways and their secondary roads, it seems Obvious that the lack of maintenance
and the sometimes ridiculous speed limits set on the secondary roads are intended
to encourage drivers to pay for using the toll roads
Milan, the city of fashion, we started into
town hoping to get to see Da Vinci’s
“Last supper”, and the Duomo , we found the Duomo and that was worth the trip
in. The fifth largest cathedral in the
world and the largest in Italy, the Duomo was started in 1386 but not completed
until 1965, nearly 600 years of construction, Napoleon Boneparte, in 1805 was
crowned King of Italy in the Duomo, it was he who ordered the completion of the
facade. We climbed onto a hop on hop off bus to see the city,, not a lot else to
excite us, headed for the Church of Sant Maria Delle Grazie where the “Last
Supper” painting is displayed, but alas all sold out for the next week. So as
close as we got was a photo of the building, and some photos from inside, but
not where the precious painting is, pity but that is one of the costs in having
your own itinerary and changing it at will, We cannot pre-book anything and we
have to live with that.
Though we had struck a progressive city,
the roads we great, until we got to the centre, there it narrowed down, added
trams to the middle and the paving became like bluestone blocks, rough and
bumpy.
Photos
Photos
9 – Milan, Italy
To Labin, Croatia
We left Milan for the Italian Alps and in
particular the village of Lovero. We went through several tunnels on route S36,
in fact over a stretch of 25kms there were a series of tunnels that equaled 20
kms. Just before Lovero, the town of
Tirano, which is only 54kms from St
Moritz in Switzerland, Tirano was buzzing with tourists. After Lovero we took to the Alps by climbing
to Aprica Pass, a popular ski resort, From here we had a choice of heading to
Venice through Verona or onover the Alps to Tonale Pass at 1883m, With only ”Julliet’s Balcony” to entice us to
Verona, Tonale Pass won hands down. From
there we went by Gondola up Cima Preseno Mountain to Passo Paradiso 2585m and
then on further to Ghiacciaio Presena 2730m. Skiers were quite active at this
point as there is still a level of quality snow. The drive up to Tonale and
then down to Trento was very interesting, with many small villages along the
way. It does leave you wondering how they manage to make a living in the steep
conditions. Houses in the villages tend to be 3 or 4 stories high, most
probably to gain from leveling a smaller area of land. By Trento the land was being extensively
cultivated into orchards, vines, etc , it is incredible how they work them up
the sides of the mountains. The road then become a narrow base of the valley,
almost a gorge, with the steepness of the mountains on either side. Some really
beautiful country around here.
Approaching Venice the land of course
becomes flat and gradually we find we are winding around canals with theturns
in the road.
We found our camping ground “Camping
Fusima” located just alongside the industrial area, with a view across the
lagoon to Venice. A 30 minute ferry trip from the landing 200 metres from the
RV park drops us at the edge of the city, where the local transport (water bus)
has one of it’s landings.
Our venture into Venice started with the
8am ferry, we managed to get in a trip up and down the Grand Canal amid the
chaos of the ferry boats the water taxis, the delivery barges and of course the
Gondolas, generally the water in the
lagoon is pretty calm , but the constant movement of water craft keeps it in a
consistent slop or chop, even in the Grand Canal there is a choppyness about
it, often the Gondola passengers were
being bumped around, let’s face it, a Gondola is only a canoe on steroids. The
international rules for watercraft are somewhat adhered to, with the boats trying
to keeping to the right, however the ferry boats pick up from both sides of the
canals, so they actually zig zag along the canal, the Gondolas exit their
moorings at right angle and it takes them some time to get into line, as I say
chaos reigns. An Ambulance boat on an emergency comes full bore down the canal
with siren screaming, leaving all boats rocking in it’s wake.
There has to be something said about the
behind the scenes services that are needed in a “floating city” such as Venice.
Early each morning the waste collection barges move along the canals, waste is
collected in specially made trolleys and wheeled along to the barge which has a
crane, the trolley is lifted and hung over the barge, the bottom of the trolley
drops open and all waste is dropped into
the barge. A 4km long bridge come onto one end of Venice , where there is a has
a Bus terminal, Railway station, a car parking area as well as an area for the
transfer of goods coming in by truck into the barges for distribution
throughout the city. Outgoing waste etc is also accumulated here for transfer
to the mainland.
Venice in history was originally started as
a settlement of fishermen on the marshes of the lagoons. It has had a chequered
past. Original wealth came from trading
in spices, silk and grains. Until Napoleon took the city in 1797 it was
operating as the Republic of Venice and governed by a committee of 10 from whom
a Doge (Duke) was elected as the leader, after Napoleon it became part of the
Kingdom of Italy.
Interesting that there is a petition at the
moment for Venice to secede from Italy. We did notice some slogans painted
around on banners “Mafia out - Venice is Sacred”
The foundations for the buildings in the
city rest on a series of solid timber poles driven down into the firm clay bed,
the timbers have lasted over the centuries because of the type of timber
(Alder) and the fact that they do not come in contact with the air. There are
actually 117 islands that make up the city of Venice, separated by canals and
linked together with bridges
Sitting in the van, we just
noticed a rumbling noise and vibration, started looking around to find the
cause, a look out of our window gave the answer, a huge ship was passing within
75 metres of our van. Well we did select a waterfont site, so that comes with
the territory. Also the dredges, that
started working in the channel just off shore at 5,30 each morning, at least
they made sure we would catch the first ferry at 8.00am
We covered St Marks Basilica, St Mark’s Square and Doges
Palace, as well as a few other churches and museums that were in our path, The Rialto Bridge and the Rialto markets. A day was spent touring the main outer islands
of Venice, those of Burano, where the houses are brightly coloured. The bell
tower of the cathedral at Burano has a lean on it that would challenge the
leaning tower of Pisa, looks quite dangerous. The Island of Torcello has a
large old Cathedral of St Maria of Assunta with the end walls complete mosaics.
Then on to the island of Murano, famous for its Glass works and glass blowing.
We stopped off at one of the glass factories where we watched the artisans at
work, all very interesting, however as we were warned, their prices are over
the top, but good for window shopping.
We left Venice happy with what we saw.
There was still a lot that we did not get to, but our legs were saying “stop
now you have seen enough”.
We moved out towards Trieste, the in the North East corner of Italy almost
on the border of Slovenia , on the way we diverted to the coast at a beach
resort town of Caorle, a pretty little town with an obvious grudge against
motorhomes, everywhere we went there were signs forbidding the parking of
motorhomes between 0 -24 hrs. As they did not want our trade, we spent our 100
euros at a supermarket further down the road. The beach there was clean sand,
very wide and row upon row of beach umbrellas, set out by the resort operators.
The river was lined with fishing boats, with the fishermen tending their nets
ready for their next trip out into the Northern Adriatic waters.
As we approached Trieste the countryside
became a bit more hilly, up until then from Venice, the land was flat, almost
reminiscent of Holland, where the canal waters were higher than the level of
the crops and were protected by levy banks along both sides.
Another noticeable change to the
countryside now we are here in Slovenia,
the landscape looks more like Australia, rounder hills, other than the pine
forest areas, the local trees are a bit on the short side, we are also noticing
a lot more opportunities to pull in off the road to camp. A feature we made use
of on our first night in Slovenia. A
sign, high in a tree assured us we were not in Australia “Beware of the Bears” . More pleasant
surprises as we continued into Slovenia, we went to the Postojna Caves and the
associated Predjama Castle. Both were very professionally run and the
facilities were top class.
The Caves were probably the best that we
have seen, no artificial coloured lights, just good lighting to show off the
features. There was a 2km train ride into the cave then a 1.5km guided tour
through the cave, with good commentary at the various stop points, considering
there were two train loads each of 100 people on the 10am tour. At the end of
the guided tour there was another 2kms train ride to the exit. Even the time on
the train, both ends of the tour were a great way to see the cave
formations. 12 kms down the road was the
last part of the tour with a visit to the Castle. The castle has been
faithfully restored to it’s 16th century condition. The main feature
of this castle which sets it apart for others, is that it is built in the
opening of a cave and uses the cave as part of the building. There are five
levels to the castle proper, it then ventures off into the cave. On lower levels below the castle, there were
the stables and a series of halls within the cave structure.
The origins of the castle go back to the 12th
century. As a fortress it was also
equipped with a torture chamber, draw bridges, and history has it, that it withstood
a 12 month siege in 1484.
Our next surprise in Slovenia was that
Diesel fuel at 1.36 euro per litre, is
20 cents per litre cheaper than Italy.
We moved down to Izola on the coast in
preparation for a visit to the old town of Piran the following day.
It took us longer to find a car park for
the motorhome than it did for us to walk the old town. Eventually we were
directed to a town 5kms away where they had parking for motorhomes in a ship
yard, so a walk to the main street then a bus into Piran. It certainly is a
picturesque spot and very old going by the narrow streets and alleyways, it was
an early Roman territory and buildings were first erected in about 200AD. But in 2014, every second building is a
restaurant, vying for your business, Souvenir shops run a close second. The town market was in full swing by the time
we got our parking sorted and bussed in.
As they do not allow cars into the town there is a large parking area just
outside (but not for motorhomes, unless it is less than 2.2metres high). A
small shuttle bus gets people to and from the carpark.
Shortly after leaving Piran, We moved into
Croatia, passport control, so we stopped and had our passports checked and
stamped, 200 meters down the road, another booth, must be for the toll road, we
thought. But no, it was a Passport
check, so out came the passports again, they were both checked and stamped
again. We must really be in Croatia now. The next shock came when we put a 1
euro coin in the shopping trolley at the Liddle store, coin got stuck, wouldn’t
release the trolley or return the coin. Hello, it needs a Croatian coin, oops
they are not using the Euro in Croatia, its Krona . 7.66 Kr to 1 Euro, fortunately the store
accepted one of our credit cards. We had a couple of other towns on the Croatian
coast to call in at, Porec and Rovinj before heading to Pula. Both towns were
similar to the setup of Piran, so a brief look from the bus and we moved on to
Pula where there is a very well preserved Roman Amphitheater left standing, it
was built between 27 BC and 68 AD when the town was the administrative centre
for the roman area of Istria. The outside wall of the amphitheater is almost intact. It is right in the centre of the town and
they still use the venue for some events, quite apart from the gladiator theme
of course. For the internal part of the structure,
it is not a patch on the amphitheater we visited at Nimes in France earlier on
our trip. There were several other
relics of the Roman empire in the town of Pula, which in Roman times was set up
with a water supply and a sewerage system, it was enclosed with a wall, one of
the gates is still there. We moved on
to the medieval town of Labin and the coastal town below it called SV
Marina. An RV park on the coast was in
order for a couple of days R & R. where we could dabble our toes in the calm
waters of the Adriatic. The park is
renowned for its scuba diving location, ranked amongst the top in the world ,
with the clear waters, underwater cliffs and caves, a stone tunnel at 39 meters and some shipwrecks including
that of the “Lina” which has some notoriety.
Labin itself is another of those hilltop towns, such as we
have seen in France and Italy, with the church steeple being the highest
landmark and the rest of the town being built around the church, Labin was
developed from the Roman settlement of Albona around 200 AD.
Photos
Photos
10 – Labin, Croatia
To Dubrovnik, Croatia
Getting through Rijeka the road had us up
over the mountains, with a bit of a problem, as the GPS had no knowledge of some
of the new roads and freeways as well as those roads that had been terminated
in a dead end. Following the Adriatic
coast, once we passed Rijeka, it was a very scenic trip, the road followed the
coast and the view was only disrupted by the trees and infrequent pull-ins. The
water was as flat as a mill pond and lots of attractive small villages along
the coastline. We settled in at Senj for
the night with a campsite right on the water’s edge, almost in the centre of
town. There were sunbathers out and about and quite a few in swimming, however
with the size of the rocks that make up the beach and the bottom of the sea,
there would be no pleasure to do either. The smarter sunbathers had their towel spread
out on the concrete paving, still no joy there.
All swimmers of course were wearing shoes.
As we moved down the coast there was a huge
mountain range, the Velebit Range, 90 kilometers long. The surface looked like
shale, all loose rocks with scrub growing in patches over the surface, no hope
of growing any trees, crops or vines in this lot. Further down the coast , past Zadar, the
scrub included wild fig trees and lots of yellow “Broom” the harshness of the
surface of the now hills, is a bit softer and some orchards , berries and of
course olives, in patches. The houses now seem newer and some building is under
way, all solid brick and rendered, a lot of 3 story dwellings, many with signs
out, advertising apartments and rooms for the tourists. We have noticed since entering Croatia that
there are a lot of “Spit Roasts” by the roadside, huge covered BBQ booths with
a wood fire under a rotating pig on a spit, Apparently you can just call in and
buy a kilo of the cooked meat for 180 Kuna
(25 euro). Not much future being a pig in Croatia by the number of these
spits we have seen. We have also seen
several road signs with a wild boar on them so perhaps this is one way of
keeping the feral pig population down.
Starting from Rijeka the 140km of coastline
is nothing short of spectacular, a lot of the time the road is high on the side
of the mountain and there are often pull-ins to allow you to take in the view,
some of the islands offshore appear to be just bald rock, nearer Zadar the
islands have trees or scrub and some houses. We sat and watched a couple of
great sunsets over the islands. Sibenik is a large town and port for the area.
The towns stand out in the distance mainly because there are no trees that
dwarf the houses. From a distance, Split, another major city and tourist mecca
for visiting the many islands off the coast, appeared to be all high rise
apartments and looked too crowded for us, so we passed on by. There were some
interesting seaside villages as we drove down, probably all worth a look and
even stay, but not on our agenda . Apart from driving into them in a motorhome is
a major challenge, and when you do arrive, there is no place to park anyway.
The coastal town of Omis was one we really shouldn’t have missed, it looked
great, but we think we would have had to have got a bus back from wherever we
could have parked. There is a short stretch of coast line on the way to
Dubrovic in Croatia which is actually the Bosnian coast,(their only piece of
coastline) so we had to pass through a
passport check into Bosnia and then
10kms down the road out of Bosnia and into Croatia again, so another passport
check. This area was showing signs of the 1991-95 “Homeland War” as they term
it. There were many deserted damaged houses and the occasional military bunker
on a hill top.
We drove into Dubrovnik, a bustling town
sporting a new bridge into the city, a cruise ship in dock and tourists everywhere.
The road down was in great shape but maintenance is a problem as there are no
other roads to use for detours, so one road in and all traffic heading for
Dubrovnik, makes for a seller’s market and our costs were up accordingly. Still
we stayed at Camping Solitudo which was in a good position for transport to the
“Old Town” the tourist target for the area.
The Old Walled City is still intact,
although cafes and restaurants flood the place. We were there by about 8.15am
and it was pretty deserted so we had a good go at it, by 12.00 it was jammed
with tourists.
The old harbour was buzzing with tour
boats, “Glass bottomed ones” and “Three
Islands Cruise Ones” a Ferry takes
visitors to nearby Lockrum Island, where they have a conservatory, a Fort and a
Monastery.
The Aerial car to the top of Mt Srdj (can’t say it, but that is correct) gave us a
great overview of the walled city and the surrounding coastline.
The main street in the walled city “Stradun”
is paved with marble pavers and certainly some interesting buildings and
laneways, The wall is complete and it’s a tourist treat, to walk around the
city atop the wall, given the number of steps to get up there and the constant
ups and downs as you go around, we decided it was a “Younger Tourist’s Treat”
and we would leave it to them. One
Cruise ship left port and another was docking at 11.00 am, only to leave at
5.30pm.
Next morning there were two cruise liners
in port disgorging their 7 or 8,000
passengers into the city on tours, most, of course will head for the Old Walled
City.
Dubrovnik has an interesting history, it
was settled by Greek sailors in the 7th century it was the capitol
of the Republic of Ragusa. Although attached to the Ottoman Empire it operated
as an independent state from 1440 to 1804 when that arch villain of Europe,
Napoleon Boneparte came knocking, Dubrovnik surrendered, it then became part of
the Kingdom of Italy.
Back in 1699, the Republic sold two patches
of territory to the Ottomans in order to avoid being caught in the clash with
advancing Venetian forces. Today this strip of land belongs to Bosnia and is
that country's only direct access to the Adriatic. It is also the cause for us to go through
those passport controls.
In 1918 with the formation of the Kingdom
of Yugoslavia, Dubrovnik became part of Croatia.
In 1991 Croatia declared its independence from
the Serbian dominated Yugoslavia, as the Republic of Croatia.
The response by Yugoslavia was to turn
forces against Croatia, hence Croatia’s “War of Independence”, or as it is
referred to in Croatia “The Homeland War”. By 1995 Croatia, had achieved its goal of Independence,
with no loss of territory, but at a horrendous cost in lives and property.
11 – Dubrovnik, Croatia To
Lake Bled, Slovenia
We left Dubrovnik in a traffic jam, they
seem to have a knack of just ripping up a street and leaving the motorist to
get around it, that was the case as we left. The two cruise ships would not
have helped either, with the extra tours on the go.
After travelling back 85kms from Dubrovnik
we accessed the (toll) freeway, to enable us to get through to Plitvice Lakes
National Park, just under 500 kms in the day. The coast road speed is 50/60
km/hr while the freeway is 130, we didn’t get to that, but it was faster. Just
as the coast road gave a great view of the Mediterranean and the islands, the
inland road gave us the mountains and the small villages dotted along the
way. The mountains were still surfaced
with loose shale rock, there has been a lot of manual work put in to clear
small patches, using the rocks as walls for divisions or terraces and small
areas planted in between. Only in a couple of the larger valleys was there
anything like commercial farming, most was existence farming. As we approached the Plitvice Lakes area, it
was obvious that the war had taken a heavy toll on the properties here, a lot
of damaged houses left and newer ones built nearby.
We eventually found Camp Bear and a good
find it was too, most pleasant host and hostess and a friendly place to stay.
The Plitvice
Lakes National Park has an incredible set of lakes, there are 11 levels of
lakes and there are all sorts of cascades and waterfalls that link them. The levels of calcium in the water causes the
buildup of barriers and sills and allows the water to cascade between the
lakes. There are lots of timber walkways that allow you to get around and
across the lakes.
The plan is, a
bus takes you to the top, then you walk down taking photos at every turn, half
way down there is a boat that takes you to the other end of that larger lake
then it was walking again to the bottom, then a bus gets you back to the park
at the end. The only problem was we clashed with the running of the Plitvise
Marathon, which closed the top internal road for 4 hours which shut off the
buses to the top, so we had to do it in reverse, meaning we were walking up
hill rather than down. The full walk takes 4 to 6 hours, we managed it in 6
hours. The Rain came, but not until we were so far through that it made no
difference.
Leaving camp
Bear, we were advised to look in at “Rastoke Slunj” on the way.
On the edge of
the town of Slunj, the multitude of cliffs and small islets on the delta of the
Slunjcica River, where it drops 6 or 7
metres to join the Korana River. Rastoke
Falls area was chosen 300 years ago as the site for a water-milling settlement.
The houses and mills are still there and more of a tourist attraction than a
working flour mill. Linked with wooden gangways, it is quite eerie to see all
this water flowing out from the houses.
Napoleon even
had an influence here, The town of Slunj became a military headquarters in
1579, Napoleon had a fortress built there, which is still on the tourist route
in the town.
The North East
area of Croatia seems a lot more fertile, in fact quite lush undergrowth and
trees, yes, there are trees in Croatia
Crossing the
border from Croatia to Hungary we were stopped for a passport check, we got
chatting to the police officer while we waited in line. We commented on the
apparent poverty in the area and asked if it was still recovering from the war,
“No!” was the reply,” it is financial, they have destroyed us, cut our wages
and we can do nothing”.
The many houses
that we had seen partly completed, up to an enclosed livable state, were stagnant,
through no funds to complete the job.
Many of the
fields we noticed that were only tilled and worked in small patches, no
equipment to work the larger areas.
We mentioned to
the police about the double passport check when we entered Croatia, was one
customs and one police. “No, both were Police”
So the Police are checking on the Police then. “Yes, exactly”.
One comment
was, they used to see America as the land of milk and honey, now it is
Australia.
Driving through
Hungary we noted that the agriculture was full on, no wasted areas of land and
large fields of crops being worked with larger, more modern tractors than we had
seen in Croatia. We couldn’t help but feel for the people and wonder how they
are going to get themselves out of the mess that they are in. But the standard
of housing and living in the parts of Hungary we saw were not much better than
in Croatia, suspect the multinationals are sucking out the wealth from the
better farm usage. We don’t have the
answers, but someone should be looking for them.
Our next target
area was Lake Balaton in Hungary.
Hungary is a landlocked country, so 110kms south west of Budapest, Lake
Balaton, with its 200 kilometers of coastline serves as its waterfront. Around the shores of the lake are all the
trappings for the summer holidays, holiday homes, camping venues, yachting
harbours, rental canoes and paddle boats and fishing points. Unlike Plitvice,
this is one lake on one level, the lake is 85 kms. long and 5 - 10 kms wide.
We circumnavigated the lake, and whilst the lake itself is just a big
pool, The land adjacent is not very hilly so it does not lift the appearance of
the lake, however, the villages and houses around it are all very interesting.
We felt the North west side of the lake was better geared for tourism and
looked a lot more cheerful. Although a train line running alongside the camping
pitches does detract a bit.
Street
plantings along the nature strips with floribunda roses and hanging baskets
attached to lampposts , overflowing with colourful geraniums, were all out in
full bloom.
We cut back
into Slovenia at the border town of Redics and made straight for a campsite at
Ljutomer for the night.
This Aire is
one where it is adjacent to a restaurant, no charge for the site, but they hope
to attract business for the restaurant. We obliged and had a delightful meal at
a very reasonable price. There are a series of lakes at the site which offer
great fishing, and by the look of the visible fish they have been well stocked.
We moved on to
Lake Bled, taking the narrow winding road into Ljubljana alongside a fast
flowing river, with some great scenery on the way.
Ljubljana apart
from a heap of graffiti looked quite a modern city, wide streets and a lot
going on.
The centre of
the city has a castle high on a hill and below in an arc around the base of the
castle hill are two rows of heritage buildings.
There is a
legend about the origin of Ljubljana, it is said to have been founded by the
Greek Mythological hero Jason, who had stolen the golden fleece and fled with
his fellow Argonauts on the ship Argo across the Black Sea and up the Danube,
Sava and Ljubljanica Rivers all the way to the source. At the Ljubljana marshes
Jason fought and killed a monster, now referred to as the Ljubljana dragon which
has its place on top of the castle tower, on the Ljubljana coat of arms.
Lake Bled, some 60kms from Ljubljana is set in
one corner of Slovenia’s Triglav National Park. Whilst in Slovenia, the park
also has its borders in Austria and Italy.
The lake has a circumference of 6.5kms and surrounds Bled island which
has a few buildings including the 17th century Church dedicated to
the Assumption of Mary. Overlooking the lake is Bled Castle, a medieval castle
that was built on a cliff far above the lake, it is the oldest castle in
Slovenia with history going back before the 10th century.
A tourist bus
transported us to Vintgar about 5kms out of Bled where we had a couple of hours
to explore Vintgar Gorge. The Radovna River runs through the gorge, which was
opened to the public in 1893. Access through the 1600 metre long gorge is along
a trail, that for most part, is fixed to the rock wall of the gorge, wooden
bridges span the river as it takes the trail from one side to the other. The trail ends at the 16metre high waterfall,
“Sum” the highest in Slovenia.
We had our own
tour guide for a visit to Bled Island, there are no motor boats allowed on Lake
Bled and the popular way to visit the island is by a roofed rowboat boat called
a “Pletna” although not physically the same, they are a bit like the Gondolas
of Venice, in that the Pletna is operated by an oarsman, who uses two oars to
row the Pletna with up to 20 passengers to the island. The Pletna is a
tradition and is only used in Bled, where they had their beginnings in the
1500s.
The main
building on the island is the 17th century Church, which is still in
use and also available for weddings, where the groom is expected to carry the
bride up the 100 steps to the church. The church has a “Wishing Bell” which
when rung in honour of the Virgin Mary, is said to grant the wish of the
ringer.
We managed to
walk down the 100 steps.
Our visit to
the 1000 year old Bled Castle was by local bus, but still one heck of a climb
from the front gate to the entrance. Being one of the most visited sites in
Slovenia, the castle Has been worked on and made into a series of tourist “gift
Shops” and “restaurants“ so the inside has lost its identity, however the
outside buildings are pretty well intact and well worth the climb. The view of the lake and island from the
castle were worth the trip.
Back in town, a
mini tourist train runs around the perimeter of the lake road, which takes 40
minutes. One and a half laps and we were back at Camping Bled with photos of
the lake the castle and the island from every possible angle, we will have to
do some culling. On the way around we passed a wedding party getting ready for
the Pletna trip to the church on the island, didn’t look like he could carry
the bride up the 100 steps, but we didn’t wait to see.
Photos
12 – Lake Bled,
Slovenia To Koblenz,
Germany
It was only 230
kms from lake Bled to Berchtesgaden in Germany although much of that we were in
tunnels, it started with a 7.8km then there was several around 1 km , a 6.4km, a 4.3km.
started to feel like a rabbit in a run.
Sunday and the traffic was light, then we realized that there were no
trucks on the road, on checking out some truckies we find that they were
advised that Sunday and Monday are holidays for them in this area, so wherever they
end up on Saturday night they stay there until Tuesday morning. This holiday
only applies to this area of Germany, Austria and Slovenia. It was heaven for
us but we felt for the truckies cooped
up in their rigs for 2 days.
Caravans were the go, they must have been taking advantage of the truck
holiday, they were coming down the freeway by the score. Apparently 25th
June is the trigger date for the holiday period, the Italian industry shuts
down and schools close for two months,
must be similar in Germany as they streaming in from there. A lot more caravans
than motorhomes, more suited to the family holiday we suppose.
Berchtesgaden
is the base for visiting “Das Kehlsteinhaus” or as it is known in English “the
Eagles Nest”, the mountain retreat was built on a spur at 1834metres in 1938 as
a gift for Hitler’s 50th birthday. The mountain top retreat is
actually in Germany, but the mountains
and countryside viewed from the top are predominantly Austria. (Hitler’s birth
country) The building was used as Hitler’s Diplomatic House. The retreat was
spared from destruction at the end of the war and is kept as a historical
feature, The internals of the building have been completely reset as a
restaurant and access to it is restricted, so as to not encourage any Neo Nazi
pilgrimage etc. Pretty well the only original bit of décor left, is the marble
fireplace and mantelpiece.
A convoy of 5
buses transport tourists from a dedicated depot near Berchtesgaden up the road
to an assembly point some 124 metres below the retreat, a walk into a 124m
tunnel leads to an elevator which transfers you to the retreat.
Certainly a
magnificent view all round at the top. The road up is recognized as one of the
most scenic of all mountain drives in Europe. It was completed in one year and
has 5 tunnels, totaling 277m. At the start of the road there is the original
set of gates and guard house, which are featured in the photo gallery in the
building, showing the US Army sentries guarding it . For those fit enough,
there is a hiking track up the mountain.
Lake Konigsee
is in the Berchtesgaden National Park, one of only a few NPs in Germany. We
arrived early, about 8.30 and were almost the only vehicle in the large paddock
that we parked in.
Electric boats
take tourists up the long narrow lake, the first stop is St Bartholoma, where a
church has been standing since the 17th century, nowadays it is a
restaurant and beer garden, but once was the Summer seat of Abbots, then the
hunting lodge for Bavarian Kings.
Behind the
small settlement is Mount Watzmann Ostwand a 2000 metre rock face which was
first climbed in 1881, but has claimed 99 lives since then.
The lake is 8km
long, 1 km wide and 200m at its deepest point and the clearest water you could
imagine.
On the trip up
the lake we pass a set of cliffs known as “Echowand”. Dutifully, the boat captain gets out his
trumpet or flugelhorn and gives a demonstration of the famous “Echo of
Konigsee”.
The final stop
is at Salet from there a 15min walk to Lake Obersee to view Germany’s highest
waterfall “The Rothbachfall” Alas it was
only a trickle.
On our return
to the starting dock, we found the place an absolute maze of people, boats were
departing every 10 minutes, the carpark was chockers. In fact, we had some
difficulty getting the RV out. It was Monday and a public holiday, so perhaps
that accounts for some of it.
The Salt Mine
at Berchtesgaden, the oldest working Salt Mine has been operating since 1517
and has been conducting guided tours since 1840. Our salt in Australia all
comes from the sea, that is by trapping sea water and allowing it to evaporate
off and leave the salt residue, which is then refined. So it came as a point of
interest to see how they operate a salt mine in Europe. Technically the salt
still comes from the sea, however after eons of years a seabed that had dried
up leaving a huge deposit of salt, the formation of the mountains some time
later has engulfed the salt bed within a mountain, a problem is that in the
process, the salt has been locked in with the rock. To extract the salt, they
bore a vertical shaft down into the target area, then pump in spring water and
keep it full of water. The water
dissolves the salt in the rock and forms a brine solution which forms in a
layer below the fresh water. By keeping the bore full it means that the salt in
the ceiling of what becomes a chamber, is being dissolved as well as the
walls. The brine is then pumped out to a
processing plant where the water is evaporated off and the salt that remains is
refined. It can take a year for enough
brine to be created in a bore, before it is taken away.
We hear of
dissidents being sent to work in the salt mines in Siberia, during Russia’s
past and wonder if they used the same process.
On our visit to
the mine we were seated one behind the
other on a small train, which took us 650metres into the mountain, The tunnel
for the train was no more than 6ft high and not much more than 4ft wide, there
was very little clearance overhead. The tour went through a couple of chambers
that had been flooded and the salt extracted. Across a lake which was another
chamber, not drained. All a very
interesting experience.
280kms later,
an endless wall of trucks on the road, as their holiday is over and we are on
the banks of the Danube River at Kelheim, for the first time this trip.
10th
June and the weather is very hot and oppressive.
Kelheim was an
unexpected pleasure, an old town with three gates, each one is a bell tower and
rings the bells on the hour. The buildings and cobblestone streets had been
well maintained and the town was busy, there is the newer part of the town but
our campsite was within walking of the old town and the wharf, where it is all
set for the tourists to alight from the Danube Cruise boats. A huge building
high on a hill overlooking the old town proved too much to ignore. It turned
out to be the Kelheim Hall of Liberation, built in 1842 by King Ludwig I, to
commemorate the victorious battles against Napoleon and the unification of all
the German Races.
The huge 18
sided Rotunda with 18 statues, each representing a German Tribe. The interior
has 34 White Marble Goddesses of Victory, with hands linked. It took an
almighty effort to walk up the hill to the Hall. We chickened out on a return
walk down, instead we caught the mini train back to the wharf and then moved on
to Regensburg the capital of the region.
We drove
through Regensburg on our trip last year and were taken with the buildings and
the old town but we were unable to park and moved on. This year we planned a
stop there and booked into an RV park. A local bus into town, armed with a
guide map of the old town. Mind you our dear GPS has us drive right through the
centre of the old town as we came in. It must have been a sight us driving
through all the cobblestone streets past the Cathedral, with only pedestrians
to dodge and Lorraine taking photos all the way. Our guide book tells us of
their 2000 year history. Situated at the northern most part of the Danube
River, Regensburg was at the hub of trade routes. The stone bridge was built in
1135 and was the only bridge crossing the Danube for its entire length at the
time. St Peters Cathedral was started in 1273 but the final two spires were not
completed until the 19th Century. Most of the buildings in the old
town were reportedly built around 1100 to 1500. The old Town Hall, with its apt
German name “Rathaus” is still as it was in 1245.
A painting of
David and Goliath was reportedly done in 1573, by artist Melchoir
Bocksberger, the building was built in
the 13th century.
We find it hard
to believe that the painting is original, after 450 years out in the weather,
The building itself has certainly been painted in the not too distant past.
The buildings
in the old town have been preserved more than in any other town in Germany, or
so they say. Anyway it was a fascinating few hours wandering the streets, The
old stone bridge is at the moment undergoing a major refit.
We moved our
base to Nuremberg, another town we skipped last year because of the weather.
Here too there is an old town, however, where Regensburg escaped damage from
the WWII bombings, Nuremberg was flattened, so what we see today, are
predominantly reconstructions. We went through the Imperial Castle, high on a
hill of course, and the plazas with their market stalls and fountains. The
Castle is the Symbol of Nuremberg, for centuries it stood as the Residence for
the Roman Empire’s Head of State and later was at the heart of European History.
Nuremberg in later times is known for its International War Crimes Trials.
Bayreuth, our
next stop over, again one that we had scheduled last year but skipped because
of the weather. We found a camping Aire 4kms from the city right
on a bus stop, probably the best one of our trip. A bus to the city and then
out to the Opera House “Festspiele” that Richard Wagner, the celebrated
composer built. The Opera House was in
the process of being set up for a major festival.
Bayreuth had
been host to the Bayreuth Music Festival for many years, and Richard Wagner a
major part of it.
Although the
two never met, Richard Wagner’s extreme anti-Semitic views were actually the
key source of inspiration for Hitler. After WWI for which Wagner blamed the
Jews for Germany’s defeat, Wagner insisted that Jewish singers and musicians
were banned from his productions.
At Hitler’s
insistence, the Bayreuth Festival was continued throughout the war but from
1940 its patrons were soldiers, war wounded and workers, the programs became
repeats, in the finish the festival’s record was blemished, a political
disaster and artistically questionable.
It was because of the apparent hijacking of the Bayreuth Festival to a
festival for the war, that Wagner was being shunned and so built his own Opera
house “Festspiele”.
It is ironic
that the festival being prepared for a season at the “Festspiele” is “The
Silenced Voices” a tribute to the Jewish singers and musicians, that were
silenced and persecuted during that dark time.
We found the
city of Bayreuth a delightful place to wander through the wide cobblestone
malls, with the original Opera House, the Old Palace and the New Palace, almost
side by side, and a great transit system.
We stopped at a
Castle “Erimitage” on the way back to the RV, recommended by a fellow
traveller. The gardens were great, but the castle itself a bit of a disappointment,
I meant to say, who ever heard of a single story castle, “sacrilege” We’ve got
one of those at home.
Slowing down on
our return to Frankfurt, we moved to Kulsheim, a pretty little village near the
Tauber River, some buildings marked around 1400, however the Kulsheim Castle
seems to date back to 1000.
After reaching
Wertheim, we followed the Main River valley for some 60kms then across to Worms
on the West Bank of the Rhine River. For a while we thought we were out of luck
with the camping “Aire” as there is a carnivals set up in the grounds nearby,
cars parked all over the place, we had missed out in Arles, France as a
carnival had taken over there. However the camping “Aire’ was untouched and so
long as we don’t mind a bit of thump, thump music all is well.
The site is
right on the banks of the Rhine, with a well groomed park along the bank. The river was busy with barges and other
water craft. We found the Carnival
interesting with their rides and hoopla games.
From Worms to
Mainz along the Rhine Valley where it is wide and fertile, the crops growing
there are everything from Strawberries, onions, potatoes, cabbage, corn, barley
and a host of items we did not recognize, then of course the vineyards start
with the grapes. Past Mainz, the valley
becomes steep sided, the 75km stretch between Mainz and Koblenz is the prime
tourist section, because of the steep sides, the towns are right down to the
river banks. Here the vines are grown right up the sides of the mountains,
sometimes terraced, at other times they go straight up the hill.
Koblenz is at
the junction of the Rhine and the Mosel rivers, we scored a riverside campsite
for three nights before returning the RV to Frankfurt.
We visited the
Fortress Ehrenbreitstein, which sits high above the Rhine, Whilst there has
been a defence site since 1000BC as a Roman military Post, then a medieval
Castle, but only since 1817 it has been this fortress. Certainly some
interesting brickwork in the construction, it is a huge complex and obviously
is used still for some artistic performances, going by the stages set around
the buildings. It does provide a great
opportunity to get a panorama of the City of Koblenz and the meeting of the
Rhine and Mosel Rivers at Deutsches Eck (German corner) where a huge statue of Kaiser
Wilhelm I on horseback is a major
attraction.
A cable car
takes you across the river and up to the Fortress. We also had the mandatory “Rhine/Mosel
Cruise” only an hour long one as we have seen much of the rivers from our own
tripping.
The Statistics
for this trip are :-
87 Total nights
on the road.
42 Nights in
Campgrounds
30 Nights in
“Aires” from the Book “Camperstop Europe” (19 free)
15 Nights free
roadside camps
64 Days of the
87, we were on the road, driving.
Traveled 13893
Kms,
Countries
visited :- Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Vatican, San Remo, Slovenia, Croatia,
Hungary and Austria.
Diesel Fuel
Cost :- 1890 Euro
Fuel
Consumption 8.5 litres /100km
Camping site
Cost :- 1198 Euro
Average daily
Fuel/Accommodation Cost :- 35.50 Euro.
