Move/Florence/Move

Monday 3^rd Sep: Well the time to leave Camp Park and Slovenia, slightly sad really as we have been very well looked after by Darja, an excellent hostess, who has a really good, quiet and clean site which is ideally placed for touring the whole area – Maribor for the oldest vine in Europe, the 3 wine producing areas, mountain ranges galore for hiking, climbing or skiing, castles to spare for visits, Lake Bled and the many other scenic areas. It must be remembered that most attractions are just a ‘day trip’ from the central region due to the size of the country. The RV and our good selves were ready to go at 9.30 am so we made our farewells to everybody (including our small furry friends) and for what seemed a long time we ‘hit the road’ for Italy. It felt a bit weird at first (touch of camp fever) but once we started rolling down the motorway and climbing some monster mountains it was back to normal, the beast did great and coped with everything thrown at it. Before leaving Slovenia we filled up the RV (fuel costs in Italy are high)  with 266ltrs of diesel, which worked out at £1.15 per litre – just as well due to Slovenia having made the top of our toll charges table, the equivalent of 27 cents (21.6p) per km of motorway travelled. We made it into Italy before spending the night in a very large service station with a truck park – cheap site fees again. We struck Venice from the itinerary as Linda does not do water and we were told that most of the place is not dog friendly. The day was a bit of a bad weather day, whilst being 23C we had rain, thunder, sun and cloudiness.

 

We said goodbye to all our friends.

 

Tuesday 4^th Sept: Not too bad of a night stop, a bit of coming and going but we both got some reasonable sleep and were ready for the final 100+ miles to Florence by 8.30 am. Unfortunately for Linda (she does not like high mountains and their bridges over massive ravines – tunnels are OK though) the final part of the journey included yet more rather large ups and downs, beautiful scenery especially coming into the Tuscany region. The beast continued to amaze and found the climbs, with the trailer and the Jazz on the back, no problem at all. The first impression on Italy’s road tolls are not too bad, we were warned that they are a bit expensive but seem to be much less than Slovenia – suppose it is relative really Slovenia higher  tolls, lower fuel costs and Italy lower tolls and higher fuel costs. We arrived safely at 11.00am after 354 trouble free miles – except for the strange noise just after leaving Prebold which turned out to be the sound on the reversing camera, not having had it on before we were not used to it and the volume must have been turn up during our cleaning – don’t you just feel foolish!  A quick setup on a not too good a looking site but we will see, no pool or WiFi – not good. A pleasant evening on the side of a hill overlooking Florence/the start of the Tuscany region. The day started off with a bit of rain but picked up later and we found the sun again in Italy during a 27C day.

At least it was hard standing.
Florence

View from the site in
Florence

 

 

Wednesday 5^th Sept: Admin/Rest day planned with a quick recce of the local area, just as well as the day started off dull and overcast. The immediate area is a bit basic/construction site ish and does not look like it will be suitable for Neil’s run so Linda has banned them on safety issues. A quick ‘look see’ of Florence did not impress us, very nice but not really outstanding – maybe a longer visit is required to appreciate the place. The normal rations shopping trip was completed but Linda was not impressed with the bread selection - hard as bricks. We finished the day with planning for tomorrow’s visit of Pisa and on a friends recommendation Lucca. Fortunately the weather improved a bit and brightened up with a bit of sun and reached 29C. Still not impressed with the site especially as they seem to have an abundance of flying ants with lethal bites, we have though met a few fellow Brits – tour guides for Contiki 18-30 tours that transit through the site – and had a good chin wag. The site is ideally located with good views, near to the motorway (too near at night for the noise) but falls a bit short of its PR.




View from the site in
Florence

Just a bit too near the road




 

Thursday 6^th Sept: Early start as the visit to Pisa is one of Linda’s long founded must/love to see the leaning tower ambitions, so excitement is high – Neil and Daisy are just going for the ride. Well, unbelievable – whilst not everybody’s cup of tea the tower and cathedral in Pisa was to quote in the younger generations words, awesome! It had been well worth the wait and we spent ages walking around and drinking in the ambiance of the place. Plenty of photo opportunities but of course the damn dog took centre stage again with all and sundry, Japanese mainly, wanting to take a photo of Daisy. Unfortunately most of the rest of Pisa was a bit disappointing and is not as attractive and looked a bit jaded and in need of some attention but at least we have managed to tick another ‘bucket’ wish. The day was starting to heat up a bit and the brilliant sunlight soon brought 32C up on the temperature gauges so we decided a quick dash to Lucca was called for. Lucca was a nice surprise for us (thanks Clair) as we had not originally planned to visit this very pleasant and  interesting town with its historical town centre having been maintained intact over the many years. Hence the quick visit was stretched a bit to allow us to see all of Lucca’s sights and have a traditional Italian pizza, al fresco style, in one of the squares, no problems as we did not have far to travel back to the site and were not in a rush to meet up with our not so friendly ants.  We did get back early enough to allow us to complete all pre-move preparations for tomorrow’s move to France and complete 3 countries in one week; at least we will soon have caught up on ourselves.

Guess who and where?

Pisa Cathedral and of
course the 'leaning'
tower.







Giglio's Theatre
Lucca

Friday 7^th Sept: A prompt start to the move due to our pre-move efforts of yesterday saw us being ‘on the road again’ at 8.30am and heading for France, we decided to stick to the motorways albeit they are a bit expensive but a lot safer and easier for the ‘beast’ and Linda’s nerves. The drive to the border was a nice ‘tootle’, following the coastline with lots of breathtaking scenery and much to Linda’s disgust some more mountains/bridges (the Apennines and southern edges of the Alps) with deep chasms at the sides. We skirted the Italian Riviera passing by La Spezia, Genova, Savona, Imperia and San Remo before crossing the border at Ventimiglia/Menton and pulling into a gigantic Aires in the Roquebrune area at about 3.45pm and after a quick 245 miles – Eagle still going well, “what hills?” Experience has taught us that you need to get in to these stops fairly early before the mass arrival of the overnight truckers, plus it gives us all a good rest period, especially after a long move on a hot sunny 31C day.

Saturday 8^th Sept: After not too bad of a stop, some Portugesse truckers decided to have a discussion group outside our bedroom window, not rowdy just disturbing, but packed up at 11.00pm so most of the night was peaceful. Set off for Nimes at 8.00am and drove down the French Riviera coastline, passing by Monte Carlo, Nice, Antibes, Cannes, St Tropez (all well outside our financial bracket) before heading across country to Aux en Provence, Salon and Arles getting into Nimes at about 2.00pm. We spent the rest of the day setting up,  getting to know the site, repairing a cracked trailer lens cover - whoops, Linda got the blame as she was guiding me and resting up after a busy 10 days - 3 countries, 3 sites, 2 overnight truck stops, 788 miles and an arm and a leg in toll charges. Another nice day weather wise, sunny and hot - 35C.

PS: Please note that whilst in the Aux en Provence we did NOT take any photographs!            

Prebold Pt 1

Saturday 25^th Aug: Well Linda managed to bring back some unwanted UK germs and is suffering slightly from a sore throat and general ‘yukkieness’, obviously the last week has taken its toll both in physically and physiologically  ways and left her rundown. It was not a hard decision therefore to decide to stay here for a further rest/recuperation period and get both of us in the right state of mind and body; we may even take in some more of the local sights but just lazy restful days for a week or so. The most taxing part of today was a quick shopping trip - Neil had of course eaten all the usual supplies so replenishment was called for. It was a very sunny day with 35C temperature – Linda still feeling the heat a bit. It was great to have Linda back but big thanks are due to Darja (the site owner) and all the other passing through campers who befriended Neil during Linda's absence – the couple from Switzerland on a BMW motorbike, Chris, Will and family from Holland, the young couple from Holland on a rest holiday and Doris and Dorothea from Austria to mention just a few – THANKS. 

Sunday 26^th Aug: WHAT! It is raining! The day started alright, a bit cool but sunny then all of a sudden - torrential rain, thunder and lightning and would you believe only 19C – freezing, Linda of course got the blame for bringing it over from UK! The weather decided that a day in the RV was called for, so out with the laptop for a catch up on some films and Casualty/Holby episodes - a real lazy day with lots of snoozes; naughty but nice.

 



A drop of rain
raised the level 

and the current flow
of the River Savinja




 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday 27^th Aug: The day started with much better weather, the rain had cleared the air and everything was that much fresher – so a bit of exercise was called for and we explored the local area at a nice gentle pace. There is so much beautiful countryside here that you can get complacent with the stunning views round every corner. The people here are very friendly and all say hello and try to speak a bit of English. Slovenia is at the junction of the Alps, the Mediterranean and the Pannonian plain and is a much underrated and relatively unknown country which is well worth a visit. Our walk took in the local farmers harvesting the maize crops and finishing the hop picking, it sure is good to watch other people working. Fortunately the weather made the walking a bit easier with a nice sunny day and only 25C. We did decide that before ‘camp happy’ fever sets in that we must think of moving soon.

 

Slovenian farmers humour

Slovenian crops

 

 

Tuesday 28^th Aug: We seem to be back on track now and hope to pick up the momentum to our adventures so this morning was the Roman Necropolis visit; unfortunately Daisy could not come with us on this one so she looked after the RV. A very interesting visit which really educated us about this area of Europe and its importance in the Roman/Celts history circa 2000 years ago which only became known about in 1952. As with most places visited our guide wanted to practise his English so a 30 minutes tour turned into 1 hour, he did appreciate and respond to Linda’s knowledge of antique mythology, questions and genuine eagerness to know all about the place and its origins. The day was a bit cooler at 25C so a quick generator servicing (the beast still needs looking after) by Neil was fitted in during the afternoon, courtesy of the new filters that Linda had brought back with her from the UK. A nice surprise, as Chris, Will and family returned to the site on their way back home having had a great time in Croatia – pity we will not be able to fit Croatia into the adventure, this time. We have decided to cut Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina, would have been nice to see them but perhaps on the second lap, that way we can get back on track for our ambition to spend autumn and winter in much warmer climes. We are getting attached to this warm and sunny weather.    

Roman Necropolis
Sempeter

Another tourist at
Roman Necropolis
Sempeter

 

Wednesday 29^th Aug: Just had to continue the 'walking' momentum and a visit to Lake Ribnik Vrbye was call for, very nice casual amble which Daisy thoroughly enjoyed, and a pleasant trip round the lake and its carvings. We met Chris and Will and their 2 Yorkies who had the same idea of a lake visit, so a social gathering (drinkie poo's) was arranged for later on. Linda is getting back to some kind of normal and completed the walk without any 'mechanical assistance' during a sunny 25C day, so as a reward a Pizza night was promised to give her a rest from cooking. Had a very nice (late) evening with Chris, Will and family which resulted in the promised  attack on some monster pizza’s and much discussions on just about everything, in fact we think the world was definitely put to right. It was agreed that Slovenia is a great place to visit - apart from its road tolls there is little to fault it.

Lake Ribnik Vrbje

Linda with one of the
Lake Ribnik Vrbje carvings

 



Yum Yum

Thursday 30^th Aug: All good things have to be interrupted by real life and today had to be a cleaning and maintenance day, so after saying goodbyes to Chris and Will - plus just about everybody else on the site (was it something we did/say) we were left all by ourselves. Shame that we had to work as the day was a nice sunny 29C but as the 'beast' is behaving herself it did not take us too long. Still got an intermittent generator problem and slightly sticky jacks situation but currently managing to live with them and nurse her though each day/move, will have a concentrated attempt to repair them once things slow and cool down. The joys of an old classic RV, must be boring when everything works perfectly all the time - NOT! Fortunately Linda was in UK for the renewal of the RV road tax so all is well on the legal front and the beast has a nice new disc in her windscreen now ready for the 1st September. 

Friday 31^st Aug: The day started with being very overcast and then progressed to more RAIN with thunder storms - poor old Daisy she was not pleased. The near continual rain made the near empty site a bit lonesome until the mid afternoon and then some fellow Brits arrived, a very smart A class motorhome with a Smart car on a trailer with UK plates pulled onto the site – unfortunately in the pouring rain. Roy and Viv got themselves sorted on site and dried off then kindly shared a cup of tea with us – what a tonic; they have been full-timers for 4 years and apart from being very nice people they were a mind of information, advice and much needed encouragement. We just had to take the opportunity to glean as much information as possible from these more experienced fellow wanderers, so shared a bottle or two of wine with them in their Frankia motorhome. It was really heartening to hear that other people do suffer from all the drama's, mistakes and  ups and downs - we thought that we were the only ones who had 'challenges'.

Saturday 1^st Sep: HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUMMY! Only 97 years old today. Fortunately we manged to get a good Skype link and got to sing Happy Birthday to Martha, it sounded as though she was doing well and was enjoying herself rightly. She has amazed everybody and is now doing well but of course at 97 you just have to take each day as it comes. More rain so most of the day was spent on the move admin prep, sites and tolls sorted out on the laptop ready for a Monday move. We were going to move today but with the weather as it is (more rain) we have put it off until Monday, someone is having a laugh with this weather only 17C, coats were worn for the first time in ages and yes the central heating was put on - just goes to show you need to keep everything in working order as you do not know when you will need it.

A slightly raised River Savinja

Sunday 2^nd Sep: Busy, busy day as we wanted to get everything ready for the move tomorrow, completed family contact and had a final drink with Viv & Roy. Managed to get everything completed, including the loading of the car in between small showers, the weather had improved a bit and the 22C made it a bit more comfortable for the work. Another good evening with Roy and Viv, who continued to impart even more useful information to us - they really raised our spirits and knowledge base and we are very thankful to them. Unfortunately due to our departure tomorrow the night was not as long as we wished but a good nights rest was needed due to a bit of a monster drive tomorrow - 'on the road again' to Florence.